Persona-SotVD: Hello World

[Kioku]

Asami sighs as the school-issued laptop bluescreens for the fifth time in thirty minutes. "I'm never going to finish next month's assignments at this rate," she mutters to herself, shutting the defective pile of cheap electronics and leaving the lounge area of the dorm to head upstairs. The halls are oddly empty and silent today, a... welcome? Well, not an especially welcome change, thinks the girl who thrives on social contact. Peaceful, though, and we could all use some of that after the last run in with Shadows...

Finally she reaches her room, seeing only Miyuki inside on her bed with laptop in hand. Asami gives a soft smile toward her, probably unnoticed with how focused the timid girl seems. Wait, she usually... A small, sly grin comes across Asami's face as she puts down her bag and the computer. She steps over, leaning in and then slowly raising her head right behind the laptop screen until her eyes show just above it. "Hey, Miyu-chan. Can I ask you something?"

This is A Rainy Knight's thread. I was just asked to set the stage and make the first post.

[A Rainy Knight]

Miyuki's eyes stop darting left and right across the screen just long enough to glance up, and she suddenly notices Asami with a start.

"Uwah! Oh, it's y-you, Asami..."

She scratches her head and sits up a little more properly in bed.

"S-sure, you can ask me something. W-what's up?"

[Kioku]

"I've kind of noticed that you're on the computer a lot and seem to really know what you're doing..." Asami moves to sit on the foot of the bed and bites her lip nervously while fiddling with her gloves. "I was kind of wondering... umm... do you think maybe if you had time, could you help me understand them better? I can barely get anything done for intro to programming without going over it at least four times. Something about the teaching method they use at school just doesn't stick."

[A Rainy Knight]

"Oh... programming, huh? W-what are they even making you do in that class?"

Miyuki seems to be in thought for a moment, then pats her hand against the covers beside her.

"You can c-come on up if you want. W-whatever it is, I'm sure I can show you on my computer... I like this kind of s-stuff."

[Kioku]

Asami looks relieved and scoots up the bed next to Miyuki. "They're having us start with Python, I think, but we're moving on to Ruby later in the year. I think we barely touch on C by the end. Thanks so much, I hope it won't be too much trouble."

[A Rainy Knight]

"D-don't sweat it," Miyuki says, with a nervous smile. "I'm j-just glad to not be causing t-trouble for you, for once. So... Python, is it...?"

Her hands practically dance over the keyboard and the touchpad on her laptop as she flips rapidly through a stack of tabs and bookmarks on her screen. She looks intently at the screen for a little while before sighing, and relaxing her gaze.

"H-hang on... I t-think I have my little notebook from home with me..."

She crawls off the side of the bed and tumbles to the floor, digging around in her bags in search of some sort of notebook. More interesting, perhaps, is the page she left open on the screen - a half-written document apparently entitled "fridaygoodmorning_draft." From the layout of the lines and quotes on the page, it doesn't look like an essay.

[Kioku]

Asami blinks in surprise and stares at the speed with which the other girl acts. "You're never troublesome..." she comments amidst the flurry. After scooting out of the way so Miyuki can get by, she tries to keep her eyes off the screen to respect her friend's privacy, but her curiosity keeps flicking her gaze back to it. "... You left something up. Is it okay if I read it?" Asami eventually asks, tilting her head with a pondering look at Miyuki.

[A Rainy Knight]

Miyuki barely glances up, her attention mostly focused on searching for her notebook.

"Huh? S-sure, whatever..."

A glance at a few lines of the document reveals the contents to be a story in progress.

Friday, 8:00 AM. This seat in the train's second car has always been my favorite, because it's the one that faces the entrance you always use at your station. I whisper those words under my breath, hoping the people around me don't notice. For such simple words, why must they be so difficult to say to you?

"Good morning."

I breathe, and resolve myself. I have to do my best, and say it to you this morning. If I don't say it now, then I'll have to last two days without the sight of your face smiling back at me, without the sound of your voice and your laughter...

You step aboard, talking with your friend, your face beaming with that kindness and cheerfulness you always show, and I lose my nerve. Today, once more, the words flee from me.

[Kioku]

Glad that her friend doesn't consider it an invasion, Asami reads, scrolling down when necessary. "You're a pretty good writer, this captures human emotion very well." She glances up from the draft for a moment with a smile. "I think it shows real talent and understanding. Have you written a lot before?"

[A Rainy Knight]

"Thought it was over here... Uh, yeah, for a couple of years now... wait, did I leave it... oh! Found it!"

She pops her head back up, climbs onto the bed with notebook in hand, finally processes her absentminded conversation, and flushes beet red.

"WAAAH! Wh-what did I leave open h-here?! N-no way...!"

Her hands fly to the keyboard, but she stops short as she glances back up at Asami.

"S-so you r-read it... I'm s-so embarrassed!"

[Kioku]

Oh, no... she must not have realized! Asami intercepts Miyuki's hands, not knowing she was going to stop anyway. "Please don't be embarrassed, Miyu-chan... I liked it a lot, it was good!" She drops her hands away to pass the laptop back to Miyuki and looks downcast. "I didn't mean to embarrass you or anything, I thought you knew what it was when I asked."

[A Rainy Knight]

Miyuki's embarrassment eventually gives way to an almost smug smile.

"Y-you don't have to flatter me about t-this page," she says, scrolling back up to the top of the document. "It's j-just a draft, see? And it's just a s-silly high school romance story. M-my other work is better."

With the cat already out of the bag, she seems almost eager to boast.

"C-Captivity of the Snow Princess was a lot better. Hundreds of p-people shared that one online. Guhehehe..."

[Kioku]

Asami watches the extreme change in her friend in wonder, giggling when she starts talking about her other stories. "I'm glad! Can I read it too then? I think if I could borrow your notes to get another perspective on programming it might help, or we could talk about it later... I'm working a month or so ahead." This is too good of a mood she's achieved to waste on homework.

[A Rainy Knight]

"If you w-want to, you can. D-don't tell anyone else, though. B-besides Tsubaki, I guess. She hasn't seen any of this, but I t-trust her."

She leans down to grab a pen and a scrap of paper from her bag, and scribbles down a note for Asami. Upon inspection, it seems to be the URL for some sort of online community.

"I w-write under the pen name Snow White. It's sort of a p-pun, see? Like my name, 'Yuki,' and my p-pale skin, and the fairy tale. That's the name of my profile on the site, I mean. N-nobody ever guessed that Snow White was a hikikomori who'd never even f-fallen in love..."

She glances back at her programming notebook, and hands it to Asami.

"H-here. I wrote most of this back when I taught myself to p-program... you can come find me if you d-don't understand something." A glimmer of that smug smile surfaces again. "I'm b-better at romance than code, but I'll s-show you how to do things right."

[Kioku]

Asami stares and blinks a few times with her mouth slightly open at the double meaning. She takes the notebook and scrap of paper without looking away at them, tilting her head slowly and trying to search Miyuki's eyes to figure out if she intended that to sound how it did. By the time the paper is in her hand, Asami ducks a little and looks away, blushing hotly. "Th... thank you. Umm... do you like Yuki better than Miyu-chan? I can call you that if you like." Asami bite her lip only feeling all the more confused.

[A Rainy Knight]

Miyuki shrugs. "'Yuki-chan,' huh? S-sure. You can call me Yuki if you want."

She looks at Asami for a while longer before finally picking up on the obvious blush spreading across the other girl's face.

"D-did I say something weird?"

[Kioku]

"Ah! Umm... Don't worry about it, Yuki-chan, I know what you meant." Asami turns back toward her, face still burning as much as before, with eyes that refuse to meet. "So... I guess I should let you go back to what you were doing, right? Since I should read these stori- NOTES! These notes. Before asking anything else about them." She clearly doesn't actually want to go, or have anything to do, but her confusion and nervousness are driving her to say or do *something* besides sit awkwardly.

[A Rainy Knight]

Even Miyuki can realize that Asami is grasping for an excuse to stick around a little longer.

"S-so this story I'm writing right now, right? The protagonist c-can't work up the nerve to greet the g-guy she likes, but when she's caught in the rain the next week, he lets her b-borrow his umbrella... pretty classic, right? Then she has an excuse to t-talk to him when she returns it on Monday. That's the plan, I mean..."

She seems oddly satisfied with herself.

"In young l-love, it's sometimes the little things that mean so much... th-that's what I imagine, at least."

[Kioku]

Relieved at having something to talk about instead of sitting in awkward silence, Asami's skin starts returning to its natural shade. "It sounds like you have things all planned out." She smiles at the outline of the story. "I... ahh... wouldn't know anything about that either, but it makes sense." She shrugs a little and continues. "I mean, a few girls have asked me out, and more than a few guys, but all of them... Heh. And to think we fight shadows, with what I'm about to say. They didn't see the real me. They wouldn't have even tried, so they weren't worth the time; Tamamo could see just what kinds of people each of them were, and I wanted nothing to do with them." Asami unclenches a fist that she didn't realize she was making while talking, a mild look of surprise on her while doing so. "Ehhehehehe... sorry. Ahh... do you have anything further thought of for the story?"

[A Rainy Knight]

Miyuki is stunned for a moment.

"Y-you've been asked out by a b-bunch of guys? B-by girls, even?" She wrings her hands awkwardly. "T-that's incredible..."

She shakes her head, and continues.

"S-sorry... that's not the point, I k-know. Um... th-that's all I have to write for this story. B-but I always think of new ideas when I can. Lately I've been thinking... maybe a girl whose duty to inherit her f-family's inn ruins her dreams to travel abroad, but then she discovers l-love in her own home town..."

[Kioku]

"Incredible? I guess... I have no idea what they were thinking. And people say I'm crazy..." Asami scoots away toward the wall and twists a little to facilitate better conversational flow without having to keep having her neck turned. "A duty that stops one from leaving... like a caged bird that couldn't fly free even if the door were open, only to realize that she didn't need to, to find happiness." She gives a bright grin. "I think that has potential, you should go for it." Asami looks contemplative and puts a hand on Miyuki's knee to make sure she has her attention and to convey sincerity. "Ne, do you have as much trouble talking to people you like as that? I think you could say 'good morning' to someone just fine." She gives a soft, warm smile, the kind meant to melt all troubles and worries away. "I'll try to help give you courage if that happens, okay?"

[A Rainy Knight]

Miyuki looks back at her, then glances down.

"I-it is that hard. Just l-listen to me..." She sighs. "I c-can sort of talk to you, or Tsubaki, or Lenora. But... heh, can you imagine me talking to a guy? A guy that I l-like? Heh heh heh. No w-wonder there's so many songs and stories written about that c-crap."

She smirks, and leans back.

"I appreciate the t-thought. If that time c-comes, you can call it p-payback for today."

[Kioku]

Asami giggles and leans forward to give Miyuki a partial hug. "Oh, Yuki-chan... I can't pay you back for today, silly, because I'd happily do that without a thought! Just... stick around, okay? That's repayment enough for almost anything." She bumps the side of her head against the other girl's and leans back again. "Here, let me out so I can put these somewhere safe. Don't want to mess up your notebook," she says while scoot/crawling past Miyuki, off the bed.

[A Rainy Knight]

Miyuki scoots aside to make way for Asami to get off the bed. She opens her mouth as if to say something, stops, and then starts again.

"Asami, um-" She hesitates. "U-um... Asami, if you'd like to come and t-talk to me about my s-stories again sometime, I'd..."

She blushes, and looks down as she presses her fingertips together.

"I wouldn't mind that."

[Kioku]

Asami sets the notebook and scrap of paper on her bed by stepping up 2 rungs of the ladder so she can easily see and reach up there. She leans out, one foot on the ladder and one on the bed post, whole body tilted as she smiles over at Miyuki. "I'd love to! I don't know when I'll have a chance to read them, since this school-issued laptop dies all the time, but I'll really look forward to it. Maybe it'll survive if it's just reading." She hops down and giggles, coming over to kneel on the floor next to Miyuki's bed to avoid having to look down while so close. "Hehe... or maybe I'll just have to watch you write them some time, to keep up with the new ones. Ah- sorry, am I being too enthusiastic? Saying 'I'd love to' like that?"

[A Rainy Knight]

"I h-honestly have no idea how you managed to do t-that to your computer, but..."

Miyuki giggles, in a rare change of pace.

"U-um... no, it's fine. I think I like 'enthusiastic' better than 'apathetic' or 'm-mocking.' Heh."

[Kioku]

"Crazy talk. You're too adorable to be apathetic toward and too nice to mock." Asami sticks her tongue out briefly and looks quite possibly the happiest you've ever seen her to hear that giggle. "Heeey... wait a minute, you think I did that to the computer?" She somehow manages to make a pout look radiantly happy. "The school is just cheap on that! It broke down the first time I turned it on, all I did was open up notepad and start typing code for the assignment. Ah... but then I tried to run it, and that's when it crashed..."

[A Rainy Knight]

Miyuki puts a hand to her mouth to stifle it, but giggles some more.

"I'm t-telling you, if that's true, then you're some kind of genius at s-screwing things up. Hee hee!"

[Kioku]

"It... it just wasn't sophisticated enough for my designs!" Asami can't help but giggle along with Miyuki about the matter. "I guess I'll just have to trust in you to show me how to do things right, then!" She plants a kiss on the other girl's cheek and stands up, smiling. "Thank you so much... ahh, I promised Callum that I'd help with dinner, and everyone should be getting back pretty soon." Asami quickly skip-walks to the door and turns back with a little wave and a "I'll see you again after, okay? I read pretty fast, so you can bet there'll be questions!" before exiting the room in the same fashion as she crossed it.

[A Rainy Knight]

"S-see you, Asami."

Once the room is empty again, Miyuki sighs, lies back, and touches her cheek.

That was... quite different from interacting with her online fans.