[IC] My life as an Anime Character

[Azura]

The ringing of an iphone theme remix begins, then ends as Greg quickly turns it to snooze. It was 7:30pm. "Damn, already," he groaned out the words, falling back to sleep, not feeling up to getting out of bed. He knew it was a bad idea to procrastinate sleep, until 2pm, but he loved the internet, and could never turn away from it. "I'm such a internet whore," he always called himself, every time he would finally put is computer to sleep mode.

Ten minutes later, the iphone remix begins again. "Crap, I have to get up now," he thought, as he forced his still, tired body out of bed, to begin his day, or better yet, his night. "Well I have about fifteen more minutes," he said out loud, while turning his attention to his computer. Every time he booted up his computer, he would go to steam. Steam was a gaming application, that allowed you, to play, and buy games for your personal computer, or what most, to all, would call it "pc" for short. As he began browsing through the games that were on sale, a message popped up, on his screen. "What is it now?" he wondered as he looked at the message. Steam, would from time to time show messages about new deals for the day, or week.

"What the hell is this?" he wondered as he read the message out loud. He didn't care to much about cursing, after all, he had his own place, so he didn't care. "Will you accept my call?" he read aloud, raising an eyebrow. The message had an option of yes and no. Was this a promotion for a new game, or did he have a virus that he didn't know about. Either way the answer was obviously no, but before he made a choice, he glanced over at the time, on his microwave. "Shit, I'm going to be late!" the words screaming in his head, as he quickly tried to cancel all his apps, before shutting down, his computer. In the process he accidently clicked on yes, as an answer to the message that, popped up earlier. "Crap, I didn't mean to do that," he said, but shrugged it off. I have virus protection and other protection programs, I'll be fine. He quickly got his things together then headed out.

[Corporal Lance]

The weather's pretty nice out, and here I am. Stuck in this place again. It was kinda serene when no one was here, though.

Another night of helpdesk work at the shop as usual. 1800-0600 every couple of days rotating, doesn't get any more monotonous. I spend most of my off-time sleeping, getting a workout in, or trying to escape the monotony by writing online. It isn't so bad, I tell people. I've had worse. Camp guard was 0700-1900 for a straight week with the next week back at the shop, then you get that weekend and do the opposite shift. Four days off a month? Screw that noise, this is heavenly in comparison. The work isn't so bad tonight and at least I don't need to deal with people. Image a good 20-somethin' laptops to support a requirement by morning, it'll be a piece of cake. The hardest thing about nights was staying awake. And here I am, out in the smoke pit loading up on nicotine and sipping on my second Monster of the night. God, what I'd do without these. It was only 2124. The sun had already been down for a while, making for a cool night with that breeze rolling in. No rain, thankfully, the weather said it'd rain all week. It wasn't quite dead, though. I'd see headlights come down the road pretty regularly, and I could hear yelling over at the barracks across the way just like any other night. I was glad I slept during the day, that'd be a pain in the ass to deal with trying to sleep through. I couldn't have my phone in the building, so I started taking the time to burn one while texting my brother back and forth. Mostly nonsensical bullshit, word games, and funny videos.

♪♪♫~~, ♪♪♫♪♪♫♫~~...

Ahhh fuck. Nobody ever calls me unless it's about work or shop stuff, and it was nearly 2129. Whatever it was, it probably wasn't good. I would've felt better if I got called in after hours because I'd know it was about work and I was all too happy to deal with that. I love what I do, what I don't love is dealing with unit bullshit I don't need to. The number shone up at me from my heavily cracked Samsung screen. I didn't recognize it, down to the area code. But I couldn't just ignore it in case one of the Staff NCOs who never calls me was trying to reach me or it was one of the new Junior Marines. So I swiped up.
"This is Corporal T. speakin'," I answered as I always do.
"Will you accept this call?"
It was the voice of a woman, of course. All the automated messages were. I became annoyed at this point, it was another telemarketer. I stopped getting calls from one of them over a month ago when they were offering me ways to pay off my student loans. I told them I'd never been to college and had to go through 20 minutes I'll never get back to get off their call list. If this was them again, I'm gonna be pissed.
"*sigh* Yes," I responded, already sounding passive aggressive. I was a little curious to see what the fuck they wanted, but more importantly I wanted them to stop calling me. It used to wake me up during the day.

But I never got a response after that. Just a few seconds of silence and then my phone ending the call. I started to thumb through my recent calls to see if that number came up again, just so I could know if it was the same people. I don't know who they are, but I can find out and tell them to fuck off.
"_{Son of a bitch...}"
The call must not've registered in my phone, so I didn't have their number. Awesome. I was done smoking anyway, so I decide to take my energy drink and head back into the windowless dungeon that is work, cracking my knuckles as I walk. I meander left off the path before committing to going in, right by the pull-up bars. I set my cover down, my energy drink down, and take my phone out of my pocket as I jump up for an agonizing seven pull-ups. My hands are still torn from my last two sets out here, and having pull-ups as part of my afternoon workout didn't help at all. It sucked, I hate pull-ups, but the only way to get better at them was to just suck it up. I yawn as I gather my things to head inside, already feeling the mental drain threatening to pull at me. It was gonna be one of those nights. Shoulda got more fucking sleep this morning.

[malmshodes]

JD and Lemon, Santiago's two siberain huskies dragged him through the city streets like something which couldn't give much resistance to something with a much higher percentage of muscle mass. He didn't panic though because he was used to this and had selected his walking route accordingly. Basically, it was on a sidewalk that went on for forty five minutes with a road next to it a complete lack of houses on the other side. So there wasn't much trouble, or to be exact, and exactness is something worth working for, there wasn't much new trouble. Sure, there was still the occasional dog that wanted to try testing its dirty look, and even a couple of little dogs that nobody had told they were little dogs so the fact they couldn't do much against a big dog came as a complete surprise, and of course there was the blood running off Santiago's hands in tiny little crimson droplets from where the little dogs had bitten him while he did his best to pry them out of his much larger dogs' mouths. So all in all it was the kind of day where he wasn't worried about anything in particular which was terrible because that meant he had to make do with dealing with being afraid of everything in general.

"This is weird." He mumbled to what he considered his kids. "Its too quiet." The dogs paused to look at him while he stopped in front of their gate to pull his keys out of his shirt. "Not a threat all day." He chewed the words over before unlocking the gate to let the dogs inside. It too a moment to get them to stop running around so he could get their collars off but that was a daily thing like sitting down on the toilet and waking up thanks to the cold water you didn't normally expect on a seat. "Well, we'll see." He left the dogs in the backyard and headed around to go into the front.

There was a beep from his phone and a message asking if he'd accept a call. "Sure." He mumbled. He entered yes and hit send. It almost felt like some strings were doing something with his fingers but he discarded the idea like internal wind, not the sacred kind, but the one you have to hold on to until your alone or somewhere with a good breeze.

[Azura]

Note: This is our posts before the dream
---------------------------

The night/morning went by fast today. It was a good thing that it did, because Greg didn't feel too good going into it. For some reason his body was abnormally tired. "Finally," he sighed as he dragged himself to his door, and into his apartment. He didn't even have enough energy to play on his computer. Bath, food, then sleep. The routine circled in his head as he began aiming for them. "Nope, bath, then sleep," he said as he did just that. He was too tired to even eat, and he loved to eat! What is wrong with me? I'm never like this.

Thirteen hours later, Greg's alarm went off. He barely heard it, as he tried to get up out of his bed. He could barely move, so he just rolled himself off the bed. Usually, he would catch himself before hitting the ground, it was one of his methods of getting out of bed fast, but this time was...painfully different. His awareness was completely empty, and with that, a painful crash to the floor, his body went. "Fuc-" he tired to scream the word, but it didn't come out. I can't even say fuck? I'm I dying?

He was surprised that he was able to stand on his feet. "I have to get ready for work," he thought, trying his hardest to prepare. He didn't like not showing up for work. It didn't matter how sick he was. It wasn't that he loved his job. Like I would love this job. In a way he sort of prided himself with not being weak like most people that, show up, with a small cold, then go home instantly. He worked, alone, in his department, what did it matter.

Somehow, Greg managed to get himself prepared for work. All that sleep (which he would never get normally), and he was still dead tired. "Well, lets get going then," he managed to say out loud as he headed for the door. Something was seriously wrong. He never felt this bad, it was as if something was killing him slowly. If you're going to kill me, please just do it already. The second he touched the doorknob, he collapsed, then passed out.

[malmshodes]

The day was long, but no longer than usual. It all started with the dogs, and then school. He loved school, but not for the learning. He'd managed to do that by himself. No, what he loved about school was the women, and the endless possibilities that waited for him for three hours of classes and always shrugged their shoulders and left when they realized he was still too chicken to make a move on any of the ones which interested him. Then there was work, and not even a lot of it. The shift was short, about four hours, and he didn't do much work. NOt that he ever did. Perhaps it was all the people talking to him, not costumers, that was always okay because they just asked about what they needed and went away. No, the issues he had were with his associates and their denial to accept the fact he wasn't interested in what they had to say. Really, it wasn't his fault. If there was anyone to blame it was them!

"That's probably it, my coworkers." He nodded, frowning because even though the statement made sense on paper there was something somewhere in the far back of his head that wouldn't stop pointing and laughing at him for even entertaining the idea that things could be that simple. "Er." He said as he collapsed on the bed like a brick would collapse anywhere that wasn't holding it tight. "Things will be better in the morning." They couldn't be worst. "Sure they could, I could be denying of a tumor that's starting late and making up for things with the kind of initiative that would bring about a basketball sized clump of retarded flesh in no time flat." He sighed. Stopped sighing and remembered how tired he was which resulted in a much longer sight. It took time and herculean effort but he managed to doze off.

"I'm awake" He said out loud to anyone that would listen. There wasn't a masked figure in the room with a machete looking down at him, which was really all anyone could hope for. "That's a start right?" He tried to pull himself out of bed but found the task too much for the body that felt like someone had injected full of raw dough. "I'll just wait her for a moment and rest my eyes. "

[Corporal Lance]

I'm wired, way too wired to sleep.

It's a bad habit of mine during the nights. Most people would be bouncing off the walls after their second energy drink. I lost track after four and definitely had more just to get me through the twelve hours. It was small wonder that I was an insomniac. 'Sleep is a crutch' I'd tell them, and I'm pretty well known in the shop for staying late and not going the fuck home. Just like I did this morning. My shift ended at six, with changeover occurring 45 minutes past when it should've. That was my problem, I couldn't just step away and let someone else handle it. Everything I did or everything that was going to happen needed to be summed up to the best of my ability and neatly understood both at a professional level and at the level of the amateur. I might've been filling in for the helpdesk, but my other billet was that of a liaison. I take pride in my job and my ability to pick up on what others don't, explain things so that they could be understood, and give a full report. It gives me purpose and it's work worth doing. I was already changed over into civvies and walking around like a zombie when SSgt kicked me out at half past 0800, trying to perfect that report. I couldn't leave things lie like that, besides, there were a lot of things that happened during the day that I couldn't get done at night like collaborate with people. Same thing with at night, when it was daytime in other countries. When I joke with people at work about putting up a cot in the server room, I'm only ever really half-joking.

And now I'm finishing my day how I started it: in the smoke pit. I have a problem, I know, I just don't happen to care. The nicotine takes the edge off, it helps me focus when my brain gets spinning and de-stress when I'm overwhelmed. I practically live in the smoke pit though, and that's the problem. I used to try to rationalize it until I realized that I just didn't give a shit and there's no reason for me to quit. I shuffle my tired self inside, my backpack with my cammies and whatever food I didn't eat from the night before slung over a shoulder. I'm floating on my feet now, it feels like, like my body is a vessel for my brain to get to where it can do it's thing. I dig my room key out of my back pocket, a key card, and feed it into the reader on the door. It blinks red, no dice. Feed it again, no dice. Once more, red blinking... green. The door opens and I shuck my bag onto the empty rack. I'm fortunate enough that I don't have a roommate, and it was a blessing at times like these. The room is exactly how I left it, laptop charging on my desk, the only notion of disarray being my tossed sheets and my running shoes on the carpet with my sweat-soaked socks still in them. Fuuuuuuuuuuck I don't wanna work out todaaaaaaaaay. I don't even shower after getting home, don't eat, I set my alarm for 1600 instead. Should be enough time for me to get a 30 minute jog in, shower up, make it to the shoppette for chow and get ready to do this song and dance all over again this evening. It was past 0930 when I managed to get out of my clothes and into bed, and even later when I drift off to sleep. I tossed and turned for a good 20 minutes, but now the exhaustion is taking hold.

I enter the peace of sleep, the escape from reality that it brings as my heavy eyelids close and I sink into the covers.

[Azura]

Darkness, nothing but darkness was all he saw. "I'm dreaming right? Why would I know, I'm dreaming if I were?" Greg wondered, while trying to move his body, but there was a problem with that, and that was, he didn't feel a body to be moved. He didn't feel anything. "Where's my arms? Where the hell are my legs?" we wondered. He couldn't even speak out loud, because he didn't have a voice either, he could only think. He wondered if he died, but tried to dismiss the thought, to keep himself from panicking. "Can I even panic?"

Suddenly a bright light flashed before him. The light was so bright, that the darkness vanished, like it was never there to begin with. Of course, Greg couldn't block his eyes, but for some reason he didn't need to. It was like the sudden bright light, didn't faze his vision at all. Then an even brighter light appeared, but this light began taking shape, and when it was done, he saw that it became a woman, or was it a man, he could tell. It wore a long, dark blue cloak. It's head, and face were covered with a hood. Only it's nose down to, it's chin, was visible, which was why Greg thought it, a woman, because of the shape of the lower face. The next thing was the first thing Greg noticed, and that was that, it was covered in chains.

The chains bound, it's arms and legs. He could tell what the chains were connected to, because it seemed, like the ends of the chains vanished, the farther he looked behind it to see what the chains were connected to, that were supposed to be holding it down. He took another look, at the figure, after viewing the chains. She had tears streaming from her face, but a happy smile on her face. He'd never seen an expression like that before. "What is going on? I'm dreaming right, but it feels to clear to be a dream"

"Thank you," it said, and that gave Greg, his answer on the gender. It was definitely a woman, or was it a girl. In his present state, the figure seemed huge, but the voice was soft, unwomanly. "Wait, what did she say?" Greg asked himself. What did she mean by, thank you? What was it, he did for her, then everything when dark again.

[malmshodes]

Santiago couldn't see the hand in front of his face, that is, there was such an overwhelming lack of light he wouldn't be able to see his hand if he was able to lift it up to his face. He couldn't though. There was a vague memory buried somewhere in the recesses of his mind which told him about his hand, where it was, what it did, and how to control it. Not that the knowledge made any difference where he was, wherever it was.

There was a lot of unknowns in the situation that he didn't like, and he voiced his complaints, which seemed to fall on deaf ears. It was oddly a relief because who knows what kind of ears you found in a place like this. They'd probably belong to something with a lot of teeth, and a sense of priorities that put its stomach's fulfillment way, way up to the top of the list of important things to keep happy, while he ended up somewhere so far down you'd need a shovel and a canary to get to him. "Probably better, if I shut up." It would've been nice to be able to nod to himself, as a way to let him know how happy he was with himself for making such a good decision, but there didn't seem to be a neck to nod with, or anything else which might explain how consciousness existed.

The young man tried to look one way and then the other, but that couldn't be done either, at least he didn't think it was done. Hard to tell if your moving without sight or feeling. "Okay." He said in a voice that would have been clear and calm had there been a voice box for it to come out of. "I'm going to panic now," and he did, but not for too long because without a screaming voice or randomly flailing set of limbs, what was the point. That done, he waited for something to happen.

And it happened. Not quickly at first, but whoever was pulling the strings didn't waste time with any of that unnecessary build up you got in some films whose makers didn't know the difference between an awe inspiring reveal and showing off just how much you could milk a single scene. There was a flash of light, a big one, the kind of light you got at the beginning of the universe, or when a fist slam you right in the spot that made your eyes think there was a universe beginning flash. Only, unlike the fist to the head it didn't hurt, at all. There was no pain. Really, his eyes should have been burnt into little black raisins you couldn't eat without going to prison, or later through up after finding out they weren't really raisins.

A figure appeared before him. It might've been a person, but it was hard to tell because something had gone through incredible lengths to make sure he had no idea what he was talking to. "Hello?" He thought(said(?)) There were tears running down the face which actually did look a bit womanly now that he paid a little bit more attention to it. "Why are you crying?" There was a pause before the woman, and it had to be a woman because males just can't sound like that, said "Thank."

He would've panicked again if there'd been any point to it;

[Azura]

"Wait, is the sun out?" Greg wondered, waking up to the bright sunlight. "Wait a minute!" he yelled out loud, sitting up from his bed instantly, wondering about work, and if he were late, or overslept, but the thought instantly vanished, by another problem. Actually, there were many problems, going on at once. "What..the..he-" he didn't finish his sentence, because of one of those problems, that he just heard. It was a shock to the system, and he didn't know how to react. Panic seemed like a good idea right about now.

"Am I still dre-" he didn't finish his sentence again, hearing it again. The room that, he was in, wasn't his. The room that he was in, had colors that seemed off. Greg was very familiar with the colors, because he's seen them many times. The colors looked like something from an anime, and at the same time, felt real. He didn't know whether or not to panic, or be amazed, so he did both.

Another change that he notice first, and kept him from finishing his sentences, was his voice. It was different. Everything was different, nothing in the room looked familiar at all. It didn't look like realty, but felt like it. Even though the colors were different than normal, it all felt real. Greg reached to pull the covers that only covered his lower half now, and notice yet another change, or better yet more changes. "What the hell is this?" he said, trying to shove the thought, of his new voice, to focus on the next few changes.

In the realty, he knew well, Greg was African American, so his skin color was originally a brown color, but what he saw wasn't that. His skin was white, and like the room he was in, it was a color like that of an anime. He jumped out of the bed, he was in, and realized the next change, but ignored it looking around for something. In the room there was a door, that was to a small bathroom. The bathroom only had a sink, toilet, and a long mirror connected to the door, but the mirror was the only thing important at the moment. "What?"

His jaw dropped, at what he saw. Long silver-white hair, that went slightly past the shoulders, crimson red eyes, thin lips, and a average figure, was on the other side of the mirror. "This isn't me," he said, touching his new cheeks with his fingers, and by verifying if this was all real, pinched them hard, feeling the pain, he knew now that it wasn't a dream. The panic began roaring though him.

[malmshodes]

The floor met Santiago like a wall meeting anything that didn't have the right idea of what a wall was, or more importantly how it worked. That is to say he went into it, bounced, and the object in question could not have cared less even if it was imbued with a sense of compassion. There was no third bounce. There was just a young man laying on the floor, groaning, and doing whatever he could to keep himself from coming to the surface of his mind, and seeing what time it was. He hated to see what time it was, especially now that he could tell, even from eye lids closed so tightly you couldn't get them open with a crowbar, there was light peaking through curtains and that meant the babies were late for their walk, AND that meant he'd lose thirty minutes having to chase them around to get their collars on. "Oh!" He groaned, because it was all he could do, with what little strength he had, to let the universe know he wasn't pleased with how it had come out today. "Haven't even opened my eyes yet and already I can tell today's going to be a kick in the crouch, repeatedly, with steel toed boots all the while someone sings bad spanish in the background."

It was quiet. "It shouldn't be quiet." He said, jumping to his feet like a man half his side, and rushing to the window to see if his kids were alright. "Shit!" He shouted, looking around at the unfamiliar ground below him. The cartoon colored people didn't register. "Where are they?" He threw open the windows and leaned out, nearly enough to fall out, and shouted down below. "Hey there! Has anyone seen a couple of huskies running around? One looks like a wolf, and the other one looks like he could eat a wolf!" A few of the cartoon characters around stopped to look up at him, and then decided they didn't want anything to do with him, especially because he was half naked and so all of them like one big wave, hurried into away, in whatever direction wasn't currently occupied by someone else presently in the process of escaping.

"God damn it." He muttered and hurried back inside. He would've just run out like that, but caught a look of himself on a shiny surface. "Double damn it!" It wasn't the new face staring back at him that cause an impact. He hardly ever looked at himself and would've been the last one to noticed the change in everything, but the fact he was naked and that was possibly a reason why nobody stayed to talk with him. Somewhere, he hoped he hadn't leaned out far enough for someone to see his junk. Of course that was only a secondary concern. He needed to find out what happened to his babies, and then, if there was time, where he was. "Priorities." He told himself.

He threw open a closet door, and pulled out some random clothes. They weren't normally what he'd wear, because of something nearing an animistic hatred for pants(it was hot where he lived) but he was in a desperate hurry, and didn't know who he was steeling from, which somehow made it much easier to do.

[Corporal Lance]

This darkness wasn't the familiar darkness I was accustomed to. It wasn't sleep, that was for damn sure. Y'know that completely sunken-in feeling that you get when you're dog tired and your eyes close after you hit the pillow? The feeling that the world around you slips away and leaves you to the inner recesses of your mind and everything around you melts into the black? This wasn't it. This was a little bit stranger.

I'm completely conscious here. There's no relief of the weary bodily shackles I cast off in my dreams, no deep breaths. I can't feel myself absorb into the covers because I can't feel myself. At all. I'm drifting here in nothingness so complete I can't see, hear, sense, or even feel my own arm pass in front of my face. I can move my head, but it doesn't matter. Everywhere I look is pitch black. I would be breathing heavily if I could breathe, but I can't. I don't want to anyway, there's no need. This must be what death is. However it happened, I died in my sleep and this is what lies beyond. I'm... a little surprised. I didn't think I'd actually be some sort of right about what happens when you die. Consciousness within nothing drifts back into the nothing, and time will pass and my mind will create it's own existence again. I'll probably go insane in the process, but there's not shit I can really do about that. The quicker I succumb and let my awareness dim, that's when I'll hallucinate another reality. At least, that's what I assume. If I have an fears at all, it's that I'm oddly okay with this. I'm dead, why aren't I upset? Maybe it's shock. Maybe. I'm only really worried about my father and my brother, mostly my father, but did they exist at all or did they only exist in a fleeting hallucination of the cosmos? Was my life before my death even real? Had this happened before.

It's small at first, but I pick it up instantly. Light. Light's incredibly easy to see in the darkness that is nothing. I must not be done yet, this probably isn't my final resting place. Reincarnation? Guess I'd find out. And then I hear the echo. Whispering, no, weeping. Someone's sobbing. I skim my head around as if I still had one looking for the source of the sound, but it comes from all places around me in the nothing. I'm a little frightened to do it, but I look into the light. It's blinding, but I'm not blind. It's like it's just there instead of radiating from a source. But it does have a source, a dark figure. It's covered in robes, as lame as that sounds, but it's like a priest or a monk in darker colors. I think blue, like a navy blue. The figure sparkles, and I recognize the twinkling. It's like water droplets through headlights. It must be the one who's sobbing. It gets brighter, but the figure comes closer, and I try to put my hands up defensively but they don't move. My head can't move to look down, and I realize that I never had them. As it approaches, I can tell it's a woman. I can hear her crying more clearly. I want to feel pity, but right now I feel all but frightened. This wasn't a good sign. If I'm wrong and this is God, then I've probably done something to make her cry at what she'll do to me. If it's not... I'm already fucked. I steel my resolve, I've already made my bed. Time to sleep in it. For good.

She's wrapped in chains. Second red flag. I want to run, but I get the sense that I'm the one that's moving closer and not her. I see that she's... smiling. Smiling. My mind is clawing at me to sprint, run, get the fuck away from the woman smiling and wrapped in chains floating toward me in the void but I can't go anywhere, can't do anything oh fuck oh fuck ohshitohfuckfuck...!

It opens it's mouth.

"_{Thank you...}"

The whisper came in the echo, like it was everywhere, so soft and so quiet but deafening in the silence of the void.

And then everything stops and I'm screaming.

...

......

.........

"EEEEYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!"

I shriek at the top of my lungs, shooting up in bed and attempting to get rightside-up as quickly as possible. But my right arm's asleep. I plant my useless arm down with force and fall, twisting my wrist violently and crashing off the bed. Reflexively, I roll underneath it if not for a little bit of cover. My skin is cold and covered in beads of sweat, as if I'd taken a short jog through the rain. My heart is pounding violently, threatening to escape my chest as I threaten to hyperventilate and dart panicked eyes across the room. It isn't mine, that much was clear. I don't even know if I'm alone in here yet. Dazed and confused, with sharp pain shooting through my wrist, I drag myself cautiously from underneath the bed. The satin of the... nightgown? O-o...kaaaaay... The satin of the nightgown I'm apparently wearing rubs against the rough carpet, telling me that I'm probably not dead this time around. I do a quick turn around the room to get my bearings, holding my injured wrist closer to my chest with my opposite hand out in a modified fighter's stance. No one else was here. And the room wasn't mine.

It was pretty small, a one room dorm much like my own if you filled in the expanse in the wall on one side. The first thing I noticed was all the color. Sunshine yellow plush rug on the floor, a single desk covered in stuffed animals and a few pictures, walls plastered with posters of... pop culture. I think. They looked like music groups, but they were filled with teen heart throbs. Whoever the fuck Desire Dawn was, they were on most of the pictures. Looked like pretty-boy douchebags to me. I tip-toed over to the desk and single computer chair, holding my breath as if anything could jump out at me, and a gingerly picked up one of the pictures. Now that was freaky. All of the pictures looked like cartoons. And then it hit me. A streak of light shone off the surface of the glass for a split-second, showing someone behind me. I threw an elbow behind me with a grunt and turned around, but no one was there.

BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT!

I hurl the picture in my hand at the offending noise on instinct, and a clatter and the sound of shattering glass rang out through the dorm room, although the alarm continued to sound. I missed. I was always a shit throw. Being careful not to step on any broken glass, I moved over to the purple novelty nightstand and complementing sunshine yellow bedspread where I threw the damn photo to punch out the alarm. I realize something. The alarm clock is a cartoon. So's the bed. My hand is a fucking cartoon. I feel the panic set in once more as my heart sinks into the pit of my stomach, and I frantically dart my head around. I run to the window and look through. It's a sidewalk filled with what looks like highschool students in matching dress marching up and down the path that cut through a green patch flanked by hedges, one of the few points of greenery in the entire canvas of residential buildings and sky. And it was all a cartoon. I search again, finding the head just behind me. Uncertain, I dash in to check my own image.

It isn't me. Whoever it is isn't me. It's a girl in the mirror, a young stickly little one, with short messy mauve hair that I can feel clinging to my neck and reflective dark brown eyes that I blink. I bring her hand to my face. Her skin is soft. I'm wearing the nightgown. I look down and for the first time realize that I'm missing something veeeeeeery important, and check to make sure. Nope, nope, definitely not where it should be. I lean my face in close to the mirror, as does she. There wasn't anyone behind me in my reflection in the picture, I was the reflection. I begin to laugh, at first a giggle, and then louder and louder as I hear the sound of my own high-pitched voice until I'm crying from laughter. This was fucked up, it was so terribly fucked up that I just couldn't help but laugh at it. It was hilarious! In a cosmic sort of way. It finally happened. I've either completely snapped, I died and now the world doesn't make any fuckin' sense, or I'm lucid dreaming and this is how that happens. I continue to laugh and laugh, gasping for breath with tears streaming down my face as I sink to the floor and huddle myself into the bathtub.

I manage to calm down a little after a few minutes, at least I've stopped laughing like a schizo. I don't want to admit it, but I'm freaked the hell out. This is incredibly jacked up on a fundamental level, and I can only hope that this is a dream. My chest still heaving, I wander out of the head to find something to wear and what I find grabs me by surprise. Dayum, those skirts are short. I don't see any kind of jeans or anything sensible either. What the fuck, belly shirts? I give up and go to start my morning routine. This isn't the first time I've woken up in a strange place, just the first time as a... girl. The more I think about it, the more it bothers me. Maybe I'll just... go back to the closet and find something to wear instead...

[Azura]

An hour passed, and Greg managed to accept the fact that he wasn't himself anymore, or at least he tried. He looked at his hands and noticed them shaking. He'd been panicking for 45 minutes to an hour. He took a deep breath and tried to meditate, for a while. He was able to calm down a little more, but that didn't completely extinguish his nervous shaking. "So I'm an anime character now? What do I do from here? How do I end this?" he asked himself, still a little in denial, that this wasn't a dream, not having the courage to move from the bed, after seeing his new self in the mirror. He took another deep breath, then opened his eyes, after having, closed them for about 15 minutes, while meditating. "Yup, wasn't a dream after all," he said, smirking a little, while his nerves began acting up again. "Fuck!" he yelled taking a deep breath, making an attempt to calm down again. He later, managed to calmed down a little, and because of that, he was able to think better.

The first thing he decided to do, was to look around the room more, to see if there was anything, that could tell him something. He hesitated a little before finally leaving the bed. He had a hard time walking, because, of him still being a nervous wreck. He saw a folder and a few papers on a small desk. "Ok that's one," he said, deciding on continuing to look for more clues, before viewing what, he already had. He then opened the closet in the room. There were quite, a bit of clothes hung up, of course. "Definitely anime-like clothing , or is this Japanese?" he said wondering, noticing a white and gold school blazer, white and gold pants, and other normal outdoor clothes, in anime standers anyway. "School Uniforms?" he wondered, then decided to just take a look at the folder, he noticed before. He saw a, folded piece of paper, on the top of the folder, and decided to take a look at that first. It was a letter, that had his real name on it, which freaked him out a little, making his nerves, which were calming down a little, begin acting up again, but that didn't stop him from reading it. "I already have silver hair now, what's stopping me from stressing out now."

Dear Gregory-kun,

If you're reading this letter, then that means that you haven't killed yourself yet, because of your sudden change. I'm sure it's obvious, but you are not in the world that you know. I cannot tell you much, for reasons. I'm already telling you too much now, but it can't be helped. Just know that you aren't forgotten, and we will come for you in due time. We have prepared, you a place to stay and money to help get you by. I'm sorry I can't tell you much, but you will be attending school in this city. Please do your best to adapt to your surroundings, and try to not stand out too much, but for a handsome man like you, that might be a problem. Everything that you'll need will be in the folder. You have others in this building, that are just like you. Please look out for each other. Do your best, and good luck Kuni-kun!

"Gregory-kun? Kuni-kun, was that suppose to be a name? School!? What!?" he yelled surprised, while glancing at the folder. He remembered, the school blazer in the closet. "So I'm suppose to wait for the one responsible for bringing me here? I'm also suppose to attend school again?" he said, as he tried to take it all in. The last time Greg attended any form of school was 5 years ago, when he attended community college, why would he want to go back? "What kind of school am I suppose to be attending?" he thought, then stopped. Was he just going to just accept these orders? He never did like be ordered around, so why should he allow it now? Although it would be dumb idea to not consider it. He was in a world he didn't know anything about. What else could he do? He ignored the thoughts, and focused on the contents of the folder.
30 minutes passed, and Greg started rubbing his temple, trying to put things together. "High school student, 17 years old, new name is Ichihara Mitsukuni," now he knew where the Kuni-kun came from. He had a hard time pronouncing the name. This is supposed to be his new name, and he couldn't even say it properly, normally. In the folder were documents on the school, that he was suppose to attend, an ID card for the school, a debit card for money, and other things. Was he really going to go along with this? It felt like he didn't have much of a choice. If he wanted to get back to his world, his best bet would be to go along with the mysterious person in the letter. He'd have to meet them, and the only way to do that would be to wait and stay alive. "Why school though!?" he argued out loud. A part of him told himself not to do it, but the smart part of him told him, that if he didn't, school officials, would probably take action, by looking for him, and that would be attracting too much attention, which is what the letter told him not to do. He took a deep breath, then sighed. "Well I guess I'm Kuni-kun then," he sighed again, wondering which was his first or last name was. "It sounds very Japanese, but how similar is this world to anime besides, the look?" he wondered, standing to his feet, looking at the exit door of the room. "Wait didn't the letter say, there were more like me?" he remembered. Then sudden he heard someone screaming.

"EEEEYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!"

It sounded like a girl. Mitsukuni, wanted to see what was going on, but he was too afraid to leave the room. He shook his head, then gave himself a weak slap in the face, to reduce the fear. As he slowly made his way to the door, he pause a little before, turning the door knob, then he remembered something. "Wait a minute, did I-" before he could finish, he heard the sound of glass braking. "Ok, now I have to do something. Dammit all!!!" he yelled, quickly opening the door, running out to look for where the sound had come from. "Heeey!!! Are you ok!?," he yelled, knowing it was a dumb question indeed.

[Corporal Lance]

In moments the tidy room was a whirlwind of clothes, like the slide-open closet decided to vomit its contents everywhere in front of it. Why the fuck was I fixated on clothes, you might ask? Simple: it's productive. It's something to do that somewhat takes my mind off the fact that I'm probably a motherfucking Sailor Scout now. I'm not just searching for something to wear, though, I'm searching for any kind of hint on where the hell I am and why I'm a tiny little girl. This fucking suuuuuuuucked. I wasn't that coordinated before, but this was a whole new level. I'm not used to having such a short reach. Or hair that gets in the way. Or not having a dick, that's a big one. Yes, yes that's good. Stop panicking, get fucking pissed. I can use anger, I can focus on that, fear gets me fucking nowhere. Welcome to the shit show, front row seats. Outside of more shoes than I thought I'd ever need to deal with and lots of frill lacy things, I don't find a lot. Clothes mostly, some luggage, a hot plate. There's a schoolgirl outfit in there, a couple actually, what the hell else were striped skirts and long-sleeve button-ups for? But it looked a size too small even for this little girl. Was it supposed to be like that? No way in hell I'm wearing a skirt, fuck that noise. That limited my options, though, and they were already pretty goddamn limited. Short skirts, slightly longer short skirts, short shorts... Fuck yeah! Track suit, I can work with this! I don't know who makes a fucking tracksuit white outside of a music video, but I don't really care. I'm about to set it aside when I hear yelling. It's like barracks yelling. And that's not fucking good, not here it's not.

I freeze at first, and then I hear more coming from down the hallway. So my heart starts going turbo on me. I slink up toward the side of the door and lean in, trying to listen. There's conversation, mostly worried. Fuck, do they know I'm here? I need to be quiet, real quiet. Time seems to slow down as I hear movement. My breathing has slowed too, and I'm not moving. Still as a statue. If I shift my weight any someone might hear scuffs on the carpet. What then? They'd try to get in, could they get in? Do I lock the door fuck is the door even locked...!? Too late to check, don't move. The blood rushing into my ears makes it hard to hear and I can't stop trembling. If it's not locked, they'll get in. Weigh your options. If they slowly open the door and peer in, they'll see you so slam the door on their head then out the window if you have to. If they rush in and turn left toward you, step forward leg behind one hand on the throat and sweep. _{Shit I'm fucking tiny that might not work} Alright, alright, if they barge straight in stomp on their calf, figure four variation. Fuck man, shoulda grabbed some glass or fucking something. Okay, if they come more than... thre-four! Four steps in you run for it. Doesn't matter if you're barefoot, doesn't matter where you're going, if they catch you you're fucking hosed because you're a tiny little girl. This is Hell, isn't it? Oh shit this better not be what I think it's gonna be. Seconds turn into minutes, and I swear it feels like half an hour's gone by but I haven't been standing here long. Shaking, I can't quit shaking. Fuck fuck fuck what do I dooo? Quiet, just keep quiet. They probably won't hear you, then you can slip by later.

[malmshodes]

Santiago threw open the door hard enough to make it bang on the wall. He didn't see any point to closing it as he couldn't really care less to whom everything within belonged to and would've rushed straight off if not for the strange thump on the other side of the door. It sounded like a little booklet hitting the wooden floor. He stopped, momentarily confused, and moved the door a little to look at see what was behind it. On the wall there was one of those pocket things you tapped to flat surfaces because it was easier than using a filing system. It had been knocked askew thanks to the wall not moving out of the way when it came around. On the floor just under it was a yellow packed marked with his name on it. He could tell it was important thanks to all the exclamation marks after it, and then under that in darker letters it said, and this is a direct quote "Your dogs are fine. Promise. Nothings going to happen to them. However if you just go about running around like an idiot and get yourself killed you won't see them again."

"Hmm." Santiago rubbed his chin, and tried to pluck a hair from his chin that was always there. None were there. "Maybe their thinking of a different Santiago." He opened the packet and there was a picture of himself, the old one, before this morning, and under that there were a couple of his dogs. "Aww this is a good one." His eye twitched in that familiar way it did when danger was nearby or someone he owed money to had found him in their cross-hares. "Hey, I don't remember taking these pictures! Damn creeps, stalking the babies and me." He shook his head while taking a better look at the pictures. He turned one this way and then the other that way. He tried it again but with keeping the pictures still as he moved his head about. "How'd you get them to sit still like that and look at the camera?" He slumped a little a put the photos in his pocket for when he'd inevitably start missing them. "Two hour long walks and I couldn't ever get them tired enough for a picture like that."

something slipped out of the yellow packet and it the floor so lightly you could only be sure it happened because of the gentle gust of air he felt on the tiny area of his ankle that was open to such things. "Hmm?" He looked down at what was apparently the last sheet in the packet. A moment to verify proved this was the case. He picked it up and read it out loud because doing so quietly would end up with a completely different message thanks to all the ideas bouncing frantically around behind his eyes. "Dear Santiago." He mumbled, and then skimmed through the rest of the letter because he couldn't bring himself to say what he read out loud. Done, he through the packet and the letter in the room he came out of and closed the door just in case the stuff inside was his own.

"So there's others here in the same situation as me, huh?" He swallowed. "So, I'm in a group, at school." He looked down morosely at his feet, covered in leather he wouldn't waste money on back when he was stuck with the sickly thin wallet he hated pulling cash out of because it always felt like pulling innards out of a corpse that really wasn't much more than bone and some stubborn sinew. "God damn it. Well, there's no time like the present, right? Well I guess the past and the future are pretty similar to the present." He said, walking and wondering how'd he'd be able to tell if he met someone like him. "Their just not here at the moment."

He walked for a bit before seeing someone pale with a slightly freaked look in their face, the kind of look you'd get with someone that just learned about what sex was after walking in on their parents in the process of procreation and standing there, staring till the whole haunting ordeal came to an end. "Hey," he said as the pale guy hurried past him. "By any chance are were you in a real world just last night?"

[Azura]

"Would you like another, master?" a woman holding a bowl of berries asked as she began stroking Jin's long blonde hair. She was standing to the right of him as he sat on his golden throne, with a smile on his face. There was another woman, to his left, fanning him with a huge paper fan, using it's handle to move the fan up and down. "If you would be so kind," he answered, as he began laughing out loud. "Beep!" said the woman feeding him berries. "Beep?" asked Jin, confused by the sudden outburst. The woman dropped the bowl of berries, and proceeded, kicking Jin relentlessly. "What are you doing!?" screamed Jin, while trying to protect himself from the blows. "Beep beep beep beep!!!" yelled the woman, continuing her onslaught. "Why is this happening to-"

Jin woke up, with a familiar female face, stomping him, nonstop, and to the sound of his alarm clock sounding. The girl had long, black hair, that was tie in a, twin tail hair style, with slight tan skin. Her golden-yellow eyes seemed bright with fury as she continued stomping her childhood friend. "Get up already, you idiot!" yelled Makoto, frustrated. "You were suppose to be up an hour ago! Don't you remember Yamoto-sensei's request!?" she yelled, when noticing that he was awake, she stopped her abuse, then folded her arms, waiting for him to get out of bed. "Ok , I get it already" replied Jin sighing, sad that his dream had come to an end. He didn't like waking up early, but Makoto pushed him into doing Yamoto-sensei's favor. Even though Yamoto-sensei was a woman, he hated how lazy she was. She would always force her assignments on her students, no doubt the reasons for it was so that she could drink her nights away. "How is that woman not fired by now," Jin asked himself, rolling out of bed. He noticed another familiar female face peeking into his room.

"I tried to stop her, I promise," said the girl, in a low shy voice. Nana, was another one of his childhood friends. She was always the shy type, which made her a target for bullying as a kid. Makoto saved Nana from her bullies, when she moved to this city 8 years ago. Makoto was a huge tomboy when Jin and Nana first met her. At first, they thought she was a boy, because of her slight boyish features and attitude. Now she looks more girly than Nana, if you take away the brute strength. Nana had long silver hair, that went pass her shoulders, to the mid section of her back. She had sapphire blue eyes, pale skin, and always had a shy, innocent look on her face. Both Nana and Makoto had on a white and gold sailor school uniform. Makoto's skirt was folded a little, making it look shorter, while Nana's were, slightly pass her knees, with was the normal length. Jin smiled at Nana, reassuring her, that everything was fine. He could never get mad at her, or Makoto. They were always great friends to him.

Makoto noticed their silent communication, and puffed her cheeks. "It's not like I'm mad or anything. Just get up already," he said sighing. Jin stood to his feet, feeling more awake than he was just a while ago. He bowed to her sarcastically. "As you wish Hime-sama," he said jokingly. Makoto may not seem like it, but her family is very rich. Her father owned, a weapons trading company in the Haggar Horr continent, but because of the war, it became to dangerous, so they moved to the Continent of Vera.

Twenty minutes later, Jin was prepared and ready to go. "If we're late for this, it's your fault, you know," said Makoto, still a little upset with him. "Ma..Makoto-chan," Nana timidly called out in a low voice, trying her hardest to calm the situation. Makoto glanced at her sighing. Jin began scratching his head, not knowing was to say. "We..Well haha..let's get going," said Jin trying to ease Makoto's temper, if not a little. "I just hope, they're more prepared than you were," she responded, walking off.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Mitsukuni , was a little worried about, the person, or people, that were possibly hurt. "Hey," said the voice of a person with red eyes, and red hair. Just like him, the guy looked like an anime character. "By any chance were you in a real world just last night?" he asked.

Mitsukuni stopped his pace to a complete stop. "Real world? Is he talking about the world, that I'm from? Is he from my world? Can I trust him? He's way too calm. Is he trying to trick me?" thought Mitsukuni, as questions continuously raged through his head. He was worried, he didn't expect this. He was planning on finding the others, just as freaked out as he was, but this wasn't it. Either, he's trying to trick me, or he took the change very well, which he didn't understand how he pulled that off. "Who are you, really?" asked Mitsukuni, taking a step back, preparing for a fight if it turned out bad. He was highly suspicious, but it wasn't a bad thing. It's always got him out of jams, and away from people he felt he couldn't trust, but then again, what was he going to do when he met the person in trouble. "Oh shit!" yelled Mitsukuni, remembering the screaming girl and the shattered glass. He had to help her, but what about this guy? He didn't have time for this, he needed his answer and he needed it fast! "Prove to me that you are, from where I'm from," said Mitsukuni, not wanted to waste time.

[malmshodes]

The pale young man whom Santiago had addressed didn't react to his greetings as he figured he would've. Actually, after going over the idea with a fine toothed comb, or at least a comb with a single tooth you might be able to leave a scratch with if you could hold someone down long enough to press it into the skin, he came to the realization he didn't have any idea of what to expect from the young man. REally, at the worst he didn't think anything would happen at all. There'd be a look you'd give to someone who it would be safe to bet got you confused with someone else. Instead, what he found himself getting was the kind of look you saved for someone who was sitting on the toilet(seat down) waitng for you to finish your shower, with sunglasses on, and told knew your social security number, birthday, every address you ever lived on, and the names of every girl you had a crush on from pre-k all the way through your third year in college.

"Whoa. Calm down." Santiago said, holding up his hands to prove there wasn't a blade in either palm. "I'm not here to hurt you, really. Have you ever seen someone get hurt? I have, and trust me its the last thing I'd like to do." He paused as a though tried knocking on the door to his mind, but he decided there was a time and place to entertain cerebral guests and this wasn't one of them. So he shook his head and the thought ran off screaming because of the category ten Earthquake that almost through it over a nearby cliff. "Look. My name is Santiago. SANTIAGO. You got one of those letters too, right? It gave you a strange Japanese sounding name like you'd see in an anime, video game, or on the name tag of an overly enthusiastic cosplayer right? Does Santiago really sound like one of those names? Really."

[Azura]

"Whoa. Calm down." said the kid. "I'm not here to hurt you, really. Have you ever seen someone get hurt? I have, and trust me it's the last thing I'd like to do." he continued, as Mitsukuni observed how the red-headed kid reacted to his sudden outburst.

"What to do? I'm I thinking too much? Do I even have time for this right now? I wonder if I'm being to paranoid. Nope, my worries are justified, but it doesn't look like he has a weapon " thought Mitsukuni, watching the guy, putting his hands up. He wondered if he should pat him down, but shook his head from the thought. He didn't like touching others, plus it was a little much. He was worried, but not so paranoid, that he would go that far. "This is stupid," he thought, feeling as though, the guy seemed legit, other than how well he's taking this whole ordeal. He began messaging his forehead, making his final thoughts. He was in a world, that looked, way too much like an anime. His main goal right now was to gather the other two for now and talk to them about this. Mitsukuni, wished that the letter told him the names of the two, but this guy just may be one of them after all.

If this guy was here to kill him, than it didn't matter. He didn't know if he would ever get back to his world anyway. If he dies, so be it. He decided to play along and trust him for now, until he learned the truth. "My name's Gregory, but you can call me Greg for short," he finally said, thinking of giving a hand shake, but knew that there was no time. "Did you hear glass breaking, a while ago, and that scream? I think a girl's in trouble, so I'm looking for where that sound came from. She's probably one of us, or basically in the same situation as us. We should probably find her now," he said lowering his arms, realizing they were still up for defensive purposes. "I'm sorry, what was your name again? I'm sorry but I'm bad with names," he said, looking at a door, which most likely was to another bedroom. He actually didn't get a good look where he was.

He was in a small hallway, with wooden flooring, and from what he could see, where at least 7 doors in it, probably seven rooms, one might even be a bathing room, remembering that there wasn't any bathtub in the bathroom in his room. He wondered how big this place was, from the look of the hallway, maybe not as big, but then again, there may be other floors. He remembered, that his room was at the end of the hallway, so there's six that need to be checked. The sound was pretty loud, so it had to be on this floor. "Hey, which room did you come out of?" he asked, focusing on Santiago.

[malmshodes]

Things were rough at first, very rough like running with your face pressed against a stone wall rough. There was panic in the air so thick you could break your legs trying to kick it away, but the other guy, Greg's breathing started to mellow and and he looked like the driver managed to get grab some of the reigns. "Yeah glass, or something like it." Santiago nodded. The guy was definitely starting to get a hold of himself, you could tell because Santiago had heard that sound too, which was good because he didn't want to be the one to have to pull him up over the edge. The last time he was responsible for bringing someone back from wherever it was they went when their fingers started loosing a hold on reality he got kicked in the nuts so hard he couldn't walk for weeks. Which he understood but still resented. Its just that how was he supposed to know the difference between a seizure and a honest mental break down? He'd only been twelve at the time and figured if it involved so much twitching and biting someone was going to the land of fruits and flying gummi bears.

"Er. It's Santiago, but you can call me Jimmy, or whatever it is I'm supposed to go by. I'll have to get back to you on that one."

There was a pause and it was from Santiago because he hadn't paid attention to anything really before meeting the guy. "Which room did I come from? That's a good question." He looked around. "Which room didn't I come from, I think that would be the best route for narrowing things down, don't you?" He scratched the end of his nose, but that just made the spot behind his ear tickle. "I'm pretty sure I turned a corner somewhere." He looked around and focused on a door. It looked like any other door he'd seen, at least the ones that didn't lead into the room of a teenager who was currently going through one of the kind of phases that involved leather, spikes and enough black to raise your body temperature ten degrees. "Let's go through this one." He said pointing. "I've got a feeling about it." He nodded at Greg Enthusiastically.

[Corporal Lance]

The talking's still going on. It's in an urgent tone, but it's calmed down a little. I don't hear pounding on doors, so maybe they're not looking. Maybe they'll pass me by. Shit, do I have time to get a weapon? No, no I don't, and I don't even know if it'll help. What the hell could be dangerous in this room anyway? I made the better judgement not to grab any glass because that was some bogus movie special effects that would probably get my palms sliced open rather than help me defend myself. Unplugging the lamp on the desk would make too much noise, and the chair isn't the kind to pick up and hit someone with. Can't bar the door with a rolling chair. A smile twitched at the corner of my mouth as I thought of the grimness of the situation. Man, this was fucked up. Where even was I? It was too real to be a dream, I wouldn't remember the waiting, but everything looked like it was straight out of Adult Swim's Anime Saturday lineup. Was I really dead? Could this be what the afterlife's like? I mean, I always wanted to go back to Japan one day and I guess I could associate that with anime like everyone else does. Being a schoolgirl hunted in some kind of unkno- yeah, this was totally a dream. The more I think about it, the dumber it gets.

Unless... Unless I've completely fucking snapped. That makes so much sense. I wake up in a room that I don't recognize, I'm hallucinating some weird shit, and as soon as they heard me laughing it up in the bathroom people started looking for me. Orderlies. I've fucking lost my mind. But what do I do now? Do I risk the fact that I might be hallucinating and try to roll with everything like normal, or do I fight back because I might be dead? ...or does it even matter because I'm dreaming?
Fuck it. I'll figure it out once I'm sure that I'm good. If the orderlies storm in here and I take them out, I'll tell a half truth and say that I had a nightmare and I'm flipping the fuck out. PTSD, that sounds like it'll work. If I can confirm that something's trying to kill me, then I'll see what kind of damage I can do, but right now I need to be in a position of safety. I don't know shit about what's going on and I know that, I'll act when I find out more.

I hold my breath when I hear the footsteps. They're close, so close I can feel the weight of whoever's out there from the other side of the door. There are two of them, judging by the footsteps and the number of different voices that I heard. Fuuuuuuck this might not work the way I want it to. I can choke someone out alright, but nothing's going to stop the other one from ripping me off him.
"Let's go through this one. I've got a feeling about it."
That was close. That was either right outside my door, or the one outside of it. I remain still. If they don't hear anything, maybe they'll keep walking. I braced my weight on the wall, ready to react, ready to do something other than sit here and wait. Slam the door on someone's arm, run, take them down, something.

[Azura]

"Beep," mumbled Jin, still depressed about his dream. Nana glanced over her shoulder, to check on him, seeing that he wasn't keeping up. "Beep?" she wondered, slowing down her pace to let him catch up. "Are you ok Jin-kun?" she asked concerned for her friend. "Jin-kun?" she repeated his name to get his attention. She had a feeling that, he didn't hear her, because of her low voice tone. She was bad at speaking up. Makoto, had always told her to work on it. She would always say "that's the reason people pick on you. They think you're easy prey". She would also always say, with her nose high "but don't you worry, because I'll always protect yea". Nana always looked up to Makoto's strength and her ability to stand up to anyone. Makoto was always good to her. She tried one more time. "Jin-kun!" she yelled, shocking him out of his daze.

"Whoa! What was that all about!?" asked Jin surprised to hear Nana so loud. He knew that she would always practice making her voice louder, but she was terrible at measuring it. "I..I'm sorry," she responded, taking a few step back from him, realizing that she was too loud again. "No, it's fine I shouldn't hav-" said Jin not able to finish, his sentence, because of Makoto suddenly grabbing the collar of his shirt and yanking him down to her face, so that they could look eye to eye. Jin had his hands up, showing that he wasn't doing anything wrong to her. "Ma..Makoto, calm down," he pleaded, not wanting to face her wraith. "Makoto-chan It's my fault, please don't!" begged Nana, grabbing Makoto's arm. Makoto loosened, her grip, letting go of Jin's collar, realizing that she overreacted. "Hmph, if not like I was going to hurt him or anything, I was just showing you what to do in a situation like this. "What kind of situation what this, and what were you going to do?" thought Jin, looking at Makoto with a doubtful look on his face. "Anyway how far are we?" asked Jin. Makoto took a look at the directions and looked back at Jin. "Not much further, about a mile away," she replied, as she continued walking.

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Mitsukuni wasn't too sure about Santiago's response. He seemed so sure, but at the same time, it seemed that he was just guessing, either way, he had to check the rooms anyway. Might as well start with this one. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I think I'll check anyway," he said, hating, not trust other's judgments, but it was a habit, and because he had a feeling that Santiago, wasn't too sure himself. He went to turn the door knob, and stopped, remembering something, or at least almost remembering something, but because he couldn't see it, he shook it away. The door was unlocked, which made him think, Santiago just may have been right the whole time.

When he opened the door, he noticed instantly, how trashed it was. Clothes everywhere, and other items all over the place, and he noticed a broken mirror. "Could this be?" he wondered, while taking a few steps inside. "Or did someone get robbed?" he thought, looking at Santiago, to verify if this was his room. "Did you have to destroy the place?" he asked.