XLegs

Persona - The True Self

wow holy SHIT did i actually just POST?

u bet ur beautiful ass i did

Persona - The True Self

Toma Tanaka - May 25th | Warakuma High - Main Entrance

Toma stared at his exam score, unfeeling. He felt like he should care, or be disappointed, as it was far below his usual, but he just couldn't. It wasn't really a surprise, either -- while he would never admit it to himself, he had been falling apart the past month, his obsession with the kidnappings consuming him. When he wasn't at school, running, or working at the book cafe, he was wandering about, keeping an eye out and questioning others. He was going home late every night, always telling his parents he was spending time with friends -- something that wasn't entirely untrue sometimes. Toma was sure they knew something was off, but they never pressed the issue, probably not wanting any sort of confrontation. As a result, he had gotten very little studying done.

A bump from the crowd of students jostling to see their own scores brought him out of his thoughts. With a heavy, labored blink, he turned away from the board to head to class.

---

May 28th | Warakuma High - Track Field, Evening

The red-haired boy lay on the cold metal bleachers, staring at the ugly, gray sky as he did his best to slow his panting and heart rate. Whenever he ran himself ragged, he came as close to being happy as he had in the past while. Though it wasn't really happiness, but more like a sense of grim satisfaction, like he had done something that needed to be done. Whatever, it was good enough.

Swinging himself into a sitting position, his muscles cried out in pain -- as they should, considering he hadn't given them a day off in weeks. Toma knew that that wasn't good for him, but he didn't really care. He eyed the door back into the school, and decided it was finally time for him to change and head out into town. He was the only member of the track club left outside, as their meetup had ended half an hour ago. Wiping his brow with his shirt, Toma stood up, allowing himself to wince from the pain as no one was around.

---

Late Evening

Toma began the long trek home, rain already falling. Not that he minded in the slightest. Another night of absolutely no leads; at this point he couldn't even feel disappointed about it. He did, however, feel like something was off, or at least more than usual. He brushed the thought off to the side, and focused on getting home, pushing his wet hair off his forehead.

---

May 29th - Warakuma High

It was right at the end of the day that Toma overheard some second year students talking amongst themselves and mentioning that Kotori hadn't been at school today. The red-haired boy's stomach instantly dropped as he immediately feared the worst, considering she never seemed to miss school. He approached the second-years to confirm what they had said, which they did, while not being subtle about giving him strange looks.

After giving a quick nod of thanks, Toma turned on his heels and broke into a sprint, weaving through the crowd of students, and definitely bumping into and pissing off more than a few.

His exhausted mind was a jumbled mess of thoughts as he ran, heart-pounding not from exertion but from panic. Panic. He actually felt panicked and scared. It had been a long time since he had felt any emotion as intense as this fear.

Fears that were soon confirmed. In the distance, Toma could see the unassuming flower store and an out-of-place police car parked in front of it.

The boy flew up to the door and tried opening it, only to be stopped in his tracks upon realizing that it was locked. Forced to pause, he slowly came off his fear-driven auto-pilot, eyeing the inside of the store and seeing no movement. Swallowing hard and taking a breath to compose himself, he finally let go of the door handle and moved to the side, pressing his back against the building and sliding down onto his rear.

Several anxious minutes passed before the door was pushed open, snapping Toma out of his daze and prompting him to climb to his feet, coming face to face with two police officers. They both eyed him up and down.

"Sorry, boy, this store's closed today," said one of the cops, noticeably older than his partner.

Toma's brow furrowed as he swallowed again. "She's missing, right? The girl who lives here."

The two policemen threw each other a quick glance, before the older one replied. "Unfortunately. Are you a friend of hers?"

"Something like that, I guess."

"Hm. Well, we'll be working hard to find her, so rest easy, son."

Toma felt his eye twitch as he fought to keep himself from snapping. "Work hard? That's not enough. You useless lot haven't found a single one of the kidnapped -- they all just turn up with you guys having no fucking clue or explanation about what happened!" His frustration stained every word he spoke as he stared down the older man.

The cop blinked in mild surprise, but didn't lose any of his composure. "We don't know for sure the exact reason for her disappearance yet, so there's no need--"

"Bullshit!" Toma yelled, cutting him off and stepping forward, causing the younger cop to do the same and reach down to his waist. "It's obvious that she was kidnapped! The fact that you can't even confirm that proves how fucking useless you all are!"

The younger cop gripped Toma's shoulder and pushed him back firmly. "You need to calm down right now, man," he said, looking the boy in the eyes without falter.

The action helped bring Toma back to his senses. Mildy shocked from the realization of how he had just confronted and spoken to these cops, he looked away gruffly and shook the man's hand off his shoulder before taking a step back.

The older cop studied the boy's exhausted face, feeling a measure of pity for him. He sighed softly before speaking. "I'm sorry. You're right, we don't know enough about the recent disappearances. But I promise you, we are doing our best. It might not be enough right now, but it's all we can do, and it's what we'll continue doing."

Toma looked back over at him out of the corner of his eyes, expression softening slightly as the man's sincerity got through to him. He gave a slight nod as he looked away again, shoving his hands in his track jacket pockets.

The man gave him a reassuring tap on the shoulder. "Take it easy tonight, son," he said, before turning to his cruiser, the younger cop following suit.

Toma watched the pair drive off, before turning back to the flower store and looking solemnly through the window. Kotori's mother must have been worried sick. But even that wouldn't compare to how she'd be affected if she lost her daughter. Toma had seen the depressing, ugly transformation occur to his own parents after his brother's death -- both being changed in different ways, but both also for the worse. He couldn't let that happen. Despite how helpless and lost and useless he felt, he had to do absolutely everything in his power to not let that happen.

And not just for Kotori's and her mother's sakes. For his own, too. While he refused to acknowledge it, failing again would break him.

'Take it easy tonight.' Toma snorted softly to himself as he pulled up his phone and texted his parents, telling them he'd be sleeping over at a friend's house.

Persona - The True Self

I have an actual, legit full day off today, so post incoming.

Oh, also I'm alive.

Persona - The True Self

Holy shit it's been 23 days since I posted, didn't think it had been that long.

Poking in to confirm that I am not dead yet.

Persona - The True Self

<Snipped quote by XLegs>

Good luck having him do that.

@SwordfishKnight

I already did ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

The Day Nobaki Became Canon

Noboru's kokoro went doki-doki as he heard out Chiaki's passionate confession. His face burned hot, as red as the girl's in front of him. The boy swallowed hard, his throat dry from the shock. Chiaki's passion rubbed off on him, and the moment he recovered from his surprise, he probably struck a JoJo pose or something, his jaw suddenly becoming as defined as the rest of his body.

"Oh Chiaki, my sweet, sweet Chiaki!" he began, the manliest tears welling up in his eyes. "I, also, love you more than words can ever express! I've loved you since I first laid eyes on the red ribbons that hold up those beautiful drills of yours!"

Taken by the moment, Noboru easily swept Chiaki up and off of her hospital bed, holding her in a princess carry. He stared into her eyes for a moment, before leaning in for a kiss, which she obviously accepted and no Pudding has no say in this matter.

The kiss was so incredible that everything in the room was blown back extremely violently, destroying much of the walls and probably costing the hospital several thousand dollars in damages, but that's none of our new CANON couple's concern.

Noboru gently pulled back and smiled softly down at the girl he loved more than even JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and dank memes combined.

"Come, sweet Chiaki, and let us plant many more flowers in your heart. So many, in fact, that when they are all in bloom, we shall have the world's most splendid garden."

With that, Noboru reaffirmed his grip on Chiaki, and leapt gracefully out of the shattered window, the two flying off into the sunset despite the fact that it's midday.

XLegs

Persona - The True Self

It isn't canon if they haven't kissed. Checkmate.

@SwordfishKnight

Well then I guess you know what Noboru's gotta do.

Persona - The True Self

Toma Tanaka - May 3rd | Shinza Shopping Square - Yoshida Book Café

Toma gave a small laugh at the woman's words. "I'll keep that offer in mind, then. I'm also a third year at Warakuma, Tanaka Toma," he said with a slight bow. He went to continue the conversation, but stopped himself, remembering that he was a waiter and had a job to do. "So I'm sure I'll see you around. Let me know if you need anything else, Himura-san." With that, he went off.

Finding himself with a moment to spare, he brought Jun's receipt to the two boys that had apparently been following her around. He stepped up to them with a bright smile plastered on his face, laying the piece of paper in front of them as he reached through the pouch full of money he wore to make change. The two stared at it for a moment, glancing up to him in confusion.

"This isn't ours--" one of them began, but was swiftly cut off by Toma.

"Wow, it sure is nice of you guys to pay for such an expensive meal. I'm impressed," he began, upbeat like nothing was amiss. "But usually, at least where I come from, guys sit with the girls they're taking out, not staring at them from across the room." He shrugged his shoulders, containing himself as the two glanced back and forth between Jun, himself, and the receipt. "Whatever works for you, though, I guess."

"What the fuck!?" one of them said as they jumped out of their seat.

The other boy, perhaps being the smarter of the two, immediately stood up and put his hand on his friends shoulder, motioning towards the door with his head. "Come on, let's just go," he said, pulling on the other.

"Hm, you aren't paying for the lady? And you aren't ordering anything for yourselves?" Toma continued, ever patronizing. "A shame. Please come again when you have the chance!"

The door closed behind them, and Toma looked over at Jun, a mock look of confusion on his face as he exaggeratedly shrugged his shoulders again.

---

Later on, after the impressive crowd in the store had gone and Toma was getting ready to head home, he turned to Alexei and his sister.

"Thank you both for the help, I would've had some trouble taking care of the store myself today," he said gratefully, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out the 5,000 yen tip that had been left on the counter earlier. "Here you go, Miss, one of the customers you served left this," he said with an easy smile as he held it out to the younger female.

After changing into his regular clothes, he gave a short good-bye and was off.

---

The good mood Toma had been in thanks to the nice day he'd had had been ruined the moment he stepped back into his house. He found his mother on the couch, having a crying fit -- something that occurred every now and again since Taiki had passed. Keeping himself smiling despite the cloud that had formed over his head, he comforted her as best he could, and had gotten her off to her room to sleep. All while his father hid away behind his office door, working the night away.

Toma spent the next hours staring at his computer, trying and failing to get his mind off his mother's breakdown and Taiki. Hearing his stomach growl, he got up and tip-toed down the stairs, both his parents now asleep given the late hour. He opened the fridge and stared inside, looking for anything easy to eat.

The boy's eyes stopped on a pack of beer, tucked away in the back-corner of the fridge. He had never drank alcohol alone, just for the sake of drinking it. But the urge to do so was taking hold of him right now. He looked over his shoulder slowly, for no real reason.

'Drink his sorrows away.' Apparently he could do that with alcohol. But he had no sorrow to get rid of. He wasn't like his parents, who were unable to get over Taiki's death and dealing with it in their own, stupid ways. He was stronger than them. He had no sorrow. At least not enough to want to drink it away.

So, if asked, he wouldn't be able to answer why he was taking a sip of the cheap beer.

He only realized after the second sip what he was doing. Anger and disgust immediately flared up inside him, his brow furrowing violently. He whipped through the kitchen and out the front door, yelling into the night as he tossed the nearly-full can. It hit the tree in his front yard heavily, bouncing off and spinning wildly in the air before landing on the ground. As the liquid spilled out, Toma walked up to it with heavy steps, raising his foot and bringing his heel down on the can as hard as he could, again and again, panting out in fury every time.

Long after the aluminum had been completely flattened into the ground, Toma relented, backing off and using the tree to balance himself as his anger receded, crushing guilt taking its place. He may have only taken two sips, but he had thought about drinking himself into a coma, like a pathetic, disgusting, worthless alcoholic. Like a weak person.

And he had no idea why he had considered it; he had no sorrow.

---

The first day back at school hadn't been the greatest. Toma had foregone any sort of sleep the night before or breakfast in the morning, and upon arriving at school, had quickly learned about Chiaki and had realized he had completely missed a kidnapping, much to his irritation. He did his best to focus during class, but of course had a hard time in his condition. A small consolation was that his right hand was now usable for writing notes again.

When classes were done, Toma decided that enough was enough -- he absolutely had to find out more about the kidnappings. He had to find one of the ones who had been victims of the incidents, and it didn't matter if it was Noboru, Hamada, Harvester, or this Chiaki girl. After a moment's deliberation, he decided to head to the library -- due to exams, many students would be spending time studying there, making it somewhat likely that he could find one of the kidnapping victims.

Before that, he made his way to his Track club, spinning a tale for Arata to explain why he had to leave early. After a little while, he left the field and changed.

A few minutes later, the red-haired boy was stalking around the library, keeping an eye out for any of the people he was looking for. What caught his attention, however, was a muffled crashing noise.

Blinking in confusion as he looked around, Toma stepped around a large shelf of books and poked his head into the aisle, spotting the boy who had spilled his coffee the day before getting up off the ground and picking up several books that had presumably fallen. Huh. This guy appeared to be a little clumsy.

Toma stepped down into the aisle. "You seem to be a little accident-prone," he said, amused, as he crouched down to grab some of the books. The red-haired boy quickly looked over the other as he stood up, before turning to the shelf and eyeing the books, figuring out where they went. "You look okay, but I'll ask anyway," he said with a small smile and raised eyebrows, glancing at the third-year student and shelving a book.

Sekai no Owari no Sora: The Sky at the End of the World

Anemone

Anemone stands at an average height of 5'6 (167 cm), and has a slight, unimpressive frame, considering her profession. She is in decent shape, but relies more on her Magery to fight and move around rather than her physical strength. Her full, long, blonde hair, gentle blue eyes, and pale, smooth skin - while normal for one of Norwegian descent - attracts much attention in Japan.

She also blushes easily, and it shows well against her light skin. All-in-all, she has a very delicate, fragile appearance, contrasting greatly with her profession.

She enjoys wearing light dresses, which is almost always what one will find her wearing when she's out and about. When fulfilling her duty as an Exorcist, however, she wears a black, hooded robe which hangs loosely around her, over tighter fitting dark clothes, allowing her to move easily.

Name: Anemone Shibuya, born as Anemone Madsen
Age: 18
Gender: Female
Nationality: Norwegian-Japanese

Allegiance: Exorcist of the Unseen Church

Notable Traits:
Despite her ladylike and well-mannered behaviour, Anemone fidgets incessantly, whether it be playing with her hands, hair, clothing, or touching her face. She has a hard time sitting still, so she tries her best to subtly relieve the itch to move to keep up her appearance. She also tends to apologize. A lot. For everything. Even if it has little to do with her.

Everything about her -- how she walks, speaks, handles objects, and all else -- always appears very deliberate and careful, as though she's treading on thin ice.

When it comes to Air Magery, Anemone is extremely skilled at it. Early on in her training, it was discovered that she seemed to have a natural inclination towards it, so she was encouraged to focus on it, which she did.

Flaws:
Anemone is very much a follower, and this can best be seen in her devotion to the Church and its orders. She can think for herself and silently questions orders she is given, but she has never once considered disobeying them. An extension of this is her inability to lie, even if it would be ideal. She's a bad judge of character, and will trust other's words easily. She's extremely susceptible to being convinced and talked into things, partly because she wants to please those around her, and partly because of her own doubt in herself.

Along with that, Anemone very much craves affection, and is very clingy to anyone who affords her kindness. She hates being alone, is constantly scared of being abandoned by those around her, and has a very difficult time expressing herself, both verbally and emotionally. When things get out of control, and she doesn't know what to do, she's prone to suffering panic attacks. Finally, she has a guilt complex, always blaming herself for the things that go wrong in her vicinity.

Channel: A long-barreled, all-black, 6-shot revolver.

Inventory:
A wooden, intricately designed cross which is on her person at all times. When out acting as an Exorcist, she carries plenty of bullets for her Channel, and a pair of knives.

History:
Anemone was born in Norway to a young mother not yet out of her teens, and a father gone long before the day of her birth. Her mother greatly struggled with the choice of whether to keep her child or give her up for adoption. When the time came and she finally first laid eyes on her daughter, she went against all the advice she had been given and decided to keep Anemone.

Barely being an adult herself, Anemone's mother dropped all her future plans and dedicated herself to caring for her child. It was an immense struggle, especially since her relationship with her parents was less than perfect and she had no other close friends or relatives to turn to for help.

For many years, Anemone's mother managed -- she scraped by, but always worried that her decision to keep her daughter was the wrong one. Perhaps it was just motherly bias, but she saw Anemone shining brightly even at such a young age, and feared their living conditions would deprive the girl of many opportunities.

A solution came by when Anemone was six years old. A Reality Convergence had appeared in Norway, attracting many powerful Magi -- one of which was Akio Shibuya, the head of the Shibuya family from Japan, a rich family that was a part of the Unseen Church and had spent generations selectively breeding to create only the most naturally talented successors.

It so happened that Akio came upon the dingy house that held the young Anemone Madsen and her mother, saving them from beasts and receiving light injuries in the process. To show her gratitude, Anemone's mother offered to house Akio and treat his wounds, which he accepted.

It was during this short time that Akio discovered that extremely impressive tainted blood ran through Anemone's veins. The man offered to take the girl and bring her into the Shibuya family.

After painful deliberation, Anemone's mother decided to accept. The way she had been forcing her daughter to live wasn't fair, and she wasn't even sure how much longer she could keep it up -- keeping Anemone had always been a decision she regretted, though had refused to admit it to herself until now. She wished the best for her daughter, and being adopted by such a rich family would give her all the opportunities in the world. Akio himself was a convincing man, too. Add onto that that he had saved both their lives, and Anemone's mother found herself trusting him easily.

Pleased with his acquisition, it only took a few more days for Akio to whisk Anemone away to the Shibuya manor in Japan.

It was during this time that the young Anemone developed all her issues. She was scared and confused by the sudden, drastic change in her life -- going from a small shack only occupied by her and her mother to a huge mansion filled with maids, cooks, teachers, and all sorts of other personnel. Not to mention a dozen adoptive siblings, all of whom had been fathered by Akio and mothered by various Magi mistresses, chosen for their tainted blood.

Only this would have been enough to send Anemone reeling, but there was more to it -- she was in an entirely different country, surrounded by people who spoke a different language. The first thing she was taught was Japanese. Eventually, she began to interact with those in the mansion, and began to finally settle in.

At the same time, she had been learning Magery, often taught directly by Akio himself, as the man had high hopes in her potential. This garnered her the ire of a few of her siblings, one of whom had a conversation with her that changed her forever.

The boy, a couple years older than her, told her that she had been given up by her mother because she had been a burden -- she had done nothing but make her mother's life difficult and miserable, so it was no wonder that she had been given up so easily. If she had never been born, or had been better able to care for herself, her mother wouldn't have had to give up the rest of her life.

Being so young and impressionable, and having feared herself that that could have been a reason why her mother had given her away, an event which had obviously torn the girl apart, Anemone took the words to heart and broke permanently. She began to develop abandonment issues and a guilt complex. She questioned herself at every moment, fearing that Akio or her nicer siblings would ignore her or give her away if she faltered and didn't live up to the high expectations they had of her. Every time something went wrong, she panicked and cried, apologizing profusely and promising to be better.

As she grew older, the crying stopped, but everything else got worse. While Akio took note of Anemone's issues, he made no effort to help fix them -- he saw how they drove the girl to spend every waking moment improving herself, and liked how she did everything she could to listen to orders and fulfill them. He simply saw more use in leaving her be.

The training itself was brutal, of course, as she was being prepared to become an Exorcist. Along with the obvious Magery and battle lessons, she also learnt all about the Church. She took to the religion very well, finding comfort in it. The idea that her magic was a punishment bestowed upon her simply made sense -- she had ruined her mother's life the moment she had been born, and had upset many of her siblings by winning the attention of Akio, among other things. It was only natural that she should spend her life as one of God's instruments, doing everything in her power to cleanse His creation of all heathens.

Akio was very pleased with how Anemone had turned out -- she obeyed him and served the Church without question, never blinking at murder or anything else as long as she was told it was the right thing to do. All because she wanted to atone and win the affection of those around her.

Anemone officially became an Exorcist at the age of 14, the third of her generation of Shibuya children and the youngest. During the four years she's spent as an Exorcist, she's gone through many hardships and has had more than her share of breakdowns. However, she manages and soldiers on, turning to her siblings and her faith to keep herself together.

Personality:
Anemone is soft-spoken and impressionable. Despite her noble-like behaviour, she's actually fairly hyperactive, and is always keeping herself in check to maintain the image of a Shibuya child. Her upbringing has left her a little socially stunted, though she's also outgoing, leading to her being relatively bumbly and awkward, especially when she forgets to act as she believes she should.

She's kind-hearted and honest, and genuinely wants to make the lives of those around her easier, though her primary motivation for that is to garner their affection and approval, something she desperately needs. Her guilt and abandonment issues are always present, and she constantly fears that she'll make a mistake or upset someone, leading her to be a very anxious person who doubts herself greatly when the road ahead is unclear -- if there is no obvious answer to her in any given situation, she becomes extremely indecisive and will look to others to make the choice for her.

When her path is clear or she has someone to lead her, however, her focus and drive is unparalleled -- it is her saving grace when it comes to battle and is what allowed her to become an Exorcist despite her nervousness. She completes her job unblinkingly and without a moment's hesitation, all to gain the favour of those around her. At the end of the day, Anemone is very much capable of murder -- as one who holds the position of Exorcist must be -- having been trained to do so from the moment she was adopted by the Shibuya family. It's a fine line she treads between her kind nature and ability to disconnect herself when taking lives, one that she only manages to walk by convincing herself she's doing the right thing and winning the affection of those close to her. As long as she believes her actions make her appear needed and necessary, she's capable of many atrocities.

Along with her devotion to the Church, her inherent control over lacrimas, and her impressive and ever-improving command of Magery, she makes a useful Exorcist, at the least.

Motivation:
Anemone wants to feel useful and needed by others. She wants to be liked by everyone (at least, everyone she deems to be a good person), to minimize any chance of being left alone and given up ever again. Her secondary motivation is her faith. She wants to fulfill her duty as an Exorcist, to atone for her birth and carry out God's will to the best of her ability.

Character Goals:
Anemone wishes to destroy all 'evil' as she sees it. She wants everyone around her to be happy and without worry, so along with doing anything any ask of her, she hopes that ridding the world of heathens and those who wish to destroy God's perfect creation will help her reach that ideal.

Sekai no Owari no Sora: The Sky at the End of the World

Haha, awesome, thank you! And yeah, I figured it's a pretty dangerous job, so I left the fates of her other Exorcist siblings kind of up-in-the-air, so I can decide how many of them are already dead later on.

Sekai no Owari no Sora: The Sky at the End of the World

Hoo boy, I think I'm done @Hexaflexagon.

Let me know about anything that needs changing. One thing I can think of right now that I was unsure of is if one can even become an Exorcist at the age of 14, which is what I have down for Anemone right now. If not, that's an easy change.