Is it a boy or a girl? (OPEN)

there came a faint knock at the door, as the teacher answered it she had a whispered conversation with the person at the door, as she was given a paper. there was a bit more whispering. the students, now less focused on Arata, were looking curiously at the doorway.
stepping back the teacher cleared her throat a bit before saying
"please welcome our classes Teacher Assistant from the local college, McManus-kun."
through the door stepped Jack and in Japanese (tinted a bit by his accent), he bowed and said,
"hello, please, call me Jack-san. I hope to get along with you all."

before looking up, his fiery reddish gold hair shifted revealing for a fraction of a second an annoyed look at the group of boys who had begun joking in quick and quiet Japanese how absurd it was there was a foreigner in such a highly ranked Japanese college, and how he was probably a pity case. by the time his head as back up however, there was a disarming smile directed at the class.
"please, take the desk in the back corner."
the teacher said, oblivious to the muttered insults.
Nodding, Jack headed to the back of the class, purposely passing through the center of the muttering crowd, murmuring softly back to them.
"I'm in the college because they needed someone with smarts to make up for your stupidity, scoile."
he knew it was stupid, but he was never one to let an insult pass, and he tossed the Irish term for mates on there just to screw with them. nothing better then an insult they couldn't understand. he got a mix of shameful faces and scowls from the boys who had been muttering.
he kept walking, reaching the empty desk in the back corner and settling gracefully into it. he had seen at least 2 of the girls looking at him curiously.

"Shows you, you really need to learn to be respectful." Kumiko muttered to the boys that had snickered at Jack-san. They rolled their eyes and ignored her.

Kumiko had curiously watched the new student teacher as he had walked by. From the local college, eh? She might have to ask her brother if he knew this red-haired character. She turned her attention back to the teacher, boredom quickly glazing her eyes. She drifted off into a daydream, which she often did during certain studies. Studies, like geography, absolutely bored her to death. She much preferred her grammar and writing classes.

Her mind shifted again to Arata and gave her a glance. Kumiko was sitting next to her. She felt bad for the girl, being given such a boyish name. She faintly recognized her from sporting events she watched with her friends. In actuality, she was quite surprised that a girl could be that athletic and talented.

"Kumiko, where is the city of Moscow located?" the teacher asked. Darn it, the first day and she was already going to make a fool of herself.

"Um, it's in Russia, right?" She shrunk in her desk, expecting for the class to giggle at her and to get her friends jokes later at lunch. She knew they meant well, but still sometimes their jokes hurt.

"Correct, but please, try to listen more carefully and pay attention." Kumiko nodded and sat up, trying her best to look attentive.

She opened a new notebook, took out a black ball point pen, and took a few notes. Soon she began doodling little chibis across the sides and top of her page. Some where ones of her, others of famous actors and actresses. She labeled each and sighed quietly.

jack was sitting at the desk In the back corner, and since there wasn't much going on yet, had been writing a bit of poetry In Ogram script using a complex series of interlocking spirals for the base design. it was a remarkable way to remove his rage
and so the spiral of this reaches this and interlocks with this one and so forth and so on.... vicious thoughts, ruin sought, kindness hidden, remarks unbidden....
pretty soon his entire page was covered with dense closely connected spirals, marked with thin lines denoting the symbols of the script, flowing together in in a beautiful flowering shape.
(for those who don't know, Ogram script is a literally a long line crisscrossed with small combinations of certain lines for each letter.)
to most it would look like really precise doodles, but if you knew the script it was about 3 pages worth of poetry.
he glanced up at the Moscow question and breathed quite quietly "Russia.". then as the teacher continues on he leans back a bit. absently, his foot starts kicking the longer bag on the ground making a slight metallic ping. he pulled out his schedule.
home room (missed today), T.A., Dojo(yes!), free period, finances, free period, culture studies. then 2 hours before I go to work. got it.

I am ready to just go to lunch then work then home. I wonder if Kaito is going to come home today. She periodically answered questions, occasionally looked at either Arata and Jack-san, but continuously doodled. She eventually filled a page full of doodles.

Kumiko managed to get through her classes until lunch. Instead of sitting with her friends, she went outside under a cherry blossom tree.

"I think I'm just going to eat by myself today guys. I promise we'll eat lunch together tomorrow" she had said to them.

She was watching people pass by as she nibbled on a rice ball. I wonder why Jack-san is here. At least I will have something to tell mother and father when I get home. Oh, I must remember to ask Niisan about that student teacher. That is if he can come home today.

Jack came walking out the doors, and looking around didn't see Hiru, his brother.
"where would he be..." shrugging, Jack headed for a short wall near the blossom tree about 30-40 feet from... Kumiko? was that her name? he thought so.
reaching the wall, he set his stuff on the ground, except for the long package. which he unwrapped. picking up his sheathed bastard sword from the wrappings he stepped way from the wall onto the grass nearby, and just stood there. the sword was held loosely at his side and he closed his eyes , letting the breeze wash over him as he stood there. he relaxed the muscles in his body, subconsciously stretching his neck and shoulders a bit. then he began to slowly sway with the wind a bit, letting his mind relax...

from the other direction from Kumiko, another young man, this one with dark brown hair and hazel brown eyes in a clearly Japanese complexion, walked calmly towards the school and Jack, he also had a long package slung across his back, and wore the same uniform. he was peaceful and relaxed, but his pace was quite steady. on his left forearm, barely visible, was a hint of Green around his wrist, poking from the cuff of the sleeve.

Kumiko tilted her head as she watched Jack pull a sword out of a long box. She had seen him with it earlier but thought nothing of it. She sat up a little more and watched him relax himself. Was he really a swordsman? She leaned forward, resting her arms on her thighs.

She heard footsteps on the other side of the nearby wall and they faded. A few moments after she saw a young man. He too had a long package, this slung on his back, and wore the same uniform as Jack.

"I wonder what they are up to? Well whatever it is it should be fun to watch." She smiled slightly and leaned against the tree and in the shade. Kumiko faintly heard counting and looked to see Arata doing stretches. What was she going to do she wondered? There were definitely a lot of active people here. This made Kumiko think about taking up a sport or something. She laughed at herself. No no, she didn't have time for that.

eyes still closed, Jack tilted his head towards the newcomer. unsheathing the sword, he stepped back and bowed, the other person doing the same
"hello Brother, how's the day gone?" Jack said, opening his eyes and shifting his posture.
"quite fine brother, boring in fact." Hiru drew his sword, a much thinner katana. "learning Russian is boring, it was harder and funnier to learn Irish. "
"Ogram script was easy enough." Jack and Hiru are now circling each other slowly, suddenly Jack flicked his sword towards Hiru, the tip coming is a sharp arc towards Hiru's upper arm.
"but Ogram was interesting." Hiru's blade parried the longer heavier sword easily, responding with a long horizontal slash.
"aye, but Russian is a different alphabet regardless." stepping back the tip of Hiru's blade passed by harmlessly, swapping to a two handed grip, Jack responded with a sharp spin and left slash, his grip and motion revealing the flash of deep blue on his left forearm, usually hidden by his sleeves.
"but alphabets aren't hard, just boring." with a  grin, Hiru blocked the upper cut of the sword, stepping of the ground and sliding back from the force of the blow by a foot. the he did something tricky with his left leg and sent Jack crashing to the ground.
"And you buy lunch today." crouching, Hiru flashed a large grin.
"unfair motion, but I concede." laughing jack held out his left hand and hiru pulled him up, for a moment their forearms were visible. Jack had a blue Asian dragon design circled by the kanji for Brotherhood, while Hiru had a green Celtic knot with an ornate green western dragon on it. releasing hands, they gathered up the swords and began to clean them for a moment.

Kumiko didn't realize that she had gotten up while watching. She had never seen a real sword fight in real life. Just on the TV. It was so much more exciting than she anticipated. She thought that was totally cool. She picked up her stuff and went over to Jack and the other man. She quickly bowed and her eyes were wide with amazement.

"Jack-san that was an amazing battle! Both of you are very talented!" She blushes slightly. "Oh I hope I wasn't interrupting. I just had to say how amazing that was to watch."

She turned her head and watched someone run by incredibly fast. At least in her opinion. She took a step in the direction of the runner. It must have been Arata, because her bags were there but she wasn't. No one would just leave their bags around unless they were going to be back quick. "Woah... She's fast..."

turning, for a moment jack was off guard, he hadn't expecte-
"Why thank you for the compliments," Hiru was bowing in response to the girl,
"and no you weren't interrupting anything. its quite okay. I take it you're in Jacks class?"
Jack was still a bit off guard, usually no one commented on his sword fighting, his mouth opened or closed once or twice before settling into a bashful grin, just letting Hiru take the lead in the conversation. he noticed the girl run.
hmm, athletic? her name is... Arata? something like that? Got to remember that, since she's in my class. and Kumiko's a bit more bookish in general. hmm. weird balance.
he was about to introduce Kimiko to Hiru, but was again, cut off. Hiru taking the initiative with a bold smile and a calm expression.
"Oh, forgive my manners, I am McManus-Sakura Hiru, Jacks Brother." Hiru smiled kindly at the girl, "and you are...?"

"I'm Fujiwara Kumiko." She looked at both boys. Obviously they were related by marriage. She looked over at Arata when she came over.

"Hello Arata." Kumiko gives her a pleasant smile. "It is Arata yes? I don't want to mispronounce it or anything."

She fidgeted with her bag, hoping there wouldn't be a big lull in the conversation. She could fill it but she'd rather not. Her mother had taught her to keep up conversation in case she became a big company leader like her.

flawlessly, Hiru to shifted his attention from just Kumiko to include Arata as well.
"Hello Arata, I am Hiru. I must say you are quite fast on your feet." bowing slightly he acknowledged her. "pleasure to meet you too Kumiko, but I do believe that my brother here owes me lunch. Forgive me if we depart momentarily."
"Yes, yes, I do owe you lunch Hiru, but in 3 hours you owe me a rematch at the dojo." jack said with a wide smile.
"and I'll beat you then, but for now lunch!" winking at the girls and flashing a devastatingly joyful grin, Hiru was enjoying the taunting of his brother.

Hibiki sits on the school's roof, staring at the clouds. How he wished he could be here all day, with nothing to bother him. Sadly, it was a school, and lunch was ending soon. He looks down and sees some students and that new student teacher, Jack he thinks. Hibiki blushes when he sees Arata. He had a crush on her, and wanted to tell her, but he was too lazy. His friends, if he had any, would say he was shy. He shrugs and looks away. He continues his meal in silence.

Jack paused and looked at Hiro
"blade check?"
"sure" Hiro caught the hint of mischief in jacks eyes, and reflected it back.
Swapping swords and sheaths, both drew the blades and inspected the edges and hilts from the fight near the wall, then tossing them back to each other. however, the swords were clearly visible.

Jacks sword was a wide doubled edged bastard sword, almost 3 and a half feet long and made of a darkened steel, it had a leather and iron sheath that fit it snugly, with a line of Ogram script down the center of both sides that translated roughly read "blade of flickering light". across the blade were dozens of small scratches and nicks, proof that Jack sparred with it often. the edges however we're well maintained, and clean of marks. the hilt was a woven dark grey leather, with lines of dark green woven through it.

Hiru's blade was beautiful, a near perfect folded steel katana with a bluish tint to it, with a single long curved edge. its long arc was smooth, with an equal amount of scratch's and nicks on the face of the blade, it had the kanji for Moonlight Dancing Cherry Blossom (月光ダンス桜) engraved on the blade near the hilt, which as wrapped in dark blue leather. its sheath was a wood and enameled black and blue swirl, designed to be worn over the shoulder.

"Up close your swords are even more beautiful! They are unlike any others I've seen before." she looks back and forth between them. She was getting more and more drawn to these unique things. She just stood there, occasionally looking at other people that were outside, the blades, the two men, Arata. She was throwing out all of her mother's lessons on how to act in these situations. This wasn't a board room, this was school.

this time, jack spoke.
"Why, thank you. This-*holds up his bastard sword* is my blade, I call it flicker."
"and my katana is named Rose."
Hiru sheathed his katana, while at the same time jack sheathed his bastard sword, and something strange happened.
with the coordinated movement, both swords made different sounds but together, it formed a perfect low c sound.
"after all, its always nice when someone compliments something you've made."
"Braggart."

Kumiko laughed a little. These two were quite funny around each other. The sound the two blades made as they were sheathed caught her attention. She wasn't too musically inclined, but she did realize that it was indeed a note, and not some random noise that could pass for a note.

"Flicker and Rose... Those are really pretty names! They fit really nicely with the looks of your blades."

She looked down at her watch and realized that her lunch period would be over soon. She bowed to the boys and Arata.

"If you'll excuse me, I have to go take care of something before class starts again. It was an honor to meet you Hiru-san, and to learn more about you Jack-san!" She walked back to the school and went into the library to brush up on things for her next class.

(( Do you think we should do some sort of time-skip sometime? I mean they can't just chit-chat forever >w< ))

((I'm good with it.))

Hibiki stands up, coming to a desicion. e would tell her, no matter what appened. Even if a bus hit him and he could only say a few words before he died, those would be his words. He looks left then right. Where did THAT come from? He shrugs it off and runs down the stairs, hoping to catch her before the bell rang.

(sure)
"pleasure meeting you. now to lunch!"
"Kamiko, Arata. see you in a bit."
Jack and Hiru gathered their bags and headed off towards a nearby café, chatting about stuff in 3 different languages.

Kumiko searched the shelves for books on English, Chinese, Korean, and Arabic. Her mother insisted that she learn the languages of Japan's most valuable trade partners. But, in all honesty, she thought these were pretty interesting languages. English because Westerner culture is so interesting! Arabic because the letters look so pretty. Chinese because, well, it is one of the closest countries to Japan so why not? Korean she didn't really have any secondary reasons.

"Ugh... Why are these books so heavy?" Kumiko checks the books out and heads back to class.

(( Kumiko's time skip will be next ))