Secret of the Velvet Door-By the River

[Philemonite]

The small river that passes through the park has always been interesting gathering spot. However, this early in the morning the park is mostly deserted. Only a couple of people would pass through the park, on their way to work, but they didn't have the time to admire the beauty around them. An occasional jogger would run through the park, but they payed no attention to their surroundings. Still, there was one bench in the park that wasn't empty. A dark haired boy was sitting next to the river, flipping through the heavy book. At first glance he looked like he was no more then 15, mostly because of his child-like face and his short stature. Looking at his watch, he puts the book down next to him and whispers to himself: "10 minute pause."

[Kioku]

Chance led her to choose this route for today's run, but cooking enough breakfast that the others wouldn't feel Callum's temporary relocation from the dorm is what led her to not get outside until a good two hours after her usual time. The sun is already up! Who would want to wait until now to go out running? Even so, Kimura Asami finds herself, through a combination of chance and time, running straight toward a tree with intent to climb, to hang around on a moment or two before heading back home. When she feels a whisper in the air, more than hears it - a result of Tam's re-sorting, no doubt, - she bends to the side and twists around to see the boy with the book, where he was previously occluded by the tree from her angle. Asami looks on with mild curiosity, debating whether to interact - he did just put down his book, after all...

[Philemonite]

I took a moment for the boy to notice there was someone there. And then a few moments to analyze her. He thought there was something familiar about her, but he wasn't sure.
"Sunrise is my favorite time of day. The river and the park make it even more beautiful. Don't you agree?"

[Kioku]

Asami tilts her head and smiles slightly at the friendliness. "It is quite nice, yes. I usually miss it, but now I'm a bit sorry that I do." She hooks her knees over the branch and lets herself fall backward, so that she's hanging upside-down facing the boy instead of sitting sideways looking over a shoulder. "Is that why you're here to read? It's a good spot, but fairly unconventional."

[Philemonite]

A slight hint of a smile appears on the boy's usually serious face.
"I never miss a sunrise. Not if I can help it. This river is important, I like to spare a few minutes to enjoy this place. The book is here to remind me I can't waste too much time. I have other obligations. What about you, what brings you here?"

[Kioku]

"Chance, I suppose. I run nearly every morning, though usually a couple of hours earlier than this, and I kind of just randomly picked a part of the city to go to." Asami does an upside-down shrug. The river is important? But we've only just met, it's not as though I can ask something that might be personal so quickly...

[Philemonite]

"You are new to the city, right?" Usually, that is a normal question, but the way that the boy asks it is kinda strange.

[Merilan]

A white-haired girl in clothing that marks her out as an obvious shrine maiden - bright-red hakama pants, an embroidered white haori with red threads on the loose sleeves, along with a large red ribbon at the back of her crown - soon crosses the park, in quiet contemplation. She has a large paper bag with her, stuffed to the brim with vegetables and groceries from a morning farmer's market she frequents, as well as a bucket of tofu in the other.

Myung-hon glances over towards the two, curiously, but does not make any motion to approach them yet...

[Kioku]

"Mmh... Pretty new! I haven't charted- err, been to everywhere in it quite yet, only got here a couple of weeks ago. Is... do you mean there's something I should know about the river, if I weren't new?" Asami starts to swing very gently on the branch. Apparently, this is one of her better moods, though this early on nobody would have started to identify them yet. She isn't in a place to see, much less pay particular attention to, the shrine maiden.

[Philemonite]

"Don't you find it strange that so many young people are drawn here lately? Most of them end up in the academy."
There was something strange about the boy's voice, either it was calm or completely devoid of emotions.
"I am sure that your friends will tell you about it soon. I guess it doesn't really matter any more anyway." The boy answers, looking at the girl in the distance.
"Is that a friend of yours?"

[Merilan]

Myung-hon starts just a little, caught out. She didn't even mean to listen in, and is a bit embarrassed and anxious for it... though her face, once more, remains relatively emotionless. She quietly moves towards the two, bowing her head.

"Good morning. I am sorry, I did not mean to overhear your conversation," she says sedately. her voice has a foreign Asiatic accent to it, though she isn't too terrible with her Japanese. She sets the wooden bucket of tofu on the ground, square pieces of pressed soy bobbing gently.

[Kioku]

Asami twists her torso around at the question, trying to see who the boy is talking about. "I don't think we've met, but that doesn't necessarily preclude her from being one of my friends..." She watches the miko walk over and takes a small sharp breath when the latter addresses the talking pair. On Asami's face is surprise and a little bit of bewilderment, as if something had just broken her expectations and she isn't sure how to react. "Ah... don't worry about it." Then that means he's... "I don't think it was really a private topic, anyway, and we're in a public place after all." Suddenly a bit less comfortable with hanging from the tree branch, she swings forward, then back and unhooks her legs in a half-backflip that ends with her feet on the ground.

[Philemonite]

"I don't think we've met, but that doesn't necessarily preclude her from being one of my friends..."

"That is a very interesting way of thinking. It surprising how originality is rare this days. So how the town, at least what you have seen so far?"
He gives a slight nod to the miko, while talking to the other girl.

[Merilan]

Myung-hon is quietly astonished at the girl's acrobatic talent, watching her land from the tree branch with aplomb. She regards them with interest, gray eyes flitting to the athletic girl and the dark-haired boy with the book. The miko wonders if she goes to the same school that she was scheduled to, very shortly.

"It's different, but it is pleasant," she answers, before realising it wasn't aimed for her. Ah. Uh. Her eyes flit aside, feeling as if she's committed a faux pas.

[Kioku]

Instincts taking over to try to cover how flustered she is - and that feeling is still quite in force - Asami smiles very slightly and replies to the exchange. "You know, that's just about what I'd have said too! Different, but pleasant." She winks at the other girl, trying to make her feel helpful rather than ashamed.

[Philemonite]

"For a small town it is very interesting. Many strange things happen here. Never a dull moment and all that. I presume you are living one of the dorms?"

[Merilan]

Myung-hon looks a little more encouraged, as the girl covers for her. It's a very nice and welcoming gesture. "Ah..." Myung pauses, before answering, "I currently live with grandfather at the Higashikata Shinto Shrine nearby. I take care of the shrine. But I am due to start school in a few days, and he did mention dormitories. I need to look at how far it will be..."

[Kioku]

Asami nods in response to the question, while internally questioning the miko's reply. If she already lives that nearby, why would she be put in the dorms? Except for the sponsored one we're in, they're pretty expensive compared to just living at home... She shakes aside the thoughts for the moment. "Well, I don't think many of the dorms are more than a few kilometers away, except the ones that have really good train service access."

[Philemonite]

"Then I guess you were given a scholarship? Most of the dorms are reserved for those that are deemed worthy by those who run the academy. I hear that professor Setros is the only dorm manager who is accepting new students at the moment. I presume that's where you are stationed?"

[Merilan]

Myung-hon looks both relieved and daunted, respectively, by Asami and the dark-haired boy. "I... do not know much at the moment, to be truthful. I heard Grandfather speak about a Blue Moon Project... I believe? But he said I would be informed better once I moved in." She tilts her head, that nervousness of perhaps being rejected by the academy floating about her eyes. She didn't know it was such a prestigious or selective academy! Whatever could her adopted grandfather be planning for her future?

She does turn towards Asami, and say, "That is a relief. I would not wish to cease my shrine duties while I was studying."

[Kioku]

Blue Moon Project? Asami doesn't snap her head to look at the girl when she says this, but it's a close thing. Indeed, she over-compensates a little in stilling her reactions to the point that there's nearly a palpable chill in the air around her. It's as though she feels nothing at all. After nearly ten seconds like this, a small (and slightly creepy!) smile forms on her face and she slowly turns toward the miko. "I see." Most interesting. We'll be seeing a lot of each other in the future.

[Philemonite]

A slight smile forms on the boy's face when the girl mentions Blue Moon Project.
"Yes, that is professor Setros's team. It's nice to know my instincts are still sharp. I presume you are already in the dorm?" he asks the other girl.

[Merilan]

It'd be hard to believe of anyone, but Myung-hon is a miserable judge of tells and facial tics, and thus Asami's enigmatic smile and chilly reaction sail straight past her head where it should really warn someone! "Oh, are you attending the school as well, Miss-- er," once more, she trips.

[Kioku]

"Kimura. Kimura Asami. Although, I let most people just call me Asami." Her eyes flick to the boy and back. "Yes, I suppose it does look like we'll be staying in the same place. Though admittedly, most people wouldn't have heard of the Blue Moon Project..."

[Philemonite]

"Of course not, sharing information with outsiders is not allowed. After all, it is a secret club." he answers with a wink.
"Ronald Ugashi, it is a pleasure to meet you both."

[Merilan]

They'll be staying together in the same place? Then, it's likely that Asami is a member of the same 'secret club'... Myung-hon shakes the thought off, not quite certain why this has such an element of secrecy behind it, but does accept it. If it is secret, then it is secret. Should Grandfather have told her to not mention it? Besides, another concern has come up, as she finds herself last on the queue to introduce herself. "Ah-- my name is Hakari Myorei."

A pause, and she momentarily crests over a peak moment of anxiety, like she's doing something she isn't supposed to be doing. "Is... what I am supposed to introduce myself as. But I prefer... Lyeo Myung-hon." It's a foreign name, which doesn't quite sound as smooth given the "L" and the "g" phonetics.

[Kioku]

Ronald... Ugashi? I'm not entirely sure which name is which... Asami frowns slightly, trying to figure out which is his given name - she'd assume that it was Ugashi, but Ronald sounds very western, and they do things all backward. Setting that aside for now and filing the other information he gave away for later, she focuses on the way that the miko spoke. "What you're supposed to introduce yourself as? Is someone forcing you to hide your name or do something you don't want to, Lyeo-san?" Her voice takes a slightly dangerous tone.

[Philemonite]

After noticing Asami's frown Ronald gives her a wink and adds:
"Yeah, it's complicated. My mother is american, and she named me. And I have been away for a year, so I'm just getting used to how things work here. You can call me Ron if that helps."

[Merilan]

Ronald's admission brings Myung-hon the relation she needs to bridge the conversation between the two: "It-- it is similar with me, as well. My adoptive Grandfather brought me to Japan... and-- I was not allowed to keep my Hangul birthname when I was naturalised here."

She scuffs her shoes a little, with the tone of someone who's had to explain this awkwardness multiple times. "But I am more comfortable with that name. I, too, am only getting used to how things work here. It is nice to meet you, Ron." She bows her head, then flashes an apologetic look to Asami.

[Kioku]

Asami seems a little more relaxed after Myung-hon's explanation, but not much. 'Not allowed to keep her birth name'? Sure, a name is just a convenient way to identify someone, but it's your own choice what to be called... "Then that's the name I'll call you." She raises an eyebrow to Ron with a small snort of amusement. "Don't worry about it, I can catch on. My mother is Welsh, see... so I grew up learning English at the same time as Japanese. I can't say I've ever been outside of the country though."

[Philemonite]

"Like Asami said, we can call you however you want."
Asami's answer surprises Ron slightly, but he doesn't let it show (at least not that easily).
"I didn't really have the time to check the new initiates. The only foreigner I know about is the Russian, Alexandra pulled a lot of strings to get him here. But that is what she does best."

[Merilan]

There is a note of relief from the miko, especially as the two share their own mixed heritage. She hadn't heard about America and Wales before, but is, somehow, glad that there is a point of commonality somewhere, here. She quietly shuffles the paper bag of groceries in her arms, and then asks, "Were you in... American for a year, Ron?"

[Philemonite]

Ron's face brightens when he hears the question, but he tries to make his answer sound uninteresting.
"Yes, I was at Stanford for two semesters. Technically, it was three semesters, but it only took me a year."

[Merilan]

Myung-hon does well to hide her lack of knowledge about what a 'Stanford' or even a 'semester' is. "Hmm..." judging by his face, "It sounds difficult, but you must have done well."

[Kioku]

Asami has no idea what 'Stanford' is, but a raised eyebrow is the only indication that anything is amiss. In fact, it looks more like she's questioning his age - which to be fair, she is - than anything. "She does like pulling strings," she muses to herself. Even if her 'people-skills' are lacking. Hey now, one particularly bad show of interaction doesn't make the rule, or even set a good example of what she's usually like. Yesterday could have been the exception, rather than the norm! Asami shakes her head a little and her eyes re-focus from her brief distraction. "So how recently was that? Getting back here, I mean?"

[Philemonite]

"I can't complain. I managed to accomplish what I wanted and I am one step closer to reaching my goal. It was a productive year."

"I just got back less then a month ago. I'm using what little time I have to prepare for the next step in my education. Unless Alexandra and the others require too much of my time. They have already sent a call I am hesitant to answer."

[Merilan]

Myung-hon tilts her head in curiousity. "Ah, what do they require you to do?"

[Kioku]

A call that... what is it they suspect is going on? We haven't even been sent out into the field yet, and they think we need more backup? Or could it have to do with something else... heh. Not likely. Asami takes a step to the side so she can lean against the trunk of the tree. "What indeed..."

[Philemonite]

"I do not know yet. The protocol they activated is serious business. I do not know why they activated it, but they summoned former members of the team. But you shouldn't let that trouble you, you will be informed in time."

[Merilan]

Myung-hon just looks flat-out puzzled at this point, wondering what Ronald is going on about. "Um, if this is a private conversation, I could be on my way..."

[Kioku]

Asami flashes a bright smile at Myung-hon. "It's alright! I don't mind if you stay at least, you seem nice!" She glances at the rising sun and winces. "Ah... but I should probably start going back. I'll be late for... oh. Right. They haven't replaced English in my schedule yet. No hurry then."