Diabolicalrhapsody

Persona - The True Self

Alexei Dragunov | Warakuma Shopping Center

"Ah! thank you, Onee-san!" said Elena with a blush from the compliment from the other girl. Though she was displeased by the rude interuption by the other girl, her features didn't convey a hint of her displeasure. She removed her hand from the girl's shoulder and continued after a pause.

"Oni-san here taught me the quick-fold. Well, I'm glad that you are alright. I'm Elena Dragunov. Do you need help with carrying the bags someplace? Maybe you can sit someplace and check if all the stuff is alright." she said cheerfully as Alexei looked at them. Standing to his towering height as everyone got up.

"You go on ahead and take a look, Kotchishka. I'll help her settle and join you." Alexei interrupted with his deep baritone. Giving the girl a full look to see if there were any injuries. Elena just nodded and bowed before she hopped towards the sale. Her objective was complete, with effectively making Alexei help the girl she could possibly look for a good gift for her brother.

"Should I carry those for you, Miss?" Alexei asked in a polite grumble.

Persona - The True Self

@Amaterasu: Reply if interested. Elena is a young looking Russian with a bit of Japanese features. Dark eyes, fuller face. Alexei is a large bear like fellow.

Persona - The True Self

Alexei Dragunov || April 19, Sunday.

The Shopping District

The weekend came rather quickly. Alexei had been edgy this whole time. The kidnappings had made him a bit concerned about his sister. So he had talked about that at work and managed to get one of the co-workers, a site inspector, who was having low workload these days to go pick her up from school.

The class too, seemed a bit unnerved. Though, he didn't know Matt much but he was a cheerful and non-judgmental guy, someone who would hardly have any enemies. While, he had kept himself from carrying out his own little investigation with the disappearance, he held a gut feeling that it was connected to Noboru's.

Well, it was all quite something to make anyone uncomfortable but on the sunny side, the Golden Week was about to come and that means Elena and his mum needed a few new clothes. Quite conveniently, there was a big sale on so after doing his daily chores and having morning breakfast with his girls at the hospital, he took his sister for a surprise shopping.

--

In all her years that Elena had been aware of the family's situation, she had never seen her brother care about himself. He would never ever spend on himself if it could be avoided and he was quite a miser and spendthrift when it came to managing finances. Yet for her, he would even buy the stars if he could. Not even once had any of her requests been turned down, in many ways he was a doting father that she couldn't have.

So, as a thank you, she had been saving up her allowance that she was given weekly by him. She hardly needed things for herself, mostly her friends would share with her or other times she'd get it as gifts from thankful boys whom she helped talking with girls. Rather, among her circle she was no better than Alexei. She was quite a penny-pincher and mostly her expenses were very structured.

Though she didn't have the perseverance and sharpness of Alexei, she was very intelligent. Her grades always among the top three in her class and top tier among her peers.

As they turned the corner towards the shopping district, a wide smile appeared on her lips as realization dawned on her. It was discount day and she can surely get something good for her brother with all the savings that she had. Although, the gift was a tricky bit. She knew her brother very well, anything not well priced won't make him content and he would absolutely not get anything flashy or expensive. She also didn't want him to know that both she and his mother knew of his smoking habit and had planned to confront him when he wasn't as burdened as he was now.
He maintained his jiujitsu uniform rather well and he also kept most of the basic supplies up to date. So, it was difficult to get him something. He was also a rather private person so she knew that he won't be having many friends and those who are may not know much about him.

Meanwhile, Alexei was lost in his thoughts, imagining the beautiful dress he had seen at the store a few days back. If he was lucky, others may not have picked it up. Walking alongside his baby sister, he realized perhaps, for the first time, that she had grown a lot while he wasn't looking. Standing at around 5'10, she was rather tall for a 14 year old and with natural light auburn hair, she was quite a beauty.

As they hurried towards the clothes shop, they saw a pair of girls crash into another girl and spill her baggage. After a brief exchange, they had hurried off without helping the girl. Almost immediately, the brother-sister duo got down to help. Two pairs of hands, one long and slender and other large and rough, joining hers as they both folded clothes with surprising alacrity and packed in the bags.

A sweet concerned voice then asked the lady who was mumbling to herself as she frantically shoved clothes in the remaining bag
"I hope you are alright, Miss." Elena had raised her left and gently braced the girl's shoulder. While the girl may note that the other pair of hands just continued on expertly, folding the clothes neatly and putting into the bag with amazing speed along with other contents.

Persona - The True Self

Both my NPCs are in Class 3-3 as well.

Persona - The True Self

I posted after an eon. Yippee for the Drama club boar.

Persona - The True Self

Alexei Dragunov
Thursday, After School, April 16th

The past few days had literally flown by. Noboru had completed a startling vanishing act and to add a new question, a guy named Matthew had gone missing. A gaijin like him and apparently president of the more famous Agriculture Club.

The reports had said that he was kidnapped and that police were still looking for traces. Alexei was a bit concerned about the recent developments so he had set up for a co-worker to pick up his sister from school and drop at the hospital with his mother. That's be the last thing he would be able to contend with. She was too precious to him to not panic a bit with the new developments.

He also had decided to make changes to her daily schedule and incorporate some self defense lessons. Maybe get her excited to be Inoue's sparring buddy.

Because there was Drama on today, he wanted to be on time for once. Ensuring that Sagat would be walking Inoue home, he walked out of the lecture room straight to the practicing room.

As he walked into the room, it was still empty. He threw his bag on one of the chairs and took a look around the whole hall. Though it wasn't that grand or regal, still it had considerable size. He raised his arms beside him and inhaled deeply. He wouldn't want anyone to crash on this moment but that hardly concerned him enough to drop his pose.

The last practice was still vaguely in his mind. He wanted his impression to change on the stern president. He arched his back and looked towards the ceiling as his entire form seemed to emanate a certain oppressive force. Like a hawk just before grabbing his prey, Alexei stood there with his open, thick log-like arms and an expression of relief.

This club somewhat helped in washing away all the tension that regularly piled upon him.

Persona - The True Self

Hello peeps, I'm alive for now it seems. I'll catch up and jump in with some post if I can. Or else I'll wait for a opportune moment to be relevant again. Have fun.

Persona - The True Self

Time to play the third wheel again. It all seems a bit forced from my side. When does the action start?

Persona - The True Self

Inoue's part is up. Up to X to continue the party if she wants.

Persona - The True Self

Inoue Matsuhita Inoue could only waved weakly at the foreigner as he took off on some urgent chore. Se wanted to know a bit more of the enigma that was Alexei Dragunov. It was like she knew nothing about the boy, he always held this plain expression that hid well what lay underneath. Though, as she felt some clinging to her shirt, she realized that she may have phased out for a moment. Seeing a younger student appear on the scene, Alexei had apparently been convinced enough of her ability that he left Inoue in charge. The same was repeated by the girl shortly thereafter. The confidence with which she berated Kenji meant that she hid her talent for fighting rather well under that plain exterior. The girls no longer were shaking from Kenji's presence and a short crowd had also gathered around to see the ruckus. Should Miura lose now, his rep would take a serious hit and his projected superiority would also crumble. Inoue knew that he wasn't much of a threat to any of the serious ones in the school. Those thugs from Kendo club were too hard for him to touch. The Judo and Karate club were too skilled to be taken down and the girls at Gymnastics and Swimming club were also rather feisty. So with a loss here, his target crowd will also gain in confidence of responding to his threats. Sensing this, Miura stepped forward, a vain smirk plastered on his face and cockiness evident in his body-language. Just then, the girl threw a barb. A line that lay bare all that was to crush the terror of Kenji Miura. A testament to his weakness, this seemed to put Miura in a frenzy as he charged the girl, intent on fighting dirty from the start. Inoue thought of intervening, surely even with weakness, she had enough juice to bring him down. But, surprisingly, the girl responded like a seasoned veteran. Keeping her body relaxed and stepping out of range before stepping forward in a dash and using his momentum to throw him over her shoulder in one smooth motion. Blowing the air out of him in one blow. The form looked freestyle but had its base in Judo, especially the one taught in the Tokyo region. The movements were rough but the fluidity was vaguely there. A smile crept to Inoue's face as she witnessed the whole scene as the crowd was pretty much shocked into silence. The girl in with a movement had established to key things. First, that Kenji Miura was finished and second, that she is not to be trifled with. The whimpering girls were silent in that moment but kudos to Miura that despite been swatted like a measly fly and wiped out, he still held some of that brash cockiness about him. The girl then turned towards Inoue and introduced herself. Inoue smiled and grabbed her by the shoulders "Matsuhita Inoue, Class 3-3. You should join our MMA club. I'll surely put in a word for you. We can use someone like you to even out the scales. It would be fun. Currently, we have only three members and we are in search of more. A talent like you shall surely bring us visibilty. What d'ya say?" she paused for a bit as she coughed heavily. "I'm sure Kenji is not foolish enough to attack me alone. So I didn't do much. It's thanks to you that these guys are saved." She patted the heads of the girls as she gave a measuring look to the boy, who wasn't the ideal protector but had done well enough. She looked at him and smiled but said nothing.