Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma Mall | Sunday, April 19 2015

Both Keiko and Utaha seemed equally surprised to see each other - a brief relief came over Kotori; by the looks of it, she wasn't interrupting them. At Keiko's question whether they were here for shopping purposes, Kotori nodded before glancing back to the bags she'd placed beside the bench. Judging by Utaha's words and actions, she was quite happy to see the two of them - only to reprimand Kotori for calling her 'Kashiwagi-senpai'. Yet before she could even apologise, both Keiko and Kotori were drawn into a sudden hug by Utaha. Most certainly not used to such treatment, a stammered "Eh, wha-wha-" was all Kotori could bring forth in surprise.

Utaha meanwhile switched from hugs and smiles into a disappointed tone as she then spoke - only to spring right back up as she realised that she still had shopping to do, answering Keiko's question from before, and that she didn't necessarily have to do it alone; instead asking both Keiko and Kotori if they'd accompany her and perhaps even thereafter. Upon hearing that, Kotori looked at her watch - she did indeed still have some time and hadn't been sure what to do with it. Furthermore, Utaha was asking them for their help - so whilst she'd have to head home herself in a while, she could at least lend some assistance for the time being. Nodding in affirmation, Kotori looked over to Keiko to see what she'd do - at least until a sudden cry drew her attention away.

A worried expression came across Kotori's face as she saw Utaha laying face down and outstretched on the ground. "Are you alright? Is everything okay?" she asked as she quickly kneeled down beside her, her voice, though still quiet, clearly carrying much of the same worry that could be seen in her eyes.

Noboru sat down to rest in the grassy hill. Looking up into the town, Noboru remarked.

So that's a city? More like shitty. Oh wait. That's a village. Dammit. I'm not taking my pun back. And you can try to put me under arrest, but i'm already taking one. Hee hee. Oh well.

Noboru stood up and pointed as a general would.

Onwards fearless leader! Lead us to victory! just don't drag us down. Ya get it? Because lead is heavy? Eh? Eh? Oh nevermind. My jokes are off today. Let's just head in shall we? Onwards and to glory!

"... Okay let's move on", Rui stared blankly at Noboru during his commentary, but none were on point so he decided to ignore those. Kami also agreed to keep moving, they'd already rested up a bit, and it looked like they were almost to the end.

As the party advanced as they had agreed, as they approached the village, it was basically a picture perfect scenery... Peaceful, unsettlingly so. The fields looked ripe, the houses and facilities had a quaint and country feel to them, but the shadowing figures that worked these places looked incredibly depressing... Like they didn't want to work, but kept doing so, like a cog in a machine. There was nothing 'odd' about this place beyond that... In fact this village looked like a nice place to stay. These shadowy figures were confirmed though to be Shadows by Megumi not long after entry... There was no attack, nothing. No Shadows attacked them.

"This is... Strange... Those are all Shadows, but they aren't attacking you? I feel a strong presence in the building at the far end though, so stay on your toes", she warned.

As they moved through the town, or village, the submissive looking shadows, taking a human and plain form, approached the party, handing them a flier. Rui accepted one, and looked at it...

"Behold the magnificent Me! Matthew! It's fifty thousand fee to even look at me. Fifty thousand what? Whatever the hell I want!"

"... Obnoxious", was all he had in response to this flier... He looked to the other two as they stood at the doors of the large building. It appeared to be something like a town center. They could hear voices from beyond the doors... It sounded like Matthew.

Alexei Dragunov

He stretched his arms out in front to grab the bags from the young lady as she agreed to his help, forgiving during the course that he had forgotten to introduce himself properly. AS she fumbled an intent to know his name. He bowed deeper to show his mistake and said,

"Pardon my rudeness, miss. I'm Alexei Dragunov. Elder brother of Elena."

Waiting for her reply as he kept following her to a seat where he could drop the bags and let her sort herself out. He felt that he needed a better introduction so he added as they began walking again.

"Though I'm still in high school but I also work her part-time. Should you ever need any help regarding repairs or other handyman jobs, be sure to give me call. I'll put my card in the bag once we grab a seat. Do you need something to drink or are you alright after that mixup?"

He asked curiously, her hair covered most of her face so it was hard to discern her expressions and he also didn't want to be seen as a leering man. It would be easy to get on the wrong side seeing he was a foreigner among mostly Japanese folks.

Already slightly irritated at the fact that he ran into someone compounded with the fact that the boy was returning his smart ass attitude Ito stood back up brushing the dirt off of his grey cardigan pushing his glasses back onto his face. As the boy introduced himself as Sigehardt Kasumi and the girl who's name he hadn't really heard as sisters Ito raised one eyebrow in a sense of judgmental curiosity, clearly he had missed something that happened between the two and was in the middle of an inside joke.

"Hey...how you self-identify is really none of my business, but I hear that some of that comes from some deep seeded emotional issues that you really need to work through.

Feeling like he had sufficiently dealt with the irritating "shark guy" Ito turned his attention to the girl to get her opinion in this entire interaction.

"So, what's your name again? I didn't hear it the first time over the sounds of overwhelming childishness."

‘Arg’ Matt woke up on the ground with a headache, he remembered walking to the doctors but the rest was blank. Looking around he found himself in some sort of small town hall open room.. with a throne? Matt had no idea of where he was, but before he could get up to walk around a voice boomed out from ahead.
“Bow, for the great Matthew is here” a voice identical to Matt’s but much more obnoxious resounded in the room before the owner stepped down from where the throne was into Matt’s vision. He looked identical to Matt except for his yellow eyes and…. unique getup.
He wore a cloak fit for a king over casual clothes and wore a farmers straw hat with a crown on it, he was also holding a sickle. The fake Matt looked like some missfit farmer who tried to dress like a king.

Dumbfoundedly looking at the person in front of him Matt sat up.
“who the hell are you supposed to be?” was the first thing that came from his mouth.
“who am I? I am the magnificent Matthew Harvester, one who fools all into liking him, the superior of all the worthless fools” The fake Matt introduced himself as Matt.
What the hell was going on? was it some strange dream? no the headache was real enough.

“What the hell? I am Matthew.” Matt protested to the fake.
“yes I, you, we are the same, the one who acts the fool to draw people in before snaring them into doing what we want, we tie others down to stick by us and we remind them how superior our intellect is to theirs.”

This man was a fool, a foolish king, a tyrant of a fool. The things he said made no sense… forcing others to follow him? he would never do such things…

“oh how rude of me it seems we have guests. Welcome Peasants to my kingdom. Bow before me and bask in my greatness.” the fools king directed his attention to the now open door. It seems neither Matt had notice it open.

-Sunday 19th April 2015-

Leiko Hamada: Warakuma Mall

Sieghardt appeared to agree with Leiko's sentiments, just in the way that she expected he would, but their shared interest in the arts would meet an unexpected factor when a dark haired male knocked right into Sieghardt, causing them both to tumble to the ground with little grace. Leiko stepped back in surprise, nearly dropping her basket of crafting materials as she watched the scene unfold before her.

The dark haired stranger was the first to speak as he rose from the ground, crinkling his nose in some disdainful manner as he made some snide comment on Sieghardt's clothing. The fact that the boy had not only rudely interrupted their conversation, but had followed through with an insult was not lost on Leiko, and a shadow of disdain crossed her features as Kasumi decided to retort. If anything, his response was just as exasperating as the other boy's, and Leiko considered for a moment whether she could slip away and let the two males have it out.

Of course, nothing was that easy, as Kasumi roped her into the conversation with a cheeky grin before announcing the two of them as 'sisters'. Unfortunately, it appeared the sibling inside joke was going to stick for longer than she cared for, and it was all Leiko could do not to groan aloud.

The bespectacled male made some kind of snappy comeback in retort to Kasumi's words, before focusing his attentions on Leiko herself, choosing to inquire her about her name, although in a slightly less caustic manner.

Leiko looked over at the boy directly as he asked his question, her expression unflinching with a curve of a frown on her lips. "Leiko Hamada. Kasumi and I are clubmates. And I find that knocking people over and choosing to insult them with no good reason to be very bad etiquette," she said smoothly, not an ounce of intimidation in her words as she stared at the stranger. "Now, if you have any purpose here besides being a disruption, I would love to hear it, Mr...?"

---

Saya Ueno: Warakuma Mall

Rokoru's answer was a bit more basic than Saya had hoped, as he murmured vaguely about how he went running on occassion whilst he thumbed through the clothes rack. She wondered for a moment whether her senior was considering trying on any of the shirts, his words fading into static in her ears as her expression became slightly unfocused.

"You like it? Rock?"

"Hmm?" Saya blinked as she was suddenly drawn back from her own thoughts, aware that Rokoru was a little bit closer than he was before. "R-Rock? Umm, like rock music?" If it hadn't been clear that Saya wasn't exactly paying attention, it certainly was now as she looked up at the older male with a slightly embarrassed grin. "Umm, it's OK, I guess? As long as it has a good beat. I don't really like the ones where they scream a lot, you know?"

She brushed her fringe out of her eyes as she spoke, suddenly feeling a lot smaller compared to someone like Rokoru. Was this working out? Did they even have anything in common at all? The possibility of becoming a drag on Rokoru's time was almost too much to think about, and she beat down the uneasy thoughts with an unrelenting determination as she walked over to where the sale on spring dresses were being held. Expectedly most, if not all girls and women were at the mall today, considering the up and coming Golden Week that hung over the horizon. For Saya, her wardrobe was far to outdated to be considered acceptable, so the event was a good an excuse as any to work on a new look.

After looping a couple of colourful and cute dresses over her arm, Saya walked over to where Rokoru stood and opened her mouth to ask him a question that quickly died on her lips as soon as it had arrived. Over Rokoru's shoulder, there was a familiar group hanging around in the store, the excited babble of female voices drowning over the reluctant males that resided with them. It took Saya a moment to realize where she recognised the faces from, and the blood quickly drained from her face as she looked back over at Rokoru hesitantly. "Umm...aren't those people in Archery Club?" She whispered over at Rokoru with a slightly worried frown. "Umm...do you...do you think we should go?"

A pair of hazel brown eyes, behind the dark strands, blinked in surprise at how Alexei bowed deeply as an apology for the late introduction. While Shizuka admired the sincerity of the foreign man, she thought it unnecessary for him to take it to that extent as it wasn't that much of a deal. She waved her hand in a manner to show that it was alright and spoke in a rattled tone, "I-It's quite alright, I-I should have asked earlier as well. But I'm pleased to be acquainted with you as well, elder Dragunov-san." Even as she pronounced the name for the second time, her pronunciation was off due to the rough syllabication that she was used to in the Japanese language.

Just when Shizuka had finished scanning through one of the plastic bags in her possession, Alexei started on a more detailed introduction of himself as they continued to walk. Occasional nods were given as a sign of acknowledgment from the shorter, petite girl while she waited for the opportunity to reply to the other, after he was done with his piece, of course. As an empty bench was caught in sight, Shizuka approached it along with Alexei and gently placed the bag down before taking her own seat.

"Oh! Um... Do you happen to be studying at Warakuma High? Pe-Perhaps I might be wrong but... I study there you see, a-and I might have caught sight of someone similar to you." Her voice at this point was soft and unsure from the uncertainty and possible embarrassment of mistaking him for someone else. While she could've sworn he looks familiar, school wasn't the only likely place to spot people.

As she rummaged through the contents of the other bags, she continued, "I-If I may ask, what exactly is your part time job? I have a part time as well actually, a waitress in a cosp-- c-ca-cafe I mean, pa-pardon me. A-An ordinary ca-cafe like any other." A sudden panic ran through her, the moment she absentmindedly almost revealed the job she vowed not to reveal anyone she knew. Finding a new topic to talk about instead, Shizuka suddenly recalled about the card the man was about to hand over to her. With an open hand towards the other, the internally panicking girl stuttered harshly, "O-Oh! A-About that card you were s-speaking of earlier, ma-may I see it?"

What the male said made Sieghardt remain quiet as he stared at him silently. So when he went over to Leiko and commented on his childness, Sieg turned towards them and opened his mouth only to shut it, and go pay for his purchase. What they talked about in that time was beyond him. All he knows is that when he passed by them he waved at Leiko. "I should really get home... I'll see you at the next club practice. Oh wait.... No I won't I have something planned that day.. Well then I'll see you at the one after the next one." Sieg said before looking at the ground sullen as he walked away. He had forgotten to even get what he had wanted and simply called up his chauffeur and drove back home.

Once home he just handed his tailor the fabric and went back to his room where he laid down in bed. "Well that was fun... She gets annoyed some ass comes and starts something and then acts nice to the female. And now I get to go learn the way of business from dad at his company for three whole days. Hooray for me." Looking over at his mirror, he sighed as he pulled the hood of his shark hoodie over his eyes. "Whatever, I'm still a damn good looking shark. Could say I make others go into a... frenzy." Laughing to his own joke he laid there in bed before he slumbered off into a nap.

As the party walked in, Rui saw what he expected. Matthew, along with his Shadow, though in regards to what his Shadow was going to be like, he only had ideas when they reached the town. Again, it was like what happened with Noboru... The Shadow. Rui and Kami remember a rather different experience though.

"Be careful... This is the strong presence I was talking about", it was kind of obvious by now, but it looked like this was what they were going to deal with each time they went into a dungeon. But what can they do...? If Matthew can accept his shadow, then there'd be no need to fight. They can try and intervene anyhow, but the shadow is still a shadow, it'll erupt into a fight. Regardless, the party could only stand at ready while Matthew conversed with his Shadow.

The boy grunted in reply to Ueno’s indifference towards his absolute favorite genre. Now that he thought about it more, his whole shtick outside of archery would probably be music. Not just rock, but everything. The entirety of music. That was his interest. But he decided against piping up about it, and merely looked at her with a disapproving stare when she mentioned screamo. ”I don’t consider ‘the ones where they scream a lot’ to be the same thing.” The teen leaned back a bit, moving his line of sight slightly higher. ”I don’t like it either though.”

Rokoru scanned the store as he waited for Ueno to finish looking at (and occasionally picking up) dresses. As expected, she had taken him to a place where they didn’t carry any men’s clothes, and it was just a sea of bright colors and thin-on-materials-but-still-really-expensive garments. He also spotted a few familiar faces but swallowed that idea as soon as it came. They already knew he was being leashed on a pseudo-date with Ueno, but if they were to catch them while they were out, it’d be… unpleasant. Not embarrassing or anything, but there was no doubt in his mind that they would harass him a bit before they could leave.

Rokoru realized that Ueno had returned to his side. And was looking at him. His neck snapped to face her, and when he did, she asked if the people from Archery were in fact from Archery. Rokoru nodded in response, and straightened his back. She seemed disgruntled over it, and she even asked him if they should leave. He wasn’t against leaving by any means but his curiosity took the best of him. ”Why? You don’t want any of the stuff you picked out? Or do you not like those guys? I don’t care whether we leave or not, so if you don’t wanna stay, we can go somewhere else. It’s not a big deal.”

He took the initiative and took a few steps away from the store, waiting a bit to see what she was going to do. Their whole plan for the day was Ueno’s decision, after all.

“it seems the peasants know their place” the shadow said as his attention turned back to the Matt kneeling on the floor.
“come now why are you being so silent? I am you and you love being recognised for your talents, you love looking down on those who crowd around the mask you wear. But more than anything you love being superior to all those who are a pain in the ass and forcing them to do what you want. doesn't that sound about right?” the shadow finished off with a laugh.
“..no” Matt mumbled.
“what? I couldn’t hear you, but look around, this place is perfect because the town trusted me and listened to me. Now they obey my every command for I am the superior.”

“NO… I….I I’m not like that, I just love hanging out with people… who the hell are you?” as weak as Matt felt he demanded to know who was in front of him.
“Come on now, can you still not tell from everything I said? I. AM. YOU” The shadow practicly spelt it out.
“no… NO YOU'RE NOT ME”
Matt managed to blurt out those words which caused the shadow to start laughing.

“yes, YES. I am a shadow, the true self.
I AM A KING”
all the sudden the shadow sat down on his chair and humanoid shadows ran into the room and took their places around his chair before he transformed

boss theme

==~==

"Welcome, to the Velvet Room."

Mako opened his eyes groggily, his head suddenly flooding with clarity. This dream again...

Mako stood up a little straighter, glancing around the room he found himself in. He barely glossed over the decor, the double doors, the strange patron who stood before said doors. He knew without looking that his attire had changed to a more formal ensemble. No, what he really cared about was the shadowy patrons that shared the room with him.

The number hadn't changed- twenty figures, counting himself. He knew this fact like he knew the back of his hand, or the pace of his heartbeats. But there was a new trend slowly emerging- a number of the figures were steadily gaining more defined features, going from indistinct shades in a vaguely human shape to sharply-outlined shadows. With a bit more definition, or more time to observe, he might have even been able to identify some of the shadowy patrons. They looked frighteningly familiar if he looked at them in just the right way...

But he knew this dream well- he was here for as long as was needed, and no longer.

"This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter..." The girl went on, as though she hadn't noticed him. Perhaps she was just reading from rote memorization?

"You are here because you possess the ability to carve an interesting future... However, alone you are limited. Do not fret however, as very soon you will be joined by others who share similar fates," she continued, still in the same hypnotic tone.

This was what piqued Mako's curiosity, above anything else in this dream, even the shadows. The ability to carve an interesting future, shared with others... He assumed that these others with "similar fates" were the shadows who joined him in this "Velvet Room," which was why their indistinct appearance- and worse, their growing definition, in some cases- drove him insane. He wanted, needed answers. Who were these others? What fate did they have in common? He glared at the girl at the head of the table, as though to intimidate her into giving up the answers he craved. But, as expected, she did not.

"Though, today will not be that day, my master urges you to wait patiently, until your invitation is complete... Farewell, for now... I look forward to seeing you again."

Mako sighed as his vision faded, a signal that the dream was ending. He had had this dream numberless times since he first moved here to Warakuma. Nine years of a singular question always worrying away at the back of his mind. And still, it seemed there was no answer coming.

One day, I will find out what all this means, he thought, as the dream finally slipped away. He awoke, slowly, as if in rebellion, his disappointment still tainting his thoughts.

One day...

==~==




==~==

Mako walked through the mall, feeling some of the irritation he'd felt this morning melt away as he walked about in the sunlight. It was a rather lovely day, as though to offset the frustrating occurrence that had... well, occurred this morning. That dream always did manage to put Mako in a piss-poor mood. If there's one thing Mako hated, it was a puzzle he was unable to solve. And this puzzle had been tormenting him for years, now.

If I could just recognize one of the other people, I could ask them about it. Then maybe I could get some answers about what "destiny" it is that we all share. As intrigued as Mako was about something as potentially exciting as "carving an interesting future," the knowledge didn't do him any good if he didn't know anything but vague hints. He sighed again, before straightening his back, a calm smile creeping onto his face.

Ah, well. There's no use worrying about it today- I'll just have to wait a few days until it comes again. Maybe then I'll start to recognize one of the shadow people...

He paused in his thoughts- and his steps- as he recognized a pair of students standing ahead of him a ways off. Drama-tan and Sieg he recognized from the Drama Club. The third member of the party he was somewhat lost on, in terms of identifying him. He tilted his head as Sieg walked off, looking somewhat dejected. Shrugging internally, he walked up to Leiko and her current companion, waving cheerily as he passed into their sphere of awareness.

"Hello, Leiko! And you too, Person-I-Don't-Know! Enjoying yourselves?"

As Matthew's shadow was rejected, various of the 'villager' shadows scrambled around him as a carry-throne took form, with the shadows lifting it up themselves as Matthew's shadow sat on top lording over them. It was immediately aggressive, taking swings at Matthew who stumbled backwards, with Rui, Kami and Noboru stepping forward and repelling the advance with their Personas, setting up the spacing for the fight. Now the enemy... The various arms on the back meant it was hard to fight up close, due to having so many options, not to mention surrounding and attacking seemed to be difficult... But the villagers holding it up...

"Garu!", as he spoke the command, his Persona Askr appeared before him and swung it's blade, delivering a gust of wind at the villager shadows. They staggered as they regained their balance from the wind attack, and realizing the danger of this, Matthew's shadow immediately sprayed water at him with the water bucket, dealing damage, and splash damage to Kami and Noboru too. They reeled back a bit to soften the impact.

"It looks like those villagers are a weak point...", he stated.

"Megumi, scan for it's capabilities... I'm sure it has other tricks up it's sleeve", Megumi gave a simple "ok" before the battle resumed.

"Aim for the villagers, be careful of the mechanical arms"

Noboru reeled back, the hit spinning him. He regained his balance and nodded towards Rui about the villagers, aiming towards them. Before that however, he had a bit of business. He turned towards Matthew's shadow and started yelling.

Hey You! You piece of shit! You want people to bow down to you? That's absolutely hilarious! You're not a king, you're a commoner! You can't get anyone besides those fakes to bow to you! Come on and try to make me!

Noboru readied up his persona, using Atlas to smash a villager.

The brunette politely accepted his apology with a wave of her hand and added her own. Each time this happened to Alexei, it surprised him. For so long he had judged people based on his limited experience. It was hard to believe that his experiences earlier in life with just with some bad apples.

Then the young girl asked his school hesitantly to which he replied with a slight smile, "You are spot on with that. I do go to Warakuma High. Sadly, I can't say that I have seen you around as it is impolite to stalk girls around."

She rummaged through her bags as she plopped into a seat and asked him about his part-time job. Before announcing her own.

"Ah! well I work as a handy-man. I repair plumbing issues, electrical fittings, minor carpentry issues, touch ups and fixing. I also do a bit of landscaping and maintenance if the pay is right. Currently, employed with Mitsuka Repairs and Furnishings. They have an office here." he said before handing her the card.

"A friend of mine also works at a cafe, where is your workplace at? Maybe I can drop-by and help you with stuff if you need it." he offered her politely.

Meanwhile, Elena had found the perfect gift for her elder brother. A swimming shorts, for as long as they had been here. She hadn't once been to the beach and nor had she seen him lay back and relax. She wished that he needed a good break to keep on going. She put it into the basket she was carrying and went into the shoes section. Maybe she can get some trendy flats for herself. There was a big sale on.

The attacks towards the villagers worked, though Noboru had more trouble with it than Kami and Rui did, since they used their spells instead. The robotic arms on the back were preventing them from getting closer, so disrupting the Shadow was the primary goal. Even though the villagers were now slumped over, the machine on the back still worked while the Shadow yelled and insulted it's own subjects in anger. The group attempted to advance, but the mechanical arms with farm tools managed to keep them at bay.

"We still can't get close... We have to stop that machine on the back somehow...", Rui began. As he said that, they obtained some good news.

"Okay, scan complete! I'm sensing a weak spot on the back, try and get around it somehow!", well, that shouldn't be too hard...

"Noboru circle around the back, Kami, spread out around the side, I'll take the other", upon those orders, Kami moved around to the side, and the moment he saw the villagers begin to recover, he blasted another Zio at them.

"Damn you all! You're all nothing but dirt! Stay under my foot like you all should!", though Rui only had a Garu in response, keeping him down. The back should be exposed now. Now that Rui and Kami were further to the side, they can clearly see it. There was an industrial engine there... Rui and Kami would need to keep using their spells to keep Matthew's shadow from moving, it was all up to Noboru right now.

Noboru nodded to Rui's suggestion and ducked down, dashing forward and around the throne. He kept ducking, avoiding all the hits. Twisting his feet, he turned and ran in towards the back. He drew back his fist.

Haha! This is gonna be really really fun. Ready.. set, Hoo! Ha!

Noboru turned 360 degrees, driving his fist in towards the Machine. He twisted it in further, digging in. He yelled out to Kami and Rui.

Hey! How was that? Any response from that sweet blow?

The engine on the back of the Shadow exploded, causing it to scream in both anger and agony. The arms on the back were no longer moving, the villagers were being crushed under the throne. This was their chance.

"It's time we strike", stated Kami.

All-Out Attack
> Yes
> No

> Yes

On Rui's orders the team charged down the Shadow and did as much damage as they could, creating a skull-shaped dust cloud. Pretty soon it was sent flying back and the entire throne broke apart, leaving the 'king' laying on the ground in the ruins of his own throne... If Matthew had anything to say, this was his chance, they had a good minute or so before the shadow would recover.

Upon Alexei revealed that he was indeed a student from Warakuma High, the timid female flashed a gentle smile towards him and giggled ever so softly, which was barely audible. "Fufu.. I suppose you're right. And that's alright, I-I tend not to stand out in school so it would not be a surprise to me. I-I'm only a first year student, after all..." This was true, while "Shizu-chan" may be quite known to the regulars of the cafe she works at, Shizuka on the other hand had a small circle of friends, her simple appearance doesn't draw attention, and she wasn't involved in activities such as clubs at the school. But Shizuka was contented with her life currently, at least she thinks she was contented.

"Go-Goodness..! That's quite a number of skills you have, I'll be sure to keep this card for future reference." After a glance at the card she was given, she picks out her wallet from the purse on her shoulder to slip the card into one of its compartments. While her house was in a tip top shape due to the heavy maintenance by her servants, having someone to call in case of repair emergency would be pretty handy in the future.

"..., where is your workplace at? Maybe I can drop-by and help you with stuff if you need it." Another generous offer from the larger man but this time, the raven haired female became full on panic mode internally, but if one were observant enough, they could see how awkwardly smiley she was and her eyes widened behind the dark strands. Her hands swiftly moved this time to make sure the bags of fabrics were all cradled in her arms as she responded, "T-Th-That's an awfully generous o-offer, Dragunov-san bu-but I mustn't trouble you a-any further... A-Ah! I-I must be back home be-before sundown, I-I apologize for my sudden leave but i-it was pleasant to be a-acquainted with you." Shizuka offered a quick bow of gratitude before she brisk walked away from the scene, tripping slightly, and towards the taxi station. She truly appreciated how much of a gentleman Alexei was, but she couldn't afford to risk anyone to know her other self at work.