Unnamed Hideki Sachiko Mini

[12:52] <Sachiko> Sophia Academy's status as an elevator school posed many logistical challenges, not least of which was building a library to serve the wide array of needs the student populations possessed. The result was a sizeable building at the heart of the campus, with wood-panelled floors and wide glass windows along the entrance to keep the interior bright.-
[12:52] <Sachiko> Sachiko had been there since class had let out for the day, sat at a table as far removed from the flow of students coming and going as she could get. Whatever she was working on appeared to be moving slowly, if it was moving at all.
[12:59] <Hideki> Eventually a person-shaped shadow would fall over her and her table, its owner calmly observing her work.
[13:16] * Sachiko caught on eventually. The pen she'd been tapping against a calculus function slowed to a stop, revealing a deep dent she'd left in the page.-
[13:16] <Sachiko> "… oh," she tilted her head. "Hi, Nakajima."
[13:19] <Hideki> "Hey!" he said cheerfully. "Want some company?"
[13:24] <Sachiko> "Desperately," she said. She nudged the chair across from her out from the table with her foot.
[13:28] * Hideki took it, loosening the tie of his uniform with a forefinger. He carelessly rested his bag on the floor. "Second year math, huh? Brings back memories. A lot of bad ones."
[13:32] <Sachiko> "Not your best subject either, huh?"
[13:36] <Hideki> "God, it sucked," he chuckled. "Me and a couple of guys from the team ended up forming study groups for it. After that it got easier."
[13:48] <Sachiko> "Study groups just sound like a different kind of punishment," she muttered, looking at her notes.-
[13:48] <Sachiko> "Might have to do it anyway."
[13:53] <Hideki> "It's not so bad. An hour or two a week, asking questions and learning tricks… Lemme see if I can remember one that'll help you now. Can I borrow your pencil?"
[13:58] <Sachiko> She slid it across the table, along with the notepad if it was requested.
[14:01] <Hideki> It was indeed required. Hideki did a quick demonstration, using the math problem Sachiko had been struggling with last, adding a couple of his own notes as he went along. -
[14:02] <Hideki> "And that's how it's done," he said simply, passing the notebook back to her. "You should give it a try. See if you've got it."
[14:25] * Sachiko went over Hideki's solution and the notes carefully, then tried to apply them to the next problem on the page. It wasn't a lightning fast process, but it definitely went a lot smoother than whatever she'd been trying to do when he arrived.-
[14:25] <Sachiko> "Moving in the right direction, I think," she said once she'd finished. "Thanks."
[14:38] <Hideki> "Not a problem." He settled back in his chair again, satisfied. "Just pay it forward next year when you stumble across some poor, frantic younger student…"
[14:52] * Sachiko snorted. "Yeah, ok."-
[14:52] <Sachiko> "I'll be happy to get back to social science work. If you know how to research and build an argument a year away doesn't matter as much there."
[15:02] <Hideki> "A year off…? So you're not actually a younger student, are you?"
[13:02] <Sachiko> "Nothing like that," she shrugged. "Wasn't able to attend school in person last year. My parents brought in tutors so I didn't have to redo the grade, but I guess I'm out of practice with the real thing."
[13:07] <Hideki> "I getcha. Having a tutor is probably harder than being in school, though. I bet you can't really slack off even if you want to."
[13:14] <Sachiko> "Wasn't the worst thing in the world. It gave me something to focus on, anyway," she said. "And I think I'm ahead on a couple of classes because things were moving at my pace."
[13:22] <Hideki> "Heh heh. Now you're back in the rank and file with the rest of us." He glanced over his shoulder to where a small group of other students were quitely chatting and studying.
[13:29] * Sachiko followed his look, but seemed to write them off fairly quickly.-
[13:29] <Sachiko> "So what are you in here for?"
[13:36] <Hideki> "I was supposed to meet up with a friend here, but he ditched me to go to some club meeting." He gave a brief, sullen pout. "I guess I could study while I'm here. Or read random books. That sounds like more fun, actually."
[13:48] <Sachiko> "Gonna be generous and assume you like reading for it's own sake and not… y'know, just regular old procrastination."
[13:49] <Hideki> "I can like it for both reasons…"
[13:49] <Sachiko> "True."
[13:51] <Hideki> "But yeah. I like reading even when I'm not procrastinating. Old school myths and legends are pretty nice. Horror too."
[14:07] <Sachiko> "Oh yeah? I guess horror makes sense given…" What followed was a series of vague, Persona-shaped gestures. It got pretty abstract.
[14:14] * Hideki stared for a minute or two, and then broke down into laughter. "What the heck is that?"
[14:17] <Sachiko> "Look, I wanted to communicate 'persona' subtly and then I was committed to it. Shut up."
[14:27] <Hideki> "All right, all right. And I'm guessing you've got some love for horror yourself, given your own…" He made an attempt to mimic her 'persona' gestures from before, choking back another laugh.
[14:44] <Sachiko> "You're laughing now, but when my talent for semiotics saves us all…"
[15:10] <Hideki> "I'm sure. But eavesdroppers aren't gonna know what we're talking about even when we say 'persona'. So let's just do it!"
[15:25] <Sachiko> "Fine, fine," she said, waving a hand. "Anyway yeah, I read horror now and then. I think I'd define Faust as more of a classical tragedy, though…? Depending on the version, anyway."
[15:33] <Hideki> "Oh yeah, agreed. But your version straight up looks like some kinda evil demon. Y'know. Instead of a guy who borrowed power from an evil demon."
[15:43] <Sachiko> "Yeah, that's interesting, right?" she said leaning forward. "I can understand a lot of the iconography as it relates to the myth, but a lot of it's more heavily abstracted than it would've been if I, say, drew a design consciously. It's the myth filtered through a heavily personal, unconscious lens, I guess?"-
[15:43] <Sachiko> "Or it just brought out my inner edgy teen, it could go both ways."
[12:30] <Hideki> "Man, the human mind is a weird place. I should try to figure out a way to ask my psychology teacher about this stuff."
[12:42] <Sachiko> "If you find out anything that way pass it on, ok? I thought about asking myself, but there's not a lot of good ways to edge up to the topic…"
[12:49] <Hideki> "Not without sounding crazy, no. But maybe asking more general questions about dreams and imaginations and stuff will give us some insight."
[12:57] <Sachiko> "Yeah, but it could also sound like you're hitting on them."
[13:02] <Hideki> "'Hey sensei~ Let me describe my sexy literary dreams to you! They're all about firefighters and doomed wizards and superheroes~'" -
[13:03] <Hideki> "Huh. I guess that is kind of hot."
[13:16] * Sachiko shook her head slowly. "There's something I've been wondering, though?"
[13:18] <Hideki> "Yeah?"
[13:19] <Sachiko> "Why Dorian Grey? The horror link, sure, but I don't think the choices are quite that simple."
[13:26] <Hideki> "Beats me. Guy's a horrible person. Sure is flashy, though."
[13:27] <Sachiko> "Definite snappy dresser," she agreed.
[13:30] <Hideki> "Good taste in wine too. I assume. All he ever does is booze it up."
[13:34] <Sachiko> "Make him give you some and report back."
[13:37] <Hideki> "I wonder if that'll work. We can eat and drink things in Dream Theatres, so maybe."
[13:49] <Sachiko> "It can be our first addition to the library."
[13:53] <Hideki> "Roy'll be so impressed."
[14:10] <Sachiko> "Uh-huh." She kept looking at him for a moment before setting about balancing her pencil on its end.-
[14:10] <Sachiko> "Is Yi doing alright?"
[14:15] <Hideki> "She's still dealing with a lot of rumors. Still, she looks like she's in a better mood nowadays. Staying with us probably helped her a lot, even if it was temporary."
[14:30] <Sachiko> "Mm. If there's something I can do to help beside the obvious extracurricular stuff let me know," she said. "I don't want to complicate matters, but she's pretty cool."
[14:34] <Hideki> "Yeah, she is." Hideki smiled faintly. "The further we go in Asaka's weird Dream place, the closer we get to fixing some of her problems. I believe that, even if I don't know how we're gonna resolve things in the end. So I think we can just focus on that for now."
[14:42] <Sachiko> "Got it. Hopefully we have an answer soon."
[15:05] <Hideki> "Did you find anything in the dorm library that can help us with our, um, mission?"
[15:20] * Sachiko winced. "No. I'm still looking, but Roy seems pretty confident I won't find anything."
[15:24] <Hideki> "Doesn't mean he's right. You might also find all sorts of stuff that could come in handy in different ways later."
[15:25] <Sachiko> "Hopefully. I'm still trying, anyway."
[15:27] <Hideki> "Hang in there. I'm not great at other languages, but I'd like to help however I can."
[15:30] <Sachiko> "I can find you something to do. Yoshino's been helping on occasion, so another set of hands could be good."
[15:35] <Hideki> "Great! And of course, you can always come to me for help if you need more math help."
[15:39] * Sachiko laughed as she started putting her books back in her bag. "Appreciated."-
[15:39] <Sachiko> "I'm going to head home. You want to come with me, or are you committed to reading books at random?"
[15:41] <Hideki> "Heh. I'll be here reading a little longer. But hey, I'll see you around dinner time."
[15:54] <Sachiko> "Of course. You wouldn't want to miss curry pizza night."
[15:59] <Hideki> "Who wouldn't, Kurata?" Hideki nodded firmly. "Who wouldn't?"