(Open) Curiosity

The little, brown squirrel screeched out as it desperately tried to get back to its hole inside one of the many trees in the Yamaku courtyard, but its efforts ultimately proved to be fruitless. After all, no matter how fast it was, it wouldn't be going anywhere with broken hind feet. Maki didn't know what had happened - the squirrel was already injured by the time she noticed it squirming on the ground. Perhaps it was an accident - the courtyard tended to get very crowded, so it wouldn't have been surprising if someone had stepped on it by mistake. Or maybe it was intentional. Was there a sadist in the school going around crippling squirrels? The girl didn't particularly care. Nor did it matter, anyway. The result was still the same.

As soon as she heard the squirrel's screeching, Maki walked over to it and crouched down to examine it more closely, her school bag still hanging over her shoulder. She wondered what she was supposed to do in that moment. The 'morally right' thing would have probably been to take the animal to a doctor - perhaps the school nurse, or some vet nearby. But there was no way in hell she was doing that - it would take way too much time and effort, and there was nothing in it for her. Really, the best solution she came up with was to step on the squirrel's head - it was in pain, probably crippled for life. A quick death would have been merciful, and Maki was the only one around there who could do it. After all, it wasn't like she hadn't killed before, and to her, killing a squirrel was no different than killing a human, as long as it served the same goals. However, that could have probably gotten her in trouble. After all, they did warn her not to kill anyone, or anything, so if someone saw her, she would probably be yelled at, and that was a headache she preferred to spare herself. In reality, the only real choice was to stand up, walk away and let someone else deal with this.

With a quiet sigh, Maki pushed herself up back on her feet, only to suddenly notice that someone else was standing by her, watching the squirrel. She shrieked a little and took a step back, wondering how she failed to notice the person walking up to her.

Chiharu flinches at the shriek emited from the girl in front of her self even if it was for but a split second. But she quickly recovered and resumed an apologetic visage to greet the newcomer.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I just noticed that this squirrel had fallen, and, well I came over for the same reason you did."

"Oh..." was the only thing Maki said when she heard the girl's explanation. Honestly, she didn't even know why she shrieked - the girl had faced real-life monsters without as much as a second glance, but now a simple, ordinary, human being had managed to catch her by surprise? The thought sounded preposterous, and yet, that was exactly what happened. Well, perhaps the girl felt like watching the squirrel would get her in trouble, which was why she got startled a little when that stranger had sneaked behind her? Well, whatever the case, it was an embarrassing reaction, but Maki had no intention to apologize - after all, it wasn't her fault she was caught by surprise! She tilted her head a little when the blue-haired girl started speaking, unsure about the meaning of her words. Was she there to also look at the squirrel while trying to decide what to do with it? Well, perhaps it was better to just play dumb on this one, Maki thought. "Honestly, I'm not sure why I'm here myself!" she closed her eyes and put her hands behind her casually, then smiled widely in an attempt to appear cute.

[OOC: Just to let you know, my character profile is slightly out of date as Chiharu has since reverted back to her natural hair color of black. Hence the avatar -->]

Chiharu tilts her head slightly while raising her brow and asking, "Are you lost?"

((Oh, sorry about that... I haven't really been following the forum all that much lately ^^; ))

"Eh?" Maki asked and opened her eyes, caught by surprise once again. What was that girl talking about? What did being lost have to do with the crippled squirrel? Was that some kind of weird way primates diverted the conversation topic away from stuff they preferred to ignore, no matter how obvious they were? That was interesting... The long-haired girl took a mental note of it. In any case, ignoring the fallen animal for now suited Maki just fine - she never really wanted anything to do with it in the first place and had simply approaching it out of sheer curiosity. Pretending like it didn't even exist, she smiled at her companion once again. "Not really! I was just on my way back to the dorms!"

Taking a small step forward, Chiharu lets out a smirk as she says, "So, you lied then."
<Or you just have a bad habit of contradicting yourself>

For a little bit, Maki didn't quite know what to respond. Of course she hadn't lied - she was talking about not knowing what to do with the squirrel. However, maybe it was a better option to just say she did lie and continue to ignore a problem that might have required her attention? The girl had no problem with lying about lying, and she would have done so without hesitation if the long-term benefits outnumbered the short-term ones. But they didn't - after all, being exposed as a compulsive liar this early would have destroyed her credibility, which she needed if she ever found a position where she would need to manipulate someone to her own goals - which, knowing her, she would inevitably go into. As much as Maki didn't want to admit it, dealing with the crippled animal was the best way to get out of the situation. Then again, it didn't mean that she was the one who had to deal with it...

"Nope!" she shook her head playfully. "I was talking about the squirrel. I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do with it!"

Chiharu crouches down and gently picks the squirrel up in her hands, and upon standing back up she addresses the other girl.
"Often times the best thing to do when you're not sure what to do is ask someone who would know for sure.. I just so happen to know someone like that."
She then begins walking towards the dorms before slowing down to look back and say, "You can come along if you want. I doubt he'll mind."

Maki smiled when the other girl picked up the squirrel. So, her simple plan did work after all - the animal was no longer her problem. The short girl prepared to leave before something piqued her interest - her companion was walking towards the dorms, and not towards, say, the school nurse or some other place outside the school grounds. Was there a student who could fix the squirrel's legs? Well, a person like that certainly sounded fascinating! Maki was sure she could use someone like him in the future! Perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad idea for her to go and introduce herself? After all, the more 'friends' she made at this place, the more strings she would be able to play when she needed something. Oh, right, the girl had almost forgotten that she was supposed to make friends!

"Sure!" she smiled widely and ran up to the other girl, catching up to her in about a second. "I'm Maki, by the way! Sorry if I left a bad impression earlier!"

While her attention is mostly focused on keeping the squirming creature comfortable and within her hands, she still speaks with the same tone as before.
"Chiharu.. And don't worry, everyone makes mistakes. Anyways, I'm not one to judge."

Maki simply closed her eyes and laughed a little at Chiharu's remark, but deep inside, she was getting a bit irritated. After all, the girl didn't believe she had made any mistakes - according to her, it was her companion who had misunderstood what she truly wanted to say. Well, it wasn't like that was the first time someone blamed her for their own mistakes, and it certainly wouldn't have been the last, so Maki decided to let it go and move on, if anything, then for the sake of maintaining her 'mask'.

"Soooo..." she rolled her lizard-like eyes towards Chiharu. "Who's that friend of yours? Y'know, the one that can fix Mr. Squirrel's legs?"

She replies with a relaxed smile.
"His name's Izumi, he used to be a scout, and we're a little more than just friends."

"Oooh, a boyfriend! How exciting!" Maki giggled. Indeed, it was very exciting, but for... quite different reasons. For a moment, the girl wondered if she would be able to manipulate this Izumi fellow and destroy his relationship with Chiharu, just for fun. And, of course, as revenge for that little grudge she held against the short-haired girl for putting the blame on her earlier on. Well, it all depended on their reactions - if the two were close enough, maybe it would have been fun to separate them, but if not, then the effort wasn't really worth it. In any case, those were just casual plans floating around in Maki's head, like a normal person would get an idea to go to the movies if they heard some random strangers discussing a movie that was playing. But still, it did pique the short girl's curiosity. "So, what is he like?" she asked, wanting to learn a little bit about what Chiharu thought of her boyfriend.

Chiharu looks forward in thought as she replies with, "He's very, intelligent, interesting, intriguing and most of all,"
She looks over to Maki.
"He's gentle."

"He sounds like a lovely guy!" Maki smiled. Of course, what she really meant was 'He sounds like someone that would be extremely easy to manipulate'. If she ever needed anything from the scout, all the short girl had to do was threaten Chiharu in front of him and he would quite easily bend to her will. Of course, she was physically unable to make good on her threats due to the restrictions placed upon her by the SCP Foundation, but he didn't really need to know that. In any case, just because she knew that information didn't mean that she would actually act up on it, but she still remembered every detail, just in case. "How long have you guys been together?"

"hmm, about since spring."
She then turns to question back on Maki by asking, "How'bout you? Are you with anyone at the moment?"

Maki laughed at the question. As if she would ever subject herself to a relationship! True, having a male lapdog at her disposal, ready to fulfill each and every one of her wishes and requests did sound quite appealing, but the short girl had decided that the negative sides of this deal outweighed the positive ones, if only by a slight margin. And besides, even if she did want to find herself a boyfriend, she was only given the opportunity to do so a few days ago... but the less said about her life before she came to Yamaku, the better. "Not yet! Boys tend to avoid me like the plague!" she giggled. "I think it's probably 'cuz of my eyes! Can't be very romantic with a girl with eyes like a lizard!" Maki pointed at her elongated pupils. In reality, she wasn't ashamed of her eyes, quite the opposite - they were one of the many things that made her very different from her peers, and she wouldn't have it any other way. But she had also found out that they could serve as a convenient excuse for pretty much anything, given the right context, and wouldn't hesitate to use them as such.

"Heh, I don't think you'll have to worry about that here. Considering the nature of the school, people are pretty tolerant of eachother's quirks. You must be new if you hadn't already known that."
As they approach the boys dorm, chiharu hits the automatic door button with her hip as she is still holding the squirrel in her hands. Once they continue forth she directs a gaze of curiosity to Maki as she asks, "So, if you don't mind me asking, what do they do? Your eyes, that is."

"Haha, you got me! I've only been here for about three days!" Maki chuckled when Chiharu deduced that she was new. 'Great detective work, Sherlock... Didn't the fact that you've never seen me before tip you off?' she thought to herself as the two entered the boys' dorm. The girl wasn't particularly sure if they were allowed in there, but come on - what was the worst that could happen? It wasn't like she was killing somebody! And besides, a high-functioning sociopath such as herself needed at least a little bit of risk in her life. When her companion asked about what her eyes did, Maki shrugged. "Nothing, really. They just kinda look like that. There's some more weird stuff in my body, like my heart being slightly higher than in normal people, but otherwise, I'm a totally normal girl!" she spoke a lie so ridiculous that even she couldn't believe it. Then again, it wasn't like she could just confess that she was an immortal lizard person now, could she? At the very least, this line of conversation allowed her to learn more information about Chiharu. "What about you? Why are you here? I mean, you look normal and all, but..."

<so she has a heart disorder, but obvious doesn't understand it. Alright. That in conjunction with the eyes probably means it's genetic. Maybe I should ask her what it's called..>
"Well, as you've probably noticed, I am wearing some pretty thick headphones, but can still hear you perfectly fine. I have this thing called Oversensitivity that some people get occasionally with certain things, but with me it's with everything and constantly."
<I wonder if she understands what oversensitivity means...>
"So basically I hear, see, smell, and feel things more thoroughly than other people do."

"Oh, I see!" Maki exclaimed. This ability sounded extremely useful in combat scenarios. Being able to spot snipers and hidden cameras, to hear enemy footsteps all around you with extreme clarity, to feel the vibrations through the walls - those qualities would make Chiharu an excellent soldier. If she wanted to, she'd probably be able to become an agent of the SCP Foundation without much issue. Maki prepared to ask if she had ever considered a military career, but then reminded herself that no 'normal' fourteen year old girl would ask that immediately after learning about someone's disability, so she kept quiet. "That sounds like it can get pretty annoying" she finally shrugged.

After a short breath while she closes her eyes for but a second she says, "Extremely... I get headaches a lot, and I swear, some people are incapable of shutting up and sitting still."

Maki laughed sincerely for the first time since she met Chiharu. She most certainly knew that feeling! Some people absolutely loved talking about nothing substantial for hours on end. Kanna, Maki's closest friend back in the facility, was one of them. That was one of the reasons for the girl's rather high patience threshold - that was the only way she could survive the needlessly detailed descriptions of boy band concerts that her friend loved putting her through. "Yeah, I think we both know at least a few people who just don't know when to shut up!" she chuckled, hoping that comment wouldn't come off as too mean-spirited. True, she wanted to appear innocent and cheerful, but that didn't mean she had to present herself as an absolute saint - a sassy comment or two were allowed from time to time.

"Well, to be honest, I can't think of anyone in particular. I don't remember faces the greatest. But it's more this school in general. Speaking of which, what was your old school like?"
<I wonder if a normal school would be any different. Probably worse actually..>

"My... old school?" Maki asked. Unless you counted the numerous books that she requested in order to increase her knowledge, she had never been in anything even remotely resembling a school. Of course, she could have lied and just said that the school was 'normal' - nothing conspicuous about it at all, just a regular, old school with boring kids and typical teachers. But that had the potential to create some monumental troubles for her in the long run - while she had absolutely no problem fabricating a detailed and very convincing-sounding story about her school days, all it took was one person actually looking into said story to make the entire thing fall apart. No, there was actually a far easier way to get out of this. "To be perfectly honest, I was homeschooled by my mother until recently. But, um... Well, she passed away, so I..." Maki turned her eyes away. That flawless display of emotion and vulnerability, while entirely fake, was bound to earn her some points from Chiharu on the empathy scale.