[IC] The True Self - Persona

[Savo]

-Yakudatsu : Wakahisa Household-
Yaku chuckled as she began to turn as red as a rose. He felt that she was possibly lying, and began smiling mischievously at his sister. "Well ok then, heh~" As he giggled to himself, his eyes widened a bit when Ayano decided to make him come along with them. He didn't want to go due to plans, but he didn't want to be rude and blow the two off. "Alright, alright... I'll come with you two then." He walked off ajd plopped himself down on the couch and waited for Chiaki to get ready. Once they were ready, they ((most likely)) left the house with Yaku following in tow. "(How did I get stuck shopping for a gift for some guy we probably have never met?)"

---

-Yakudatsu : Somewhere in Warakuma-
As he followed the two, Chiaki began speaking to Yaku as they headed off to get a gift for... Whoever her friend was. "Yeah, its been a long time hasn't it... If I remember right, your a model that caters to the... Goth, Pop, and Gothic Lolita crowd if I remember right. What brings you to Warakuma?" As he asked her a question, Chiaki began teasing him about having to go along with her when shopping. "Uhm, uh hey Sis, whose birthday is it today anyways," he asked in an attempt to change the subject.

He was curious though - whose birthday was it? Yaku could probably help out with getting this person a present if he knew who it was. "(Has she made any new friends at school,)" he pondered to himself, almost rejecting the idea. It was true that Ayano wasn't as open as before and became a bit of a reclusive person because of what happened years ago. "(Has she made any friends besides those three or?... Alright, its either Katos birthday or.... That guys birthday.)" He shook his head, and denounced that thought. Why would she even get a gift for a jerk like that, plus if he remembered right Kato was already eighteen.

"(Maybe she did make a new friend.... I wonder who it is.)"

[Rin]

Yanagi Shiki - Yanagi Household

As he patiently waited for his sister to get ready, Shiki let out a quiet sigh. Midori could be a bit... Weird at times, even when she wasn't being disturbingly obsessive. The way she spoke wasn't exactly conventional, although it could be assumed that it was just because she wasn't very good around people and so didn't realise how they were supposed to talk. That was another big problem, really, something that really needed to change. If she kept spending so much time holed up in her room and obsessing over what's-her-name, well... It wouldn't turn out very well, not at all.

"Yeah, we'd better not forget anything important," he said as she returned, "Like... Breakfast, sis!" And before she knew it, Midori had a slice of cold toast rammed into her mouth as Shiki grabbed her hand. "Let's go already! You slept in so I got everything ready myself! Good thing one of us is reliable, hah!" Letting off a playful giggle, the young boy dragged his sister towards the door. "Let's go, let's go!"

[VitaVitaAR]

For a moment, Midori look quizzically at her younger brother. She really had forgotten something? Oh no, that wasn't good at all, she wanted to be a good big sister, not-

And then the piece of toast's reckless charge obliterated her mouth's distracted defenses. Midori attempted to speak, to say that ramming toast in her mouth was not a good thing for a younger sibling to do at all! ... But she kind of had forgotten breakfast completely... and only now was she realizing how hungry she was. Trying to eat the toast without the use of her hands was kind of awkward as well, but she was being swiftly dragged out the door by her sibling. Even if she was the bigger of the two, she wasn't exactly hard to get to move and she wasn't particularly resistant. The blonde girl nodded and began taking steps of her own, holding her little brother's hand as they headed out the door and finally taking the toast out of her mouth with her free hand as she did.

"I... er... I knew about breakfast, I just, um..." Midori trailed off. Forgetting about breakfast wasn't a good example for Shiki... and what if she did it to Akemi one time!? And she didn't know how to cook even oh no oh no oh no... What if Akemi wanted someone who could cook? She couldn't... Midori tried to calm herself. She'd... she'd learn, and right now she needed to focus on her little brother. "... A-anyway, the amusement park is... er..."

Midori looked around. Oh no, what direction was it again? Midori's sense of direction was... well, it was just about what you'd expect from someone who spent most of her time holed up in her room. "... This way!"

It... was the right way, right? The non-amusement park was that way, Midori was pretty sure, and the amusement park wasn't too far from there... holding her brother's hand and attempting to avoid crowds, the blonde began to head off in what she was sure was the right way. "We'll be there in no time!"

[Cuco]

This certainly wasn't a pleasant birthday for Kami. He seemed very much convinced the root of this all lay at his feet. Sachiko was still of another opinion, however. There were parts of their past she didn't remember perfectly, and some things she had tried to put a positive spin on. She wanted to believe there was a better reason that this all happened, but it seemed as though Ayano really might have resented Kami for his actions. "Kami.....we were kids. We can't expect perfection from ourselves when we were barely near puberty. Holding onto failures like that will ruin us. I went through a similar experience to Ayano, I'm sure you remember. I don't blame you, Kato, or Ayano for not being able to solve the problem. It's just not something that can be helped by children alone. But we're still friends, and I like to think I'm doing better for my experiences." There were other things she felt like saying. Like that she felt it was actually a little unfair of Ayano to exacerbate this situation, and that she shouldn't have cut them off in such a fashion. But she felt criticizing her like that wouldn't go down so well with Kami.

"Gosh." She said, adding a slight giggle. "This is supposed to be your birthday! And here we are, getting het up over serious issues." She raised herself of the couch and offered Kami a hand to get up. "Look, this situation won't get any better just from us sitting here fussing over it. Let's go do something to take our minds of it, huh? You won't find any courage in verbally flogging yourself." She hoped he wouldn't be adverse to the idea of cheering up in spite of how much he was hurt over this issue. She felt that if he did something to get his spirits up, he might be able to have a better outlook on the situation.

[Sen]

Sato Hashimoto // the Velvet Room

“Hello once more.” spoke the familiar nose, “As I’m sure you remember, I requested that you make a decision regarding your future.” As his vision slowly returned to him, Sato recognized the room from the last dream he had. A group of tarot cards appeared on the table in front of him. While he knew what they were, his knowledge of their meanings was unfortunately limiting. Was this dream supposed to be his mind’s prediction of the future? While he should’ve had so many questions, his thoughts were oddly all answered by some kind of strange clarity. His focus was undivided.

“The role you will play in this tale… will you play the part?” Yes. “But before we continue, allow us to introduce ourselves formally. My name is Igor; this is my assistant, Henrietta.” He gestured towards a slender woman next to him. She bowed her head with a greeting. After, Igor looked back at him—or, maybe them, as Sato was nothing more than another figure in the line of attendees. “Our role in this story is to observe and support, but we still need the main cast. For those who have decided, please, go ahead.”

Igor indicated to the cards on the table once again. It made literally no sense to Sato. The weight of what taking that card meant did not strike him, nor will it for a while. But for now Sato desired to take that tarot and make his own role in this tale that humanity will spin. He stepped forward taking a card of his choice, which happened to be the arcana of Fortune. But, as soon as read the arcana, the clarity he felt suddenly disappeared, his mind quickly devolving into nothing more than a haze of questions. His vision blurred and Sato was forced onto his knees by an immense pain in his head…

---

Sato Hashimoto // Hashimoto Residence
APRIL 5 2015, SUNDAY
Morning

Sato woke up with a start. Another dream like that. The same old question returned: what did it mean? Unlike the first time, this dream remained a vivid memory instead of seeming like a dream. As he pondered the meaning behind it all, his phone vibrated intensely, sending itself straight off the bedstand. Only after taking a shower and putting on new clothes did Sato check it. One new text.

From: Ryouta said yo man, wanna hang out today? reply asap please

Sighing as he responded, Sato reminded himself of the other card he had found the other day. Why was there another note? The first one was obviously so she had an excuse to meet him and hand over the study notes and the next card with a location/time on it. While he only briefly considered it, Sato could talk to Ryouta about it. He harbored doubts that he could be any help with it though. Was this girl just flirting with him and was way too shy to be direct about it?

To: Ryouta said Busy today was asked to do a bunch of chores

It was a lie, and a bad lie at that, but Sato hardly felt like hanging out with his “best friend” and saying you’re busy is a great way to get rid of someone. Although, if he were to swing by his house, he’d be busted, so Sato ultimately decided to actually do some chores. If you’re acting, might as well commit.

---

Sato Hashimoto // Warakuma Park

The day seemed remarkably average. The weather was nice, the sun was bright, the park was alive, the almost-familiar-to-him couples hugging. While he had no idea what he was there for or what he even could do there, Sato was at the park and being there at all was nice. A nice break from studying and going to class. Although, not long after exploring the park a bit, Sato managed to found someone he recognized from the other day, from the arcade.

“Noboru,” Sato tried to stop the jogging teen, breaking into a half-run to catch up with him. “that was your name, right?" While the fact was he barely knew any of the people from the arcade, it wouldn’t hurt to kill time to get to know them, and it wasn’t like Sato had anything more important to do. “If you don’t have any plans today, do you want to hang out for a while?”

[SwordfishKnight]

Noboru had been running for at least an hour. That was what it felt like anyway. He counted at least seven or eight miles, going on nine. He was getting tired and decided to detour through the park. Slowing down to a nice jog, Noboru took time to admire the beauty of the park. It was definitely lovely, with the dew on the leaves and grass in the morning, the sunlight glistening over the water during the day, and the sunset while sitting on a park bench made for an admirable sight.

While jogging Noboru heard what he considered a familiar voice. It was the man from the other day. Sato was his name. "You wanna hang out with me? Sure, I'm definitely game for anything. But first I must ask, would you like to exchange numbers? That way next time we can coordinate before hand and i'm not," Noboru stopped at this point and pointed down to his clothes, "Dressed like this and all sweaty." While talking to Sato, Noboru had been walking backwards, and accidentally bumped into a man who had black hair and looked eerily like Rui. "Oh shit I'm sorry"!" Noboru yelled out, his knapsack full of weight slamming against Rui and knocking him to the ground.

[Sho Minazuki]

Rui Shinichi | Warakuma Suburb Streets

The collision was sudden, moreso that he had his headphones on, so he couldn't even hear it coming, thus it easily knocked him to the ground, but he managed to prevent a bad fall. He got up slowly to look at who had run into him, and to his surprise it was Noboru, alongside someone else... It was... Sato wasn't it? From yesterday? Regardless, he got up, and just dusted himself down.

"No harm done... You two just going out for a run right now?", he inquired. Though Noboru with that knapsack really looked like he was out for a very long run, not the casual kind where you just go out to get some exercise done.

"I haven't seen you since yesterday. Other than the arcade, is there anything else to do around here...?", his idea of 'something to do' was rather... City-like. For sure there are plenty of fishing spots and the forest could play host to some bag catching, but that was not something Rui usually did. There was also studying, but he doesn't start school until tomorrow.

[Savo]

-Kaminari : Sutoraiki Residence-
Kami just looked at her, feigning that he understood what she meant. He felt she was trying to cover up the problem at hand, and he kept accepting the fact that it was his fault. "(Sachiko... Didn't you know what those bullies said to her? Made her do? I stood by idley and let her get hurt... My own inaction made her reject us, and caused her to become recluse.)" Kami smiled at Sachiko, and gave her his hand. He then pushed himself up from the couch, and let go of her hand after standing up. "You're right.... I shouldn't beat myself up over this... I mean, I didn't know what to do when I was younger," he lied, feigning satisfaction and happiness. Kami wiped off any remaining tears, and ruffled his hair a bit. After that little ordeal, he felt a bit better, but it wasn't enough to truly cheer him up.

He chuckled as she tried to get his mind off of the conversation, and somewhere else. It was his eighteenth birthday, so maybe they could do something exciting together... Besides, he probably wouldn't get anything out of the afflicted today anyways. They would probably just repeat the same thing over and over, and nothing else just as always. "Hmm, but what should we do then?" Kami put a finger to his lip and began ponder over the possibilities of what they could do today that they could enjoy. Eat out? Nah, probably not a good idea for right now. Arcades? But they went there yesterday. He sighed, as he thought, feeling as if there was nothing left to do...

"I got nothing Sachiko... Kind of funny huh, its my birthday and I dunno how to enjoy it." He tilts his head slightly before going on. "I guess I could spend the day with you if you like... So what do you want to do?"

[Zane620]

Teiji Ishihara - Home

Waking up a little late, although it was Sunday so it was fine since there was no school until tomorrow. Teiji crawled out of bed and walked downstairs, where is step mother was in the living room playing with his baby brother. They all said their greetings to each other and Teiji got himself a bowl and poured himself some cereal which he poured milk on of course. He then took his time eating it as he was still a little tired from just waking up, yet ate it fast enough so it didn't get soggy on him. When he finished and put his bowl in the sink, his step mother asked him to entertain his little brother for a few minutes while she made a phone call. So he sat down in front of his brother and then proceeded to tell him a few jokes which he laughed at, yet the kid was two years old he very well could have found anything funny. His mother then came back and resumed entertaining the child, while Teiji went upstairs and got dressed in blue jeans and a dark purple shirt, he then went back downstairs with a soccer ball in hand and said he was heading out for a while, then left his house.

Teiji Ishihara - Park

As he made his way to the park, he sat down on a bench tossing the ball up in the air for a while, just taking in the nature of the area. After a few minutes of just sitting he stood up and tapped the ball around, and somewhere along the line a few kids decided to play along with him, although it was simple kicking the ball to each other, they seemed to enjoy it, so Teiji was happy enough. This went on for a while before they had to go, so Teiji was alone kicking the ball. However with one kick, he put too much power behind it, and sent the ball flying somewhere, which made Teiji watch it vanish in the distance. "Crap..." Teiji muttered as he went jogging to where he could only imagine it went to.

[Cuco]

Kami had cheered up, it seemed. Sachiko hoped that she had managed to do something for him. At least he wasn't offended by the idea that they should take their minds of the problem. But he did bring up the rather valid point that he had no idea what they should do. Sachiko hadn't thought of about it much either, as she was mostly thinking quickly here. But thinking quickly was often what she did best. "Ah! I have an idea! Come with me!" She offered to take him by the hand and lead him out of the house. It seemed as though she had a bright idea on what to do. In actuality, she was just acting like it. She had nothing. Nothing, except the feeling that perhaps if they just started walking, they would find something to do. She didn't know why, but she just hoped it would work out.

Eventually, she ended up passing by the park again. Initially, she wondered if it might be a bad idea to go by this place again, seeing it might remind Kami of how their day started. But then, she caught sight of a sleeping figure on a bench. It was Kato! She KNEW a contrived coincidence would catch them somehow! "Hey Kami, look! Kato's over there! She raced over there immediately. "Kato, WAKE UP! It's Kami's birthday, and here you are, dozing off in a park?" She wasn't really bothered by his apparent lack of recognition for Kami's birthday. In fact, she was quite grateful she was able to find something to distract Kami with.

[Savo]

-Kaminari : Sutoraiki Household-
"(Now that I think aboit it, I heard from someone that there was an amusement park here... Maybe I could take her there!)" As Kami came up with this thought Sachiko grabbed him, and took him out of the house. He didn't speak, and just let it happen. "(I'll tell her my plan later on... Besides, what harm is going to come from an amusement park,)" he said, chuckling to himself. I mean, they were probably just going to go to a few of the attractions, do some other stuff there and leave. Seems like a good way to sepnd the day.

---

As he went with Sachiko, the duo ended up passing by the park. He didn't really think many people would be here for the time being, but it surprised him to see someone was napping on the benches. "(What the heck? Who is... Kato!)" Kami walked over with Sachiko to the slumbering Kato. It was strange to see him snoozing somewhere such as the park, but then again he did have narcolepsy. He watched as Sachiko tried to wake him up, but he felt no matter how much she tried he wouldn't be awaken... However, it doesn't hurt to try.

"Hey Kato," Kami shouted at the top of his lungs, hoping that would wake him up and hopefully not startle him. "Wake up dude, you don't want someone robbing you dry, do you," he asked, chuckling to himself. ".... Come on dude, mind waking up?..." He shakes his head, smiling as he put a finger to his lips, trying to figure out what to do.

"We shouldn't just leave him out here like this.... Also Sachiko, I have an idea for where we can go once Kato wakes up... Hopefully I don't have to drag him around." He looked at the sleeping Kato for a bit before rotating his head back to her. "You know what.... I'm just going to try and carry him... Dont know when he'll wake up, but he will probably appreciate the fact that we didn't leave him there." Kami begins to pick up the sleeping Kato, and plops him into an awkward piggy back position. He looks as if he is struggling slightly with trying to carry Kato, but he just smiles and makes it look like its nothing.

"Sachiko, just follow me... I'll lead the way!"

---

Kami leads the two along with him to wherever he is going. He looks a bit tired from carrying Kato, but he keeps trudging on, ignoring the sweat as best as he can. "I think we are almost there... Ugh, I need to take a break from carrying Kato around." He looked around and spotted a conveniently placed bench. He did his best to put Kato down sitting up, before he took a seat next to the sleeping Kato.

"Let me catch my breath for a bit Sachiko, we are almost there."

((Can we get a description of what the amusement park looks like or something because... I honestly do not know what it looks like))

[SwordfishKnight]

Noboru
Noboru began to reply to Rui when out of nowhere a ball came flying in and whacked Noboru on the head, surprising him and knocking him face first into the ground. Propping himself up on his knees. "Owwwwwww goddamit. That actually hurt. Who did that?" Noboru questioned, when the familiar high pitched laughter of what could only be twins came from behind him.

Akari and Aiko
Akari and Aiko laughed as they watched their younger brother get nailed in the head by a foreign ball, and nearly fell down in laughter after he face planted into the ground. 'Their laughter at his suffering' was their motto. They really enjoyed picking on him since he was so passive. Strolling up to him, Aiko spoke up first. "Hey if it makes you feel any better, it's an improvement on your face. Maybe you should keep some of those scars, then you'll actually get a girl to like you." Aiko and Akari had one last laugh before strolling off again, walking to get something to eat.

Noboru
"Sheesh. They can be so rude sometimes. Anyhow, how about we go to the amusement park, I've never really been there so it seems like an interesting place to be. But first, let's find out who this damn ball belongs to eh?" Turning around to the park Noboru yelled out in the loudest voice he could muster. "HEY. DID ANYONE LOSE A SOCCER BALL? I HAVE IT HERE, IT'S UNHARMED. IT ALSO NAILED ME IN THE HEAD!" Noboru turned around to his friends. "That should do the trick in my opinion."

[Aquaknight]

Kato was passed right out even with Sachiko and Kami trying to wake him up. He mumbled incoherently as he was put on Kami's back, the only words that could be understood was "That's just silly."

Kato uncomfortably slept on Kami's back for awhile, the trio stopped and took a break and had a seat on a bench, Kato was starting to wake up, he yawned loudly and stretched until his back cracked, his eyes was still close. "What a weird dream..." He tiredly while wiping the sleep out of his eyes. He finally took a look around, and noticed he wasn't at the park again, then he seen Sachiko and Kami, sitting and standing near the bench. He was confused, "Did I miss something?" Kato asked with sleepy confusion. "Where are we?" He asked as he took another look around, "...I feel like I forgot something?"

[Zane620]

Teiji Ishihara - Park

After checking every spot he thought he saw his ball fly towards, Teiji began to panic a bit. His dad always old him not to lose this ball, since he always lost his other ones, so if he lost this one he would be in big trouble. Again Teiji searched all over the park, yet his ball was nowhere in sight, so he feared he would have to tell his father the news, when suddenly he heard a loud voice boom about a ball that hit him in the head. This made Teiji grin, and run towards the sound, and arrived in a few seconds as he looked at the group of people and rubbed his head. "Sorry dudes, I kicked the ball a little too hard. Hope you aren't that hurt." Teiji said smiling at the group then realized one was Noboru from his class. "Oh hey Noboru, sorry about that man. Anyway thanks for you know not tossing my ball away, my dad would flip." Teiji said taking his ball back and grinning not really knowing the other two people with him.

[Cuco]

Sachiko was glad Kami had an idea of where to go. Saved her the embarrassment of admitting she had just acted on a weird instinct. It was also pretty amazing that he could lug Kato around on his back like it was nothing. Sachiko would've collapsed in a heap trying to lift him alone, let alone carrying him a distance. She would've offered to help, but she imagined she would just make it take longer. She stopped at the bench along with Kami when he asked for a moment to catch his breath. "You sure deserve a break. I never would've been able to drag him all this way!" As she spoke, she heard Kato yawn. He was awake. She wondered why now in spite of all the yelling and carrying that had happened earlier? Oh well. "Yes, you missed us coming to save you from sleeping in the park all day! That, and it's Kami's birthday and unless you're smuggling a present somewhere, I think you better apologise, mister." She made a mock stern expression, acting like a teacher scolding a naughty child. In truth she didn't really expect him to apologise for something so trivial, but she did wonder if no one else had a clue that it was Kami's birthday at all. "And Kami wanted us to go somewhere, so that's why we brought you with us." She felt like asking where he was taking them, but on the other hand, she didn't want to draw attention to her own random leading by the hand, so she kept her mouth shut.

[Sen]

Sato Hashimoto // Near Warakuma Park

“Thanks, I was trying to avoid someone today.” Sato pulled out his old flip-phone and shared the phone number for it, and also put in Noboru’s number in the address book. He snapped it shut and shoved it back into his pocket. “I don’t really care how one’s dressed on a casual outing like this. It’s not like anyone would really judge you for getting sweaty from exercise, or—“ It was at that point that his line of sight returned back to Noboru, as he was idly staring in the direction of his pocket when a man behind him had apparently been knocked down. The guy seemed vaguely familiar, and was probably a student at Warakuma High similar to them.

He suppressed a short laugh when the man implied that he would be running with a guy he barely knew, let alone in the semi-formal outfit he wore. The guy also asked about what to do in Warakuma, giving off the impression that this student had not been living in a small town for a while. Sato barely knew what to do either, but the question seemed almost ironic though, as a soccer ball came out of nowhere and bounced off of Noboru, and only the sound of shrill laughter filled the air after.

A pair of what could be described as “flamboyant” at best strode up to them, helping the victim of the soccer ball up. It wasn’t long but the moment of pure evil Sato felt when they opened their mouths was indescribable. The desire to cleanse the area of dark spirits grew ever so present in Sato’s heart, as the twins slung a slick insult at Noboru before laughing off into the distance.

Sato was without words. They seemed so typical, but there was just something that made every part of him shiver in fear. After deciding to disregard the whole thing, Sato walked over closer to the new student. He held out his hand and said, “Sato Hashimoto, third year. You new here?”

[Sho Minazuki]

Rui Shinichi | Warakuma Suburb Streets

Standing there he watched the scene unfold, and all it looked like to him was just two brats being a bit of a nuisance. That aside... The boy beside Noboru turned to him and introduced himself... Third year? So he's his senior then. He returned the handshake nice and firm.

"Rui Shinichi, I'll be starting as a first year tomorrow", he responded in kind.

"And I didn't know this town had an amusement park...", it must be rather unknown as a result... But maybe it'd be better than nothing... Maybe the food they sell at the stands is any good. Regardless it sounded a lot more interesting than whatever they were doing now. Though Rui was interested, then again it was just better than doing nothing. He turned back to Sato and awaited some kind of response relating to this topic.

[Haru Nyan]

Ayano: A store somewhere in Warakuma
With Chiaki and her brother in tow, the three set off in their own little journey to find a gift. There was little activity, a few chit-chatting here and there but nothing big. When they got to the store, Ayano faced the two and said, "Okay, here's the thing...We're going to have to split here, I know I asked you for help, Chi-Chi...but this...I'd like to think and do it alone. Why don't you and Yaku have some good o'l family bonding time? I'll see you guys at home. Okay?" she had a stern look on her face, one that said 'If you disobey, I am going to have to do bad things to you'. With that said, Ayano browsed the store in search of her gift.

---

The store was quite big, Ayano both hated and was amazed at it. She never bothered to check it out and this was the first time she had actually entered it, everything was practically new to her. After reminding herself that she's here to buy a gift and not explore some store. Soon enough, she found the books section and thoroughly began searching for a book to give. Something ran on her mind that moment, Kami always had this favorite comic that he always loved reading...What was it called again? She would remember the days when he'd read it and she'd ask him about it, to her the comic was befitting for his nature...She would sometimes compare him to the protagonist of the story and looking at it now...The resemblance isn't that far behind...Ayano laughed for a moment before coming face to face with the aforementioned book. Chief Inspector Gamache! There it was!! Ayano was ecstatic at the fact she found one! And then she saw the price...Her smile had turned into one big frown...The girl sighed heavily and said to herself "Fuck it, I'm giving him a sword...

---

With the wooden sword in tow, Ayano exited the store and took out her cellphone as to text a message to Kami:
"Hey, I know this is sudden but, where are you? It's urgent, where can we meet up?
Pressing the button to confirm, she plopped down on a nearby wooden bench and waited for a reply...she glared at the sword she had purchased and muttered,"This had better be worth it, Kami...

[Kissu]

---Leiko Hamada---

---Warakuma Mall---

Leiko Hamada was not a dreamer.

Dreams were for people hopelessly absorbed in their own self-indulgence, their lives so desperately unfulfilling that their consciousness yearned for something different from their own drab lives. It was pitiful, really. For their own reality to be so dissatisfying that dissecting nonsense was some kind of beacon of hope for them...

"I started this dream diary since Monday. I looked it up online, and it said that if you see a waterfall, it symbolises a new beginning! How fitting is that?"
"For real? Wow! And didn't you break up with that Takeshi guy on Sunday too?"
"Yah! Crazy, right? What do you think, Hamada-chan?"
"Hamada-chan?"
"Hmm?" Leiko blinked, bored to a near stupor from her friends' blabbering as she gave a yawn and stretched. "What does it matter? Dreams don't mean anything."
"Aww c'mon. Don't be like that." Dream Diary girl pouted. "Unless you're calling the internet and a whole bunch of psychology experts wrong, then dreams have to mean something. Like, what did you dream about last night?"

Leiko blinked. “Nothing,” she answered flatly. “I never remember them.”

This wasn't entirely the truth however. Last night, she had envisioned herself in a sea of velvet, with a strange goblin-like man with a long protuding nose, staring deep into her soul with blood-shot, bulging eyes. It was the material made of nightmares really, but throughout the dream, Leiko never felt frightened or afraid. It was strange...

She also recalled something about cards. ;Layers of them were laid out in front of her, like some kind of fortune-telling session. She had tried to pick out a card, but a white silk glove clasped around hers before she could, telling her “Not yet...”

And that was when she woke up. The outlines of the dream became more blurred as the day went on, until certain details were impossible to grasp, like why she was there, or who that strange man really was...

“...Aww, that's disappointing, Hamada-chan,” One of her friends let out a drawn out sigh. “But then again, why would you even bother with dreaming? You have everything you could possibly want already. Money, popularity, a rich and powerful fiance on the sidelines...”

“You really are living the dream, huh Hamada-chan?” Dream Girl murmured, her voice tinged with envy. “You really do have everything...”

Leiko's lips thinned. This seemed to happen too often for her liking. Somehow, the conversation would always draw back to how much she had, how 'lucky' she was in this lifetime...

It was irksome.

“Enough of that. We should pay for our tab and get going.” She called the waiter over and flashed a credit card out of her purse, signifying that she would pay for their meal. Her friends made no effort to stop her; after all, this was a longtime custom when you were friends with Leiko Hamada. She could afford it, so why oppose it?

“Come on then.” Leiko stood up and picked up her bags from the floor, her two friends following suit as they left the restaurant. “Where should we go next?”

“Umm...how about the amusement park?” One of them piped up with a bright smile. “It's been a long time since I've gone there. We can just get your chaffeur to drive us, so it'll be a breeze.

“Are you serious? How childish.” The other girl let out an audible groan. “Do we really have to?”

Leiko cocked her head slightly in thought. “Hmm...” Leiko was never really one for childish games...but she'd shopped so much it was becoming a chore. And there really wasn't a whole lot for young people to do in Warakuma besides...

“Hey...” One of her friends' voices became hushed as she pointed to one of the benches just outside the mall. “Isn't that Wakahisa-san?”

Leiko's eyes followed to the source of her group's curiosity, noting a rather gloomy and unsettled girl sitting on a bench, with what appeared to be a wooden sword clenched in her hands.

“What the actual fuck.” Dream Girl's voice became high pitched and incredulous. “Why is she holding a sword in public? And I swear I heard her just call it 'Kami'...What a freaking nutjob!”