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[20:26] <Hideki> The sky was slightly overcast and a cool wind swept through the streets of Katashiba. It was early enough in the day that the few rays of sun poking through the clouds still had a coral tint to them; too early for a lot of the students living in the neighborhood to be up and about and using the sidewalks. In other words, it was the perfect time to go jogging. -
[20:28] * Hideki was making good time. He'd gotten into a certain rhythm, broken up every now and then when he noticed and waved to the occassional shopkeeper, or stopped to pet a stray cat, or spotted a poster for a club event happening next week, or… maybe he wasn't making good time. -
[20:30] <Hideki> But exercise was exercise, so he was still having fun. Clad in a blue and white tracksuit, he continued on his aimless path.
[20:36] <Dinah> The early morning was definitely not the realm of a particular student from the same dorm as Hideki and yet Dinah found herself out in the midst of it. Clad in a jacket over a long-sleeved shirt and a simple pair of jeans, she wasn't really going to stand out much. If not for the blue hair atop her head pulled into a messy ponytail, that is. And the cigarette shamelessly hanging from her mouth contrasted with her young look. -
[20:38] <Dinah> The bags under her eyes showed that sleep wasn't exactly something she'd had an abundance of and the sour expression on her face only confirmed that. Though whether she was sour because of the lack of sleep or something on her phone, which she was practically glaring at, was hard to tell. Regardless, whatever it was was quickly replaced by a game that her thumb worked away at as she staggered along the sidewalks.-
[20:39] <Dinah> Pulling the stick from her mouth, she let off an exhale to her right side before replacing it, grunting in some sort of frustration then as some not-so-pleasant sounds emerged from her game.
[20:47] * Hideki rounded a corner and spotted her. For a split moment he processed the coincidence, and then lifted his hand to wave. "Scheier!" Huh. He was more out of breath than he'd though. He tried again, and this time he nailed it. "Schreeeeiiiieeer! Hey, Schreeeeiiiieeer!"
[20:52] <Dinah> There was a slight flinch when her name was called out and she looked back which also made her wince. As if she hadn't known who it was. There was a moment where she considered her options and one of her feet lifted as if she was going to walk off regardless.-
[20:52] <Dinah> Instead, she put it down with a long sigh and a hand moving to her face to rub at it in some annoyance. "Hey."
[20:58] <Hideki> "Hey!" He put on the breaks once he was within a reasonable distance to start a converstion, and tried to catch his breath. "Whew. Whatcha up to?"
[21:01] <Dinah> "Couldn't sleep." She answered simply enough, gesturing to her vices then by lifting the hand with her phone and pointing it somewhat to her cigarette. "Usually walking around lets me relax enough to get back to sleep. Instead, things just keep pissin' me off, so I guess that's not happening."
[21:06] <Hideki> "That right?" He eyed her phone curiously. "What else do you do to relax? Seems like you should switch it up if that's not working."
[21:12] <Dinah> "Nothing." She left it at that for a long moment, looking back to her phone as she continued trying to get past the battle she was stuck on. "Walking, games, cigarettes. That's about it."
[21:18] <Hideki> "Hmm. Why not come for a run with me? It's a pretty good release."
[21:20] <Dinah> "Because that's dumb." She snapped it out, looking a little bad about saying it after, though not taking it back. "I don't run unless it's to get close enough to someone to hit them."
[21:22] <Hideki> "Okay, but why?" Hideki took the jab in stride. "I've seen you sprint after people. It's not like you're slow. You just don't like it?"
[21:25] <Dinah> "Don't get the point." She shrugged, her thumb tapping and dragging jewels around in a pattern to send her team into an attack. It seemed like she passed the level then that she was stuck on, though it was of no real comfort.
[21:29] <Hideki> "I mean, anyone could say the same thing about your game. Does there have to be a point?"
[21:32] <Dinah> "Has to be a point to the person doin' it."
[21:36] <Hideki> "Hmmm?" He craned his neck for a better look at her screen. "So what do you get out of it? You said it calms you down. That can't be all, can it?"
[21:41] <Dinah> "It's…fun, I guess." The glance at her screen offered enough information if he knew anything about such games. Her team looked rather impressive and the numbers being thrown around meant that they were high-level. As was the challenge she was going against. "What do you get out of running?"
[21:46] <Hideki> "Good question. It's okay on its own, but more importantly, it's useful for baseball. Baseball is almost always fun, especially when you're winning."
[21:52] <Dinah> "I guess that makes sense." She shrugged, clearing another level and going back to a menu, which saw her going to a different part of it and drawing new monsters to add to her collection. "Only part of baseball I've gotten into was hitting things with a bat. And I was definitely not hitting baseballs." -
[21:52] <Dinah> She sighed afterward then and sniffed. "Is this gonna be a thing where you keep egging me on to try it and I keep telling you I'm not going to until you annoy the hell out of me enough that I do it to shut you up?"
[21:55] <Hideki> "Well, either that or I keep having conversations and stuff with you. Either way, I'm satisfied."
[22:03] <Dinah> She frowned at that, pulling out her cigarette and dropping it, stamping it out afterward. "Rock and a hard place. Alright, lead on."
[22:12] <Hideki> "Alright!" Hideki beamed a sunny beam. "Let's jog the rest of the way home! Should only be a few blocks."
[22:20] <Dinah> Dinah didn't share his enthusiasm, visibly so, but with a little bit of a shrug, she started off, as it was basically just the opposite way she had come from at this point. -
[22:22] <Dinah> Despite her nasty habit, Dinah was quick on her feet, jogging the whole way back without really seeming to get that winded along the way. If he didn't know any better, he might think she actually did this usually. But she just seemed to keep in shape in other ways, apparently. -
[22:23] <Dinah> When they made it close enough to their dorm, she finally slowed to a walk, a frown on her lips while she produced her phone, focusing her eyes on it then. "I guess that wasn't terrible."
[22:27] <Hideki> "See?" Hideki slowed as well, stretching. "In any case, thanks."
[22:31] <Dinah> She snorted to his comment, not really aiming to prove him right. Though a brow lifted afterward. "For what?"
[22:37] <Hideki> "For the company, of course! You could've walked away at any time, but you didn't."
[22:42] <Dinah> "You probably would've followed me." She sniffed, pulling out another cigarette and placing it in her mouth. Holding up a finger, a small flame popped from the end of it and lit it up.
[22:50] * Hideki considered this. "Maybe," he admitted. "But I probably would've given up after a while."
[22:55] <Dinah> "Well, we'll never know, I guess." The telltale chime of something on her phone was something that every student recognized - the 'ding' of a text message, and Dinah's face scrunched up as she glared at it, stuffing her phone in her pocket then.
[22:56] <Hideki> "…You okay?"
[22:57] <Dinah> "It's my mom. So, no."
[22:58] <Hideki> "Ah. Family stuff. Is it complicated?"
[22:59] <Dinah> "My mom's a bitch. She married an asshole. Not that complicated."
[23:02] <Hideki> "I guess not. Sorry, it sounds like it sucks."
[23:06] <Dinah> "You've got no idea." She frowned and nearly snarled, taking an inhale of her smoke to relax herself somewhat. "Just texts me to torment the hell out of me. Then if anything goes wrong, she stops texting me." That was said with some particular amount of bitterness as she looked away.
[23:13] <Hideki> "Unreliable, huh? What about your dad?"
[23:14] <Dinah> She tapped some ash off her cig and frowned again. "He's kinda pissed at me."
[23:15] <Hideki> "How come?"
[23:20] <Dinah> "Last break, I went to live with him instead of mom and step-dick. And I kinda made a mess of things."
[23:26] <Hideki> "Any way to make it up to him? Or, like, apologise? You're human, after all. People make mistakes."
[23:33] <Dinah> "That……that one's complicated." She sighed, shaking her head. "Too much to get into."
[23:42] <Hideki> "Then let's not get into it." Hideki nodded. "Seems like school would be a relaxing getaway if things are that bad at home. You join any clubs?"
[23:46] <Dinah> "Yeah. Art and Wushu." Again, she shrugged, moving to lean against a nearby wall, propping a foot up as she enjoyed her smoke. "Art club guy is a fuckin' weirdo. Wushu instructor's pretty cool though."
[23:54] <Hideki> "Art guy, art guy…" Hideki thought for a minute and snapped his fingers. "You mean Matos? Guy's a blast! I've been in art classes with him for two years."
[23:55] <Dinah> "Makes sense that you two'd get along."
[23:56] <Hideki> "Thanks!"-
[23:57] <Hideki> "Who's in charge of Wushu again?"
[23:58] <Dinah> There was a brief pause as she looked at him and then blinked a few times, looking away. Producing her phone again, she got back into her game now that some of her energy had built back up.-
[23:59] <Dinah> "Jiang Chang. Easy name."
[11:22] <Hideki> "So what's so cool about her?"
[11:26] <Dinah> "I dunno, she's pretty laid back. Almost put me in charge of the club. I was gonna have everyone throwin' everyone else around."
[11:30] <Hideki> "Hey, does that mean you're the most experienced person in the club? Net to her, I mean?"
[11:30] <Hideki> ^Next to
[11:34] <Dinah> "Kinda seems that way." She sniffed, tapping some ash off her cigarette. "Last break in America, I was in a kinda….Martial Arts club with people I was workin' with. Team-building thing. Our Manager brought it together. So I know a bit."
[11:38] <Hideki> "Any boxing experience?"
[11:43] <Dinah> She shrugged some, putting her phone back in her pocket again. "Some. It was part of the whole thing."
[11:55] <Hideki> "You're good at punching, so I figured. If you had to take over the club, or act like a co-teacher or something, do you think you would?"
[11:57] <Dinah> "Ain't like punching is that hard." She frowned a little, finishing off her smoke and dropping it. The heel of her shoe stamped it out then, shifting to press against the wall she was at. "I dunno. Maybe. I know some stuff but Wushu's more about forms and shit."
[12:04] <Hideki> "Do you want to know which clubs I'm in this year?"
[12:11] <Dinah> "It'd be nice. We've just been talkin' 'bout me this whole time." She sounded a little annoyed as she said it, tossing him a glare as she did.
[12:12] <Hideki> "Hey, it's not like you asked," Hideki grinned. "It's baseball. And literature."
[12:21] <Dinah> She sniffed again, crossing her arms over her chest. "Could'a figured baseball. Didn't figure you for a book worm, though."
[12:27] <Hideki> "Some books are okay." He lightly scratched the side of his neck. "And the people are pretty fun. They're not as intense as you art guys, though."
[12:50] <Dinah> Her brow furrowed as her eyes narrowed somewhat dangerously. "I'm an 'intense art guy' now?"
[12:53] <Hideki> "You saying you're not?" Genuine surprise flickered across Hideki's face.
[12:58] <Dinah> She thought about it for a while and then grumbled, flicking her hand dismissively. "So what about Baseball? Are you Captain or whatever?"
[13:00] <Hideki> "Nah. But I'm pretty good," he said cheerfully. "We have some games coming up in a few weeks. You should come and watch! It'll be a clash of wills and physical awesomeness, just like martial arts."
[13:03] <Dinah> "I think I'll pass." She shrugged again at that. "I don't really watch sports. Gets boring."
[13:04] <Hideki> "W-what?!"
[13:08] <Dinah> "I don't watch sports. They bore me."
[13:10] <Hideki> "I don't think… I don't understand…"
[13:12] <Dinah> "Just doesn't do anything for me. I'll watch Hockey for the fights, I guess. The rest are just…eh."
[13:14] * Hideki seemed to be struggling internally. He took a deep breath. "Okay. Okay. Everyone's different, right?"
[13:19] <Dinah> "Yeah. That's how it works. Your girlfriend super intense about sports too?"
[13:22] <Hideki> "Some of them. She'll watch really closely and not say a whole lot until there's a break in the game." He paused. "You think I'm intense too…?"
[13:31] <Dinah> "You're freaking out because I don't like sports. You might be a little intense, yeah."
[13:34] <Hideki> "Yeah, but I accepted it after a little while. Doesn't that count for something?"
[13:40] <Dinah> "'After a while' being the key there, bucko. Normal people hear you think sports are boring? They don't care."
[13:42] <Hideki> "Hmph. Well I don't care either." He folded his arms as if to prove it.
[13:47] <Dinah> "You still care."
[13:50] <Hideki> "I said 'hmph'." His voice carried a quiet, firm conviction.
[13:57] <Dinah> Watching him for a moment, Dinah 'hrmm'ed before smirking somewhat. "I'd watch Hockey before I'd watch baseball."
[14:01] <Hideki> "It's not going to be that easy to bait me, you know. Also, Hockey is ridiculous. Even if skating is fun."
[14:09] <Dinah> She clicked her tongue in some disappointment that he wasn't that easy to torment but shrugged. "Yeah. I've only been a few times."
[14:12] <Hideki> "Sophia has a rink. It's hard to get permission to use it, though. Can't have any lawsuits from unsupervised students slipping on it and breaking their arms…"
[14:17] <Dinah> "Huh. That might not be too bad to hit up sometime."
[14:23] <Hideki> "With permission, right?" he said hopefully.
[14:26] <Dinah> "If it works out. If not.." She shrugged.
[14:42] <Hideki> "Well. If you get caught, you didn't hear it from me." He stretched his arms again.-
[14:46] <Hideki> "I'm heading in for breakfast. You coming?"
[14:53] <Dinah> "Yeah, yeah. That's what everyone says."-
[14:53] <Dinah> She pushed herself away from the wall then, letting out a little yawn as she did. "I think so. Breakfast sounds good, now that I'm actually getting some. Then I might try to catch some sleep."
[14:57] <Hideki> "Than that means you've calmed down!" Hideki led the way to the door. "All's well that ends well."
[15:05] <Dinah> "You could say that, I guess." She followed after, yawning rather loudly again. "Don't take all the credit, though."
[15:22] <Minaplo> [ Thou art I; I art thou.-
[15:22] <Minaplo> [ Thou hast glimpsed a new path of thine heart, with which to rewrite your story.-
[15:22] <Minaplo> [ With the first meeting of the Magician Arcana and the Lovers Arcana, the beginning of your transformation and that of the world begins.]

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