Closed Interlude -- Out of the Chessboard PV Mahoutokoro only

Roleplaying as Akira Shimizu from Mahoutokoro
Outfit: Navy Uniform

Banner by Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood

Roleplaying as Ginyami Midorimori from Mahoutokoro
"English | Japanese"

Ginyami was drawn from the deep realm of unconsciousness by the sound of familiar voices talking and the strong smell of spiced foreign foods. Unlike many of the others, the knight had been struck by more mental than physical attacks, so he was largely unhurt. What few injuries he had sustained had already been tended to by the healers, however, so when he came to, he felt right as rain.

The last thing he had remembered before passing out was Hiro coming to help him off the chessboard. When he woke up, however, it was Akira's voice he heard first thanking him for his bravery. Ginyami's drowsy mind, clouded by fatigue, was still vaguely processing the words when he heard that same voice turn a very different tone on someone else. His eyes slowly fluttered open and he blinked a couple of times before attempting to push himself up into a sitting position on the hospital wing bed.

There was food everywhere. All kinds, too, from Akira's dorayaki boxes and Chiaki's sweets to Aryaan's large banquet of what Ginyami could only assume were Indian foods from the strong scent of their spices and rich colors. They were positively distracting; so distracting that for a moment the fourth year forgot the angry words he had woken up to being exchanged by his passionate kohais.

As they continued, though, he was quickly reminded of them again and tried to clear his throat politely in order to get their attention for a moment. Chiaki's and Hiro's attempts to mediate hadn't gone unnoticed and Ginyami wondered if he could try to pick up where they had left off - for their sake and the others'.

"We have a team of some of the youngest students taking part in the Hexwizard tournament. Yet, from what I heard Shimizu-san just say, it seems as though we won, however close a call that might have been." Narrow, slitted kitsune eyes looked from Akira to Aryaan, appraising them seriously. "Are we going to throw that away by tearing down one another by picking at each other's faults and flaws? Because I have a feeling we're already each beating ourselves up mentally for what we could and should have done better without being told by our teammates."

He raised an arm to gesture at Chiaki curled up against a wall. "Shimizu-san, your feelings are valid and you have a right to speak your mind. But can't someone as intelligent and clever as you find a way to speak it without trampling all over the voices of others? And Shamsi-san," the teen continued, tilting his head slightly, "As our champion, don't you have a better way to motivate your team into improving themselves than to rip into their shortcomings? I imagine you must be feeling pretty guilty if this feast of Indian food is any indication. But I'm certain you know better than to distract yourself from that guilt by finding fault with your followers."

He sighed softly and picked up a piece of one of Chiaki's sweets. "Honestly, regardless of the mistakes that were made and actions that could have been done better, I'm really impressed with everyone. I wish you could be as proud of yourselves as I am of this team. We really did a spectacular job overall and I think we all deserve to be a little kinder to ourselves and each other. Especially after what we just went through."

Interacting with: Akira Shimizu (@Avery Chen), Aryaan Shamsi (@Fang Hui-Ming), Chiaki Hiroi (@Pax Zhang), & Hiro Bakugo (@Kim Sato)

INPC Ency

Japanese

"Mm! Of course! I just got overly excited upon seeing you relatively healthy again!" Sara showed a scary smile to the boy, brightened by his response. Although he had an unvering way of showing it. “I understand. Thank you “ That was pretty much the last positive thing that happened so far.

Annnnnndd this was not what Sara expected to happen. How did it come to this? The tinted shades of his sunglasses did nothing to give him the ignorance of not knowing the tension that was brewing among Aryaan and Shimizu. That was..not what friends say to one another. Amongst the bitter words exchanged and accusations thrown, Sara, at that moment, resembled the person-standing emoji.

But with sunglasses.

Unable to tear his eyes away from the scene, and yet too frozen to speak. Person-standing-emogi, indeed. With each hurtful word they two 2nd years said to one another might as well been directed to him as well. He winced, eyebrows furrowed and frown deepened like never before. It hurt. He wasn’t the only one that felt it too. Chiaki, the braver between the two, even tried to stop them. Only to be shut down by Shimizu, who wasn’t finished with what he wanted to say. The girl backed up and found comfort at the edge of the room where the walls touched her back. Sara had half the mind to join her, but he was frozen in place. Should he say something? How could someone like him encourage them to back down? Was this going too far already?

Hiro, being a Hero tried to soothe them with another method apart from words. Food. That ended up being quite inefficient as it didn’t stop the two. Sara’s chest clenched uncomfortably. If that didn’t work, then what will?

Perhaps Midorimori’s words would strike some sense between the two boys. The more he spoke, the more Sara felt the discomfort in his chest beginning to unravel, suddenly easier to breathe. It would be the boy’s wisdom that healed Sara’s frozen state. And by some miracle, Sara found unusual confidence in his words. “ ‘Aryaan should’ve done more’ “ he said suddenly with a deadpanned tone, as if a robot merely repeating what was said. “ ‘Aryaan wasn’t worth all this’ . ‘Shimizu's fault they weren’t healed enough’ . ‘Shimizu should’ve dodged more’ .” His voice grew softer as he looked between Aryaan and Shimizu through his dark sunglasses. “ Is…is that truly..what you both feel about the task? About each other? Or..is it like Midorimori said. Was it just easier to say all that than admit something else?”.

Anger was a powerful tool, really. Could say a lot of things and not really mean it, but in that moment of heated fury nothing felt more right. More justified. More real than the words that were said. And yet almost all of it would be regrettable in the next moment. Sara should know. Anger was an old friend of his. The dark shades of his sunglasses didn’t hide their fury filled eyes when they continued to argue. Afterall, it was easier to hide other emotions under this thing called ‘anger’. Sara could not help but wonder if the two boys had it in them to find it. Or was this just not the right time?

Finding comfort in Midorimori’s words, Sara took off his sunglasses for a full minute. Puffy eyes. The after effects of crying that he had tried to hide from his teammates. Because he had thought it was weak. Something he had to deal with on his own. Perhaps, he was wrong. This didn’t have to be something he had to fix alone. Recalling the words Aryaan and Shimizu said to each other, Sara’s puffy eyes were covered quickly again with his sunglasses

“If it is then… then..” he trailed off, never finishing his sentence. Too distracted by the familiar sting in his eyes. It would be best not to speak further. He had said more than enough. Ginyami was correct in many ways. He was already having trouble navigating through the horrors of the hex wizard tournament. He couldn’t bear it if those harsh words were directed to him. It would’ve felt much harsher than anything he could have said himself. Frankly, it was the last thing he wanted to hear. And if it continued, he was quite tempted to just leave.

Aryaan was his friend, and Shimizu seemed like a reasonably mature young boy that Sara respected. But he had yet to see how they dealt with anger. Sara had seen enough people who would have waved Midorimori off, more than eager to continue what they started. He hoped more than anything that it wasn’t the case. However, he could not be as confident as Midorimori “ Up to you. N-no pressure. Sorry “ he pushed back his sunglasses, making sure they were in place. If they did such a thing, Sara couldn’t help but feel sorely disappointed. If that was how Aryaan or Shimizu saw it, Sara was less than comfortable with talking about how he felt about what happened. Even when he said nothing, his discomfort should have been obvious to most.

Thinking he had said enough, he walked towards Chiaki and kneeled beside her. She would feel a gentle pat on her hair, the same gentle way he would pet a cat. “ Here “ Sara dug into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. It was one that had a cat embroidered on it. Given by his friend, Winnie. Before he knew it, the item had somehow become something that exuded a soothing aura. One that vaguely reminded him of Chiaki. An item Sara would have no problem sharing with someone who needed it more. “ It’s okay “ If Chiaki accepted it, she could use it all she liked. If not, Sara would give an understanding nod and place the item back into his pockets. Regardless, she would be given a comforting pat on her shoulder before Sara got up again. @Chiaki Hiroi @Pax Zhang

He gave a respectful bow towards Hitoshi. The guilt crushed him as if they were weight on his shoulders. This was not the sight he wanted the senior to wake up to. He had almost wanted to apologise on behalf of everyone, but thought better of it. “It’s nice to see you well, senpai “. Were they going to continue talking about the tournament? Or was it going to be brushed under the rug for the sake of not fighting? Perhaps that would depend on Shimizu and Aryaan, and how they would carry forward with what Midorimori said. Still, he allowed himself to be at ease seeing the older boy’s healthier complexion. Poor guy, waking up to mild madness such as this. @Hadashi Hitoshi @Dan Palmer

Sara would end up beside Midorimori’s bed in the end, giving him a curt appreciative nod“ T-thank you “ He muttered, certain he didn’t need to explain what he was thankful for. Through the dark lenses of his sunglasses, Sara tilted his head as he scanned the other boy. “ Are you…?” For someone who had just been KO-ed, he had such a smooth way of talking earlier with his words of wisdom. Sara almost couldn’t believe he had just been recently knocked out cold. @Ginyami Midorimori@Jack Burnett

@Akira Shimizu @Avery Chen @Aryaan Shamshi @Fang Hui-Ming @Hiro Bakugo @Kim Sato

Roleplaying as Akira Shimizu from Mahoutokoro
Outfit: Navy Uniform