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Post by Kagami Korino on Jan 9, 2019 21:56:36 GMT -8
Kagami was acclimating nicely, having made a few friends her first week at Ilvermorny. She missed her friends back home, but she could still have them as pen pals. The castle was massive, but that wasn't surprising considering the size of the United States. She had barely even toured a fraction of the halls and rooms. That would change soon enough, as she and Arwen put together their new student guide. There were way more students here, too. Lots of faces and names to try to remember. It was a good thing she had an excellent memory.
Sunday afternoon, she emerged from the Pukwudgie Gardens, hoping to take a walk around the grounds to familiarize herself with them. Arwen had races and she wasn't sure what Gabriel was up to. Kagami had made the Pukwudgie Quodpot team, but she wasn't officially playing until next weekend. All of her homework was done. There was nothing much else to do on a lazy Sunday except wander around. In her hands were a piece of paper and a number two quill. She wasn't an artist, so it would be rather crude, but she was going to draw a sort of map.
She'd already gotten the layout around Pukwudgie house and the stables and paddock. Since she had Beast Lore, that part had been done pretty early on in the week. As she walked, she paused here and there to draw lines and make notations. When passing other students, she'd bow her head in greeting if they greeted her first. Eventually, she got tired of walking the expansive grounds and sat down in a grassy spot near the forest's edge to make corrections to her map. It was there that a pair of cardinals playing in the branches caught her attention. She watched them weaving in and out of the limbs, singing their little songs as they chased each other.
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Post by Shelby Nightingale on Jan 13, 2019 16:47:19 GMT -8
Shelby was headed to the choir room to get some much-needed practice in, her mother's keys in hand. The classroom should be empty at this time of day, knowing that Jaina had practiced in the morning, and Eris might choose to practice, later on, time was of the essence. She still had homework to do as well, which on top of everything else had been selected to represent Thunderbird in the Academic Olympics, had her second-guessing her decision to rejoin the choir. While she was walking around a bush, she quite literally stumbled over somebody who was sitting there, he legs going above her head (which were thankfully covered by jeans) as she fell.
Now sprawled on her back, Shelby craned her neck to see a girl, with silvery gray hair sitting there. Surprise was all over Shelby's face which was quickly turning red with embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going," she said as she tried to push herself up to her feet.
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Post by Kagami Korino on Jan 13, 2019 19:52:07 GMT -8
"OOF!" Kagami was stunned for a moment, having not seen anyone coming. Arms and legs seemed to be everywhere all of the sudden. She was nearly knocked onto her face, but her body didn't bend quite that far. Until everything settled, she stayed ducked and covered for protection. Getting a foot to the nose wouldn't feel very good. She peeked to see the girl she'd met in the library."Sherubi?" she said, shocked, then scrambled to her feet.
"Daijoubu," Kagami insisted, holding out her hand. "I mean, i'm okay. Here, let me help you. Are you hurt?"
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Post by Shelby Nightingale on Jan 13, 2019 19:58:20 GMT -8
"Thanks," she said as she took the other's hand, and hauled herself up to her feet. She began brushing grass off of the seat of her jeans, still pink in the face from embarrassment. "No, no, I'm fine, just my ego bruised a bit," she said with a sigh, looking away. Not that she had much of an ego to speak of, to begin with. She released Kagami's hand and reached down to grab her mother's keys from where they had fallen on the ground, before straightening up and slipping them into her pocket. She wasn't sure why she was still standing there, but she felt like she should explain.
"Sorry, again," she said. "I was in a hurry to get to the choir room and I didn't even see you there." Surprising given the other girl's hair color, which stood out in a crowd.
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Post by Kagami Korino on Jan 13, 2019 21:13:10 GMT -8
"You're welcome," Kagami said, smiling. When Shelby picked up the keys, she looked around to see if the Thunderbird had dropped anything else. Finding nothing, she lifted her gaze again, still smiling. "Don't be embarrassed. I am very small. Hard to see," she grinned. "Especially behind a bush."
Had she mentioned being in the choir when they'd been in the library? Kagami couldn't recall. She'd met so many people in the past week that she couldn't remember every detail. Putting a name to a face was one thing. Remembering everything they said was another. Her memory was good, but it wasn't eidetic. "It's okay, I am okay," she insisted, again. "Tell you what, you can make it up to me by letting me walk with you to the music room."
She put on a thousand kilowatt smile. Kagami had yet to go to the choir room, so she didn't know where it was supposed to be on the map. Speaking of the map, she quickly gathered up her things and hugged them to her chest. "What do you say, Shelby?" she asked, forcing the 'L' to come out correctly.
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Post by Shelby Nightingale on Jan 13, 2019 21:21:41 GMT -8
"Oh, uh ok," she said, surprised the other girl wanted to go to the choir room. She saw the large smile on the face of the other girl and couldn't help but give her a small smile back. "I'm just glad I didn't lose my mom's keys. She would have killed me," she said as she turned toward the direction they'd be walking in. She waited for the other girl to grab her things, Shelby was a little bit curious about what she was working on.
"More transfiguration homework?" she asked, indicating the paper cuddled to the other girl's chest before they started walking across the grounds toward a side entrance which would take them to the electives hallway.
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Post by Kagami Korino on Jan 13, 2019 21:37:12 GMT -8
"Your mother's keys?" Kagami asked, not understanding why she would have her mother's keys here at school in the first place. Maybe it was more of a keepsake. She'd heard of students carrying around small trinkets that reminded them of home. Perhaps she should do that, for the times she got homesick.
"No. Maps. Arwen and I are making a book of maps and other things about the school," she said, beaming. "A new student guide. It was just for me, but we want to make an official book. We will maybe get help from the artists, if they will help."
Walking along, she easily fell into step beside Shelby. Kagami tried to take in everything she could about their surroundings, noting where the door they went through was with a quick scribble on her paper. "I am thinking about including tips from other students on the classes or the teachers," she continued. "So new students know what to expect. Stern, friendly, forgetful, likes apples, wears a toupee. Things like that. Do you think students would answer a survey about teachers and classes?"
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Post by Shelby Nightingale on Jan 13, 2019 21:45:31 GMT -8
"Yeah, she teaches Choir, among other things," she said, cheeks turning pink again as she thought about what else her mother taught. She shook the thought out of her head and listened to what Kagami was saying. A map of the school would probably be useful to new students coming in, she had to admit, nodding along with what the other girl was saying.
"Gabriel and Becca are fabulous artists, I'm sure if they have the time they could help you out," she said as they began to walk down the long hallway. She chuckled softly at the descriptions she used as an example. She shrugged a shoulder, turning her head toward the other girl so she could see her. "Most will be fine with it I'm sure," she said. "Some might not participate." That was the nice way of putting it without making it sound like it was a silly idea. Shelby would be happy to fill one out if it helped.
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Post by Kagami Korino on Jan 13, 2019 22:04:50 GMT -8
"Oh? It must be nice having her here, sometimes," Kagami said, knowing it probably wasn't always a good thing. Judging by the light color to Shelby's cheeks, it was probably embarrassing to her more often than not. Maybe she was an intrusive mother, or one that liked to show embarrassing photos.
"Yes, that is what Arwen said. I think they do not know me well enough for me to ask a favor, yet," she explained, still smiling. At least Shelby seemed to be in a better mood than the first time they met. Making a few marks on her paper, she looked over at Shelby. "That's okay. We probably don't want the opinions of those people, anyway," she chuckled. "It will ask about favorite class, recommended food from the dining hall, and other things like that, too, maybe. Or maybe keep it short and sweet. It would all be anonymous."
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Post by Shelby Nightingale on Jan 13, 2019 22:14:53 GMT -8
This project of Kagami's gave Shelby an idea, a way to find out how many gay and bi kids were in the school. Granted, if she was planning it on being all anonymous then it might be hard finding those particular students, but Shelby had to know that there were other queer students otherwise what hope did she have after she left school?
"You should probably include some demographic information, like year, sex, orientation for reference purposes," she said offhandedly like it was no big deal. "Some might favor certain teachers more than others," she said. She slowed her steps a bit as they approached the choir room. She pulled the keys from her pocket, glad that her mom didn't put enchantments on her door as some of the other teachers did. She unlocked the door and opened it up, stepping into her second home with a relieved sigh.
"You can come in if you want," she said, leaving the door open behind her. She looked over at the piano and saw no music there, but that was ok. She had never had her mom's skill on the piano. She could find middle C but that was about it, she'd just have to practice without the aid of accompaniment.
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Post by Kagami Korino on Jan 13, 2019 22:29:00 GMT -8
"Good idea," Kagami said, making a quick note and almost not coming to a halt when Shelby did in the process. "Yes. Having that information might show biases that no one really notices. Just for classification, though. I don't think it would be relevant to the guide." Younger students might favor fun teachers while the older ones favor the more rigid teachers because they teach their favorite subject. Males might enjoy the classes with young, attractive female teachers more than others. Though none of that was important to her little project, it would be interesting to know.
Making one more note, she stepped into the choir classroom and took a quick look around. "Sugoi... The acoustics in here must be awesome," Kagami commented with awe. "Much better than the music room at Mahoutokoro, anyway. It was so small."
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Post by Shelby Nightingale on Jan 13, 2019 22:34:39 GMT -8
Shelby looked back at Kagami with a slightly smug smile, "A lot of people are shocked when they first step in here," she said, taking a look around. "My mother has worked hard on building up the choir for the last five years or so. She made as many improvements to the room as she was allowed to by the Headmaster," she explained. "Even though Christmas is our first big show for the school, right before Christmas break anyway."
"Do you sing?" she asked, slipping her mother's keys back into her pocket so she wouldn't forget them on the piano. She was curious about the new girl, glad she was in a better mood this time and not being a bitch. She regretted their first encounter and hoped this would be an acceptable do-over.
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Post by Kagami Korino on Jan 13, 2019 22:53:30 GMT -8
"Your mother has done very well. This is impressive," Kagami said, walking further into the room to take a closer look at everything. Making a circle around the piano, she nodded. "Only in Japanese. My accent is too thick for English," she explained, shrugging a shoulder. "I was in a club. Members would sing and dance at festivals. Like an idol group. Or a..."
Kagami stopped, trying to think of an equivalent in English. "One Direction or Fifth Harmony sort of group," she finally said, brow knitted. Even those weren't the same thing, but it was as close as she could get in comparison to j-pop idol groups. "I am a better dancer than singer, anyway."
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Post by Shelby Nightingale on Jan 13, 2019 23:00:46 GMT -8
"Ah, I see. That's a shame," she said when Kagami explained about her accent. "My mom is always looking for new talent," she explained with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "They are opening up clubs soon. I bet Theater club could probably use a dancer," she suggested. "Even if it's only to teach others how to dance if you wanna stay in the background that is."
"There are other clubs too, but I bet you'd have more fun in Theater than some of the others," she said. "I haven't decided which clubs I'm interested in yet," she sighed. "I've got a little too much going on right now to decide, with choir and homework and stuff." She wasn't about to tell Kagami that she had been selected by her house to compete in the Academic Olympics on Friday, which didn't leave her a lot of time to study.
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Post by Kagami Korino on Jan 13, 2019 23:24:33 GMT -8
"Maybe next year, if my English improves," she said, smiling apologetically. "I thought about joining book club or theater club. I wish I could join both, but I won't have enough time. Not with quodpot practice."
Kagami shook her head and approached Shelby, done with her personal little tour of the room. "I am not a background person," she said, grinning. "But I'll consider that when I make my choice. The choir doesn't have choreography? That's too bad."
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