[IC] The Closed World (Persona 3/4 inspired RP in an alternate Japan)

[Rafale]

dream, noun, often attributive \ˈdrēm\
: a series of thoughts, visions, or feelings that happen during sleep

: an idea or vision that is created in your imagination and that is not real

: something that you have wanted very much to do, be, or have for a long time

This, was a dream. At least, Violetta thought so. This situation was much too out of the ordinary to be considered reality.

re·al·i·ty, noun \rē-ˈa-lə-tē\
: the true situation that exists : the real situation

: something that actually exists or happens : a real event, occurrence, situation, etc.

She felt tired. Overhead, a blue-tinted moon laid in the sky, coloring the clouds that were gathered around it. Around herself, the ground rose up and strange, unnatural ways, and were covered in checkerboard patterns and had pieces of black metal breaking out of the ground. No life besides herself and the man in front of her could be heard, seen or found to begin with. Speaking of the man in front of her, he was tall, with amber eyes and blonde hair. Like her, for whatever reason, he wore the winter uniform of Shirasagi High, which consisted of a black blazer shirt with the school insignia emblazoned on the left breast and a cerulean tie, black colored slacks and black shoes. For herself, it consisted of mostly the same thing up top, but with a few white highlights that added a unique ornate look to the uniform and forgoing the tie for a ribbon of similar coloring. The skirt was a typical pleated skirt of a similar color to the ribbon, but slightly darker and with a few frills along the hem. Honestly, she thought it impossible for someone to confuse them from a distance, especially considering the differences.

dif·fer·ence, noun \ˈdi-fərn(t)s, ˈdi-f(ə-)rən(t)s\
: the quality that makes one person or thing unlike another

: something that people do not agree about : a disagreement in opinion

: the degree or amount by which things differ

For some reason, she couldn't move anything except for her eyes. And for some other reason entirely, she found herself attempting to avoid looking into the other person's eyes, who seemed to be in the same predicament. Eventually, she did look into his eyes, and when she did, she suddenly knew his name without speaking and her vision filled with the color of his eyes, before she tore her eyes away. She realized without being told that the same must have happened for him.

Violetta now found herself in her bed, staring into the dark. A cold sweat came down her back and she looked down at her clock. 5:00 she read. With a shrug, she went back to sleep but the events and the man, who was apparently named Zen, remained in her mind even as the sun came up...

That night, Violetta dreamt of Zen, despite knowing nothing of him. In the same way, Zen had dreamt of Sayuri, Sayuri of Mizuko, Mizuko of Hatsune, Hatsune of Dominick and the lattermost of the very first. This bizarre, common dream would eventually link all these people together, but none of them knew for what and what would await them in the days to come...

[Lucius Cypher]

Dreams were a funny thing. It's been three years since Dominick lost his sight, and he's grown used to not knowing how things look. But it's different in dreams. He see's things in them, like a reminder of what he's missing out on. His dream started fairly psychedelically, lots of colors, flashing lights, like he was in some sort of neon city. All very pretty to look at, if overwhelming. But soon the colors began to fade and turn black. Dominick didn't think much of this until something stood out. Or someone really.

He couldn't tell who he or she was at first. Like the back ground, the stranger was naught but a flash of colors. It was almost blinding how flashy the stranger was, until Dominick's body began to move towards the stranger. He didn't feel it, but he could see it in a third-person perspective. It was like he was just a ghost, watching the two figures come closer. Dominick took the chance to see what he was wearing, wondering if this was one of those "Naked upon arrival" dreams. But no, he seemed to be wearing some sort of uniform. It consisted of a black blazer with some sort of emblem stitched left to the breast and a dark green shirt, black colored slacks and black shoes. Dominick didn't know it, but it was the school uniform for his new school. But he just thought he was being edgy. Ah, but there was one more important accessory. Wrapped over Dominck's eyes were bandages. "So I guess I'm still blind even here, neh?" Dominick began to move towards himself, trying to touch him. It was an odd sensation; he touched his arm and he could feel something touching his arm, but also he could feel his fingers pressing against his arm. Very trippy.

As his ghost self finished checking himself out, he turned towards the stranger. Suddenly the colors stopped shifting, and he could see who it was. A girl. Suddenly Dominick found himself back into his own body, but everything was dark."Whoa, wait, what happened!?" He shouted, it echoed, but no responds. Unsure if he was still dreaming or not he tried to move, but nothing came from it. He couldn't walk, he didn't feel his hands move, he wasn't even sure if he was breathing. But suddenly, he could feel the bandages around his eyes loosen, before they fell to the ground. He could see through his own eyes once more. Now he knew he was still dreaming, but his focus was directed towards the figure in front of him. He started at the feet; black shoes, small like a girl's, with socks that went up just a little bit before her pleated skirt. Ah, the zettai ryouiki. How he missed the phenomenon. He had hoped to see more coming to Japan, but there were some issues a few years back involve getting his eyes stabbed out. Oh well. He continued to look up from her skirt and saw she wore a blazer much like his own, but with white highlights. She had a blue ribbon just a little bit over the top of her blazer, but the most oddest part about her was her white hair. Well, it was more of dull grey, or maybe even a faded silver, but either way it caught his eyes. At least until he looked into her own. Blue-silver, like a sapphire brooch. It was very beautiful.

The moment he looked into her eyes Dominick snapped back into reality. His eyelids opened and he looked at this ceiling, or would have if he was in his dream world. He only saw darkness here. Dominick sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes, wiping away flakes and trying to figure out what time it was. The biting cold air suggested it was still morning, but given that his alarm didn't go off (It's set early enough that he could wake up, used the bathroom, get dressed, make/get breakfast, and walk to school) it was likely before the sunrise. He reached towards his nightstand trying to get a hold of something, his radio/alarm. It was a special one his mother got for him; with a press of a certain button, it would tell Dominick the time. It used a voice synthesizer so it sounded robotic, but he didn't mind. It was useful. "FIVE AM IN THE MORNING" Buzzed the robotic voice. It was quite early and Dominick still felt sleepy, so he laid back into his bed and covered himself in his sheets again.

But as Dominick tried to resume his sleep, his mind couldn't forget the girl. In fact, he was getting a few visions of others now too. Another girl, though this one was much more vague. Was his mind just playing tricks on him? Was he still a hormonal-addled teenager, with the subconscious desire to shack up with this cute girl for natural reasons? Did that dream have actual significance? Would he become a harem protagonist? Dominick didn't know, and honestly wasn't sure if he wanted to find out. But he did have one answer to a question he never thought he'd have to ask. That girl's name is Verniy Violetta Valerievna, and she went to Shirasagi High. His school. "It's probably nothing..."

[Mizos]

"The fuck is this," Zen's voiced echoed in the huge area he found himself standing in. Looking around there was no way this was any kind of reality, the entire background was covered in what looked like an endless starry sky, the stars twinkling in and out of existence as fast as his eyes were able to keep up. Giant chunks of land floated slowly around him, some of it was brown like a desert wasteland while others had grass and looking in the distance he could even see one with a small tree on it.
There seemed to be an endless amount of these chunks and looking up he found a huge one the size of a city hovering above, it cast a shadow where he was standing before floating into the distance.
Whatever this was it made Zen extremely uncomfortable, he was positive he didn't have the imagination to have a dream as vivid and...creative as this. He quickly looked behind him expecting to see another version of himself or something grotesque only to see endless darkness. He let out a relieved sigh and looked down to find himself on a chunk of floating land, this one had grass on it like the ones currently floating around him, there was even a small pond on his right.
Zen noticed he was wearing a blazer with a cerulean tie when he looked down, holding his leg out he was also wearing slacks and black shoes with it, he grit his teeth and realized this was probably the uniform of his school Shirasagi.
Reaching up he grabbed hold of the tie and pulled it down causing it to hang loosely around his neck, he unbuttoned his blazer and threw it open with more of a flash than he intended. There was no way he would wear this normally so that confirmed this was definitely a dream, but why his school uniform of all things he hated wearing it formally which was the only way he was allowed too. At the very least there weren't any teachers around so he didn't have to worry about getting yelled at, even if he did this was a dream if he punched a teacher it wouldn't matter.
"...I'd still better not, if this is some subconscious thing it might be bad," Zen said as he shoved his hands in his pockets and started walking forward.

There wasn't much to walk too as the floating continent was pretty small, when he reached the edge he looked over to see if the starry sky was below him too, however as he neared the edge a chunk of land popped out causing him to take a step back.
"....okay...." Zen said before he put his foot out. With a bit of tentativeness he tapped the land, when it didn't fall he put his foot firmly on the land and with a scoff stepped fully onto the land. Another piece of land quickly shot up as he did so and seeing it Zen started walking hunching forward a bit as more land continued to form as he walked. He continued forward not entirely sure where he was going as he walked, he looked ahead to see what was in the distance before he noticed another piece of land with someone on it. Zen stopped and pulled his hands out of his pockets as he confirmed it was actually a person, he looked behind him before clicking his tongue and turning back to the person picking up a light jog.
Thankfully the land kept up with his pace and he made it to the person pretty quickly, once he stepped on the land he slowed down and clenched his hands into fists as he walked up towards them their back currently to him. Looking at the persons outfit he noticed they were wearing some kind of skirt, he assumed it was a girl but he's been proven wrong before in such matters. Looking at her black...or was it red hair in a high ponytail made him consider it really was a girl, and if so why was a girl in his dreams.
The girl turned around and he immediately glared in her direction not sure if she was threat but the moment his eyes locked with hers it felt like something was being forced into his skull.

Zen quickly sat up in his bed breathing heavily as sweat poured down his face, he looked around only to see the messiness that was his room which calmed him down.
He looked down at his body to see he wasn't wearing a shirt, he pat his bare chest and pinched himself which hurt but confirmed he was awake.
He looked over at his desk only to see a pair of his boxers with cats on them and a shirt covering it, reaching over he removed both articles of clothing before picking up his clock to see it read 5:00 a.m. which caused Zen to set the clock down and lay back on his pillow.
He could wake up and make some breakfast but after that messed up dream he didn't really feel like moving right now.
"Sayuri Takashi," Zen said as he stared at his white ceiling before closing his eyes.
He had heard the girl's name when he was in Kyushu, the unfortunate thing about being a delinquent is you hear the names of 'strong' people.
However that didn't excuse how he knew her first name as he had only heard her name once and only her last name so he assumed it was a boy. It was the day he transferred out of school and it was a hard day to forget as a few people came to settle the score with him. Even then he had never met the girl and definitely didn't hear her first name, he didn't recognize that girl at all in his dream but something just told him that was Sayuri even more so her name came to him so easily. Zen decided to ignore it and go back to sleep but as he tried the blank face of another girl flashed in his mind for a moment, he gripped his head and forced it down.
"The hell is wrong with me why do I keep thinking of women," Zen said before a small grey kitten hopped on his bed.
Zen looked over hearing a small 'mew' come from the cat, he reached over and grabbed the cat before setting her down on his chest and closing his eyes.
"I might be getting horny Mittens," Zen said with a heavy sigh. "Starting to make up women in my dreams."
At this the cat promptly got out of his grasp and jumped off the bed before moving away from him and into a mess of clothing in the distance.
"...oh right Mittens is a girl, sorry Mittens," Zen said before closing his eyes.
Whatever that was there was no need to think about it, the whole thing was just a dream maybe he did hear her first name or whatever, he decided to ignore it and go to sleep...but he found it incredibly hard to just forget about it.

[Demous]

Sayuri looked around with a curious look on her face, "Where the hell is this..." the area was a maze of long thin paths of ice going in every direction with no seeable pattern. Where the paths intersected there were platforms of varying sizes. The maze of paths extending farther then she was able to see. The most interesting thing of all was that it seemed to be floating in the middle of water. They weren't moving just hanging there as if it was something holding it there. Looking down at herself she finds she is wearing her School uniform and he bandages weren't on her hands which identified it as a dream if being underwater wasn't enough. Shaking her head she picked a path and started walking along it to the next platform. As she walked the platform and paths behind her collapsed forcing her to continue walking forward. The farther she walked the fewer paths were available to her eventually forcing her onto a single path. In the distance she could see another person standing at what looked like the end. Getting closer she could tell it was another girl. As she approached she slid her hands into her sleeves to hide her scars. Once she reached the final platform she stopped and the girl turned around but as soon and her face was visible she awoke with a jolt.

As she sat there a name started running through her head, "Mizuko Usagi." It was a name she'd heard a few times around school by people who were talking about the swim team. She'd also heard the name a couple times in "who would win" conversations that annoyed her to no end. Shaking her head she looked at the clock which read 5:00 am. Yawning she fell back down and closed her eyes, 'Stupid dream robbed me of an hour's sleep. What the hell was up with it anyway... Whatever I can worry about it later. Though it's probably nothing..." rolling over she tries to get back to sleep but can't help feel like there was something more to that dream.

[TheRpgGamer]

Hatsune woke up in her visually relaxing bedroom it's even aromatic because their maid used to spray aromatic air fresheners around her room.Hatsune yawned then proceed downstairs where she sees her big brother eating breakfast."Goooood Mooorniinngg!!!! Big Brother!!!" She greeted her brother with morning back kick."Ouch!" her brother groaned in pain "Do you always have to do that? Every single morning!?" her brother said angrily."Oh come on Big Brother.... that is how I say good morning to you :3" she answered combined with a pose and a smile."Whatever..... just eat your breakfast" her brother responded."Yay!!!! Thank you big brother!!! :) " and her brother smiled.

After eating breakfast, Hatsune returned to her room to freshen up.She started with brushing her teeth and took a bath afterwards.After taking a bath, Hatsune said to herself "It's the first day of school! i'm so excited, i hope I can have new friends and I hope my friends were my classmates" she giggled then she wears her uniform.She sprayed some perfume then she is ready to go! but she almost forgot her makeup.She doesn't leave without her makeup so she returned to her room and took it then left saying goodbye to her parents and her big brother.

Also, she remembered her dream while she was walking.She remembers being in the dark with Dominick.It was very strange because she is not that close with Dominick.Hatsune felt cold like she was in a middle of a snowstorm.Hatune tried to cleared her mind but she won't get the dream out of her.Hatsune tried everything to get that dream out of her but it won't work.Now, Hatsune felt a slight headache,She collapsed to the ground.

[Rafale]

In the end, however, Violetta found no rest. The bizarre dream of a youth she later came believe she had seen once or twice around school would not leave her mind for the rest of the morning and eventually, she just couldn't take it anymore and woke up a whole hour earlier than usual. As per the usual, her father was absent from the house, having, in recent times, picked up a job with a publishing company in Tokyo and thus only spent Sundays at home. It didn't change much for Violetta, however. She could take care of herself and, besides, her father's cooking was absolutely terrible. Good riddance she thought to herself as she reflected on the subject, pulling herself out of bed. 6AM. An ungodly hour to be awoken at, but alas, it was equally ungodly to remain in bed for another hour more with nothing to do but stare at the ceiling and think. At least getting ready for school would take her mind off of things. First, a shower was in order. She never did understand the Japanese tradition of a shower (for cleaning) and a bath (for relaxing) in the same evening, every evening, and instead preferred the more practical and more streamlined Russian-slash-everywhere else in the developed world tradition of a shower in the morning or the evening, if one is feeling particularly unclean after a day of, for example, exercise.

Ironically enough to her own ideals, culture and tradition, Violetta's bathroom, and house in general, was of a traditional Japanese style. In effect, this meant that the tub, no matter how large it was (Violetta suspected one could pile two corpses in it), served little to no purpose except for when she absolutely had to take a bath, a rare event and the utilitarian shower meant that her showers were somewhat less enjoyable compared to if she were to live in a western style house where the shower was the main priority in washes, complete with instant-hot water, multiple nozzles and all sorts of amazing, bourgeois goodies. Of course, perhaps that was only a pipe dream hatched by the capitalist, consumerist societies of modern day nations, but Violetta thought it an interesting thing to wish for nonetheless. Certainly served more purpose than a top of the line cellphone, such as the one she carried, at least in her opinion. A shower could in fact dictate how one would go through the rest of their day; cold and fulfilling or hot, steamy and enjoyable.

That sounded wrong. Violetta silently remarked as she removed her bedclothes and prepared the water of the boring, old style shower, that took ages for the hot water to start, which prompted her to start the water and do something else before getting in the shower, or else she would face the unforgiving torrent of cold water. Not an exciting proposition. Thus, she instead spent a moment bringing her clothes ; clean except for the smell of sweat coming off of them. It would be a waste to machine wash them, so she put them aside for a more old fashioned method of cleaning when she had some time in the evening. Finishing this, she finally was able to see some steam wafting away from the shower and she entered, letting the hot water wash away any thoughts of the dream, which, while not unpleasant, felt somewhat haunting, forboding even and she preferred greatly to not remember it, for whatever reason. Shaking the thought away, she reached for the necessary soaps, shampoos and various other products that she deemed necessary in her daily cleaning and began to lather and rub her body with the different liquids, stepping out of the downpour of steaming hot water when necessary and lithely returning into the water when she needed to rinse. This continued for about five minutes before she finally finished with her hair and stepped out of the shower, turning the knob and opening the door in near synchronization.

She grabbed her own, designated towel from the heated rack with equal agility, which would create an impressive, perhaps intimidating display for anyone (read: pervert) who would watch her shower. First rubbing out her hair with the towel to keep her rather long hair from dripping water on the floor, she moved over to the counter to finish her morning cleansing; makeup, teeth brushing, hair drying and face washing, among other things. While Violetta didn't especially care about her own appearance in regards to what others think about it, she did think of doing her daily morning routines to their fullest as a matter of self-respect. Looking nice to others, in her honest opinion, was a bonus. Within a few minutes, she had finished and she then put on her underwear which she had retrieved from her dresser before heading over to the bathroom. With her body dry, she could now move throughout the house without a worry. Now, breakfast was in order. Passing the washing machine and dryer as she left the bathroom, she listened to verify if the dryer had finished drying her uniform and hearing it still chug away, she shrugged and continued onward towards the kitchen.

The first thing she remarked upon entering the was that her father had been considerate enough to put water in the espresso machine before leaving. Violetta and her father didn't drink traditional coffee, instead preferring the more direct, hard and powerful boost of an espresso in the morning. Violetta always drank hers without any sugar, cream or other substances that could be added, in deep contrast to most girls her age who sought bean based energy in the form of cream, chocolate, sugar or even vanilla laden drinks, such as cappucinos or mochas. While Violetta certainly had nothing against these drinks and those who preferred them, she definitely felt much more of a boost in the steamy, thick liquid that was an espresso. Besides, it was simpler to make, even with an older machine. Just put ground coffee in the machine, hit the button and let it fill up a cup. Along with her coffee, she decided that with the time she had before she would need to go to school, she would have more than enough time to make something more lavish than usual, deciding that this morning, she would indulge herself with the sweet flavors of pain perdu. Soaking some bread in a creamy liquid she wasted no time in preparing, she set them onto the oily pan and continued in making the delicious European breakfast as she drank her espresso. It took a good moment to prepare, the liquid having taken the most time, but it was more than worth it in her opinion.

The Russian girl also decided to have a bit of apple, in order to balance out her breakfast and she contently munched this down along with the French toast. Finishing these, she took her various, self-chosen vitamins with a glass of milk and cleaned this all up and returned to the bathroom to find that the dryer had finished with her uniform. Her clothes in hand, the half-naked Violetta returned to her room to get dressed. Finally, after about forty-five minutes of necessities and an extra quarter-hour of various fripperies, she had finished her morning preparations. And yet, despite all the time taken up by these practices, she still had a good amount of time before classes began, due to her waking an hour earlier than usual. It only took a half hour for her to walk to school, so she had about thirty minutes before she would even need to leave the house. Not desiring to leave early, she plopped herself down on the sofa and turned on the television. News. Well, nothing new there. Her father and herself both only ever watched the news, as they were generally disinterested by the typical Japanese television pastimes of cheesy game shows and the world famous anime category of shows. Thus, whenever they rarely turned on the television, they watched whatever news channel was the first one they got to by hitting the program button on the remote.

Generally, not much of note happened in New Harumi. It was, if anything, a modern while unremarkable city with low levels of crime and not much to report. However, the current report piqued Violetta's interest for whatever reason.

Disappearances in New Harumi City!
Authorities suggest a connection with recent sightings of strange figures in the western district shipping trainyards. Citizens are urged to stay away for the time being, however no evidence has been found, with the police expected to change focus later today to the earlier murder of Doctor Tanigawa in the outskirts of town...

For some reason, Violetta found herself somewhat interested by this strange report. Normally, such things didn't tend to interest her, but for once it did and it was frustrating not to know why. If she had friends, perhaps she could investigate it later in the day. Even if it was only a peak into the western district trainyards, it still could be an interesting thrill-seeking venture. Not really her thing, but she wondered if someone else might find it interesting. Bizarrely enough, Violetta almost wished someone would take her there with them, as the beginning of some romantic crime adventure. Nyet. That is impossible. I have just been reading too many light novels. She smirked as she realized the time and turned off the TV before leaving out through the door.

[Lucius Cypher]

Dominick didn't really get to sleep long. About thirty minutes of tossing and turning, ten or so of contemplating whether or not he should do something about his morning wood. nothing came from it as shortly after he heard the familiar sound of his mother waking up and using the bathroom. Another few minutes passed and Dominick decided that he might as well get ready too. getting out of bed he walked strait towards his closet, a path he was familiar with. he reached inside and grabbed one of his many uniforms; his mother made sure to buy him ten, each one with a dark green shirt. His favorite color. On the way out he grabbed some socks and his bandages, walking slowly towards the bathroom. By the time he arrived his mother was already gone, so he just stepped in and did his usual morning routine.

After using the bathroom, putting on his uniform, and throwing his pajamas into the washbin in the bathroom, Dominick headed towards the kitchen for breakfast. he could hear his mother frying something, and from the smell, it was eggs and bitter melon. As the name implies, it was bitter, but his mother says it's healthy. Dominick didn't have much room to complain, food was food, and if he wanted to eat something else he should have woken up and cooked himself. Upon entering the kitchen his mother greeted him, and he returned the greeting with his own. "Good Morning Mother." He said in Japanese. His mother would speak to him in a mixture of English and Hmong, peppered with some Japanese as well. It sometimes impressed him how many languages his mother knew. Four, he thinks. English, Hmong, Thai, and Japanese. And she picked up Japanese quite quickly. His train of thought was soon set aside when his mother put a plant in front of him, along with a cup of orange juice. Taking a sip of the juice, it was with high pulp. His favorite.

Dominick and his mother ate breakfast together, while his mother watched the morning news. He listened in on it half-heartily, his mind still lingering on that girl he saw, Violetta. Now that he thought about it, what did he know about her? Next to none really, aside from her name. Not even much rumors of her as far as he could remember. Dominick pondered what would happen if he met her. He wouldn't know who she was on sight and didn't know how she sounds like. She'd have to tell him his name or someone would have to point her out to him. He kept on eating until he heard his apartment's buzzer ring. From there his mother went over to the intercom and asked who it was. Dominick listened in, catching some words. "It's me, Shabazz. I'm here to pick up Dominick."

Shahbaz was one of Dominick's friends. A black kid born in Japan, but both his parents were Americans. Tourist in fact, but his mother left them and his father was robbed, leaving them without any papers to go back home. They waited four years before Shahbaz's father simply gave up and applied for citizenship in Japan. His father worked for Dominick's father, which meant that Dominick and Shahbaz became well acquainted. He was a good friend, served as his eyes around Japan and made sure no one picked on Dominick. They also went to the same martial arts dojo and made sure to give Dominick and good fight when they get to spar. Shahbaz also worked part time at his mother's bakery, so often the two would meet up with each other. "Tell him I'm almost ready to go. I just need to put my shoes on and get my things."

Indeed, after scarfing down his breakfast Dominick put on his shoes and grabbed his schoolbag. He grabbed one of his walking sticks out from his bag and extended it. his mother kissed him goodbye as he left his apartment to meet with Shahbaz down at the first floor. Dominick was confident enough with his stride that he could take stairs, a simple act that took Dominick month's to relearn. He met up with his friend and the two began to walk towards school together. Shahbaz was quick to start talking with Dominick chiming in every once in a while with a short comment or two. One thing that caught his ear was something about a train yard and a murder. He didn't know if the two were connected, but he also remembered hearing about it on the news. "I wonder what's going on at that trainyard. It isn't too far away from our apartments. Hey, maybe it's someone living in it." Shahbaz thought otherwise, thinking that it had something to do with the murder of the doctor. Dominick had his doubts. "If you think so, why don't we go look? Not like the police is going to fence the place off." Shahbaz thought otherwise, making his excuse saying that he had to help Dominick's mom at the bakery, but he knew that Shahbaz was scared. He was superstitious like that.

Either way the subject changed and the two students continued on their path to school. Dominick tried to keep up, but his thoughts kept getting distracted. He couldn't stop thinking about Violetta.

[Mizos]

Zen stared at his ceiling upset that he was awake and already in a bad mood, after that messed up dream he tried to go back to sleep but he really didn't like the idea of the dream continuing. He ended up laying in his bed for about ten minutes before he decided to get up and just get an early start on the day, he stepped over a few articles of clothing in his messy room and made his way over to his closet. On his way he switched off one of his two heaters since he was up before throwing open his closet and sifting through his clothing mumbling to himself as he grabbed his uniform. Zen threw his uniform on the bed before making his way to the bathroom, he wasn't a stickler when it came to cleanliness but he wasn't about to wear the same underwear with that uniform, and thanks to the dream and possibly the heat of his room he was sweating like a doberman Shepard. Zen actually stopped mid walk not entirely sure how that simile summed up one of his normal bodily functions but he wasn't in the mood to question his own thoughts right now.

Zen walked into the bathroom and ran the bath water before taking care of his business, if there was one thing he enjoyed it was a bath in the morning just seemed to get him ready to take on whatever he was going to face in the day. He got out after a long second soak already looking forward to taking one when he got home. Waking up early even afforded him more time to relax, he might make this a habit if he's not careful but he did admit being left alone to his thoughts didn't help him forget that dream so that was the only downside. Zen knew his aunt had already taken one so he drained the water and made his way to kitchen, normally the bath would be ready for the next person but Zen was very clear he didn't want to bathe in the same water as her, he made a comment about her age and being an impressionable youth which settled the dispute thus he always ran his own. Zen entered the kitchen and without wasting anytime grabbed the rice cooker before he started making breakfast.

He glanced to his right as he heard the shoji door open and his aunt walk in holding her hand over her mouth and yawning, just like him she had blonde hair though hers was longer and tied in bun at the moment. He actually liked that she didn't look too much like his mother, her skin was an apricot color though she had gained a bit of a tan lately, she had amber eyes which locked on him as she lowered her hand from her face. She was dressed in her normal business attire, a black suit and a pair of black dress pants, she wasn't wearing shoes but she would wear her dress ones once she left out the door. When their eyes met his aunt whose name was Yumi immediately raised her arm up almost covering her face as she looked at him with a combination of shock and horror.
"You're up early and breakfast is already ready," she said slowly lowering her arm. "W-what have you done with my nephew?"
"Screw you," Zen said in English. "Just sit down and eat."
"I was just joking," she said responding in English before sitting down. "Still it's rare to see you up so early."
The two of them always spoke in English at breakfast but Zen was the one that always had to initiate it in the mornings, she was fluent in Japanese but she preferred speaking English at home though she was considerate enough only to do so if Zen spoke in it first.
"You know you don't have to stay for breakfast, you can just eat and head out," Zen said setting a few balls of onigiri down in front of her. "You have the same thing for breakfast everyday and its easy to make."
"Yeah and miss having breakfast with my favorite nephew, not happening," Yumi said grabbing one. "Besides that means I have to cook, it's your job to cook not mine."
Zen sighed and set his own food down before pouring some food for mittens and putting it on the floor for her, he sat in his chair and started eating wanting to watch a little tv since he had more time this morning. Zen's eyes went up to his aunt as she chewed quite noisily and spoke to him not bothering to chew her food first, he didn't pay much attention to her conversation but he kept his attention on her as a sign he was willing to provide his attention. He wasn't in the mood to talk but Yumi always tried to put time aside to eat breakfast with him in the morning, she couldn't do it every morning but when she did he knew she had work early that day like every day. Because of that he always made breakfast as a silent thanks for the consideration.

"By the way Zen," Yumi said as Zen picked up their plates. "Did you hear about the disappearances on the news?"
"Nope," Zen responded quickly not shy about showing his disinterest in the subject. "I could care less what happens in the city, none of my business."
"You should care more about what happens in your community, anyway they seem to involve the western district train shipping yards, don't go wandering around there they mentioned something about strange figures."
Zen wondered how bored he was of the subject right now, he wanted to ignore her but something about the shipping yards pulled at him, though he wasn't sure what exactly that was.
"Anyway I gotta go to work, oh right Zen take a good look at me."
Zen turned towards his aunt as requested and she spun in a full circle giving a full view of her attire before placing a hand on her hip before speaking again.
"How do I look, I'm pretty damn hot right. Badass in terms of fashion and all that I might be home late tonight if you know what I mean."
She looked like any other businesswomen in japan, and some of them work skirts not pants but he knew if he was honest she'd probably punch him.
"....up until you open your mouth," Zen said sighing. "Yeah you look hot, I'm sure you'll catch a man in no time. Go for it Ganbare."
"I feel like your insulting me but I'll let it slide," Yumi said before tossing something at him.
Zen caught the object before turning it over, it was a black flip phone with a camera on it he recognized the object as his own cellphone but he wasn't sure why she was giving it to him.
"Keep that on you, if I'm going to be late that's the only way I can contact you. Just because you don't have any friends doesn't mean you can't keep it. Later!"
With that Yumi walked out of the door, Zen sighed and shoved his phone into his pocket before going to get his school bag wondering how she could have so much energy early in the day.

Zen started on his way to school throwing his bag over his shoulder and shoved his hands into his pocket as he made his way to school, the western district train shipping yards had a mother cat there, that's why the place stood out to him. He didn't care about the people getting kidnapped but he was worried for the mother cat, he might take some time stop by there though he didn't want to be late so he wondered if he should wait until after school. With a shrug of his shoulders he kept walking not looking forward to reaching school, if he got there and saw Sayuri he was at a loss on what to do, ignore might be the best option right now.

On his way to school Zen came to a sudden stop as he noticed a body in the middle of the road, it was the body of a young girl with red hair, she was wearing his school uniform so she wasn't homeless...at least he didn't think so. Though Zen didn't know who Hatsune was at the moment it wouldn't do to just casually walk past a young lady passed out in the street, a pervert could approach her.
"Hey!" Zen said taking his foot and pushing Hastune sides. "The hell're you doing just laying around get up!"
He continued to nudge Hatsune yelling at her as he did so, he didn't take into consideration that it looked bad for him to be nudging an unconscious girl with his foot while yelling at her to wake up.
"....if you don't wake up I can't promise what'll happen to you," he said taking a hand out of his pocket.
Of course he didn't mean himself but he didn't see a reason why he had to clarify that, he wasn't going to stand here and try and wake someone up forever, if he left an unsavory person could come along however and that bothered
"Damn it wake up, you know how many guys would go for those sweater melons while your asleep get up."

[TheRpgGamer]

Hatsune was in the dream world.All she sees was darkness and she heard a voice "Hey!""the hell are you doing wake up!""if you don't wake up I can't promise that to happen what'll happen to you""Damn it wake up,you know how many guys would go for those sweater melons"The voice seems to be familiar "Z-Zen?" She said then after all of that she regained consciousness "Z-Zen?" She said again as she stands up."What did you just say when I was asleep? You know how many guys would go for those sweater melons?" She asked Zen.Zen didn't respond and he just whistled."Maybe you're one of them? Aren't you?" She asked again.Zen fallen in silence."Pp-Pervert!" She screamed as she kicked Zen in the stomach "Take that by saying sweater melons but thank you for worrying about me Bye!" She added and flees.

She continued walking and passed by a TV Store.A breaking news attracted her attention

Disappearances in New Harumi City!
Authorities suggest a connection with recent sightings of strange figures in the western district shipping trainyards. Citizens are urged to stay away for the time being, however no evidence has been found, with the police expected to change focus later today to the earlier murder of Doctor Tanigawa in the outskirts of town...

"woah... Creepy" she commented and continued walking to her school

[KenichiHSD]

Kenichi woke up sweating, he always did when he dreamed about girls. But this dream was different, this dream wasn't about an idol, and it was much more innocent. Kenichi figured that it was because of those 'deeds' that he waked up sweaty. He didn't this time, so he concluded that it was when he dreamed about girls, and Kenichi couldn't deny, he loved them girls. This dream was.. Unusual to say the least. Kenichi kept staring at the ceiling instead of standing up. His mind working at lightning speed, questions popping up in his brain. This was the second time he got a dream like this, in both cases it were people of their school. He already knew their name from the start, but now it feels like it keeps repeating in his head.

Mimi Kisaragi to the rescue! Hehe, that would be cute.
He twisted his head and looked at his favorite idol. "Maybe I should release some tension."", a perverted smile creeping on his face as his hands lowered, but jerked back up again when his sister stormed in his room. "Jesus christ, why do I always bust you!", she looked disgusted, but Kenichi wasn't bothered. "Hehe, bust me.", Kenichi went in a laughing fit. "I'll strangle you!", she didn't think it was funny. "Now get the fuck up before I'll punch your face in." Yeah, she was always this violent.

Kenichi made himself fall out of his bed, and stood up after that. He always did that to wake himself up, but this time it wasn't needed. The dream had shaken him awake already. It toke a while, but he got ready. He toke the newspaper he always read during biking, promotes multi-tasking and concentrating at multiple tasks is what e would always say, and stepped out of the door. Grabbing his bike while placing the newspaper in the build-in standard he created himself. Happy and merrily reading while biking, coming across discussions and facts that made him feel like his IQ was raising on the spot. Until he was greeted by a shocking report.


Disappearances in New Harumi City!
Authorities suggest a connection with recent sightings of strange figures in the western district shipping trainyards. Citizens are urged to stay away for the time being, however no evidence has been found, with the police expected to change focus later today to the earlier murder of Doctor Tanigawa in the outskirts of town...


Guess where he lived, damn straight. His mind started working again, what if the people he dreamed about were connected to that? And this was Kenichi's History's Smartest Human! Dreaming about every missing report before it happened and- Boom, Kenichi collided head-first into a lamppost. He didn't feel it, he was used to beatings, but the momentum and impact, in combination with his bodyweight did make him knock back into the floor, making it seem like it hurt more than it actually did.

[Lovergames]

Mimi woke up with a strange dream about a nerdy guy that introduced himself in the dream as Kenichi.He seems doing an experiment and it exploded all of a sudden.Mimi cleared her mind and proceeded downstairs to meet her uncle."Good Morning Mimi!" Her uncle greeted.Mimi was a silent person so she didn't respond."haha... Same as always" her uncle laughed "By the way you want some dumplings?" Her uncle asked.Mimi nodded."Here you go!" Her uncle said as he put some dumplings in Mimi's plate.Mimi then ate her breakfast."Thank you uncle" Mimi thanked her uncle and her uncle just smiled.

After that, she took a bath then put on her school uniform and she is on the way to school.She passed by a old man reading a newspaper with this headline "Disappearances in New Harumi City" then she stopped."Hello sir can I borrow your newspaper for a while" Mimi asked "Uhh... Sure" the old man replied and gave the newspaper to Mimi.Mimi then reads the headline

Disappearances in New Harumi City!
Authorities suggest a connection with recent sightings of strange figures in the western district shipping trainyards. Citizens are urged to stay away for the time being, however no evidence has been found, with the police expected to change focus later today to the earlier murder of Doctor Tanigawa in the outskirts of town...

After reading, Mimi returned the newspaper to the old man and continued her way to school

[mopsock]

Yuuhei opened his eyes with utter confusion as he found himself in an empty street of Tokyo. At first Yuuhei thought that his uncle finally threw him out into the street while he slept, but seeing as there was nobody but himself in the street, he deduced that this was just a dream. He walked around for a while until he found a figure in the distance. He ran towards the figure and getting closer, he sees that the figure is of a girl. She was shorter than Yuuhei, she had red hair and red eyes, and she wore the Shirasagi High uniform for girls. He wondered why he's having this dream about this girl, but the dream was abruptly stopped as he feels a blunt pain on his waist and a loud noise, "Yuuhei! Wake up you lazy shit!"

Yuuhei woke up while covering his right side. Looking up, he sees his uncle looking back at him with a glare. "It's already 5 AM and we have to do something this morning. Get your ass up and get ready for school." His uncle leaves and Yuuhei thinks about the name of the girl in his dream, Hatsune Minegishi. When the pain subsided, he stood up and walked downstairs and cooked for himself and his uncle. "Ramen again, huh... the tenth day straight" his uncle said. "Deal with it you ungrateful bastard. Be happy I'm not preparing an old running shoe, some dirt, and a cup of piss," Yuuhei replied. His uncle has a small laugh, "knowing you, you'd probably do it... and it'd probably taste better than what I can make." After finishing cooking, Yuuhei takes two bowls and serves himself and his uncle.

"It's almost 6 30, we're gonna do something soon," his uncle says. "Go take a shower and get ready for school." Yuuhei goes on to take a shower, brushes his teeth, then puts his uniform on. After putting his uniform on, he goes downstairs and sees his uncle with a cup of coffee and is watching TV. The speaker blares out and Yuuhei hears the report today-

Disappearances in New Harumi City!
Authorities suggest a connection with recent sightings of strange figures in the western district shipping trainyards. Citizens are urged to stay away for the time being, however no evidence has been found, with the police expected to change focus later today to the earlier murder of Doctor Tanigawa in the outskirts of town...

- His uncle turns off the TV and turns to Yuuhei, "You finished getting ready?" "Yeah, what are we doing anyway?" Yuuhei asks. "We just need to replace the chairs with the newer chairs I just ordered and throw the old ones in my truck, I won't be able to finish by myself before the restaurant opens." Yuuhei stands on the last step to the bottom, looking at his uncle with an odd look. "Geez, you're becoming more like my brother everyday. Look, I'll raise your wage this week if you do this." Yuuhei nods then starts to take the old chairs and taking them to his uncle's truck, and his uncle follows.

After they finish, Yuuhei almost got out the door until he was interrupted by his uncle, "Don't do anything dumb." "Don't worry, I'm not stupid enough to get myself killed. Besides, I can handle myself in a fight," Yuuhei says before leaving for school.

[Lucius Cypher]

"Trust nothing but pain to get me through the daze. Sleep with one eye open not to be their prey. Fist against my face they bring me to my knees, the pressure's crushing down so hard I can't break freeeee..." Shahbaz sang as he and Dominick passed a gas station where they usually picked up drinks. They didn't this morning simply because neither one of them were feeling thirsty. Dominick was walking along, holding his cane like a Microphone. "When I can feel my skin craaaawl... When I'm about to craaaack... The hunger for revenge gives me strength to staaaand..." Both the boys took a deep breath before they both sang out at the same time. It was... Decent. At least they got the lyrics right.

"I will be your deaaaadmaaan! With nothing but this blood on my hands! Stuck in your "Wonderlaaaaand"! I just want to make you bleed like me..." Soon Shahbaz stopped singing. Dominick continued on with the song for a moment until he noticed Shahbaz was silent. "Yo wussup? See something?" Shahbaz pointed towards someone laying on the floor, not that it would help Dominick. "Yeah, looks like someone took a nap in the streets. He's wearing our uniform too. Should we go check it out?" Dominick pondered his options. There was still a lot of time before school started, but who knows how long this would take. Worse comes to worse, they could say they were helping a fellow student out. He just hoped they didn't walk onto a crime scene. "Yeah, let's see what's up."

The two boys walked over to the kid on the ground. He had blond hair and Shahbaz actually recognized him. "Aye, it's Kuso!" Dominick turned to him and gave him a strange look. "That's not very nice. But I take it you know who he is?" Dominick said to Shahbaz in English. His friend nodded his head and walked away from the body. "Yeah, he's kind of an ass. I mean, not to me, but I've heard people talking about him. He's not good news." Dominick pondered some more. He didn't want any trouble, but this "Kuso" fellow seemed to be in some sort of trouble at least. He walked over to where the body was, poking the ground until his cane poked into what felt like flesh. "Hello? Are you well? Do you need assistance?" Dominick said in Japanese.

[Mizos]

Zen held his stomach as he lay on the ground coughing a little as he picked up the sound of voices, he wasn't sure what that was all about but that girl caught him off guard completely. That's the last time he checked on someone passed out on the ground, he should have just kept walking like any other normal person and ignored her, at the very least he wouldn't be in pain right now. While trying to get up he heard 'kuso' causing his eye to twitch a little as he caught it from the two's conversation. He felt something prod him and looked over to see the cane before his eyes moved up it to the person holding it, he arched a brow seeing the bandages over his eyes but stood up as he had just spoken to him after all.
"I'm fine," he said with a bit more irritation than necessary. "Just a little pissed since some red headed girl with huge cans kicked me in the stomach when I found her in the middle of the road. I was already pissed off and that didn't help."

Zen brushed off the bottom of his uniform before picking up his bag and throwing it back over his shoulder, his gaze immediately shot to Shahbaz before his eyes narrowed into a glare, he leaned forward tilting his head as he looked at him noting he seemed to be standing back a bit.
"Don't think I didn't catch what you said either, my name is Zen dammit. I should beat the crap out of you just for saying that...but your friend here was considerate enough to check on me so I'll let it go. Unless you two aren't friends then I don't see a reason not to hit you though going off what I was hearing I'm going to assume you are."
Zen straightened his body and cracked his knuckles as his attention remained on Shahbaz.
"It's going to be real hard to ignore that 'he's kind an ass' comment though so don't come near me as I tend to remember things like that for awhile."
He shoved his hand in his pocket and looked back at Dominick his gaze focused on his bandages for a moment before he spoke needing to address him too.
"You the not rude one," he said referring to Dominick. "Thank you for not just walking by but the same goes to you I don't want to to be anywhere near either of you, I'm content with remaining strangers."
Zen's attention went to their uniform, they looked just like his actually now that he thought about it that girl had the uniform on.
"You attend my school...damn it," Zen said. "This event never happened, speak of it and we'll have a problem later. Go on ahead if I encounter that girl again I don't trust myself so I'm going to let her get a good head start before I start walking again."

[TheRpgGamer]

Hatsune was walking and walking until she bumped a girl with a wooden practice sword on her back."Oh I'm sorry.Are you okay? I'm very very sorry" Hatsune apologized to the girl."By the way, I'm Hatsune Minegishi nice to meet you" she introduced herself "Ohhh... I noticed that you're going to the same school that I'm attending so why can't we walk together there and let's be friends" she invited the girl as she lends her hand.

[Lovergames]

Mimi got bumped with a red-haired girl and she asks Mimi if she was okay then Mimi nodded.The girl then introduced herself as "Hatsune Minegishi"."Uhh... I'm Mimi Kisaragi ummm... Nice to meet you too" Mimi introduced herself as well.Hatsune invites Mimi to walk to the school with her because they have the same uniform, Mimi nodded then they started walking.

[Lucius Cypher]

Shahbaz clenched his fist and got ready for a fight, but Dominick just chuckled. He could take care of himself, but he would also have to deal with his own fights too. "My name is Dominick... Dominick Yang. Yes, I do go to Shirasagi. I take it that you do as well?" Dominick pondered something to himself. Wouldn't it be just fun to keep bothering him? Shahbaz turned to Dominick and gave him a inquisitive look. "Hey uh, I'm going to go on ahead. See you later!" Dominick waved him goodbye. Once he was out of earshot, he spoke again. "I apologize for his words. I'm sure he did not mean to call you that as an insult, merely as the only name that he knew you by. But since you have introduced yourself to him, I'm sure that he will correct his mistake." Dominick stood beside Zen, waiting for him to go. Dominick had a smile on his face brought about from his current attempt at trying to befriend this Zen. Surely he would be more interested in Dominick's shenanigans that his black best friend. You mentioned something about a girl, ealier? I don't suppose she was the one who knocked you onto the floor?"

[Mizos]

Zen watched Shahbaz with careful eyes his gaze only moving as Dominick spoke his name, hearing he did go to his school only depressed him though it was obvious from the uniform he wouldn't have minded being wrong. When Shahbaz left Zen watched him until he faded into the distance, he made a mental note of him just in case he had to deal with things later. His attention returned to Dominick when he defended Shahabaz only to stand next to him, Zen's eye twitched seeing that Dominick didn't intend on going away. The last thing he needed to deal with was people right now, again this was a situation where he could have just ignored them and went on his way and he'd be in a better off position but that was hoping for too much now.

"I don't care what his reasons were," Zen said shaking his head. "The reason doesn't change the fact it happened, and he doesn't need to correct the mistake, if he doesn't talk to me I'm happy and everything is how it should be."
Zen looked over at Dominick seeing the smile on his face, he arched a brow at him before speaking again.
"I don't know what the hell your deal is Yang or what you game is but you can go screw yourself if you think I'm walking with you I'm going ahead."
Zen started walking but he froze as a realization hit him, he really didn't want to be alone with his thoughts right now, not after that messed up dream he had and furthermore the man next to him seemed to be blind or at least visually impaired. School's only been in sessions for three days, he wasn't sure if Dominick knew the way to school yet on his own, if he did then he could just abandon him but if he didn't then that could reflect badly later. There was someone that could tie the two of them together and what if something happened like he got lost, or hit by a car or something, he doubted people would give him the benefit of the doubt. Aside from the fact his conscience would eat at him, there was a pretty damn good chance it would reflect back on him poorly which would only mess up his already shitty reputation no pun intended.
"Ah fuck it!" Zen exclaimed. "I need a distraction anyway after all the crap from this morning, damn news reports and everything else so I can deal with your nauseating presence Yang just don't stand too close, hurry up if your coming. The moment we reached the school however if you stay within five feet of me I can't promise my actions."
With that Zen started walking shoving his hand into his pocket before he spoke remembered he had asked a question about the girl.
"Yeah it was some red headed girl with huge ta-ta's, she yelled at me for calling her dual headlights sweater melons and kicked me. Don't see why that was necessary since it was a fact the things were freakin huge, personality was violent though found that out the hard way. Not entirely sure why I'm being descriptive since I believe you haven't seen her, that was not a crack at your sight either school's been open for three days I'd be surprised if you knew her. I know that damn girl goes to my school though and with that bodacious chest she'll be easy to pick out, when I get my hands around her neck...actually no that would just look bad without the whole story being known. Screw it I'll figure something out at some point."