Meeting People (Shion)

The blond girl moved to the beat in her eardrums as she weaved through students to find her new dorm assignments. She was a second year student, but had only recently managed to transfer to Fukui Academy, where as far as she could tell, her new life had just begun. The blond girl's name was Melody, ironically enough, and she had long, naturally blond hair that stood out on the campus; she was a long way from her home in Britain. At least she'd studied enough foreign language to hold a conversation with people pretty easily; it was one of her talents, after all. She was wearing a simple dark red blouse and a black skirt, with long socks and tennis shoes; her several bags of belongings were on her back or being carried by her. 


Within a few minutes, she managed to make it to her new dorm room. She'd heard she had a roommate. What was she like? Was she nice? Was she pretty? What sort of talent would she have? The only thing Melody knew for sure was that, obviously, her roommate was a girl. She turned the key she was given, pushing open the door. Music still blared in her ears as she looked up, spotting the other girl just sitting on her bed, looking serious about something. That something was probably Melody, considering she was the target of the girl's gaze. A hand reached up, tugging an earbud out of her ears. The music could still be faintly heard, loud as they had been.

Melody took a deep breath. She'd promised herself she would be outgoing this year... or more than she ever had at her other school. It wasn't like she couldn't be... she just needed to work on ignoring that part of her that wanted to ignore other people initially. "Hey, we must be roommates," she greeted, stating the obvious. "I'm Melody. Melody Black. I'm kinda new here." she threw her things onto the empty bed in the room, though she sat her guitar down gently. "What's your name? Love your hair, by the way."

Fukui was said to be a fine academy for girls to hone their artistic abilities at without the distractions of a public school. Every one of the girls were flowers of some budding creativity. Private girls' schools were also supposed to have nothing but pretty young ladies to interact with, befriend and perchance even romance. Such were the tales of graphic novels and all, but there had been little evidence of the latter since Shion had arrived at school. Granted she had made little effort to actually converse with other girls, but it was kind of scary! Just imagine what they would think of her if they just spoke candidly! Better to avoid embarrassment and let everyone think she was just some tough girl who never spoke.

So she'd been left to her daydreams again, which of late had featured herself as the princess needing rescue more often. Odd that, but what could you do? Many minutes had been spent sitting in class staring off into space thinking about wearing a poofy dress and being swept away by some pretty girl. The other girl in the dreams never had a distinct face but instead was simply.. pretty and kind. Shion had just returned from class and was considering which outfit to change into now that she didn't have to be in uniform. So many choices! That was when the door opened and in walked a fairly tall blonde who immediately was identifiable as a foreigner. Seeing this she gulped with apprehension. It hadn't been smooth sailing for learning English in middle school. What if this girl wanted to talk in her native language? Best keep the silent act going just in case.

Then the girl spoke Japanese which though accented was completely understandable. She was kind enough to introduce herself while bringing her belongings into the dorm room as well. Her long blonde hair made her stand out, and admittedly she was pretty. Wait. Pretty and kind? Shion fought off a blush initially; when the compliment was offered about her hair, the brunette quickly shoved a hand into the pocket of her trench coat. Out came a surgical mask which just as suddenly covered her lower face in order to hide her blush just as it emerged. Without words she stood up and continued staring at her roommate, long black skirt swishing about her legs with the movement. All in all she had the look of a 70s biker girl, just as out of place as any of her other outfits.

Shion walked over to the blonde, stared into the girl's eyes intensely, then slowly offered her hand. Westerners shook hands to greet each other didn't they?

An eyebrow raised as the girl stood up, put on a mask, and then walked over and proceeded to stare into her brown eyes. The act caused Melody to blush a bit in turn, though more out of discomfort than anything, at least as far as she could tell. She resisted the urge to take a step back, instead just standing there and staring back for a moment before blinking several times and trying to regain her mental footing. She reached out her hand to shake the girl's hand gently. "Uh, I assume I spoke plainly enough?" Either this girl didn't like talking, or Melody wasn't speaking plainly enough. And what was up with that surgical mask? She'd turned slightly red before she'd put it on... was she sick? No, Melody knew better than that. She didn't think the staff would put her in a room with someone that ill.



"Uh, so what's your name? And um... is there a reason for the uh...?" she waggled her finger at the mask. Being outgoing was taxing, but she needed to force herself to be. How else would she make real friends? Find a girlfriend? Handle being famous one day? "I didn't catch you at a bad time did I? I mean, we're going to be roommates and things, so I wouldn't mind getting to hang out a bit... or something..." Now Melody blushed for an entirely different reason. One, she realized the Japanese girl had pretty eyes, since they were standing close and she didn't really have other facial features that were visible enough to notice up close. Two, she had no idea what was going on... like at all.

Being a silent tough girl was actually really tough to do. Right before her stood a pretty girl who was reaching out to her despite the appearances and obvious confusion. Her biker girl was a mysterious character of course so that confusion was totally founded and acceptable. This wasn't a confrontation though so she didn't intend to scare the girl off. Probably best to tone it down a little before transitioning into a more personable character. Not that the surgical mask was coming off. At least not until she stopped blushing so much at simply meeting and shaking the hand of a pretty western girl. To the first question she simply nodded to show her confirmation that the language had been plain enough to understand.

The next questions were going to be very hard to answer without speaking some words though. Yes or no questions were so much easier for the biker girl to answer all mysteriously! Shion shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot as she tried to think up some way to answer the girl's questions. Like Melody she wanted to hang out a bit too and become friends. It was going to take a change of character to allow this to happen most likely. Unless of course the blonde wanted to hear the backstory for the biker girl; in that case she would be happy to elaborate like crazy. One thing she could tell at close distance was that she was taller than Melody by a little bit, allowing her to look down into the girl's equally entrancing eyes. Had it been visible her face would've blushed even more.

"What's it to you?" she responded about the mask, then her tone lifted a tiny bit as she added, "Shion. Some call me Sting."

The last part was a total lie, but her eyes said it was true. All a part of character immersion. Then she gruffly continued, "Now is fine..."

What now? Shion looked around the room frantically before her eyes settled on the guitar. Of course! With a sweeping gesture she motioned to the instrument, "You play?"

"Just... you know..." Melody shrugged, "Curious..." Maybe she liked masks. Maybe it was some sort of prank for her new roommate? This only made more sense when she told her people called her sting. "People call people sting?" she asked, honestly curious about that. She'd thought that was like, something people did in the movies and video games and stuff. "I think I'll um... I'll call you Shion though, if that's okay."

By then, the girl called Shion was looking around for something, eventually settling on the guitar Melody had brought in. The obvious question was asked after that. Melody had to fight off the urge not to make some joke about just carrying it around for looks. "I'd like to think I do pretty well," she answered, not actually trying to brag as much as it sounded. "It's what I'm here for... well, mostly anyway." The list also included love where her parents wouldn't ruin it, and the other standard classes she didn't actually care that much about. Oh, and friends in general.

Melody walked over, shrugging off her jacket before sitting down and opening the case to her electric guitar. "Want to hear?" It wasn't late enough that she thought she would get in trouble for it. Hopefully not. She didn't actually know, but she was willing to take the chance to settle the awkwardness between her and 'Sting.' Maybe if she put up with the prank it would stop and the girl would be more friendly. It was funny, even with the mask and the jacket, she didn't look to Melody like she was actually unfriendly. How could eyes that pretty be so unfriendly? Even if they did say she was serious about being called Sting...

"Fine. And they do, or they regret it later," Shion responded about her character's nickname, "Especially her.."

Shion had her work cut out for her if she intended to keep this act up for prolonged periods around her new roommate. Keeping a serious face when someone who genuinely wanted to learn about her was hard. Everything inside her just wanted to reach out and embrace the turn of events fate had given her. This might have been her best chance of making a friend at Fukui thus far in her time at the school. Sting needed to remain gruff and mysterious though. Somehow she needed to be able to change characters if she were to keep that mystique up. Thankfully the guitar might offer her the chance to get changed while the other girl played.

There were a few pieces of clothes she could slip on under her long skirt, and she'd practiced changing using the trench coat to obscure views of her changing tops. Just the opportunity needed to present itself. Shion stared at her roommate intensely again as the girl offered to play something for her. In her mind she reveled in the good fortune to have Melody do just what she'd been hoping for. Now she could change out of her biker girl look and have a somewhat normal conversation! It was overdue to change out of the outfit anyway, since 'Sting' was only for school hours. Still she had to keep the character up.

"Yes. Play for me," she remarked even as she walked to her closet and started opening the door.

"..." Melody tilted her head again at the mention of some people regretting not calling her sting. Now she sounded like some sort of criminal overlord who didn't want her identity known. "Yeah, you can just count me confused for the moment." This was the weirdest practical joke ever. If she wasn't so overly convinced of this fact, she would have probably lost patience with it already and asked to meet the real her. As it was, she was a bit too confused and nervous to do so. At least she could calm down by playing for the girl.

"I hope you like rock," she told Shion, brushing some hair out of her face as she relaxed before standing up and closing her eyes. She didn't need to look to know exactly where her fingers landed on the instrument. In a moment, she started playing. It was one of the softer rock tunes she played normally, but it wasn't full on soft rock either. Once she was going, she opened her eyes, her face once again partially obscured in her naturally messy hair. After a moment, she even started singing. She was still working on her singing, but she wasn't terrible. It just wasn't as good as her guitar playing.

She tended to get lost in her music. With no one to pull her out of it, she didn't even really grasp time, or what Shion was doing. She could see her, when she was visible at least, but beyond thinking of her like her audience, she was too busy enjoying herself. Even if it was work, it was a good way to de-stress herself.

After a few minutes, Melody finished her song, the last note ringing out for a good long moment before she took a deep breath and looked up, her hair a bit messier, and her grin a bit more sincere, rather than nervous. "That's the third song I ever wrote," she told Shion honestly. Whether she'd understood the English lyrics or not, melody had no idea. It had been nice to speak a little bit of English though, even if it was just for a song. She'd had to speak a lot of Japanese in the past week.

Desperate to reach out to this girl who'd been assigned as her roommate, Shion was delighted that there would be a chance to change out of her biker garb. On the other hand it was rather reassuring that Melody was confused by her persona; it just went to show that her acting skills were right up there. Usually she would have expected a different reaction from an audience beholding 'Sting'. Like being put off or scared to the point of not speaking to her. Confusion, though? That was totally acceptable since she didn't really want to scare the girl off. Sting had her place in Shion's rotation of personae, but that place wasn't trying to make friends. Rescuing girls from bullying? Absolutely. Protecting her shyness from being detected by girls she wasn't sure how to react to? Definitely. Not here with Melody though.

The statement about hoping that Shion liked rock made the girl raise an eyebrow in surprise. Somehow she hadn't quite placed that type of music as the sort this blonde foreigner would like. Jazz for some reason would have been her first guess: smooth and classy just like Melody seemed to be. Appearances were very deceptive though. Shion herself was partial to a selection of music as eclectic as her wardrobe. Anything that had a good beat or fit a mood that she was in was likely to find its way into rotation for her playlists. Classical music had its place right alongside rock and a bit of disco as well. Most of the artists she cared for were either dead or unknown to girls her age though. Maybe Melody would be the exception to that rule? For the first time in her scholastic career Shion was optimistic of that.

Discussions of music would happen after Sting got hung up for the day though. Talking about music required more than a few words at a time. As soon as the foreign musician closed her eyes Shion went into action so that this discussion could actually transpire. Off came her trench coat, skirt and blouse and on came an outfit straight from the 1970s. A white blouse with somewhat poofy sleeves under a khaki jumper-style dress and dark brown belt at the waist. The biker outfit was just getting hung up as Melody finished her song; the closet door closing as Melody explained it was the third song she'd ever written. Shion twirled around to face her roommate, removing the surgical mask in mid-movement. A tinge of rosiness remained in her cheeks as a hint of her previous embarrassment. The awkward smile she wore was as stark a difference as her clothes were. Completing the transformation, she applauded cheerfully as if the biker girl was completely separate person.

"That.. was.. um.. really metal.. I think that's right," she managed, tugging on a strand of hair, "Thank you for playing."

Melody chuckled, lowering her guitar and setting it down carefully for the moment. Her blond hair was still partially obscuring her face as she beheld the new look for the first time. Was this the real girl behind the biker garb and the weird mask? She was cute. The blush was cute too. Was she really hiding a blush behind a mask? And was she really capable of being a biker chick? "Are you like... in drama or something?" she asked before blinking as she remembered she hadn't confirmed Shion's guess. "Oh, and yeah, it's metal. That's my favorite." She played and listened to most things, but by far she leaned greatly towards metal.

Melody stood up, glancing quickly over Shion's new choice of clothes. They were older style. Definitely vintage, but not bad. Melody wasn't the most up to date in styles either. She liked hoodies, simple fitted shirts, shorts, and skirts. She was a pretty big fan of her uniform too. She'd always loved the way uniforms for girls were depicted in Japan. Now she had a chance to wear them! It was pretty neat. "Love your sense of style. Even the biker thing." She meant it too. She would never wear vintage stuff, herself, but she'd always liked movies that had it.

"So uh, what now?" She'd managed to break the ice with song, and now she was basically looking at a totally different girl. "Do we want to hang out and do something here, or like... go someplace?" Either way, she intended to get to know her roommate. They should definitely be friends, assuming the other girl didn't find Melody too impatient or anything. She was putting forth a ton of effort to be a better person than she had back home. a new her for a new start and all. "What do you like to do for fun? We could do that!" Gah. She needed to make real friends. She had no idea what to do with people on a regular basis. The downside of her former life.

Not being Sting meant that Shion could speak much more freely with her roommate. Yet this benefit also came equipped with its downside. Able to speak freely she had less confidence in her conversational skills, even though she was getting into another character. Or searching for one mentally. Wasn't so easy when you were being pressed by another girl in the heat of a moment where you were already blushing. She was an experienced and talented actress, this shouldn't be happening! Breaking character at all around other people was incredibly dangerous. No one would be interested in seeing her true self, vulnerable and spineless as it was. If there were to be a friendship at the least here she'd have to figure out who she was very quickly. Anyone but Shion, that's for sure.

"Why.. yes, I am in drama..." she agreed, that at least being something she could confirm without giving much detail. Now what?

Melody seemed to assume that the fashion which the brunette had changed to was intentional and cool. Cool? Nobody had really said such things about Shion's fashion sense. Only a few fangirls in middle school had used such a term about her at all and that had been regarding her Sting character. Shion Busujima was interesting? No. But the character she was moving into was in fact much more interesting than any girl who had no real redeeming qualities outside her acting. This was time for not Shion the student but Shion the model! Of course! And that meant that she had obviously been on numerous shoots already. Clearly it was only a matter of time before she became famous. Her body language changed subtly as she stood straighter, looked into her roommates eyes and smiled as she might for a camera. It was showtime!

"Fun? Well it gets pretty busy.. between all the school and shoots that I do. Not everyone can pull off retro looks like this you know," Shion responded casually, tossing a strand of hair over her shoulder, "That means I'm in pretty high demand."

Then she stretched an arm out over her head, "But right now I've got a lot of free time. It might be nice to hide away from the adoring public, just you and I in this room. Or we could go to a cafe, for a walk.. it's really up to you. Just don't expect me to sign any autographs." The last words were uttered with a wink, showing that she didn't want anything to distract from their activity together.

A drama girl? Well, that made sense. Maybe she was a method actress or something? And... apparently a model. The mix of confusion and interest in Melody's eyes was probably apparent. Nothing was more expressive about her than her eyes. The rest of her, well, she was pretty mellow when she wasn't forcing herself to be otherwise. "A walk, huh? I could stand to see more of the campus," she decided with a small grin. "Or... anywhere, really. I've been in the country for a week but I've been so busy I don't know anything."

Melody stood up, finally taking off her jacket. It wasn't that cool outside. It was spring! She'd just brought it just in case. It'd come in handy later, after all. "Hm, hold on. let me get changed. It's a bit windy outside." Skirts and wind did not get along. At all. And even on a campus that had zero men, there was a certain amount of modesty she wanted to maintain. She opened her pack, throwing things out so she could put them away properly later. She ended up picking out a black t-shirt with a pink logo, and a set of shorts. She changed pretty quickly, before grabbing her phone and heading towards the door and giving Shion a friendly smile and a wink. "All ready?"

----

A few minutes passed before Melody could think of more to say. The campus was beautiful, and there were so many girls! She'd been in a mixed school before this, and now it was just a sea of young women about her age. It was... kind of magical, really. It reminded her of the fresh start she had a chance for now, and Shion was her first real step in that direction. "So, do you like video games or anything?" she asked. Melody liked games. She liked playing music a lot more, but she did own some stuff she'd brought with her for downtime.

TAG: @shionbusujima | Melody's so willing to trust! This is gonna be interesting when she slips up one day and suddenly she's adorable and shy x3

Contrary to Melody's feelings, Shion couldn't bear the thought of wearing shorts or pants even in this warmer weather. Shorts were okay for shorter periods of time but felt immodest. Taller girls were supposed to be best flattered by garments that showed off their legs. That had been something a magazine said in an article on how to make yourself more attractive to boys. Shion was very at odds with the target audience of the article though; boys were okay, but they really weren't what she was interested in. None of the magazines she could find really talked about how to make yourself more attractive to girls, though, so she had to go with what was published. Just alter it a bit if necessary. Ultimately it might be a moot point since she wasn't bound to be interesting to those girls. Anything that might give her a tiny chance of success, though, was worth giving a shot.

While Melody changed Shion politely turned away in order to give her some privacy. Watching a pretty girl changing would probably just result in an explosion of blushing on her own part anyhow. The confident model didn't blush like that! She'd seen just about everything in her work already so clearly disrobing wasn't going to make her uncomfortable. Turning around was just to make her roommate more comfortable, that was all! The moment Melody had finished, Shion smiled and opened the door for her roommate. Shorts might not have been the brunette's cup of tea but they served Melody very well. Time for model Shion to shine!

"Only as ready as you are. Let's do this at whatever pace you feel comfy with," Shion responded as they headed out for a walk.

----

In the minutes that transpired after leaving the dorm room Shion was also rather silent. She'd been on campus long enough to appreciate its beauty thoroughly. There was an obvious disparity at times between herself and the girls who came from wealthier families. Melody had a smart phone in her possession, and that made the brunette feel a bit inadequate. A model would surely have the most modern technology to share her online portfolio or something like that! Shion by contrast had a flip phone which had been dropped at least seven times since she'd bought it yet somehow still worked. It'd been left in a drawer in the dorm room so that nobody would see her carrying it around. Besides who would think to call her anyway? She really didn't have any friends to speak of yet.

Then she got an opening to show she totally wasn't out of the loop on what was new and exciting. Video games were very popular these days, and Shion had played a few here and there. Clearly this could be something to show that she was up to date on something that was actually currently popular. Plus she might find some common ground with the blonde that would help them bond as friends. Making a friend was just as impossible as finding a princess or person to rescue her from imagined perils, but why not dream a little? Shion was quite confident as she strode alongside Melody and smiled in response to the question.

"Very interesting question. I really do like some games when I get the time to relax and play them. Mostly simulations, you see," she left it intentionally vague before complaining, "But with all the dozens of sims they have, why aren't there any where you can get a heroine with another heroine? I mean, some of us want to play as a character that's like us after all. Not every girl wants the 'girls' side' games where you get with bishounen after bishounen after tough guy. Seriously!"

The pair walked side by side while Shion told Melody about how she enjoyed simulations - from the sound of it, it sounded like she enjoyed the dating sort of sim. not the most realistic of simulations Melody had witnessed... but certainly a lot more than the one about making farms her cousin had played when she was babysitting him a few years back. Melody had played a few herself, usually the ones where she was supposed to be a guy so that she could find the girl of her dreams. Not that she'd told anyone that was why she did it; she'd simply expressed to her father when he'd asked that the ones with girls dating guys seemed so much less romantic.

The pair were walking along, Melody happily listening to her continue on until the point where Shion started talking about wanting a lesbian dating sim. At least... that seemed like the only option Melody could think of. The blond very nearly tripped over nothing as it was said, though she saved herself at the last moment and managed to stay upright, making only a small squeaking noise as she did.

By the time she'd recovered, her own cheeks were a little bit crimson. She rubbed her neck, obviously a little embarrassed, though secretly it had nothing to do with the trip. "So you like girls, huh?" she asked, mostly to make sure she'd heard right. It was probably dumb to ask if she'd actually misread, but the question had popped out anyway, and it only made her redder as she continued. "...M... me too..." Melody stole a glance at Shion at that point, but only to see her reaction, before losing her nerve and focusing on a bird that had landed in the grass nearby.

Honestly, Melody didn't advertise, but if Shion was going to admit to things, Melody felt awkward not doing the same. First of all because lying seemed weird in such a situation, and second because having someone, anyone, who wouldn't make fun of her for it would be amazing. Though, they'd just met, and Melody was a lot more insecure than she acted, especially when it came to romance or her preferences. Her time in London hadn't helped with that.

The wind picked up a bit. It picked up her hair and caused it to billow out a bit, while also snapping her back to reality. "Er, anyway. Yeah. That sort of game would be fun..." Melody hesitated for a moment, but then attempted to keep walking with her roommate, rather than just standing there.

TAG @shionbusujima | Turns out Melody was just looking for a chance to be herself a bit.

It was worth noting that Shion was incredibly self-conscious, shy and awkward about a lot of things in her life. Nobody would ever find her interesting as a friend or more, so far as she was concerned. Sometimes there would be something which came up that wasn't at all awkward for her even though others might suspect that it was. From a younger age she'd known that she liked girls more than just as friends, and nobody had ever told her that it was weird. She felt it was natural enough that discussing it wasn't really necessary. After all if it was totally normal then why would you go out of your way to discuss it with people like it was some kind of hot topic? However the signals that Melody was sending were actually telling a much different story about how other people might think about it.

Shion's eyes widened as she noticed the blush which colored her roommate's cheeks after nearly tripping. Was that a result of her clumsiness or of hearing Shion's talk about dating sims? Maybe she was just embarrassed that somebody would actually have an opinion on, not just have played, such games. A lot of things were possible. That question was more of a hint that the embarrassed reaction was more due to talking about being a lesbian than anything. Puzzling that the blonde should be so flustered over such a nonissue, but it was a call to action all the same. She knew full well how it felt to be embarrassed about something you tried to keep hidden about yourself; this girl was putting herself out on a branch by admitting something she'd kept secret for some reason. So Shion's reaction was genuine, not just what the model would do: she smiled and nodded when the girl sought confirmation of her words. Without thinking it through at all she put her hand on the girl's shoulder, drawing a little closer to show some support for someone she wanted to be close to.

"It really would be nice to not have to pretend the protaganist is a girl.. what they really were? That would be amazing," Shion responded, then added, "You don't need to be embarrassed about it, it's totally normal. I've known I was this way for years! Just make sure that you find your princess, wherever she is!"

Melody watched Shion put her hand on her shoulder, the blush still present on her cheeks. Of course Shion would understand. It was kind of what she was banking on, and seemed like a given, all things considered. "I've... known for awhile too..." Melody admitted. She'd known for a few years, really. The girl she'd actually liked... well, she'd never known, and she doubted the girl would have liked her back even if she felt the same way about girls.

The blond found it hard to meet Shion's gaze, despite the reassurance her tough brought. She'd spent so long feeling ashamed, hiding it from her parents, and being made fun of for it at her school... at best, Melody was skiddish about it all. She admitted to herself that half of her reason for coming was to hopefully find a girlfriend at some point during her stay... but she doubted she'd be the one to do anything about it. Frankly, outgoing as she might seem to Shion, she was afraid, no matter how excited she actually was at the prospect.

"I... I don't mean to be embarrassed," her tone was quiet, kind of subdued, maybe a little bit ashamed of being ashamed. "I just... I guess we have different experiences with it," she shrugged a bit helplessly. She decided to not dwell on it too much at the moment. Even with their tastes being similar, she knew that didn't mean anything at the moment. Besides, she didn't want to sound even more pathetic. Subject change time. "So, if you were to make a dating sim game... what would you do differently? Would you just change the protagonist... or?" 


TAG: @shionbusujima | >.< Poor Melody. I couldn't stop her. Sorry for the short, I was pressed for time but wanted to get this out really badly xP

Strolling out in the warm spring, Shion felt as if she were really blessed by the pleasant day. Someone she could talk to freely about things who seemed so confident in herself! That is until the conversation had turned to their mutual interest in girls. Suddenly Melody clammed up a bit and was quite reluctant to say very much. Could it be possible that someone was in fact embarrassed by who they felt attracted to? Such a concept was alien to Shion but not all people were like her. Most people were more interesting, both in good ways and bad. There was something very familiar in the way Melody grew more quiet, averted her eyes and spoke in a subdued tone that already had conceded defeat.

The brunette's eyes grew wide as she suddenly understood. Despite her confident nature in the dorm room the blonde was actually shy just like Shion! Shion had seen a good deal of girls who were shy types but none that could match her own apprehension for discussion. Melody was as reluctant to talk about her interest in girls as Shion was to say anything revealing about the actress behind the characters. Her smile morphed from cheerful to soft as she followed her instincts again. A girl needed her support! An award-winning model could do nothing short of helping her feel better about herself. Again without warning she put her arms around Melody and gave her a quick hug. Maybe being hugged by Shion wouldn't help much, but it was the least she could do to reassure her.

After letting go she stepped to the side so Melody would have some space, "I believe in you, okay? Even if other people told you it was weird or bad, it's not. If an award-winning model like me can be open about it, there's nothing wrong at all with liking girls. Period."

"Trust me, I know what it's like to feel like everybody looks down on you.. it's really hard. Nobody would even give you a second glance, except to remind you of how pathetic you are... but we're better than that, right?" she added, then realized she was opening up a bit too much. The change of topic came just in time!

"Well, I'd make sure that all the girls you could have the heroine be with were more than just tropes. Flesh them all out so each has a personality! Make it feel like a real person you're romancing rather than just a cardboard cutout. Of course having them all be cute or pretty wouldn't hurt," she added, nodding emphatically, "And the uniform for their school should be really cute too, so I could help promote the game by cosplaying!"

Before melody knew what was going on, she was suddenly given a hug, followed by reassuring words. Shion knew what it was like to feel like people looked down on her too? She felt like she could almost be kindred spirits with her roommate right now, except perhaps that her roommate was a successful model and actress or something, and Melody was... a wannabe rock star. Yeah, Shion had more going for her, even if she did seem a little more eccentric. She nodded, but remained quiet at the moment, the blush increasing a bit.

"So... not all tropes and things, huh?" Melody finally spoke up. Shion had had plenty of time keep talking, and had eventually had gotten back to the subject Melody had tried to switch it to. "I bet that would be hard..." She took a deep breath. Somehow it had been draining to admit her non-secret secret. "But it'd be a lot more interesting than what's out there, that's for sure. Especially if it fit your- our tastes," she chuckled nervously.

She'd meant to change the subject, to go on and not make things awkward or pathetic, but she supposed she could at least acknowledge the girl being so nice to her. "Thanks for the hug..." she told Shion with a shrug to herself, "It helped... and yeah, I suppose we're better than people's opinions." She chuckled again, this time trying to sound more upbeat. "I mean, even if we were boring everyday girls who weren't at a school for gifted artists, we'd still be worth more than some stupid opinions from ignorant people, right? Everyone deserves friends... and love."


TAG: @shionbusujima | Don't you hate it when you're really trying to write a post and suddenly it's very important to discuss things with you?

Whatever was going on with this character, it was bringing out some highly abnormal behavior in Shion. Hugging another girl just out of the blue on a whim wasn't something she would've considered just as herself. Even this award-winning model character she'd developed probably shouldn't be quite so touchy-feely. People probably wouldn't want to be touched like that without some kind of warning or request for permission. Shion quickly became quite concerned that she'd stepped over the line by hugging Melody like she had. Would the girl still want to know her better after such a brazen tresspass upon her personal space? Was there any hope of friendship or beyond between them?

Melody was embarrassed still since she was clearly blushing at the topics being discussed. Perhaps it was because of the hug. Shion was about to bow profusely and apologize on the spot but she found herself confronted instead with a thankful roommate. So... it was okay then? Embracing her to show that it was okay to be who she was had been totally acceptable interaction with another girl? Despite her confident exterior she let out a little sigh of relief at hearing that, though a moment later she took another hit to the gut. They were worth more than opinions of others and deserved love? Even a strangely tall oddball with no interesting qualities at all? No way could Shion believe that she was deserving of such attention! This act of being a model no doubt had convinced Melody that she was far more important than she really was. With other people acting was simply part of preventing them from seeing the pathetic person behind all the characters; with Melody it felt like outright lying. Hurt as it might she knew she had to tell her the truth, that she wasn't a model or a biker at all. A girl.. a pretty girl who was kind to her.. depended on it.

Yet character carried more weight than she'd intended, instincts driving her to take Melody's hand gently. With a big smile she spoke, "Any girl who is talented enough to come to Fukui is an even more special flower than usual. When she's as pretty, talented and kind as you, she is the rarest flower indeed. It's my pleasure to be in your company Melody."

Then she uncharacteristcally blushed all over and bit her lip, "Um.. sorry, I have no idea where that came from.. but you are very pretty.. and kind... and.. your music's awesome..."

Her first day with her roommate was going... interestingly. Melody honestly did believe that Shion was who she said she was; she had no reason to disbelieve it. Honestly though, even if she knew she was lying, how could she blame her? Melody had some things she didn't want other people to know about her as well, like that she hadn't always been nice, and that it was still hard to not fall into old habits to cover insecurities. Right now she was riddled with insecurities, though she had no desire to go into 'school bully' mode with Shion.

Before she knew it, her hand was clasped by the other girl's, and she was showered with more praises than she felt she'd ever deserve. She was prett, talented, kind... and the rarest of flowers? Her cheeks flared possibly the brightest red she must have ever had. It didn't help that she knew now that the two of them were alike in tastes... so... even if it wasn't truly meant as it... did that count as honest to goodness flirting?

Before she knew it though, the other girl blushed just as intensely, apologizing before trying to reaffirm that she had more or less meant what she'd said. That much only confirmed what Melody had thought in her head. "I uh... I mean... I'm not that great..." she insisted weakly, "But uh, I'm glad I found a roommate that's so flattering and stuff..." Melody gulped, realizing Shion hadn't let go of her hand. "You're pretty and nice too. And a really convincing actress..."

TAG: @shionbusujima

In the near distance birds chirped merrily in the warm springtime day while very few people happened to move about the area. Within this peaceful isolation words drifted into Shion's ears that she could hardly believe had been spoken. Melody was still embarrassed after the admission of her roommate's true nature. Could that mean that she was disappointed in Shion and regretted the kindness she'd shown to such a liar? The elements of her confident model character began to crumble as she began to think that this one rare chance to make a connection with a girl had failed. Failed miserably in fact. Moments before a confident young woman, now she stood shaking nervously next to Melody, terrified of losing her roommate the same day they'd met. Of course that was Shion's luck wasn't it? Try to be honest about herself and everyone would simply reject her outright! An uninteresting girl was only going to get uninterested people backing away. Perhaps it was fate that she'd end up sad and alone..

Wait. She hadn't admitted anything of the sort! Instead all she'd done was to offer a bunch of well-deserved compliments to her roommate while.. gripping her hand?! Melody's voice was weak as she tried to respond to Shion's words of praise which was also a surprise. How was it possible that she didn't see how cool she was? Shion was admittedly boring by comparison but that should just make a girl who was interesting stand out that much more. Her eyes widened as she had those compliments turned back on her. Pretty? Nice? Melody had to simply be lying because those words would make her kind of interesting, which was absolutely not the case. Now she was shaking even more, trembling at the unexpected kindness being shown to her. Since the blonde mentioned her being a convincing actress it was clear that she'd seen through the act anyway. The floodgates were suddenly open to the actress, not the characters she played. No model or biker was visible, just a trembling first year in an old dress who was tall for her age. Tears ran down her cheeks as she tried hard not to break down totally at whatever it was that was happening. Something strange, that was all she knew.

"Stop it.. stop it! You say those things like they're true or something and all you're doing is lying.. I'm not interesting at all," she responded somewhat defiantly before hugging Melody again, "I'm sorry.. so.. so... sorry.. I'm not a model or anything.. I.. just wanted you to think I was worth talking to.."