Just A Shadow in a Tree Open closed

Kazuo grinned when Sapphire laughed at his imitation, glad that she had found it amusing. As he had been explaining about his journal, she seemed to grow distant and he wondered if his explanation was boring to her. It wouldn’t be surprising. His experience with the other students had shown that most of them didn’t really care about studying each other’s behaviours. Yet... her response sounded genuine and, in fact, she seemed to enjoy doing something similar. What had caused her to appear distracted then?

“Ah, so you enjoy watching people as well? I think drawing them can be just as interesting. I cannot draw myself, not realistically, but I like seeing how others draw people. It’s interesting what artists capture in their subjects… and what they miss.” He tucked his journal into his pocket and stuck his pen behind his ear, falling in step with her as she began to walk.

“In order to truly understand the data that you are collecting, you must be very thorough. At least, that’s what my books say on the subject. If you want to understand people’s behaviours, you must be able to consider all factors. Something that might seem insignificant at first look could turn out to be an indicator of something much bigger when you look at it objectively. So I try to make sure to write down as much as I can.” He wasn’t entirely sure if she was actually interested but she had asked and it was rare that he had the opportunity to talk about his strange hobby so he continued. “I start with basic information, name and appearance and things like that. Then I add notes about where I saw the person and what they were doing. If they were doing something interesting and what kind of socially driven behaviours they might be doing. For you, I was writing about the situation you were in and the responses of the general students around you, how none of them bothered to help you or even stop.” He glanced at her, curious to see how she reacted to his explanation and his witnessing of her ordeal with the pen.

"Well, I wouldn't necessarily say I capture them realistically..." she said with an awkward laugh. "I'm not quite that skilled yet. But I do try to catch as much as possible, even if it doesn't necessarily appear exactly as a person does." She nodded along, agreeing with what had been said.

Then she was silent again, listening to the explanation. It was intriguing. People were very complex beings. She thought that word seemed a bit out of place, but regardless. It was hard to tell what was going to be important and what was simply a miscellaneous fact. There was really no telling - not for a while, at least.

"I'd say that was because people don't like me much, but it's probably more likely that they just don't feel like bothering with it. It's not like I'm a person who's well known," she said. "People probably have more important things to do." That may have been true, but it could also have been that she was constantly doubting her self worth and had a habit of warping the situation in her mind to make it seem as if she was one of the least important variables. That was her fault entirely.

"In my opinion, one of the things that tells the most about a person is how they respond to things," she said. There were a lot of factors that added into that, but that was a handful. And the younger boy probably understood what she meant anyway.

“More realistic than my stick figures, I’m sure,” Kazuo replied with amusement. “How long have you been drawing? Did you take lessons or learn on your own? I assume you'd have to have learned somewhere else since this school doesn't seem to offer anything in the way of arts-related classses.” Seize the opportunity to learn more about her. Let her talk about herself and see what she revealed. It was mostly curiosity but the value of information, something he hadn’t mentioned in his explanation, that also drove him to pry a bit. Just as he’d said to her, all information had the potential to be valuable.

It was his turn to listen as Sapphire talked, keeping his gaze on her face, on the reactions she gave. The way she spoke about herself was interesting, the way she put herself down as unimportant. Did it even occur to her that the other students were being rude? Or did she think that their behaviour was acceptable? Even as she spoke about how much a person revealed in their reactions, he wondered if she realized that the same was true for her.

“I don’t think knowing who you are is at all relevant to those other students having no manners. And I don’t think having important things to do - the same things you probably also have to do - is an excuse for practically stepping on you when you were just trying to pick up your pen. I would say, from my point of view, that they were simply being self-absorbed and rude. What reason could so many different students have to hate you? Surely not all of them. Why would you bother to defend their behaviour? Is it because you're used to being treated that way?” He looked up at Sapphire with a grin, a single brow arched as if waiting for her confirmation though his expression showed confidence in his assessment.

“You are right. People very often reveal who they really are in how they react to situations or other people. Especially when they are taken by surprise.”

Katie was walking through the call corridors when she came across two other students talking. One of them was Sapph, who she recognized from Diagon Alley, and she did not know who the other boy was. "Hello," Katie said, likely startling the two who did not appear to have been paying attention to what was going on around them at all. "So now that I have surprised you, what can I learn from how you will inevitably react in one way or another?" Katie asked, demonstrating that she had been paying attention to what they had been partially talking about. Katie didn't want it to seem like she had come up to talk to them for no good reason and because she had nothing better to do, so she felt it was important that she asked a question like that to demonstrate her interest in their conversation and to not make the conversation all about her. Katie forgot that she hadn't introduced herself to then yet, so she started back at them, expectantly awaiting their answer to the question she posed. Katie wasn't a Ravenclaw - she was a Slytherin though and through - but Katie still enjoyed to ponder deeper questions like any true Ravenclaw would.

@Kazuo Shimada & @Sapphire Riddle

SAPPHIRE NODDED QUIETLY. "Back before Hogwarts, I took a few classes about art. Most of it, however, is self taught," she said. She did take pride in her artistic ability, if only slightly. Often she felt it was inadequate, but it was also good enough for her.

Once again, she listened. This time she flinched a little. She knew she brought herself down a lot. "Ah, it seems rotten luck follows me everywhere. Perhaps they don't like me much because I present myself as a know-it-all sometimes and they've been in the same classes as me. From my experience, that is something which will bring about a negative reaction. I was also quite cold in my first year, so perhaps they remembered that." she said. She didn't much like talking about her mundane life before Hogwarts. Or perhaps mundane wasn't the best word, but that was against the point. A frown overtook her face. "I suppose I was - well, am - used to it," she muttered. Once again, she went silent as Kazuo went on to detail how being taken by surprise was a great revealing action.

... Which was then further implemented by the first year Katie Palsorette, who had appeared behind them. Her ears had picked up the sound of footsteps, however faint, but her books had started to slip out of her hands once again. Oh, come on, she thought as she attempted to right the stack once more.

"Hello, Katie," she managed to say calmly, glancing towards the younger girl. "My reaction may not supply nearly the amount of fervor you were looking for, but you did get a reaction," she said. It wasn't that she was exasperated. She was just a bit off-put. And a little startled, though it didn't show on her face. Perhaps she did retain the slightest bit of her cold demeanor, but not much.

Kazuo listened to her answer to his question about art with a smile. "It sounds like something that you really enjoy doing. I'd be interested in seeing some of your art if you're willing to show me." The request was genuine, borne of his curiosity and a respect for artistic pursuits that his mother had instilled in him.

He listened to Sapphire deflect again, more excuses as to why the other students might not like her and it was more revealing of her than it was of the other students. "Is it difficult for you to admit that you are not the problem?" The question was pointed, deliberate. Too perceptive for most eleven year old boys and perhaps it was a revelation of its own, that Kazuo might perceive her insecurities because there were times when he shared them. Not that he would ever say as much. "You should not let yourself grow accustomed to rudeness. Let them step on you once and they will take for granted that they can do so again." Those were his mother's words, spoken to him not so long ago when she had put him on the train to Hogwarts, and he gifted them to Sapphire with a smile that was sympathetic. "Being smart or introverted or even cold is not permission to treat you poorly."

If reactions were revealing, Kazuo's reaction to Katie was the kind that was designed to hide. His smile vanished, replaced by an entirely polite yet passive expression, not because he was surprised by the other girl's presence, but because he had no wish to give her the same insight he had been willing to share with Sapphire. He gave Katie a long look, studying her as he reached out and helpfully took some of Sapphire's books off the top of her pile, noticing Sapphire's attempt to rebalance them.

"Stone floors and dress shoes do not make for good stealth." He observed, his polite way of pointing out that her presence did not surprise him. "Especially in a busy hallway. It is not for us to tell you what you might have learned from your attempt at surprise. That defeats the point of training your observational skills. What do you think you learned?"

SAPPHIRE GAVE A SMALL SMILE AND NODDED. "I wouldn't mind. It's not really something I can focus on while walking, but I would be fine showing you some other time." If there was another time and he didn't tire of talking to her.

Silence. She laughed dryly. She had never even considered that she wasn't the problem. "It's habitual for me to believe it's my fault instead of someone else's. Truly, I didn't even consider that it wasn't something I'd done." That was the rather embarrassing and sad truth. "You give good advice. I probably needed that," she said.

She was grateful when Kazuo helped her with the books. "Thanks." She nodded slightly to further express her gratitude. Although not much further, given that there wasn't much that a simple nod could supply. She shouldn't have brought so many books with her. She'd been told time and time again, "Take more than one trip." Yet she never listened, no matter how much it would help her. She seemed to have a lot of bad habits, though some more incremental than others.

And yet another true statement. Against the stone floor, rarely could a person move quietly. Unless perhaps they were barefoot, but she'd only really glimpsed one person who did such things.

Katie nodded, and thought about what she would have learned from their reactions. Sapphire's reaction had been one of mild interest and neutrality. Katie supposed that probably meant Sapph wasn't one to easily frighten our startle and could remain calm in unexpected situations. Maybe Sapph was used to situations that weren't necessarily expected. Perhaps Sapphire had had a lot of unexpected things happen to her in the past? Sapphire's calm demeanor also indicated that she didn't lose control over her emotions when situations got ugly. Like a true Slytherin, Katie supposed. Making emotions was a certainly a valuable skill to have handy at times.

Katie then shifted her thoughts to the first year boy. His reaction had been a vanishing one, like throwing up a mask or something. It seemed almost as though he hadn't realized she was there at first due to his vanishing smile after telling Sapph not to let people walk all over her because she was more introverted. A good piece of advice, though it wasn't like Katie held much care for those who would try to criticize her. Constructive criticism only made her stronger and barbed insults bounced off her skin which was not so thin. What had been interesting was that the other first year had then implied that he had known she was there all along. Maybe he was trying to cover up his "slip" if you wanted to call it that. Well Katie had noticed it anyway. She briefly considered sharing what she thought of there reactions, but quickly decided against it. She had made them and now they were hers to keep and mental store for later.

"And who says I haven't already made my own opinions and was only curious what you intended for me to learn from your reactions?" Katie asked, in a calm manner with a soft hint of curiosity as to where the first year had come up with the thought that she wanted for them to tell her exactly what to think. "After all," Katie continued, "Assumptions can be quote powerful and quite dangerous. And on occasion, an assumption can even turn out to be deadly." Katie said, slightly curious add to what they're reactions to get weird would be, especially based on the first year boy's seemingly thought provoking nature.

Kazuo was glad that Sapphire had agreed to show him her art and made a note to himself to make sure to hold her to it at a later date. He gave her a grin and a nod. “That would be great. Sorry, I didn’t mean right now. Whenever you have some free time.”

For the moment, with Katie having joined the conversation, he let the subject of Sapphire’s earlier situation drop, not sure how well Sapphire and Katie knew each other and preferring not to reveal anything he and Sapphire had spoken of. He might enjoy learning peoples’ secrets but he was hardly going to ruin the beginnings of a connection with Sapphire by drawing attention to anything the girl might consider private. “You can thank my mother for that advice,” he admitted with a brief flash of a smile, a hint of apology in it for the interruption. “She told me that as she marched me onto the train and shipped me off to magic boarding school.”

His gaze returned to Katie, waiting on her response. Though she did not seem to remember him, he remembered her from a club they had both joined. The girl was quiet for a long moment and Kazuo suspected she must be considering what he had said but she didn’t offer any observations. In fact, in being challenged by him, she seemed to have decided to retreat from answering his question by attempting to turn the direction of the conversation back on him. He tilted his head slightly as he listened to her questions, blinking in the slow way that cats sometimes do, an expression that implied deep thought or consideration.

“The last time I checked,” he replied in a measured tone. “I wasn’t a professor. Of course, if I’m being asked to give lessons on the nature of human social behaviour, then I request that I be referred to as sensei.” He gave Katie a smile that was playfully cheerful. “I would expect you to have already made your own opinions, having been eavesdropping, after all. However, when you inserted yourself into the conversation, you couldn’t actually be expecting me to be attempting to teach you anything from my reactions. If I have to explain why I react the way I do, it defeats the purpose of understanding how to read people’s reactions in the first place. The point of catching someone unaware is to observe their reactions when they don’t have the ability to mask them. Which… I admit you might find it difficult with me. I’ve been told that since we Japanese have a different cultural expectation with societal behaviour, we are often hard to read.” He paused then, giving her a casual shrug before continuing. “Assumptions are the basis upon which humans build everything. The keys to avoiding disastrous assumptions are to do your best to use as much accurate information as possible and be willing to change your opinion should your assumptions prove false or new information come to light.”