Why do I Even Need This Class? (Piper)

[Jin Johnson]

Quiet... so very quiet.

It wasn't quiet. Jin Johnson and a large handful of students of the Shibusen were sitting through their arithmetic class. The only one who seemed impatient with the class, however, was Jin--the new meister of Shibusen. The boy groaned under his breath and bounced his leg beneath his desk, obviously anxious to be released from the confines of math. His eyes would dart quickly from the teacher and the scribbles of equations on the board to anything else that could fascinate him.

The eyes of the young meister finally focused on the teacher. She was facing them completely now, no longer indicating any formulas or variables. He could tell that she was about to dismiss them. His leg stopped bouncing, his lips curled into a slight grin. He could taste his freedom. He was practically drooling over those three words "Class is dismissed." The teacher's mouth was moving, but Jin wasn't hearing any words come from her. He was tuning her out. Suddenly everyone stood up and his brain quickly allowed her last four sentences register. They were given pages to do out of the text book for homework and were dismissed. Without a second thought, Jin scooped all of his belongings into a bag and walked out of the room.

A few minutes later, Jin was still at the Shibusen. He didn't have any more classes for the day, but he didn't want to go home yet. He was standing on the balcony, looking over the rest of Death City. He also had a pencil in his hand, writing on a piece of paper. With a quiet yawn, the meister put his pencil back in his pocket and closed the piece of paper within a textbook. After putting the book back into his bag, Jin leaned against the rail. "Man... that stuff was just too easy," he thought aloud. His routine for math was the same: find some way to stay awake during the class, do the homework quickly, and then relax while taking in the landscape of Death City.

As he looked out on the city, Jin hummed a slow, old jazz ballad. He could see groups of students gathering together under the balcony, conversing. Planning their out-of-school adventures and missions. A few of the groups were larger than others, most of them only consisting of two or three people. He figured that most of them were weapon-meister teams. He stared at them for a moment before lifting his gaze back to the skyline, almost being lost in his own thoughts.

[piper]

Piper, awkward as she was, stumbled her way through the large crowd-- the aftermath of class dismissal. She was bumped and tossed and by the time she gently fought her way through the crowd she emerged through a door and found herself somewhere she wasn't trying to get to. She knew her problem was she needed to be a bit more aggressive. She understood that if she did not learn to stand her ground, literally and mentally, she would be used as a tool and nothing more. Wasn't that why she wanted to leave her Father's estate? She did not care to be used as some sort of game piece. The finishing part to her father's larger scheme. No. But if she had such resolve to do that then, why could she not tell someone to back off and let her through in a large crowd?

Her hands were on her knees again. She was breathless from the constant shoving and battery of the other students. Her face was gleaning over marble floor and then her eyes went up, causing her to realize she was standing on one of the many balconies of Shibusen. On top of being somewhere she didn't need to be, there was another student here also.

Quickly, she pulled herself straight, lifting one hand in faux confidence and waving it briskly, hoping the boy wouldn't notice the slight tremble in her voice she said, "H-hey. Sorry.. I didn't notice you there," her face changed color quickly and her eyes darted down as she finished her greeting. The hand she waved fell to her side, against her messenger-styled book bag. She smiled at him, mustering up as much brightness as possible at the current moment. Her red hair was pulled up in a tight pony tail adorned with a big pink bow. It looked disheveled as the rest of her.

[Jin Johnson]

Jin was still staring out at the skyline as another student made her way onto the balcony. He couldn't notice her yet. He continued humming and his finger made it's way to the railing and started to move. He was pretending to paint the skyline of Death City. In reality, he knew that he couldn't and was nowhere near the capability to even make it look like anything other than boxes that vary in size. He wasn't much of an artist. He would enjoy having a skill set like that though. Maybe it wasn't too late for him to learn? Oh well. He went from tracing the box patterns with his fingers to tapping the rail.

At that moment, he heard a voice come from behind him. The dreadlocked meister turned his head to look at the source from over his shoulder. His hair hung down by his face, almost obstructing his view of the girl. She stuttered for a moment. It drew his attention. After she finished speaking, the athlete turned his body towards her and smiled, waving back at her. She seemed to be kind of shy to him. He didn't know why... was it him? She wasn't the first person who reacted that way towards him.

"Yeah, I was just up here doin a little city gazing. Wanna join me?" Genuine offer right? The meister still had the smile on his face. Hopefully a smile that the academy will get to know as "J.J's friendly face" after a few months. He tried to be as friendly as he could, for the most part. Without a second's hesitation, Jin put his hand back on the railing, turning his body to the side. He was dressed in his usual attire, a t-shirt with the emblem of Lord Death's mask on the back, denim shorts, and a pair of basketball shoes. The only difference today was that, Jin's hair band was wrapped twice around his right wrist, since it wasn't tying his hair back.

"My name is Jin, by the way. You can call me J.J. if you want."