Bright and early in the morning! Mamoru Chiba, leather case for his tablet and papers and a couple of notebooks slung casually over his shoulder, stops in his tracks in the office door and stares at the new student there, waiting to be shown around on his first day.
"Chiba! Thank you for coming by early," the receptionist says happily, a faint pink tinge to her cheeks. She leans over the desk to hand Jadeite his schedule, then gestures between the two boys. "This is Saburo Yukimura. Yukimura, this is Mamoru Chiba, he's in your class and will be bringing you up to speed. You're in very good hands!"
The black-haired teenager, resplendent in the same silver-grey school uniform as the blond, shifts his stance slightly and gives the receptionist a brief smile and a quick bow. "You're too kind, Moto-san."
Kunzite wasn't kidding this guy needs to be checked out-- his energy's through the roof, and what's more, there's something maddeningly familiar about him. Familiar in face, in energy signature, in sheer presence...
But just like that, he's gesturing, showing Jadeite out the office door.
Once they're out in the hall and walking, Chiba glances sidelong at the new student, eyebrows up and faint smile on his face. "So where are you from? I hope Moto-san didn't flutter over you too much."
Fittingly, deja-vu is a familiar sensation for Jadeite. It's not at all uncommon for something to scratch at the back of his mind like it's trying to be let out of a cage, suggesting a familiarity in new things, that there's something he's forgotten that he'd be better off remembering. It's never quite this /strong/ however, like the buzzing of a fly caught in a car with him, and it gives Jadeite serious pause as he starts to reach for the schedule he's being offered. His eyes flick up and then down and then up again over Mamoru's figure, his expression so, /so/ carefully /not/ showing any of his confusion.
Maybe it's just the insane amount of energy this guy is putting off. It's a little like standing next to a blast furnace.
"Not at all," Jadeite finds himself saying, as they start away from the receptionist's office post-formalities. "I'm not certain it was me she was fluttering over anyway. I'm from Okinawa."
A benevolent blast furnace, maybe. Warmth, not heat; brightness, not a raging inferno. And the kid's so calm, himself, so reserved in his motion but generally pleasant-- it's really tough to say how he could possibly have broken Nephrite, what's so interesting about him aside from that energy and that naggingly strange feeling, something like nostalgia.
"Okinawa! I've never been there. Only ever lived in Tokyo. Moto-san, though," a sidelong glance, and Mamoru's eyes sparkle with amusement behind his glasses, "she's never inappropriate but she does seem to appreciate blonds."
Infinity's a huge school in a skyscraper, and thus it has several floors dedicated to each grade level. All mod cons means it's actually even got enough elevators, and they're fast. As they wait and then enter one of them with a couple of other students, Mamoru continues, "I'm not sure what type of school you went to there, but you'll be in the same classroom for most of the day."
The other students who got on with them -- all much younger, wearing elementary school uniforms, get off the elevator a few floors up, and then it's just them. Mamoru studies Jadeite's reflection in the door. His posture is relaxed, his manner easy, but behind those glasses? His blue eyes are very sharp indeed. "I don't have your electives, so you'll be going with someone else to those classes."
"It was very ... personal." Jadeite decides, speaking the words as if they're delicate, although with a voice like his, no word is treated poorly. "Mostly in the worst ways. This will be very different for me." He looks down at his schedule and tries not to frown, pressing through that nagging familiarity. He has a job to do. It behooves him to do it. He'll have to figure out what's bothering him later, and possibly put it in his report, along with the possible suggestion that if Nephrite is going to be so disturbed by still water, he should maybe learn to *swim*.
So it is he is aware of being studied. He feigns ignorance for a few moments, before his eyes lift to look back at Mamoru, through the safe-haven of their reflections. Nodding his understanding regarding the electives, what he actually asks is, "Is it customary to give new students a tour? I hope you aren't responsible for all of them, it seems that would be disruptive of your own studies."
"It is," Mamoru confirms, "but first, there aren't too many transfers after the term begins, and second, there's a rota of volunteers. I was just up next." That last's delivered with a quirky little smile that's most evident around the boy's eyes. "Don't worry about it being different, though. Different isn't always bad. Infinity's a tough school, but with dedication to your studies you're sure to excel. If you need help catching up to where we are, I'd be happy to lend a hand-- I had a study group going last term, but since I switched one of my clubs, we don't have matching schedules quite so often anymore. I'm sure I could scrape together a new one."
Up, up, and up; the elevator finally reaches their floor, and Mamoru steps out, pulling out his phone and rapidly texting someone. "I usually have lunch on the roof with a friend of mine, but I won't drag you up there. We can go to the atrium."
That profile, intent and casually decisive, in control-- the weight to his gaze, the sensation of his personal presence-- this boy's full of echoes of something.
Then he glances up and grins, and it's full of mischief, and that's even worse.
"Or we could leave, even though we're not supposed to, and get something interesting for lunch, as long as we're back in time. Up to you. Still a few hours off."
Pride flairs, just for a moment. He wants to assert that he doesn't need help with his studies, that he *won't* need help, he's perfectly capable of excelling on his own. Luckily for Jadeite, logic reasserts itself with a firm hand before anything can get out of control. It's a convenient 'in', and even the least skull-daggery of the brothers can see opportunity when it knocks on the side of his skull. "I may take you up on that offer," He decides aloud, offering a restrained smile of his own. "It may be the coursework here is a lot different than what I studied at Okinawa."
The offer surprises him. Jadeite even lets that show on his face, eyebrows lifting and eyes blinking in a brief morose code of confusion. But then he's smiling, his own expression gone just as mischievious, the imp in his voice also seeming to turn the corners of his eyes up, just a little bit. "I could use being shown a few good place in *town*, too, if you're serious about *that* offer."
And now Chiba's grin is sparkling, full-fledged. "You're on."
He pockets his phone and then takes a moment to compose himself, corner of his mouth still twitching upward a little as they approach the classroom. By the time they make it there and he pushes the door open, he has himself under control again-- but it seems that still waters can hide anything in their depths.
Anything at all.