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 Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 11:07 am
Someone was in the gazebo in the middle of the labyrinth. People who got close enough to the enormous hedges could easily hear the soft guitar strings as they were individually plucked to make a steady song. The owner of the guitar and the maker of the song were two different people, but for those who didn't have the same connections that he did, it was easy to assume he was just making it up as he went along.
What he was really doing was much different, however. He was attempting to use what knowledge he had of the guitar to repeat a song from memory. It wasn't as easy as it sounded, either. But if he wanted to get better, sometimes he'd have to work without the sheet music that he'd been constantly using until the day before. After each successful bar, he would stop the song and go back to the beginning to make sure that he remembered everything.
This was where he'd met Satu on his first day at Ouran. It'd been some time since then -it seemed like forever, actually. School had actually been going well for him, surprisingly, and it looked like he'd be able to stay at Ouran until he graduated at the end of High School. He hadn't found the time yet to go and join a club. No one had offered him anything, but he was waiting and watching the bulletin boards. He had to be patient, but he would have to join a club soon.
Katsuo had brought his guitar to school that day. He'd kept it in his locker until he finally had time to practice. The relatively large, dark-blue-and-white instrument was very valuable to him, not just monetarily, but emotionally. He wasn't exactly sure if he was allowed to play music outside of the music rooms, but as long as he wasn't bothering anyone, no one would come to see him, right?
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Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 5:03 pm
Audric decided he'd rather take a stroll around the school yard rather than sit in the lunchroom today. It's not that he didn't love to socialize, oh no. If there was a class were all you did was chat Audric would have signed up in an instant. But after a few periods of trying his brain with complicated work, Audric wanted a few moments of peace and quiet. So he made a quick stop-over in the lunchroom to buy a water and a sandwich before he took off outside, with no set plan other than to wander around for a while.
Tottering around, Audric went right on pass all the other students who were lounging around outside while eating their lunches. Actually, that would probably be a wiser choice than wandering around the school while trying to juggle a water bottle and a sandwich; which was sheding lettus like a tree sheds leaves in the fall.
After a couple of minutes, Audric finished off the last bite of his sandwich and began to search for the nearest trash can. The closest one lay near an opening of hedges. Audric had never really had any reason as of yet to venture near these towering walls. While he was taking another sip of his water, Audric could faintly make out the sounds of strings plucking. This was similar to the way he'd met Satu, only this time the instrument was definitely not a violen.
Carefully, Audric inched his way into the maze of green. Right near the entrance, there was already a choice of whether you wanted to go left or right. Sticking an ear to the sky, Audric determined left was the correct path to take and went forward to meet the next challenge. He knew it was a student playing the intrument, but who? A few more twists and turns and Audric knew he would be face to face with the student. But he was a little suprised when the maze opened up into a clearing with a gazebo in the center.
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Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2007 12:46 pm
With every passing moment, the notes that Katsuo had memorized sounded in his ears. Even if once in a while he would miss them, he'd be able to correct himself fairly easily thanks to the music currently playing in his head. He'd found that most songs weren't really complex, as long as he could remember which part went with which area of the song. He had a feeling that he'd get better at repeating the notes overtime -for now, this was fun enough for him.
The notes passed in all directions, lightly resonating from the center point of the gazebo. Katsuo tried to maintain a steady volume, but at times, he would suddenly become slightly louder. It was then that he would immediately stop and control himself so that he wouldn't attract too many people. His fingers moved with slight awkwardness from having not practiced for a while. At least he was getting better now. Before, it was almost impossible to play an entire song.
The final strums of the guitar stopped the song in its tracks. It wasn't meant to be such an abrupt ending, but the player wasn't as professional as the original writer had been. When he finally stopped playing the song, Katsuo realized that his stomach was nearly begging him to eat something. "Oh, I forgot." He said to himself. It was lunchtime, wasn't it? Putting his guitar safely back into the case that he had brought for it, the heir unpacked a lunch that had been made that morning by the cook at his house. It looked delicious, so he decided to just dig in and finish up quickly to make sure he wasn't late to his next class. "Itadakimasu!"
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Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2007 6:54 am
Eyes immediately drawn towards the center of the clearing and the gazebo, Audric was taken back when he spotted a character who was now eating his lunch. All the winding twists and confusing turns of the labyrinth had jumbled the reason why he had entered in the first place; to find whoever was producing the music.
Slowly moving his head from corner to corner, Audric examined the place he had just entered. It seemed to be an oasis guarded by the towering hedges. The only thing visible from atop the hedges was the clear blue sky and the glowing afternoon sun. Shattered randomly all over the clearing were some rose bushes or tiny baby trees shedding white petals. These were all quite pretty, but it appeared the gardener didn't care where any of these were placed. Everywhere else, the plantlife seemed to form elegant patterns or structures. Perhaps the gardener thought no one would be able to reach this place.
Moving back to the gazebo, Audric's eye first caught sight of the guitar case sitting next to the blue haired boy. "Oh! A guitar!" Audric gasped involuntarly; then covered his mouth with both hands as he realized how loud he had just said that. A few perched birds scattered from their tiny tree branches at the abrupt noise.
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Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 10:38 am
The song managed to stick itself into Katsuo's head. He quickly found himself thinking about it, even while eating. Though the guitar was safely in its case, he could still hear the notes it played as they flowed through his mind. They would probably stay there for at least the rest of the day. Maybe when he left the hedges it would fade away. The environment surrounding him had caused the music to resonate and last longer than it was meant to. At least it was gone now, and he could eat it temporary peace. Doubtless he would have to leave soon. It would be too much of a hassle to have to explain why he was late to class.
The heir to the powerful music production company enjoyed occasionally making his way slowly to the gazebo for some relaxation. His sense of direction had actually improved after having searched for the correct path through the maze over and over. However, he'd still get lost on his way, and occasionally, he'd have to take the advice that Satu had given him the first day: ducking under the hedges to find the surefire way out. As usual, it was his last resort. Having to explain the dirt on his uniform would be too much work.
It took him a while to notice the other male student who had approached the middle of the maze. He was unaware of the other boy's presence until he spoke up. At that point, Katsuo jumped, surprised by the sudden outburst from a boy he'd never met. "Woah!" He grabbed his chest to make sure that his heart was still beating.
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Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 1:07 pm
Obviously, Audric felt terrible for sneaking up on the other boy. He seemed to have been so wrapped up in the music that nothing- physically or mental- could reach him. This would explain the reaction he recieved; he'd snuck up on many other people before but none had produced such a startle. But those times were mostly on purpose and this time he had had no intention of scarying anyone.
"Eh, um, are you ok? Sorry about that." Audric stuttered, pulling nervously at his collar. All of the sudden, the fabric felt coarse and tight. Now that the other boy was turned his way, Audric could get a good look at him. Of course he'd never met the boy before though. Audric was very good with remember faces and names; having a huge family can do that to a person. But nonetheless, something about the boy seemed familar. Thinking back, Audric could vaguely remember a discussion a group of friends was having in his class. No name was mentioned, but blue hair and headphones certainly were.
"Well, guess I should introduce myself. I'm Audric Laurent, class 1B."
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Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 4:27 pm
Katsuo took a few breaths to calm himself down. He had not been expecting anyone to come into the labyrinth at this time of day -most students were with their friends, relaxing and eating. Apparently someone had wandered away. One or two more seconds, and he had relaxed enough to completely compose himself once more. "No, I'm fine. Just lost about ten years of my life, but I'm fine."
He stood up after placing his lunch on the small platform in front of him. They looked at each other in relative silence for a few seconds. It didn't seem as though he'd met this other teen before. He couldn't even remember walking past him in the halls. Even if he hadn't been at the school long, he had at least some vague recollections of the faces he'd casually gone past while switching classes. No, there was nothing in his memories about this boy, nothing at all. Was he another foreigner? A new student? Both? He thought that he heard a small accent in the other boy's voice, but it could have just been his imagination playing tricks on his ears.
"I'm Katsuo Arata, same class as you. Nice to meet you, Audric."
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Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 4:16 am
"Ah! Katsuo Arata, I think I've heard that name before. But only from listening in on someone else's conversation in my class." After finishing that last word, Audric paused to think about what he had just said. That sentence had made it sound as though all he did in class was snoop around in other people's business. Blushing slightly from embarrassment, Audric tapped his palm against his head. "Well, you know, when I was working on homework..." Instead of continuing to try and undo his silly mistake, Audric decided to change the subject.
"How long have you been at Ouran?" Audric questioned, while he moved towards the gazebo for a place to sit. "I'm pretty new here myself. But by now I'm pretty settled in." Audric hoped that Katsuo wasn't upset by his fast approach. After the momentary fright was over, the tension in the air had lifted to a friendly mood. Scooting closer seemed the best thing to do.
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Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 3:30 pm
Katsuo realized only a moment before what kind of person Audric had just made himself out to be. The other boy had to at least have had some of his attention on the other students. He bit the inside of his mouth to keep himself from asking who it had been talking about him. It'd be paranoid to think they'd been speaking badly of him -moreover, did he even really care? No, of course not. The biting managed to silence him for a few seconds, allowing him enough time to get the paranoid thoughts out of his head.
Opening his mouth abruptly, he answered only after a short, awkward pause. "Since midway through the year. I transfered in from my old school." He'd honestly forgotten just how long it had been since he'd come to Ouran. The first few months, he'd merely been swept up into the current of students trying to get through high school, and had been overcome with problems that he still couldn't answer. "Err... Sorry that I shouted like that. I didn't expect anyone to come." Had he really been playing so loud that someone could hear him from outside the maze? Or had Audric already been in there -and if so, what had he been doing?
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Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2008 7:14 am
"Ah, cool. I just to be home-schooled, so this is a pretty big change for me." Audric chirped, happy to have found someone else new. Sometimes he felt out of place in class when the other students would start to talk about parks they'd been to, sites they'd seen, or past school events that he hadn't been around for. Naturally, Audric hadn't seen many places in Japan aside for a few shops close to the school. This feeling was extremely alienating since Audric loved to be a part of the conversation. Talking was his favorite pass-time.
"Oh, I'm sorry I snuck up on you like that." Audric laughed, remembering the faint murmur of notes he had heard at the enterance of the maze. For some reason, Audric hadn't really expected to come across anyone either. The melody had seemed to perfect to be coming from anything other than a tape. Of course he knew the player must have been a student, who else could it have been, but nonetheless he was suprised to actually meet the musician. Then again, Audric was no music critic, so what did he know? And so the boy didn't think he was a psychic or something he added, "I heard to playing from the enterance."
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Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2008 9:23 am
"Oh, home-school." So, was he really a foreigner, or just someone who hadn't been out much? Still probably a foreigner. His name was obviously from another country -French, from the sound of it. "Sadly, they haven't thought of that one yet." He murmured to himself. Maybe home-school would be all right. After all, since his parents were at work all day, they couldn't bother him... But then again, there were a lot of people in his house, and less places to hide. No, he'd stay here if he could.
"It's really okay. I should've known that someone would be curious. This place, as quiet as it seems, almost always has at least two people wandering around." One of them usually him. Wonderful. Even without an amp, you can hear me all the way from thee entrance. If Audric had heard him, then probably other people had, too. He wondered if he could actually get in trouble for playing outside of the designated music rooms.
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Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 5:40 pm
"Yeah, it was a little easier because my parents cut me slack. But I like being around all the other students." It had been a while since Audric had thought about his life back home in France. Looking back, all his experiences seemed to be some sort of strange and exciting dream devoid of work, worry, and trouble. But now he had the opportunity to define himself away from his family. He no longer had to say 'we' everytime he talked or constantly answer questions about his siblings. And whatever friends he made were his own.
"Wow! Seems like I'm the only one who didn't know about this place." Audric had no idea why he hadn't surveyed the school grounds yet. It seemed like everytime he had the chance to, homework would pop up or his mom would call and want to talk for a hour.
After a few moments of silence, Audric decided he'd had enough and asked, "How long have you been playing?" Audric himself had never been able to get the hang of any instrument so he thought it was interesting to here about people's dedication for an instrument.
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Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 3:54 pm
"Really, depending on who's teaching you, it could be a ot harder or a lot easier than normal school. If your teacher gives you a break once in a while, I guess it'd be better. But since it's just you and them, it probably could get really bad. I couldn't do it, honestly. I'd be bored out of my mind without any other students." Katsuo thought of just how bored he would be and stuck his tongue out. He just couldn't stand being forced to stay in his house for school with a few teachers as his only company.
"It's apparently not on the main tour. Everyone finds out about it sooner or later, even though not everyone goes out of their way to let the secret go." He had merely been lucky to find the labyrinth and meet Satu during his first day on the campus. Come to think of it, leading Audric in had also been an accident. "This place pulls people in like it's a magnet."
Unsure of how to break the silence, Katsuo stayed quiet. Eventually, one of them would crack and do something to either get the conversation going again or end it altogether. When the other boy spoke, however, he wasn't ready for their chat's abrupt resurrection. "Oh. Uh, well, not longer. I've been watching it played or years, and someone taught me a while ago, but I haven't got serious about it since just recently. Shortly after I came to Ouran, actually."
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Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 9:38 am
"Homeschool was okay, but thinking back, I had no one to sneak notes too! None of my brothers or sisters are my age, so I was usually in a room that was far away from them." Audric said, thinking back to those days long passed. Some of his siblings were in college, some at the middle grade level, and some at the elementary level. Audric wandered why his siblings that were somewhat close to his age hadn't come to Ouran. Probably because they all live and act by their own rules...
"Yeah, it seems like Ouran has a way of pulling out amazing qualities in people. I haven't met a single mean person or someone who wasn't great at something. Execpt for me of course." Audric said, giving a playful shrug. But this really didn't worry him. His grades were good and he did have a great knowledge of music; even if he couldn't actually play it.
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Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 4:57 pm
"Aw, that must have been horrible. One-on-one with a teacher is definitely the worst." Suddenly stricken with an odd paranoia, Katsuo made sure never to mention homeschooling to them. He didn't want to know what would happen if the idea ever presented itself to them. "How many siblings do you have?" He asked out of pure curiosity.
"You've probably met a few of them. They're the ones that don't talk to you as much as everyone else. That, or they're shy." If he honestly didn't like someone, he'd probably act that way to them, too. But then again, he acted like that to a lot of the teachers. ...That explained a lot, actually. "Everyone here is expected to be good at one thing or another. It's usually not what you think, though. There's a lot of people who are good at something are expected to be good at something else. It's complicated, really."
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