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 Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 1:13 pm
She watched the boy with silver eyes demonstrate some soccer kick to a group of underclassmen. Even she, a total imbecile in the ways of sports, knew that this Houkan person was quite good; watching the way he moved reminded her of a fish swimming through water. But a particularly graceful fish, she told herself. (Yeah, maybe a... well, something fast, and sleek, thought the girl as she leaned her elbows on her knees and zoned out.) Or maybe not a fish, she thought suddenly. A jungle cat? Her black eyes would have dilated, if they could, but instead the icy blue pupil contracted as she disconnected from the entire sports workshop her gym class was being forced to participate in.
"Yo, Kyrie," shouted one of her groupmates. "C'mon, it's our turn!" She hopped up, stumbling over her own feet and joining her 'team' to scattered giggles.
"Sorry," she said depressingly. "I was twenty feet away." She looked around the rest of her team as she brushed imaginary dirt off of her uniform tee and scuffed her feet against the damp grass.
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 1:24 pm
"Hello ladies, how are we doing today?"
Houkan's voice was pleasant as he greeted the newest group of students that came over to him, his posture tipping slightly in a polite bow. A few of the girls turned red and giggled at his motion, their frames pressing against one another in mock actions of shyness or timidity.
"My name is Houkan, and I was asked to come here today with my Academy's soccer team in order to demonstrate some different kicks and passes."
His voice held no hesitation as he spoke, though granted this group was probably his third or fourth of the day and he was used to it, yet it still held a certain air of innocence and nerves that did not seem to loose their charm on his crowd.
"Before we begin, are there any questions for me? Feel free to ask of me anything you would like, and I would be more than delighted to answer them for you."
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 1:31 pm
Her hand flew up in the air even as the other girls giggled or whispered about how he'd looked at them and didn't he sound so cute? Honestly, Kyrie thought (even as she turned pink with the rest of her team), you'd think they had never seen a guy before. And she happened to know for a fact that all but two girls on her team (including herself in the two) were no longer virgins.
Unable to really wait, she dropped her arm again and said, "Your eyes are a really pretty color." Only that was more of a comment, wasn't it? She blushed, and said, "Ah, I mean. Are you not on your school team?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 1:39 pm
Houkan turned towards Kyrie as she spoke her comment-over-question, and he chuckled a little at her blush and second statement. Little events like this had been happening all day today while he was at this all-girl's school, students asking him so many personal questions that he had almost prepared a full speech to just answer the basics right away.
"Thank you for the compliment, though I must say yours are far more beautiful. Dark eyes look wonderful on a young maiden."
He winked playfully and then turned his attention back to the soccer ball that rested against his left foot, kicking it up into the air without much effort. The young man excelled at sports, regardless of what they were, so that is why he was here.
"To answer your question, I am merely a call in for the team. I do not participate on any of the sports or academic teams at my school but I am always free to help them out when needed. Today is me returning a favor for the Team Captain, who also happens to be one of my close friends."
The ball went back up into the air again as Houkan bounced it on his knee, the actions taking place so effortlessly while he was talking.
"Are there any more questions before we officially begin?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 2:02 pm
She blanched, as if he'd just insulted her, and looked down at her feet. Didn't he notice the weird pupil shade? Or know that black wasn't a normal eye color? But with such astonishing eyes himself he must not think much of the limitations of genetics. Kyrie took a couple of deep breaths. He didn't have to know about her bondage to a Prince of Hell. Just an innocent compliment she assured herself. She looked back up and smiled at Houkan. "Thank you for answering my question, sir," she chirped.
Since there were no more questions, the other girls clumped together into small groups, waiting for instruction. Kyrie, though, reached out and caught the ball out of the air. "How do you do that so--" She sighed. "I'm sorry, nevermind," she interrupted herself as she put the ball back on the other student's knee.
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 2:22 pm
"It is really quite easy to do if you do not think about it. I find that when a person thinks too hard over what they are trying to accomplish they often fail faster. I think a phrase I once heard, 'painless for the brainless' best suits how many actions should be performed."
It seemed that nothing would enough slightly ruffle the feathers of this young man, even when his ball was taken away and then returned to him. He merely responded in kind with a smile and another bouncing of the ball into the air before he went high enough that it could come down on his head. It did into matter that he was getting blades of grass and tiny flecks of dirt mixed into his ebony black hair as he was enjoying himself, and after a moment or two of doing the simple bounces he let the ball down enough to catch it in his hand.
"Would anyone like to try what I just demonstrated? It is not difficult to perform as it is just a simple repetitive motion, though if it hit the ball too hard with your hand you will find yourself moving around too much. This is a perfect exercise in control."
Houkan held the ball out in front of him as slight arms length, wondering if any of this girls would actually have the nerve to let something repeatedly smack into the skulls. On purpose.
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 2:55 pm
She was quiet for a second, looking over at her compatriots to see what would go on there. None of them spoke up, staring around the group and giggling nervously. But that weird feeling was striking up- the same one that had come over her when she had first befriended Firoussi, Zuleika and Phen. Feeling like she was walking towards her own funeral, Kyrie took the ball and looked at it uncertainly. Would she really do this? But the weird, sick feeling in her stomach had gone away.
Maybe she'd get lucky, she decided, tossing the ball into the air. It seemed like she would, for a second- she managed to catch it (with her head, which did kind of hurt) all of three times before she stepped wrong and slipped, falling heavily on one arm. A silence fell over the group, but since Kyrie wasn't crying...
Straightening, she bent her arm so she could see the source of her pain. It was a long cut on one forearm (looking around, she identified a sharp-looking rock that might have been the culprit) that she examined quite dispassionately. Meanwhile, a teacher had rushed over and sent the other students away. "Mr. Houkan," the woman was saying, "I'm so sorry to impose, but could you take Kyrie to the nurse? She knows the way and I'd send her alone, but she might be going into shock, you know."
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 7:34 pm
Houkan was impressed with Kyrie's control over the ball at first, nodding approvingly at her getting it twice in a row, though on the go of the fourth he opened his mouth slightly to warn her only to come too late. After the ball contacted funny and sent the girl moving and falling over a rock or something of that sort, Houkan could only wince quickly as Kyrie went down.
He was going to go over and offer a hand up when a teacher stopped him and asked a request of him to accompany Kyrie to the nurse's office, wherever that may be, and the young man could only politely nod in response. He extended his hand out towards Kyrie, who he noticed was checking over a large gash, and he smiled a little sympathetically.
"Shall we get going, then? I am afraid I will have to ask you to lead the way, though I suppose I can carry you there if you are unable to properly walk."
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Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 5:42 am
With a humiliated blush, Kyrie stood up. No greasy sick-feeling now, no, just... awkward. She'd been doing so well, but then she'd just slipped; with a sigh, she balled up the loose ends of her t-shirt and held it over the gash as she started to walk back towards the school. "I'm fine," she told Houkan. "'Cause I'm so clumsy, I'm used to it."
Anyway, even weirder, she hadn't even felt it. It didn't hurt at all- like maybe the bond to Seere had metaphorically killed feelings like that. Maybe things like cuts couldn't hurt anymore. "Sorry," she said to him. "I didn't mean to interrupt."
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Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 5:28 pm
"I do not think that is an acceptable reason to ignore one's own injuries, but if you insist I will press you no further on the issue."
Houkan silently followed behind Kyrie, his gaze moving between his destination and his feet as he walked, though after a moment he rested his eyes on the wound that the young girl was trying to cover with the end of her shirt. He did not know much about medical stuff, but he knew enough that a shirt untied was not going to cut it.
"That is not going to hold for very long at this rate. Why not use this instead?"
He reached into the pocket of the sweatpants he wore and pulled out a strip of white cloth, a bandanna, and offered it over to her.
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 9:54 am
She wanted to say that she did insist but it would be so... awkward, so she didn't. Instead, she smiled at him (it was a little bit pained, but still a smile) and took the bandanna. At least, Kyrie thought as she looked at it, it wasn't a handkerchief. She might have started to giggle.
So, taking a deep breath, she pressed the bandanna to the cut and turned into the school building. "Your eyes really are weird," she said sheepishly. "They kind of have a sheen, like metal."
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 4:31 pm
"I would say you are one to talk about weird eyes. Not many people would have ones like yours as well, you know."
Houkan was still polite when he was using the metaphorical 'pot calling the kettle black' ruse, which seemed odd that someone could insult while still sounding so nice. Well, he was not exactly insulting her, more or less simply stating that he had noticed the strange nature of Kyrie's eyes as well.
"Though it is true, silver eyes are not a natural human eye color despite the fact that I was born with them. You could say they are a family trait thanks to a rather interesting pact."
He watched as Kyrie merely dabbed at her wound with the bandanna he had intended for her to use as a mini-bandage of sorts, and with a polite smile he gently took the white cloth from her hand before moving her arm out and tying it properly over as much of the gash as it would cover.
"This way is faster."
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 5:34 pm
She looked sad, casting her eyes to the ground even as he tied the impromptu bandage over her arm. "My eyes were green before," she said, hoping that her arm wasn't close enough for him to see the tiny white dots circling her wrist. They weren't much bigger than pinpricks, and invisible unless you knew they were there, but they were just reinforcement of her bond to that stupid demon for her.
"A rather interesting pact? Like with a demon?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 7:30 pm
"Green? Ah, so then how they are now is not natural. I would say then that perhaps you are a bit unlucky to have your eyes change? Mine are natural, I was born with them. As for a demon being the cause? I suppose you could say it is something of that nature."
Houkan's voice held a tint of surprise in it, something extremely rare from a teen usually as calm and unruffled as he was. It took a good deal to even get the tone of his voice to change to something close to surprise, so Kyrie might have stumbled onto something...if she had noticed.
"These silver eyes are proof that the deal is still strong in our family, the deal made with my grandfather over many centuries ago."
He gently touched his cheek below his left eye, his voice slightly soft. Talking about the deal was not a mark of shame or anything, it was something everyone in his family had to live with and had gotten quite used to. They just did not talk about it much because it raised many questions, though since Kyrie had openly mentioned a demon Houkan assumed it to be okay.
"I have a pact with The Devil."
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Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 8:02 pm
She frowned. Automatically, she shied away, seeming to contract upon herself. The faint blush from before intensified, but not in a good way. Houkan, nice Houkan, had a family pact with the devil? She repeated it, looking at her wrists solemnly. "With the devil?" Her pact was with Seere... but it wasn't her choice. And since he said it was a familial pact, he'd never agreed to it either.
"Did you make it?" She looked at herself and Houkan in a mirror set in an alcove of the hallway. They both looked normal, but now she knew that neither of them was. It... changed things. "The pact."
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