Persona: Dreaming Puppets

Now, Masumi didn't think of herself as being unfit; in fact, lugging her equipment around and often being forced into long walks or climbing sessions to get the perfect shot had left her with a physique that was impressive for someone who didn't often exercise.

However, she had been completely unprepared for a (slightly older) boy to throw himself into her arms. After a bare moment of struggling, just long enough for the boy in question to speak, she gave a yelp of her own (one that was decidedly more masculine than Adrien's had been) as her legs caved in and brought them both crashing to the floor. Her breath was knocked out of her by Adrien landing mostly on her stomach, and thus she concentrated on simply trying to get her bearings back and breathe.

A very unusual start to the day, a detached part of her mind noted.

"No, no, don't worry-"

Sojirou's mind whirred

-is she in need of saving? No. -do I know her? No. -is she older than me? Yes. A senpai, then.

"-Senpai."

Sojirou sturck out a hand and says

"Sojirou Ashikaga, freshman. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Barely listening to her introduction, Sojirou's thought process continue, the gears spinning unfortunately rather like molasses.

What can I do for her -> I have money -> She is walking toward the cafeteria -> She must be hungry, then.

"Please, let me treat you to ...uh, breakfast. I insist."

It does not occur to him that this offer may seem flirtatious. He is a hero of Justice, and people who needed help must be help out. No, seriously.

Neku walked in, raising an eyebrow at the sight of Adrien.

"Um...Am I interrupting anything?"

edited 17th Apr '13 6:38:47 PM by TroyandHawk

Yukari looked at the hand that was extended towards her before taking it.

'Nice to meet you too. I hope you'll do well here.'

She blinked in surprise at his request.

'Um, but shouldn't the senpai treat the underclassman? Not that I'm complaining, mind, but it seems more appropriate that way.'

edited 17th Apr '13 6:46:11 PM by SixthSaint

Sojirou's mind screech to a halt.

She makes sense. But, he must help her. His life depends upon it. The car-

NO!

no

Help. Disregard her reasoning.

Sojirou starts speaking again, the barest hint of panic and plea leaking into his voice.

"N-no, please Senpai! Let me. I'll be honored to treat you to breakfast, you can return the favor some other times. Please, follow me."

With that, he turns and marches into the cafeteria.

edited 17th Apr '13 7:21:51 PM by PBlades

'U-um, sure.' Yukari stutters, as he turns away to go into the cafeteria. As he walks inside, she lets a little half-smile play across her lips.

Well, that was easy. she thinks to herself.

Adrien stumbled to his feet, laughing awkwardly. "Non, monsieur, you juste surprised me is all. Bonjour."

Kenta, meanwhile, had followed some of the students into the cafeteria, and hung towards the corner of the room whilst the other students were abuzz in shock. He looked to the group of people congregating in the middle of the chaos. His head hung low as he shuffled towards the group. He looked very timid, very afraid, as he approached. He wasn't sure if he wanted to be there. "Uh...." mumbled Kenta, not making eye contact with anyone, making it painfully apparent that whoever this guy was, he was not good with socializing. "D-do you think that classes for tomorrow will be cancelled? Be-because of the suicide?"

It wasn't the most socially graceful way to join in on a conversation, but Kenta was not socially graceful.

edited 18th Apr '13 8:54:00 AM by fearjunkie

Adrien, after introducing himself to the newcomer, asked: "So, why did you come here? Were you following us?" Then aside to Matsuki: "(This dude gives me le crééps.)" ((Not going to bother translating that.))

"I am following you."

edited 18th Apr '13 11:38:50 AM by TroyandHawk

Masumi didn't reply to Adrien's side comment- probably wouldn't have even if she did have any breath in her. Spending a few more moments on the ground, she eventually pulled herself back up onto her feet. "I can assure you that we're not heading anywhere interesting, Mr..." she paused, indicating for the newcomer to fill in the blank,

Dammit. I thought I came here fast enough, but it looks like there's already a crowd gathering here.

"So Senpai, what did you wanted to eat? I'm going to get myself a curry bread-friend of mine, Chie-san, swore by it."

Wait. My Hero of Justice™ sense is tingling. There's a person in trouble! Turning his head percisely 76-degree to the left, Sojirou spotted a socially awkward teen trying to make conversation with a large group of people. He's being ignored, through.

He's...Kenya... Penta... Something Enya? No, wait, definitely Kenta. He'd regconized his dormmate everywhere, espescially when the guy's in trouble!

"OI! KENTA!"

"Ichigo. Neku Ichigo. Is suicide a common occurrence?"

"M-my name's Fu-fujimoto Kenta." stammered Kenta. "And no, these suicides aren't normally frequent...I think it's just college anxiety."

Kenta flinched when he heard his name being called. He turned to look at whoever was addressing him. Oh, it was that guy who was in the same dorm as him...hang on, where were the dorms again? Who was going to be in their building, anyway? The young man turned, giving Sojirou a feeble wave. "Uh....I think they'll be handing out the sheets with info on living arrangements soon..." he mumbled to nobody in particular.

"Apparently for more than deux months. Pourquoi e toi so serieuse?" ((French: Why are you so serious?))

"I've lived here my whole life, and- well, it's not like it's never happened, but not so many in such short a time." Masumi added. Then, in almost the same breath, "Your hair is fascinating. Mind if I get a shot?"

"Mine or His?" Adrien asked. Frankly, Neku's hair was rather interesting too, the way the lights bounced off it... ANYWAY this kid wass odd, but A seemed to think he'd be friends with him.

"Well, maybe he just got sick of listening to that speech?"

"Well, someone sure is warmer than they appear." Adrien giggled. "Although, suicidé. C'est non laughing matter."

"Some people have been known to cope with jokes. Although I think it's more that the suicides have been so common lately that people have simply stopped caring." Taking his lack of a 'no' to mean 'yes', Masumi snapped a quick shot of Neku's stylised hair. "From what I understand of it the string of suicides have been completely unrelated: none of the people knew each other, they happened in different locations, different times, such and such. The only connections between them are that they've all been happening recently and only in Echisa."

Maybe it was a pandemic? Some sort of airborne disease? The thought unnerved Masumi and thus she stayed away from it.

"Well," Adrien began, "Shall we head to the roof before le Polizei get here? C'est possible we could snag un petit peu evidence." ((French: The Po-Po, and we'll snag a little bit of evidence.))

There wasn't a huge reason to believe they'd find any evidence for a case of suicide- and it wasn't really what she was going up there for- but Masumi shrugged anyway. "Fine by me. If you still want to tag along then feel free too, Mr. Ichigo."

"Sure."

"Let's go then!" A said as he began ascending the staircase. He was a little enthusiastic about going to the roof, and just said he wanted a "bon view of the campus." He wanted to draw a panoramic while up there, and maybe draw something involving the suicide.

Neku followed behind,

"Well, it's obviously demons."

(Can we get a discussion thread?)

edited 18th Apr '13 5:22:47 PM by TroyandHawk