[AQ] And There Was A Storm. . [Rin/Andrei]

[Andrei]

Andrei weighed the flashlight between his hands, thinking they really couldn't have found it at a better time. Taking a glance towards the darkening sky outside the window, he shuddered to think what they would have done if they hadn't. "Well, yeah, figures. I hear Japan does NOT take safety for granted or something, so having an emergency kit in any form of staff room is normal here, I think. Still pretty new to the country myself, so..." He shrugged. He wasn't even sure where he'd heard that from anymore. His aunt and uncle most likely though. They'd had to have done some sort of research on this country before they decided to move here -- which is more than he can say for himself.

Raising an eyebrow at her challenge, he smirked and ripped open the pack of nuts with his teeth, then poured most of them into his mouth in one go. He made a big show of chewing it too, then proceeded to swallow, letting out a satisfied sigh -- what he didn't tell her was that he knew for a fact that all rations and food inside emergency kits, in addition to having decent storage life, were constantly being replaced upon the closing of their recorded expiration date. After all, what good would they be in an actual emergency if they had been allowed to simply expire? Well, now he supposed those months he spent in the boy scouts all those years ago weren't a complete waste. "...Sure you don't want some?" He offered again, more teasingly than anything.

Suddenly he found the flashlight plucked out of his hands. Not reacting much to it though, he simply continued chewing on more of his nuts as he watched her work it with little difficulty. It didn't take her long to point the thing right at him, making him drop his pack of nuts in blinding surprise. "Duuddeeeee, my nuts!" He whined as soon as she directed it away from him again, glossing his eyes over the sad spill of salty goodness now lying wasted on the infirmary floor. "...Not cool." He said as he fished out yet another pack, this time, stuffing it into his pocket for later. "...And, uh.......what are you doing?" He asked, now aware of the fact that she was currently digging through the files in a nearby filing cabinet. This couldn't lead to anything good.

"...Yeeaaahhh....let's not do that maybe. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not get caught sifting through confidential papers." He said bluntly, plucking the flashlight out of her hands this time and swiftly making his way out of the door before she could have the chance of stealing it away from him again. Now that he had a reliable source of light, he felt much better about going to find that generator. He didn't know how long it would take for the storm to let up, and while that was the case, he'd rather not stay in a seemingly otherwise empty building with no power whatsoever.

[Natsuki Rin]

Oh- he wasn’t from around here.. She surprised herself that she did not think twice about that until he actually brought it up. For a very brief moment, she wondered if he was ever lonely being away from where he was from. .

But that thought soon vanish as she witnessed the boy guzzling down the peanuts like a savage. Her head shook slowly in disapproval. Was he really going to risk getting ill at a time like this? Ugh, she could almost picture a scene of him holding his stomach in agony. (Clearly she was unaware that he knew he’d be alright.)

After shining the light his way, the smallest (and quietest) of chuckles fluttered out from under her breath. That reaction just seemed all too exaggerated. I guess the unintentional planned worked in the end since he dropped the ‘deadly’ nuts. Within a few seconds, her expression went back to an unamused one. That’s when she turned and scurried over to dig in the files.
Nothing juicy seemed to be within these documents. All that was before her was a bunch of names she didn’t recognize and a handful of files that didn’t even make sense to here. Before she could do any further snooping, the light was taken back by the boy.

“Well aren’t you a bundle of fun..” She rolled her eyes at the ‘scolding’. “Whatever, it’s not like there was anything interesting there anyways..”

When the other made his way for the door, Rin groaned and pulled herself up from her crouched position. As she followed him out of the room, she reached down and picked up the package of peanuts. Her legs moved quickly as she attempted to catch up to his light. Once she was able to read the text, the first year let out a sigh of relief. It seemed they still had a handful of months left before going bad. Good.

As the two walked down the hallway, she stayed quiet for some time. With muffled sounds of heavy rain and slow footsteps, and their shadows cast upon the old school’s wall, the whole moment felt oddly serene. The girl’s eyes soon drifted over to the back second year’s figure. This was the first time she had ever spent time with someone alone at this school for this long. Long by now she would have either driven the other or left on her own. Then again, this one didn't really have a choice to but to stay. With her arms crossed in front of herself, she finally broke the silence by bringing up her previous thought.


“So does it get lonely?” She spoke in her usual casual tone, “...Not being from around here.”

[Andrei]

"Thanks, my mom always told me the same thing." He joked, though his expression remained unchanged and he stayed focused on thinking about how and where he could gain access to the school's generator. He had initially been a bit surprised by the fact that she had decided to follow him after all, but then he realized that under the circumstances, she didn't really have a choice with it getting so dark out and with him having the only flashlight. He also expected her to put up more of a fight for just taking the flashlight earlier, or at least ask where they were headed (which he admitted, he didn't quote know as well.), but none came. Maybe she really was burned out. He considered the fact and wondered if maybe he should have left her at the infirmary to get some rest, but shook the idea from his mind when he could already see her shaking her head at him in disapproval to this plan. She was a tough cookie, but he hoped she wasn't pushing herself.

'Let's see...generators tend to be put outdoors since they let out a lot of Carbon Monoxide which is...well, bad. And you'd want to keep it protected from rain and snow and the like, so it's gotta be under some kind of roof or protection, regardless...' He continued thinking as they walked along the empty halls in silence. Now that he thought about it, this was the first time that he'd been alone with Rin since the day they first met. They didn't exactly get off at the right foot and since then hadn't exactly been the 'best of friends', but now that he'd actually gotten to know her better, he realized she actually wasn't as bad as some people say she is. Blunt and straightforward, yes, maybe, but he had to give her credit for tolerating his bad jokes the whole time and staying so rational throughout the whole dilemma.

Her next question, which though seeming to have come out of nowhere, made him glance back at her momentarily. He had the feeling that he probably shouldn't treat this like one of his usual jibes despite how she toned it. Bringing his attention back to the hallway ahead of him, he had a thoughtful look on his face before replying, "Hmm, well, sometimes. I did leave behind the only few people I loved, after all." He started, unsure of where he was going with this, but continuing on anyway. "I'll admit that there are a few days where I get homesick, but surprisingly, it's really not as bad as I thought...being so far away from them and all. I really didn't have much friends back there, but I've only been here a few days and already I've met a ton of interesting people. So In a way.....I suppose it makes up for it."

"...And you? Do you ever get lonely?" He asked her in return. He wasn't even sure why, but something in her face made him feel obliged to ask.

[Natsuki Rin]

When the other had glanced back at her, she made sure their eyes met for the brief moment. It was her way of requesting for a serious answer without having to literally ask for one. His reply wasn’t super unexpected, but she was a somewhat surprised to hear him mention leaving everyone behind.. or at least everyone ‘he loved’. Especially at his age, it was an intense thing to do. 

Once he finished his response, she made sure to notate what he had said in the back of her head. Again, the serious conversations were always what she preferred, and they were easier to have when she had information to work with. A strange characteristic for a first year, but it’s not like that was the strangest thing about her.

There wasn’t a whole lot of thought put into the question she had asked. But now that it was answered, she had a few thoughts running through her head.. One being, what kind of situation would cause him to leave his home and the ones within it? Perhaps that would be a question for her to ask at another point and time.. Her train a thought was eventually cut off once he had asked his follow-up question.

A short, almost haunting hum echoed down the hallway as she wondered on how to respond. Sure, every hormonal teenager probably felt lonely in one way or another. But it was pretty clear that wasn’t the exact kind of loneliness they were talking about. She slowly brought her thumb up to her lips; just barely did she stop herself from her nail biting habit. It always started when she began to think too much. Unfairly, her first answer wasn't as serious as his.

“Are you kidding me?.. I feel like I can’t get alone..”

It’s wasn’t entirely a lie either. At her old school, all but a few knew to steer clear from the girl; whereas at this school, plenty could tolerate being around her (and a few even seemed to enjoy bugging here.)..

Now it wasn’t long that she felt she need to give a better answer than that. But, she had to contemplate just how in depth she wanted to get. It was funny how different their situations were. While the second-year boy was lonely for leaving ones he loved and cared about, Rin made the ones who loved and cared leave her (all but her family, of course.. who do their best to tolerate their child).

“But seriously.. I’m sure you know me well enough by now to know I let myself be alone—“

Though what she said may not have made complete sense.. what the girl was trying to get at was that it was obviously no secret she was not a friendly person. She was well aware just how unpleasant she was to be around, and that her own behavior caused others to avoid her. She really didn’t “deserve” to feel lonely, as it was all her own doing.

After a brief moment, she cringed at her own emotions. Sheesh-  she thinking way too much about her own nonsense tonight. She let out a sigh before speaking up again, this time in a less 'downer'-tone.

“So why did you leave home? Family issues? For an adventure? “

.. Also they’ve been walking for some time.. he was still in search for a generator, wasn’t he?

[Andrei]

He rolled his eyes at her first answer. Yup ... saw that coming as well.
But well, he wasn't going to push her if she didn't wanna say anything. He was about to leave it at that when she actually followed it up with something else. -- he didn't quite understand what she was trying to say, though. That she preferred being alone, maybe? Yeah, that was probably it. He'd work off that. "Well now that's no fun, being along all the time." He started, almost petting her head like he usually would anyone else, but then worried that it might piss her off instead of comfort her. "I mean, you're not having such an awful time with me right now, are you? And personally, I'm glad I ran into you before the power went out. This experience wouldn't have been as bearable otherwise." And he meant it. He just still didn't want to admit why.

At her next question, he didn't even have to think about the answer as he did the previous one. "Money problems." he quickly replied, not even bothering to hide it. Thankfully, he didn't have to elaborate more on the topic. He froze mid-stride. It was quick as it was sudden, but he could have sworn the lights overhead had blinked once. Now twice. Was...was the power coming back on? Had she noticed them as well or was he just imagining things. Maybe they didn't even need to go out looking for the generator. If they just waited it out a bit, then maybe the power would come back all on its own? He looked over at her once more to confrim that they had indeed seen the same thing. "...That...That wasn't just me, right?"

[Natsuki Rin]

“Well, I’m hardly alone.. so we don’t have to worry about that, yeah?” She said that as if it was almost a bad thing. Truthfully she didn’t mind the company of others.. as long as they were tolerable. As for the boy and there time here, she’d rate it at about 6 out of 10 on the ‘tolerable scale’.. just barely passing. Though, that was better than average compared to all her other experiences here.

As for him ‘admitting’ she made the time bearable.. well that was slightly surprising. She would admit she didn’t exactly make herself useful at all during all this.. unless you count her sifting through a couple drawers. But whatever, if that’s how he felt then she wouldn’t argue against it.

Once he gave the reason for leaving home, a simple nod was all she gave as a response. Of all reasons there could have been, money troubles certainly made sense.

Huh, then suddenly and briefly, and hallway lit up (if only for a split second). Yes, she noticed that too.. but before she could even respond, the lights began to flicker on and off. You could hear the buzzing of the electricity attempting to work its way back on. After a few more seconds, the power seemed stabilized and was completely back on.

With her eyes half squinted and still adjusting to the light, Rin let out a sigh of relief. She wasn’t exactly looking forward to having the other mess with a generator. I guess they didn’t notice that the sounds of the storm were dying down as well.

Rin left the other to enter the closest classroom (where the windows were). From what she could see, the storm was indeed coming to an end.

“Looks like we can get out of here soon—“