Some are helpless [OPEN]

"I wonder if they live very long..." Nicole spoke to herself while holding up a small plastic bag filled with water in the sunlight. Eying its contents quizzically, she kept wondering why the shop would even offer goldfish as a promotional gift for buying dust, and more so why she couldn't just leave them on the bench top when the shop owner told her apathetically, 'Its up to you. If you don't want them, then just leave them.'

"Well... I guess I could look after them... I hope my team mates won't mi---- OH MY!"

SPLASH!!

As every one of her shopping bags fell from her grip, once the one which housed the fish hit the ground, it burst open.

Frantic and worried, the cat-eared idol dropped to her knees - ignoring the person she'd walked into in her absentmindedness - and began watching her two helpless fish, splashing in the now damp patch on the floor. In the afternoon rush of students being let of out their class, Nicole squeaked feebly trying to keep people from stepping on her fish yet at the same time panicking because she had no idea how to save them from the clammy hands of death.

"Don't die! ..... I only just got you guys!" The pair of goldfish hopped impotently on the ground, causing Nicole to look at them and cry out desperately. "Oh god. What do I do??"

'Even for hunter classes, it feels like they go on and on and on...'

Ryuuji walked out of yet another class, glad the day was finally nearing an end. "What should I make for lunch," he wondered, his stomach growling. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, mentally smelling his future meal. A strange grin appeared on his face. 'I guess I'll just make pancakes or someth-'


BAM.

Ryuuji found himself on the ground.

And wet.

And surrounded by falling shopping bags.

He blew some of the water off of his face, a look of annoyance where his smile was seconds ago. "I guess I know how people on the other side feels now..." Ryuuji muttered to himself, reminiscing on his other meetings with students.

Suddenly, a cry of desperation came from the student he had knocked down. Ryuuji noticed the girl was protecting a pair of what looked to be goldfish from the rush of students in the walkway. Feeling slightly guilty for being part of the cause of the girl's (and the fishes') predicament, he quickly crawled over to help her. He managed to capture both fish as they flopped around and looked around frantically for something to put them in.

"Err, this way!" He said to the girl quickly as he ran by. Ryuuji ran through the grass towards the academy's fountain. He tossed the fish in, and sighed with relief as they began swimming around.

"Wow, they look happy." The girl with the flaxen hair remarked once meeting up with Ryuuji with her shopping bags in her hands. She'd calmed down a lot in watching the excited guy jump up with her two fish cupped in his hands to safety. And as it would be now, the goldfish were darting about in the pool of Beacon's heavenly fountain.

"They just came back from death's doorstep, but its almost as if they'd forgotten all about it, eheh~"

By now the cat eared girl was leaning over the water's surface, her merry face reflecting on it like a mirror. She'd hoped that it was only the hair on his face that had been dampened because she didn't want to be the one who put him in a bad mood.

"Oh! My name is Ny-- Nicole!" A hand came over her mouth shortly, but she carried on brightly before extending a hand to the raven haired boy, "--Nicole Nova... Sorry.. about my clumsiness, is there any way to make it up to you?" while speaking, her gaze drifted from his shoes, to his belt, to his shoulders before meeting his face with a surprised look of her own. "Ah~ Are you a freshman as well?! I didn't see you at the assembly, but I guess I wasn't paying much attention after I was sorted into my team~ eheh!"

Ryuuji looked at Nicole as she extended her hand out to him, their eyes meeting for a short moment. He broke the stare, his cheeks blushing a small amount. "I-I'm Ryuuji Katsuragi," he managed to stammer out before shaking her hand and forcing himself to meet her gaze again. He nodded to the freshman comment. "Yes, I- Wait, there was an assembly?" He blinked in surprise. He began muttering to himself. "Maybe that's why I'm not in a team yet..." He sighed at his own stupidity.

He noted Nicole eyeing his wet hair. "Ahh, don't worry about it," Ryuuji said, referring to the dampness on his face and clothes. "It'll dry, anyway." He laughed nervously. As he laughed his stomach growled again. "Nice shopping day?" Ryuuji pointed out the multiple shopping bags Nicole was carrying, trying to hide his hunger pains. "Fish care supplies, maybe?" he joked, looking towards the fish swimming happily in the fountain's large pool.

"well... Dust actually, eheh.." She laughed feebly at his humor, lifting her wrists so he could see the shopping bags. It felt silly, telling a fellow aspiring hunter that she was mostly dependent on the usage of Dust - especially while wearing those ears on her head. It was common, (yet unspoken,) knowledge that the production line of Dust could be credited to Faunus slave labor. Instead, she delicately steered the topic to something more light-hearted.

"Heh. Still gleeful and carefree." She had cast her gaze away from Ryuuji and was observing the fish out loud. "I'll have to find a way to get these two to my room.... Hmm.. All my classes start after lunch today. How about you? .... Ryuji... Ryuuuuji." Its not all that uncommon for people to test out names when learning them right? Nicole looked up and smiled a grin that reached her eyes, "A good strong name for a good strong man, eheh! Do you write that with kanji for 'Dragon?'"

'Dust, huh...' Ryuuji stared at the shopping bag held towards him. 'That's a lot for one person...,' he noted the multiple bags.

As his name was pronounced, Ryuuji blushed slightly again at the praise, but it did relax him a bit. "Y-yeah, 'Dragon'," he nodded, but the understanding of his name made him wonder. "Oh, are you Japanese? Err, but it is a pretty popular term around the world too, so maybe not." His words turned into mumbles. He began to doubt himself as he looked at her long blonde hair and the rest of her appearance.

Properly examining her for the first time, Ryuuji noticed her cat-like ears, and a feeling of familiarity arose in him. His look became harsher as he tried to remember, but softened away when she noticed his stare. "Err, sorry. It's just... I feel like we've met before." He looked at her again, trying to piece it together in his mind, when another rumble of his stomach warned him to get food now. "Most of my classes were before lunch soo... Maybe we could talk more over food or something?" he asked.

"Well, you're half right. My mother is from the east. My dad is from the west... I'm a little bit of both... heh? Is something wrong?" she asked him quietly when she noticed the furrow in his brow.

"Err, sorry. It's just... I feel like we've met before." he admitted, causing Nicole to blush nervously.

"ehhh heh he he.. . I don't think so though.." as she spoke she shyly turned her face away from Ruuji who was carefully studying her. "a-also, I might not be so good at names, but I never forget a face ~!"

By the time the teen idol was bashfully patting her warm cheeks she could have sworn she'd heard a small grumble from Ruuji. Once he explained to her the situation, Nicole was more than happy to help him out. But at the same time she didn't feel comfortable leaving her two goldfish in the fountain. What would she do if a hungry kitty came along??!

"well... Um... What I mostly bought was dust, but there's some food in here as well.... Mostly instant ramen though..." Nicole rested her bags on the edge of the fountain, before climbing on as well on all fours watching the surface like a playful feline. Once a cat-like grin took her features, her hands came down into the water and...

Totally missed the two swimming fish.

"eheh.. Well I guess there's no point in staying if you're hungry."

The second try was fruitless as well.

"Go on~" She chirped while shaking the water off her hands. "I won't hold it against you Ruuji, you've already helped me... Enough!"

After dunking her hands into the water, she quickly pulled them out and held them close to her chest. Had she hurt herself?

Or...

Did she manage to fish them out of the water this time??

'Well, they do say cat faunus have pretty good reflexes, but...' Ryuuji thought to himself while Nicole leaned over the pool. When Nicole playfully tried to catch the fish with her hands and came up empty twice, Ryuuji decided he should probably help her. "Err, I'm not that hungry haha," he lied."Maybe I could- Oh," he stopped short of offering his help when Nicole quickly pulled out her hands from the water and up to her chest. "Did you catch them?" He asked hopefully as he looked over her shoulder.

Slowly, she turned, looking up at the young man who saved those fish.

"Got 'em~!" She cheered, her face bright with glee. The fish squirmed in the shallow pool she had created for them with her cupped hands. "Oh-- Oh Oh-- more water? .. O-Okay... Um.. Excuse me...? Ryuuji? I have a bottle of water in one of those bags.."

Her shopping bags were on the floor beside the fountain.

"Could I just ask of one more favor from you?? Ryuuuuuji-kun?" She begged him quietly, tilting her head to the side and shifting her gaze from him, to the fish, to the water bottle, and back to him. "... please?"

The dark haired boy's blush returned after witnessing the shorter girl's pleading with him. Ryuuji reached for the water bottle at the floor. He uncapped it and held the plastic bottle in front of Nicole.

"I guess you could do worse," he chuckled at the makeshift container as Nicole attempted to put the goldfish inside. "Why are you carrying around goldfish anyway?" he asked, curious.

"They were giving them out at the Dust Store... I guess the owner had too many and was looking for some good homes for them." She answered him absentmindedly, while trying to get the fish to go into the water bottle, as Kyuji suggested. "Ah.. It doesn't seem to be working."

She stared at him for a while, an exhausted look on her face.

"I don't suppose you could walk me to my room, while filling up my hands with the water??" She said, holding her cupped hands up, with the two fish swimming circles in it. A little bit difficult for them, since the level of water was so shallow. Nicole sincerely hoped that the shock of this ordeal wouldn't kill them. She really wanted to provide a good home for this fish... Which is why she couldn't just leave them in that bag on the counter top.


"Its the last thing I'll ever ask from you~"

"S-sure," Ryuuji stammered back. A quick idea entered his head. "Oh, maybe this'll work better," he said, unhooking his sword hilt. The red blade of the sword extended with a click of the trigger, startling a few of the students passing nearby. With a swift slash, Ryuuji cut off the tip of the plastic bottle, creating a much wider opening. It did become a little harder to hold without accidentally crushing, but at least the goldfish would have room to move around.

He replaced his sword onto his belt and held the cut bottle to Nicole, directing her to put the fish in it. "You carry this, and I'll carry the bags for you. Ryuuji picked up the shopping bags. "Which way?" he asked.

(OOC: You called him Kyuji btw lol)

"whoa!" She exclaimed, watching the bottle get cut cleanly. Without wasting another moment of Ryuuji's precious lunch time, she dunked the two happy fishes in and smiled, watching them recuperate from their earlier torment. "And you don't look so bad yourself, eheh!"

She joked, looking up as he took her bags and asked which way they should go.

Nicole began walking through the courtyard in the direction of the dorms and as she did so, the teenaged idol said, "Reminds me of a knight in shining armor, hehe!"

As you may have noticed, she tends to giggle a lot.

"I guess I should name one of them after you?? Hmmm... " They both look the same.. how do you even tell them apart?... "Sir Hungry of the Rumbly Tummy. I like that. It sounds dignified doesn't it?"




(ooc: so I did!! I must be going crazy~ or my autocorrect hasn't been able to learn his name yet lol)

"H-hey, I'm not that hungry!" Just as he finished his sentence, another growl escaped Ryuuji's stomach, causing him to glare down at it's direction. He did chuckle a bit at the name however. "I suppose that would be a pretty noble name for a fish," he said, looking down at the goldfish in the girl's hands again. "Kind of a mouthful though." Ryuuji tried to run through saying the fish's name in his head.

Ryuuji looked towards the dorm buildings, a bit of excitement in his eyes. "I've never been to the dorm buildings yet," he explained as they walked. "Cause you know, The pre-initiates all sleep in the main building until they're put on a team." He wondered when that next initiation would take place.

"Oh right, so you're on a team, aren't you Nicole? What kind of people are your teammates?" Ryuuji asked.