Akashic Arcana A New Arrival

Zarek

Roll for Initiative
Talking to people was boring. Unnecessary. Unless they had something useful to say, Kane would rather that they just kept their thoughts to themselves: he didn't need to know about their background, where they came from, and what he thought of their branch of magic. Why did everyone care so much? Surely you would want your discipline to remain a secret, so that you could actually use it without drawing suspicion to yourself? Alas, other people didn't think like Kane, and on the train journey to the Academy, he was joined by a girl, apparently because all the other cabins were full, or, as she would later confide, didn't seem like they housed well-to-do people. At this, Kane had raised an internal eyebrow, but didn't say anything out of the ordinary, just agreed with her.

She was amazed when she found out he spoke French, and promptly proceeded to chat away in her native tongue, letting on more than Kane really cared about: she was called Luna, was in her first year, was the daughter of some French millionaire business magnate, and really missed her cats. When it came to her magic, she excitedly opened her palm to reveal a flickering flame, to which Kane responded with words of congratulations, a false smile on his face. She asked the Brit about himself, and Kane told her a selection of half truths, such as the fact that his father worked for the government, that he came from a line of soldiers, and he too missed his cats. Personally, he couldn't stand the creatures, but he saw no reason to let that on. When she asked about his magic, he gave the standard display: showing the back of his hand, and the yellow light that started in the middle of his wrist, enveloping his lower arm in something akin to armour. She clapped and seemed in awe, and Kane could tell that she wasn't too observant: were she to pay the slightest bit of attention, she might notice that it took a bit more effort for him than such a party trick should, and would probably call into doubt the validity of his claim of practising divine magic.

They talked some more, mainly about her excitement at starting at such a prestigious academy, a feeling Kane pretended to share. When the train pulled into the station, they stood up, and she wrapped arms around him, a bit more friendly than Kane would have liked, but he reciprocated - perhaps it was a French thing? They promised to keep in touch, with Kane pretending to have some reason to walk the other way along the platform, leaving his short-time companion to find her own way around.

The Brit was wearing jeans and a shirt, looking like any office worker on casual Friday, yet wore a sort of trench coat over this, something his father had handed down before his son had left for Japan, a black affair with silver trims around the cuffs and collar. Apparently it was a ceremonial style of uniform from his father's military days, and Kane quite liked the garment. The left sleeve was rolled up, revealing a watch on the underside of his wrist which he checked. He was supposed to 'check in' within the next few hours, but he imagined that having a wander around the campus couldn't hurt.

He started off towards a lake he saw in the distance, noting the buildings close by, guessing it was a facility used to train water magics. But he also ntocied the lack of people on the waterfront, ideal for him to mill about and not be disturbed. To anyone watching, a strange thing would happen, as the young man vanished from sight. Any keen eyed observers would see the grass flatten in places, and anyone keener still might guess that he had turned invisible, and the grass was where his feet landed. He quickly silenced the noise around him, making sure he made no noise, and made his way down to the body of water.
 
Hanzo had just woke up and was wandering around half asleep. Normally he would go to the Cafeteria when he woke up and get some coffee but today he had decided against it. He was, in fact, starting to regret his decision. Maybe if I splash a little water on my face, he thought to himself. He changed directions and walked towards the shore.

Being half asleep he didn't notice the vibrations in the ground he sent out with every step coming back, like echo location, showing that there was something up ahead. He continued on at a slow pace. He abruptly walked into something making him lose balance and fall flat on his bum. He looked around not seeing anything. What the hell? He started to wonder if he was going crazy. Then the vibration from his fall came back letting him know that there was some unseen thing in front of him.
 
The water was a pristine blue colour, shining like a thousand tiny gems inlaid upon the earth. While views of scenery were not something Kane usually appreciated, occasionally, he saw the value in them, and how another an artist might paint them, a photography photo them, or a regular person just bask in their radiance. Water was one such thing: Kane saw how dangerous it was, but also how useful it was, how it could drown thousands of people, yet sustain millions more. It was something that intrigued him, even if he didn't entirely know why.

Lost in his own thoughts, he didn't notice the Japanese student walking towards him, only realising he was about to be walked into a second before it happened. He tried to twist out of the way, but was still impacted, causing him to stagger backwards, losing balance. Immediately, his temper flared, and he glared at the kid on the floor. He looked younger, but much so. Kane exhaled through gritted teeth, running a hand through his hair to keep it out of his eyes, before moving towards the back of the student, not wanting to be seen when he suddenly became visible. His blue eyes examined the male in front of him, already forming negative impressions.

"Regardez où vous allez" he said, continuing with the language he had been using for the past hour or so, before considering what he said, translating it into English. "Watch where you're going". The tone, while not entirely vicious, was still cold, far from the amicable facade he would usually present to the world, and far from the personable companion he had been on the train.
 
Hanzo bent himself backwards so he was looking at person he had run into. How'd he back there so fast? When I hit the ground he was in front of me. The man looked rough with his messy hair and piercing blue eyes. He turned around so he could greet the guy properly.

"Sorry I was half asleep and not many people come out here," he said apologetically. He wasn't trying to start a conflict but the tone the other guy had in his voice said that he wasn't in a very good mood. Trying to smooth out the tense atmosphere he decided to introduce himself. "I'm Hanzo Tomimura, I'm a first year here." He hoped that the other guy would calm down and do the same.
 
Kane took in the information offered to him, looking the other student up and down. As a culture, Japan had always interested him, their society prizing different qualities compared to western nations, most notably honour and integrity, two facets of personality that brought a raised eyebrow from him. However, he had grown an instinctive dislike towards this person, even if it was for reasons he couldn't quite explain, not that he ever felt he had to. Still, it wouldn't do to be making enemies this early on.

"No worries" he said, suddenly smiling, and with a tone of voice far friendlier than before. "Everyone does stuff like that at some point" He stuck out his arm to shake hands, the world known symbol of reconciliation. "I'm Kane. Literally just got here a quarter hour ago"
 
Hanzo was taken aback by the sudden change in mood Kane had. Even so he took Kane's hand and shook it. The tension seemed to still linger in the air. "Nice to make your acquaintance," he said in a sincere voice. "So you're a new student here?" The words just came out of his mouth without his permission. "I'm sorry I apparently need to wake up some more, my mind seems to not be working correctly."
 
Outwardly, Kane grinned, a thin veneer to show that he understood the other students plight, and that sometimes, his mind to seemed 'to not be working correctly'. Inwardly, he rolled his eyes. A pet hate of his was people asking obvious questions, seemingly oblivious to the answer he had already given. No, he thought, I've only been here fifteen minutes, but I'm already a graduate, resisting the urge to shake his head in a pitying manner.

"Yeah, I'm new" he actually said, checking his watch so he would have an excuse to leave should he need one "I'm meant to be having some sort of entrance exam or something though, not too sure where that's meant to be, or what it's really going to entail. Some written test and 'combat aptitude'" he said, quoting with his fingers around the last two words. He paused for a few seconds, and figured some more talking may be required. "How do you even measure that? I mean, if you've got a gun or something, you're going to do far better than if you have a knife"

Not for the first time, Kane found himself wondering about why he was speaking so... differently. With the few people who knew that he wasn't quite on the same side of the scale as everyone else, he spoke far more formally, avoiding words like 'yeah' and 'like'. With people he didn't know however, he found himself using them far more often: perhaps an attempt to fit in better? Who knew, who cared. Either way, he realised this might be a chance to find out something about this test, he didn't really want to go in blind.

"Say, you don't know what this test is about do you? Only I've heard some people talk about these assassin guilds and stuff that have you kill a guy, to prove your loyalty or whatever"
 
Hanzo considered for a minute before he answered the guy. He wanted to give a satisfactory answer to the guy. "Well, the exams may be a little different than when I took them. The Disciplinary Captains stepped down and the Vice President is temporarily filling that spot. When I took it Christian was the Captain. Now Amatsu is. He's pretty ruthless. But what they graded us on when I took her it was our creativity, tactics, ability, and our courage." Kane had a point though about the gun though. He hated guns, to him it was a cheap move.

Yawning Hanzo decides that maybe he should go get some coffee. "Do you have time for a drink," he offered, "the non-alcoholic caffeinated kind." Half of him hoped that Kane would accept the offer and the other half hoped that he wouldn't. He wasn't sure what it was about the man but he put him on edge.
 
The offer for coffee was something Kane could tell was little more than a social nicety, not something the other student genuinely wanted to happen. Not that it was a problem, the Brit wasn't too fond on the idea either; what were you meant to talk about? It seemed they had little common ground. His recounting of his own experience with the entrance exam was interesting though, knowing that the captain was a man of ruthless nature might be useful, as well as knowing the points that he would look out for. He wasn't too sure how a factor such as courage might be assessed, be he'd figure it out when he got there.

"I'll have to say no to the drink" he said, again checking his watch. "I don't drink that sort of stuff, tastes weird. Maybe something stronger when I pass this test though. Speaking of, I should probably head over to the main building or whatever, make sure that I'm around when I'm called, or however they do it". He gestured off towards the buildings, before turning around and slowly making his way back to the main complex. "Nice seeing you though" he called, looking back over his shoulder.
 
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