Life at Tokyo University

Cassie glanced to the side. "I'm.... okay, thank you.... it's okay, you don't need to apologize..." She was clearly uncomfortable, but confused as well. This woman wasn't teasing her or anything. How odd, it was always the attractive girls that went after her most, so why was this one different?

Talbaza actually was starting to get a idea of what was happening. It seemed to him, the girl didn't quite trust Jun and was instead still wary. If she was like this, then what was the cause? Teasing? Being picked on?

She seems nice to me. Why would someone pick on her..

There was a couple of reasons. None he liked.

Jun took note of the confused look on her face and nodded again. "I feel I should. I startled you, it was clearly my fault." She extended her hand, "I'm Jun, Jun Long."

Cassie hesitated, then slowly took Jun's hand, shaking it, but quickly pulled back after. "C-Cassandra Blanc... n-nice to meet you..."

Talbaza paused, thinking things through. She was still jumpy but maybe if he appeared non threatening and didn't appear too close. To that end, he decided to actually make a move, going by the side of Jun. "My name is Talbaza Adont, nice to meet you as well."

Jun's smile broadened. It was gentile and showed only friendship. She looked up and back "He's a friend of mine." She looked back to Cassie "Hey if you're not doing anything later Tal and I were going to visit the shops in Shinjuku." She moved a stray hair out of her face "Would you like to join us?"

When Talbaza popped up, Cassie jumped again, shrinking even more. However, she seemed to relax just a bit after Jun's words. Her confusion grew. "You... want me to come with you? ...Why?" She seemed wary again, and even a bit... resigned? Almost as if expecting something bad and accepting it was going to happen.

Talbaza was slightly confused, but answered honestly. "To get to know you of course. You seem jumpy and judging by Jun, she wants to get to know as well. It's easy to tell you're jumpy, I'm not sure why but I would like the chance to prove there's no reason to be afraid of us. It's up to you though."

Jun nodded "That is true, Look I've heard the rumors about you and I choose not to believe them. That's all hearsay. Not who you are. That's the person I would like to know. The real you." She shrugged "Some people tease me about being the eternal optimist, and truth be told. I don't care what those rumor starters think. They only do it because they're insecure about something and take it out on others. In my opinion it's those kinds of people who are small minded and can't see beyond their own insecurities." She moved over to the side of the pool and pulled herself up to sit on the edge.

"We're not like them. I genuinely want to be your friend. Weather or not you'll let me is up to you." Jun place her hands on the edge and leaned forward slightly. Still smiling.

Cassie looked disbelieving... but the look in her eyes showed she wanted to believe. After a moment, she gave the smallest of shy smiles. "O-okay... um... I'll go with you then... thank you..."

Talbaza smiled at that, Jun had a good speech. "Good, we'll go when you're ready then Jun. I was going to swim but changed my mind." Kerlodian's could actually breath inside water, so it was given most of them took to it. There was a few odd examples of some being scared of it, but there always exceptions to the rule.

Jun nodded to Talbaza "I'll be another five minutes." And with that she slipped back into the pool. Her head popped back up and she looked at Cassie "I'm gonna do some laps over there so I won't be in your way." She then started to swim.

*She's almost completely untrusting of people but you can tell she wants to trust. Maybe she's had some kind of mental trauma maybe even physical. She seems closed off however at the same time like she wants a friend. She confuses me but I can't help but like her. She's like me when I was younger.* she let her mind wander until her watch beeped at her.

Jun pulled herself out of the water looking for Talbaza "I'm gonna shower and change. Cassandra? After I change I would like to head back to my dorm to get some clothes that don't have a school emblem on it. You can tag along if you like." She hoped the girl would take the offer.

Cassie seemed to think on it, then nodded slowly. "Okay..." She didn't really want to walk back alone anyway. She was always worried someone would sneak up on her.

"I'll keep you company in the meantime then." Talbaza said hoping Jun would relax a bit. "So..Cassie was it? How long have you been at the school?"

Light. Keeping conversations light was a key, make her comfortable or try too.

Jun looked to Talbaza "Um she's probably gonna wanna shower and change too. I mean I'm done with my workout. I plan on heading back to my dorm changing and heading out." She said and wrapped a towel around her waist. She looked to Cassie "So how about it?" She asked extending her hand.

Jun liked making new friends. Well she hoped Cassandra would be her friend. She liked her.

Cassie was actually a bit torn. On one hand, the idea of showering or changing around someone else bothered her, as it left her vulnerable. On the other hand, she didn't want to be left alone with Talbaza. Nothing against him personally, but... experience said not to do that. She took Jun's hand hesitantly.

Talbaza picked up on a few things, but he was no empath. Picking up certain things on scent and instincts alone only went so far. He wasn't a mind-reader. Still he had an idea..or a few of them.

"I'll wait for you two somewhere in the gym then when you're done."

Really, what else was there to say?

Jun smiled and nodded to Talbaza "Okie dokie we shouldn't be that long." She got the impression that Cassie was uncomfortable. She started walking to the locker room. "Hey if you want you can take the showers on that side and I'll be over there behind those lockers. That way you'll have your privacy." She said and took her bag.

Jun walked over to the other side of the locker room and took off her swimsuit. She placed it in a zip lock baggy and shoved it in her bag. After wrapping a towel around herself she chose a shower and washed the chlorine from the pool off. She also washed her hair. The metallic purple was even shinier when wet. She thought about doing up her hair but then decided against it.

After dressing she made her way back over to Cassie. "Hey, I'm all done. You ready to go?"

Cassie was indeed ready, having moved quickly, just in case Jun came back sooner than she expected. She was still clearly fidgeting, but she seemed just a bit less uncomfortable now that she was more dressed. "Y-yes, I'm ready..."

Talbaza was waiting for the two to finish up in the gym, occasionally talking to people but otherwise simply waiting for Cassie and Jun to finish up with their shower and getting dressed.

"Hey."

The Kerlodian blinked, noticing someone was talking to him, a young man around his age from the looks of it. The were built a bit more on the muscular side of things, had on a t shirt and some jeans.

"Can I help you?" Talbaza asked, wondering if he met him before and hadn't known it.

"Yeah." The man nodded. "I hear you've been hanging around Jun Long. My name is Daichi and I'm just giving you a friendly warning to stay away so you don't get any ideas. Not that she'd be interested in a freak like you anyway."

Talbaza didn't get angry. He didn't even looked miffed. He merely looked back at the young man, almost as if seeing through him. Then said simply:

"Are you trying to tell me what to do?"

Daichi opened his mouth to say just that, but something stopped him. He didn't know why. Talbaza wasn't appearing hostile or angry, he was just calmly looking at him but somehow that felt intimidating.

The other man grunted. "Whatever." They said and then left. All of Daichi's friends were confused of what just happened.

Jun smiled and walked out holding her bag in her hand. She caught the last part of the conversation that Talbaza had with that jock itch of student. "Hey Tal, everything okay?" She asked. While in the shower Jun decided to stay in her school uniform. She was less recognizable when she wore a hat and uniform.

The last thing she wanted to to draw a crowd and freak Cassie out. She was ready to go. She slipped her arm under Tal's and took Cassie's hand gently. "Let's go. We'll talk about it over dinner. My treat." She wondered where they would eat.

Cassie jumped just a bit at Jun taking her hand, but didn't pull away. She nodded very slightly, wondering if she was making the right decision. She really hoped this wasn't a trick.

Talbaza shook his head. "Just a rude person who thought they were bigger then what they are." He said simply and went to Jun. "I'm ready to go. And glad you're joining us Cassie."

Jun rolled her eyes "I can't stand bullies." She said and walked out of the building. Once outside she pulled out her cellphone and called a cab. It should be at the campus gate by the time they made it. She looked to Cassie, "We're going to the Shinjuku district, any place you wanna go first?" She asked.

Cassie just shook her head. She didn't really have a preference with that. She didn't shop much honestly. That, and she didn't care. If this was genuine, if Jun and Talbaza were being sincere with her... that was good enough.