persona rp Persona: Simulacrum - IC Thread

[Ether]

Contrary to the boys, Akane was feeling rather spry, after having been healed, and the closure of her wound having stuck after they had departed. Well, they were a good while away from the apartment that Aoi was looking to sprint towards, so in the meanwhile, Akane lit herself a cigarette, as she began to walk along as a decent pace, though not bouncing about or anything of the sort like the other girl.

"Let's just get back, already."

[Nanami Touko]

"Alright! I'm off, then! Don't take too long in catching up!" Aoi sped off at a fast pace, wanting not to waste any of the adrenaline from the situation that was still pumping through her. Besides! She'd just made a friend, and then disappeared into a mirror world! That new friend was probably worried sick about all of them, if her phone had been right about the time. Lucky for Aoi, she was a really fast runner, and the normally twenty minute walk turned into a five minute sprint. She bounded up the stairs of the apartment entrance, smashed her thumb into the elevator button, and then finally noticed Eliana waiting there. She double took, but then smiled. "Eliana!" Aoi threw herself at the girl in a hug, squeezing her tight. "Ahhh, I was so worried! But, I mean, you were probably more worried!" She let her go after a moment, holding her hands on those shoulders. "But we're okay! Are you okay? Since the building's not on fire, I guess I managed to turn off the chicken before all of that, heheh." Priorities, Aoi.

[Xinnidy]

"Aoi!" Eliana shot up from her chair the moment she was called. "Where did you go? Where is everyone--" She wasn't expecting a hug, let alone one that strong, struggling a bit as Aoi's grasp tightened. At least the thought did count. "Ah, I-I was worried. I followed, but you all were gone. I was too behind." Having been released, Eliana relaxed as her torso no longer felt squashed. "I am okay, I just waited." Reassuring Aoi, Eliana paused to think about what she just heard. "The chicken was the only thing you were cooking, yes?"

[Ether]

Akane hadn't been too far behind Aoi, and reached the younger student just in time to witness her reunion with Eliana.

"Don't crush the poor girl, now. If she's dead by the time the boys get back, I refuse to cover for you." Akane jabbed, with a light smirk.

[Nanami Touko]

"Oh, geez, thank goodness... You didn't get sucked into the mirror with us." Well duh, Aoi. Aoi had thought that maybe Eliana had gotten sucked into somewhere else, but it was a good thing she hadn't. Having to face that room by one's self would probably have been awful. Akane showed up and jabbed at them, but at least she was smiling. "Come on, geez. It's just a hug. I don't hug that tight. Wanna find out?" Aoi teased, putting her fists up in a rather childish manner at Akane. Oh, but. "Oh, no, I just left the rice on low... It'll probably be really dry but the place isn't on fire and there isn't an alarm going, so it's not burnt. Thank goodness... Means I can probably fix it... I'm just so glad you're alright!" Aoi pulled Eliana into a less tight hug, flopping her head onto the poor girl's shoulder. So many hugs.

[Xinnidy]

"Wait... sucked, into the mirror?" Eliana raised her brow, and turned back to the mirror she had brought from then and kept beside her chair. Uh, what? Did I misunderstand what she said? That makes no sense. She turned back to Aoi and now Akane, whom showed up in the mood to make some snarky remarks. Don't say that, I hope she won't actually--"Oof!" Eliana was caught in a hug again. Another completely unprepared hug. Eliana had lost her breath again, even if not as badly. That'd be something to get used to. "I... I am glad too. All of you are alright." Unsure of what to do, Eliana patted Aoi's head. "Uh, we should try to save the rice, yes?"

[Ether]

"It's a long story." Akane replied, as Eliana, quite understandably, showed confusion at Aoi's statement, before being further constricted by the former delinquent. Walking over with a sigh, Akane took a firm hold of Aoi's collar, and gave it a tug to pull her off of the smaller girl before she was compacted to the size of a tuna can,

"Honestly. You sure you two aren't dating, or something?"

[charlie_]

Kazumi snickered a little bit at Akane's comment, but otherwise left it alone. "I dunno why you were worried about Elinia sis, she didn't get sucked in there with us." he yawned, kicking off his shoes as he entered the apartment. The first day of the school year had been more tiring than expected, and gave him a lot to think about. Were they going to have to go into those mirrors again? He sure hoped not - one rescue mission in the realm of mirrors had been enough for Kazumi. Speaking of which... "Hey, did anyone of you see where the people we saved ended up?" he asked. "I don't think I saw them when we came out, so..." Hopefully their conditions genuinely had improved by the time they'd been let out, or else he imagined that there would be complications, to say the least.

Edited May 20, 2015 by SB.

[Nanami Touko]

"Yes, the rice-- whoooa!" Aoi was surprised that a hand was taking her out of her hug, not as surprised anymore that it was Akane's. Of whom made another jab, causing Aoi to sneer. "I haven't had a boyfriend or a girlfriend in my life. Do I really look like the type who gets dates?" Rather self deprecating, but still true. "We met today. I bugged her in class. I don't get how all that dating stuff works, anyway." She shrugged Akane's hand off, and went to press the button for the elevator, before hearing Kaz's question and looking at his feet. "I guess we just have to trust the nose, and... Why are you taking your shoes off? You okay, Kaz?" Maybe he was still shaken from the whole experience.

[FrostyFireMage]

Ichirou was holding a stitch in his side as he walked into Kazumi's house, still panting. I really am not much of a runner, am I?

"Uh...did something.... happen while I still outside?" Ichirou gasped. "Do we need to have a... rice funeral?"

[MRDRHAWK]

Much fun was had. RIP rice, 2015-2015.

Elsewhere...

As the night progressed onward, the man from before - the one who threw Kiyomi into the mirror realm in the first place - grew impatient of waiting. Normally, he got some sort of indicator that the process was successful, that he had completed his task. However... there was nothing this time. Perhaps the girl died already? She was just a high-schooler, after all... her mind and body were both weak, easily preyed upon by the Shadows. It would have made sense that she was feasted upon.

Besides, there was still that salaryman from the other day that was in there - he seemed excessively nervous for someone of his particular lot in life, so it was possibly he had already been consumed as well. This was... a problem. After all, the Shadows would eventually grow tired of such meager morsels and demand more of him... Eventually, their demands could well outstrip his ability to supply them prey, and then...

No. It won't come to that.

Grunting, the man continued on, towards his home and base of operations. He had some careful planning to take care of... And some potential countermeasures, in case any interference were to pop up.

One Week Later...

As reports of Ersatz Syndrome began to slow, many newscasters proclaimed that the epidemic was at a close and that life in Kyoshoku would be returning back to its' prosperous norm within the next month's passing. Some took that with pride, even with the fact that not everyone who had been kidnapped in connection to the Ersatz incidents had been found safely - in fact, none had been found no worse for wear since Kiyomi Shijima's sudden reappearance 24 hours after she initially went missing.

Nonetheless, life goes on...

Date: Saturday, April 25th, 2015

Time: 8:24 a.m.

[You may all continue posting as normal.]

Edited May 24, 2015 by Blackhawk Stinger

[Dandragon]

The week had been a blur for him. Every day had a similar routine; wake up, eat breakfast, go to school, wait for Mrs. Tsumara to arrive, listen to the lecture or do the worksheet, eat lunch, more work, go home, chores, then bed. Ken was honestly, uncharacteristically getting bored of it all. Still, the days quickly went by, and he was okay with that. Sunday was just around the corner, which meant more free time. Time to possibly make new friends, and meet up with some old ones. He hadn't had too much time to talk to his classmates, but Ken felt that today was the day to socialize. Then he felt stupid and cheesy for even thinking about that sentence.

As he finally arrived to school, he looked at the clock on his phone. 8:24 a.m. He was a bit early. Ken decided to wait outside to school gate for a while. Perhaps he would see Kasumi or Akane and get a chance to talk to them before classes began. Removing his ear buds and turning off his music, he leaned back on the nearest wall, and stood there, feeling a bit awkward as he did so for some unknown reason.

Edited May 24, 2015 by Dandragon

[Ace Tactician]

Finally her do to list was all done, her siblings were either doing homework or playing video games and her Father was home for the evening, leaving Katsumi to quietly study and do her homework sitting by her koi pond in the backyard. Occasionally she would look up to watch the koi lazily swimming in the pond and sometimes nibbling the algae covered shells of the snails that occupied the pond with them. The outdoors was quiet now save for the faint sounds of the TV in the living room as her Father channel surfed for something to watch before settling on the evening news and the music from video games being played, it still made for the perfect peaceful study spot. Katsumi could faintly hear the newscasters discussing Ersatz Syndrome from her spot by her koi pond outside, (Mother... I wish there was a way to bring you back to yourself again. There has to be a way to reverse this awful syndrome, but even the doctors can't seem to figure out how the disease process works to come up with a cure.) Her lips creased into a wistful frown as she gazed out at her pets lapping to and fro.

------

The days had been the same for Katsumi, wake up, get her siblings ready for school, make breakfast, attend school herself, then head home and do her evening chores and spend the rest of the evening doing schoolwork by her koi pond. The whole routine was beginning to get stale, perhaps she would benefit from adding something new to her daily routine but what would that be? Katsumi pondered this as she glanced at her phone which read 8:24am. She had gotten to school early today, something that didn't happen often given her morning schedule, but lately, Koza the second oldest had started taking it upon himself to aid his eldest sister in getting the rest of their family ready for school so that freed up time for Katsumi to get herself ready in the morning. She noticed she wasn't the only one who arrived early, "Good morning Ken," She cheerfully said upon noticing him.

[Sandalphon]

Clayton yawned as he stepped off the crowded subway, armed with his satchel and a bottle full of cold instant coffee. He would've used his thermos for the coffee, but it was already full of tea and jammed somewhere between his tubes of paint and his brushes. He was very tired, this week had been wild.

He hadn't been murdered for being late to set up Haru's gallery opening, but he had come close. The vein throbbing in that man's forehead as he lecutred Clayton had been enough to make Clay stay on schedule for the rest of the week. He did not need to cause anyone to have an aneurysm right now.

He looked at his watch and realized he was going to be a bit early. Oh well, all the more time to choke down his caffeinated sludge. He took a (thoroughly unpleasant) sip as he made his way to the school gates, making a mental inventory of all the work he would have to do that day.

At least there would be a friendly face or two there, as opposed to a musclebound beefcake breathing down his neck about "not being mad but if you're late again I will be very upset and also I really needed those hors d'oeuvres here tout de suite"...

[Dandragon]

The first to arrive after him was Kasumi, who had immediately approached Ken with a greeting. "Good morning, Kasumi. It seems we're both early today." He returned her smile with his own, before noticing another person, dressed very...differently compared to the students here. Was he a teacher? He seemed a bit young for that. "U-uhm, excuse me." Ken raised his voice to try and get the individuals attention. "Do you go to our school?" He hoped he wasn't some criminal trying to sneak in, of course that could have been Ken's paranoia talking. It most likely was. He felt stupid, again.

[Ace Tactician]

Katsumi smiled, "I usually arrive with just enough time to get to my seat." Katsumi's attention was drawn to another early arrival passing by. He didn't look a student, was he a faculty member? But he looked a bit too young to be a teacher. He did look like he had gotten up rather early in the morning based on the bottle of coffee he was carrying. Ken was already trying to find that out so she gave the passerby a glance before giving out her cheerful greeting, "Good morning, sir."

[Sandalphon]

"Huh, Oh hey kids..." He answered, being suddenly brought back to reality. The li'l guy was peering at him with an air of mild suspicion. Then again clay did stick out like a sore thumb in his paint scrubs and ratty oversized jacket... No wonder he was being sized up as though he were up to no good. He turned a little pink, "oh don't worry, I'm just here to work on some murals. I was hired by the board to work on the school as part of a beautification initiative." He added quickly, hoping that it would calm down any worries. He did not want to worry anybody. If anything, he just wanted to blend in as much as possible.

"You kids have a nice first week of school?" He asked with a smile he hoped was warm and reassuring. Might as well try to make some friendly conversation before heading to work.

Edited May 24, 2015 by scolipede

[Dandragon]

"Ah, yes. I've had a good week." Ken replied. His was no longer suspicious of the man, at the very least. His attire made a lot more sense, now that he knew he was hear to work on murals. Though he was not entirely sure beautification was a word.

"My name is Ken Sunders," he said with a slight bow. "It's a pleasure to meet you. A-and sorry for seeming so accusatory." Was that even correct sentence structure? What in the heck is wrong with you, Ken?

[Ace Tactician]

Katsumi hadn't been aware of any murals being painted inside the school that first week, though it did make sense that he was a painter based on his attire. "I had a fairly pleasant first week of school." Katsumi replied, summing up that first week of classes, morning and evening routines at home aside. Her morning and evening routines were another story. She did wonder why he was turning slightly pink, being able to create painted works of art was an admirable talent to have in her mind. (Maybe I could get Father to hire someone to paint an ocean mural in my room.) The thought was appealing but she could pursue that train of thought after school and not go off-topic from the conversation at hand. Though she was now curious to see how these murals being painted inside the school were turning out so far, though it would be better to go and see them after they were done being painted. "How are the murals coming along?" She asked.

[Raguna]

In the early hours hours of the morning, the breeze was always pleasant and if no one was shouting ever so soothing. The janitor Retsuya had been stretching his whole body as he came out of the train station in order to begin his job, Normally, he would have been late by contract standards, but since the other janitor quit last Tuesday he had to fill in overtime until they found a new one. The extra workload only dampened his mood and his plans to investigate the church of Ameno-Koyane felt more like a distant dream never to be fulfilled. Well, such was life, but now that they had found someone else to do it with him, he'd leave the duty of being early up to him. At least he himself arrived not too far off from the usual time, yet he was surprised to see Clayton speaking out with two other students. He wasn't keen on interfering with student's lives so maybe he's just do a quick greet and move on.

''Top of the morning, Clay.'' he said with a chipper tone as he patted Clay's back once ''You having fun talking with the students?''. He didn't want to come off as a serious guy so a good dose of peppiness never hurt. This was especially more true because as he got closer to Clayton, he had recognized both of the students from last week's little ordeal. He had covered the whole incident up with a lie that the rooftop had been filled with ketchup, but by now hopefully they had forgotten he had ever informed him of that lie in the first place. They seemed like good students, getting up early was a sign of the prepared so why bog them down with such things. Although thinking about it, he did remember a certain other student that he needed to contact, maybe he'd show up early as well.

[Garnef]

Kinji got up, tired as hell, and headed to school via bus.

He saw a group of people just outside the school. He figured, "The hell with it, I need more friends, life is too boring," and went up to the group.

"How's it going, guys?" Kinji asked, hoping he's not interrupting an important conversation.

Edited May 25, 2015 by Nexas

[Sandalphon]

"I'm Clayton Kochran," he responded, returning the bow. "That's an interesting name, are you from around here?" He took a pause to take another swig of cold coffee."the murals are coming along along pretty well. At this rate I should be finished the first one within the month... They've commissioned a few, so that there can be artwork on every floor at least."

He heard a familiar voice behind him and felt a great deal of relief. "Good morning Retsuya, I was just informing the students that I wasn't a scoundrel or anything like that" he thought for a moment, "it seems like I give off that impression huh? Seeing as you asked if i was a vandal on my first day back here." He gave a little chuckle at the thought.

[Dandragon]

"Yes, I have been told my surname is odd. Though I never found any issue with it." Suddenly, the janitor had approached the man, whom he now knew as Clayton. He had recognized the janitor from the rooftop before. "Ah, hello. Mr. Retsuya, was it? I hope there haven't been anymore 'ketchup' incidents." Ken gave a smile at his half-assed attempt at a joke. Maybe if he smiled, he would laugh.

Yet another person, who Ken recognized as Kinji, had approached the slowly forming group. "Kinji. You look tired. Are you alright?"

[Garnef]

In response to Ken's question, Kinji answered with, "Nothing much, just couldn't hardly sleep right last night, because Bruce would not shut the hell up."

Kinji gave a yawn. "And what about you, how's it going?"

[Flamy]

Today was Saturday, April 25th. That day also happened to be the birthday of some flan or something on a forum that Yuu frequented. It was a good place, but sometimes, it was a little bit too harsh on those with differing opinions. But that was not the cause of Yuu's happier-than-usual self.

No, it was the supposed vanishing of Urpshots, the miasma plaguing victims with overwhelming paranoia! This made up for what happened on Thursday. As if any person would want to experience first-hand what happens when a really clumsy waitress trips on air.

Alas, there was no time like the present, for Yuu arrived at the gates, ready for the last day before the weekends. A group of students were gathering around, along with that painter whose name Yuu was unable to recall and the Almighty Janitor himself, Retsuya.

"Retcon! How's it going?" He waved to the janitor, keeping a smile on his face, then faced the others. "Who're the rest of you? I don't quite think I've met any of you before..."