Takaru

Persona - The True Self

Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma High School: Agriculture Club | Monday, May 25 2015 - After School

Whilst Matthew busied himself with the flowers all around the room, the door to the clubroom quietly opened. Turning, Kotori saw the third member of the club enter before speaking up in greeting. Whilst the club president returned it in cheerful kind, another wry sort-of smile came across Kotori's face as the younger girl congratulated her on the midterm results. Wishing - not for the first time that day - that the results weren't posted publicly and thus putting her on the spot so much, Kotori also assumed that she probably didn't harbour any ill will in her words. "Ah, uhm, th-thank you, Otonashi-san," she said, the slight discomfort being masked by the usual quietness of her voice - only enhanced by the fact that she didn't really know how to return the compliments. Luckily though, Matthew made that worry obselete when he soon brought up a different topic instead and, as usual, taking up the majority of the speaking part in the conversations of the day.

Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma High School: Classroom 2-2 | Thursday, May 28 2015 - After School

"Well, that's all for today. Remember to review the material at home," the teacher declared as the bell rang; signalling the end of another schoolday. Kotori was thankful for it - though not quite as much as at the start of the week. Luckily for her, the excitement and interest in the midterms had rather quickly died down and was replaced by the usual daily life at school: worrying about upcoming tests, club activities, plans for what to do after school and the like. Finishing her notes before packing up, Kotori glanced out of the window - the skies were starting to take a slightly worrying colour. Though she had an umbrella in her schoolbag, she still hoped the rain would hold off until after she got home once agriculture club was over.

Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma | After School

Kotori looked up at the sky again once she left through the school's main entrance. The sky had definitely darkened - it was definitely going to rain later today, though her hope of it only starting once she got home seemed to be holding up. She began on her way home, having no further stops planned after having just said her goodbyes to her two fellow agriculture club members for the day, as she let her thoughts wander on what to do with the evening. With her mother being most elated over her midterm results, she'd been more than happy to be cooking all through the week and even assuring her that she could take it easy and wouldn't need to help out at the shop for the moment. Any words to the contrary were rapidly shot down, thus leaving her with both free evenings and a slight feeling of guilt thereover.

Of course, there was the day's material and her notes to go over - with the new term starting, most subjects were starting on new topics or continuing on from previous ones. And just because she'd gotten particularly lucky on her midterms didn't mean she could just sit back in the new term, either - but even so, she could hardly just fill an entire evening with textbooks. Instead, she'd picked up another secondhand book or two (or six) at the local bookstore café, one of which she'd finished just the other day; leaving her to ponder which one to continue with today. There was that novel about the strange happenings in an old countryside mansion which had sounded rather intriguing - but on the other hand, there was that romance novel which, whilst sounding more than just a little cheesy, still had piqued her interest equally.

In her thoughts, she hadn't actually been looking where she had been going - not that it was necessary, seeing as she took this same route to and from school every day. Yet only now that she actually looked about did Kotori notice that there was something slightly odd about her surroundings - there were a lot fewer people about than usual. For a moment, she glanced about a little nervously - before shaking her head at her own silliness. She must have read too many mystery novels - of course people would prefer to stay indoors when there rainclouds were forming overhead. Yet at the same time, she couldn't quite shake the silly notion - even as she looked ahead and noticed a small group of people standing at the corner she would usually turn before reaching the shopping district. There was no real reason to suspect anything - but that little voice asking 'What if?' that always seemed to come to the fore whenever one hears a scary story or the like, no matter how unbelieveable, still made her take a turn slightly earlier and go down one of the alleys which would get her home equally as fast.

It was only when she'd gone a few steps that she let out a small sigh at herself. What was she doing, making herself afraid of a few people standing around? For all she knew, they might have seen her too and thought her most rude for turning away like that - she really should have just kept going straight on. Preoccupied with her own hangups, it would take her a few moments to notice that there was someone else coming up the same small road - if one could call it that, seeing as it was more of an alleyway. Moving to one side preemptively to let them pass by before they even got close, she kept on, her eyes lowered - only to suddenly stop in her tracks when she suddenly saw the person's feet before her. Looking up in surprise, she reflexively bowed before speaking a quiet "Ah, excuse..." but not getting further than that.

Looking at the person, completely draped in dark clothing just standing there, she felt a small shiver down her spine - but before she could say anything else or even turn around, an arm suddenly wrapped itself around her waist and a hand was placed over her mouth. Kotori's eyes went wide, the confusion rapidly replaced by fear. Her cry, however, only came out as a muffled "Mmf!" - as she realised that it wasn't actually a hand on her mouth, but rather a cloth which was pressed against not only that but also her notice. She tried to struggle against the grip, but to little avail - without the heart-pounding panic clouding her every thought and sense, she might also have noticed the rather odd smell of the fabric as she kept trying to free both her arms and her airways; the cloth stifling her breathing and only furthering her fear.

Her thoughts were racing - what was- who? Why? For... but... and-? She could barely finish even a single thought as all her instincts told her to get free, to run - even as an all-encompassing weariness came over her, both in body and mind. She felt herself slump to the ground, only avoiding a complete collapse due to the vice-like grip of her unknown assailant, even as her thoughts became slower, less coherent. Her vision started to go blurry, sounds became muffled and only now did she realise there was a strange smell in her nose - but it too was warped beyond any recognition as, finally, her mind drifted off into unconsciousness...

Persona - The True Self

Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma High School - Main Entrance | Monday, May 25 2015 - Morning

Kotori stifled a yawn on the way to school. Even with the midterms done, she still hadn't been able to really calm down; leaving her restless over the whole weekend. She'd spent equal measures of time trying to focus on the book she was reading as she had on reviewing her notes and textbooks just to make sure that she'd really gotten that one problem right which she hadn't been sure about at the time. Between that and another tiring appointment on Saturday, she'd found herself in a constant state of unrest - even tending to the flowers in the back of the shop hadn't quite the calming effect that she'd hoped for. Still, she pushed those thoughts aside as she headed to school - what was done was done and there was nothing that could change the results after all, no matter how many mistakes she may have made.

Arriving at school, she noticed that there was a crowd gathered at the noticeboard - whilst it wasn't unusual to find various small groups of friends meeting up there before heading to class, they were all in one place this time. Kotori quickly realised the cause of it - undoubtedly the results of the midterms. Some of the students spared the list just a glance to check for their own names whilst others hung around to discuss the results amongst themselves, making it rather easy to get close enough to read the list over. "First years... second years... class 2..." Kotori mumbled almost soundlessly as she scanned the list for her own class - but didn't find her name in the usual spot of fourth or fifth. A little disheartened she looked further down but didn't find her name there either - causing her to slump ever so slightly. She really had made some mistakes - and enough to make her score too low to even be listed.

At least, that's what she'd thought as she turned to walk away and nearly walked into a classmate; giving a small bow in apology as best she could amongst all the other students before heading off to class - or she would if said classmate didn't recognise her as well. "Ah, Shirohane-san? Congratulations!" Kotori blinked a little confused at him, the odd remark catching her off-guard as it took her a moment before responding. "Eh? Uhm, th-thank... you?" she said - before noticing that a few more eyes seemed to be turned her way. Both uncomfortable with the sudden attention and rather confused about its reason, she glanced back at the test rankings - and this time scanned her class' list upward rather than down from her usual placement. "...eh?" was all she could say when she saw her name.

Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma High School: Classroom 2-2 | After School

Terrible - that would be the simplest way to describe the school day for Kotori. Not only had she felt more than a few pairs of eyes laid on her throughout the day, but the teacher had even taken the liberty to read out the listing; as if trying to make absolutely sure that she wouldn't be able to escape everyone's notice. Had she not felt such scrutiny, she might have realised that such attention was likely just going to be fleeting and not malignant, but it still felt as if half the school was staring at her to the quiet girl. She practically buried her face behind her textbooks all throughout the day; trying to make herself as invisible as possible - though not very successfully, much to her chagrin.

Kotori felt no small measure of relief when the bell rang and signalled the end of the school day - at which point most people's interests turned to less school-related topics instead. Much as usual, she packed her things only after finishing her notes - which she'd had to hastily decline lending to one or two classmates throughout the day; a request she hadn't expected - albeit with a slightly more tired expression behind her glasses for once. Still, the school day was over and the classroom was quickly emptying out - all that was left was one place which would at least prove quieter.

Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma High School: Agriculture Club | After School

"Excuse me..." Kotori said in a low voice, slowly opening the door following a brief wait after her initial knock and then entering the clubroom. Much as expected, she saw Matthew already present and busying himself with watering the plants that were found all throughout the room - including another new one or two on the table in the center of the room. With her entrance being as quiet as ever, it was only when Matthew actually turned around that he noticed the girl now seated at the table and looking the potted flowers over. "Ah, if it isn't our little Miss Highscore!" he said with a wave, both his tone and smile holding his usual cheer. Kotori merely gave a rather wry half-smile at that before answering. "Ah... th-thank you, Harvester-senpai," she said, giving a bow as well as she could before returning her attention to the flowers before her.

Persona - The True Self

Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma High School | Saturday, May 23 2015 - After School

Kotori quickly finished up her correction on one of the questions she'd already answered; noticing on a second pass that she'd made the same little mistake that she always did when she'd been practising at home or at the library. Rather than be glad about it though, it served more to make her nervous - it wasn't the first silly little mistake she'd caught barely in the nick of time; leaving her to fear that she might have missed others too. Unfortunately, there was no more time to check as the teacher announced that time was up and the papers were to be passed forwards. Sitting in the second row from the front, Kotori handed quite a few papers, together with her own, to her front-most seated classmate as before breathing a small, inaudible sigh. Whilst she'd kept up her studies and note-keeping all throughout the school term and seemed to be able to answer the questions reasonably quickly and proficiently, she still couldn't shake that nagging feeling that she might have made some mistakes - like on that math question, or the translation, or...

Shaking her head, Kotori decided to put those thoughts aside - or at least, try to - as she instead packed her writing utensils together before slinging her bag over her shoulder as she stood up. Looking about, there were a variety of reactions to the end of the midterms - some were looking hopeful, others a little apprehensive; some seemed rather cheerful in a 'out of sight, out of mind' kind of way and the occasional few had the unmistakable dread at the upcoming results written all over their faces. Nonetheless, most were at least in some way happy that it was over and that the rest of the day could be spent however they wished; a few already discussing plans for this day or the next among themselves.

Having made no plans for herself nor any scheduled meetings in the agriculture club keeping her at school, Kotori headed out of the classroom - for once with the majority of her classmates rather than after them - whilst pondering what to do with the day. Her mother had insisted that she focus solely on her studies and thus had no shopping duties or store tending to do the whole week - though she did feel a little guilty about it, Kotori was thankful as she had been able to review the upcoming material each day. Still, it did leave her with little else to do now that the midterms were over so that she mulled over her options whilst walking through the hallways down to the main entrance. Glancing at her watch, she saw that it was around lunchtime - the school day had ended rather earlier than usual thanks to the midterms. Having arrived at the main entrance, Kotori stood beside it as she mused on her next course of action - should she head straight home and prepare something for lunch or rather get something to eat in town?

Persona - The True Self

You can swap Alexei and Noboru there and it suddenly makes more sense.

@Sho Minazuki

Not in the least, really.

His shirts ripping would imply that Alexei actually wears a shirt in the first place.

Persona - The True Self

Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma High School: Classroom 2-2 | Friday, May 15 2015 - After School

When the bell signalled the end of class for the day, the usual hustle and bustle broke out - at least, the same as the last few days. A few had arranged for some study meets with their friends from other classes, others had given up on the midterms all together and were attempting to get others to come along for something fun to do whilst other were unbothered by all of it and just got on with their usual routine. Kotori, judging by the way she was as ever finishing her day's notes, belonged to the latter category - even if she was rather more nervous than such a thing might suggest. Whilst she kept up her studies as ever, the atmosphere whenever big tets were up and coming tended to get to her and left her a little unsure - she'd taken a lot longer on that math exercise than she ought to, she kept forgetting the exact translation of that one English words. With a small sigh she closed her notebook - she knew that dwelling over mistakes wouldn't do any good, but she just couldn't help it.

Looking up, she saw that most of the class had already left the room - a class that included Akane again after she'd shown up again on Tuesday. Kotori had wondered about the absence, but it wasn't really her place to just go up and ask her about it; bothering the girl just to satisfy her own curiosity. Heading out of the classroom with her bag over her shoulder, Kotori headed toward the Agriculture Club - with the rather lax nature of the club most of the days, it really was almost a kind of study meet in and of itself. She'd had to miss out on Monday unfortunately as there had been a rather unexpected influx of customers at the Flower Shop on that day so she'd gone home to help out - she still felt a little guilty, but there neither of the other two club members seemed to mind it; helping to ease the conscience at least somewhat. Come to think of it, she hadn't seen quite as many people dressed in suits about these last days; though they had made up a peculiarly large number of said customers. Reaching the clubroom, Kotori put those thoughts aside though.

Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma High School: Agriculture Club Room | After School

The Agriculture club was much the same as usual - Matthew was already there and watering the flowers in the room, which she noticed had again grown in number, and returned her quiet greeting with his usual cheer. She recalled an odd rumour about some claiming to have seen him tending the plants whispering in relief things about 'pretty flowers', 'nice sunlight' and something about creepy castles earlier in the week, but she had dismissed it as yet another outlandish rumour; much like those that cropped up whenever someone had been kidnapped. Seated at the table in the clubroom and with her notebooks before her, Kotori briefly shook her head as if to clear her thoughts of such things and instead focus on what was at hand.

Persona - The True Self

Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma Public Library | Sunday, May 10 2015

Glancing between the two siblings - and betraying her slight discomfort with an occasional one to her still-clasped hand in between - it was the younger who spoke up first. Elena seemed to be beaming as she explained that it was mostly because of her that the two were at the library - learning English herself was her reason, being dragged by his sister as a change of pace was Alexei's. The latter faced elsewhere as his sister spoke; only speaking up himself when she was finished. He in turn explained that he was catching up on some biology for both himself and his friends - and that they'd been here since early in the morning as a favour. A faint "ah" was all Kotori could say to that - for a moment, she'd wanted to suggest he simply ask a classmate to lend him their notes on the subject. The next, she realised that she would probably have had trouble doing the same herself, so it would be rather hypocritical to try and suggest it; leaving her to instead say nothing before Alexei went on.

As he mentioned her, Kotori quickly brought her free hand up almost defensively at the thought of her being exceptional at studies with a small "ah, n-no, I..." before turning her eyes downward; unsure what to ultimately say. Alexei meanwhile went on, wondering why she would choose to study English rather than any of the more immediate subjects - and furthermore offering to help out, seeing as Elena was enraptured by English books. Kotori meanwhile looked up again and at the girl in surprise - and then Alexei, when he apologised for any would-be offense.

A second time Kotori's hand waved off the words quickly, a shake of her head added for emphasis. "Ah, no, not at all," she said to alleviate any guilt over the words. "A-and I've been studying the other subjects for a while, s-so I thought doing s-something else... might be a good idea..." she said before looking up again. "S-so, I don't want to disturb either of y-you two's studying just to help m-me, really," Kotori added, truthfully - she'd already taken enough of their time just by taking a seat, so she could hardly ask for even more. Furthermore, it would have meant asking the aid of Elena without being able to help out Alexei in return, given that she still had second year biology courses and thus little knowledge of the parts of the subject he was likely covering.

Persona - The True Self

Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma Public Library | Sunday, May 10 2015

Kotori had been just about to say that Alexei didn't have to come by to say his thanks if it was inconvenient when a sudden cry caused her to nearly jump from her chair. She instinctively clutched the hand in hers a little tighter in surprise, looking in the direction of the sound as she did. As it turned out, it had been Shizuka - a fact that, after a moment's thought, became obvious considering it had been her voice after all. Still, the poor girl seemed understandably flustered at the attention her sudden outburst was getting so that Kotori quickly turned away to not put her under any more pressure - even as she herself breathed a small sigh in relief after the initial shock of the surprise wore off.

Her eyes quickly turned back to the girl at the same table as she introduced herself fully; confirming herself to be her brother's sister and to be going to middle school, and a private one at that - though Kotori blinked in surprise mostly at the Elena's surname as she hadn't expected her to have two. "Ah, n-nice to meet you," Kotori said - stuttering just briefly when she realised that she was still clasping Elena's hand from before and weakened her grip. As the other girl however kept her hands on hers, Kotori glanced at it and the girl a little nervously; unsure what to say - when Elena instead spoke up. "Eh?" Kotori looked a little surprised at the question - until she glanced down at the books in front of her. "Oh, ah, no, not first," she then quickly said, shaking her head, "I just thought these might help studying."

Kotoris eyes wandered from the books to the Elena's face - looking at it from just a table away and side by side with her brother's made both some similarities and differences more evident than the first glance had - before quickly turning back down to her hands; still a little unsure about the prolonged contact as she glanced between her hand and the other two table occupants. It was evident that she wasn't entirely comfortable - even whilst trying to think of anything to say. "Uhm... s-so, why are y-you two here?" Kotori finally asked - her voice both quiet as ever and source of her immediate regret at the question, considering that there was really only one thing a student might be doing on a Sunday in the library with midterms coming up.

Persona - The True Self

Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma Public Library | Sunday, May 10 2015

As the older student looked up, recognising her and speaking her name, Kotori gave a bow in greeting - only to be too late to stop him from clearing up the table; not able to say that she really wouldn't have needed much space at all. "Ah, thank you, Dragunov-senpai," she said as he gestured to the empty seat - even as the girl beside him too made some space with her own books. Giving another small bow in thanks at that, Kotori placed her books down as Alexei motioned towards the girl and confirming Kotori's assumption of her being his sister.

As she sat down, Alexei in turn introduced Kotori as the one who made up the bouquets which were delivered to her every day. Looking up in surprise at him, her eyes were drawn to her hand before she could speak up when she felt it being grasped - by a rather joyful looking Elena who expressed her thanks and more. Rather unused to the sudden action and attention, Kotori quickly glanced around before lowering her gaze to the table. "Ah, uhm, that... I-I think my mother would be more deserving of y-your thanks, D-Dragunov-san," she spoke quickly - and truly, as it was indeed her mother who did most of the work on the ikebana bouquets for customers and had been the one to deliver them to the hospital.

At that thought, Kotori glanced back up at the girl before her - she didn't seem to be sickly or showing any sign of requiring any prolonged stays at a hospital. Furthermore, she couldn't recall having seen the girl before - neither there nor at school, which would indicate the girl to be younger; as further evidenced by the way Alexei had referred to her. It was only then, after the immediate surprise of the sudden attention started to subside that Kotori realised that she hadn't even fully introduced herself; leading to her giving a small bow as well as she could with the table before her. "Ah, excuse me. I'm Kotori Shirohane. I go to the same school as your brother," she said - not needing to add anything about her family's flowershop seeing as the other girl evidently already knew about that. With that out of the way, Kotori stole another glance about - hoping that they hadn't drawn any more attention or disturbed any of the other library-goers.

Persona - The True Self

Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma Public Library | Sunday, May 10 2015

The library was rather crowded this day - unsurprisingly, seeing as the mid-terms were coming up and the library was the best place to study for them if one wanted to use more than just one's own textbooks. To that end, most of the library-goers happened to be students; their noses buried in books of various subject. Kotori also happened to be among them - standing before one shelf containing various books on English, she already held two in her arms whilst scanning the backs of those she had left standing to see if there were any others that might be of interest in her studies. Though she usually scored well enough, she still felt that it might be best to get a little extra outside input instead of just relying on the school textbooks - something she'd already done for the most of these last few days.

That, combined with her notes from classes was usually sufficient - but with the usual atmosphere around school when big tests came up, she still couldn't help but feel a little nervous too. Most of her classmates' topics of conversation came back to it sooner or later - at least those that were present, as she remembered that Akane had been absent both Friday and Saturday. Hoping the other girl hadden gotten a cold at such an inopportune time, Kotori took down one book from the upper-most shelf - one of the few times she was glad to be a little on the taller side, seeing as she didn't need to get on tip-toes to do so; if only barely - before opening it to glance over the table of contents to see whether it might be relevant. Shaking her head lightly when that turned out to not be the case, she put it back before deciding to make do with what she already had and looked around for an empty table to sit down at.

Doing so, she saw one or two classmates together with their friends poring over what looked like math books at one table. At another, a young man sat alone - Kotori's gaze quickly wandered on when she noticed the sharp-dressed man's scowl that seemed like he really didn't want to be here. Oddly enough, he hadn't been the first such person she'd seen about town - they seemed to have just popped up out of nowhere from one day to another. Looking further, she recognised a familiar, if mostly hidden face in Shizuka, her clubmate from Agriculture Club. She was just about to raise a hand in greeting when a boy stepped up behind her and spoke to her - it looked like she'd come with study partners as the boy at the same table looked up too. Rather than interrupt the three, she came to the conclusion that none of the nearby tables were empty - the final two were occupied by a blue-haired boy with a backpack at his side and, as she realised a moment later, another familiar student in the form of Alexei.

She was about to raise a hand in greeting a second time - when she stopped half-way as she remembered the rather odd sight that he'd been the last time she'd seen him in the Flowershop a few days ago. She still didn't know what that had been about - but not only was it now already a few days in the past, but she didn't exactly feel like it would be very appropriate to inquire about such a thing. Furthermore, he wasn't alone - beside him was another girl and they both seemed focused on their studies. Only at a second glance did Kotori notice that the girl's features had a distinction to them similiar to Alexei's that made it evident that she too wasn't from around here - which, given that he'd ordered flowers for both his mother and sister, made the conclusion that she was said sister an easy one.

Given that she didn't want to disturb any one those present in their studies but also needing a table to read on, Kotori decided on a seat at the Dragunov siblings' table; her hand lowered from its previously half-raised state as she approached the table, readjusting her glasses as she did. "Uhm..." she started, her voice even more quiet than usual given that they were in a library. "Is... this seat taken...?" Kotori asked, glancing between the two - whilst at the same time avoiding a direct greeting as she wasn't sure if it wouldn't be rude to either greet only one but not the other or embarassing instead if she had been wrong about the girl's identity after all.

Persona - The True Self

Here, just trying g to figure out how to reintroduce masa... sorry for the delay.

@Leolycan

You could always do the tried-and-true method of Running Into Someone (100% effective!). Or just go with the magnet flow and have Masa head over to the library.

Gotta get them Knowledge stats after all.