despairfolk | closed to ayenu-chan!

[ Too easy.

They'd just taken a test yesterday, and today the the teacher had passed out their grades, Shintaro coming up with a perfect score as always.

Too easy. Where was the challenge?

But he'd looked over at Ayano's paper, and a hint of the number 26 had been showing through the folds of the paper crane she'd readily made as soon as she'd received her test. When she noticed his gaze, she had smiled at him, no trace of resentment or bitterness towards her grade. It still shocked him as much as it did the first time.

Fast forward.

He was now walking through the gates of the schoolgrounds after the last bell of the day had rung, away from the building, falling into the daily routine. Wake up. Go to school. Go home. Eat. Sleep. Repeat. Nothing too fancy; he'd gotten used to it so long ago. Until Ayano had begun to join him in his walk home not too long ago. Annoying. Why couldn't she just leave him alone? He couldn't stand her way-too-upbeat and happy disposition.

Here she comes. He regarded her with a mere glance. ] "What do you want?"

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[ a grade is.. a grade. ayano's already looked past it, even though the back of her head is nagging at her to do better, try harder, and she tries, by god, she tries so hard, and yet nothing helps. at least she can look forward to seeing shintaro everyday. even if he doesn't like school, he still shows up every day, and that's enough to put a smile on ayano's face. ]

Shintaro-kun!

[ she waves a hand towards his retreating back, beaming as warmly as always as she catches up to his side. adjusting the strap that digs too deep into her shoulder, ayano nods towards him as he turns to greet her. a rough greeting like that was just like him. she didn't mind, it was enough that he made time for her. ]

This is the way to your home? I was wondering if I could walk home with you since my house is this way as well.

[ home. what a strange word. she comes home to three squabbling siblings and a father that's barely home at all, and wonders if shintaro goes through the same circumstances. ]

Edited 2013-11-12 01:27 (UTC)

"Yes, I'm surprised you've never noticed before if you head the same way. Tch... Whatever. Yeah."

[ And that was about as good as a response Ayano was going to get as he kept his gaze forward. As soon as he gave in, he knew he had just made a big mistake. Just listening to her every day go on and on about whatever topic she had in mind during class was bothersome enough-- and now this?

He didn't need her trying to connect with him further in any way, the last thing he needed was a friend. ]

Edited 2013-11-12 01:44 (UTC)

[ ayano laughs gently, shaking her head gently. she had been careful not to step on his toes when it came to following him home, even through she had been walking along with him for a bit. it seemed like shintaro hadn't changed a bit, but she was determined to get him to open up! he had been making so much progress!

he was walking ahead, not even looking at her, so ayano took the initiative to walk by his side instead of behind him. she was already attempting to get him to talk. a walk in silence isn't nearly as enjoyable as a walk with a friend! ]

You did really well on the test today, huh? Shintaro-kun, you're really smart...! Haruka-senpai keeps tutoring me but I'm not absorbing any of it at all...

[ She really was no good at this conversation thing. ]

"Ah, it's nothing. It's not that hard, anyway."

[ And his thoughts wandered back to the painfully red number on Ayano's paper crane. Painful? Since when did such a meaningless number become painful?

So she accepted her low performance, according to what she was saying... Not that he cared much, since he didn't know what it was like to have such low scores, which in turn made him immune to the worries of having to try his best to do well. Irritating? Concerning? He didn't know how to describe what he felt when he thought about her being so happy regardless. He didn't want to admit that he felt anything at all, since he knew he didn't, but...

He turned to look down at her as a passing glance as they walked, just to quickly gauge her reaction. Interesting, yet... bothersome. How could one person be so complicated? ]

That's what I mean. You say it's not hard when it really is quite difficult for me... That's really impressive, you know!

[ oh, but she was just rambling now, wasn't she? quietly, ayano looks down at her feet, shutting up immediately. she was just happy to be beside shintaro, and if he talked back then all the better! but... maybe he wouldn't notice these emotions that were welling up in her heart if she just tried to play it off? it had worked up until this moment.

but the silence is hard to take for her, especially when she had no friends outside of shintaro, takane, and haruka at school and when dad isn't there to cook for them at home and she can see her siblings already planning something else. at least noise helped full the void the silence creates.

despite her wanting to stay quiet because she's sure she's a drain on shintaro's energy, she says something else, if only out of curiosity, half expecting him to deflect it back to her. ]

Ah, Shintaro-kun, do you have any siblings?

Edited 2013-11-12 07:52 (UTC)

"... Not really. I'm pretty used to it."

[ Perhaps it was impressive for her, or for anyone else for that matter, but he was too numb to even comprehend what impressive really meant, in terms of intelligence. Perhaps one day... but not now. It came naturally; it was what he'd known his entire life. He found it a bit strange that she fell silent soon after, but none too unusual-- he brushed it off.

How foolish he was to expect for the silence to remain, at least until they parted ways and would be alone once more. Not talking served as a way to conserve as much energy as he could-- not that he used much to begin with. Human interaction was a bore and unnecessary to him, as well as a useless waste of energy.

He still couldn't understand her motives for wanting to try so hard to get to him. For even trying to communicate with him when he was little to unresponsive most of the time, even rude at his best. ]

"... Yeah. One sister. 14 years old."

[ After a good, solid twenty seconds of hesitation, he decided to reciprocate. ]

"You?"

closed to ayenu-chan!

kill me

im gonna

me too

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