Twin Lights PV Closed

Speech - Thoughts

The sunny grounds and gentle winds in the grounds had drawn Hikari's attention even before the bell rang to signify the end of the school day. He packed his bags, barely registering the action, and quietly slipped out of the classroom, into the waiting expanse of green, the lush meadows seeming like an inviting place to be after the long day.

The grounds of Mahautokoro provided for a comfortable retreat after classes. There was always lots to see— something to be recorded— which roughly translated to lots to be drawn. The sketchbook that had been a gift from his mother had become a permanent resident of his bookbag, alongside a treasured set of pencils he had picked out specially for the purpose.

He sought out the shade of a tree, dark against the shiny gold of the sun-drenched field, and sat down, opening his book to a fresh page, a pure white expanse looking up at him, filled with promise. A eurasian nuthatch flew down in front of him, small and swift, with the pretty blue-gray plumage glinting under the sunlight, and soon, Hikari's pencil was moving, tracing the delicate forms of the little bird onto the paper.

He felt him come much before he actually saw him, a shift in the air, the crunch of soft footsteps. His moment of quiet seclusion was interrupted by the form of a black haired boy, sillhouette sharp against the bright backdrop. If Hikari's memory served correctly, he was a classmate. They had shared a few classes, although they had never exchanged anything beyond the occasional glances.

A bright smile followed the boy's greeting, and Hikari blinked at the newcomer as his name slowly floated to the surface. Akari Kabukimono.

He stood up, closing his book with a soft click, before offering a quiet reply, "Kabukimono-san. It's been alright." He turned towards the little bird still hopping about on the ground, nodding and turning back towards him, "It's a eurasian nuthatch"

Akari's offer of a konpeitō took him by surprise, and he hesitated, eyes shifting between the boy's red-tinted eyes and the candy on his palm. Hikari liked konpeitō, having grown to it because of his younger brother, Hayato. It wouldn't hurt to accept one...right? He accepted the konpeitō, popping it into his mouth, "...Thank you."

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Mahoutokoro, Afternoon Japanese - English - Thoughts IC Date: Friday, February 7th, 2025 Calming Presence is in effect Interacting With: Hikari Fujimoto @Pamela Graham

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XXXThe sunbeams streamed through the branches of the surrounding trees, the branches blocking it partially and creating an interesting shadow pattern on the ground. Akari made a small 'oooh' noise, momentarily distracted by the spots of light rippling over the grass. He was sure it would look even better when the lush leaves grow back in.

XXXHikari nodded toward a little bird that was hopping about the ground, perhaps looking for insects and seeds to eat. Its head swiveled curiously as it moved. Akari recognized it almost immediately by the black stripe extending from its beak over its eye and the blue-gray feathers on its back and wings. He spent a lot of time watching and identifying birds with his mother in his childhood, and the characteristics of this adorable, common bird came to him naturally. Akari was quite pleased to see fauna that reminded him of home, especially the feathered ones!

XXX"Ah, yes, the nuthatch!" Akari smiled, crouching down to look closer at the little bird after Hikari took the candy from his palm. He made sure not to step on his own robes. "Hello," he said in a slightly quieter voice. He reached out slowly to pat its beak. The bird cocked its head at him, watching him with its dark, beady eyes. The little creature felt quite fragile, though Akari knew that wasn't the case. He could already feel the mandatory 'awww' bubbling up inside of him, an unrestrainable reaction.

XXX"You are very beautiful," he told the bird with a smile. "I would feed you, but my seeds are in the dormitory." No matter how many of the same bird Akari saw, he would always have the same reaction. What can I say? Each of them are adorable in their own way!

XXXAkari rose back to his feet after a moment of admiring and petting the nuthatch, turning back to Hikari. "You were drawing this little one? I'm sure it must be amazing," he commented brightly. "You draw really well!" He was a little sad he wasn't able to see the drawing, as birds were his favorite animal, but he didn't want to upset Hikari in any way.

XXX"I can't wait for spring to arrive," Akari declared, clasping his hands together in front of his chest excitedly. "More of our avian critters will return to Japan for mating season." The ones that migrated back for summer usually had more colorful feathers, as well. He would have to prepare for all of the bird identifying events! Mahoutokoro was further south than his home, so it was a perfect time to add more species to his 'bird bank.'

~✩✩✩~✩✩✩~✩✩✩~✩✩✩~✩✩✩~✩✩✩~

Reducio

Eurasian nuthatches often show little fear of humans, known to be quite friendly and approachable. These bold little birds are practically fearless! Roll, 65% chance to approach.

Success!

Speech - Thoughts

Hikari watched his classmate pet the little brown bird with mild curiosity. He didn't know the boy at all— never really cared enough to. He preferred to be alone with his thoughts and his books and no-one had ever tried to bridge the quiet silence that naturally accompanied him. Hikari knew that he wasn't exactly a very approachable person; Hayato had always teased him about his "scary resting face", a fact that Hikari could never argue with.

Akari had, though. Hikari wondered why. What did he want from him? There was no reason for him to be interacting with someone as reserved and withdrawn as he was.

Yet there was something about him, a kind of softness in his gait, in the way he spoke to the feathered animal, that shifted Hikari's attention from bird to boy, and to the bright sincere smile that seemed to easily grace his features.

Hikari slipped the last of his pencils into its box, shutting it with a soft click as Akari commented on his drawings, which, quite honestly, confused Hikari a little. Had Akari seen his drawings before? Was he the type of person to say that he liked something without knowing what it was? Hikari had no patience for empty compliment; they were shallow, and felt extremely insulting.

He schooled his expression into a practiced neutral, allowing a nod in acknowledgement to his words, while gradually beginning to explore possibilities of a graceful exit.

Akari did not seemed to be finished with his ramble, enthusiastically bringing up the avain critters which were due to return in a few months. His joy was contagious; Hikari felt a soft smile creep onto his face despite himself, the thought of spring sparking something in his chest. "The cherry blossoms would be in bloom soon too." He murmured, more to himself than to Akari. The red-white flowers were one of Hikari's favourite subjects for sketching, delicate, fleeting and full of life.

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Mahoutokoro, Afternoon Japanese - English - Thoughts IC Date: Friday, February 7th, 2025 Calming Presence is in effect Interacting With: @Hikari Fujimoto @Pamela Graham

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XXXThe little bird hopped away from him, presumably resuming its search for food. The shape of its tail and head almost made it look haughty. For a moment, Akari imagined what it might be thinking: 'That human didn't give me any food! Hmph!' A chuckle escaped him as he watched it go. As it disappeared among the greenery, Akari turned back to look at Hikari, who was putting his drawing supplies away.

XXXAkari had never actually gotten to see any of Hikari's work, only vague glimpses from afar, but he certainly spent a lot of time and effort on them... at least, that's what he assumed. Then they must be good, right? Even if they weren't, at least the viewer could see the effort in them. Akari had a lot of experience looking at bad art- mainly his own.

XXXThe best he had achieved from sketching a bird was the outline, but once he moved on to the feathers and stripes and all that... well, let's just say that it was a disaster contained in a bird outline. It didn't stop his mother from hanging it up on the wall, though. He was much more skilled at the physical arts, like sculpting. Not that he sculpted. Akari had merely tried out pottery once, and it actually looked like what he was trying to make. ...except then he tripped while carrying it and it smushed on the ground. In my defense, I was looking at my sculpture and not the ground. He had salvaged a small chunk, which he just molded into a sphere and glazed and fired it to ultimately stand innocently on the bedside table in his room.

XXXHikari didn't seem to react much to his words, merely nodding. For a moment, Akari wondered if the other boy wanted to leave. Akari was glad to see Hikari smile, as he usually held a resting blank face, regarding everything without much expression. He continued the conversation, nodding enthusiastically in return. "Ah, right, the blossoms!" His thoughts flashed back to ikebana, a practice he enjoyed. Would Akari be able to pick his own flowers straight from the garden for his own arrangements? Wait, am I even allowed to pick flowers at all? The question was truly one that he should have asked a long time ago.

XXX"I'm excited for those, too," he beamed. He took a slight step back to glance up at the trees, most of which were bare-branched. Akari imagined each delicate flower budding at intervals along the bark and smiled again. He was doing a lot of smiling today, perhaps even more so than yesterday. Ooh, but what about rain... The flowers in his mind changed to have raindrops on them, silvery and shiny. Even better. The sun that was shining right now was perfectly wonderful, too. To Akari, discussions about the weather were perfectly normal topics and not at all awkward.

"So, Fujimoto-san," he hummed with yet another smile. It's an automatic reaction, okay? I smile at a lot of things! "Have you joined any clubs yet?" He asked hopefully.

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Japanese -English - Thoughts

Hikari didn't respond immediately. He finished zipping his pencil case, slipping it into his bag, followed by his notebook. Then he turned towards the boy, who was still waiting for his reply.

Clubs?

The truth was Hikari hadn't, well, not yet anyway. The only club which had drawn his attention enough to seriously consider the proposition was the Art Club. Yet, the thought of joining made his hesitate. Joining meant committing to it, more importantly, it meant people.

"No." He replied simply.

He watched Akari curiously. His black hair sparkled in the sunlight, and the boy was practically glowing, smiling as if the world had been nothing but kind to him. Hikari wasn't used to that kind of attention, not with the way he was. Most people would have left him by now.

It was... nice. He swallowed; something in Akari's expression made him feel the need to explain more, feeling that the one word answer was just rude, a disservice to the efforts Akari was taking to talk to him.

"I looked into a few. Haven't...haven't made a decision."

He shifted his head away, unable to look at the boy, and focused on the green a little distance away, where the bird had reappeared, or maybe it was a different one; Hikari had no way to tell. It hopped about on the grass, tiny head swivelling from side to side.

"You? Joined any?"

The question lingered in the air as Hikari glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes, and then, he felt it- a slight shift of energy, and he brushed his fingers against his forehead, where a stray strand had changed color.

To red.

Wow. Just my luck. Hikari had given up trying to control the emotional side of his metamorphmagus and had been focusing on changing his appearance otherwise. This had helped in the way that, now, atleast, the shift in colors were comparatively subtler than before.

Not this time though.

Luckily, the change seemed to have been limited to only one strand and not his whole head. Still, it was a reminder of how easily Akari's behaviour had stirred something in him. He seemed like the kind of person who would sign up for everything, just to see what he liked. Bold in a not-really-very-quiet way, facing every challenge in a ""flowers-and-fireworks" way, which felt oddly grounding.

That was probably why it was so hard to look away.

February 7th, 2025

Japanese - English - Thoughts

@Hikari Fujimoto

Mahoutokoro

XXXHikari seemed a bit hesitant to answer, opting to stare at a fascinating patch of grass. Akari turned around to see what he was looking at, which was... indeed a fascinating patch of grass. Ah, but the bird came back! Or- is it the same one? I can't really tell from here, but the stripe might be at a slightly different angle...

XXX"Yes, I have!" he nodded enthusiastically. "The Ikebana Club and the Gardening Club... I thought about joining the Calligraphy Club as well, but I think that might end up getting a little boring... I can do calligraphy whenever I want, after all!"

XXX"You should join one with me," Akari added, putting his hands together in a pleading gesture. "They're really fun! You can socialize! Or, um, if you don't like socializing... flowers! And... dirt!" Nobody should hire him for any kind of sales pitch, ever. Unless it was about birds. "Wait, not dirt." Akari frowned. "I mean yes, there is dirt, but that's not the main thing. That's-" he cut himself off, trying not to laugh. "Uh, let's go back to the flowers part," he grinned.

XXXWhen Hikari looked back at him, revoking his attention from that extremely fascinating patch of grass, Akari blinked once, then twice. "Whoaaa," he finally said, pointing at his hair with his eyes wide and an expression of awe on his face. "How did that happen?" A strand of his friend-ish-maybe-acquaintance-friend's hair had turned a bright shade of red, something that contrasted very greatly with his quiet and reserved personality. I would totally dye my hair red sometime, but it'd probably be too much. Wait, how did that even happen to him? "That's really cool! Is it some type of advanced Transfiguration?" Akari asked curiously.

XXXHikari also seemed to have noticed it, brushing his fingers against it-- well, obviously he noticed, it's his hair that changed-- unless it was unintentional? But then, how does one's hair change unintentionally? Akari's mind buzzed with questions that he tried to keep from spilling out. He had already given Hikari his daily dosage of 'please answer I must know' questions, and more would probably not be appreciated.

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'socialize' looks so weird but 'socialise' looks almost worse...
Calming Presence is in effect

Japanese -English - Thoughts

"I'll...um... consider it."

Truthfully, Hikari wasn't really sure if he would. Out of the clubs he mentioned, the only one that held any real appeal was calligraphy. Ikebana was something which his mother enjoyed, and Hayato did too. However, Hikari lacked patience, and frankly, the eye for flower arranging. As for gardening... well he didn't dislike it, but he could not see himself willingly spend his free time on it. He'd much rather draw, or even write. He liked to write. It was much similar to painting: quiet, personal, and entirely his own.

But the way Akari spoke about it... perhaps there was reason to consider it, if only a little.

He blinked, drawn out of his thoughts by the sight of Akari's hand, reaching up towards his hair.

Oh right. That.

Hikari guessed it was because he had been caught with his hair changing colors. He wasn't used to his emotions being betrayed so openly, moreover, people were much more....tactical about approaching the issue. Not many people openly pointed and stared like they were seeing magic for the first time. They mostly gave him the courtesy of silence, opting to not point out the blatant inability to control his abilities. It had been better that way, safer.

Not many people were Akari either.

He tensed, realising what had happened while he had lost himself in his thoughts. His hair had changed further, a full shift this time- deep crimson replacing the earlier chocolate brown. This is why I avoid interacting with humans.

"I- no, it's not advanced transfiguration. I'm a metamorphmagus."

February 7th, 2025

Japanese - English - Thoughts

@Hikari Fujimoto

Mahoutokoro

XXXAkari nodded appreciatively. Perhaps his disaster of a persuasive argument hadn't failed completely, after all. The phrase 'I'll consider it' usually meant 'no, that's stupid,' but he still held onto a bit of hope that he might agree. Hikari looked slightly alarmed when Akari pointed out his hair color change, answering with a slight hesitance. "Wow," he replied in awe, momentarily rendered speechless.

XXXAkari was no expert in magical abilities, but he had come across the topic of metamorphagi a few years ago. The thought had made his head spin-- and now he was standing face-to-face with one, his literal classmate.

XXXThere had always a kind of barrier between Akari and the things he read about, his mind filing certain subjects as 'really cool but not relevant to me.' He never thought he'd actually meet a metamorphagus. Or any other kind of super cool person. Akari stared at Hikari's hair, just inspecting with a curious expression before finally realizing he had been standing in silence for at least two minutes.

XXX"Whoa," he finished, an awkward supplement to his earlier comment. What was he supposed to say, really? Akari finally found his brain cells and cleared his throat, beaming. Alas, some day the questions must flow. And that day is now because who cares? "That's amazing!! What's it like, having the ability to change your appearance at will? Does it take a lot of energy? Does it happen unconsciously?" He tried to prevent himself from getting too close, practically jumping around in excitement.

XXX"This is so awesome," Akari sighed dramatically, physically restraining himself from hugging Hikari as he tried to calm himself down. "My new friend is so cool!" Sometimes, he wondered if life would be more interesting if he had a magical ability, like the ability to speak Parseltongue like his cousin. Being able to change your appearance sounded even better, but Akari decided he liked himself the way he was. Bright, sparkly, and wholly himself.

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Calming Presence is in effect

Japanese -English - Thoughts

Akari was a lot to take in, too much even. Or maybe it was due to the sudden onslaught of questions which flowed out of him. He really doesn't think before he speaks.

Hikari tried not to flinch away from him as he stepped into and out of his personal space at impressive speed, bouncing on his feet as he waited for his answer. The movement made Hikari's head spin.

He shifted slightly, leaning subtly away, though he could tell it would do little to deter someone this... bouyant. He had already accepted the fact that for most people, when enthused, personal bubbles were kinda like what rules were to eleven years olds: barely existent. Hayato certainly didn't have one. Neither did he have any respect for Hikari's. But then again, that was his brother, He got a pass.

This boy he had met about five minutes ago certainly didn't. Still, Hikari felt a weird sort of comfort with Akari. But the word friends tossed out into the open so casually, made him freeze, friends? Are we friends?

Hikari couldn't remember the last time he'd made a friend which wasn't out of formality or obligation. It had been an even longer time since he'd had a conversation not rooted in academics, etiquette or family expectations. He wasn't sure what to make of it.

He cleared his throat, and answered, "It's nice...I guess? It doesn't really require a lot of energy, more focus rather. And yes, I don't currently have a lot of control over the powers so most of it is unconscious."