Akira Kirigakure // Cosplay Cafe
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Golden Week

As "Saki" returned with the coffee and moved to set it down "she" stomped on his foot with force. While it didn't hurt, it surely gotten his attention, invoking a knowing grin at "Saki". It didn't necessarily confirm his suspicions, but made them stronger. It could be said that it was simply a case of someone not wanting their picture taken, but given what lead to this situation along with said persons behavior, he didn't buy it in the least. As "Saki" backed off, a guy who has been eying him stood up and spoke out.

Given his speech, obviously in "her" defense, it was reasonable to assume that he had a problem with Akira. While it's clear what is intentions were, He just couldn't help himself. "You have nothing to worry about, She is all yours. If you're into that kind of thing." he shrugged as he turned and glanced once more at "Saki" before returning his gaze at the boy. It was then where one of the other waitresses made her way over to them, pointing a toy gun at him before making her own speech.

"Oh? Remove them from my phone? That's all? While that's not a problem at all. Heh." Taking out his phone, he selected the photos and hit a number of buttons before finally deleting the photos. "There, all done!" he beamed, seemingly unaffected by the whole charade. Not even once during this whole exchange did Akira show any signs of disappointment, anger or anything aside from a simple smile. Taking a couple sips from his cup, he took out his wallet and placed the exact amount to pay for his drink.

"It seems I've kept her waiting long enough. I should take my leave." Shifting his gaze from the boy to 'Saki' his smile turned to a sinister grin, "See you soon, Saki." Before returning to a smile and making for the exit. As he exited the cafe, he amused himself by wondering how long until 'she' figured it out. Staring at his phone, he grinned. While it's true that he 'deleted' the photos, he did it right there, but whether the photos were actually gone is another story.
Well, she'll find out if they are or not soon enough.

Looking at his watch and cringed, "Aoi isn't going to be very happy." With a smile, he moved towards the amusement park.

With a thud Sieg placed another book in the already three foot stacked high tower of books to his right and reluctantly grabbed another. They were all books that would prepare the young male to one day, take over his fathers position as CEO. Yet as the red haired male stared at the multitude of books to his left that far outnumbered the one to his right, he cringed a bit and rested his head on his Mahogany desk. "By the time I finish these, I'm going to be twenty four.." Sieg groaned as he sat up straight to hear his pet Parakeets chirping in the background. While his family was rich and could have easily afforded a giant cage with multiple birds, he only had three in the cage. Of course the first one he received was the chirpier one. Sieg looked at the tiny blue and gray bird and smiled. "You saying I should find the joy in this?" He asked the bird who humorously nodded his head. "What about you two? Should I look at this as a fun situation?" The yellow greenish one ruffled his feathers and shrieked a bit, while the light green-gray one just stood there in silence being all adorable. Sieg simply chuckled and changed their water and food supply before rubbing his head. "Eh harder to do than it looks.."

It was at that moment that one of his maids came into his room and smiled at him. "Young master, your father thought that you studied long enough for today and said you can go have fun with your friends." Sieg frowned slightly and shook his head. "I would but I don't hang out with them after school. So it'd be hard finding any of them." The maid then tilted her head. "What about that one female you go on about? The one that gets annoyed at you?" She asked which made Sieg's expression sadden a bit. "I don't know, she apparently has gone missing." Sieg stated to which the maid slammed her fist in her hand. "Then I shall relax with the young master! It is my duty to make sure you have an enjoyable time!" She proclaimed and without any warning he was dragged off by his arm.

She held him hostage as the chauffeur drove them to the city, where again he was dragged against his will to some place called the cosplay cafe. They were seated yet Sieg couldn't help but cover his face with his shark hoodie and try to avoid being stared at. It would have been fine with the waitress being the maid. Yet having his own maid come to a place with maid waitresses was going to draw attention. "See isn't this nice young master? A nice day out to relax. Of course some of these other maids don't seem to have the right motivation when addressing their masters. I wonder why?" She questioned as she looked around while Sieg's face was all but red. "Oh dear lord, why me...." It was at this moment that he could see a few faces from school, some from the drama club so this only made things worse.

As Ayano took her robe in hand, visions of herself sitting all alone in the warm springs flashed in her mind, making her more accepting to the idea of it. If she acted now she could be the first one in! She wouldn't have to deal with anyone else other than herself and the sweet embrace of solitude with her, it was perfect! Although the thought of leaving her cousin behind wasn't exactly the best of ideas, it wouldn't hurt to spend some more alone time with herself before, right? "I'll go on ahead, Chi-Chi. See you there."

Making her way to the changing rooms of the spring, to her surprise, there was not a soul in sight! Much to her happiness. Stripping down of her current clothes and entering the showers to prepare herself for the springs, once she was done she could not believe her eyes.

Right there in the middle of the springs was a person! Facing the opposite direction and their back on full view of the entrance. Ayano sighed in disappointment, looks like she's going to have to deal with it. Slowly settling into the water Ayano felt...different, as if she was whisked away into some far away land that took care of all of her problems, it was a sensational feeling that made the girl feel pleasant, a feeling that she had not experienced in a long time. Snapping out of her serene reverie, the girl slowly made her way into the southwest corner of the spring deciding that it'd be the perfect spot to relax in. However, her eyes were fixated on the peculiar dragon tattoo the other person had. "What a strange tattoo..." she muttered to herself.

Sato found it pleasing that not one, but two people backed his advance, coercing Akira to delete the pictures from his phone due to the “No Free Photography” rule in the café. Somehow Sato doubted that deleting the pictures taken was going to be the end of the woes that have and will result from the shift. Deletion was far from erasure. At the very least, however, Sato had grounds to get Akira banned from the establishment, but it struck Sato that Akira wouldn’t likely care at all to not be able to return to such a place.

(Possibly Un)Luckily, Akira paid for his drink and left the café after he deleted the photos, and Sato leaned against one of the booths’ ends to take a deep breath. The shift hadn’t even progressed much and Sato was already defeated. He had served literally two people and that ended in some form of disaster, leaving Sato feeling unmotivated to continue. Two other guys from Drama were already there (much to Sato’s dismay, Sieghardt also entered the café). It’s not like Kenji wouldn’t not pay him if he gave up, considering he still helped out…

With a sharp exhale, Sato pushed himself away from the wall and made his way back into the staff room, where he found Kenji doing whatever managers do on busy days.

---

Taking in a breath of fresh air, Sato stepped out of the maid café. He had done the best he could slipping out of cafe and around the block without getting seen by anyone he knew. With all the make-up gunk off his face, and with a few extra thousand yen in his pocket, he couldn’t help but feel good. The feeling would fade when he went to school after Golden Week, but at least the relief was there at all. The day was still rather young, however, and the boy found himself without much else to do besides return home with the package and money given to him by the manager.

Though, it wouldn’t be fun to chill at home during Golden Week, so the teen whipped out his cellphone and scrolled through his contacts. Whispering busy, on vacation, busy, nah, busy… and such as he went down the list, Sato soon found himself stopped at a Ishihara R. Thinking back to the last time they talked to each other personally, it wasn’t exactly very friendly, but the club president seemed to have cooled off in the past week, and Sato didn’t quite think he would get anywhere in the Archery Club while he was still on shitty terms with Rokurou…

Before he could change his mind, Sato texted Rokurou quickly, scoffing at that one unread message he got from Noboru afterwards. The teen shoved his phone back into his pocket as he started off down the street and towards the train station, where he was to meet Rokurou within the hour, if he were to accept Sato’s invitation. Though, despite the relative crowd of people, as the boy made his way downtown, he couldn’t shake the feeling of being tailed by someone. Sato shook the feeling off and continued on his way, hoping it was just a weird spark of anxiety.

"This is...", the party having followed the source of the screaming found Leiko, and expectedly her Shadow too. She seemed to be in distress, and as a result did not notice the party arriving.

"It's okay Leiko we're here...", he said, in an attempt to calm her down... What struggle was it she was dealing with? If the previous shadows were anything like this one, then the key was whoever owned the Shadow. They would have to accept it, and difficult task, but with some help from others and encouragement... Well in any case, Rui readied his weapon while he waited for more information. The shadow did not appear to have transformed into a... 'combat' mode just yet.

Hisako hid outside the cafe. That's where she last saw this "Sato" go. She was in there for quite a long time, even for a maid cafe. Maybe she was working there? Hisako calmly walked around the area patrolling it for when she left. Hisako quickly looked in the cafe and gasped when she saw how many people were in there. That was way too many people for one cafe. Oh well. It didn't matter to her. She was looking for one particular person. That person walked out of the cafe and on the road. Time for Hisako's skills to come in handy. She stalked "Sato" down the road. She walked faster and it was time for Hisako to strike. Hisako broke into a full sprint, bearing down on "Sato".

"Aha! I have you now! Prepare to face justice for talking to my No...boru? Hold on. Are you a guy? Oh. Uh. Uhhh. I'm so sorry! I thought you were taking my Noboru! I thought you were one of those creepy cross dressers! Please forgive me!

Hisako took his hand and bowed her head.

Toma Tanaka - April 26th, Afternoon

A low, defeated groan escaped Toma's throat. The boy sat lazily in a park bench, his track jacket thrown off next to him leaving him in his plain grey t-shirt.

His breathing was a little labored, as he had just finished helping an older man -- who owned a bookstore & cafe -- move his wares to a smaller building. Toma's wrist wasn't anywhere close to healed, but he had kept that to himself and taken the job anyway. It had hurt more than he expected, and the dull, hot pain was still present. Whatever -- the job was done.

Toma had asked why the man was changing buildings. 'Downsizing,' he had answered.. Business had slowed down over the last little while, and the larger store was too much. Upon learning that the older man was the only one who ran the store, Toma had asked if he was looking to hire.

Of course the man said no. That would have been too easy. He 'had it under control.' Recalling that, Toma sighed again and turned his head away from the bright sun as the brief cover of clouds passed, wiping a bead of sweat off his brow with his good hand. He was convinced now -- no steady job he was qualified for existed in this town. All the boy had managed to find were a few one-time deals. It was better than nothing, but the frustration was getting to him.

Speaking of frustration -- those goddamned disappearances. Another one had happened, and the victim this time was Hamada. That was troubling enough, considering she was still missing, but to add to that, Hamada's friend -- Ueno Saya -- who had been with her at the time of her disappearance had been assaulted.

That confirmed to Toma that the disappearances were in fact kidnappings -- not that there was much doubt about that to begin with, though. It also confirmed that the kidnappers were willing to get violent. Toma grimaced in anger. What the fuck were their motives? Why were they only going after students of Warakuma High?

The boy bit the side of his lip hard, drawing blood. It didn't matter why. Whoever these people were, they were evil. And they needed to have their existences erased.

But despite his efforts, Toma still had zero clues. The only thing he hadn't tried was talking to Ueno and Noboru; he hadn't seen either of them in at least a week. He was also worried that it might be a bit of a touchy subject, but he didn't really care at his point. He just wanted answers.

He looked down at his nearly useless right hand, cursing it with a frown. Unbearable frustration.

Track was the only thing that helped him let off some steam lately, and he took full advantage of it every time the club met by running himself ragged. Speaking of which, he checked the time on his phone. It was almost 12. Arata, the head of the Track club, had invited them all to get together at the amusement park today. To "bond," as he put it.

At first, Toma had said no -- he didn't particularly feel like it, and he thought his time would be better spent looking into the kidnappings or finding a job. Arata had pushed, though, and had managed to get a very reluctant 'yes' out of him. He mulled it over in his seat, still deciding whether he should go.

With a click of his tongue, he stood up and pushed his hair off his forehead. He had agreed to go (no matter how forced he had been), so he couldn't not show up. Toma looked on the bright side; it was his first time going to the amusement park, and he knew he could use a break, despite not wanting one.

It was a way to spend the day and keep himself occupied. And there was a good chance that it'd be fun.

---

Amusement Park

This was not fun.

The small group was being lead by Arata, and the guy was way too energetic for Toma. They moved around the park at far too quick a pace, and Toma was just getting dragged along.

What was the point of this? They were basically skipping everything. They should have been leisurely strolling through, taking their time to actually enjoy everything that was being offered, and making the experience last. Toma didn't voice his complaints, though, as everyone else seemed to be having a good time.

The only source of amusement for the boy was watching Arata dote on Tsuruko. The crush he had on her was obvious to everyone, even to her, but as far as Toma knew, they weren't dating. After observing them, his best guess as to why that was was that Tsuruko simply wasn't interested, and she tried to subtly communicate that. It all went over Arata's head, though. The guy had spent a huge amount of money playing a carnival game to try and win a stuffed toy that the girl had off-handedly said was cute. After his dozenth-or-so try, he had actually succeeded, too. Her joyful reaction, Toma noticed, was a little forced.

Eventually, they reached what many considered to be the park's main attraction -- the roller-coaster. Toma paled ever so slightly as the group began to talk excitedly, heading to the end of the line.

"I-I, uh, I'm not really up for this ride," he said to the group, quickly getting his cracked voice under control. "I'm hungry, so I'll just go eat something while you guys are on it."

Arata began to protest, of course, but Toma was having none of it. "You don't understand, Kimura-kun. I'm really starving." The energetic boy eventually gave up with an over-exaggerated huff of disappointment.

Sighing in relief, enjoying the relative silence now that he was no longer with the group, he went to a stand and bought an ice-cream sandwich before going back near the entrance of the ride and leaning against a railing.

As he enjoyed his cold snack, he looked up at the coaster, a fairly out-of-the-blue, morbid thought crossing his mind. He imagined a strap failing during the ride, his buckle opening up and letting him plummet to his death. He gave a bit of a nervous snort as he entertained the idea. That'd be huge news in this town, and would be terrible for the amusement park's business. And of course, if that were to happen to him, both his parents would be devastated. He frowned imagining his parent's reactions, and pushed the idea out of his head.

He rubbed his tired eyes with the back of his good wrist before going back to eating, considering the option of ditching the group to go off on his own. Spending his time alone in an amusement park probably wasn't the coolest thing a teenager could do, but he wasn't fond of rejoining the members of the track club, either. And they likely wouldn't miss him too much.

Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma Amusement Park | Noon

Before Kotori stood a rather large board, upon it a map which represented the amusement park. Dozens of numbered dots were scattered all throughout, a legend describing each of them with some of the bigger attractions being highlighted and given some more prominent artwork on the stylised map. Having only arrived a few minutes ago, she had yet to actually decide where she wanted to go exactly. There was the large roller coaster, seemingly the main attraction, a haunted house, a mirror gallery, a ferris wheel and an assortment of smaller themed rides about the park, all interspersed with various food stalls and restaurants; perhaps not unlike one she'd passed in the shopping district on the way here but had decided was likely not a place she'd fit in very well.

Instead, she mentally crossed off the places she really wasn't all that interested in - the roller coaster looked rather wild for her taste and the haunted house was quite quickly off the list as well. Placing a finger to her lips, she mulled over the remaining attractions - what did she want to do first?

Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma Shopping District | Afternoon

With a small smile still remaining, Kotori stepped out of the ferris wheel cabin, giving a small grateful bow to the ride attendant who was making sure that the guests got on and off without a problem. The view from above had been quite the sight indeed - both of the amusement park itself and of Warakuma all around. Looking about, she quickly located one of the many boards showing the park layout - after the second time she'd had to look for one, Kotori started to wish she'd not have reflexively turned down the small flyer at the entrance. Still, it wasn't exactly difficult to get around, so she wasn't too bothered by it.

Throughout her stay, she'd already seen some familiar faces, even if she wasn't on the lookout for them - though she'd usually have to take a second look when such a case arose, as her schoolmates, much like herself, were wearing their own clothes rather than the more familiar school uniform. That thought in turn brought to mind the recent kidnappings of which yet another had occured, but Kotori quickly shook her head to rid herself of the thought. Not that she was very successful with that, given that she had actually met and talked to the girl, Leiko, just some days before. Still, she at least managed to push the thoughts back to a mere worry at the back of her head as she instead tried to enjoy the day. Looking back at the map, she quickly found the 'You are here' point before gazing over the nearby dots and what they meant in order to decide on her next stop.

A few minutes and a bottle of oolong tea from a nearby vending machine later, Kotori had decided to take a brief break before continuing on. A good hour of intermixed walking and enjoying the rides was quite tiring after a while as she glanced about to find an unoccupied bench or table about. Thankfully, she didn't have to look very long as a small group of what looked to be middle-school aged girls vacated a nearby bench, giggling amongst themselves as they went their way. Seeing as no one was headed for it, Kotori sat herself down with a small measure of relief at catching a break; taking a moment to look about the park. Should could see the roller coaster wooshing along its tracks at worrying speeds, pulling rapid turns as it did, before her. Turning her head she could have seen the ferris wheel that she'd just come from.

What she didn't see, however, was a group of three boys her age who were - rather unsuccessfully - trying to chat up any girls they came past. A click of their tongues and a few muttered words under their breath followed the departure of yet another girl - though they could perhaps have chosen a better person than a classmate of their from Warakuma High who was quite aware of their ways. Standing about in an attempt at smug superiority - which, even to the casual observer, was just them trying to salvage their 'pride' as self-proclaimed hot guys - they eyed the passing people for a new target until one of them nudged the others, pointing towards a nearby bench and the girl sitting on it, her eyes behind her glasses focused on the book in her hands. A few wry glances were exchanged between the boys - but with their absymal success rate, they decided to go with it.

Having put her bottle by her feet, Kotori had decided to extend her break by a little and had produced the book from her handbag; quickly finding the place she'd last left off. It was a mystery novel she'd heard was quite good and she was starting to get to the good bits when a voice interrupted her reading. "Hey there, Missy. You alone here?" It took Kotori a moment to realise that the voice was speaking to her - and, upon looking up, that the voice's owner was not alone. Glancing between the three with a quizzical expression, she nodded - and then scooched over a little to make more room on the bench before looking down at her book; presuming that the three boys were looking for a place to sit too.

Indeed, one of them did sit down - a little more closely than she'd really have liked - whilst the other two remained standing. They exchanged glances between each other before grinning - this was the first girl today that hadn't taken one look at them before storming off. "Hey, what do you say we grab something to drink and have some fun, hmm?" the boy sat beside her asked with his best ladykiller smile - or rather, an almost comical grin. "Uhm..." Kotori started, glancing between the three again - and only now recognising the three as a trio of more-or-less well-known wanna-be casanovas from Class 2-3. Her discomfort started to grow as she started glancing about for a quick excuse to leave; her fingers nervously moving up and down the book's back. "N-no, thank you," she tried to refuse with evident uncertainty in her voice; wholly unused to such a situation - even if the ambient noise wasn't easily enough to drown out her rather quiet voice anyway.

Akane Hanazawa // Warakuma Amusement Park
Sunday, April 26th, 2015
Golden Week

After hitting up the rollercoaster a few other rides, Akane began looking around to see if there were anymore rides that would catch her eye. Not that she'd mind if the ride ends up great or not, she was having fun and has helped calmed her quite a bit. Just as her eyes locked onto another potential ride, she took note of a trio of boy swarming around a girl. As one would expect, ganging up on a girl and trying to pressure her into doing what they want. How cliche and stereotypical can you get? She shook her head at the thought of it all.

As she ran her hand down her face, as she knew how cliche she was going to be in a moment. With a Sigh, she moved in. Just as the one closest to her on the bench moved his arm towards her, she grabbed his arm and held onto it in a powerful grip. "Just what in the hell do you think you're doing?" Akane looked at him in a chilling glare as she tossed him to the ground. "At it again, you three haven't learned a single a thing, have you? Must I re-educate you....again?" She turned and faced them as she began cracking her knuckles.

Toma Tanaka - April 26th, Afternoon | Amusement Park

Toma hummed and hawed, desperately wanting to leave, but not wanting to be rude. It had been a while since the group got in line, so they'd probably be off the ride and looking for him soon, not leaving him with much time to make a choice.

As he deliberated over the decision, he finished off his ice-cream sandwich with one last bite, and a shot of disappointment ran through him. That had been way tastier than it had any business being, and he kind of wanted another one.

And that was exactly the motivation he needed to head off on his own. He picked up his jacket off the railing and tied it around his waist, being careful with his wrist, before pushing himself off to head back to the ice-cream stand. As he let his craving take him over, he picked up his walking pace, eventually reaching his destination and getting into the short line.

The red-haired boy looked around as he waited, taking in more of the colorful sights that the park offered. Everyone looked so happy and excited here, with the exception of a crying child and exasperated parent or two. And no wonder -- they were all in an amusement park. It was in the name; this was supposed to be a fun place. So why was he not happy too? He was here with friends -- well, maybe not 'friends,' but schoolmates -- so he had no reason to be so... miserable? Maybe; he wasn't sure what he was. Not happy, though.

Toma's thoughts were put to a stop as he saw a group of four kids near a bench in the distance, three boys and one girl from the looks of it. With a flicker of recognition, his eyes widened a bit.

"Hello sir, how can I help you?"

Toma shifted, taking a step back and craning his neck to get a better view. As he confirmed that it was Kotori, a soft smile broke out on his face.

"Excuse me, sir! It's your turn to be served."

He had to stop himself from going over to greet her -- it seemed she was here with friends. Ignoring the slightest pang of petty jealousy he felt, he couldn't help but be happy for her. It didn't seem like she hung out with friends like this often, so it was a nice sight to see.

"Um, sir, you're holding up the line..."

But something was off. One of the boys sat next to her, and she didn't seem too pleased about it. The three weren't letting off even as her discomfort became more apparent. Toma's brow furrowed as he felt himself getting angered again, the emotion only growing as he continued watching. Clearly, they weren't her friends. Toma began to walk towards them, wanting badly to hit all three of them.

"I-- uh, sir? O-okay then... I can help whoever's next."

As he made his way over, he fought to calm himself down. Starting a fight would be dumb, considering the condition of his wrist and the fact that he was outnumbered. No, more importantly than that, a fight wouldn't help the situation in any way. All he had to do was help Kotori get out of her uncomfortable spot, and there were better ways to do that.

Taking a breath to calm and steel himself, he decided on how he'd go about it -- pretend they had come to the park together as part of a group, and that she had gotten separated from them, giving her an out. Hopefully this wouldn't embarrass her too much.

"Hey, there you are, Kotori-chan!" he said cheerfully with a wave, a bright smile on his face -- ironically the most genuine one he'd worn all day despite the fact that this was basically an act.

He'd barely gotten the words out when another, tough-looking girl showed up. She grabbed the kid on the bench and tossed him to the ground roughly, eliciting a dumbfounded stare from Toma as he processed what was happening. Shaking off his stupor, he decided to make his presence known, too. The three boys seemed thoroughly intimidated by the girl, but she was sort of taunting them into a fight. The pathetic mob didn't seem likely to take her up on it, but Toma figured it'd be better to be safe -- they'd be even less likely to accept her offer if they saw they'd have to deal with one extra person.

He stepped forward so that he was standing above the boy squirming on the ground. With raised eyebrows and a bright, mocking smile, he spoke. "Hey bud, how's the view down there?" Toma leaned down and offered to help him up, but his hand was quickly smacked away, drawing a controlled smile to his face. "Alright then, no need to be rude."

He stepped purposely over the boy and stopped next to the bench, leaning against it. He pulled out his phone and pretended to busy himself, letting the other girl do her thing -- going by her words, she had dealt with this lot before, so he had no reason to doubt she could do it again.

He glanced over down at Kotori, offering her a sympathetic, understanding smile.

Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma Amusement Park | Afternoon

With her book clenched tightly and steadily drawing it closer to herself as if it could somehow shield her from the eyes of the three boys which were all focused on her, Kotori practically shrank into the bench, trying to inch away from their close attention. Unfortunately, she was already sitting at the very end of the bench and thus her options were rather restrained, given the presence of the armrest blocking any further retreat; instead leaving her to try and come up with some way to tell the three that she wasn't really very comfortable - when all of a sudden, a voice called out. It took Kotori a moment to realise that said voice was calling out to her - and another before she realised that the was familiar.

Looking up, discomfort was momentarily replaced with surprise and confusion as she saw the owner of the voice, Toma Tanaka, heading towards the small group at the bench - but before she could do more than that, another figure approached, grabbing the sitting boy and yanking him off the bench. The tone of her voice made it clear that she wasn't exactly very pleased with what she was seeing. The boy in question gave a surprised "Hey, what the?!" as he found himself on the ground before looking at the reason thereof with a glare - at least for the second it took him to recognise exactly who it happened to be. His two buddies meanwhile had slowly taken a step back when they'd heard and seen the fourth boy approaching - and were exchanging very nervous glances when they too recognised Akane from their previous... meetings.

The three boys' hearts seemed to drop with every crack of Akane's knuckles as the memory of the first two times she'd peeled them off similar activities. They might not exactly be the quickest on the pickup, but even they knew they weren't going to get out of this without some injuries to either their bodies or their pride if they didn't get out soon. "H-hey, let's get out of here, yeah?" one of the two still standing boys suggested with a nervous glance and nod to no specific place other than 'not here.' The boy on the floor - both the apparent leader of the trio and the thickest of the bunch - was of half a mind to see if the third time would be the charm with Akane when he noticed that another boy had approached, offering him a hand.

Smacking it away, the leader pushed himself off the ground and away from Akane, stepping toward his two buddies. Their urging and reminders of what happened last time being enough to get through even to him that trying to have a go with Akane really wouldn't be the smartest thing - and even more embarassing with more people around, too. "Just so you know, we were leaving anyway! We're letting you off lightly!" he said in a tough guy voice - which probably would have sounded a bit more intimidating if he hadn't been backing away and having to suppress a nervous cracking of his voice before turning around and heading off at a rather brisk pace; his to buddies quickly following suit.

Kotori, meanwhile, had followed the entire exchange with a mix of confusion, surprise and a constant series of dumbfounded blinking at the sight. Only now that the three were actually leaving did the discomfort start to ease away - at least until she realised that she had yet to thank the two for their help. Quickly standing up, she bowed deeply to the two in quick succession. It was also only then that she actually got a good look at the other girl - who, much to Kotori's surprise, turned out to be someone not only from her school but even the same class, Akane Hanazawa. "Ah, thank you, Tanaka-senpai, Hanazawa-san," she said, her voice only barely audible over the noise of park. Glancing between the two, she quickly gave another bow between them. "Uhm... s-sorry..." she began, unsure of what else to say; wanting to both express her thanks for their arrival and to apologise that they had had to do so in the first place when they had no reason to.

Ultimately, this left her fidgeting nervously with her skirt and she glanced between the two and the ground - though this time with a lot less uneasy discomfort than just moments earlier.

"That's fine, you go ahead of me, I have to fix up my hair before I go in." Answered Chiaki happily. She waited a few moments until it was quite so she could changed. To be quite honest, Chiaki was feeling a little insecure, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair tied neatly into a long ponytail. At this point, she was covered by a nice soft towel, unsure if she would keep it on while in the hot spring or not. While looking in the mirror, she couldn't help at looking at her body in the mirror.
"There's nothing that good about me. These two a' huge, my stomach ain't flat enough and I'm so damn short. Hmm. Maybe I'll skip on da 'springs for the day. Say I just got a cold or somethin'." While nobody was around, Chiaki let her accent slip. Growing up with her Grandmother who was from Osaka, she gained the Kansai dialect and it stuck with her wherever she went, meaning she needed to forcibly hold it back so she didn't sound like a fool. Besides, she preferred her fake accent more than her real one. Shaking her head, she decided not to spoil the fun her cousin was most likely having, or going to have. "What da heck, I'll go hah, I wonda if Aya-chan has grown at all..."

After truly getting ready, which included a good wash on her skin, Chiaki entered the hot spring room quietly. She unwrapped herself, and slid into the water as quietly as she could, she spied her cousin over in the corner, so she stealthily swam up to give her a good surprise.
' Sneaky Heart. Sneaky Heart. Sneaky Heart '
The water was really warm, it felt really nice against her skin. Mostly her legs, they were so tense from the exercise she had been doing with Noboru. There got to a point where she had to quickly, yet softly rub up and down her legs. It just felt absolutely wonderful. Her legs aside, she quietly paddled herself over to where Ayano was.
"SURPRISE AYA-CHAN!"
It was very sudden and very quick. Chiaki tickled her cousin from behind. She knew exactly where her weak points were, in between her thighs and just bellow her chest. The loud laughter was great to hear, but Chiaki quickly noticed somebody was watching them. A stranger! With a rather loud gasp, Chiaki stopped and went red.

"Oh my goodness. Um! Hello there! I mean... Oh I'm soo embarrassed right now.

Jun heard someone enter the water behind her, but she didn't bother turning around to greet them. They seemed to be leaving her alone, which suited her fine. Though she wondered what they were doing here when there was a Yakuza meeting about to go down. Someone else entered, but it turned out to be one of the maids serving her glass of Pepsi. It probably wasn't a good idea to drink something cold while in the springs but Jun had a sweet tooth that needed satisfying.

The peace was promptly interrupt by a yell. The quiet girl was accompanied by a loudmouth. Great. Jun thought that the pair must be fulfilling some kind of trope on an anime show or something. She sighed and turned her head to watch. Some three-headed girl was tickling her friend - oh wait those were her boobs - in the hot springs, oblivious to the blonde girl's presence. A sly grin crossed her features as she noticed the two were rather cute, and seemed to be younger than her. Seeing as it was Golden Week and not many teenagers came to this inn from out of town, Jun guessed they had to be from Warakuma High as well.

If that was the case... she had an idea to pass the time.

Jun stood up, her tattoo fully visible to both of them for a brief moment. She turned around and walked over to pair, noting how red Jugs' face was. "My, my, what have we here?" She drawled, sitting down on a rock facing them. "A pair of lost lambs wandering into the dragon's nest?"

She leaned in close to the flustered girl of the pair, no regard given for personal space or boundaries. Jun's face resembled one of those femme fatales in movies at the moment, her expression appropriate for that point where the villainess decides if she wants to seduce or kill the person before her. It was a bit of an exaggeration, of course, but Jun hadn't grown up among yakuza to be unable to both intimidate and charm at the same time.

"I'm Jun Himura, from Wakamura High. In case you two don't already know my name, my tattoos should tell you who I am." A feral grin crossed her lips, her arms pressed against the edge for support while she towered over the other two. She wasn't shy about her body and let them stare. "You sure came to this inn at an interesting time..."

Deciding not to pay too much attention to the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo that was with the springs in her, Ayano closed her eyes as the atmosphere slowly rocked her to sleep. As she did, her field of vision changed from the oriental hot springs to an all-too familiar park. She knows that she's been here before, the large sakura tree in the distance was the one thing that made Ayano feel..Nostalgic. If she remembered correctly, she spent a lot of time here with her parents, Chiaki as well, remembering all of this made Ayano giggle slightly, Chiaki herself just told her a story earlier when they were kids. The silliness made the girl's giggle turn into full-blown laughter as the landscape shifted once more, this time she was back to reality and in the springs. Looks like she was dozing off more than she could've expected, Ayano splashed some of the hot water on her face to wake herself from the trance and sighed as she went back to her original position. Looking around, it seemed that the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was still here, much to her chagrin.

All of a sudden, the peace was disturb when a loud voice shouted in surprise. Making her shriek from her position, suddenly arms made their way in between her thighs and just below her chest, the arms began to tickle her, making her burst out in laughter, despite her protests, "S-Stop th..that! Hahaha!!" The tickling assault made Ayano flail her arms and legs wildly as she continued to laugh. The tickling was too much to bear and the spots they were hitting were just right, making her blush bright red. If it's one thing she knows, tickling is a very obscure way of...Heaving and out of breath from laughing, Ayano thanked the gods above that the relentless assault on her had finally ceased and her attacker was revealed to be none other than Chiaki herself...Who else would be able to know where to tickle? She began to remember that they were not alone...The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo turned to both of them. Ayano's face practically became a tomato at this point as she gulped down her fears, talk about embarrassing.

After she was done with Chiaki, the other girl leaned in close to her, making her reel back in response. The distance between their faces were zero and Ayano felt like she was about to get murdered by those horror movie villains once they've cornered the female protagonist. Thankfully she retracted and Ayano sighed in relief.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo introduced herself as "Jun Kimura" and she goes to the same school as them as well. Well then, that's just great. As Ayano survyed the girl from head to toe, she was reminded of a typical femme fatale type of character. She looked like she could kill you at any moment but would decide not to just for the kick of it. She's not embarrassed at all about flaunting her body like a fashion model.
Jun told them that they came at an interesting time, making Ayano wonder.

"Interesting? How?"

”Shit, you saw me come out of that café, didn’t you?" Sato grimaced, sliding his hand from the stranger’s grasp after a light bow from himself. It stung a little that this random girl thought he was himself a female, though after the whole debacle he had just went through, he almost questioned it himself. ”Wait, Noboru?” It’d been weeks since Sato had last met with the underclassman, and wanting to be sure that they were discussing the same person, the teen pulled out his cell phone. He navigated back to the most recent text he had received from the second-year. The picture was clearly not taken by Noboru, and Sato doubted it was particularly consensual at the time of the photo based on the crowd framing the shot and dramatic stand-off the boy was apparently having, but it was the only photo he had of Noboru.

”This Noboru?” Sato held the phone out to show the stranger what was being displayed on the screen: a shot of a muscle-bound student posing in what looked to be a store or something. A distracting glare of light reflected off the sweat on the boy’s body. After the girl had an apt time to take in the photo, Sato shoved the device back into his pocket and looked at the girl again. ”Whether it is or isn’t however, you can rest assured that I’m not trying to ‘take’ your Noboru. I barely know the guy.” He took a short step backwards, turning his shoulders a quarter turn away. It would be absolutely awful to hold up Rokurou on account of being interrogated by some random girl that stopped him on the streets. ”I apologise, but I’m meeting a friend in a bit. Have a good day, miss.” As Sato began to walk away, he gave a half-hearted wave.

---

Sato checked the time on his phone. Ten minutes past and no new notifications. Typical. Just as the male pushed off from the wall to head home, the next train arrived and Sato watched as all the passengers disembarked, just to be sure. While in a mixture of being unsurprised and surprised, Sato waved over to the club president. Rokurou approached with a scowl on his face and can of soup in his grasp, and Sato tried hard not to match it. It would be beneficial to be the higher one. The two stood silently for a moment despite exchanging very shallow nods, before Rokurou took a long drag from the can. ”You’re late, with soup." Not Sato’s strongest conversation starter.

”I would’ve had something before I came here but that would’ve made me later, and that would’ve caused your panties to get into an even tighter knot.” An obnoxious slurp accompanied by a cutting glare. Sato shifted his weight to one hip, frowning at the comment. It stuck a little more than it should’ve.

Rokurou took off back towards the shopping district and Sato walked beside him. ”You know that Mika and her squad are planning to overthrow you, or whatever dramatic term you’d like to use, right?”

”’Course, they can’t just decide to kick me out. Obviously talked to me about it.” Rokurou blandly stated, fishing in his pockets for something. As he did so, Sato considered when they would have done that and decided that it happened on the last meeting he skipped. ”Let me use your phone, man.”

”What?” Sato stopped abruptly, before going back to a very slow walk. Rokurou matched it almost immediately. ”Why do you need it?”

”Not like I came here just to talk to you for a minute. I’m meeting someone here and I need to call them.” Sato sighed before handing over his phone to the brawnier male, who immediately unlocked it with a precise motion. Though, just after he did so, Rokurou almost buckled to the ground while restraining his laughter. It took Sato a good couple of seconds to fathom what could be the source of such entertainment, and when he did, Sato nearly tackled the other boy, who kept the device just out of reach. ”I didn’t know you were—"

”I don’t— I’m not— Just give me my phone back!” Sato shouted, in the same tone as a child’s protest. He was seriously not in the mood for yet more implications and/or assumptions regarding his sex and surrounding attributes. The teen grappled with Rokurou, clawing for the phone, until his slender frame was pushed away with one good shove.

”Dude,” Rokurou yelled with a huff of air. ”I still need to make that call. Chill.” Sato shook his head in disagreeance, though he resigned to the loss, and sulked at the side of the street as the club prez made his oh-so important call.

Toma Tanaka - April 26th, Afternoon | Amusement Park

Glancing up from his phone, Toma did his best to stifle the smirk that was spreading on his face. The group of boys were still trying to act tough despite how obviously intimidated they were by the purple-haired girl. It was a pretty pathetic show, but certainly amusing, and Toma was able to drop his guard and fully enjoy their deserved humiliation as they backed off, now fully confident that there wouldn't be a fight. He gave them a mocking wave as they began turning around to retreat.

"Hm?" he asked while turning his head towards Kotori as she thanked them, still wearing his amused smile -- noting at the same time that the other girl's name was Hanazawa. "No reason to thank me, Shirohane-san, I didn't do anything. It was all her." As he said so, he looked over at Hanazawa and gave her a friendly, appreciative smile, before looking back at Kotori. "And don't apologize either, alright? Not your fault that those guys felt like being... uh, jerks." He stopped himself from using any harsher words, despite fully believing they'd give a more accurate description of the three.

Noticing Kotori picking at her skirt and looking nervous, Toma decided to continue talking and just generally try to be reassuring, hoping it would help put her at ease.

"They go to our school, right?" he began, his left hand moving to scratch his nose. "If they ever bother you again, let me know..." He paused, realizing that -- as Kotori knew her name -- Hanazawa was likely in her year. "Or ask Hanazawa-san. She seems to know how to deal with them well enough."

Wanting to deflect as much attention off of Kotori as possible, he then turned to Hanazawa and gave her a respectful bow. "I'm Tanaka Toma, from class 3-1," he said, introducing himself. "And I'm new to Warakuma..." He paused, realizing that that wasn't really something he'd be able to continue saying. "... well, relatively," he corrected. A small, admiring grin crossed his face. "That was awesome, how you scared them off just by glaring at them. I guess they pull stuff like this often?"

Sunday 26th April 2015: Time Unknown

Leiko Hamada: Enchanted Woodlands

"Are you quite done snivelling, little girl?" The forest creature sneered, watching Leiko's quivering form with a note of disgust. "Come on now, there's no need to cry. I thought you were supposed to be stronger than that."

"H-How..."The whole situation beggared belief. Everything about that...thing before her mirrored her own features, from her facial expressions to the subtle tones in her voice. And yet there was something so wrong with her that it made Leiko sick merely to look at her. Her cold, yellow-gold eyes, the cynical smile that pressed her full lips...

This was some kind of cruel joke, it had to be. There was no other way, the very thought of considering her as anything but an impersonator was insane. And yet...

"What...do you want?" Leiko managed to muster all her confidence into that one sentence, her eyes looking up to meet the imposter's unwillingly. "Who put you up to this? Was it them? The cult?" Just the thought of her kidnappers made her blood boil. "If it is, I swear..."

"Ooh, the big bad men must be so scared of brave little Leiko!" The creature suddenly broke into a peal of laughter, causing Leiko to gape her mouth open like a fish. "Surely you must be kidding? What good are you on your own? You can't survive a day by yourself, let alone take them on. Face the truth, little girl."

"How...how dare you!" Leiko cried, her face twisted in outrage as something within her started to break. "You don't even know me!"

"Oh heavens me, aren't we listening? You are me." The faerie-like being gave a condescending tut and a waggle of her finger. " I know everything that goes through that vapid head of yours. The fantasies you dream, the people you care about, your true passion..."

"W-What? Shut up! Shut up!" Leiko screamed, shaking her head as she tried to disentangle herself from the venomous words that crept into her mind.

"Oh my, stop being so dramatic!" The other Leiko grinned, a theatrical gasp quickly following suit as Rui and the others finally arrived on the scene. "Oh look! We finally have an audience! Now this can be called a true performance!"

"It's okay Leiko we're here..."

"Shinichi...?" Leiko peered out through her fingers as Rui, Noboru and an unfamiliar boy arrived before them, relief and terror flooding through her every being. "Wait, don't-"

"So nice to see you accepted our invitation, boys!" Other Leiko turned her head and beamed before them. "And we were just starting the performance too!" With a wink, the forest dweller turned back to focus on the cowering Leiko. "We always loved a good standing ovation. All that praise and attention we craved.."

"N-No..."

"After that first taste of appreciation, popularity...we needed more. We needed to control the people that cared about us. If we held all the power, then they would always need us..." The other Leiko started to frown. "Of course, putting on airs was part of the role. And oh, how much of a chore it feels sometimes. Like that silly girl that always follows us around. She's like a fly we can't squash."

Surely, she didn't mean..."She's my best friend! Don't talk about her like that!" Leiko trembled, her eyes flitting nervously at Rui and the other and then back to her imposter. She couldn't just let her spout these poisonous lies...

Oh my...was that genuine pain I heard just now? Oooh, see, that's why we're the greatest actress in Warakuma!" The second Leiko applauded raucously. "Such an elaborate fantasy... a loyal to the end best friend, a doting fiancé, crowds of appreciative fans..." She sighed dreamily. "It's like the perfect fantasy made reality, don't you think? It's all we ever wanted...without them, we're nothing..."

She made Leiko sound so weak, so needy that it made her stomach churn. She was more than that. She was the President, the most popular girl in school, she didn't need fantasies...

"It's the perfect scenario right now, isn't it? Strong, brave males coming to rescue you from deep in the woods...", Other Leiko sighed loftily, glancing over at the others. " Drama, suspense, that thrill of being saved...It's just like a fairytale. But now we get to actually live in one..." Her nails slowly raked against the bark of a nearby tree wistfully.
"But I don't want to pretend any longer. Were the world mine, I would make them all grovel before me, like the rest. They wouldn't be able to breathe without my existence..."

"No!" Leiko yelled, her thoughts in pieces as she crumpled to her knees. "Stop it! Stop lying!"

"You're the one lying to yourself, Leiko!" The other Leiko's voice started to crackle in anger. "Why are you still pretending? Wake up and take responsibility for once! You're a weak, selfish, insecure little girl who craves to be acknowledged. It's pathetic." Her head tilted to the side in a condescending manner. "But that makes two of us, I suppose. I mean, after all you are me."

"NO!" Leiko was lost to all thought and reason, her insecurities dragged out to the fore as a vicious wind started to bluster through the dead, barren trees that encircled them. "You're wrong! Everything you're saying is a lie! You...are not me!"

A strange glint appeared in the eyes of her doppelganger, and not long after, Leiko felt her arms and legs bind together with thick, ropey vines that ensnared her body and pulled her away from the others. Totally bound, the high school girl watched helplessly at what would unfold next.

TRACK: I will Face Myself

"Persona!", as the shadowy image of Leiko began to blur and then be engulfed by light, the roots around it began to lash and the party advanced quickly to defend Leiko. Everyone's Persona formed a wall in front of Leiko and repelled the whipping roots as they grabbed Leiko and took her to safety. As the light cleared, a new figure took the place of Leiko's shadow. Just as they thought, this was the... Combat form, so to speak. The Shadow only made a sinister laugh before speaking once more.

"With all the actors on stage, I will show you a performance that none shall forget!", with battle initiated, with the shadow taking the first move. Throwing a Garu right at Kami, although Rui intercepted it with his own Garu, cancelling it out, but that didn't stop Leiko's shadow from resuming the attack with the vines upon the whole party. Rui easily slashed them down again, though this meant he couldn't advance, but perhaps someone else can behind his defense.

Leiko was given this time to think more about herself, but what was she to think?

Noboru shielded his eyes, trying to block the flying winds. They were getting on his neeves pretty bad, enough to make a bad pun or two.

Yo Leiko! Calm your shit! You gotta daffodil with your problems, not run away. Stop garden your heart with these thorns,they're really getting in our sides. Rui, cover me, i'll try to go in and knock this stupid shadow around a bit. Let me leaf a few bruises!

Puns aside, this creature was abdolutely horrifying. He chose not to remember what his shadow looked like. Is this what everyone had inside of them? This angry beast?

Matthew Harvester || [insert root pun here]

Damn wind almost blinded Matt, luckily Rui was ready for action and canceled it out. which lead to the attack of vines.
"every rose has its thorn~.... what? I thought it was as good time as any" Matt was trying to joke around to keep positive though in reality he was still shocked seeing the shadow... So this is what it was like huh. Matt was thinking about how it was so hard for him to accept his reality but decided it was best to put it behind him, all he wanted was to be truly accepted.

Aside from the terrible puns hearing Nobo's plan to rush in Matt thought of the vines and voiced his idea.
"hey guys how bout i try to cover ya'll by burning the vines? they should be weak to fire right? just give the signal when you are ready to go."