Aika and Kendall only please~

As one could have expected her to do on this day, Kendall was feeding the birds of Astraea Hill. A bench in the middle of the maiden park gave her the best spot to do so, and in that spot, she had come every day for several weeks. It was odd, being back here- After her studying abroad in Russia, that is. Still, it was refreshing to be back on Japanese soil- And back to where she was now applying to work with the disabled children of the school. An entire wing, actually, was her proposed idea.

A wing specifically for students who had a challenge to overcome.

Her meeting with chancellor Minigawa and chancellor Aeducan was later that month, and while she waited, she spent her time keeping the grounds as close as possible. She was a stranger to most, coming her and feeding the birds and then departing without a word. navigating the grounds was a bit easier than it used to be as well. Rather than using a cane to make her way around, he had become used to walking in a very specific way- She kept her strides at a decent, yet slow pace, and while it may have taken longer to get around that way, she looked mostly normal. One wouldn't know she was blind without knowing her, or gazing into her soulless eyes.

Ah, yes, her confidence had become quite apparent as well. She no longer cared who knew of her weakness, and in fact, she would be the first to joke about it.

Fuyumi was at clubs today and wouldn't be returning to the apartment until late. There were still leftovers in the refrigerator, so it wasn't necessary for her to rush home the way she ordinarily did. Although she had already been back at Astraea for a while now, it still felt surreal. There were so many memories here that she had to confront. But she was a different person now. Aika tucked her cell phone into her purse, adjusting its position on her shoulders.

Ah, but it was nice to be surrounded by so many wonderfully cute things and students.

She strolled through Maiden Park after her classes had ended for the day. Although the area was usually crowded, it was remarkably empty. Perhaps students were all busy with their club activities for the day. But there seemed to be one person, a woman with pink hair, sitting on a bench. Aika was far enough away that the birds weren't scared away by her. She decided to change that.

Her legs were long and slender underneath the black pencil skirt as she made a few quick strides to close the distance. The birds scattered as she came closer. "Ah, I seem to have scared your cute little friends away."[/b] Although she didn't sound entirely regretful. That said, she was sort of sad that the birds had flown away. They were very small and infinitely adorable.

((OOC: Hm, that's weird that the site isn't shrinking my picture. Might shrink it myself later when I'm not so lazy. Ai's also wearing the outfit in the picture, except for the earrings, so yeah~ ))

So, that was that. her little serenity was gone, and it seemed she was in the presence of a new figure. One she could not identify by voice, or by direction. What she could identify was that the birds had fled.

"Oh, such a shame." she said, standing and sprinkling the remainder of the bread crumbs she had brought across the ground for when they eventually returned. "I suppose they can enjoy things another time."

So, what now? Randomly start a conversation with a total stranger whom could very easily be any single human being on Earth, with an unpredictable outcome and zero chance of a quick escape in case of danger or unwelcome communications based entirely on absolutely no prior conversational partner?

Why not?

"A pleasure." she began, turning to where she had identified the voice coming from. She extended a hand to the stranger. "Kendall Kohma."

Aika took a seat on the bench as well, sighing in relief. She could finally take the pressure off her feet. "Oh, I hope so. I'd be ashamed if they never came back because of me."[/b] Random small talk. The sort of thing she never would have done before she left Astraea. But college, or more specifically some of the things that had happened in college, had changed her. She wasn't the sort of person to shy away from others anymore.

She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her thighs and turned her head to look at the person sitting next to her. A lovely, mature-looking young woman with mesmerizingly unnerving eyes. It seemed that Aika couldn't look away. Everyone had a story, everyone had a secret. She wondered what this stranger's story was. "The pleasure is mine. I always enjoy the company of lovely young ladies,"[/b] although she preferred cute things more, lovely things weren't bad either. "Suzuki Aika. Are you a student here? I wouldn't want anyone coming onto campus with negative intentions toward my cute little students."[/b] She did have to ask. After all, this wasn't someone she ever recalled seeing and much as she joked, she really did care for her students and was wary of strangers on school grounds.

"A student?" she giggled. "No no, just an aspiring activist." her pose indicated nothing of any sort of blindness- She had really become quite adept at blending in. her eyes were the only giveaway, and she was so far from ashamed of them that it was funny thinking about the past she had with them. Nowadays, she flaunts them as her most defining feature-- Well, ALMOST her most defining feature. That title goes to her--

"Well, I can assure you my intent is anything but ill. Though it does involve the word, to a degree, it's not in the same manner. language is funny that way, isn't it? Such an unconventional way of communication."

She couldn't help but enjoy this- rarely did she speak with staff of Astraea, even back in the day. But this one might have very well been in her class, at this point in her life.

"Tell me, are you the same Aika-dono that met with my cousin, Aeducan-dono?"

So not a student. But possibly a former student? Aika wasn't particularly good at reading most people, the cause of quite a few problems in college, so she couldn't quite gauge the reason behind Kendall's response. "Then what brings you to Astraea Hill?"[/b] An activist did seem a bit strange in a place like this. A small school with a population consisting mostly of wealthy young girls? It didn't seem to be the ideal place for activism. Not at first glance, at least.

The dark-haired woman smiled. Someone talking with her about language? She could go on about it for far longer than necessary. After all, she was a resident language and literature teacher here. She raised her eyebrows, looking curiously at the stranger. "How do you mean?"[/b] she asked in response to Kendall's comment that it was unconventional. Language itself or something about it? She was curious and wouldn't argue against some interesting conversation.

Speaking of language. "There's no need for a title like that with me. Just Aika is fine, since you're not a student,"[/b] the young woman leaned back again, resting her arms on the back of the bench. A strand of brown hair had fallen over her eyes and she blew at it to get it out of the way. All things considered, her sitting position wasn't the most lady-like. Old habits died hard, apparently.

It didn't take a lot of effort to think back and remember Arceia. The dark-haired former Etoile was easily remembered although their meeting had been brief. It had also been strange. "No, I'm not the same one,"[/b] she said, obviously enjoying herself. She wasn't the same person at all.

"You're related to her? I'm honored that our chancellor would speak of me. I think I remember her mentioning a cousin once. I don't suppose that could be you? I imagine she would have more than one cousin."[/b] The girl who had been injured by the fire, if memory served. Then again, she could have been wrong. After all, a few other, more pressing memories were connected to that fire as well.

The brunette shrugged and closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of the sun's warmth against her skin. "Should I be concerned about my reputation?"[/b] she asked, returning to the fact that apparently, this other girl had heard of her. It was a small campus, so it seemed that word spread rather quickly, didn't it?

((OOC: Longer than intended. Still mostly small talk, though. XD ))

"Well, it's quite simple really. Relying on words is fine in itself, but the delivery of a word and the context in which it is given put entirely new twists on what that word represents. The definition may remain the same, but the word can have new impacts in that way."

She mused with examples for a few moments, before deciding on the most fun one she could think of.

"Like, how I could say you are beautiful."

And it was an amusing example indeed. How would she even know? Her sight was gone, so the beauty would take on a new representation- Perhaps she meant the voice of the woman? Or maybe it was something else entirely? The point was, there wasn't a way to infer her meaning with the word alone- It would require additional information, in a non verbal form, such as proof that she could even see the woman before her, or something along that line.

"Forgive me, I seem to be rambling. But, my point is, the word is only half of the meaning. The rest comes from nonverbal cues, or societal norms. Wouldn't you say that some slang of this generation seems silly? Everyday words given derogatory or respectful meanings when they initially had no such definition?"

It was humorous for a teacher to not want to be called by a formal title- Then again, Kendall was fond of over-abusing titles for the sake of reactions, like calling Aika 'dono' when such a term befitted a much closer knowledge of the person.

"I see. Very well then, Aika. I suppose you might say it could be me. But then, our family is rather large.She could have easily meant my sister, or our distant cousins of the Amaterasu family." she giggled, an unusual thing given her tone and word choice. "Unless she stated any specifics, such as 'my blind cousin' or something, it could have indeed meant anybody. Oh~ And there we have a second example it seems!"

Awfully excited aren't we?

"At any rate, I doubt very much that you have a reputation of any nature- I merely am aware of you through the classic six degrees of separation." Kendall's entire body language shifted, a hand placing itself against her hip in what is typically associated with discomfort. Yet, the way she carried from there- moving that hand to the front of her body, resting it against her other hand and bowing, gave the impression that she certainly meant no offense. "That is, unless that reputation is your goal, whatever reputation you may be hinting at."