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HOMRA Member
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Post by Midori Kanon on Sept 9, 2017 20:18:51 GMT -5
Work had been boring, worse than boring and that was saying something because it was work, it was always boring. Not like the bookstore ever saw a lot of people going through the door, in a small little shop, mostly second-hand books honestly and two book cases of new books. Collage season had an increase in textbooks, start of spring had romance novels for some reason, and of course winter seasons was all fluffy holiday books. Really if someone had asked Midori before if books had seasons she would have laughed at the thought, but today she had set up a horror display in the shop’s window. Well that at least had been a bit amusing, given free reign to do whatever, so the corner store had gotten her some fake webbing and she made a bit of a mess of things. All in the name of having a good window display of course. Past that though work had been dead, she helped a handful of people and ran up twice that and about face planted in boredom. So when three hit she was out the door only to have to backtrack and remember to in fact punch out, yelling a cheery farewell to her replacement as she was finally free.
Oh Midori liked her job, really she did, it was quiet and calm, she got a discount on books, she was mostly left alone, no one cared if she came in a bit bloody. It worked for her over all, it was just really really dull some days and she was happier to step foot outside, even if she maybe hissed like an angry cat in the sunlight. Ducked her head to shake bangs over her face and grumbled, really she needed to get some dark glasses, and not lose them, or really, not break them or get them broken. Still shuffled down the sidewalk, the day was hers! And she had nothing to do, but minor details really. Tiny details that hardly mattered at all, bah. Midori was just fine with free time and being out in fresh air, even if she could use it to be a bit more cloudy, or you night time. Night would be great. Maybe she could see better then, avoiding streetlamps of course.
Lack of vision tended to get her in trouble, no way around that, was not exactly a hidden faucet of her life that she had vision problems and so it could be used against her, could and would be used against her. Like when a fist came for her face out of the blue. Midori yelped and scrambled backwards with an angry, “Hey!” Only to get shoved forwards from behind and alright it was going to be like that, so she reacted by swinging and that was pretty much that. Really there was only one way this was going to go, oh there were words tossed in there, threats to stay off this street. Which made Midori laugh because she worked on this street idiots! That did not help anything at all, nor did it help that she was outnumbered, never outclassed, but certainly outnumbered. Left her playing a violent game of tag, with maybe a bit too much jumping around and playing tag with bursts of fire and her laughing because hey this was kind of fun.
Fun or not, enough was enough and when she saw an opportunity she threw herself at it, or in this case she threw herself at him, random stranger that it was. “Hello handsome,” She was a bit out of breath, and there was blood running down the side of her face, but she was grinning fever bright, flushed and eyes almost glowing. “Don’t suppose you can help a girl out a moment, huh?” There was yelling down the street, gang members splitting up to look for her and Midori giggled softly as she wrapped an arm around her knight in shining armor, or in this case fluffy scarf. “Doubt they will keep messing with me with a witness, spineless cowards they are.” Really half a dozen for little o’her? Was sweet in a messed up way that could leave her dead somewhere because hey any girl had her limits.
Clearly Midori was reaching hers, paler than she should be, dusty and bruised to say the least, and looking for help. “Just need a few minutes of your time, and to maybe wander over a few streets, if you would be willing to help me out?” Outright leaned on him and smiled as sweetly as she could, ignoring that there were little fireletts in the air dancing around her slowly flickering out. Or that she was trembling slightly and her leaning against him was partly for support.
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Colourless King
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Post by Akihiko Hayashi on Sept 10, 2017 0:00:54 GMT -5
Running to the store to get ice cream was supposed to be a simple task, just straight there and straight home that was it. He hardly expected or wanted anything to deal with crazy today or any day, however, crazy seemed to follow him wherever it was he went. As a king, he supposed he had to start getting used to the idea of leading a chaotic lifestyle no matter how resistant he was. In the end, he had no choice in the matter it was not like chaos needed his approval to upheave his life. There was no magic sign or remedy that could protect him from it, in the end, the kingly thing to do was to try and take everything thrown at him with stride. Stride was something hard to remember when situations like this one suddenly appeared. Honestly, there were times he wished he had power under a different sanctum given the choice he would have liked the ability to see into the future. Then he would have known to wait at a different cross walk. As fate would have it Akihiko had no such power, and he chose this crosswalk. Today chaos took the form of a young woman and Akihiko was blissfully unaware of that fact until she was wrapping her arms around him, preventing him from walking when the crosswalk told him to. The first thing he noticed aside from the fact she was invading his personal space, was just how warm her hands were even though his sweater. Her touch told him there was a fire burning inside of her, a fire that chased away his chill. Clearly, she was Homra and it was a natural reaction for him to go pulling himself away from her. It wasn’t like he pulled all that hard, just enough for him to turn and put a tiny bit of distance between them. To protect his cold from her heat. The woman's iron grip was perhaps more surprising than the words that flew out of her mouth, and he had to wonder just what on earth she was doing grabbing random strangers.
Everything became more clear when the thugs made themselves known, it was easy to piece things together from there. The woman was likely from Homra judging from the colour of her aura, and the sheer number of gangsters hot on her trail told Akihiko that he was about to be dragged into a rival gangs brawl. In this type of situation, the best and right things to do weren’t actually the same thing, the right thing to do was of course to help the lady, the best thing to do was to not get involved. Anything he did always have a direct effect on Winter, and getting into Homra’s business didn’t seem worth it. It was easy for Akihiko to pick the best thing over the right thing, in this case, Winter and the safety of its members meant more to him that this woman did. It was just a shame it took Akihiko so long to come to that conclusion because by the time he had decided what it was he was going to do it was too late. The gangsters that were in pursuit of the woman had already spotted the two of them together, which meant Akihiko no longer had a decision to make. He was now officially dragged into gang business and he was obligated to help the woman.
Having to think quickly on his feet and needing to avoid an all out battle, Akihiko pulled his arm free from the woman’s grasp and took her by the hand.“Run.” was the only warning the woman got before Akihiko pulled her after him and took off down the street, wasn’t really the kingly thing to do. Likely standing and fighting was however, Akihiko never claimed to be a valiant king. Running to him was more logical because not only was the woman worse for wear he also needed to keep his identity a secret for now. So ya he ran with the woman by the hand hoping to god she could keep up. Of course, the thugs chased them ramming and shoving everyone they could in hot pursuit. It didn’t take a genius to figure out there was no hope of them out running so many people, with every step the two of them took the thugs seemed to get closer. There really weren’t many options open to Akihiko and the woman and for a moment it looked like fighting was the only way out. Luckily however, seemed to be on their side because in front of them approached one of Shizume town’s many subway entries. Really was a stroke of luck and Akihiko made sure to push the woman down the steps first. Knowing the thugs would follow Akihiko made sure the woman went down the steps quickly because with every step he took behind her a thin layer of black ice formed leaving a slippery slope for the thugs he knew were following them. The moment they reached the bottom he yanked her out of the way and into his arms as he thugs slipped down the concrete steps and into a wall. In Tokyo and in Shizume town the subway ran about three minutes apart, so Akihiko and the woman didn’t have to wait very long at all for a train to come to their rescue.
After pulling the poor woman around for what seemed like an eternity it was no trouble at all to get her onto the train with him. The doors closing behind them should have been cause for rejoicing since they were finally safe, however, the doors closed right behind Akihiko, catching his bag and forcing him to leave it behind ice cream and all…. Pulling away without the one thing he went into town to get was depressing… so depressing. After all that running and even having to use his sanctum he still lost the one thing he wanted despite doing the right thing. He hardly cared if he looked like a crazy man mourning the loss of Icecream, it was worth mourning over darn it. Looking down at his hand where his shopping bag use to be Akihiko sighed heavily and frowned before looking up at the woman. He would be lying if he said he knew what to do in this kind of situation... Ya, they just out ran a beating together but he didn’t know this woman at all much less what he was going to say to her. Honestly Akihiko kind of just stood there for a good long moment before wrapping his arms around himself awkwardly and then speaking. “...I panicked sorry…” Guess he was sorry for dragging her around town, wasn’t much else to be sorry for since he was the one dragged into this. Akihiko dropped his gaze after speaking and waited for the train to stop so that he could get off. Likely the girl should stay and ride the train a while longer to ensure she escaped the thugs but he wasn't. All he wanted to do was to go home and regret the time he wasted today and the ice cream he never got to eat.
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HOMRA Member
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Post by Midori Kanon on Sept 11, 2017 18:12:44 GMT -5
There was a moments pause at least for her to catch her breath, still grinning because well bodily harm was just part of her life really and all the best fun had someone getting hurt. Generally, not a rule of thimb that just happened to be her life more often than not. Still Midori would take a break where she could get one, and an out, so yes she attacked the poor guy, half wrapped around him and leaning on him and just needing a moment, or give. Only got a few but it was enough that when he said run she laughed, intertwined their fingers and followed him. Likely a bit too amused to be fleeing when really she rarely was one to back down from a fight, and later when she had backup she would have to revisit this little gang of want-to-bes. Running she could do though, hey her ego was not so big to go putting her life in danger for no good reason thank you. Her sanity was likely low enough though that she did take great amusement in this. So she ran, laughing aand in fact tugging at him to keep up because Midori could run for ages before she really ran out of breath.
She did however almost faceplant at the sharp turn for the subway, or being pushed ahead, made her give a sharp, "Hey!" Of annoyance because really that was rude, and seriously why was she going first? Whatever, she jumped instead of running down the steps, easily clearing over half the flight before having to spring off of the railing to make it the rest of the way. Meant she landed with a little bit of fanfare and time to turn to check on him. So Midori got full sight to witness what he was doing, whatever that, ice maybe? That was totally ice, and she gave a surprised sound, a bit more wide-eyed now, not that she had time to ask before he pulled her out of the way. Was like bowling in a weird way, watching thugs crashing down the stairs, served them right really, a group jumping her. Oh sure shew as a bit flattered but really there was such a thing as overkill, even for her. Likely was not strictly a show of force against Midori, but HOMRA instead, which was stupid of them they had to know this little power display was going to bite them in the butt.
That little bit of revenge planning was for latter though, right now she scrambled onto a train and turned to honestly cheer a bit, with a hop and a 'woo' of excitement. Alright dude was not excited, he was honestly mourning something and she blinked at him before outright poking him on the shoulder, "Hey, chin up, that was brilliant." And she had the best tastes ever in picking someone for the day, really out of anyone she got that guy that could ice stuff. Yeah sure it was a bit creepy, but helpful none the less and he had been rather kind over it all. Expected all sorts of reactions from him, from explosive to annoyed really, the meek apology though threw her off. "Eh?" Not the most eloquent of course, but it summed up her feelings on the matter. "What are you sorry over?" Ducked down to twist and meet his eyes, likely looking funny doing it, like she was trying to talk to a scared puppy or something. "That was great, though you lost your groceries, yeah? Let me repay you for that, totally my fault." Bumped his shoulder in a friendly way before pulling farther away to try to look a bit more presentable.
"Pick a stop, any stop, I know most of them and where is good to go." Waved a hand at the display of the busline while she mopped up the blood on her face and shoved her hair back. Had to honestly unclip the bow and sweep most of her hair back in place to redo it, but within a few moments Midori at least looked presentable enough for stores. "That was pretty awesome though, ice huh?"
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Colourless King
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Post by Akihiko Hayashi on Sept 17, 2017 1:49:46 GMT -5
Watching the train pull away without his shopping bag was depressing, being unable to stop it from happening was even more so. There was a saying that went along well with the situation, it said something about not crying over spilled milk or whatever. Honestly, Akihiko wasn’t one hundred percent sure how it went, the only thing he did know for certain was that he had to limit his pouting some. After all, there were bigger things demanding his attention at the moment, like the woman who was still talking to him despite his poor conversational skills. He had to sigh to himself as he watched the platform they had just departed from fade from sight because now he had no excuse not to talk to the woman. After all, they had just had a crazy experience together so he couldn’t just come out and say he didn’t want to talk to her, or that he had nothing more to say said past what he had already said. Ah well, she would learn he was a crappy conversationalist soon enough, for now she seemed happy enough with herself that she seemingly didn’t mind. He supposed what they had just gone through was worth some kind of celebration no matter how small. The fact the woman chose to ‘woo’ and bounce around to express her excitement was rather unexpected, most people kept their ‘woo’s’ private when in the company of strangers. Akihiko had to admit in that particular moment the woman was adorable, which for him was an odd thing to notice about someone. It was clear to see he wasn’t looking quite as excited as she was, their victory over the thugs to him was rather bittersweet in a way. All he has gotten out of helping the woman was trouble and money lost. So ya there was no bouncing for Akihiko, only nervous glances, and uncomfortable body language as he waited for the train to stop. He was perfectly content with allowing her to ramble on until the train reached its next stop, once it did he had every intention of leaving her there. If she really was a member of Homra like he assumed she was she hardly needed his protection anymore.
The woman began to talk like he knew she would and although he didn’t respond to her right away he listened for the most part. She called their escape brilliant and Akihiko has to disagree because nothing he did was ever as brilliant as it seemed. After all, he wasn’t going to help the woman, in fact, he would have shrugged her off if the thugs hadn't spotted them together. He ran to save himself the hassle of a fight helping her was just convenient and he didn’t mind. So no what he had done wasn’t all that brilliant, and he should have debated that fact but he wasn’t that type of person. Instead, he just let her comment slide on by him even after she had reached into his personal space to poke him. Interacting with the people of Homra always felt weird to him because the closer they got the better he could feel the heat of their flames. The fire of the red king's sanctum was the only warmth Akihiko could feel since becoming king, and if had, to be honest, he didn’t really like the feeling. The woman’s poke felt a lot like the tip of a lit match pressed against his skin it warmed his body to an uncomfortable level. The need to put space between them was a natural feeling for Akihiko, and although he hardly wanted to come off as rude he still took one large step back. Pressed up against the glass of the train's doors Akihiko kept his eyes glued to the ground waiting for his chance to escape because all of this solarizing was more than he barraged for when he stepped out of his apartment this morning.
Most of the time people picked up on his body language quickly, the fact he had hardly spoken a word to the woman and then stepped away said volumes without him having to actually speak. Anyone else would have known how uncomfortable he was but not this woman, he had to wonder if she was one of those people who struggled with nonverbal cues. Not even a minute had passed since he has put space between them did she go closing the gap again, stepping in close and bending down to catch his gaze, the woman tried for the second time to start up a conversation with him. The woman didn’t know the first thing about him and yet she knew she had to be persistent to get anywhere with him. It showed to because unlike the last time she grabbed his attention this time he didn’t look away, he locked eyes with her instead and stared shocked for a good long minute. A tad wide-eyed and still clinging to himself Akihiko struggled to find his words, and as the woman chattered on he opened his mouth as if to force his words out. “..I..” He began, “I’m not any good with these kinds of situations..” he said as he tried to explain his need to apologize to her, he supposed he should have clarified just what he meant by ‘situations’. It sure would have been easier to just tell her conversation wasn't his strongest suit, but he didn’t he simply left it at that and hoped she understood. People like Inara and Satoru just understood which made Akihiko suddenly wish one of them were here.
The conversation was moving rather quickly at this point or maybe it was just moving at a normal pace? It was very likely he simply wasn’t use to participating and that was what made it seem fast, at any rate, she talked faster than he did and all he could do was wait until she was done talking completely to answer. The woman brought up his lost grocery bag and offered to repay him, and although the offer was a good one he didn’t really think it was entirely her fault he had lost his groceries. He was going to tell her that but she bumped into him and that threw him off, reacting to her touching him unnecessarily for the second time trumped responding to her offer. Without really thinking about it Akihiko put his hand up in front of him physically showing the woman the sign to stop. He then used that hand to physical outline where it was his personal space began and how far it extended out between them. He imagined he looked pretty childish doing so however, he really didn’t know any other way to show her what space he was comfortable with. Going back to the conversation at hand after that was a little awkward but he did ignoring the fact he had just drawn a line between them. “Don’t worry about it... I’m just glad everything worked out.” Really there was no need for her to repay anything, it was just ice cream after all.
The way things were going it didn’t seem he would be shaking the woman off anytime soon, not after her telling him to pick a stop for the both of them. Guess he didn’t really mind after all she would help take his mind off the very long walk home he now had. He took advantage of the time it took the woman to fix herself up to stare out of the subway trains window. The train pulled free from the underground and onto an open track though Shizum town, from the look of it outside it, was clear to see that the sun was setting and that it would be dark long before he reached home. Another long sigh escaped him and as he pulled his mobile phone from his coat pocket the woman said something that made him freeze. He had hoped to keep the woman from seeing his sanctum things were easier that way and that was how he prepared it. However, it would seem he had exposed himself when he sent those thugs slipping down the subway steps. He had to frown at that as he quickly turned back to face the woman. She had acknowledged he had power and because she surprised him a tiny bit of his aura slipped from his control and frosted over the door behind him. He was for a moment staring at her again as he thought hard about just what he was going to say to her next. He kind of just ended up looking way and pointing out her own aura. “..You're from Homra right? I can tell because I can feel the heat of your flames.” He said as he placed his hand on the shoulder she had poked before. Akihiko really didn’t have much else to say after that and it was kind of lucky that the train was pulling up to its next stop. He should have told the woman that this was the stop he had chosen, but he didn’t remember until he was already off the train and standing on the platform. A glance back in her direction was his way of inviting her along if she still wanted to. Though if she didn’t then that's fine too because he didn’t wait long to turn away again as he began to make his way towards the street exist. |
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Post by Midori Kanon on Sept 21, 2017 22:00:38 GMT -5
The trains were always so bright they burned her eyes, which would be why Midori went to fluffing out her bangs to help shield her eyes, only mildly noting that he had stepped away after her poking him. Well she was more concerned with his own issues, not a surprise from her really, but she still noticed, mostly, if just to make a face at him. Honestly she had showered this morning. Er, pretty sure-no wait she totally showered this morning. So whatever. Moved on easily enough through it all, chatting as she fussed over herself, bangs and hair fixed, face clean even if she stained the cuffs of her shirt instead. His little comment made Midori laugh, good natured like, “No one is really, not really.” In her line of experience, practice made better but never perfect because perfect was for gods. Weird family saying, but she stuck with it anyway because it had been proven true in her life too many times to ignore. Course Midori figured he meant the whole running from thugs thing, not just talking, so when he outright motioned a space bubbled she had to blink at him. “Eh, are we in grade school?” Outright sounded confused on that because what the hell?
Still stepped back, because she was a nice person like that, and maybe wondered if he was just a wee bit crazy. Well still she owned him if he liked it or not, and Midori was not letting a debt go unpaid. He he had issues with personal space then likely he would not want to go swapping info, so best get favors paid even now. He lost groceries, her fault, so she would pay him back, easy as that really. Seriously though as things moved on she almost wanted to shake him, “You should have started with that, gesh.” The whole comments of heat and stuff, really she could have connected the dots, ice and fire never really mixed. “Would have made you seem less crazy, yeah.” Muttered more to herself because he stepped off the train without so much as a ‘by your leave’ and she had to scurry to follow him. Alright he was still rude as hell, but maybe less crazy. Still Midori rolling the conversation with new location like nothing was different, “You heard of Homra before?” Well not rare really, but well having it outright pointed to her the whole flame bit was more rare, then again dude could make ice. Maybe she was being slow today.
“So no touching, and you are crap at talking, right, can still work with that.” Really dealt with all sorts everyday at work, he would be a breeze. “So this stop there are a few good places can hit up, depends what type of groceries you lost. You pick and my treat I guess.” A shrug as she rolled her shoulders and bounced a little, hyper and happy to be out of work and pretty much free for the day. “Annnnd do I get to know the name of my quiet mysterious savior?” Almost touched him again before she caught herself mid action and looked sheepish, was not used to checking herself clearly. No touching, riiiiight. Her bad. Followed him along to the street exit only to outright cringe at the lingering sun, too bright, really needed to pick up another pair of sunglasses, and stop losing them.
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Colourless King
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Post by Akihiko Hayashi on Sept 22, 2017 0:55:33 GMT -5
This woman was different kind of person than he used to, she was all warm and full of positive vibes honestly it was clear that they clashed. He couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for the woman because she was trying to have some kind of conversation with him, and he wasn’t contributing much at all. It would have been easier for both of them if they just shook hands and walked away. After all, they were total strangers, neither of them had an obligation to the other so what reason was there dragging out this painfully awkward conversation? The woman seemed to think that repaying him for his lost ice cream was reason enough to stay when really it wasn’t. No matter how many times Akihiko shook his head in silent protest she still insisted like she hadn’t read his nonverbal cues at all. It was because she chose to ignore these cues that he felt like he had to draw out just where his boundaries were with her. If he had to spend the rest of the day with her then she would at least respect his personal space. Told her without telling her where his personal space was despite how childish it made him look. There was only a small handful of people who could touch him and this woman was not one of those people. Her touch burned too hot, each and every time she playfully poked or bumped into him he felt as if he would burst into flames. There was no way he could stand a whole night of that, outlining his bubble no matter how rude or childish was the only way he could ensure this conversation would be a success, the only thing left was for her to respect it. Her grade school comment made him almost pout at her because it wasn’t like that, really it wasn’t. There was no use explaining that to her through the people of Homura would likely never understand just how overwhelming their sanctum was. He kind of hinted at that when he brought up her flames, which helped her understand a little bit more on just why he didn’t want her to touch him.
He supposed he could have started by explaining himself but that was easier said than done, like most people words came naturally to her. Little things like adding to a conversation or explaining one's self where, not things that came easily to him. Most of the time he struggled with finding something to say, and when he did have the words they often got stuck in this throat. It was a kind of nervous disorder that ruled his life and there was nothing he could do about it. It simply was up to the people around him to figure things out for themselves which unfortunately was too much to ask of this girl. She asked if he had heard of Homura before and the honest answer was yes of course, as a king it was impossible for him not to know. He couldn’t tell her that of course going around telling random girls on the subway that he was a king was just asking for trouble. So to avoid that trouble he told a half-truth, “I’ve heard the name here and there.” Kept a pretty good poker face and left it at that because no good came of telling someone too much information. Akihiko made his way off the train under the assumption that she would follow him because she said she would. So he didn’t feel the need to give her a heads up beforehand or to even escort her. Maybe that was a tad arrogant of him but he so used to people following his lead he just kind of walked and kept going without so much as second thought. She caught up soon enough like he knew she would and together they stepped out on to the open street.
It was only slightly amusing that she tried to talk herself through the conversation as if giving herself a mini pep talk to reassure herself she could do this. Not like he offered her any words of encouragement though, he just gave her a sideways glance and stared at her as she bounced. Akihiko only took really took a moment to look at the woman before he started walking again, from the sounds of it she knew her way around the area, but so did he. He knew of all kinds of places they could go, fancy places that would have served well when trying to keep up a dying conversation. However, there was one specific place he had in mind and it was close to, like super close, around the corner close. As they rounded the corner she asked him his name and he stopped without warning in front of a small convenience store. Akihiko paused for a moment and thought about what he was going to say to her, and as he stared through the glass doors of the convenience store he turned to her and said. “We’re here.” He pointed to the sliding glass doors in front of them before walking through them almost ignoring the fact she had asked for his name. Once inside the store, he knew just where he needed to go to find the ice cream they were looking for. He weaved through small cramped aisles that were almost too small for people before reaching a small freezer at the back of the store. He hadn’t said a word to the girl since they had entered the store but as he opened the freezer door and began to reach through the ice cream selection they had there he found some words. “You know I’m not a savior so please stop calling me that, I don’t deserve it.” Really he didn’t and she had a right to know that, it was better to save her praise for someone else.
It didn’t take long for Akihiko to find what he wanted from the freezer, three small tubs of ice cream and one popsicle all of which looked funny in his arms as he tried to juggle his way to the counter. The clerk rang them through lickady slipt and Akihiko put his hand in front of the girl so she couldn’t pay, he wouldn’t allow it, after all, it was his own fault he lost his groceries. “Save your money.” He said as he tapped his debit card against the debit machine. After paying there really wasn’t a reason to stay in the store so as soon as the clerk had his things all packed and ready to go Akihiko left knowing the girl would follow. It really was lucky for them that the convenience store had a bench next to it because as soon as Akihiko stepped back onto the street he plopped himself down on it and motioned for her to do the same. He waited for her to sit before he opened his shopping bag and reached inside pulling out the popsicle. Without so much as a word or even a warning, Akihiko turned the girl with a rather serious expression and pressed the frozen dessert to her swollen cheek. It was clear by the state of her that she was in a bit of pain from her run-in with the gangsters. Yes he had noticed and said nothing to her and maybe that was a tad heartless of him, but he was making up for that now. With his hand pressed against the popsicle’s wrapper, he ensured it wouldn’t melt making her something of an edible cold compress. He held his gaze with hers and sat there a moment before finally explaining himself to her. “There is no need for you to pay me any more than you already have, your company alone has made helping you worthwhile.” Honestly, it was, it wasn’t often that he had the chance to talk to strangers much less one that put the effort into connecting with him. The fact that she was trying was enough for him and he didn’t need anything else.
Using his free hand Akihiko pulled out two of the three little tubs of ice cream from his shopping bag, and then two plastic spoons from his coat pocket. He placed a spoon on each of the two tubs of ice cream before pulling away from the woman, allowing her to hold her own popsicle compress. Akihiko picked up one of the tubs of ice cream and slid the other closer to the woman before breaking the plastic wrapper off his spoon pulling it from its wrapper. “I bought that for you so eat up it will make you feel better.” Though really she was free to eat or not eat if she wanted, regardless of her choice he was eating his ice cream now. Cracking open the lid to his ice cream Akihiko wasted no time digging in like it was perfectly normal to do so. The cold of the ice cream sure did wonders for his mood, he was sure the woman could tell from just how he was grinning while eating it. It wasn’t until he had a few spoon fulls did he answer her earlier question he had ignored. “You had asked me my name earlier..” He began before he paused to look at her, “It’s Akihiko Hayashi, what's yours?” |
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Post by Midori Kanon on Sept 22, 2017 16:28:46 GMT -5
Alright so Midori outright beamed in glee because of the simple fact he had heard off Homra, because hey Homra was awesome like that, she had the right to take pride in that. Homra had been rather kind to her over all, oh sure they were all a bunch of thugs, hell she was a thug and Midori would admit that. Better a thug with morals than the street ruffins that lacked any morals at all. So pride was a thing and she did pretty much did fluff up a bit like a cat, with a sly smile and far too amused look. Funny how a bit of pride could carry her through rather well to chat onward and be fine with his over all silence. “Well then good, though I guess it makes sense, if you need to avoid us normally, ice and fire and all, which really has to be suck in the summer. Do you have issues with summer heat? No beaches for you?” He was wearing a scarf and she was just in a blouse and really was tempted to strip to tanktop, part of that was because of the spots of blood on her shirt though. White shirts and blood did not mix, hey most of that blood splatter was not hers at least?
His stopping suddenly made Midori almost run him out flat out, she was paying attention, honest, but well it was hard for her to see so she had her head ducked and yeah there were issues. “Woah, sorry.” Even took a step back to maintain what she was thinking about the bubble of space he had motioned, or close to it. Then he went entering the store without answering her then and she had to make a face because wow rude much, really was not a hard question you know, gesh. Manners were a thing that existed. Made her grumble, clearly annoyed and follow several seconds behind him, only to break off and swing through the store. Maybe they sold sunglasses, would make her day a bit better at least yeah. They did, she grinned and went to trying on a couple of pairs before picking one and swinging by check out to wait for him. Grabbed some gum and another lighter in line, and got the cashier to grab her a pack of her favorite smokes while checking out.
Course then he defeated the entire reason she was there at all, telling her to save her money and paying as she opened her mouth to argue. Rude. Did not even bother to tamper her glare, “Seriously? Dude I owed you, there is this thing called caring about paying people back, ugg.” Huffed and pretty much sulked after him, ripping the tag from her new sunglasses and sliding them on, sun setting or not. Should have stayed on the stupid train, could have gone anywhere else and it would have been less annoying than his silence, random sentences and outright weirdness. Well whatever, she tried, now she could wander off and just pretend this never happened. Right up till he assaulted her with frozen goods and Midori yelped in surprise, with a bit of pain, because owwww that was sore thank you! Had forgotten about it really, not rare that she had bumps and scrapes really, life happened that way, at least her life, and this was a sharp reminder that made her pout at him. A very confused looking pout because what was he doing and why?
Really he needed to make up his mind if he was the grumpiest shy person ever or not, this was going to make her lose her mind. Left her to blink at him a bit wide eyed really, trying to figure out when the world flipped upside down. “So do you try to be the most confusing person ever, or is it just natrual?” Because now he was being all sweet saying her company was good enough and really Midori was more than a bit lost at the moment. Stayed on the bench looking at him like maybe he was going to sprout a second head or something, “Umm, thank you?” Never would have considered herself good company, so her thanks was more for the coldness, which was helping now that she had been reminded of the pain. Hey just because this was bizarre did not mean she should be rude, maybe he really was trying his best here.
Still when he pulled back she ended up staring at the popsicle like it could answer the questions of her life, because really Midori was not use to random acts of kindness. “Okay?” Ice cream was not exactly a normal thing for her, mostly because it was not really in her normal budget, she rather spend extra money on books. Still went with it because well it was offered and he was being oddly sweet now so why not. “Oh, Midori Kanon.” Answered a bit automatically because she was was dealing with the icy treat like it would either attack her or run away. Which was not far from the truth, she did run hotter than most people, thanks to clan aura, so well melting was a thing she did have to worry about honestly. Reminded her why exactly she never bothered with ice cream, though she remembered as a child she had liked the icy treats in the summer when she was hot. Never really got hot anymore. Finally looked up at him, with a rather soft smile on her lips and red eyes peering at him through darkened lenses, “It’s nice to meet you Hayashi-san.”
Akihiko Hayashi │ words 943 │ bit better, mostly he just annoyed her then confused her |
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Colourless King
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Post by Akihiko Hayashi on Oct 8, 2017 16:54:03 GMT -5
It was so easy to find comfort in the sound of someone else's voice, even if that someone was someone you hardly knew. Akihiko had to admit the girl was rather determined and although it took them nearly a half an hour to get to this point, he began to open up. He just wished they would stay on one topic for more than a second because it was more than a little difficult to keep up with her when she babbled on like she was currently doing. Ah well, there was no sense in honestly, complaining about it not when she was forced to carry on an entire conversation with herself. So he allowed her to talked on while he waited for the right moment to jump in. Akihiko took his time and kept track of each one of her questions so that he could answer them later. Overall his option of HOMRA was rather lacking with his only real complaint being just how hot they burned. It was rather refreshing to see the girls positive reaction in regards to her clan. As a king, he could respect that and even admire the red king for her love and devotion. Happy clansmen were the sign of a good clan and if this girls pride was any indication then HOMRA was doing something right. Akihiko wasn’t really surprised when the girl rambled off topic, they went from talking about HOMRA to the beach within the span of a few short seconds, and the only thing he could do was just roll with it. “ I avoid most people not just the members of HOMRA... Even the average person's body temperature runs higher than I can stand…” Was that too much information to give away? Likely not but still it was important to him for her to know that the reason she needed to keep her hands to herself had very little to do with what clan she was apart of. Sure being a member of HOMRA didn’t help but it wasn’t the only reason.
The woman’s next few questions though were strange ones and he almost didn’t answer them because he thought they were too personal. However, despite his reservations, he did, in fact, give her some kind of answer. “In the summer thermal jackets can help keep my cold from escaping, much like how a thermos keeps your food cold despite it not being in the fridge.” If that even made sense? Well regardless if it did or not that was exactly how it was like. “As for the beach... I have never been.” As a child going to public places like the beach was simply not an option. With the amount of bruises he and his brother had they had never been to a public pool let alone to the beach. As an adult, his new excuse was he was afraid that he might accidentally freeze the water around him and cause a scene. So yes she was right when she said no beaches for him.
Once inside the store, Akihiko ignored every annoyed comment and gesture the woman made because well, as far as he was concerned she didn’t owe him a thing. He simply grabbed what he needed and checked out without saying more than he needed to say because there was no way she was getting her way and that was the end of that. Things were much easier once they were outside and sitting down, enough time had passed now that Akihiko didn’t feel quite as awkwardly out of place being with the woman. He even took the time to care for the wound on her cheek which was oddly out of character for him, seeing as the only people he ever cared for were his own. Guess the woman picked up on that because she pointed it out and even called him confusing. Which caused him to flinch and look at her rather guilty like before dropping his gaze completely. She was right because up until this point he hadn’t been the best conversationalist, it was at times like this he missed his people. People like Inara and Satoru who just knew what he was saying without him having to actually say it. He kind of deserved the woman's sharp and blunt question even if it kind of hurt because he was confusing he could admit that. Still, because she put it like that he couldn’t help but clam up a bit now suddenly worried the conversation was going to go south. “.. I’m nervous... Sorry.” Being honest was the best solution to this problem so he told her the truth and worked through his rising anxiety while he did it. Akihiko really honestly, had very little control over his nervous habits like losing his ability to speak, or even what he was doing now, which was rubbing his open palm against his thigh.
Normally when in situations as tense as this one he would get up and leave, but for some bizarre reason, he chose to stay. Which was the real confusing thing here because all he had wanted to do since getting on the train was to ditch the girl. She was right he was acting weird and now that his weirdness was pointed out to him it was all he could focus on. Though the ice cream was proving a good distraction from his worries, he tried, for now, to try to focus on that rather than being weird. Midori gave him her name and honestly, he was rather surprised that a tomboy like her had such a feminine sounding name. Being greeted by name was kind of odd seeing as he hardly gave out his name to strangers, plus he could hardly believe meeting him was good for her on any level since he was confusing. Akihiko took a big scoop full of ice cream and gulped it down as it somehow gave him courage or claimed his nervous, it was only after he had the sweet flavor cross his tongue did he greet her back. “Likewise Kanon-san.” He said before going back to finishing off his tub of ice cream, he left the minute pass as the sunset. It was only after the street lights came on did he speak after dropping his spoon in his empty ice cream container. “I wonder if those thugs are still hanging around..” because if they were he couldn’t go home yet since he lived only down the street from where Midori was attacked. “Who were those men anyways, I’m not really fond of gangsters operating so close to my house.” Maybe that was a boring question to ask given the conversations lack of momentum, however, he figured she would be going soon and before she did he wanted to know. Clearly, it was the good samaritan in him or whatever, but he wanted to make sure no more came to him for help on his way home again. |
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HOMRA Member
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Post by Midori Kanon on Oct 31, 2017 10:50:29 GMT -5
Avoiding touching people though would suck, for real, like never shaking hands when meeting someone or patting friends on the shoulders, playful shoves or accidental shoulder bumps. So much nope there on her end, she would stick with fire over that nightmare of forced antisocialness. The jacket bit made sense, the beach though made her stare at him because what? “Oh you, you are getting dragged to the beach at some point, middle of winter if need be, whatever, but oh yes.” Because pfft that was craziness right there, if he was going to be stuck with her then he was really going to be stuck with her, poor guy. “At least one beach visit is required in life, flat out required so you can learn the curses of sand and feeling like the smallest person on the planet.” A nod on that, mind made up and determined that even if she had to find him and kidnap him mid-winter this would happen, it simply would one way or another. There was a smile on her lips that was challenging and maybe a bit off center, scheming and far too amused.
Course then everything else and yes he was confusing and frustrating and such a guy, a shy one on top of that and Midori never did well with shy people, their quietness making her want to shake them a little bit. Guys were frustrating on all on their own of course, it was the entire gender reall that could make any woman want to scream, put the two together though and really he was lucky she had not really shaken him. For all she might not seem it Midori cared about things like owing people and trying to pay back favors how she could, his turning her aside just meant he really was going to be stuck with her. Poor guy. Alright she was also just proud, but minor details. And then assault via frozen treats somehow being his way of caring and really Midori was just more confused at this point but sat there instead of storming off because really he was trying. If he could try then she would try and see they made a great confused trying pair of strangers.
Almost strangers thank you, they traded names and a moment later she dug into a pocket to pull out a beat up PDA and shove it at him, “Gimme your number.” Not really a question so much as she expected it, if he had somehow gotten her to eat ice cream, that really was trying to melt like it was net to a fire, then he could give his number. How that was equal really only Midori knew, but she was remembering why she did not in fact eat ice cream, even if it was yummy as it tried to attack her with it’s stickiness. “Come on, I swear I am not going to annoy you to death with messages.” She did not have time for that normally anyway, either at work or asleep or getting into trouble like she normally did, “Just annoy you into random hang-outs is all.” Said with a grin because yeah why not? They did not meet the best, and he was awkward and like he thought she was too talkative but hey that ice bit was cool and he was not too bad past the quiet shyness really.
The streetlights clicking on as it got darker had her making faces in annoyance really, shaking her head to get her hair to fall to block the worst of it, this was the problem with being in the better areas of town, street lamps. Because normal people liked the light and the brightness offered, like a safety blanket at night time that made her want to gouge out her eyes. Ignored it though, like she always did with a curtain of hair and sunglasses and the vow to wander back to darker streets soon. Besides he was a good distraction a moment later given she snorted at him, looking both amused and like he was the crazy one here. “Nah, they would have left a while ago, never good to hang around after drawing so much attention.” That got the police called in at the very least, her fire spouts would have gotten worse than the police and not a chance some stupid gang would stick around for that. Ended up kicking her feet out in idle motion of sitting still too long and shook her head, “They won’t be around long causing issues, no worrying your pretty head over it Hayashi-san.”
Really Shizume was mostly Homra’s, not her fault if some kick-start little group thought they could push and wiggle their way in, they were stupid for going after an individual clan member, it was cowardly as hell. Also meant there were others that would get more up in arms over it because they had brought a group to attack little ol’her, because sure Homra was all thugs but they were thugs that stuck together. “I give it another day, tops really, depends when I decide to check in and report this and who all is kicking around.” Some were more hotheaded than others, goodness knew it depended on the time of day for Midori to get all up in arms over things, sometimes, she did have a temper alright. “Likely thought they were smart going after someone like me though, which just proves they know nothing at all about about Homra, idiots.”
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Colourless King
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Post by Akihiko Hayashi on Feb 13, 2018 0:21:31 GMT -5
Yep, it was official he was a sucky conversationalist and after tonight that was definitely an indisputable fact. Very soon after realizing that Akihiko felt like crawling under a rock.. with every painfully awkward second that passed by he was convinced that the few friends he did have must really be saints for putting up with him for so long. Thankfully for Akihiko Midori was social and didn’t seem to put off by his awkward behavior, clearly, there was still hope for this conversation. Akihiko knew if he focused and made himself as interesting as he could then maybe tonight's little train adventure wouldn’t end up a bust. The beach seemed to be a topic Midori was hung up on, for some reason it was hard for her to accept the fact that he had never been before. It was strange that she cared so much about his lack of experiences that she would personally offer to take him to the beach herself. Honestly, they had known each other for a little bit more than an hour and she was already planning their next trip together. Other people might have been alarmed by Midori’s eagerness to spend so much time with them, but not Akihiko. He was downright flattered that she wanted to go out with him again after this trainwreck of a first meeting that of course, he agreed to go to the beach with her. A brief “Kay” and a small smile was all that was needed for him to tell her that he was interested in spending more time with her.
Making friends does not come easily to people like Akihiko, the fact they were making any kind of progress at all was reason enough for him to smile. During the brief moment of silence, they shared as they changed conversation topics Akihiko lost himself in thought about what a day at the beach would actually be like. He really wasn’t prepared to have a PDA shoved in his face honestly, it caught him off guard, and because the action startled him Akihiko suffered a small lap in power. Snow began to fall around them because he was distracted by Midori’s request for his number. “Um.. OK” Akihiko said as he pulled himself up onto his knees and tucked his hair behind his ears as he began to add his number to her contacts. As he did Midori began to ramble again, she seemed to think she had to assure him that he wouldn’t regret giving her his number and that she would only message him an appropriate amount. The fact she felt like she needed to tell him that told him that someone somewhere had told her that she was annoying which simply wasn’t true. “I like messaging so text me all you want I don’t mind.” Really he didn’t after all message was his preferred method of communicating so she was free to gab all she liked. After adding his number in her PDA it was a natural reaction for him to pull out his own PDA and unlock its lock screen. “OK text me I’m ready.” He said without any hesitation at all as he waited for her to do so, so he could add her number to.
It was only natural he would ask about the gang that was chasing her and wonder if they were still lurking somewhere. As inexperienced as he was with ‘gang wars’ he really wasn’t sure if it was safe or not to head home yet, more so after he had shown them his face. Midori didn’t seem to think the gangsters were a problem though because she even went so far as to say that the thugs would be gone indefinitely soon. That caused Akihiko to blink as he looked away from his PDA and back up in her direction. He often forgot that the other clans in didn’t function the way his did, and that out of all the preexisting clans HOMRA was the most different from his. Akihiko didn’t approve of violence himself and he could personally come up with at least a dozen different ways to deal with thugs besides beating them up. But this wasn’t his fight and Midori wasn’t his to look out for, HOMRA was HOMRA and they had their own way of surviving. So it wasn’t his place to offer her any advice on the matter, he just nodded in agreeance and said. “Isn’t nice to have people you can rely on? Sometimes a group of like-minded individuals can become a family, I bet that closeness is what makes HOMRA strong.” Maybe he was wrong about that, and maybe not. Likely it all depended on the individual person to depict strength. However, for him, WINTER was very much a family and it was those family-like bonds that made his clan strong, so he couldn’t help but think that was what made the other clans strong too. “Well if you do see those thugs again just be careful, I won’t always be there to trip them for you.” A joke on his part as he reached out to poke her melted tub of ice, freezing it for her again.
Tag: Midori Kanon |
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