may catchall

[nmc0204]

⭐ Who: Ryoko and y'all
⭐ When: All through May, with prompts specifically during Golden Week and her first day of school at Promised Morning
⭐ Where: Primarily Yumemigaoka tho I might add a Dream Sphere prompt or two down the line
⭐ What: Ryoko's life has flip turned upside down and now she's getting used to it. Between starting as a new student at Promised Morning and suddenly having another Dreamer to feel responsible for, she's got a busy month ahead. I'll also put closed starters here if requested!
⭐ Warnings: Keepin this to edit them in if it comes up

Comments

Golden Week

[nmc0204]

[ It's Ryoko's last few days of relative freedom before she transfers into Promised Morning and she intends to take advantage of every moment of it. Transferring had been her choice and while she certainly doesn't regret it, she can't pretend her stomach isn't rolling with nerves or that she isn't dreading it just a little bit. Apparently, you're never too old for first-day nerves. Maybe it's the transfer student of it all. So Ryoko deals with it all the way she knows how: overthink about how to prepare for the situation and then overprepare for the situation. Just trust the process.

On April 30th, if you're passing through the train station then you might see a girl milling around in a way that looks at once purposeful and a little lost. She's checking the names of a few lines, the timetables and such and checking them against something on her phone, all while looking a little uncertain. If she catches someone looking, she briefly wears the look of a girl who's been caught doing something deeply embarrassing (you know, like being caught in a moment of slight confusion) before finally huffing a sigh and saying like she's surrendering somehow: ]

You don't know which of these is the best route from here to Promised Morning, do you?

[ On May 4th, Ryoko takes advantage of all the Greenery Day sales to do a little last minute shopping. She's technically prepped already for everything she'd need for a new school – she was, until last month, already in a different high school after all – but a fresh start makes her feel a little itchy for refreshing all her stationary as well, so off she goes. She stops by Tsubaki Department Store first for the basics and for those sales that are definitely a loss leader in terms of profit, but it seems she uh, underestimated how enthused everyone else would be about saving money, too. ]

– !!!

[ That's short king Ryoko getting swept up in a crowd of stampeding shoppers... save her...

Thankfully, her day ends off on a slightly less stressful note at Moon Bunny Market, where she recovers from the horrors of capitalism with some delicious crunchy street food and then makes a beeline for the cute stationary store and all its cute, pastely goods. She ends up with a pretty stacked basket and finishes the trip at the storefront, intensely scrutinizing two slightly different but equally cute pencil cases... maybe a little too intensely. Girl, it's been ten minutes. Just buy both! ]

stationery store... getting his cute thing window shopping fix

[kitri]

_{[ points one out. ]} They normally have a few more colors of that design, but I think they just haven't restocked them yet.

_{[ no basket on this guy, but he got one arm crooked with a few different things held to his chest... careful not to crinkle any of that, dude. ]}

[nmc0204]

[ Ryoko jumps clean out of her skin and whips around - she manages not to drop anything but it sure was close for a second there!! ]

It's not-- that big of a deal. [ Said with a huff and despite the fact that it very obviously was if it warranted that level of scrutiny and focus. ] I just need something new that isn't going to fall apart from using it for a month.

[ Sure........ That's what all that was about.......... pay no attention to the basket full of cute stationary at her feet....... ]

market;

[traceofeffort]

[Lisa is also on the hunt for some fresh stationary today! She doesn't end up with quite as much stuff, though, since she crashed into the department store sales earlier in the week - just some fresh pencils, a notebook or two, some other odds and ends. As she approaches the counter, she thumbs through the goods in her hands, mentally making sure she's remotely on budget. Nodding, she looks up, and sees another girl seeming to make a critical decision on what pencil case to choose. Lisa herself also looks between the cases for a few moments, before humming to herself and nodding again.]

You have good taste! I wouldn't be able to pick between those either.

[nmc0204]

[ Ryoko glances up with the slightly embarrassed look of someone who wasn't expecting to be called out - but she shifts her weight from one foot to the other and apparently decides that if this girl also has the good taste to be getting her supplies from here then she's probably a comrade in arms. ]

I'm not usually this picky, [ Ryoko lied as easily as she breathed ] but they don't really make it easy. I should probably just go with whichever one can fit more things, but...

[ if it's not cute what's the point!! ]

[traceofeffort]

But that's not why you're here. [Softly, but matter-of-fact-ly.] It has to be cute and functional, right? It's an important decision.

[Lisa huffs out a soft sigh, grinning ruefully.] Normally I would be right here with you, but I spent too much already this week. Golden Week is always hard on my wallet, y'know?

30th

[unlivinglegend]

[the older boy she catches gazes with gives her a sympathetic look... then holds up his phone, showing a tangled map of train lines]

I'm... actually looking for the same thing.

[nmc0204]

Ah. So we're both lost.

[ Well, not lost, necessarily... but she sure as hell doesn't know where to go from here. ]

You'd think they'd want to make this easy with how many people have to transfer in... [ huff! ] Is there an information stand anywhere?

[unlivinglegend]

You would think. With how Dreamers can happen whenever...

[a whole school of mysterious transfer students... how annoying. He sighs deeply.]

Let's see...

[he strains up on his tip toes, but it's so crowded]

Tch. I can't see a damned thing...

Promised Morning (Starting May 8th -> Through the month)

[nmc0204]

[ It would be just like Ryoko's luck to be starting a new school life the day before midterms, but she's trying her best to look on the bright side. The storm has blown out most of the cloudy weather and even though everything is still soaked, the bright sun catches on all the water in a way that sparkles and makes things look freshly washed and new. She takes deep breaths on her way to the station, trying to scoop up some of that energy in the air and let it fill her as well.

The trip, thankfully, is painless. She gets a little turned around at her second stop but figures pretty quickly that she can just follow the tide of students in the Promised Morning uniform and falls into step with them with the slightly clueless expression of a newbie. It's a little easier once she actually gets to the campus – one of the teachers meets her at the gate and shows her around her little corner of the campus and after that, Ryoko's left to fend for herself.

The worst part is her class introduction. She knows it can't be an uncommon occurrence in Promised Morning, but she still feels particularly put on display stood at the front of the class. She keeps it brief, trying to not let the anxiety rolling in her stomach show on her face as she goes for it; ]

... I'm Ryoko Shinonome. I've been a Dreamer for a few months, but I'm just transferring now. [ a very audible Dot Dot Dot as Ryoko scrambles for something else to say then very visible gives up. ] It's good to be here.

[ And that's that. Quite understandably, she spends the rest of the morning in a Introvert Recovery Haze and spends much of that first day keeping to herself and just... trying to adjust. Thankfully, midterms are a weirdly blessed escape from having to Do Regular High Schooler things but once they wrap, she's at a loss.

She generally spends a lot of time hovering around in the library, or camping out in quiet spots around campus with her phone and while she's clearly a little withdrawn and a little awkward about settling in... she won't exactly turn away anyone who approaches. ]

[illrested]

[ Makoto has started to get used to taking the train to school after a month of it. Walk to the station, get on the train, wait a few stops, get off... it's all turning into something routine now.

The first day back from Golden Week, though, the routine changes. There's a quiet girl who gets onto the train that he hasn't seen before, dressed in the Promised Morning uniform. He glances towards her, not quite sure what to say for a moment, then steps across the train car to grab hold of the overhead handle. ]

...Are you transferring?

[ He asks after a moment, feeling awkward. ]

I just mean I haven't seen you on the train before.

[nmc0204]

[ It takes Ryoko half a second to realise she's being addressed - there's so many people on the train, after all - and then she blinks at Makoto with the slightly deer in headlights expression of ah a stranger is talking to me unexpectedly. But she nods and gives a little huff through her nose. ]

Mm. As of today. The timing isn't perfect but...

[ It was here or stay at her old school... and presented like that, it isn't even really a choice at all. ]

[illrested]

[ Makoto feels a rush of embarrassment. Talking to a relative stranger on the train feels kinda shitty, but... well, he's curious and it's gotten the better of him for once. ]

Ah. Yeah. I just started this term, too.

[ He shifts his weight, the awkwardness of the moment settling more fully. ]

Ah, I'm Amanaka Makoto. Second Year. Class 2-A.

library

[considergun]

[It's not just Ryoko's first day, of course. Ei's introduction went similarly, with about as much excitement. Naturally, he's going to be checking on her the moment they have some free time. Finding her takes a bit.

But he's stubborn. He manages.]

There you are.

[nmc0204]

[ Deadpan: ] It was here or the roof and that's way too much of a cliche.

[ She huffs a breath up into her bangs, sending them fluttering up and off her forehead for a second. She looks kind of exhausted, but that probably makes two of them. ]

How'd it go?

[considergun]

[ It's hard to say, honestly. "Exhausted" is the default state. ]

Well enough. Uneventful, really, which is how I like it.

You?

around campus

[voltrounds]

[Ricky hasn't been going here too long herself, but one thing she's been doing with her time is staking out all the quiet spots where she can be extremely online. So it was really only a matter of time before she'd run into her new classmate in a non-classroom context.

She almost literally runs into her, glancing up from her phone just in time to kind of stumble-veer away at the last second.]

--whoa! Sorry!

[mnemon]

[ It doesn't help that rather than sitting on like, a bench or somewhere visible, Ryoko's gone and hunched up on the floor with her back against one of the buildings, maybe in the hopes that it'll make her less visible to passers-by. Uh, mission accomplished on that front, I guess.

Ryoko slowly rises to her feet and starts dusting herself off. ]

It's fine. Just... watch where you're going next time.

[ even though this was kind of her own fault............... ]

[voltrounds]

Right. Sorry, there isn't usually anyone over here.

[Now that she's not narrowly averting disaster, Ricky stops to actually look at the unexpected traffic hazard with belated recognition.]

...you're in my class, aren't you?

Dreamer Union

[mnemon]

[ Ryoko's not really one of the usual faces at the DU – she was here a fair amount when she first Awakened and everyone was trying to make sure she was... well, functional is the nicest way to put it. Then she vanished, only to show her face once again when it came time to transfer her over to Promised Morning. Ever since then, she's dodged all attempts to get her to return or worse, to assign her a Mentor – every single time, she insists she's fine by herself and doesn't need the fuss.

Today though, Ryoko's showed up after school has wrapped at Promised Morning and made her way up to the second floor lounge. She's hovering outside rather than going in, peering at the noticeboard outside. There's a number of things pinned up but what Ryoko's peering at is one of a handful of notices about the Mentorship program.

C... could it be that the problem child has finally come home to roost??? ... Probably not, given the way she's scowling but surely she must have some kind of bee up her bonnet to be here... ]

Re: Dreamer Union

[noonecandestroythemetal]

[Sam wouldn't call Ryoko a problem child, were she asked--sure, Ryoko has problems, and her unique issues probably cause them, but it isn't as if the girl herself had asked for any of this. Sam might've eased into life at the DU, but it's not a shoe that fits everyone, and she refuses to be the shoehorn to force it on the wrong foot...

Her shift as tour guide has just finished, and while Sam had been planning to do some errands, this seemed more important.]

That's a perplexed look if I've ever seen one. You want to talk about it? Maybe I could help, somehow?

[mnemon]

Ah–

[ Going by the way she starts just a little when Sam speaks up, it looks like whatever's buzzing around in her head had her distracted enough that she was away with the fairies. She blinks then her gaze slides back to the posters dotting the notice board. ]

It's not really a big deal. [ Ryoko Lied As Easily As She Breathed. ] I just had a few... questions about how this Mentorship thing works.

[noonecandestroythemetal]

[That's at least a little hopeful, but Sam isn't going to push too hard. Still, there are some questions here that she can answer...]

I've never been a Mentor myself, so we'd have to find someone else to give you those answers. But I did have a mentor up until a bit ago. What do you want to know? I'd be happy to answer anything I can...and if I can't, we find someone.

[Sam has absolutely no problem harassing an older Dreamer on Ryoko's behalf, either.]

[saynotobugs]

[On the floor of the lounge is one of those mummy-style full-body sleeping bags. Judging from the shape and the light snoring, currently occupied.

Maki turns around in her sleep with a mumble, face popping out of the sleeping bag, and blinks awake.]

Oh... Huh. You're back. The Shinonome kid, right?

[mnemon]

[ . . .

We'll address the actual issue at hand here later. First and infinitely more importantly: ]

Are you actually allowed to sleep in there?