Deja Vu [Midori, Open to CLASS TWO]

[Cole Knight]

”Alright class, please take your seats for a moment, I’ve got a few announcements to make before we begin.”

Seated in the hallway outside of the classroom door, Cole took a moment to readjust himself to another voice of the past, one that he hadn’t heard nor cared to hear for years. Cole Knight had been nine years old when he first walked through the door to Class Two, excited that he had advanced one more rung up the ladder, yet also anxious to continue upward to the most prestigious class of them all. While he never really saw being a Meister as a calling, or something that he needed to do for some lofty and naïve goal he held dear to his heart, he understood that it was his lot in life, and that he was better at it than damn near anyone he knew. His natural abilities, quick-thinking, and unique soul wavelength made him an instant hit with teachers and peers alike. Noting the sudden onset of a tremor in his right hand, Cole folded his hands together in front of him, hoping that the phenomenon would pass quickly. He was returning to Class Two, not as some triumphant envoy seeking to impart great wisdom on the other children in the class, but as a beggar on his hands and knees, asking for the chance to be great again. And this time, he was travelling alone.

”We have a new student transferring into Class Two. He is, in fact, a student that I’ve taught before, and that I know you will all take great pleasure from working with. Cole, please come and introduce yourself.”

Taking just another half a moment to gather himself and wipe the somber look from his face, a friendly smile lit up Cole’s features, and he strode into the room slowly, his gait a bit wide and staggered, but not as eye-catching as it was at other times. Giving a little wave to the class, Cole introduced himself in a pleasant tone, making sure he didn’t seem too over-eager to make friends, yet at the same time not wanting to make himself look utterly unapproachable. After all, one of them could be just like me. He remarked silently, almost guffawing at the idea. Cole had always been different, from the earliest of ages, and at this point he thought meeting someone he could consider a like mind was about as likely as snow in Death City.

”It’s a pleasure to meet you all. I’m Cole Knight, and I’m transferring here from Class One. I hope you’ll welcome me.”

He kept the message short and to the point, again wanting to be formal but not project the message that he was looking to make too many friends. He didn’t intend to be in Class Two forever, and he was sure that once he was back into the groove of learning, practicing, and running drills, he would be looking toward promotion in no time. The classroom looked about the same as it had in the past. There was little room for improvement, he supposed. For the overarching theories and abilities Class Two students would be studying and trying out, such an expansive classroom was an absolute necessity. Feeling the heat of what felt like hundreds of eyes on him, Cole bowed his head slightly, turning once more and beginning to walk toward a nearby aisle into the crowd, not waiting for the professor’s go-ahead before doing so.

”Well, I’m very pleased to be able to have you in the class again, Cole. I do hope you’ll all make him feel welcome. Now, today we will be going into detail on the subject we’d discussed in our earlier lecture – soul resonance and discord.”

Coming to a stop somewhere in the middle of the group, at a conveniently unoccupied seat at the end of a row, Cole set down his briefcase and took his seat gracefully, the tremor in his hand still present but manageable. He considered taking out materials such as a pen and paper to take notes with, but he both wasn’t yet sure what sort of lesson this would be, and also couldn’t imagine the professor saying anything about soul resonance that he didn’t already understand. Feeling frustrated by the thought of trying to squeeze water from the educational stone, Cole glanced around him, noticing that some people were still looking at him. Even the students that had never met him before likely thought it was strange that someone would be demoted from Class One to Class Two, and without hearing rumors of his mishap, many probably assumed he was some kind of trouble maker. He smirked slightly at the prospect of Cole Knight – ‘Class Clown’, before noticing that he had accidentally put his foot down on the bag of the green-haired girl next to him. Lifting his foot, he exchanged glances with her, adopting an apologetic expression. ”So sorry about that.” He said quietly, before once more looking front and forgetting about her.

”I want you all to split off into groups of three or four, with an even mix of Meisters and Weapons, and continue to attempt resonance with those around you.”

Cole had always hated group projects – if only because he was either expected to either let others do their work or get the work done correctly, never both at the same time. He supposed this would be an easy lesson, and to be fair, many of the students in this class likely hadn’t yet solidified a permanent Meister-Weapon relationship with another student. Thinking on it for a moment, he came to the realization that he was now one of those people. Turning his thoughts momentarily to Alexis, he wondered what sort of things they were learning about in Class One. At the very least, I’ll be free of her nagging for a time. He thought, bitterly reaching down and sliding his briefcase under the cushioned chair, preparing himself to act approachable once more.

[Midori Yumi]

Midori made her way through the muddle of students and took the same seat she always did in the middle rows of the class, in sight but almost not. She was right in the teacher's line of sigh but that meant, to her at least, that she was less likely to be called on as long as she seemed like she was following along. Which she normally was, in her head. Class participation was not a strong point of the girl's. She knew the subject, she knew the logistics, but participating in class was another matter. Participating meant talking and talking meant not stumbling over her words because that meant disaster. Disaster being that the moment the girl got upset it would trigger a chemical reaction in her brain that she still couldn't seem to control and her scalp would start to tingle. It was at this point she would either run or the entire class would once again get to witness the spectacle that was her hair crystallizing, hardening and changing before their very eyes. It was almost so common an occurrence that one would thing the girl used to it, and able to control the change however this was not yet the case and it remained a burden on her class performance, though it didn't seem to affect her time spent in the dojo.

As she sat she listened to the teacher make his morning announcements, her interest peaking when he mentioned the addition of a new student. The door opened and Midori's eyes moved to it to watch the arrival of said new student. He moved slowly and Midori noticed that there seemed to be something a bit off about the way he moved, as though he was making a controlled effort to move a certain way. She tried not to focus so much of his movement, as she thought it a bit rude, and instead brought her eyes up to the new arrival's face and took in his expression. He seemed... closed off while trying to put off an aura of friendliness that Midori wondered about briefly before turning her attention back to the teacher as he began to speak again.

Again? Midori wondered as the boy walked away from the front of the class and towards her row. Again, meaning he'd been in class two before? Midori mentally shrugged and took the things she'd be needing out of her bag before setting it down next, to her chair, where it slipped down unbeknownst to her as she flipped open her notebook to the notes she'd stopped on last lecture.  

Soul Resonance is performed when the Meister's Soul Wavelength is sent into their Weapon, which then amplifies it and sends it back to the Meister. This process is done repeatedly. In turn, performing this generates a strong Wavelength which can enable a powerful technique to be performed.

This was something she was familiar with. Midori spent hours upon hours at the dojo, letting different meisters practice with her weapon form, some better then others, but all uninterested in the girl herself. Which she'd accepted, sort of. It was still a bit of a sting when she'd transform back and there wasn't the moment. The weapon was still waiting for the moment, and though she still had hope it was dwindling slowly. As she was lost in her thoughts she became aware of the boy walking up next to her. Her eyes shifted from her notes over to him as he stepped on her backpack. She looked down and sighed, her shoulders slumping slightly before she raised her eyes and gave the boy, Cole, an even look. "It's fine." She muttered, though by that point he was no longer looking at her. That was something else she was used to, and it didn't bother her, in fact it suited her just fine. She was happy to continue taking notes and pretend like he hadn't just smashed his dirty foot down on her backpack. 

Ugh, no. Group projects, group anything, scared and irritated Midori at the same time. Scared her because her biggest fear in class was not being good enough. Okay that might be her biggest fear in general, but who's asking? They irritated her because while she wasn't outspoken, she was rather intelligent, but to some quiet meant dumb or slow, and so because she wasn't outspoken she was run over and forgotten easily, drug along the back of the group on a long rope. Midori followed Cole;s actions and slid her bag out of sight, as to avoid having it stepped on again, and stood. She did her best to seem interested in finding a group, though she knew how it would go. Those who didn't get picked would be grouped together and she'd still be the but end of the group, as per usual. 

[Talith Dupree]

Talith adjusted himself in his new seat. He was a little sickened with himself because he had gotten to class early, which isn’t exactly out of character, but today he had other motives. He wanted this seat, the one a row behind his usual seat, because it was the seat next to Midori. He forced a smile when the girl who’s seat he had stolen walked in, a smile that said “sorry, not moving.” As most in the class had learned, she didn’t want to argue with the arrogant meister, so she simply shrugged and sat in the seat next to him. He supposed he could have taken the other available seat to Midori's left, however he didn't pay much attention to what went on behind him in class and didn't know if either seat was usually empty.

Next to him, on his left, was the peculiar girl he had become so irritatingly infatuated with. He had tried to ignore it, but he felt drawn to her and it was gross to the boy. He had never needed anyone and he didn’t enjoy the idea of needing her. He, disgustingly, kept stealing glances over at her, replaying the moment her hair crystalized when they first really met, picturing it doing the same that very moment. But then his eyes moved past her hair. She was attractive, pretty even. There was a small bit of hair that had fallen onto her face and Talith imagined himself leaning over and brushing it away.

What the fuck is wrong with me.

He blinked. His attention was then salvaged, returning to the front of the class as the teacher introduced a new student.

That’s Cole Knight… he thought, wondering what was going on. He was returning to Class Two? His brows raised. Talith knew he was intelligent, but Cole was always on another level. Even though he was a year or two younger than him, Talith always respected him. It wasn’t easy to for Talith to admit someone was his equal, it was even harder for him to recognize when someone was better than him, but Cole simply was. He was better than everyone.

Talith had heard rumors. He heard how his weapon had distanced herself after their last mission and how Cole hadn’t come back the same. Talith figured he’d snap back, but this? He wondered what exactly happened to him.

Is he scared? Or is it really that bad?

Talith noticed the forced nature of his walk. Unfortunately, everyone did. Of course, no one would say anything. Not at that moment, anyways. Talith could think of more than a few classmates that would make life hard on the ex-Class One student.

Talith had kept one ear on the teacher, looking towards him for a brief moment before a peek of a smile perked his lips, a group project would give him the perfect opportunity to talk to Cole, at least to gauge how his outlook on things were currently. After all, Talith had gathered that they were somewhat like-minded. But then he remembered Midori who now squirmed uncomfortably in her seat. She was a rather awkward girl and she mumbled a lot. The blue-haired meister wondered why he felt so drawn to her. In all honesty, she seemed a little plain.

But that didn’t stop him from wanting to make sure she was comfortable. He smiled over at her before saying, loud enough for Midori and Cole to hear him over the bustle of a class shifting their belongings and themselves to form groups, “Hey, how bout we three group up? We’re already near each other so we won’t have to fight through the mess, plus I’d be willing to bet Cole could give us some pretty solid advice on whatever project we’re doing.” Talith’s arm was resting on the back of his chair as he said this, reclining, trying to look as welcoming as possible.

[Cole Knight]

Cole didn’t immediately move to partner up with anyone, knowing that whether or not he voluntarily chose a group, he would be paired with other students based on need. In his experience, the kind of students that would be too introverted or bashful to try and immediately find a group were the kind of students that would bother him the least with questions and concerns. While he didn’t mind interacting with others, and had even once derived joy from building his network of potential relationships and budding friendships, he’d grown extremely tired of it over time. After everything that had happened, the last thing he wanted was to try and fraternize with the sort of students he was trying to once more leave in the dust. He considered asking the green-haired girl next to him to join him, as she seemed to be waiting out the chaos the same as he was, but before he could open his mouth he heard a bright, unfamiliar voice speak up from the other side of the girl.

“Hey, how bout we three group up? We’re already near each other so we won’t have to fight through the mess, plus I’d be willing to bet Cole could give us some pretty solid advice on whatever project we’re doing.”

Glancing at the boy, he looked him up and down in an instant, trying to make sure he wasn’t some long-forgotten associate from his time in the lower classes. Finding that he didn’t recognize him in the slightest, Cole’s thoughts then moved to the content of his message. Referring to him by his first name, and suggesting that he’d have something to contribute beyond the usual mindless drivel that group-mates usually brought to the table. This suggested one of several things. He could be trying to be friendly and welcoming in assuming Cole was competent, and could bring anything of substance to the table. He could have simply taken notice of the fact that Cole said he was transferring from Class One, and extrapolated that he would have had to be knowledgeable to make it there in the first place. Or, it could be that he knew Cole somehow, if not personally then by reputation.

He’s visited lower classes on a number of occasions. Most recently, about a year ago, he had done a demonstration with Alexis during a Class Two lecture on Serial Soul Resonance, accompanied by two other Class One pairs. He didn’t make it a point to speak much during the demonstration, but they had all been introduced by Ms. Q. It could be that some of the students in this class were around at that time. And if that were the case, he might not find it as easy to lay low and dodge questions as he’d hoped. Cole would have thought the boy was a year or two his elder, at first glance. At least he was trying to beat around the bush, if he was trying to learn more about Cole’s reasons for being there. There was some decency to that.

”Sounds like a good plan.” Cole responded, rising from his seat and shrugging his shoulders, now happily noticing that the tremor in his hand had ceased for the time being. ”I don’t know how much help I’ll be, but from what I-I-I remember, resonance classes were always the most e-e-enjoyable.” Making note of his sudden stutter, just as he was sure the others were noticing, Cole inwardly chastised himself for the slip, although logically he knew there was nothing he could do. Neurogenic stuttering had been yet another side effect of his trauma that came and went depending on his state of mind, as well as pure chance. Deciding that it would be more uncomfortable to force the others to ignore these signs than to just outright address them, Cole rubbed the back of his head and smiled apologetically once more. ”Sorry, that happens sometimes…” He said simply, laughing the moment off. ”Can’t always stop myself.”

A stutter is stereotypically thought to be the sign of nervousness, or uncertainty, and quite frankly Cole didn’t care what they made of it, so long as they didn’t make too much of a nuisance of themselves in trying to highlight his mistakes. Calming himself and reminding his ego that it was only his first official day back, Cole cleared his throat, continuing to talk. ”I guess you already know, but I’m Cole. I don’t know anyone in here yet, so I hope you don’t mind if I ask your names.” He said, not wanting to be too forward, particularly around strangers who probably already assumed he was some kind of “Stuttering Stanley”-type individual based on the quirks they’ve seen. Making his way out to the left and toward a nearby open space, Cole tried to minimize his wide stance and exaggerated steps, awaiting a response from these new acquaintances.

[Midori Yumi]

She was trying very very hard to not to stare at the boy sitting beside her.  She was acutely aware that he would wiggle a bit every few minutes, drawing her attention away from the lecture and back to Talith himself. It'd been awkward in class since the day he'd fallen and she'd helped him to class four, since he'd asked her about her hair. There was an tension between the two of them but the weapon was unsure why exactly it existed. One chance meeting, one day where he acknowledged her existence and suddenly he's sitting beside her? Maybe he wanted to keep an eye on her and make sure she didn't cause him to injure himself again in her presence. That made perfect sense, Midori thought as she rolled her eyes at herself mentally. Maybe he just wanted to be around her, but again she rolled her eyes at the thought, and this time she might have actually rolled them as she stood and watched the people around her group together as they often did. She waited for Talith himself to move past her and go join the group he would usually join, surrounded by people smarter or more out going than herself and felt an odd twinge of jealousy and anger ping itself up the back of her throat. 

What an odd feeling. It was a feeling she had never felt before, and Midori had felt her fair share of feelings, each one as strong as the next. Each one as genuine as the next. Not every emotion the girl felt made her abilities sin out of control but she found herself floundering with this one, biting the corner of her lip rather tightly as she went to take a step out of Talith's way, because surely he was waiting for her to move. 

“Hey, how bout we three group up? We’re already near each other so we won’t have to fight through the mess, plus I’d be willing to bet Cole could give us some pretty solid advice on whatever project we’re doing.”

The weapon stiffened and her head slowly turned, her lip slipping from where it had been pinned in between her teeth. Talith was still sitting, smiling at her, looking as if he had not a care in the world and she wondered how he was so relaxed, how it seemed like nothing in the world but physical pain itself bothered him, and she would have only known that it did because she witnessed it and not because she'd guessed it. His arm was slung over the back of his chair and he still hadn't stood before speaking. She turned back to Cole, the boy on the other side of her and went to ask him what he thought of it but he was already agreeing and Midori stood there, a bit flabbergasted. Well no one ask me what I think, will you? She again opened her mouth to talk but Cole was speaking again. The stutter stopped her, though she did her best to not let it show on her face. There was no reason for her to react to the things that she'd seen, not really. So he walked a bit oddly, and his voice stuttered sometimes? Half the time she couldn't make a coherent thought leave her lips and her hair had a mind of it's own. 

"It's okay," She said, this time loud enough that both of them would be able to hear it. She didn't really know who he was, probably because she wasn't one for gossip since she was usually the topic of gossip, but Talith seemed to know who he was and that would be enough for her. She followed him out, glancing back at Talith, hoping he was still going to join them even while the nervousness settled n the it of her stomach.

Resonance. Resonating. She was used to a sort of resonance. She did it every time someone used her weapon form successfully. This time though, there was someone new in her group and there was Talith. That was her group. Whoever Cole Kinght was and Talith, the boy who's existence always seemed to nag at the back of her thoughts lately. 

[Talith Dupree]

Truth be told, Talith hated resonance assignments. He could never really open himself enough to allow someone in, not even during a resonance. Sure, he could use a weapon, but there was something missing. It was there in pairs and a good portion of the class had found at least one other person that they had found a strong chord of connection with. But he hadn’t. He had to be the best meister, strong and calm, like his deceased father. He always placed his intense expectations on a weapon. He needed something, someone, who was as intelligent and quick-witted as he. Without that, he feared he’d never use his meister abilities to their fullest measure. How could he push himself towards improvement if he had to use some mediocre, dimwitted weapon?

Midori is a weapon.. Talith’s eyes found Midori for a moment, almost missing Cole as he stumbled over his words. Talith’s brow furrowed a moment. “No problem, uhm,” Talith looked a bit unsure of himself, not wanting to offend Cole. He decided any further comment might make him uncomfortable. He was quick to change the subject, deciding honesty was the best way to move forward, “truth be told, resonating is the one thing holding me back, so this is a bit of a sore subject,” he laughed easily, wanting to ease the tension in that moment, “which is why I am definitely interested in whatever advice you might could give me.”

Talith was standing now, moving his slim body to the area behind the desks, “ah, I am Talith. Talith Dupree,” Talith wasn’t one too enthused with polite conversation but, if he had something to gain from it…

Talith’s mind was still wrestiling with what could have happened to the other meister. His walk was off. He had a stutter and, as Talith had noted earlier, his hands would shake randomly. Definitely not normal. He made a mental note to Google it later.

Midori, the object of all of Talith’s frustrations, was (surprise) being very quiet. She’d muttered a quick “it’s fine,” to Cole’s embarrassing affliction, but that was about it. His mind reeled even more, this time he voiced his opinion, “so, do you just not like to talk, or are you afraid of your hair?” Talith gave her a half smile, as the trio walked down the desks, to a more open area of the classroom. He was half-joking, but he wanted to give off the impression that he was merely poking fun.

Talith waited a couple moments for Midori to tell Cole her name but it was almost as though the two words she managed to squeak out was her limit. Talith nodded to Cole, motioning towards Midori, “This is Midori, weapon, can't get her to talk much” His eyes shifted away from his group-mates; that was really all he knew about Midori.

[Cole Knight]

Hearing that his two now-groupmates weren’t making a big deal over his little slip-up, Cole felt a bit of relief. Although he didn’t mind it if his classmates thought less of him, not having to answer questions about himself and have people ask him if something happened was definitely his preference. The two had gotten out of their seats to follow him without question, which was nice. Cole preferred to find a more secluded bit of the classroom, so he didn’t have to be around too many people at the moment. The girl in their group seemed like she was a bit reserved, as well, so he was fairly certain she wouldn’t mind. Hearing the young man respond with his name, as well as filling in the blanks for their groupmate, Cole smiled again, nodding as he came to rest on the wall opposite the entrance to the classroom, leaning against it for support.

”It’s nice to meet you Talith, Midori.” He said, nodding to both of them and not bothering to extent his hand to shake. Midori didn’t seem particularly fond of the group project, either. As for whether that was due to the project itself, or because he was around her, he couldn’t say. He didn’t think he’d done much to offend her, but he supposed she had a right to be upset about her bag. ”Are the two of you a pair?” Cole asked, making note of how Talith felt comfortable responding in lieu of Midori. Meisters often stood up for their Weapons when need be, and vice-versa. He couldn’t count the number of times he’d responded to a question that had been directed at Alexis…though usually that was to stop her from saying something snippy or rude. Maybe Midori was actually a very rude person, in spite of her quiet nature, and that’s why Talith was responding for her. Somehow, she didn’t strike him as the type, however. If she were, he would have gotten an earful about not being more careful where he put his feet down.

Having heard Talith explain that the only trouble he really had was with resonance, Cole examined him for a moment. That one statement held certain implications – in assuming that was his only failing, Cole could tell that Talith thought pretty highly of himself as a general student, and that he believed he was doing just fine. He was probably right, or the boy wouldn’t be in Class Two. Cole supposed he might see just what sort of issues he’d been having with resonance during this lesson. ”Resonance is one of those things that is theoretically simple, but much more difficult in practice.” He remarked, not bothering to mention that the same hadn’t held true for him, when he’d learned. ”The funny thing about resonance is that you don’t need to think of it as some ability, or a switch you turn on and off. To perform resonance abilities, a pair needs to increase the quality of their resonance, but a Meister and his or her Weapon will always resonate with one another, even outside of combat.”

Cole was sure Talith already knew this, conceptually. After all, he wasn’t spouted some kind of groundbreaking thesis on the nature of resonance. But as for whether or not the young man understood that fact, and took it to heart, that was another matter entirely. ”I’m sure Midori’s had at least a few experiences when prospective Meisters couldn’t make use of her Weapon abilities. Hell, there were probably times when the individual couldn’t even hold her Weapon form. That generally happens when two incompatible wavelengths clash. Wavelengths can’t be too different or too similar between partners.”

Cole wished he had some way of demonstrating this to them, but he was sure they didn’t want to hear him drone on any longer. They were supposed to be practicing resonance, and he didn’t want to rob them of what should be a learning experience. ”It’s been…some time…since I resonated.” Cole mentioned, trying to sound cavalier about this fact. ”I used to be pretty decent. If I’m rusty, I apologize.” He said, again not wanting to go into detail. He wasn’t exactly sure how they wanted to proceed. If Talith and Midori were a pair, maybe they’d want to start by having her resonate with the odd man out. Or, perhaps they’d feel more comfortable starting things off, themselves.

Cole let himself slide down the wall slowly, plopping to the floor and taking a quick rest. His right hand had shaken just a bit when he talked about the last time he’d resonated, but overall he thought he was doing pretty well. Of course I am. I had an accident, I didn’t become someone else entirely. He thought to himself, and to some degree he knew that was true. He was Cole Knight, and he had done all of this before. Meeting new people, performing in class, dealing with others who couldn’t possibly understand, this was all familiar territory. The only thing holding him back was his own hesitation, he knew this. Yet, somehow, he worried. And if there’s one thing he knew about Cole Knight, it’s that he didn’t make a habit of worrying about anything. That concerned him.

[Midori Yumi]

Midori wondered at the awkward way Talith seemed to be holding himself now. Was it her, the project, or Cole? She wasn't sure. He could be worried about a mixture of the three. How the two of them might resonate if they decided to let Cole lead the project, what might happen if they could resonate, and how would Cole act if he himself was leading. Midori wasn't worried about that last one, Cole seemed competent, even though it was evident something was wrong with him neurotically. Talith mentioned that resonance was a sore spot for him and the light bulb went off in Midori's head. He was scared he wouldn't be able to match his wavelength to her own, or Cole's. She hadn't heard him say whether he was a weapon or a meister yet but she'd just assumed meister for some odd reason. Again that twinge of jealousy at the thought that Talith might resonate better with someone who wasn't her (though they'd never resonated) began to eat at the pit of her stomach. She walked alongside Talith as he introduced himself and she realized, stupidly that she'd forgotten to tell the other boy her name, however before she could manage to turn her attention back to Cole, Talith was speaking to her and her attention was once again his. She blushed lightly, and shook her head, the hair in question rustling around her shoulders and brushing against the back of her knees. She though about the easiest way to answer that, though as she was forming the words to introduce herself and explain to Talith that her hair didn't terrify her, emotion did, he was already speaking again. 

"I'm not really afraid of my hair, more so it's a case of crossed wires," She explained easily, taking her arms and crossing them over the other. "The chemicals in my brain that create emotion sort of got tangled around the chemicals in my brain that allow me to control my magical ability. So when I get upset my ability sort of manifests on it's own. I do have some control over it, in normal situations. For example," Midori uncrossed her arms and made a fist with one, holding it tightly closed for a moment before opening it to reveal a small crystal which she held out to Talith. "And yes, I am Midori, weapon, specifically a gun type weapon. It's nice to meet you as well." She responded to Cole after he spoke in her intermission. She wasn't sure why she'd felt the need to be so specific about those things, but when Talith had poked at her it had made her feel a bit... odd. Like her personality was under inspection. She spoke a lot, when she felt like she was comfortable enough to do so, or now when someone told her she didn't. 

Cole spoke again, his question innocent of course but it caught Midori off guard. "Uh no, Talith and I have never resonated before, actually." She answered looking over to the blue haired meister. "I don't think he has a partner though, at least not one I've ever met." Cole went on to speak more about resonance, his voice experienced and wise which made her wondered again about what the teacher had said earlier. Again, had he really been in Class Two before and was just now returning? Was it because something happened to him? Midori wondered about that in the back of her head as she listened intently to him speak.

"I mean, a few times, but it rarely happens to me, I don't really know why, I mean... I can be very emotional but so far it hasn't caused me too many problems in the Dojo, other than some issues with getting jammed or like you said just complete incompatibility, like my father." Midori went quiet at that and sort of stared at the wall behind Cole for a second before she realized he wasn't standing anymore, and she was staring at blank space. He seemed tired, worn out and Midori realized that he wouldn't be able to participate much, which left Talith and the weapon to resonate on their own together. She thought briefly about asking him if he was alright but he didn't really seem to want to talk about it, if the sense she was getting from him was correct. It usually was. Midori had a great judge of the emotions of those around her, usually being able to identify or match them without even trying. 

She turned to Talith, and stopped, eyeing him for a moment. This was going to be the moment, she was sure of it. At least she wanted it to be the moment, whether it ended well for her not. 

"You scared?" She asked and held her arm out to him. 

[Talith Dupree]

Midori's lengthy description took the meister by surprise. he was even more surprised when she held her hand out and formed a crystal in her fist the same color as before. He became a bit too thankful when she parted with the crystal, holding it towards him. He took it, allowing himself only a quick glance before he stowed it into his pocket. He would examine it more thoroughly later. He didn't know what he expected of her. Was there more to the young female weapon than interesting hair? Was that the only thing he was, for some reason, attracted to?

Why am I thinking about her this much? This is ridiculous.

When Cole questioned whether the two were a pair it was as if Midori herself had just smacked him and reminded him she was still there, which was a strange thing to think and made Talith chuckle a tad bit. She was hasty to respond, to assure Cole they were not paired. Which, obviously, made Talith wonder if she wanted to pair with Cole. That thought ended with "of course she does". 

The usual somber and attentive meister had become distracted and hopeful, but for what did he hope? Cole had only been going over the basics of resonance. Thankfully, it had been something Talith knew and had known for a while. 

He must think Class Two students are a joke, thought Talith in a non-offended way. His gaze swept the grouped up classmates that filled the room, I haven't even been to Class One and I kind of feel the same way. On the same thought, however, he realized Cole must feel as though he was as well. 

These thoughts weaseled into Talith's brain, giving him an uncommon case of anxiety paired with the disdain of the current exercise they were expected to complete, Talith was definitely out of his zone. Some how he managed to keep calm. 

Talith took a breath, ready to respond to Cole's lesson, however Midori decided to take charge. To Talith, who's thoughts had been all over the place since he decided to try grouping up together, it was a refreshing change. 

She trailed off as she mumbled something about her father, looking a bit dejected. Talith wondered what was wrong and then an unwelcome thought crept into his head, daddy issues? 

The blue-haired meister was taken aback when Midori grabbed his hand, he resisted the urge to pull away before he realized what she intended. He was ripped from his thoughts, again, but this time he was a little more grounded. He managed to crack a smile and spoke to Midori, "at least take me to dinner first, sheesh."

[Cole Knight]

Sitting and listening to their responses thoughtfully, Cole tried to make sure he was staying tuned into their words. It was easy for him to let his attention wander lately, and occasionally he found himself tuning out in the middle of conversations. It wasn’t a disrespect thing, necessarily, but he also wasn’t sure if it had anything to do with his injuries. He wanted to believe so, but part of him thought that maybe, with how things had gone lately, he felt like he couldn’t spare even a few seconds for conversation. He needed to be training, to be improving himself in the hopes of returning back to where he was – of returning back to who he was. Listening to Midori’s explanation of her hair, something that had confused Cole but that he supposed would have to do with her abilities as a Demon Weapon, Cole smiled as she explained how her emotions interfered with and triggered her power, at times.

”I can empathize with the ‘crossed wire’ situation you’re talking about. You’ll learn to control it.” He said, with such confidence in his voice that the outside listener would likely have assumed that Midori was one of his close friends, whom he had some personal stake in consoling. Hearing that neither of them had a partner, Cole’s brow furrowed, as curiosity began to nip at the outer edges of his mind, potentially the only thing that had ever affected his mind more than the Witch’s hand. Shaking his head, deciding not to be too nosy, Cole instead glanced at Talith, who seemed to have gone somewhat quiet as Midori had spoken. Is he embarrassed? Annoyed? Or does he have something to hide? Cole questioned inwardly. It had been years since Cole took an interest in interpersonal relationships, or the way in which people perceived both himself and those others around him. He didn’t want to get overly invested in anything that was unrelated to his Meister training, but getting to know two people for the sake of getting to know them was…well, it was actually pretty rare for Cole. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d simply spoken to someone without having a vendetta, even within his own family. This probably wasn’t good for his killer instinct.

Intuition told him there was something between these two. It could be close friendship, but they were both so guarded. Their posturing, their body language, all of it seemed wrong for close friendship. Talith, who had seemed relatively interested in what he had to say, suggesting he might know more about him than he was letting on, seemed even to be using him as a crutch in this situation. If Cole was the stranger, why did it seem like he was the one helping move things along with the two of them? This perhaps suggested it was something else. They could have recently had a falling out, but then Talith wouldn’t have been so eager to pair the three of them up.

Maybe affection?

The thought struck Cole, and he was surprised he didn’t think it earlier. There really was something wrong with his brain, that he wasn’t able to discern it quicker. There was interest there, whether one-sided or not, and it should have been obvious to him. He’d been doing this since before he could read, after all. He could be entirely wrong – in fact, there had been many a time he had surmised something only to realize he’d been woefully incorrect. But he liked to try and deduce bits and pieces of strangers without the use of Soul Perception – it always felt like cheating to be given an instant look at someone’s personality.

Glancing over as Midori seemed to have made a decision, Cole felt almost relieved that she seemed to choose Talith to resonate with first, instead of him. Midori seemed nice enough – welcoming, even, after you got past formalities. But he didn’t want to chance offending Talith if the two happened to resonate particularly well, and she started to consider having Cole as a partner. He had nothing against the idea, but if Talith had some sort of plan in mind for this resonance lesson…well, who was he to get in the way? Gazing at the two of them, Cole smiled reassuringly.

”I know the two of you don’t need my advice, but I’ll be quick. Negativity can mess with resonance. Nervousness or apprehension can make what could have been a perfectly in-tune pairing seem incompatible. Try to relax.” He paused, smirking a bit at their exchange. ”Yeah, and maybe take him to dinner. Afterwards. I want to see what happens here, first.”

[Midori Yumi]

Midori watched as Talith jerked, becoming aware of her touch and then his sudden relaxation and quip, which was more like the Talith she was slowly getting to know. Though they didn't know one another well she knew she wanted to know him better, to know Talith Dupree. They were about to get really personal though, and while she usually wasn't nervous at this time she felt a sliver of fear wiggle it's way into her thoughts as she held Talith's arm, stared at the places where the fabric of her shirt ended and her wrist began. Cole's voice broke her out of her thoughts and she looked over to him briefly, nodding instead of speaking because she seemed to have lost her voice once again. Talith was about to see her weapon form, probably not for the first time, but he was about to be very close with a part of her only those who'd held her in weapon form had seen.

Midori's weapon form was very complicated, too many little parts, which would have left her completely defenseless in a fight by herself if it wasn't for her magical abilities which still had problems of their own. Her weapon form however she wasn't nervous about, even if she was nervous about their resonance. The gun that she transformed into was a sleek sniper rifle, made for long range combat, but also shoot and spray if one needed to, in extreme circumstances. She was acutely aware of how her current abilities worked, how her weapon form worked, and how resonance worked. The nervousness she was feeling came completely from the fact that Talith was the one across from her and that she felt something odd when she was around him. Something she definitely wanted to explore, without scaring the meister off. 

Midori got the feeling from Talith that the sarcastic comments and the playful demeanor he put off was a sort of front to keep himself guarded and at arms length at all times, never close enough to see who he really was.  She wanted Talith to know who she really was, instead of the always quiet somber weapon he seemed to think she was. 

Cole spoke once again, and once again he tore the weapon from her thoughts and her attention turned to hi as she shifted just so she could see him, her hand still grasping Talith's arm. Try to relax. Try to relax. Midori looked back to Talith, looked at the easy smile on his face, remembered the way his comeback so smoothly rolled off his tongue and she nodded. "I can do that. Though I think Talith should be taking me to dinner instead, don't you?" She said clearly, and took a deep breath. "You know the drill big flash of light and bam, weapon. You just have to make sure to hold, okay?" Midori closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and willed herself to come apart. 

[Talith Dupree]

Talith felt strange. He wasn’t sure how this had turned into what it was currently. He wasn’t exactly nervous but he was hopeful which caused his stomach to churn in anticipation. He wanted this to work, he wanted to have a reason to attach himself to this girl, who seemed all too strange. One second Talith was positive she’d run to hide under a desk and the next she was returning his playful rhetoric with what seemed to be flirting. His emotions around her were unchecked and it bothered him, but there was a part of him that seemed to be accepting it, accepting her.

But, that wasn’t what this was meant to be about. Talith wanted to know what caused Cole to head back to Class Two. What ever happened was definitely more than mental damage, Talith was willing to wager Cole wasn’t the best of the best anymore. What interested him the most was whether or not he could ever be again and if not, then why bother? Why go crawling back to Class Two? Talith was certain he would never do that.

Matter-of-fact, wasn’t Cole getting more insight on what Talith’s hang-ups were? Why had the meister thought this was a good idea. Despite all his feelings towards Midori, he knew there wasn’t any way this would work. He was used to it. Before long, perhaps he’d just become a meister without a weapon, if that were even possible.
Talith’s lips were still turned up in a slight smile. Even though his head was spinning with thoughts, he managed to listen to Cole’s tip and attempted to still himself. He could at least give this his best go, see what happened. There were multiple things holding Talith back. The first one being that he hadn’t found someone interesting enough to suit him, the second being that he was afraid of getting that close to someone. A meister and a weapon that decided to pair were almost required to become close, learning intimate details about the other. There were plenty of things Talith wanted buried and buried deep.

In and out, he steadied himself, nervousness slowly ate away at him. He was afraid. Afraid of failing to wield Midori effectively and afraid of looking like another mediocre Class Two meister in front of Cole Knight. Midori was speaking while his mind wandered, but he caught what she said and Talith, somehow managing to switch from the cool, calm front that was placed so easily in his day to day life, to a more serious, melancholic mood. His gaze lingered on Midori’s face for a moment, managing a small smile, he nodded his head quickly and then braced himself when he noticed she was starting her transformation.

The flash was a bit bright, but after only a moment, Midori was gone and in Talith’s hand was a large sniper-rifle. Holy shit, I didn’t even know what her form was, Talith thought before he could stop himself, forgetting that Midori could hear him, Uh, sorry, this is cool though, he thought hastily.

The gun was heavy, heavier than it should be, Talith felt. It wasn’t so heavy he couldn’t carry it, but he didn’t think fighting that way would be a good idea. As usual, his own wavelength was trying to reject the weapon, however this time Talith reached out to Midori, mentally. He wanted this to work, but there was something in him that told him it couldn’t. Midori, I am gonna be honest, I don’t know how much longer I can hold you…
Talith looked over at Cole. He wanted to see if he could tell that, to Talith, Midori’s weapon form was gradually getting heavier and heavier. He was desperate, though, he wanted it to work. He closed his eyes.

I am not good at this, he admitted inwardly, to Midori, and it wasn’t an easy thing for him to do.

I know the ins and outs of everything having to do with resonance, but it won’t work because I-

Realization hit him like a train, but he willed himself to stop his thoughts. He was sharing too much. He was letting her in too far and there were too many people, and Cole was staring at them, getting the measure of them. At that moment, Midori’s weapon form grew even heavier. If he didn’t do something soon, he’d end up dropping her.

[Cole Knight]

Watching as the two braced themselves for resonance, Cole couldn’t help but feel even a little envious of the both of them, here in close quarters. While he might have had a more successful career until this point, the two of them were still whole. Whoever they were, whatever their flaws or their failings, they were still decidedly themselves, and they had likely learned to adapt to these flaws over time. Meanwhile, he was playing host to a great number of new issues, the likes of which he had never had to cope with before. He supposed he would just need to overcome these obstacles, just as he had every obstacle up until now, regardless of what others might say.

There’s something almost inherently enchanting about watching unpaired Meisters and Weapons try and achieve resonance with one another for the first time. At least, Cole had always thought so. Even without being invested in the individuals, or whether or not they would be successful, just seeing the look of hope and foreboding in both of their eyes was almost like watching a one-frame soap opera. The thought entertained him, and the smirk on his face turned slowly into a genuine smile, as he watched Talith’s eyes widen just slightly, into what must have been a worried expression by the older boy’s standards. He might play cool, but he’s just as sheepish as Midori, in some ways. Cole commented to himself, taking note more and more of their spoken and unspoken personality traits and quirks as time went on.

As the resonance proceeded, the smile on Cole’s face faded just as quickly as it had come. At first, it appeared to be a relatively successful transformation. Talith, at the very least, was able to hold the Weapon without issue, and Cole now saw that Midori’s weapon form was that of a high-caliber sniper rifle. Keeping out of the limelight, even in battle. That’s suitable. As the moments passed, and Cole saw the look in Talith’s eyes move from concern to panic, he reached to the side with a shaking hand, pushing himself up slowly and continuing to observe from a standing position.

As much as he would like to have interjected himself into the situation, and solved the problem for them, he felt as though attempting that would be worse than allowing a failure. First, while he could naturally alter his wavelength without much difficulty, the issue would then be with the outlier of the group. If he synced with Midori, his soul wavelength would still be incompatible with Talith, and vice-versa. Not only that, but the two of them needed to do this for themselves – to see whether the issue was incompatibility, or if it was something else that was causing the issue. Cole watched Talith’s hands droop, sure now that their clashing wavelengths were weighing Midori down and preventing Talith from wielding her naturally. There had been a connection, if only for a moment… He said, noticing that as Talith became more aware of the situation, the two seemed to be less and less in harmony.

He didn’t generally like to snoop into the business of others, or be too much of a busy-body, but Cole was fairly sure both of these individuals wanted this pairing to work. If there was anything he could do to patch things up, he’d give it a try. Sighing and reaching within momentarily, Cole reached out with his sixth sense, activating Soul Perception and taking in what he saw. Filtering out the noise he was experiencing from the wavelengths of a hundred other students, all attempting to accomplish resonance and many feeling these same fears, Cole managed to get a good picture of the both of them. Well, their souls at least.

There was confusion there, confusion and uncertainty on both sides. He saw two fearful souls – one expressing its fear through faux bravado and pride, while the other tried to make itself as small as possible in response, but both far too guarded and defensive to properly let someone they didn’t already wholeheartedly trust in. He saw that Talith’s soul had a rather unusual quality – being of the particularly strong variety not often seen which can provide their hosts with enormous amounts of will and determination. Midori’s soul, incandescent and ever-changing as light viewed through a gem, seemed to be the more stable of the two. Perhaps Talith’s strong soul was causing more noise, and making it difficult to achieve resonance? Allowing his Soul Perception to fade, Cole continued to watch, locking eyes with Talith and nodding his head.

”You’re both doing fine. Even the finest partners have moments of discord. Try and center yourself. Midori, trust yourself to make the connection. Talith, don’t try so hard. This is about balance – failure is not the end of the world. Don’t think about the weight, think about the surface of the Weapon on your body and the Wavelength on your soul. Center yourself there.” Cole knew that, no matter what advice he gave them, there was a good chance the problematic situation would throw them even further out of sync, but it didn’t feel right to stand there observing without saying anything.

[Midori Yumi]

Transformation was a moment of pure joy for Midori. It was the moment she un-became and became again in a different body, but one that was wholeheartedly hers. A body that was not awkward and quiet, but sleek and loud. A body that was more like the weapon herself wished that she could be at all times. It took less than a few seconds for this process, start to finish, but each time the girl transformed she got the same feeling of rightness. This time that feeling was even more precious than usual, this time it was almost scared because she wanted it to be. Midori became aware of Talith's thoughts mere seconds before she became aware of the strength of his soul. Hearing his voice inside her head was a moment of clarity for the girl, and she felt unsure for the first time. He hadn't even known what type of weapon she was, whether he thought it cool or not Midori wondered if he knew anything about her other than the fact that her hair turned to crystal, though why would he? They had just officially met recently though their meeting was burned into her memory. The second thing Midori became of aware of was the slight prickling pain along her soul, which was all but shaking at the sight of Talith's.

His thoughts entered her head again and Midori felt the tension between them rising, she knew something was wrong but she wasn't sure what it was and she wasn't sure how to fix it. She could see him through herself, a reflection of the girl's face appearing. I don't understand. She told him mentally. She looked inward for a problem but could find none, and she felt panic start to bubble out of Talith's soul the longer his fingers stayed wrapped around the barrel of her weapon form. 

I am not good at this.

Good at what? Resonance? Or trust? Or both? Midori asked him. It seemed as if he was shutting her out, she realized as she tried cautiously to reach her soul towards his. He was scared, she realized, but not of her, but because of her. He was scared to let anyone to close, and it was causing him to shut down, to recede away from her, to cause her pain that she wasn't sure he knew about and Midori metaphysically had to grin and bear it because she wasn't going to let him get off that easily. Cole's words reached, though they almost seemed so far away at the present moment, they went to her very core. 

Trust yourself, well that's easier said than done. Midori took a deep breath and tried to calm herself, if not for herself than for Talith because Talith seemed to be the one who needed to calm down. Resonance was not new to her, but to Talith, real resonance, complete and utter resonance was terrifying. She could tell he was scared and she understood, she knew what fear felt like, felt it on a daily basis. She lived in fear for so long that it had become ingrained in her to be afraid, yo be scared. Coming to the academy had scared her, transforming for someone for the first time had been scary, meeting Talith himself had scared her a bit. She was almost never sure of herself, but she was now, she was in this moment so sure that this was going to work that her normally small and qiet soul reached it's way out to Talith's. 

I understand. I'm not good at a lot of things either, but I still do them, and I still try, so just stop worrying about whatever it is you're trying to hide. It's okay. I understand, but if you shut me out this will never work. Whatever it is you want to stay hidden, well, I will do my best not to look but you have to let me in. 

Midori hoped her thoughts were calming as she inched her soul closer and closer to his, hoping that the slower the went the easier it would be on the meister. His soul was definitely larger than her own own, she found herself just sort of, curling up next to his, there but not fully enveloped. 

[Talith Dupree]

”You’re both doing fine. Even the finest partners have moments of discord. Try and center yourself. Midori, trust yourself to make the connection. Talith, don’t try so hard. This is about balance – failure is not the end of the world. Don’t think about the weight, think about the surface of the Weapon on your body and the Wavelength on your soul. Center yourself there.”

Talith heard the words, but he knew, theoretically what he should do. He was trying. Having Cole remind him of what he was failing at only served to annoy the meister, who was really starting to strain in order to keep Midori in his hands. His nostrils flared and, for a moment, the desperation was clear on his face. Through gritted teeth, Talith spoke, “I am trying.”

Frustration was clearly written on his face. The teacher was going to student to student to see how they were doing. Talith wondered what he’d say to him this time, despite the obvious effort he was putting in for this one to work.

Right as Talith had met his limit, he heard Midori’s voice clearly, breaking through his moody thoughts. Good at what? Resonance? Or trust? Or both?

He grunted, but something about her voice caused him to relax, just a tiny bit. The panic that had slowly risen up from his gut started to recede. I can’t tell. I’ve always felt everyone else was too inferior, they couldn’t help me become the meister I’m meant to be. The thought formed, word linking word, before he could stop it. He closed his eyes and focused.

I understand. I'm not good at a lot of things either, but I still do them, and I still try, so just stop worrying about whatever it is you're trying to hide. It's okay. I understand, but if you shut me out this will never work. Whatever it is you want to stay hidden, well, I will do my best not to look but you have to let me in.

His eyes opened again, familiar worry spread onto his face. For the first time in his life he felt like he would let his weapon down. He could feel his soul and he could feel the warmth of hers as she slid closer to his. Her weapon form became slightly lighter. He willed himself to reach out for her, until he could mentally picture him grabbing onto one of her hands tightly with a light panic, I can’t.. can I? The idea of baring open the secret parts of his mind terrified him. He was puzzled, he didn’t think that most meisters needed to do this to properly operate a weapon, he withdrew, just a bit. He kept certain things from her, willing himself not to think about them, but he knew it was clear that he was scared and that, despite the front he kept up, he was lonely.

Her weapon form grew even lighter, Talith sighed in relief as the weight decreased to what he assumed was a regular weight for her form, This is working? The panic on his face was gone, replaced by a relieved expression. He hefted the gun in his hands. Now that he seemed to have things under control he was able to examine the details, wondering what type of abilities they might could come up with when Talith curbed his excitement. He tried very hard to keep the reason from Midori. He had realized that this was only a school assignment. Nothing about this meant that Midori would attach herself to him. As quickly as he had rushed the thoughts away, Midori’s weapon form started to become weighed down once more. He felt like Pinocchio. I don’t know how to say this. But it seems like we can work. But would you want to partner up with me? I mean, I guess I never even asked if you had someone already, did I?

With that out in the open, her form grew lighter again. He was confused, no one had ever told him he had to be completely honest with his partner or else it could lead to a failed resonance. Was it that way for everyone? Or just him?