Unmei Tama was sitting off by herself, overlooking the volleyball club. She didn't seem very... focused, though. She had a small book open in her lap, from the drama club. It seemed they were doing a play. She only had a few lines, though. She was more or less a background character, only appeared in one scene.
Not surprising, really. The girl was a tad... she'd only been in the school about a week now and hadn't really managed to make any friends. Almost nothing was known about her aside from the fact she was from out of country, she joined a bunch of clubs but didn't seem to ever stick around the moment the clubs let out and she hadn't actually made any friends. In factt, there was a rumor going about that a couple of girls had even offered and then ended up being hauled away in an ambulance.
Ironically, it hadn't been her fault. Just bad luck, really. But the girls had been out a few days since.
Unmei wouldn't be alone for too long, because a few moments later, there would be the sound of soft humming heard as another person comes in. A girl with bright hair and a similar type of smile on her face. It's none other than Akane Hino, a member of the volleyball club who's taking some time off for now, but is still in a good mood all the same. She looks around and then notices Unmei quickly. She pauses and a look of intrigue and interest forms on her face. Then she realizes that she's one of the new girls, and Akane realizes this could be a good chance to introduce herself!
Akane doesn't use her normal loud, boisterous style of greeting, though. Instead, she approaches from the side so that Unmei has a better chance of noticing her. "Hey there, you must be one of the new students," She says with her bright smile. "My name's Akane, what's yours?"
Unmei Tama blinked a few times, then turned to look at her. Instantly she looked around to make sure there was no one else nearby. Then realized she was alone. She gave a weak little smile. "My... my name?"
'It's Unmei,' a voice said into the nervous girl's head.
"Oh! Um, my name is Unmei. It's nice to meet you, Akane. Sorry," she said with a weak smile. "Y-yes. I ummm... I'm new. I just transferred in a few weeks ago. Sorry, is this your bench? I can move." She was certainly jumpy.
"Pleasure, Unmei!" Akane replies with a smile. "And no, that's not my bench. It's for everyone, you know." She sits down beside Unmei. "I know how it feels being new here in school. We were all like that at one point. But give it time, because just like the sun warming up a cold day, you'll warm up to this place soon enough!"
A moment passes, then Akane adds, "Are you with the volleyball club too, by chance? Because we're always looking for new members. And even if you don't think you'll do well enough, don't worry! I'm good at helping new players learn the ropes!"
Unmei Tama smiled gently to her. Then her eyes went wide. "Volleyball club? Oh, uhhh. No,. I'm not really... good at sports. I errr, tend to be more into ummm... I'm a member of the drama, dance and acting clubs," she said with a small smile. "Sorry. I've just never been good at sport things. I'm a little too clumsy."
"And... I hope that's true. It's a bit intimidating coming to such a... nice school."
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with being into different things. Everyone has their own unique knacks at things. It's what makes us truly unique!" Akane's smile is still just as bright as ever. "What kind of dancing do you like to do? I've thought of getting into dance myself." Unmei may feel intimidated by the school, but hopefully Akane's bright, cheerful attitude can help make that feel less stressful for Unmei. "I saw you were reading right there, so I kind of figured you'd be into drama or reading or something." She looks closer at the book and gets a glimpse of the word formations. "It's a play, I see." She smiles. "Very neat!"
Unmei Tama nodded, glancing down to it. "Ummm... japanese dance. It's just so feminine and graceful I... I wanted to try it. I'm not very good at it, though. Yet. Hopefully eventually. And uhhh, yes. Drama. It's a play. I'm only doing a minor role, though. I basically come on stage, say 'burn the witch!' and then I shuffle off with the rest of the crowd. Now a lot else for me to do."
"So, you've been here a while? In this town, I mean?"
"Well, it's always good to start small and work your way up, and Japanese dance does sound neat. It may not be easy at first, but give it time, you'll get there!" She giggles a little. "And this town? Oh yes, I've been here awhile, actually! My family runs a small restaurant in the area where I help out sometimes. It gets me a little extra pocket money, and it's a lot of fun!"
Unmei Tama nodded. "Oh? You help your family? That must be... nice," she said with a mildly forced smile. "Maybe I'll come by and see it sometime. Is the food there good?" As if she was going to say it was horrible!
'Are you sure you don't want to just transform? I'm sure with pride you could--'
'NO!' she mentally screamed. 'I am not transforming in school! It's going to be hard enough to fit in without people knowing about my magic!' "so, uhhhh, what kind of restaurant is it?"
"We serve okonomiyaki there! It's REALLY awesome! I should take you there sometime and I'll treat you to a meal there!" She smiles big. "The food there is good, but don't take my word for it. You should try it for yourself." She stretches her arms over her head and tilts her neck from side to side. "The atmosphere is also wonderful too!"
Unmei Tama nodded. "Oh! I've never had that! that's the... japanese pizza thing, right? Or is it the little balls with meat and stuff in them?" she asked, cocking her head to the side. Truly she was a mistress of how this stuff worked. That was to say, she had no idea how ANY of it worked. "I wanted to actually learn how to cook some things like that. Err, the japanese meals, I mean. I'd love to try them, sometime. If... if that's okay." She said, a smile slowly breaking her face. This girl was a lot nicer.
"Uh, pizza?" Akane ponders for a moment, then she smiles. "Oh yeah, it is like pizza in some ways. Though it's served on a pancake instead of pizza dough, so it's kinda like pizza, but in other ways it's not." She giggles a little. "Cooking takes practice, just like playing volleyball, dancing, or anything else for that matter! I'm sure you could do anything if you put your mind to it!" She grins as Unmei says she'd like to try the okonomiyaki sometime. "Sure, when we're out of class or something, we can go to my family's restaurant together! I bet you'd have a blast there!" Indeed, Akane isn't like those girls Unmei probably met before, rather Akane is a cheerful and friendly person who loves everyone as long as they're nice!
Unmei Tama smiled softly to her, giving her a soft nod. The girl obviously hadn't met many nice people as the tension could be seen just melting away from her. "I... I see. I'll ummm... I could... today? If you want. I mean, if that's okay. I really don't have anywhere to be. My parents don't really care if-- when I come home," she said with a nod.
"Though I don't want to be a bother, so another time would work too."
"I'm very flexible, so if you don't want to go today, there's other times too." She smiles cheerfully. "Besides, I'm just happy that I got to meet you, that's what's important!" Akane does, in fact, seem very happy that she met Unmei today. "If you want, we can just chat for awhile. You wouldn't be a bother to me either way."
Unmei Tama closed her book up, nodding. "I... I'm very happy i got to meet you. I haven't really... made any friends yet aside from..." And kind of trailed off. "They weren't really trying to be friends, though. i'll... I'll try to be a good friend, okay? we can, ummm, d-do friend things. Like... like... ummmm... whatever... girls do... in this city... and... country. sorry."
Akane could tell Unmei was struggling to find the words, and she smiled warmly, patting Unmei on the back. "Don't worry, we'll be the best of friends, I'm sure of it! If you need anything, you can always come to me, OK?" She may have just met Unmei, but Akane can tell how Unmei is feeling, and Akane wants Unmei to feel better for sure.
Unmei Tama reached out slightly to take her hand, before pausing and pulling it back. "I... thank you. I ummm... I-I'm really happy about that. What... what kind of things do you like to do? I can try to play volleyball a bit with you. If you like? I won't be any good, but I'll try. If that's what you'd like?"
Akane giggles again, this time, shaking Unmei's hand in a gentle manner. "Oh, now, don't feel like you have to do what I like to be my friend! I'm always open to trying new things, and I'm sure we can find things we share in common! That's what being freinds is all about." She smiles reassuringly. "If you want to do something, just suggest it to me and I'm sure we can do something!"
Unmei Tama smiled softly to her. "I... i'd like to... do... something... girly? I guess? I never really had many friends back home, early and never really... got much chance to... do much of that kind of stuff. We uhhh... didn't have clubs like this. Back home. I mean, we had clubs. But I wasn't really... welcome... in them. Sorta. And they weren't as... yeah."
Akane sounds reassuring as she says, "We can do whatever you want. I know how it feels to be alone. But you won't be alone for much longer. I'm gonna help you out!" She pats Unmei on the back reassuringly. "Don't you worry about a thing!"
Unmei Tama nodded quickly, grinning so wide at her. "T-thank you. You're... so kind. I uhh... I'd like to know more about you, if that's okay. And, ummm... I was... curious if you knew. Are the rumors about this place true? About... ummm..." She looked around. "The magic?"
Now Akane seems a little surprised by this question. "Uh, magic? I'm not sure I follow you." Inside, though, Akane is starting to wonder if Unmei is actually a magical girl like she is. She ponders asking this at first, but then decides to keep mum on it, wanting to find more information from Unmei. "Can you explain what you mean?"
Unmei Tama squirmed and then pulled out her phone. And.... "W-well... I saw news articles and... and there's a fan site about girls called the precures and... and there's sailor moon and tuxedo mask. I used to read all about them before I moved here. I mean, I hear it's all just... pranks and stuff but... I was curious if it was real. It'd be so cool..."
At the mention of the Precures, Akane does a slight double-take. "Uh, well..." She looks around to make sure nobody's listening, before leaning in a little closer to whisper loudly. "Between you and me, they do exist. Sailor Moon, Tuxedo Mask... and especially the Precures! They do exist!"
Unmei Tama gasped, giving a little sigh. "Wow. I-I knew it. Do... do you think I'll ever meet them? Maybe I could have them sign my autograph book. Do they do autographs?" Oh no. She was a FAN GIRL! Beware! BEWARE!
"Well, you never know." Akane doesn't seem too bothered by her attitude. "Some of them are more friendlier than others. I'm sure if you found one and they were in the right mood, they'd give you an autograph if you asked nicely." It seems unusual Akane's going along with this instead of being bashful.
Unmei Tama nodded, grinning wide. "H-have... have you ever met them?" Well, she wasn't slouching as much, now. So she was doing a lot better. That was much definitely better. She actually seemed excited. "I even managed to get a few action figures of them and... and is that weird?"
"Nah, that's fairly natural if you're a fan of that thing," Akane replies with a reassuring smile. "As for have I met them? Well, let's say I do know some of them personally. How I know them... well... that's a bit of a secret!" She giggles.
Unmei Tama gasped, her eyes going wide. "W-wait, you know them PERSONALLY?" And then covered her mouth. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell that. I just, h-how? How do you know them personally? Are--" Then she blinked. "You're just... mocking me, aren't you? Trying to play another prank on the new girl? Planning to... to trick me into some alley or abandon me on the outside of town or... or something like that?"
Akane goes wide-eyed as well. "I wouldn't mock you! I swear it!" She looks around again and then says, "I'll tell you a secret if you promise not to tell anyone, OK? Because this is very important. No one should know this but the two of us>"
Unmei Tama blinked a few more time,s but slowly nodded. "O-of course. I ummm... I promise I won't tell anyone. No matter what, okay?" She wondered what it was. Was one of akane's best friends a magical girl?
Leaning in a little closer, Akane whispers, "I am actually Cure Sunny. I hope you promise never to tell anyone this at all, OK? Because this is a very valuable secret that only the two of us should know. As for autographs, don't just go running around asking me for them, or my friends as well. This isn't something I tell just anyone..."
Unmei Tama blinked a few times, staring at her. Then she looked her up and down and... "No you're not. I'm not that gullible. I've seen pictures of cute sunny, you look nothing like her." Okay, sure, they were grainy, not good at all pictures, but they were still pictures! ... Possibly not even of cure sunny. "And I have one of her... Akane, please don't try to... I'm not some gullible idiot who will just believe whatever she's told."
Now realizing she may not be able to convince Unmei that easily, Akane says, "But how can I prove it to you that I'm really Cure Sunny? How?" She doesn't want to have to transform here, but she may have no choice.
Unmei Tama frowned, shaking her head. "You don't have to. Just... it's fine," she mumbled, shaking her head and pulling back. "Don't need to lie to me. I really wish you wouldn't. I get enough of that as it is..."
Pleadingly looking at Unmei, Akane now seems to have tears shimmering in her eyes. "I wouldn't lie to you! I swear it! Please, just listen to me! I'm not one to tell these things lightly, but you..." She trails off. "Look, the point is, I would never lie to you or any of my friends!"
Unmei Tama cringed, looking away. "I... I see. Okay, I believe you." No, she didn't. She just didn't want the girl to cry. The disbelief was obvious. And she even seemed a bit hurt. Of course Akane was just like the others. Pick on the nerdy girl. Her hands clenched on her book. That's how it always was.
'Maybe you should taint her, first...'
'I told you, I'm not doing it at school. Too dangerous.'
Akane looks closer. "Look, you may not believe me now, but I'm sure that I'll find a way to prove it to you sometime. I promise." Akane takes a deep breath and blows it out. "I've been lied to before, it's not fun. I know it feels so I don't do that to my friends, OK?"
Unmei Tama nodded, not looking to her. "Right. You don't do that... to your friends." Wait. Now she didn't think akane counted her as a FRIEND? She wiped her eyes. "Whatever, it's fine, okay? Let's just drop it and... and talk about something else. Please."
'Bet she'll try to get you to tp a house, too.'
'... If she does, I'm corrupting her.'
"Yeah, let's talk about other pleasant things." She proceeds to bring the chat back to general topics, occasionally lightening the mood with a joke or two, before getting things stable and casual again. Akane's good at things like this apparently.