[IC] The True Self - Persona

[Sho Minazuki]

Rui Shinichi | Warakuma Arcade

Finally released from their grip, he took a few deep breaths before speaking normally again. It appears even more people were crowding around as well, also acquaintances of these two. Before that, everyone was raring and ready to play, the game was still set in character select at the moment, it looks like whoever was on the other side had left too. These arcade machines were like anywhere you would find in Japan, they'd simply be two machines back to back, so you wouldn't see your opponent on the other side. The feeling of it was great, no distractions, only the game. There were a few other machines here too, so around six people can play at any one time... The crowd forming around here was getting a bit much, he thought he spotted someone moving towards these machines, maybe it was his imagination though. However with the newcomers introductions were a polite formality required here, so he complied.

"It's nice to meet you all as well...I'm Rui Shinichi, your names are...?", he said, referring to the two newly arrived acquaintances. Sachiko was kind enough to mention his name to them, but he had yet to hear theirs.

[SwordfishKnight]

Noboru quickly introduced himself. "As Sachiko said, My name is Noboru. This here is Rui, a childhood friend of mine. He moved away when we were young, but hey, it looks like he's back. I've lived here my entire life, strange i've never met either of you guys." Noboru quickly got his formalities out of the way, introducing himself to both of them. He noted they were both taller him, as it seemed with everyone he met.

Noboru noticed the other taller man edging away from where they were located, briskly walking to where he was, Noboru quickly spoke up. "Hey there. I noticed you walking away from us. If you want to, you can take my spot on the machine. I'm not that big into fighter games anyway. By the way, my name is Noboru. If you don't feel like going back over there, we can go find a rhythm game to play. What do you say?" Noboru gave a friendly, innocent smile, one that could make people mistake him as a child, if not for his stubble on the chin.

[Sen]

Sato Hashimoto // Warakuma Arcade

Sato skimmed through the notes as he leaned on a fighting game that was apparently out of order despite the constant video feed on the screen. As he flipped through another page, a small white card fell from between the paper and fell to the ground. It seemed to be the same size and shape as the note he found in the morning. But before he could pick it up, one of the students from the crowd approached him. He slipped the papers back into his bag and turned to face the student. The young man offered him his turn at the fighting game and then introduced himself, also offering to play a rhythm game (which Sato did not even know were in an arcade, besides DDR) instead.

“Thank you, but it’s okay. I never really intended to play any games when I came here, nor am I any good at them. I’m Sato Hashimoto, a third year here. Nice to meet you.” Sato took a moment to look at the teen, who was almost two heads shorter, and had some stubble on his jaw. “If it’s alright with you, I have nothing else to do and it’d be nice if you could show me how to play one of these games.”

Before he could answer, Sato knelt down and picked up the card. Suprisingly, another date at another place. He quickly shoved it into his pocket, not even bothering with keeping it safe. Why was Akiko leaving him notes? As far as Sato knew, Akiko always gave notes to people who needed them (which insulted Sato yet again) and it was only logical this was her method of giving them; meeting them outside of school for whatever reason. But for what purpose was the second card? He decided to push it out of his mind, piling yet another question on his seemingly growing list of answerless questions.

[RolePlayerRoxas]

Akemi watched the boys leave in silence, lips pressed tightly together in an effort to suppress her disdain for an arcade. Such a giant waste of time, money and intelligence! Why did no one ever take the superior suggesting of studying?!
Mercifully, she managed to keep her silence until they left, and let out another sigh, turning her gaze towards the other girl. Midori was always a handful, especially when someone else was present. For some reason, Akemi was the only person she ever made an effort to interact with. Truthfully, it was kind of bothersome, but... considering what the poor girl had been through, Akemi had no idea what to do besides tolerate her. At least Midori was... friendly?

Resigned to the fact that her schedule was delayed considerably, Akemi rose to her feet, taking the paperwork to a filing cabinet in a corner of the room, turning to face Midori once more with her arms folded, "...Okay then, what do you want to show me?"
Somehow, the president already had an idea of what it was. Time to prepare herself mentally for the image.

[Haru Nyan]

You were cool!
The announcer of the game said, Ayano finally beat that one song she'd been practicing for days on. She didn't get a Full Combo or a score that beat the record...But for now, she was satisfied...Her palms and fingers hurt, pressing 9 buttons in rapid succession really takes a ton out of you, especially in the harder difficulties. Ayano searched her pockets for a token or two...But to no avail. "Done already?!" She exclaimed. Granted, she didn't have much on her, but she would've liked to play another round or two...her hands beg to differ though. Sighing heavily, she left the machine and was about to depart home.

Until she noticed a small group of people, she remembered that this was where the group hug was happening before, did someone deliberately gather bystanders here to engage in the world's biggest group hug? No, that sounded absurd...Looking closely at the group, she couldn't help but notice someone...familiar, something that strikes her hard all the way home. Could it be? No...No...It's just a coincidence, an illusion that her eyes are playing on her. She wanted to get out of here, ASAP! Getting noticed right now would mean certain death. If only she had a cardboard box...Where could she get one? No, it'd take too long and it'd actually give her away...Right now, all she could do was shimmy along and pray to the gods above that she goes about unnoticed.

[VitaVitaAR]

Midori brightened almost instantly. The boys were gone, and Akemi did want to see what she drew! In spite of the short distance between them, the blonde practically sprinted over to the lovely, wonderful girl, still clutching the bag against her chest. Oh, to be so close to her... she was so thoroughly beautiful. So radiant it was like being next to the sun! Midori tugged open her bag and reached inside.

"You... you'll... I drew it for you, Akemi-sempai, I... I really hope you'll like it!" she said, grabbing her sketchpad. She took the pad practically everywhere she went. Midori loved drawing and as such kept the equipment to draw with her at almost all times. Tucked into the pad was a sheet of paper that clearly had been torn out, but tucked back in to keep it safe . Midori flicked her sketch pad open, offering brief glimpses of various fanart, mostly of female characters, and a few random designs... until she reached the page that had been torn out. The torn edge was neat. There could be nothing imperfect about something she would give to Akemi...

"H... Here you go!"

Midori raised the drawing. It... wasn't touched up digitally, obviously, it was simply the pencil version. It was an embrace, between Akemi and herself. Midori took care with her art, to draw as best as she possibly could.

[Savo]

-Kaminari-
His smile began to falter a bit when Sachiko mentioned Ayano. He seemed a lot gloomier now despite the fact he that he had an upbeat friendly personality. Kami hurt her, and now he felt it was too late to make up and fix their friendship. She probably hated him, and probably despised Kami to the point where she just wish he never existed. Kami considered himself to be one of the worst people on the planet after that happened, all because of his cowardice.

"Uhm, y-yeah, all we are missing is.... Ayano," he spoke, ruffling the back of his hair. He chuckled awkwardly, before staring down at the floor for a bit, muttering something quiet to himself. "I'm an asshole." He shook his head a little before bringing it back up, brushing some of the hair out of his face. "Anyways, pleasure to meet you two, I'm Kaminari Sutoraiki, but most people just call me Kami for short, pleased to meet you," he said with a sad smile plastered on his face. Kami shifted his head around, looking around the arcade until he spotted... her.

Kami locked eyes with Ayano, seeing the distance between them. He opened his mouth to try and say something to her but he felt it would be no use. Why would she even listen Kami after what he did. Kami couldn't turn away, his lips trembled as he uttered something. "A.... Ayano?"

[Cuco]

Everyone was mingling and exchanging names. This trip to the arcade was becoming quite the social gathering. Sachiko had always half wondered if video games weren't for more withdrawn types, but it seemed like it was quite the opposite right now. She noticed Noboru depart from the group to greet some other guy. She was finding so many new people just by going with Noboru to the arcade once. She might've gone over and joined him in greeting the other man, if she hadn't noticed that Kami seemed rather perturbed by something. Sachiko wasn't aware of the inner workings of his mind, so she didn't realise what had made him suddenly become gloomier. She was about to start inquiring as to what was up with him, when she heard him stammer out a name. "Ayano....?" She said directly after his statement. Following his gaze, her vision quickly locked on target. "Aha!" She exclaimed, as she bounded forward, quickly seizing Ayano with a vice like grip by the wrist. "So THIS is where you've been hiding! I'm going to have to come here more often, aren't I? Now get over here!" She began to drag Ayano over to their little group, and she wasn't about to let her wrest free until she had her over there. "Rui, this is Ayano Wakahisa, an old friend of mine and these two." She pointed to Kami and Kato when mentioning 'these two'. "Goodness me, Ayano, it's been too long! You need to tell us all how you've been!"

[Aquaknight]

"Greetings Rui-San, my name is Kato Usagi, but Kato is okay with me." He said brightly to Rui, the other one of the pair, the shorter one, went off to speak to somebody else. Kato would listen but it be better if he listen to the group he in, and he's not that nosy of a guy. "Do you want to play?" He asked Rui.

Kato was honestly wide awake now and he wasn't playing that much attraction to Chiko's and Kami's conversation. He only heard a 'A-HA' from Chiko, Then he looked towards Sachiko yell to see a girl stuck in Sachiko death grip. Kato reply was simple. "Greetings Ayano-San, I hope your having a good day, besides Sachiko death grip." He said quickly, he guessed she doesn't want to deal with groups, and he wanted to respect her implied wishes. She has became recluse in the past year and he respects that she would like to be by herself, especially what she went though, she easily had it the worst of the group. He looked back to Rui, "She's a childhood friend of ours, and bit of an introvert." he told to Rui, "This arcades seems to be the place to meet a childhood friend at random."

[Sho Minazuki]

Rui Shinichi | Warakuma Arcade

"Nice to meet you too Kato", he responded. The boy now identified as Kato then proceeded to introduce Ayano as well. A bit of an introvert huh? Well, not that he couldn't relate... Regardless, he moved onto the topic of the arcade.

"Sure... But, are we playing?", he inquired. Going to these arcades was just a natural thing for him, since he went to them often in Tokyo. Meeting all these people here was merely coincidence, not that it was unwelcome. Having a lot of potential opponents was good, even if they were new, and if they were indeed new, they can learn. He found that learning and achieving more in these kinds of games were a lot more rewarding, not to mention they weren't an easy-win kind of deal like in an RPG. Learning something new in this, it was a new tool, like a new shiny gadget that has it's own uses, as well as weaknesses one way or another. Getting better or stronger was also a matter of personal achievement and progress, rather than kept track of in-game, it was something he appreciated.

[Pudding]

Chiaki was outside of the student council room. Papers in her hand from the faqualty office she was to hand to whoever it was that's in charge. "Strange, I don't see why they couldn't just give it her them theirselves, they're the teachers afterall, but who am I to ask such a question?"

Prior to this point, Chiaki had been instructed to arrive later in the day, with some forms so they could finalize the paperwork for her transfer to Warakuma High. She did so, and was driven in by her Aunt to the high school. On the way she looked out at the scenery. "Hmm, it does have some form beauty afterall, its not quite what I thought it would be..."
Once at the school Chiaki made her way to the faqualty office. There were signs, so she didn't get lost. Once inside she handed in the forms and had a small discussion with the teachers. They commented on her dress sense and status as a model, not that it bothered her, she gets those remarks all the time. They sent her away with a form towards the student council room, perhaps they're too lazy to take it themselves.

"Knock knock, I'm here to deliver a note, I'm transfering..."
Chiaki slid the door open to see two girls chatting amongst themselves, one seemed to be showing a drawing to the other, not that it was Chiaki's bussiness, she was only there to hand in the form.
"Excuse me for the interruption, is this a bad time? I can come back later..."

[RolePlayerRoxas]

Having mentally prepared herself for something mortifying, Akemi hesitantly laid eyes on what she thought was going to be a very-much-unsafe-for-school image, and... was met with something that could be described as 'sweet'.
Blinking in disbelief for a moment, the president stared silently at the sketch, wondering if she had perhaps selected the wrong page. Sure, the embracing girls resembled the two very strongly, but...
Akemi could feel her ears starting to burn as a rising flush crept its way up. Hurriedly, she pressed a palm to er face, hoping to hide the embarrassed look on her face. That was... unexpected. And oddly even more embarrassing than the usual fare. It was just a hug, after all! Akemi had seen much, much worse than this already, why was this so... weird?!

"...It's... it's good," she mumbled into her hand. Despite her own feelings about it, the art itself was as professional and detailed as always. Honestly, Akemi felt that it was a waste to simply squander her talents on 'fanart' and... that other stuff. She could be a professional artist right now! Doing something worthwhile!
Luckily enough, in a rare moment of acceptance, a welcome distraction appeared. It was a... strangely-dressed girl stating she had just transferred. Informing Akemi directly of this was unusual, since she didn't really handle that kind of thing - that was between the teachers and the parents or guardians of the students, after all. Still, if it gave her a chance to recover from that sneak attack of cuteness...

"N-not at all. Please, come in," Akemi stated, forcing her expression into Business Mode. She requested that Midori have a seat and wait while she dealt with this new student, and approached the gothic lolita. Normally, she would disapprove quite heavily, but as this was after school hours, she couldn't really complain about it here.
"A transfer student? Well, you chose an odd day, but welcome to Warakuma High," the president greeted her, "My name is Yoshida Akemi, Student Council President. My friend back there is Yanagi Midori."

Okay, now I just have to make her feel welcome, Akemi instructed herself. She didn't normally deal with transfer students, but since she was here, it was a good idea to let her know what was expected of the students here.
And so, with her eyes set to 'stern glare', Akemi began rattling off a bunch of regulations and rules, at least half of which were unofficial additions that Akemi herself added, in order to maximise work efficiency. With any luck, this girl would take them seriously. Why no one else ever used their break times to study for the next class was beyond her.

[Haru Nyan]

Just as she was so close to escaping the jaws of death, she locked eyes with him ..."Damn it all, just when I was so close... she exclaimed...
The mere fact she's looking at him brings back so many unpleasant memories, ones that she wished weren't brought back up...It hurt her just thinking about it...
She thought that he'd just let her walk away without no other mention of her, but then SHE approached...Run...Run...Run! Her brain said, but all she could do was stand there in utter shock as Sachiko forcefully dragged her in there little group, she tried to grapple herself free but to no avail...Either she wasn't even trying, Sachiko has been taking steroids or she's been playing too much at the arcade that it made her hands feel like jelly...

In the end, Ayano found herself with her old...'friends'...Sachiko asked her where's been all this time, and wasn't it so easy to guess?
"Locked up in my room avoiding all of you... she said bluntly, it was a simple answer to a simple question.
Kato introduced her to the others as well, and right now she just wishes she could teleport away from here...
"Bit of an introvert? Can't you just call me an outright recluse? Or a hikkikomori? Introvert is an understatement...
Can I go home now? It looks like you guys were having tons of fun before I came."

[Pudding]

This was most excellent for Chiaki, she succeeded in finding the president, the main man, or in this case, main woman in charge. Her demeanour and expressiom changed rather rapidly as she began to explain the regulations and rules of the school, in truth, it was a snoozefest, they're the same rules you would get at any school. ' No Misbehaving, Study Hard, Respect your fellow students' the usual stuff.

Chiaki made a little small talk. "Ah, grazie, Miss Akemi. That was very informitive, you can count on me to try my hardest to excel academically here. Aslong as the classes here are of a strict standard, but if course I assume they are!" Chiaki placed her fingertips over her mouth and giggled a little with a hidden smile.
"Ahehe, oh goodness! Where are my manners! My name Chiaki Nettu, it is quite the pleasure to meet you, Miss Akemi"
She turned to greet the other girl who just sat there without saying anything remotely welcoming. Though she may not have manners, she's quite the pretty face.
"It also a pleasure to meet you, Miss Midori, might I say you have quite a lovely complexion, ahehe"

"Whilst I would love to stay and chat, I must go, my Guardian is waiting outside for me, I was only supposed to delivery some forms to the faqualty office when they sent me on an errand to deliver this note to your posssesion. I beleive it has nothing to do with me, so I'll be on my way, I have unpacking to do at home. I look forward to seeing you around the school on Monday. Have a lovely afternoon"
Chiaki bowed to them before attempting to leave the note and exiting the room, as her Aunt was waiting for her outside the school in her car.

[VitaVitaAR]

Midori smiled brightly. Akemi liked it! Usually the stuff she drew for the lovely girl was a bit more... intimate. And, well, her hidden drawing folder back home kind of displayed just how much she loved drawing such things. But, well... cute things were good too! And so she had drawn this. Happily, she held it out for appraisal. Oh, Akemi was getting red? That was... it seemed a bit different then what usually happened upon Akemi seeing Midori's art, even though that involved blushing too. But either way it was cute! Midori didn't just draw things for wonderful Akemi, no, she uploaded plenty to her pixiv. Just nothing that she drew for Akemi.

"I'm really glad you like it! I drew it just for you, so please take it!" Midori held the picture out expectantly, waiting for Akemi to take it. And then... then... another girl walked in and Midori froze. Hurriedly, the blonde girl tucked the drawing against her chest. It was only for Akemi, Akemi was the only one allowed to see the contents. She turned on her heel and tried to open her mouth and say something about how the girl was intruding. She failed utterly and found herself sinking into a seat on Akemi's orders, staring down at her feet in silence.

The girl was trying to seduce Akemi, wasn't she?! Why else would she come here if she was just a new transfer student?! And wearing that frilly outfit... she was trying to make herself more appealing! Sure, she said she wanted to know the rules, but Midori knew the truth! And yet... it was so hard for her to say such things... She simply continued to stare down at her feet, weakly looking up when she realized the conversation was ending.

... The girl complimented her and left.

... Good.

[Savo]

-Kaminari-
Kami just stood there, staring as Sachiko brought her over to the group. He couldn't stand to be in Ayanos presence, as he was almost on the verge of breaking down. He knew what he had done, and he had to leave quickly. "Uhm, uh, g-guys, I, ah, uhm... I ne-need to go," he said, stumbling over his words, shuffling quickly away from the group. Before he knew it, Kami tripped on the edge of an arcade game, spinning around and falling on his ass. His back was on a machine, and he looked at the group, embarrassed at what had occurred. He pushed himself up quickly, and brushed himself off. "S-see you guys..." He waved, and ran out of the arcade as fast as he could. He needed to get to the park, and stare into the pond. He needed to reflect on himself, what he did, and what he should of done.

---

Kami walked through the park, taking a look at the trees around. It would be a few more steps until he reached his pool of reflection. Thankfully barely anyone was here, and he could have all the serenity within the peace and quietness of the pond. He ducked his head down, baring his teeth, and shaking his head. He was disgusted with himself, he despised his actions, he just wanted to die. In a few minutes he found himself at the pond. The bench overlooking the pond was there as always, and he smiled a bit, before walking over to the small pond, staring at his own reflection.

He stared for who knows long, maybe minutes, maybe hours but he just stared. "What the hell is wrong with me," he uttered breaking the silence. "I want to change things, fix it, but... I'm..." A droplet falls from his eye, creating a ripple in the pond. "I'm too damn weak to fix anything. I need my inner strength.... I need to own up to my actions." He sighed, shaking his head. "(I'm a damn coward.)" He plops down onto the grass near the pond, and stared, for who knows how long, but he just stared.

"How do I fix this if I can't look her in the eye without breaking down.... How?"

[Cuco]

Sachiko Mogami was definitely not happy. And that was something to be said, considering her. She was aware that Ayano had been avoiding them, she would have to be completely oblivious not to understand that much. She had just....chosen to assume that there was a good reason behind it. Hearing her say it so bluntly, it almost sounded hostile. THAT was not acceptable. But before she could choose to start talking, Kami stammered that he was going to leave. He left, but in a ridiculously clumsy and awkward fashion. Sachiko ended up letting him go, half because she was quite astounded by the sight, and half because even she wasn't the type to hold people down when they said they had to leave.

But she knew it had something to do with Ayano. He had started acting weird ever since her name was mentioned, and had beaten a hasty retreat when she brought her over. She turned to face her, yet maintaining a neutral expression. She wasn't gripping her anymore, but she wasn't letting her leave before she explained herself. "Ayano...." She began. Her expression quickly changed to something resembling a deep scowl. "What the fuck was that!?"

[SwordfishKnight]

Noboru was starting to walk to an arcade machine when the scene had started. Noboru had already forgotten his name, but he ran out of the arcade awkwardly, looking as if he was about to cry. "Sato, can you hold on a second, i'll be right back." Noboru started walking faster out of the arcade, before stopping at sachiko. "Hey," he said, looking her straight in the eyes. "Don't do anything too hasty okay?" Now starting off in a sprint, Noboru ran to where the guy went.

Approaching the park, Noboru was still sprinting, despite his chest hurting. Quickly catching up, he sat down next to where the other man was. " So, not in a good mood huh?" He jokingly said, hoping to make light of the situation.

[Aquaknight]

Kato can feel the awkwardness of everything happening with Ayano forced arrival. Ayano still bitter, He doesn't blame her for it, it only made him more sorry for her, but he knows everybody hates being pitied. So he will bot do to her, she has too much to deal with as is. Kato replied to Ayano comment about her being a recluse, "I say that next time if you wish, it just sounded more polite." Kato added, "chiko, you should just let her go, this will not fix itself like this." Kato said honestly. He knows the two need time before they can even say anything to each other, and he doesn't want to be worse then it is.

Kato just looked at Rui and said, "Problems, don't heed it any mind, let's play the game then, sorry for the wait."

[Sho Minazuki]

Rui Shinichi | Warakuma Arcade

"Well there goes those guys...", he mumbled to himself as he watched some of them leave for... Unknown reasons. Noboru was just trying to be kind and went after Ayano though. After a few exchanges of dialogue, Kato turned to him,

"Problems, don't heed it any mind, let's play the game then, sorry for the wait",

"Well... I hope they're okay...", he stated timidly, before sitting at one of the machines, waiting for someone to get on the other side as his opponent. Ayano, Kami, Noboru, Kato, Sachiko... Based on what they were wearing, they were from the school he's going to attend starting this coming Monday as a new student... Well, he didn't tell them that... It didn't seem important.