A hooded figure ran across the yard towards the greenhouse. Bare legs were visible from underneath the thick plaid that protected the silhouette from being soaked by the pouring rain. Panting slightly the person seemed to have reached her destination as she started slowing down and eventually stopped in front of the greenhouse’s doors. Pale hands rose from under the hood and carefully tried pushing the door open. Slowly the doors started moving and let in a stream of cold wind that made the leaves on the plants by the entrance dance.

The girl stepped inside and quickly closed the doors, making sure the stormy weather outside didn’t ruin anything inside. Leaning back against the door, the girl stood still for a moment to catch her breath. Feeling the power returning to her body she let a warm smile to her face and inhaled the marvellous scent of flowers that filled the greenhouse.

Releasing a relieved sigh the girl pushed back her hood and straightened herself up. Long blood red hair came to sight and intense aqua blue eyes that scanned the surroundings. The plantation was even more wonderful than she had imagined with beautiful plants and flowers of all sorts. Walking past some of the stagnant living organisms she stopped by a bunch of pretty white lilies that seemed to awaken sad emotions within her blue orbs. “The death lilies…” The girl whispered softly and then strolled further into the house.

Clearing her throat the red haired girl decided to speak up. “Anyone here?” She asked though for several long seconds the sound of rain hitting the glass roof was her only reply. “Hmf. Silly, no one would be out here at a time like this.” Looking outside she watched how the water streamed down the windowpanes. “I guess this will be the place to find me from now on,” The girl mumbled to herself and sat down on a bench where she curled up and closed her eyes. Lying still she continued listening to the rain outside.



WORDS: 339.

TAGGED: Anyone who wants to join. ^-^
NOTES: Whooh~ finally got up my first post for Nayuki! And also a new signature, where I stole Rachel's idea ( - Sorry about that Rachel.
MOOD: Great! C:
LYRICS/QUOTE: quote by Gerard De Nerval.
GRAMMAR: The whole text is written in microsoft word. Text is more or less spell checked though you never know when it comes to us Norwegians, we tend to make mistaskes all the time. n_n

((OOC: You don't have to write all that extra stuff at the bottom of your posts (it's interesting, but not really needed, though you are welcome to keep putting it there if you want to), though the header is pretty. And why does your sig girl have brown hair while your post says red? I'm sure rachel can fix it for you if you ask her. Just wondering. ))

If Nayuki were to glance out into the storm she would see a loan black-clad figure emerging from Spica's Forest. Silver hair long and drenched like her clothes. She walked slowly, stockings soaked, shoes soaked- each step accompamied by that squelching sound, it was Rin Minigawa, the current Etoile. Orbs the color of moss dimmed ever further by not only the rain, but her mood and those memories...

Roses, blood and glass upon peach colored carpet...

She closed her eyes briefly to block out the memory and..her name. Chibiru..... Rin let out a quick breath through her nose and looked up, a figure now sat in the Green House. Was it Rachel? Had the girl waited for her?

After such an odd exit on her part, she didn't want to face the other girl again so soon. She had just began to change her destination when she noticed the hair, no, not the sweet mousy brown of Rachel, and much to bright to be her ghostly fantasy...A slight frown crossed her face as she continued her meadering gait, of coure it wouldn't be her she would never see her again.

The green house had towels, thus her reason for going there. She could dry off a bit before wandering to the dorm to shower and change. Like a ghost she moved, slowly, too slowly to the Green House, her haven, her place. Though as she approached, she could see the girl curled up and relaxed, and with the slightest smile realized she wasn't the only one who liked it here. It was peaceful, quiet, and beautiful, some would say it was just like Rin..little did they know...

Finally at the door she pulled it open, head held high, her poise and grace perfect- as required of the Etoile, She stepped inside, dripping and in seconds standing in her own puddle. She gazed calmly over at the other girl, her white uniform meant Spica, it was uncommon that girls from the other schools were romantic fans of hers, but it was not unheard of. To remain modest, Rin simply bowed slightly to the other girl-whether she was looking or not, and walked to the cabinets in the back to get a towel. The silence was broken only by the tapping of her shoes against the concrete floor, she then wrung out her hair, water sprinkling on the ground and began to dry her hair. The wet feeling in her shoes was repulsive, so she took off her shoes, then her stockings, wrung them out and laid the black things over the backs of the small garden-dinet-set neaby, then sat in the free chair. She looked at the other girl, silently, in such a way that meant it wouldn't matter a bit to Rin if she though the girl's partial undressing was rude.

However if the girl looked, there were many small but deep scars on Rin's knees and shins. The Etoile looked up at the sky through the glass, how the rain fell. So quiet so sad so..

"Achi!" Rin, sneezed-her mature demeanor breaking for a moment, as her eyes widened at the suprised sound. She looked at the other girl, blinked and returned to normal, pulling out a soacked hankercheif to wipe her nose. She chuckled under her breath at herself, how silly the whole scene must look. A bare legged and bare footed Etoile with a towel on her head relaxing in the greenhouse. How absurd. She hoped the girl wasn't a student council member, or she had better say goodbye to plans for relaxing later.

(Oh you noticed that ^-^ I believe I wrote the fact about her hair on her profile, where it stands that she has both red and back hair though it depends. Her true colour is red, though this intense red colour tend to bring back unwanted memories from her past. That’s why she often colour it black (or dark brown that it may look like though it’s described in the anime she’s taken from as black) (: You probably don’t remember my last signature for this character, where there was two pictures of her and on one of them she had half black and half red hair and on the other this pink-reddish hair. That both my avatar and signature this time would be of her with black hair was mere coincidence, but I am aware of the fact. I guess it turned out a little strange as I described her as red haired in my text though both avatar and signature says something else, I’m sorry about that ^.^

And I’ll remember to ask Rachel if I ever got a problem with colours, I’ve seen how great she is at manipulating pictures! Though it may not be needed as I am quite the photoshop/graphic design nerd myself and loves to do different things with pictures. I guess that’s also why I like to make such headers to my posts =^-^=

And I’m sorry about the text, this is the second roleplaying(proboards) site I join and at the first site it was quite common to write such at the bottom of your post. I guess it became a habit along the way ^-^ - Though I was usually too lazy to continue it in a thread, but would usually write it in my first post whenever entering or making a thread.)

Hearing how the door slid open her head shot towards the entrance only to see a completely soaked girl. Noticing how the girl’s eyes moved to meet hers she quickly looked away to avoid eye contact. Not that she didn’t wanted her eyes to meet the others but she didn’t trust her face to give the right signals to this strangers. Her trip to the new school hadn’t been all that peaceful and right now she didn’t doubt that her eyes looked tired. She wouldn’t have been surprised if it turned out she had bags under her eyes either, considering her lack of sleep. Her pride wouldn’t let her meet this woman’s gaze, not at this moment.

Still as soon as she felt the silver haired woman’s eyes leaving her Nayuki’s blue orbs turned to look at the other girl’s appearance. Being new to the school she had poor knowledge about the other students, but seeing how this other kept herself straight and even walked with utter perfection despite the circumstances she doubted it could be just anyone. She was also a St. Miator student, which meant that she was probably more welcome to this green house than Nayuki herself, being a St. Spica student.

Noticing the other girl’s gesture she was quick to nod back at the woman, thanking her fringe for covering her eyes as she did so. Nayuki kept her eyes on the stranger as she went by but turned her attention away from her a short moment later. Feeling slightly embarrassed for having watched as the most likely elder student took of her footwear and then showed off her bare legs Nayuki’s cheeks reddened slightly, though returned to normal shortly after.

Her thoughts drifted back to the flowers as well as her gaze and a short flashback showed itself in her head. It showed just the moment of her past where here hands were covered in dark red liquid and her knees were resting on the floor in a pool of the same crimson substance. She held her hands up in front of her own eyes and wore a terrified expression. Her mouth fell slightly open and soon she could hear her own painful scream fill the air.

Having bit her lower lip ever since the start of the flashback she didn’t realise the pain coming from her lips before she snapped back to reality. It soon made her aware of her surrounding yet again and she was back to gazing at the green eyed lady. The red haired girl now noticed the scars on the other girl’s legs. Somehow they reminded her own her own scars, both them on the outside and inside. Both having hurt deeply though the ones inside had a harder time healing. Something inside Nayuki felt just then that this other girl also was bearing a hard past that she couldn’t let go within her heart, and somehow this put the fifth year at ease.

A sneeze from the other girl made Nayuki jump of surprise and for the first time her own eyes met the dark green. They seemed somewhat surprised as if acting as she did wasn’t normal to her but soon the stranger’s eyes calmed and the eye contact ended. How out of character this scene must have been for the other girl and the fact that her sneeze somehow brightened up the mood a bit made Nayuki make a sound she hadn’t made in quite a while. A small giggle escaped her mouth and her depressed look vanished in an instant.

Stretching out her legs and straightening herself up to get back her normal posture Nayuki wondered how to break the silence. It seemed unnatural somehow not to start a conversation with the other girl now, no matter how lamely she would start the dialogue. “Bless you.” She said in a somewhat softer tone than she normally used.

"Bless you," came the voice from the other. Rin, in reply, began to laugh-quietly at first-but then louder and less reserved. It was a strange feeling that came from her toes all the way to her chest and out into the air. It was a contageous sound that drained all her negative thoughts even the rain seemed to let up. She laughed, but not too long, before she caught her breath and wiped a happy tear from her eye,

"Thank you," she said, "Gomenasai, I'm sorry I don't know what came over me." She smiled and stood, putting the towel down. With another polite bow she continued, "I'm Rin Minigawa, Etoile and representative of the schools. It's a pleasure to meet you." She straigtened and was able to get a good look at the girl. It was then she noticed the faded dye in her hair, as if she had tried to hide the red. In this light, her hair was so much like hers tinged with brown. Blue eyes too, in fact this girl looked lke an older version of her. Rin tried to shake the thought, If this girl had been a little shorter, with-she stopped herself from remembering her appearance. It was best to let it go, especially in polite company.

She thought back to her introduction, saying her title was a habit and in fact she regretted having said it, a few girls who were not fans of hers believed she said it as a way of 'rubbing it in' to belittle other students. This was not the case, Rin said it often as she was required to when meeting officials from outside the school or when introducing herself to a new student or transfer-thus the habit. "Forgive me for undressing, but," she looked to the still falling rain outside then back to the girl, "I'm sure you understand." She wanted to take off her wet, black overdress and tie as well, leaving only the frilly underdress, but decided that would be too inapropriate. for a place like this. This was the second time today she had been stuck in the rain..rain...an echo of a giggle passed through Rin's mind, her giggle. Her gaze focused on the other girl, now was no longer the time for memories such as those.

Crossing her arms over her chest in a relaxed manner, Nayuki couldn’t help but smile at the older woman. She had to stop herself from laughing along, afraid that it in any way would seem rude towards the other girl. “It’s all right. I believe you do have the right to laugh despite your role as Etoile.” Nayuki replied to the older girl, keeping the smile on her face.

The fact that the girl in front of her was the current representative for the three schools didn’t come as a shock to the younger student. In fact it made her glad to know the reason behind this girl’s prideful ness. Standing up the red haired girl bowed as well wondering if she should hold out her hand to Rin. “It’s a pleasure meeting you as well Etoile-sama.” She said politely. The other girl was slightly smaller than herself, probably few inches though thanks to the fact that Nayuki was still wearing her heeled shoes she was even taller than the other girl.

“My name is Inoue Nayuki.” Something was odd about the way Rin looked at her, Nayuki noticed. It was clear that the Etoiles eyes were directed towards her, still it was just as if she still didn’t look at her. -But at someone else. The green eyes seemed somewhat distant from time to time when she set her eyes on Nayuki. Somehow this hurt something inside the younger girl that she couldn’t exactly point out.

“It’s quite all right Rin-san—I Mean Etoile-Sama.” She quickly corrected herself. “We’re both girl’s after all.” The normally dark haired girl continued, quoting one of the things her grandfather had taught her a long time ago. As the words left her mouth she could practically hear the echo of her dead grandfather, making her flinch slightly.

Noticing how the other girl’s gaze became slightly distant yet again Nayuki had to resist the temptation to wave a hand in front of the silver-haired girl’s face. And even though Nayuki’s conscience told her to respect the habit the Etoile seemed to have the fifth year spoke up to the other girl. “Forgive my rudeness, but I would appreciate if you look at me when speaking to me.” She told the other girl in a serious, but nonthreatening tone.

Brushing past the Etoile, Nayuki went to get a jug she could fill with water and give to the flowers in need. Looking over her shoulder she spoke up again. “As much as I wish I could lend you my dry clothes, it would be inoperative for an Etoile to wear a part of a St. Spica uniform wouldn’t it?” She told her sheepishly before walking back to the older girl with a jug in her hand. “Still, I have something that may help a little.” Setting the jug in her hand down on the bench her hands moved to pick up the hood she had been wearing earlier. “You must think it was quite silly of me not to bring an umbrella,” she chuckled a little and held the piece of clothes up in front of the Etoile.

((OOC: Rin is 5 ft 10 in, which is 155.75cm, how tall is Inoue?))

In one line the girl had destroyed the reason Rin's mind kept wandering, her words alone brought a swift and stinging reality home, this was not her it couldn't be, never had been, never would be, and Rin realized how, for lack of a harsher word, stupid it was of the Etoile to even partially be distracted by such a thing. This girl also destroyed another fantasy- however it was expected since the girl was not a Miator, that she as the Etoile was not always the object of affection. This however she already knew, for the student council treated her in the same serious manner, along with students who had noticed her habits after she had passed away.

When the girl brushed past her, Rin stepped aside silently. Lesson learned. She straigtened, the relaxed and tired expression from laughing returned to that she had upon entering. Dutiful, poised, serious, and most importantly silent. Due her mood in the rain moments ago, she could easily over react, and over reactions, anger, sadness, emotions in general that were expressed beyond more than a twitch of the lips or the blink of an eye, were inappropriate for someone in her position. In the presence of another school member, especially an older student, the Etoile should act as the Etoile, not as Rin. Especially not the distant-lost-in-memory Rin that had entered moments ago.

Her eyes softened, as was appropriate so as to avoid looking cold or angry. She bowed again, "No forgive me," she said after a long pause, voice soft and polite, "I'm afraid the rain has run off with my head, I should be more attentive." Inoue's hood was offered up, it would have been rude to refuse it. "Thank you," she said donning the fabric, "actually I don't find it silly at all, look at me-standing out in the storm as I have, I'm sure there will be a reprimand waiting for me."

She looked outside again, the sun was beggining to return, but one could be sure there would be a second wave of rain to come. Rin decided her next stop would definately be the private bath at Miator, then her dorm. Hiding was a thing Rin liked to do, and she did it well. Being elusive and avoiding things she deemed unpleasant was a specialty of hers.

She went to sit again and checked her stockings, still to wet to try to put on again. She didn't dare leave this place without them, and yet her own taste prevented her from putting them on again just yet. So she moved to the familiar cabinets, "Tea?" she asked, pulling out the left over cakes, cups and fruit from ealier. The sun tea was stored nicely, still fresh as it had only been less than an hour since they were last used. Rin blocked all thoughts of anyone or anything but the task at hand, while they were stuck here, they may as well be comfortable. She decided she respected this girl, she had the same ere about her that Rachel did-without the strange aura that made Rin want to pounce, so with her strange reaction fading, she offered another smile as she poured the cold tea into the fine white china.

Nayuki smiled sadly as Rin said how she had been standing outside in the rain as well. “Truth be told I find it refreshing to be outside in the rain without anything to protect me from getting wet. It makes me feel alive somehow.” She told the sixth year and proceeded to grab the water can she had placed on the bench. Looking back at the older girl, Nayuki couldn’t help but regret the words that had left her mouth earlier. Rin was back in her Etoile-posture and no longer just a regular schoolgirl. At least so it seemed. The Etoile was supposed to be perfect, wasn’t that right, to be how Rin was at this moment. But the silver haired student was clearly an emotional girl and different from the one she saw now, a girl that couldn’t be how she truly was because of her status, or say what she wanted. If that was what being an Etoile meant, then why had this girl become an Etoile in the first place? Was it because of her partner, Nayuki wondered.

As much as the Spica student wanted to ask the silver haired girl those questions, she had never been one to intrude in others personal life. Digging into this girl’s past could ruin the beginning of their friendship just as it could if Rin would come to bring up her past just like that. Nayuki had heard how it was important to deal with one’s past and accept what had happened, but still she felt that the only thing she could do was look for a brighter tomorrow. This girl seemed to be dwelling on something that had happened a long time ago, but that was after all none of Nayuki’s business.

Taking her eyes off Rin the younger girl also noticed how the weather slowly was getting better. That would mean that getting back to the school pretty soon would be smart, if the rain should return. Still the fifth year couldn’t have cared less about that fact. Never had she minded rain, nor would she ever dislike the water drops that fell from the sky.

Walking over to a bed of roses she gently touched the soil to see if they were in need for water. Feeling that these flowers still had a wet ground she went to the next and did the same procedure as with the other flowers. After spending all the water in the can on different flowers she returned to the bench and realised that the other girl was about to offer some cake, fruit and tea. Smiling politely at Rin she gave a small nod at the question. “Yes, thank you.”

“I’m so glad Astraea Hill has a place like this to go to, even though it belongs to St. Miator.” She told the older girl truthfully. “It’s so peaceful and beautiful, at least when there’s few people here.” Sitting down she placed the water can down and turned her attention back to Rin. “Tell me, what could you be doing outside at such a time?” She asked tilting her head to the side.


NOTES: As much as I dislike to correct you Rin, I think 5’10” is 177,8 cm. (Almost 178 cm.) Nayuki is 179 cm, in other words just about a centimetre taller (: I believe what you have done is to convert feet to inches to cm. Then the answer is indeed 155,75 cm. But it’s correct to find out what 5’10” is in cm. as 155,75 cm. would mean that Rin is quite small.

((ooc: I've always been terrible at math, lol it doesn't matter anyway. It's a pleasure posting with you. )
 
She poured the tea, just as she had earlier for Rachel and set out the cakes on napkins beside each cup. She sat with the tiniest of sighs and sipped politely as the girl spoke. She agreed very much with the girl, this was her sanctuary, her haven, the slightest flicker of hope for a friend fluttered somewhere deep in her belly-but it died quickly. She put the cup down, resting it in her lap and holding the bottom with her free hand. Inoue had asked her a question, one she didn't want to answer directly,
 
"The rain is quite calming," she answered, "it sets the mind free to wander beyond the bounds we place on it." She said looking up to watch it fall on the glass high above. Her deep green eyes returned to the girl at the table, she smiled kindly. She had given a truthful answer, she was out in the rain because of her, to remember her and think of her for the first time in nearly a year. The crime she had commited that day against her and rectified within the hour was merely forgetting not only her name, but her face. Such a face. Even now as Rin's gaze lowered to look at her tea, she still couldn't remeber. Her laugh echoed through Rin's mind as she looked up again, still smiling slightly. Her eyes were like a dense fog, one could tell she was thinking, but couldn't quite detect the emotion that accompanied the thoughts.
 
It wasn't so much that she was always stuck on this faceless shadow in her mind, it only seemed to bother her when it rained. How she had loved the rain. Most of the time she was busy chasing Rachel-now that thought warmed the ice building inside her, but she did not let that thought linger.
 
"I'm glad you like it here," she continued, changing the subject, "I come here often to mind the flowers, and have occasionally been in charge of gardening classes." She put her tea on the table, "The Maiden Lillies were just replanted them today, they were too large for their previous pots." The pink lillies sat close to the east side of the room, so as to get the most light in the morning. That was a chore she had completed with Rachel not more than an hour before.
 
She daintily cut a bit of cake and placed to morsel discreetly on her tongue, she followed this with another sip of tea. She realized the other girl may have expected her to continue speaking, "All my pretty flowers..." she said rather absentmindedly as she thought not only of the plants, but the metaphor they were as all the girls she had loved and let go in her permanent absense. She blinked again, frustrated wither her wandering mind, "I've recently found it rather difficult to concentrate when it rains, forgive me." She said, ptting the tea down once more and now folding her hands in her lap. She crossed her scarred ankles as well, upon closer examination the scars ran from her knees, down her shins and completely covered her feet, and if one could see more of her flesh they would see they continued up her right thigh, side and arm, (thought they became lighter and less noticeable) as if she had rolled in glass shards. Rin was not self-concious of them, no one brought them up in polite company, just as those who knew of the "accident" never brought up her. The scars were not ugly, but they were still blemishes upon once perfect porcelain skin.
 
The other girl obviously had a story, just as she did, and her love of flowers and rain was already a basis for a friendship that may grow to the point where the two of them might finally be able to let their demons out.
 
But today was not that day.
 
Rin checked her stockings again, still wet; she took another bite of cake.

Sipping her tea Nayuki listened to the older girl patiently, sometimes giving a small nod to show Rin that she was listening and not just spacing out. She could tell that Rin was telling the truth regarding her reason for being out in the rain, but something told her that there was more behind those words than first assumed. Studying the Etoile’s face she noticed that she was most likely reminiscing in her mind. Thinking about something, or someone, but weather the memories were good or bad, Nayuki couldn’t tell.

As the other woman stopped talking for a short moment Nayuki closed her eyes, only then feeling the weariness from today’s trip fill her body. “Ngh,” Resting her chin on her palm the red head’s eyes slowly fluttered open again, settling on the girl in front of her. She was speaking up yet again and had changed the subject to talk about the flowers; something Nayuki did not mind the slightest.

“I see. They’re beautiful.” The younger girl replied and looked over to the mentioned flowers and smiled a little at the sight. Gardening classes, how wonderful that subject sounded. But still the blue-eyed girl pushed the thought away and reminded herself that the greenhouse belonged to St. Miator and that there were most likely only students from that school that had gardening classes. “All my pretty flowers…” she heard the Etoile say, but couldn’t pick up what she meant by saying so. She furrowed her brows and tried her best to read the other girl’s expression but found it hard to do so. Then the Etoile’s thoughtful look changed as she blinked her eyes and frustration became visible within her green orbs. Nayuki’s chance to read her thoughts was now gone yet again.

“It’s quite all right,” Nayuki told her, giving her a smile yet again. It felt a little weird, not wanting to be cold towards this girl. It wasn’t like she was starting to harbour any romantic feelings towards her, but still there was something about the school idol that dragged Nayuki towards her. Weather it was that they both seemed to be a little similar, or simply her mysterious nature, the Spica student didn’t know.

Rin moved her legs gracefully, making Nayuki’s eyes fall down to look at them once again. She had a better vision of the marks on the flawless skin this time, making her study them for a longer time. Something serious seemed to have happened to this woman some time ago, and it wouldn’t surprise the younger student if the accident tied to those scars had something to do with the Etoile’s behaviour.

“I hope I’m not making you uncomfortable Etoile-sama.” Nayuki said as she watched how the other girl saw if her stocking was still wet yet again, taking it as a sign for that the Etoile wished to return to her school as soon as possible. - Or get away from her current company. Gazing outside the younger girl opened her mouth to speak again. “I arrived at Astraea Hill earlier today,” She told her and gestured towards her uniform. “Just seconds after getting this on I got to know about this place and followed the description to find it and I’m glad I did. Somehow I felt that I had to visit a place like this to calm down, before facing a new school and new students. As if taking a deep breath before jumping into it.” Nayuki told her and reached for one of the fruits.


NOTES:[/i] I’ve never been really good at math either, but I guess still being in school helps you refresh your memory (: (Or forces you!) And it’s a pleasure posting with you as well ^-^[/size]

"I come here often much for the same reason," she responded, "for as long as I stay here, it's as if I can be free. Then when I leave, the world begins to turn once more. There are, of course, inturruptions, but they are few." She took another sip of tea, before responding to the earlier starement, "It isn't you that causes me to be uncomfortable," she said looking calmly at her stockings, "not you." she took another sip and put the cup down.
 
The girl had looked at her legs, Rin noticed, they were unusual she guessed. The scars did make them worth eying a bit more than one would otherwise.
 
"glass." Rin finally said, to the girl,breaking her own rule against never bringing them up, "It was broken glass." She gave the girl a knowing look, as if to say 'It's alright, I saw you looking and I don't mind...yet' with her eyes alone. With another small bite of cake she remained silent. She didn't make any move as if to seen uneasy, nor did she try to hide her legs. This girl was the first to see the scars since the Sisters had found her. Rin herself hadn't even looked at them , in fact she ignored them as much as she could. They had healed nicely, some pink, some white but still they were there to remind her of that horrible day.
 
Now that the subject was out, she guessed the girl might ask further, but she left that up to chance. Somehow, she felt she could trust this girl and seemingly relaxed almost back to her school girl state-however the "Etoile" posture and grace remained, she wouldn't fully relax, not here, not yet. But perhaps someday this girl would see Rin as just Rin who she might have been before she was the Etoile, and that something not even Rachel would see...if Rin could help it

“Forgive me. I didn’t mean to stare,” Nayuki apologized truthfully to the Etoile when understanding that she had noticed how the younger girl had been looking at the scars. In an accident were the only victim were you, you would most likely not seem to have such a hard time talking about it, as Rin had. No, this was probably something far worse and serious than those scars on the girl’s legs could show. Or had she been hurting herself in depression? The red haired girl wondered though pushed the thought away, not thinking Rin would go as far as injuring herself like that on purpose. Getting to know that glass was involved the numbers of scars made sense and also how each scar was pretty straight. Imagining how broken glass pieces cut through the other girl’s skin she flinched slightly, having never been a fan cuts or blood.

Opening her mouth slightly, several long seconds passed without a word being exchanged by the two. She was looking at her cup, and for the first time that day finding herself in deep such deep thoughts that made her unable to pick up the sounds around her. For a moment that probably felt longer than it truly was she chewed on the fruit she had picked up earlier in silence, using it as an excuse to keep quiet. Blinking rapidly a couple of times she seemed to snap out of her thoughts and faced the Etoile yet again, swallowing the food. “I see,” The girl managed to reply, forcing herself to break the silence. Unlike the silver haired girl that was handling the situation pretty well, Nayuki seemed to be struggling, trying to find the right words.

The rain had returned the Spica student noticed, and took a sip of her tea as she listened to the rain drumming on the glass roof. “I may not, or I may partly know how it feels. If you don’t want to talk about it, then please don’t,” she told the Etoile in a serious tone. “But, I find myself curios to what happened to your legs” One of her hands placed itself upon the sleeve on the other arm, as if preparing itself to push the cloth upwards her arm and making the skin underneath visible. But she soon removed her hand, hoping it went unnoticed by the other girl.

The voice of the other girl followed by the touch caused Rin to stand rather abrubtly. her expression, however contradicted the alarming quickness by remaining a pacified calm. Her eyes were in shadow a moment later,
 
"So you haven't heard," it was not a question, Rin began, turing from the table to touch the green of the plants behind her, "it was just last year, a Miator student passed away." She paused for the 'gasp' and  comment that most inserted at this point in the story, then continued. "It was tragic, the student was..." she paused as if think of what to say, "very important to all three schools." She picked up the gloves in between two pots and put them on. "Just as an Etoile would be," she said, thus telling who the girl's partial identity, "I was highly affected by her passing myself, as she was my roommate at the time." She picked up the small sheers and began clipping away dead leaves, "When I was collecting her things to send back to her family, there was an accident." Another pause, not that she was having trouble speaking of the subject, in fact it suprised her that she was telling this version so easily. In truth, she was editing the story to suit more polite company, one who didn't know her or the dead girl, one who didn't know her heart...or their love. "She had a glass vase, it fell and broke, I carelessly slipped and fell on the shards. It was very unfortunate." In reality, she had thrown herself, not on the glass, but on the ground in sheer agony of the girl's loss. The glass, and her injuries were just happinstance. "There was so much glass, I couldn't stand or move without injury. Attempting to do just that is what caused these scars." It was almost the truth, almost, it was then Rin noticed she didn't need to explain the whole story, in fact, she could have only mentioned the vase and that alone. However this way, including her death, removed several questions before they could be asked.
 
Snip...snip....snip. Rin clipped at the plant. "Don't fool yourself, I would never harm myself. Life always goes on." She said rather ominously. Snip. Snip. Clip. She accidentally had removed a still green and living leaf. She put the sheers down and retrived the poor thing. She studied it, and turned back to face the other girl, holding up the leaf in the scant lighting, the shadows of the rain crossing her form. "Like this leaf you see," she coninued almsot morbidly, "Though it has been clipped before it's time, the rest of the plant will grow and live on as if this leaf never existed. The only part that will continue to suffer is the stem from which this leaf grew. It will bleed, scar, and then heal. It too goes on, it may even grow a new leaf, while some never do." She dropped it into the pot with the dead leaves, gathered them up and disposed of them. The green leaf a bright moment of poetry against the brown as it fell into the dark of the waste basket. At that point, as Rin removed her gloves. It was clear that the Etoile was now just a stem, whose leaf had been trimmed too soon

Keeping her eyes on Rin, she looked calmly at the girl when she suddenly stood up. Strangely enough Nayuki continued to keep her calm and her eyes didn’t even widen, she had somehow expected all of it to happen at her question. If someone had ever asked her about her own “accident” how would’ve she reacted? Like the Etoile? No one had ever listened to her story after all, it had just been hers to darken within herself. To face and endure.

If she’d heard? - Of course she hadn’t, Nayuki had just told the girl how this was her first day at this place. Did the older girl expect her to know her life story when she didn’t even know who she was? The spica student questioned in her head though listened to the other girl without interrupting. Quietly holding onto her cup her gaze remained on the girl. The Etoile’s attention was now partly directed towards clipping leaves while telling the story, but the future student council president didn’t mind this. Perhaps the other girl found it soothing to do something while telling the story about the dead girl that most likely were close to the mysterious girl.

She was telling the girl’s as well as her own story in a polite manner, but somewhere along the way Nayuki managed to sense some of the deep relationship those two must have had. Despite the fact that the red haired student had never been close to falling in love herself, she could always see the glint in one’s eyes when talking about a most precious person. The dead girl was most likely as far as the Spica student understood, the Etoile’s partner and loved one. By realizing this fact, Nayuki’s eyes softened and she looked sadly at Rin. Still she tried her best not to show too much pity, thinking that wasn’t what the older student sought in telling her this.

Nayuki never opened her mouth to question what the silver haired girl said, but accepted what the Etoile said and ignored the possibility of a lie within the other girl’s words. She trusted the other girl to tell her truth even though she hid some facts or details as well. Letting her eyes follow every dead leaf that was cut off she was quick to notice Rin’s mistake. A mistake that the Etoile turned to an opportunity to further describe the feelings around loosing, and how life still goes on. Indeed, as long as people aged and kept moving time would run. You would have no other choice but do that as well. No one can go back and make a new beginning, but everyone can start today and make a new ending, those were the words her grandfather had taught her. To always look forward.

The younger student was soon to understand that Rin was portraying herself in the stem. The stem would move on though, but had this girl done that yet? Raising the teacup up to her mouth she took a silent sip of the tea without lowering the cup afterwards. The mood around the two had changed significantly and even the sky outside had darkened. Nayuki never showed any signs of fear, but something about the way Rin spoke made her feel slightly nervous. As a usual sign of her nervousness she bit her lower lip, though this action was hidden behind the cup. Lowering her head slightly her blood red fringe covered her aqua blue eyes, as she yet again didn’t trust her eyes to show the other girl the right signs. Putting the cup back down her teeth released her lip though her eyes remained hidden. “I see.” She finally replied, though the younger student spoke no more words.