[Razahir Kōri]

845

Raze stood dumbfounded in front of a large pile of freshly washed clothes. Today he was ordered on laundry duty once again, but for the first time, he was supposed to fold and pack clothes instead of taking parts in the washing procedure. Not that he minded it, but soon the young boy was forced to face the fact that he had no idea how to fold clothes in the first place. Back then he never really had to do such a thing. His aunt never washed his clothes for him - well she rarely did any laundry, to begin with - and the clothes of Raze were only washed when the boy was playing around the lake with Marla. Even at those times, folding was something unknown to them as they just left their clothes scattered around on the riverbank so it could dry on the sun while they continued to play around...

A faint smile appeared on the face of Raze, but it quickly disappeared as the 13 years old reminded himself that daydreaming won't help him progress with today's task. First, he tried to do the good old "learn by trying" method, however, the boy failed miserably once, twice...and then numerous times. After that Raze tried to observe the others in the hope of producing better results. While his knowledge grew, somehow it seemed like that each person had their way of folding clothes plus as he could see, the different types of clothing had their way of folding. After observing for a bit Raze thought that he maybe got the nick of it and tried again. Now the clothes resembled some sort of package but in his view, they still looked pretty messy and disgusting compared to the clothes folded by the others. Slowly but steadily he started to get desperate.

As he glanced around, the boy couldn't see any familiar faces. He still didn't have anyone he could call a friend. However, somehow he became acquaintances with a fellow cadet. A loud, cheerful girl who never stopped teasing him, but as they stick together Raze learned a thing or two from her. However now she was on a different errand than him and no matter how much he looked around, Raze couldn't find her face. On the other hand, he was way too shy and proud to ask help from anyone else. Raze could already feel a few glances on him, and perhaps heard whispering as well. Several cadets already avoided him and he didn't want to fuel the rumors and such. The boy desperately wanted to show off that he can be just as good as them...he just needs a bit more time. Because of that, he started to become more frantic, his movements became more disorganized and harsher...thus he started to lost the few achievements he reached so far.

Even when no one laughed at him or whispered around him he could still hear they mockery and laughs despite it only being the part of his imagination. ~ Don't laugh at me! Don't whisper about me! I'm as good as all of you! I just...I just! - H gritted his teeth a bit as he tried again and again, his dark ringed golden-brown eyes fixated on the large pile of clothes in front of him. « Last Edit: December 01, 2019, 10:08:33 PM by Razahir Kōri »

[Mina Carolina]

Mina did not mind laundry duty. By the Walls...she had done enough of it at home.  So she was not terribly upset when she saw her name under Laundry on the duty roster. Mina had not been assigned to washing, but to folding. That was alright. It was better than cleaning the latrines.

Mina had to blink at the sheer amount of laundry piled up to be folded. Were there really that many cadets. Maybe they took care of other group's laundry as well...she knew there was a large barracks for Garrison members...or maybe high ranking officers had their laundry sent out. Well...it really did not matter where it was from or where it went. It just needed to be folded.

Mina began with a pile of pillowcases. Those were easy enough. Fold into neat squares and set off to the side.  Done and done. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a boy who seemed to be having a bit of a struggle. The larger sheets could be unwieldy and often took two people to fold. Mina took a moment to straighten her pile and then approached the boy. She was not sure of his name, but she had seen him around plenty.

"Here," Mina said as she lifted the corner of a sheet, "You take these two ends and stretch the sheet out. These need two people to fold." She waited for the boy to do so and then added, "Okay - now fold the corners together and walk towards me."

"Good job," Mina said as they folded the sheet, "Okay about fifty more to go."

[Razahir Kōri]

It wasn't the job itself that made Raze upset. He did way wors works than that for a few pieces of something one could barely call a bread, so folding laundry was like a promotion to him in terms of available tasks. What made him upset was his apparent stupidity and lack of skill. While most of the other cadets seemed to fine and progressed smoothly with the task, Raze on the other hand continued to struggle to make very little progress. He was also reluctant to ask for help from others as he didn't know anyone from the group.

By the time when Raze started to lose his cool while panicking he suddenly received unexpected help from another member of the group. Although they never talked before Raze was familiar with her. If he could remember correctly her name was Mina...or Caroline...nor Mina Caroline was her full name...it took him a few seconds until he concluded her name. Raze was pretty dumbfounded at the unexpected development and for a few minutes, he blindly followed the instructions of the other cadet without any questions or objections.

"Thank you!" He said while his cheeks started to redden. "I'm not good at stuff like this..." The boy said instead of -I never had the chance to do that before so I didn't have the slightest idea how am I was supposed to do this. - just to be safe and avoid unnecessary questions. "Really...I owe you one. I'm not the type to ask for help so likely I would be here even tomorrow if you wouldn't help me out..." He added with a gentle voice as he tried to hide his embarrassment.

[Mina Carolina]

"Thank you!" He said while his cheeks started to redden. "I'm not good at stuff like this..."

Mina gave a little shrug as she picked up another sheet for them to fold, "That's alright. I have...a pretty big family so I've folded lots and lots of sheets." Mina's mind wandered back home and she wondered who was in charge of laundry now. Probably Asher and Corbin. They had always been her little helpers with the laundry and it just made sense they would take over.

"Really...I owe you one. I'm not the type to ask for help so likely I would be here even tomorrow if you wouldn't help me out..."

Shaking her head, Mina returned softly, "Someone else would have helped you. Or you would have figured it out." Mina had learned to fold sheets at about four years old. She took for granted that not everyone had parents who would take the time to teach them skills like laundry.

She looked at the boy and after a moment said, "I'm Mina. I'm sorry but I don't know your name." Mina gave an apologetic smile as she handed the boy the end of yet another sheet. This was their third.

Mina was one to try and make conversation. "How do you find training so far?" Mina asked the boy. "I think it's....a lot different than home for sure. Where are you from?"

[Razahir Kōri]

"Ahhhh I see. That explains it then." The young cadet nodded as the girl spoke. Raze wondered what it felt like...having a big family...no to be more specific, a family that loves you. Sometimes the boy wanted to believe that the army will be his new family, but even so...Raze barely knew anyone aside from Hitch. Building a "family" or simply just making friends won't be easy to accomplish if he stays the way he is now.

"You think so?" Raze asked with a sour smile. Most of the other cadets avoided him like fire. After all, he looked gloomy and somewhat sick plus him coming from Shinganshina wasn't a good introduction either. A lot of people wanted to avoid the topic Shiganshina - not that he was one who wanted to talk about it - therefore they avoided people from Shinganshina too. "I guess you are right. Even so...thanks...once again."

Raze returned the smile and then shook his head. "Don't worry about it." The boy said with a gentle smile. "My name is Razahir, but feel free to call me Raze. Most people do that." His tone was gentle, one could hardly guess the happenings in his past. The mask of "Raze" seemed to work perfectly.

"It's good. I like it there. I have food to eat and I have a roof over my head. The people here...don't hurt me. I like this place." The young cadet replied. There was a bit of a sheepish smile on his face, he may look like someone who would need a good portion of sleep. His speeching pattern wasn't incoherent or messy, but one could easily sense the tiredness in his voice. Raze was smiling but the next moment all the color left his face, a sour expression appeared. "Siganshina." He replied, but soon he managed to get a hold of himself. "How about you Mina? Where are you from?" He asked, forcing a smile on his face. « Last Edit: February 09, 2020, 08:24:19 PM by Razahir Kōri »

[Mina Carolina]

"You think so? I guess you are right. Even so...thanks...once again."

Mina nodded, "I do think so." In her life, Mina had almost always received help when she needed it. Whether it was from her parents, siblings, other family members, or friends - Mina had never really felt alone. It was just beginning to dawn on her that maybe it was not the same for everyone.

"My name is Razahir, but feel free to call me Raze. Most people do that."

"Well that is a very interesting name. I've never heard it before. And I'll call you Raze," Mina said as she picked up yet another sheet and handed an end to Raze. Only oh...about sixty or so to go. The other cadets assigned to folding were busy with pillowcases and towels. Looked like they were happy to let Mina and Raze deal with the sheets.

"It's good. I like it there. I have food to eat and I have a roof over my head. The people here...don't hurt me. I like this place."

Oh...wow. Okay...that was an unexpected answer. While not the most clever girl around...Mina could put two and two together. If people did not hurt the boy here...did that mean they hurt him where he was from? The tone in which Raze said Siganshina was enough to let Mina know she should not take this conversation any further. Instead, she just said, "I'm glad you're doing well here."

"How about you Mina? Where are you from?"

"I'm from Jinae," Mina answered. "My family lives on the outskirts and we have a little farm. It's not much...but it has a few pigs, chickens. Things like that." She did not dare ask about what his home was like.

"So you think the food is good? So far, my favorite has been the chicken pot pie. What's yours?" She wanted to make more conversation with Raze - but not push too hard.

[Razahir Kōri]

Raze could only smile at her reply. She seemed to be a gentle person, the type of person who Raze rarely met up until now. Looking up close at her, she was really pretty, and her cheerful blue eyes and her kind expression somehow emphasized the gentleness she showed to Raze. It was nice to receive help...somehow it made Raze feel a lot better...making him feel a bit at ease would be a better way to say it. Not the feeling of "having a family" yet, but certainly not a bad start either.

"Yes. Not an everyday name. It's from some old tale." The boy nodded with a smile. That was true. After all, he took it from some old tale, he heard a long time ago on the streets. Razahir was supposed to be some kind of folk hero in the tale. Raze couldn't even really remember the tale at all, but the name somehow stuck in his mind. When he decided to throw away his old-self the boy took on this name instead. "Sure. Please do so." Raze once again nodded and offered a gentle smile for Mina.

Thinking back again h just realized how careless he was. He let himself get too relaxed around her and his thoughts slipped through his lips without him realizing what he is saying. The realization caused him to blush immediately, which at least made the color to return to his face, but now he felt somehow awkward, unable to carry on with the conversation. However Mina managed to break the ice, and with that, the awkward aura making Raze able to utter the simple question "How about you Mina? Where are you from?".

"Really? That sounds wonderful. I mean...you can live amongst animals and all, plus the fresh air...Jinae must be a lovely place." The smile that crept on the face of Raze was a weak one, but an honest it was easy to see. In his mind there was the stereotypical picture of a farm, with all kinds of animals around it accompanied by the image of green meadows, blue sky, the bright sun, and all the other stuff, a kid would think about if he/she hears the word "farm".

"Hmmm...Well basically I'm fine with anything edible, but..." For a few seconds, Raze is dep in thought before he finally gives his response. "I think it's the stew...When it has meat in it too." His reply is completed with a small chuckle before his gaze returns to Mina. "However the chicken pot pie is great too." The boy offers the girl another smile.