Well, let's see if there's anybody around first.

As the hooded and comfy Lexi settles into her seat beside you, you stretch out your legs a bit and gently swing them in the air. You want to get comfy too, so you play around with that same lever until you get your seat's lean just right. Then, patting away at your lap, you look around at the students directly by you.

You don't recognise any of the ones at the back of the bus' five seats -- you think they're all second years.{if ArenaView>0} You feel an anger building up in you for some reason, though..... Wait! That guy, the guy on the far left! He's the guy that lost to Gold Rush in the Arena! W-well, at least, he was losing before.... anyway, screw that guy!{endif}

The aisle's a bit too long to talk to anybody across from you, but you don't recognise them anyway. It's looking like you might just have to look at the scenery for this trip, when you lean forward in your seat to peer over at whoever's sitting in front of you. You're short, and you have your seatbelt on (of course), so you just barely get high enough to where your nose rests on the top of the seats in front of you as you peer over. Oh, look!

"Hello!" You shout loudly, startling Miranda, who's sitting directly in front of you. Her bag sits on the seat next to her.

She jumps in place and spins around, looking terrified and confused as she sees you doing your best Kilroy impression on her seat.

"Debbie??" She asks, shocked. "O-oh. Hi, Debbie, what- hello."

"Lexi is sleeping!" You shout again, because you're worried that your mouth being covered might mean it's hard for Miranda to hear you. It isn't. "Want to chat?!"

Miranda stares at you. She opens her mouth to say something, then closes it again. She looks over at her backpack, then back up to you, and opens her mouth again.

"About what?"

It's a good question. You adjust yourself back into your chair, so that you're not forcing yourself as far forward as you can go and so that you don't need to keep shouting (Lexi's trying to sleep, after all).

"What do you want to chat about?" You ask, now leaning your head against the window and looking forward. Miranda's doing the same, but looking backwards, so you two can see each other through the gap between the seats and the window.

"U-ummm.... I'm not sure." She stammers. "Do you- do you like- do you like weapon design?"

"Maybe!" You smile. "Tell me about it!"

Miranda's face goes a bit pink, but she goes on to explain a bunch of the stuff that goes into designing or modifying a weapon, and all of the things people barely ever think about trying that she's drawn up designs for. Stuff like a spear that can also inject a portion of toxins stored in its shaft, and an electrified waterhose which acts sort of like a flamethrower, but works in more conditions and is easier to refuel. She's not the best speaker, and sometimes she has a hard time finding the words to explain exactly what she already understands, but it's good fun to listen to! Occasionally you interject with little questions, which she answers. It's a good time hearing her speak, but also by the end of it you've not really taken much of it in and you wouldn't be able to reexplain it at all.

"So, how come you're even at this school then?" You ask. "You said something about not being able to test certain stuff anywhere else, but things like weapons and tools and stuff seems like it'd be great for you!"

Miranda pinkens again, and her eyes go down to the sealing rubber that joins the bus' pane to its wall.

"I just....." There's a long pause. "It's only to make the chemical weapons, really. I-I'm good at that stuff too, s-so....."

"But you hate all the other stuff here, don't you? Like Combat Class. You're really good at this other stuff too, and you look like talking about it makes you just as happy, so how come you chose to come here where there's also bits you don't like?"

"Well......"

She pauses, and her face fixes into an expression of focus, seeming to think over her next words very carefully.

"I just..... it's important to me, that's all. Being a Warrior, I mean. I'd rather...." She bites her bottom lip. "I'd rather do this. I-if that's okay."

It feels like she's leaving stuff out here, but that's okay, because you still haven't told anybody about not being able to ride a bike until you were fourteen, so it's even footing here. In the time you two've been chatting, the bus has fully left the grassy green areas that surround the distant Coinpilfer University and made its way into the outer edge of Kokkinport city.

Miranda turns away from you to peer out the window, lifting one hand to her neck as she rolls her head around. It's a pretty stiff position she's been in this whole time, looking backwards at you like that, but she didn't move out of it until now for some reason. Still, it was a really fun chat!

Miranda reaches a hand to the seat next to her and grabs onto one strap of her backpack as she looks out of the window.

"I'll be, um, getting off the bus soon. We're nearly to West Kokkinport, a-and that's where I get off, but thank you for talking to me. M-maybe, if you'd like, we can talk about something else next time, like history or chemistry, or.... y-you know, we could talk about you a bit. If you wanted."

"Sure!" You smile. "It was a lot of fun talking to you, thanks!"

Miranda's smile settles a bit and gets less shaky, and she gives you a single firm nod, before moving to unbuckle her seatbelt and tug her bag onto her back. The bus comes to a stop, so Miranda stands up (ducking a bit to not bump her head on the low roof) and shifts the backpack into a more comfy position. She looks down at you, seeming both happy and relieved, a hand on each shoulder strap.

"T-tell Lexi I said goodbye too. Have a- have a nice weekend."

You give her a happy wave, and she steps out and into the bus' aisle to walk out and into the stop. A short time later, when everybody getting off at West Kokkinport's left, the bus pulls away from the pavement to continue driving along its route.

That was nice! Miranda seems pretty fun to hang around, actually. You should see about maybe doing it a bit more.