Matt had no idea what was going on anymore, heck he didn’t understand what was going on in the beginning but now there were people fighting the thing that claimed to be him. Wait wasn’t one of the guys Noboru? and the others were at the hospital with him… No this wasn’t the time to think about stuff like that, they were fighting because of him… because he couldn't… wouldn’t accept who he was.
The thing they were fighting was no imposter was it… But how could he admit to being so terrible anybody would want to deny being like that. No thats just running away. As if it was all predetermined the group knocked down the shadow in an all out attack, it was down for the count and the perfect time to confront it, no that isn't the right word.
“stop it damn it.” Matt said as he got up. “I….your not… damn it” Matt started to mumble “i'm so ashamed… to admit it… I don't want for it to be like.. damn it” Matt walked over to the shadow as it reverted to its human appearance. “I never thought i’d have to face myself so literally…. I’ve been lying to myself and others all this time” Matt took another pause and deep breath. “Everything you said is true.. at the beginning i just wanted to be accepted… but being a country bumpkin i couldn’t live it down… no matter how good i was at things it never changed how people looked at me… like some fool, so i lied and pretended to be fine with it… pretended it would all be ok as long as i was accepted by others and people would listen to me” biting his lip Matt continued. “But it wasn’t enough… I wanted more.. i wanted to be more than a fool… I wanted to be something greater so I came to Japan where I would be a smart foreigner and use it as levi”
“I admit it ok… you're me and i’m you… but this is wrong.. we can’t dominate people to be accepted, after this lets find a real way to be accepted by others.” Matt finally fully accepted the shadow. no himself.
and the shadow smiled as it faded and took on a new form.
Matt fell down to his knees again and turned his head to the group that rescued him. “sorry to cause you all so much trouble”
As soon as Leiko turned her attentions on the new guy, Kasumi was quick to excuse himself from the situation, making some halfhearted comments about missing the next drama session before swiftly leaving, to her own chagrin. Here she was, standing up for him and this was her just reward: left to pick up the pieces.
Exit: stage left, she thought dryly as she watched Sieghardt disappear into the crowds before once again focusing on the one that caused all this interruption. It wouldn't be long however, before yet another zealous Drama candidate appeared into the fray, leaving Leiko absolutely exasperated. It was like she was being hounded by her own club today.
Maki Moritomi was most definitely a lively fellow, everything from his mannerisms to his speech, and Leiko couldn't tell whether this was a virtue or a curse. She forced a pleasant smile when he arrived (although her eyes hardened slightly at the careless use of her name), and met his carefree question with blunt honesty. "Not particularly. I was purchasing materials for Drama Club, but luck appears not to be on my side. One of our members has been left quite upset from the comments of this person, and quite frankly, I want nothing more than to go home and run myself a hot bath. Perhaps then, I shall have the chance to enjoy myself."
Leiko let out a sigh of relief once she was done with her tirade, and true to her word, left to finish her purchases and collect her friends before returning back home.
Saya Ueno: Warakuma Mall
Saya was relieved to hear Rokoru's indifferent response, the expression evident on her face as she felt the tension release from her facial muscles. "Oh no, no I don't mind at all! I was worried you might mind, since you know, you're the Club President, and I'm you know, nobody. Well, not nobody, but compared to you, I'm-"
Saya was well aware that word vomit was pouring out her mouth at terrific speed, so she quickly refocused the conversation with an easy smile. "Yeah, I'm gonna get these and maybe some other stuff. You won't mind helping me carry these after I buy them, right Senpai? After all, it's in your contract~" She reminded him with a teasing wink before heading over to checkout, positively glowing. It was entirely possible that people from Archery had seen them but she didn't care. Senpai didn't care, so neither did she. Let them talk.
If this is what came of winning, Saya needed to hit those bulls-eyes more often.
The battle was over, and Matt poured his heart out... A fool he played to hide his feelings it seems. After all that was over, he came over to the party and apologized for the trouble.
"That's okay...", said Rui, he stepped forward a put a hand over Matthew's shoulder and with a straight face...
"I'm actually glad you were taken here... Otherwise I was about to look like an idiot", at this point Matt would be a little confused as to what he meant... Rui was referring to the girls in the as-yet formed Agricultural Club who were waiting to sign up. After a few confused looks, Rui continued,
"Well in any case, we're not the only ones glad you're okay I can assure you...", as he finished saying that, Matt agreed, before falling to his knees as the exhaustion took over. Rui and Noboru managed to get to him and help him back up, Kami was securing the area. According to him everything was clear.
"Let's get you home..."
As Matthew faded back into what appeared to be consciousness, he looked around him... A room of blue, and a long dining table. The first thing he noticed was that there were three other silhouettes in the other chairs, and as they came into focus, he recognized them, Rui, Kami, and Noboru. They were all how to put it... 'not there' at the moment. He looked down and saw his outfit had changed to a dress shirt with vest and a bow tie, and his seat was marked with a card, stating "Magician", number one. He looked at the other seats and noticed different cards with different numbers. Rui's was 0, the Fool, the rest were a bit more difficult to see, but he could see Rui's since his was directly across.
"It appears another guest has finally joined us. Welcome to the Velvet Room, a place between mind and matter... I am Igor, and this is my assistant, Henrietta. We will be helping you and your similarly fated allies on your journey", the beautiful lady in blue bowed quietly as he motioned to her.
"Now, guest, Matthew Harvester, you hold the power of the Magician. An Arcana that represents initiative, and energy, often perhaps brash and foolish, but also admirable and with much integrity", he stated.
"You are here because you have signed a contract at the beginning of this year. I urge you to recall the... Lounge room", he stated. While he was here... He did recall something like that... In any case, Igor didn't seem to want to spend anymore time. There were many empty seats, so he understood why.
"For now... Take this. You will return next time to this room of your own free will... But until then, farewell", as Igor was speaking, Henrietta walked over and handed him a key... Without much chance to say anything himself, he found the room fading away as he returned to unconsciousness.
Warakuma High - Front Gates 20/4/2015 Monday
The day was a little excitable, and understandably so. Golden Week was next week, and that meant a whole week of doing whatever they wanted, it was a week off from school and Japan being what it was, this was one of the rare times of the year people got a couple days off.
"Ahhh one more week, and I can binge on dramas!"
"Wait, is that what you're doing?!"
"Yeah... What're you doing?"
"Going to Tokyo I think, like me and my family always do... But my dad has been looking at this 'Amagi Inn' place, hot springs, I hear it's really good, so we might go there instead. Apparently it's in the next town over"
"Ahh that's nice... I haven't been to hot springs for a long time, I wish my parents had more time..."
After a moment, the first bell rang, so Rui hurried off to class.
Warakuma High - Homeroom 2-1 20/4/2015 Monday
After rollcall was done, the announcement Rui expected came up. It was in regards to Matthew.
"So, last night the student who had been reported as kidnapped turned up. Looks like he was okay... Well that's a bit of good news, maybe if you know him, I hear he's at the hospital. Though maybe not go for awhile, the police need him for awhile to question him, so maybe save it for after school... Anyways...", homeroom went about normal. This announcement went around to the other classes too.
Warakuma Hospital - After School 20/4/2015 Monday
"Thank you for your time Mr. Harvester... Have a good day", as Rui was going up to see Matthew he saw policemen leave a room, which was obviously Matthew's, due to whom they were addressing. He simply entered in after them. Rui wasn't surprised there were police this time for Matthew's disappearance. Noboru's was more an overnight disappearance, but Matthew's was longer and he left behind evidence, namely his phone, which a neighbour, (reportedly an old lady) who knew or saw him often went to return to him, but found his place empty. Very same phone appears to have been returned to Matthew too, it was on the bedside table, cracked screen... Supposedly from when he dropped it.
"Looks like you're okay... So what'd the police ask you about?"
Before school, Noboru decided to check up on Matthew. They talked for a little while, chatting up small talk. Noboru started to get up and leave and as he passed through the door he gave one parting farewell gift.
Hey friend. You seem a bit down, so I got you a special surprise. Enjoy!
As Noboru passed out the door, the ice queen walked in, ready to take care of Matthew.
Noboru Yamamoto-After School-Same Day
Noboru looked at his shirt, disappointed. His favorite workout shirt was ruined during the fight with matthew, all torn up, he sewed it back together, but he was unsure whether it would hold or not. You could tell where the tears obviously were, the jagged sewing lines. He decided to keep wearing the shirt, only because a childhood friend had sewed the shirt back together, and he didn't want to make his friend sad. He switched out shirts and went to the mall looking at new shirts to possibly replace his old one at a later date. He bought two new shirts, each black with different colored stripes running down the sides. He stretched and prepared in his old shirt, ready to run an extra mile or three.
Golden Week. Ayano repeated it over and over in her head, from the moment she woke up until she was walking all the way to school. As much as the girl didn't want to admit it, she was genuinely happy for the upcoming holiday, who wouldn't? All the other kids can go to hot springs, inns, hotels or beaches, but her? What Ayano had in mind was something else, a major event was taking place in an MMO she plays, double EXP and Drop rates, limited edition stuff and all within the comfort of her pals! Oh, it made her all the more excited! As soon as this school day is over, first thing she's gonna do is run to her room and start playing. Her fantasies however were cut short, as the first bell rang abruptly. Grumbling to herself, Ayano headed off the class, hopefully nothing to stressful will happen. She's going to pull an all-nighter!!
Ayano Wakahisa: Warakuma High, Classroom 3-1
As soon as homeroom started an announcement was made regarding the safety of the student named Matthew Harvester. Piqued once more, the girl pressed a finger below her lip, "Another one? Just like Yamamoto." she said to herself. There was definitely a connection in there somewhere...But it doesn't concern her, so for now Ayano just shook her head as classes resumed to normality. To Ayano's dismay it seemed the day would have quite the number of activities lined up for her class. Hectic as it was, she steeled her nerves and decided to endure it until the end...Before giving in to the pressure and finally surrendering herself to the confusing questions. Soon enough though the bell had signaled the conclusion of the day and Ayano just darted out of the room like an arrow being shot only stopping midway in the school's lobby when she had remembered two important things. One, it's Monday so she has her club day today. Two, Chiaki, her dear cousin...It's honestly been a while since the two had even talked to each other. Maybe she can put off the gaming stuff for a day or two and maybe spend Golden Week with her family for once? By family, we mean Chiaki. Although hesitant and reluctant at first, Ayano eventually felt the guilt rising in her system and made a quick U-Turn and headed for room 1-1, hoping that Chiaki would be there.
Ayano Wakahisa: Warakuma High, Classroom 1-1
Despite classes having already ended a few minutes ago, Ayano still made the effort to visit her cousin's classroom and knocked on the door multiple times before opening it and poking her head out. The other students looking at her with curiosity made Ayano felt uncomfortable before she began to speak up, "Is...Chiaki here?"
Chiaki's day was pretty average. Her friends, all had club meetings and she didn't want to bother her senpai, so she sat in her classroom for a little but to ponder on what she should do next. Ever since she arrived in Warakuma, odd events have been occurring. The ripping of Noboru's clothes, disappearances and each person that disappeared would return a few days later, hospitalized. She considered checking up on Matthew for the day, but she could already hear his horny comments in her head.
"Aha, I knew you couldn't resist me babe. I'm all broken, why don't you come over and fix me up... <3" Chiaki shook her head at the thought, perhaps she will post him a get well card. It was very sudden, but the class door slid open and a soft but familiar voice could be heard. 'Is... Chiaki here?' She immediately recognized it, it had to be her older cousin, Ayano, it was very unusual for her to come visit, normally she is reclusive and avoids people. This was a nice change and Chiaki openly welcomed it.
The only people to turn and look at her, were a few students who stayed back to have a study session and Chiaki. She walked over, greeting her cousin with a smile. "Yep, I'm here. It's nice to see you Aya-chan. How may I help you?"
Thanking the gods above, Ayano suddenly tugged on her cousin's arm and pulled her out of the classroom before promptly closing the doors. Now that she thinks about it, so far this is the most time they've spent together...Hopefully that would change by the upcoming holiday. Looking at her straight in the eye, Ayano inhaled and exhaled repeatedly, "Relax" she said to herself over and over. "It's just your cousin. Nothing incredibly awkward about that, nosiree." As embarrassed she was to admit it, her reclusive nature affects even her siblings. Breathing deeply once more and letting it all out one final time, Ayano-finally-spoke up. "Listen, you know how Golden Week is coming up right?" The girl paused for a moment, looking down at the ground below her before looking up at Chiaki again, she felt like she was playing one of those dating sims..."I was thinking maybe we could spend a few days together? You know, catch up and stuff? Maybe buy a few things? I dunno, you're the one who's popular, maybe you can suggest an inn or something."
Chiaki was a little surprised, this was completely out of Ayano's normal behavior but at the same time she was greaty excited and happy to be able to soon spend some time with her cousin. "I was thinking maybe we could spend a few days together? You know, catch up and stuff? Maybe buy a few things? I dunno, you're the one who's popular, maybe you can suggest an inn or something." Mumbled Ayano as she looked at her feet, before looking back at Chiaki. It was easy to tell she was slightly nervous about asking this type of question. > + 10 Affection > + 10 Trust
Nodding ever so happily, Chiaki loved the sound of this, planning some fun events with her cousin would be so much fun. She quickly thought about all the fun things they could do together, for a moment, she considered inviting her other friends but remembered how anxious her cousin gets around new people and decided to leave them out of the loop. It was time for some sisterly bonding! "Oh of course! That would be excellent Aya-chan! In fact, I know some excellent places we could go! How about later this evening we browse some stuff up on the computer and maybe we can book ourselves an Inn! Sound good? Haha, You haven't even said yes but I'm already excited!"
So much sudden happiness was exerting from Chiaki, you could almost feel the emotions pulsating off her. She suggested, to Ayano that they should go to the mall and have some after school sweets, that way they could discuss the kind of place she would like to go. Or for them to return home and begin their search for an Inn from there, which ever suited Ayano.
Same as all the other classes, the announcement about Matthew Harvester's return was informed to the class by the homeroom teacher. Students started to make a commotion, gossips about possible serial kidnappings, whispers being glad about their senpai being back, and the like. Even Shizuka's seatmate and friend whispered, "Isn't it scary how the recent kidnappings were all middle school students like us? We better be more careful out there, Shizuka-chan!" Before the raven haired student could reply to her friend, the teacher started to quiet down the class to begin their lesson for the morning.
Shizuka Otonashi || Warakuma High, Classroom 1-1 => Hallway || April 20 MON: After School
The class dismissal bell rang throughout the campus as Shizuka arranged her books neatly into her school bag. An offer to hang out at a newly opened fast food place was suggested by her small circle of friends but as usual, the shy student politely rejected the offer with the reason of having some sort of appointment she had to attend to. This 'appointment' that she always had to attend to after class referred to the part time job at the cosplay cafe. While she felt guilty this had to be hidden away even from her closest friends, she was always afraid of how they would respond in terms of finding out about her true passion.
This was evident if one would observe her during the days that the Anime/Manga Club was active, as she would slow down her walking pace while passing the club room and she would longingly gaze toward the room's windows. It happens to be Monday today, one of the active days of the club, and just as usual, Shizuka does the same routine today as well. 'I... don't have the courage to reveal it yet.', she thought to herself as the female student walks away from the scene with a melancholic expression.
Shizuka Otonashi || Warakuma Mall || April 20 MON: After School
A pair of blonde twintails, sparkling blue eyes, and face full of life. This was what Shizuka, specifically "Shizu-chan", appeared as currently, after a change out of uniform and placing of wig and contact lenses at the public bathroom in Warakuma mall. She was careful to this extent in concealing her identity, she'll never know if a classmate or a student at the school would catch her entering the cafe after all. The set of wigs and contact lenses were varied each time to match the theme for the week and for this week, it involved French maids and butlers with guns like some sort of mafia. Not like the civilians would see the currently blond girl in that silly costume, not until the cafe anyway. Some of these themes were questionable at times but the customers weirdly appreciate them either way.
While quickly pacing onto the direction of the cosplay cafe, her uncovered eyes sight a male, presumably of similar age group, in a tattered shirt. Her seamstress side screamed at her to go over there and offer to fix up the barely usable shirt, which she actually acted on, approaching him with no hesitance like a whole different person from the ordinary Shizuka. "Hello there, would you perhaps be interested in me helping you repair your shirt? Not to be offensive about it but I have quite a talent in sewing, you see, so it'd be no problem for me to make it more presentable."
Akane Hanazawa // Warakuma High // Class 2-2 Monday, April 20th, 2015
Soon after roll call was done, an announcement was made to the class regarding the case of a third year who went missing. Apparently he turned up and is at the hospital. The kidnappings continue to rise, though, out of them all, a few managed to come back soon after... It was strange yes, but it didn't concern her. Not like there's anything she can do about it. The rest of homeroom went on as boring as usual.
Akane Hanazawa // Warakuma High // After School // Manga Clubroom
With the sounding of the bell, classes were over. She was debating whether she should head straight to the gym for kendo practice or not since they also meet tomorrow. "Well, there's always tomorrow, if not later." She reasoned, when it truth she been itching to play a new game she bought at the mall yesterday. Well, it's not exactly new but she lost her original copy half-way into the first route of the game and it's been killing her for awhile now.
Walking happily to the clubroom, she set down her things and slouched in the bean bag chair she brought from home. Drawing manga is serious business, need some form of relaxation, right? After all, one needs to be comfortable when gaming. Pulling out her DS, she started playing.
--- Akira Kirigakure // Warakuma High // Class 3-1 // After School
Another boring school day. The only thing that was different about it was that they announced that the boy from 2 classes over re-appeared again. Though, Akira wasn't interested and didn't pay attention to the rest of the announcement. When class was over, he was the first one to leave the classroom and made his way on over to the Archery Club. It was certainly odd, considering how Akira usually takes his sweet time coming to practice but this time he's one of the first ones there. Without wasting any time, he went and got ready to fire off a few shots.
Mako raised an eyebrow at Leiko's tirade, sneaking glances at the other person, who Mako considered dubbing "Annoying-San" for how Leiko reacted to him. I wonder who it is he upset so much...? Mako went to say something as Leiko finished her rant, but she had already turned to storm off. Thinking better of interrupting her distress, he turned instead to the apparently-annoying individual.
"Yes, well... that was rather dramatic, wouldn't you say? Fitting, I suppose. Anyway, I'd love to stay and chat, but I have some errands to run, still. It was nice to meet you, Whatever-Your-Name-Is. Perhaps we'll see each other at school sometime." And with that, he turned on his heel and left, leaving the other person behind.
==~==
The Velvet Room
Sunday, April 19th
==~==
Well. This is strange. This dream doesn't usually come two nights in a row.
And yet, here he was, standing in the lounge room, feeling very confused regarding the situation. Though, there was one change in the room that added to his confusion:
There were now only four silhouettes milling about. Mako raised an eyebrow at this new development. Has something changed? Is this so-called "destiny" about to begin? What happened to the others? Mako looked around, confirming that the other silhouettes had left, and pondered this strange happenstance. Perhaps this was a clue of some sort? Before he could ponder this development too closely, however, the dream started to fade once again. Mako sighed internally.
Just another mystery to ponder... just my luck.
==~==
Warakuma High
Monday, April 20th, 2015
Golden Week seemed to be the thought on everyone's mind as class let out for the day. Mako, however, had something else entirely taking up his thoughts.
Matthew Harvester had returned from his excursion to... wherever it was that he had been taken. Which was good news in some ways, honestly, but still something worthy of concern for the high schooler. There had been rather a lot of these disappearances lately, and it was starting to become disconcerting. Who was perpetrating these kidnappings? And what purpose did it serve, when they just kept giving them back? The people he took were unlikely to have any money to pay a ransom. And none of the people appeared hurt or injured upon returning, despite their hospital stays.
Mako shook his head as he stood, getting ready to head to Boxing Club. There was too much else going on in his life for him to bring these kidnappings into it- he just had to go and do what it was he did best:
Sato found himself still in his seat even after everyone else had left the room. There was a strange lack of motivation in the boy, as he was usually fairly dedicated enough to force himself to attend Archery or whatever. Missing one day seemed trivial after his near-perfect attendance over the time he’s been in the Archery club. So when he finally worked up the energy to get up, the teen made his way down to the front entrance and walked away from the school, which felt vaguely wrong when he noticed a few familiar faces headed towards the range. And he even stopped himself in his tracks when he noticed a particularly familiar face.
Not anyone of any real relevance to him, but he had known the guy that approached him since Day 1 of attending Warakuma High, and he seemed nice enough. So Sato nodded along when the boy talked to Sato about how he noticed he was leaving instead of heading off to Archery. And he nodded when he suggested attending anyway, and he nodded when he was dragged off to the range by the arm.
And he nodded when he saw a rather common scene unfolding. A bunch of the third-years were crowded around a section of the shooting range, likely doing some kind of tournament thing they had done a week before. It seemed third-year exclusive however, and Sato really did not feel like dealing with that kind of stuff at the moment. So he plopped down against whatever wall he found himself sitting against and stared around the range. Rokoru was wondering about the place, his usually cold eyes peering about for something (or someone), while Mika and her new-found crew of to-be revolutionaries where laughing about while lazily practicing. Yet another slow day. For the third years, at least. Most of the first years were still motivated enough to consistently practice hard, and some of the particularly dedicated second and third year students were tutoring them. Everyone else was either lazing about or spectating/participating in the pseudo-tournament.
Having woken up late for school (a thing that his parents didn’t taken kindly to), Rokoru had rushed on his uniform, downed the quickest breakfast he could muster, and ran to school as fast as he could. In the process he had forgotten one of the key things he always took with him to Archery team: his bow. Naturally, the range had its own equipment for everyone to use, but Rokoru always thought they were all shoddy in varying ways and affected his shooting. He had bought his own a while ago, and to say the least, he was far from regretting.
Rokoru was pretty against using the school bows after having used his own for a while, so he resigned himself to simply helping out his underclassmen. Some of the newer club members were still struggling, so he figured that it’d be a good use of time. The well-being of the club was high in his priorities, and upping the general skill level of the club was a part of its well-being to him.
To Ayano's surprise, Chiaki actually accepted? Wait, what?! Odd, of all the people Ayano knew, she would be sure that she'd be one of the busiest persons during Golden Week. The young girl hesitantly laughed at the prospect, she had never hung out with Chiaki before, so who knows what kind of stuff she'll drag her into.
"Oh of course! That would be excellent Aya-chan! In fact, I know some excellent places we could go! How about later this evening we browse some stuff up on the computer and maybe we can book ourselves an Inn! Sound good? Haha, You haven't even said yes but I'm already excited!"
W-Wait, a...an inn?! Well...that certainly sounds interesting but still a little embarrassing. Chiaki's face contrasted the one that was plastered on Ayano's face, which showed a mix of indifference and timidity. Her cousin soon asked her if she was in the mood for sweets at the mall or just go home. Naturally, for Ayano going straight home would be the most reasonable thing to do right now, the sooner the better.
"Let's just talk about it back home, okay?" Bidding farewell to her sibling, Ayano walked downstairs and eventually continued on home. At least Golden Week wouldn't be just about her games.
Noboru was immediately surprised by this girl walking up to him and talking to him. He had no idea who she was, and she didn't know him either from what he could tell. All she was interested in was his slightly less than stellar shirt, and how she wanted to fix it up. Noboru decided to slow her down a bit.
Woah woah woah. Hold on there. I don't even know your name. And besides, my shirt is completely fi...
The dyed blue hair rose like a shark fin. He could see it in the store, popping out from behind the counter. He had completely forgot. She shopped like crazy here. He got worried. Her head turned and walked with speed that was inhuman. Before Noboru could scoot somewhere else, Hisako was already bearing down on him and at his side.
Hiiiii Noboru. It's been forever since we've talked! Well since yesterday, but that doesn't help the feeling that it's been forever! Who is your friend here? Hisako leaned in to whisper to Noboru. She's a bit weird don't ya think? I thought you could do better finding less strange friends, but I guess i'm not you so I can't tell you what to do. She spoke up again, This time turning to the strange girl. Sooo what were you and Noboru talking about? i'm interested to hear about it. I'm sure I could take a few minutes from shopping to sit down and chat with my best friend. Oh wait before you do that, there's a string sticking out from the back of your shirt Noboru! let me get it!
Hisako started pulling the string. She pulled it out, presenting it proudly. She noticed the next one, and aimed for it. Too busy with her work, she did not realize what she was doing.
There we go! Hisako exclaimed, proud that she had made the shirt look a tiny bit better. She patted her hand against Noboru's chest. It felt...odd. IT didn't feel like a fabric, it felt more...squishy. She poked a few times without looking, and took a squeeze. Slowly turning her head, she looked up to Noboru. Her face turned A red to contrast her blue hair.
Uh.. uh uh uh... oh. She buried her face in her hands and started raising her voice. Noboru put on a shirt please! Why does this always happen? All the time your shirt falls off!
Noboru felt the cold chill of the wind, his chest bare to all. He got angry and started raising his own voice while trying to fumble with his shirt. Each muscle of his involuntarily flexed, his pecs bouncing up and down. The sweat from the jog to the mall made his muscles glow, and gave a small shine. Trying to put on the first shirt he had bought, it ripped, falling to the ground.
This is all your fault! You should have left the shirt alone! And get your face out of your hands! That isn't gonna help! Noboru turned to the girl whose name he hadn't even learned yet. I'm so so so sorry! This doesn't happen often!
Predictably, Matt was asked about his kidnapping, but it looks like there were no details he could give. All there was was that it was in the dark of night, so he couldn't see anyone. It looked like he could be discharged tomorrow or the day after, and Rui was roughly the second visitor not including the nurses. Apparently Noboru scooted over some time ago. It was decided that they'll talk about more tomorrow at the warehouse. Kazuki had sent a message about meeting briefly tomorrow. Noboru should've gotten it too.
Warakuma Mall - After School 20/4/2015 Monday
Rui had decided not to go to club today. Yesterday was still reeling into him, so he wanted to take a break today and look at any new releases for music. Maybe he'll go to Kyuudo the next day it's up... Which would be Wednesday. Though today he was shown something rather unnecessary. It looks like Noboru had decided to go with his damaged shirt and it's turned into something indecent. He can already see the other mall-goers murmuring and he could already hear someone calling for security. He walked up to get a closer look and it appears that someone had attempted to repair his shirt and it's not gone as planned.
He can take a few actions here... > Start doing Jojo poses > Stare blankly > Offer a shirt
> Start doing Jojo poses
Building up as much tension as possible, he struck a mean pose. His gaze was intense, and he was sure Noboru would know what he was referencing to. He was immediately prepared to switch up his poses if Noboru responded properly.
"Let's just talk about it back home, okay?" Chiaki happily agreed with her cousin whom quickly skedaddled away to the unknown. It was a shame but Chiaki expected that Ayano would prefer to go directly home. As Ayano walk away, Chiaki waved goodbye, she returned to her classroom to find her phone buzzing on her desk, there was an in flood of texts coming in from fellow classmates and friends, about some nut going off at a girl about his ripped shirt. ... Ripped shirt? No, it couldn't be...
Chiaki decided to instigate a text message to her favorite senpai.
Heeeeey Senpai! (*^___^*)/ So, im getting all these messages about some maniac yelling at a girl at the mall. Something about a ripped shirt... Haha, it kinda reminded me of you! AH! I MEAN...Actually, just never mind... See you around!
Shizuka Otonashi || Warakuma Mall || April 20 MON: After School
After being carried away by her nagging instinct to repair damaged clothing of all sorts, the blonde felt embarrassed for herself for intruding into a complete stranger's business, but it didn't change the fact that something had to be done to that shirt. "Oh! Pardon me for my intrusion, I usually don't voice out my concern to a stranger. But something has to be done with your shirt. I'm Oto-- no, Shizu-chan would suffice. And you ar-- ...?" Her inquiry was cut short when the male paused in his statement, while his gaze was turned away from the other and... onto the store close by? It didn't even take a minute when suddenly, a flash of azure hue, then a blue haired girl stood by the side of the stranger she was conversing to.
This other girl who had just appeared spoke in a rather quick tone, which would have been difficult to catch most of what she had said if one did not give their full attention. The blue haired female went on and on, causing Shizuka to dilemma on whether she should reply to whatever she was asking for or to let her finish her piece before chronologically responding to her questions. At the moment, Shizuka felt as if she should probably leave the two to themselves, since she had no relation to either of them whatsoever. Before any answers or excuses to leave were to be given, the girl started to pull on the loose threads from the shirt of "Noboru", what the girl called him, while being ignorant to the fact of what she was doing to the article of clothing.
"Um... Excuse me, but you're.... Uh....", Shizuka hesitantly attempted to inform her of what was inevitably about to happen to the shirt but the female with blue strands seemed to be too concentrated on the pulling of threads to hear what she had to warn her of. The currently blond haired student covered her sight with her own hand, bracing herself for what was about to happen.
Rip. ......... SCREEEEAM.
A panicked female voice scolded the Noboru person and he scolded her back, from what Shizuka could hear, waiting for a good while before unblinding herself. This felt like one of those typical scenes she would see from the animes she watched, wondering if she were dreaming or this was actually happening in real life. The male apologized for the mishap and tells her that it doesn't happen often. Just how often did this even happen to the poor boy? Were they actually accidents? Or something more than little accidents?
"Errr, i-it's quite alright. I was able to shield my eyes before the inevitable accident. ....Have you put on another decent clot--" Assuming Noboru had placed on another shirt after the original shirt had ripped, Shizuka lowers her hand away from her eyes.
Big mistake. A trickle of blood. Cheeks tinted in a shade of rosy red. Another scream.
While burying her face into her hands, just as the other female had done, the blonde shrieks towards the male, "P-PLEASE PUT ON A DECENT SHIRT!" The commotion created a crowd of murmuring people around the people involved when another male stepped forward and posed...? This was definitely going to lure a couple of security officers to the scene in a matter of seconds.
Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma High School: Classroom 2-2 | Monday, April 20 2015 - During School
Kotori's face showed a measure of relief when the announcement was heard regarding Matthew - and a moment later, surprise was mixed in when she realised that it coinceded with what had been said in the Agriculture Club room last week by the Second Year Student who had passed by, Rui. Indeed, Matthew was safe by the start of this week - had Rui perhaps somehow known what was going on? Shaking her head, Kotori put those silly thoughts aside - it looked like the mystery novel she was reading right now was getting to her head. With that, she returned her attention to the teacher.
Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma Mall | After School
As her usual way home lead Kotori through the mall, she briefly thought upon if there was anything she needed if she was already here - but after ticking off every item on her mental checklist as being present at home, she came to the conclusion that there was nothing. Instead, she headed homewards - at least, until she heard a commotion somewhere up ahead. Looking in its direction, Kotori soon found the source thereof - in the form of a loose circle of onlookers, some whispering among themselves, some holding up their phones to take pictures or write about it, all of which surrounded a small group of people.
Unsure what it was about, Kotori drew closer - at least, until she caught sight of exactly what was going on. Said small group turned out to, in fact, be two girls and two boys - and a mess of rags at their feet that must have once been the clothing on one of the boys' most definitely bare upper body. Her confusion only grew when she actually recognised two faces - with those two being Noboru, the inexplicably yet again shirtless, and Rui, who even less explicably suddenly started to take on a pose. The two girls, meanwhile, seemed a bit dismayed at the situation - and most likely the attention it was getting, to.
Kotori's by now blank stare was only interrupted by an occasional confused blink - before she turned her eyes away and just started walking on.
Noboru was in a state of disarray. His second shirt ripped, this Shizu girl getting a nosebleed and blusing, and Hisako was ogling him through her hands. Noboru was thoroughly upset at the events that were coming through. He was angry that Hisako started this whole mess. He texted Chiaki, whose message came at a most unfortunate time, back.
No no no, evryting is fine, but there is some yelling gong arond. catch u tmrrw or somethin.
His mind then came up with a most devious plan on the spot. He turned to Rui, who had started posing, and struck a most fabulous pose. He started talking to Rui.
Very nice, Rui-chan! However, your next line will be "Let's do a pose together!" To you!
As he was posing, he started making his pecs dance. They moved up and down, one going up while the other went down. The sheen of sweat still made them glisten and shine in the sunlight. They moved up and down rhythmically, as if to the beat of a tribal war drum. Hisako finally looked up, only to realize her grave mistake. The blood poured out of her nose, running down her lips, looking like scarlet lipstick. She quickly covered her nose, not letting the others see.
Those... Those movements, is he... Yes he is. Rui read Noboru's following up movements, it was... Yes. He drew in the energy of the atmosphere... That line, the way he said it, there was no mistake what Noboru was up to.
"Hmph, let's do this pose together", after a moment of delay to give Noboru's current pose magnificence, he moved his body into a distinct pose. One arm to his side and curved out, while the other covering half his face. A pose that can only be paired with another. He was getting into this. Between his own naturally dashing looks and Noboru's well-sculpted body, the nosebleeds were understandable.
