Mysterious Findings [OPEN]

(This occurs after about a week of Mari being at Tachibana Academy)

Tachibana Academy was nothing short of amazing to Mari. The gardens were beautiful, classrooms were spotless as well as the hallways and bathrooms, and the cafeteria always served good food. Being at Tachibana Academy was probably the best thing that had happened to Mari in her whole life. She still hadn't explored the entire facility yet!
Todays weather had decided to let much rain as possible fall. And as much as Mari wanted to take an umbrella and go walking, she knew that the rain coupled with her poor navigation skills would lead to extreme disaster. So she decided to go somewhere where she could relax and listen to the drops of water fall to the ground.
Instantly, Mari knew the library would be the perfect place! It was another opportunity to map out the school, since she hadn't been there yet. But more importantly, Mari could stock up on books to read during her free time.
As she entered, Mari was greeted by a friendly librarian. Of course, all she did was nod and smile in response. The books on each bookshelf seemed to be never-ending. How was Mari supposed to choose only a few? She looked up toward the ceiling and realized that the shelves were holding labels on their ends. Mari wondered toward the shelf that read "fantasy". As she glanced at each book around her, Mari noticed one in particular that looked interesting. She pulled it out with care and opened up its dusty cover gently.

Mari felt as if the book was calling to her, begging for her to read it over and over again. She was so caught up in the mysteriousness of the book that she didn't notice the tap on her shoulder...

Shane had found Tachibana interesting, to say the very least, with him constantly finding new places to check out or examine. There was also the fact it was the most expensive school he had ever gone to and easily the best facilities. Cool pool, gigantic library, kind staff, a whole new audience to make laughter with, and plenty of reading spots he couldn't ask for much more
Today though was different for him, he blamed it on the weather messing with him, as he left his room without a single book for pleasure reading in his bag. As a result he ended up in the library searching for a book. Soon he grabbed an Irish tale about a child genius, a story he read a while ago with his sister. He actually had to shake off the memory before going to a table and diving into said book. Barely an hours had passed before he was going up for another book, though he now noticed there was another occupant besides him and the librarian.
"Uh excuse me, sorry mind moving a little, just wanna put this book back?" Shane asked quietly after tapping her shoulder gently, he didn't want to spook her knowing some of the conditions people had here and how badly that could go.

Mari flinched slightly as someone began to talk to her; she had been focused solely on the book in her hands. Mari looked up to see a boy with red hair and a build similar to hers. Skinny. They also shared extremely pale shade of skin.
Maybe that was a thing at Tachibana? Students not only feeling of poor health, but looking like it too. Although, Mari knew that couldn't possibly be true. She knew Jimmy was the exact opposite of the stereotype she had just thought up. He may only be one person, but if there was at least one, there should be more.
Once Mari realized what the student asked her to do, she felt a little embarrassed for starring at him while doing her little inner debate. Mari nodded quickly and moved out of his way.
"S-sorry.."
She walked toward the closest chair and sat down, still feeling a little flustered.

"Oh uh no prob"
Shane said in a bit of mindless response. He had been slightly nervous and almost blushing when she had both flinched and stared at him until she apologized and went to a chair. He glanced over before replaced the book in his hand with it's sequel and went to sit across from her.
"Sorry for spooking you by the way, didn't mean to."
He glanced at the book she had taken, more than slightly curious.
"Is that a favorite of yours?"

Mari watched as the boy sat down in the chair across from her. She quickly looked down at her book to avoid eye contact, though. Mari had originally wanted to read by herself, but decided that this was significantly better. She wanted to crush the loneliness that was created at her former home. It was easy to become friends with Jordan, because Mari could get her feelings across over paper and pen, not words. Conversations made Mari beyond nervous; even though she loved being spoken to, she didn't like having to return the favor.
"Sorry for spooking you by the way, didn't mean to."
Mari shook her head (probably a little more than she needed to), still starring at the book.
"I get.. scared.. easily."
Mari had developed not only her disorder, but a fear of most things, while at her own home. She understood that being timid was something that couldn't be changed, but it still bothered her. Mari didn't want anyone to think she was scared of them. And by how friendly this student (and others she had met at Tachibana) seemed to be, she knew there was nothing to be afraid of. Mari flipped through a few pages of the book, until she heard the boy speak again.

"Is that a favorite of yours?" Mari shook her head again.
"I found it... I felt like.. It was c-calling out."

Suddenly, Mari remembered why she had come to the library in the first place. She looked around curiously until she realized there was a window directly behind her. Mari opened the window slightly, just enough so the sound would get in and the rain would stay out. She breathed in the fresh air before sitting back down and smiling at the student.
"I like... the, uh, noise."

Shane had let out a light breath and smiled easier as she spoke, feeling a bit more comfortable with each of her replies. It was obvious she was nervous, but she was trying to be social and he could relate to that one. He thought about his sister would react to her before Mari's response knocked him out of his thoughts.
"I know that feeling, though usually more than one calls so I've just pick up a tower of books."
He chuckled lightly though stopped, curious where she was going before another smile, one more relaxed, appeared on his face.
"Rain's always has nice sound, I personally prefer rain drops over bass drops"
He snickered at his little joke, but was interested in her reaction.

Mari didn't know exactly how to react to the students remark. He seemed to think it was funny, but Mari didn't really get it. She thought it would probably be best if she let out a small laugh. But wouldn't that be dishonest? If she didn't understand, maybe she should tell him.

"I'm sorry.. B-but what is... a 'bass'?"

There must be so many things that Mari had never learned about the world. She had lived in a small town, and was locked in her room for most of her life. Mari felt embarrassed for being so naïve. She felt her face get warmer as she started to rub the pages of the book with two of her fingers.
It was a sad wake up call; remembering how she didn't really fit in anywhere at all. But she could learn.. Couldn't she?
"I.. um.. sorry."

Shane's face had fallen slightly at this unexpected reaction, second time in a row he had failed with a joke...maybe it was the library and it was cursed...or something. Once more he had to shake himself out of his thoughts, noticing how she was becoming nervous again and even apologized. He had beamed a big smile at her before begining his explanation.
"Hey it's alright, bass drop is like...huh it's usually in music where it starts slow or light then suddenly goes boom if that makes sense...guess I really don't know it that well either uh hrm..."
Shane rubbed the back of his head awkwardly as a realization hit him
"Well this is rude of me, I didn't ask your name...ooooooor tell you mine I'm Shane, Shane Mcloud it's nice to meet ya."

Mari felt happy with this change of events, she thought he would've gotten more upset about her not understanding the joke. Mari smiled as he explained and let out a small laugh when she finally understood the joke.

"Oh.. rain w-would seem to be.. better than loud noises..!"

Mari had only listened to music once or twice, and that was at school. She didn't remember a lot from school either, let alone the tiny details. But Mari was still overjoyed that the student explained his joke without being offended.
Mari smiled and nodded when Shane introduced himself.

"I am.. Mari. Mari Dawn.."

Somehow, she was still able to keep talking. Being at Tachibana Academy seemed to change a lot of things about Mari. She still had her disability and all of her fears, but she was getting stronger everyday.

Shane's grin had widened at her laughter, no sound better in his opinion, made life worth living.
"Well Mari it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance"
He had glanced up in thought, wondering what other joke she would like.
"Alright I got another, knock knock."

Mari had heard this type of joke a few times in school. She had forgotten a lot from that period of time, but all of the fun she shared with her old classmates (before everything went bad) stayed in her memory. She wasn't exactly sure how the joke continued, but she had a pretty good guess..

"W-who's there?"

"Dishes"

Shane was slightly eager to tell a personal classic, albeit really stupid, joke.

Mari was very eager to see where Shane's joke was going. She barely let a second pass before she replied. After all, no one had paid this much attention to Mari in a long time. She had met a decent amount of people at Tachibana who she liked a lot, but Shane seemed to be focused solely on this concersation rather than something else.

"Dishes who?"

Shane look down trodden for a moment as he answered
"Sorry...dish is a bad joke"
His face lit up into a smile at the punchline and he let out a plethora of snickers at the punchline. Normally it wasn't close to that funny to him, but having a single audience member who seemed interested made it so much better.

Mari's eyes were glued to Shane as he said the punchline of his joke. She giggled at the joke once she realized that she could actually understand it. This made Mari much happier than before. She didn't have to ask what he meant or be confused and left wondering.

"I-it wasn't that bad.." Mari giggled again as she replied to Shane's joke.

To Mari, laughing was a refreshing feeling. She hadn't been able to do it in such a long time. All of the worries that tortured her didn't allow for it. Of course, Mari loves happiness and all things that go with it. But she could never manage "being happy" in her old life. It was simply an unreachable dream. But now, it was more than just possible. It was inevitable.

"Can.. you t-tell another one?"

Shane smiled hearing her laughter, he loved hearing and being the cause of it. He could even tell she needed it, the relief he saw with her was one he knew personally from the mirrors during his stay at the hospital, one he was more than happy to provide.
"Sure, gladly...hmmm...alright well you see it's hard to think of one cause I still miss my exe...but at least my aims getting better."
He said the punchline with a quick finger snap to finger guns. The added bit either made them laugh more, face palm, or hit him, it was one of the risks of being a dorky comedian.

Mari listened closely as Shane began his next joke. She wanted to get a book when she had first arrived, but laughing out her pain was better. Once Shane started his joke, Mari felt sad. He said he missed his ex. Those few words quickly made her feel bad for Shane. She was about to say "sorry", but was interrupted by him speaking again.

"But my aims getting better."

Mari didn't exactly know what the joke meant at first. But then she realized Shane was referring to shooting someone. Mari didn't say anything. She didn't want to tell him that his joke was mean, or pretend she didn't understand instead. But Mari also felt like staying silent was a rude thing to do. So she finally decided to confront him.

"I.. I don't l-like that one.. It's mean.."  

Shane had raised an raised eyebrow, actually confused for a second to how she got that before mouthing the joke to himself and quickly shaking his head and hands.

"S-sorry I didn't mean it like that, I always thought it meant a target like a bullseye."

Shane rubbed the back of his head, rather nervous because of his screw up. He thought about how pissed his sister would've been at the reaction he caused. That was one joke to be sorted into the mean pile, he thought to himself. He calmed down a little after a few moments in his head, still slightly red in the face from embarrassment.

"I'm uh  really sorry if that one upset you, mind me telling another? Like um what can you wrap around cloud?"

Shane was obviously flustered by Mari's response to his cruel joke. She was slightly happy that he had admitted his mistake, but she didn't really want him to be that upset about it. But jokes seemed to be Shane's "thing". The reason he continued living, why he was happy with his current life.

Mari wondered what her "thing" was. Making people happy? Reading? She wasn't completely sure.. Maybe while she was here, she could find that out.

Mari watched as Shane's nervousness took him over. She also felt happy that he became nervous from his mistakes. Mari had made a mistake earlier and felt almost pleased that she wasn't the only one getting nervous in their conversation. Mari smiled as Shane's face grew red.

Just then, Shane asked Mari if she wanted to hear another joke. Of course she did! Mari enjoyed laughing. Although, it did make her a bit embarrassed to disrupt the few other people who walked into the library. But laughing wasn't really talking. This was also the case with smiling for Mari. But she didn't like crying.

"U-um.. I don't know.. w-what?"

Shane had kept a closer eye on her reaction and she didn't seem upset over the mean joke anymore, in fact she seemed amused if her smile was any indication. He actually grinned, even when nervous Shane could make people smile. He stopped the mental praise quickly though when he heard her respond.

"you use a rainbow"

He added a little loop de loop gesture with his index to the punchline before laughing. He was relaxed and comfortable again from his mean joke and glanced at the window behind her. Watching and hearing the rain hit the glass made his thoughts momentarily turn away from joking as he thought aloud with a small smile.

"Wonder if we'll get to see one of those after the rain."

He looked back at her with a slightly more humorous, but still serene, smile as a new image popped into his head.

"Wouldn't that be something, a lone cloud floating through the sky with a multitude of colors as it's wrapping...be like a gift from the sky."

Mari smiled as Shane's joke came to an end. She had never seen a rainbow before. And by the way he was talking about it, it must be a magical experience. Mari looked out the window with Shane, she wondered how often it would rain here in Toronto. Hopefully it would a lot, but Mari wouldn't look forward to the thunder and lightning that went along with some rainstorms. She felt thankful that today's rain was somewhat calm.

Mari breathed in the fresh air and shut her eyes. The quietness of the library definitely fit the calmness of the rain today. Mari also thought Shane seemed a bit out of place, making jokes and laughing in the presence of peaceful nature.

"I've.. never seen a r-rainbow.. So I hope so."

Shane had taken this bit of lacking knowledge better than the first time, he didn't know where she was from and he knew rainbows were much more common at his old home then other places.

"You'd like em I bet, course the little guys at the end who protect their gold are slightly annoying"

He chuckled quietly this time, noting one or two glares shot his way for disturbing the other patrons. He wouldn't deny being an annoying odd ball, he just had a knack and slight need for finding laughter everywhere.

Mari imagined how thrilling it would be to see a rainbow in real life. The vibrant colors and message of hope always made Mari feel like she could do anything! But this was only because of the realistic drawings from a select few books she had read. So Mari knew that it would be an even more amazing experience in real life. If it did happen, of course..

Mari smiled at Shane's comment about leprechauns. But she was curious as to if he was lying about them or not. From the way he spoke, it sounded like he had actually seen them before. But Mari thought they were just made up creatures, like Santa or the Easter bunny.

Before Mari could say anything, though, a few students turned and silently scolded Shane for talking and laughing so loudly. Mari felt bad for disrupting the free time of others. She started to rub the corner of her book again, while dropping her head to stare at it. Mari didn't think Shane was at fault for anything that rude, but she still felt a little embarrassed for being the person he was speaking to.

Suddenly, the wind picked up and blew drops of rain into the window. Mari let out a small smiled as the droplets of rain touched her hair.

Shane had a wide grin as she became excited, he was really enjoying seeing that sort of child like wonder til he saw he rub her book again. He recognized that she'd done it once before and wondered why. Then he remembered the glares shot his way and it clicked, along with a slightly hard look on his face, he didn't mind them glaring at him but upsetting Mari did make him a little mad. Though it quickly dissipated as he figured getting angry would only make her more upset, plus the image of himself waving his 'leg' in the air like sword made him grin. After escaping his more than silly daydream he noticed the rain and wind had picked up and decided to land on her. She really did like the rain if her sudden smile said anything, and like said smile an idea appeared in shane's head.

"I uh don't think my brand of 'comedy is uh being appreciated here, sooo if you're not doing anything today besides reading, wanna come with me to get something to drink or eat in town?..if you don't mind of course."

He figured he should get out before he caused a scene, but he still wanted her company. A good listener was hard to come by, and especially one who enjoyed his jokes.

Mari's eyes widened as she heard Shane's request. First Jimmy, then Jordan, and then now Shane! She was making all sorts of friends at Tachibana. Well, assuming that Shane's asking her to go somewhere was to spend time with her and not to prank her or something. But from how Shane had acted around her during their conversation, she obviously knew he was a kind hearted person.

But Mari didn't like to be the center of attention.. She hated being asked questions that she couldn't answer. But from being at her new school, she could tell that most of the people respected privacy. No one had asked her why she was here. But it wasn't as if that specific question would make her uncomfortable. Mari still didn't quite understand herself, so she didn't really care about telling others. But her eye patch and why she didn't like to talk were different stories.

Mari sat in silence for a while, thinking about what she should say. She really did want to go.. But she felt as if she were forcing herself into a stressful situation. But.. Shane had been very respectful of her talking habits thus far. Mari decided to take a chance. For friendship! But she couldn't shake the nervousness out of herself as she replied to Shane's request.

"I'm n-not doing.. anything. S-Sure!"