First Return (Open to 3)

Going to Shibakuzoi after the day se awakened was both surreal and frightening. She had not been there in several weeks, not since she obtained her Persona. The town remained as bright and vivid as she remembered. The city was very large, and the most technologically advanced out of all the areas she has ever seen in Ueitawa; and the only place she had not seen in Ueitawa was Nokawia, which seemed fairly tame. She did not have any particular place to go today, and it would not hurt to get more surveillance. This area she was rather hesitant to go back to, but after gaining her Persona, it would only help her defend herself if need be. And despite her fears and worries, she had to learn about this area for a bit and get a bearing. Probably would have to stick to the major corporations and landmarks to learn in the area. She was wearing her normal short shorts and jacket, half zipped and her hair was not tied up, and remained going down her back. It was not much of a change from her normal wear, but she did not have much else, nor did she have any money to get new clothing. So she would have to make do and try to portray another look, to little effort. This would not help her worries, causing her to reach under her jacket to grasp at her left side under her ribs to check on her heart. It seemed as well as it would ever be at the moment, so she would just have to begin her stroll from the station and try not to worry.

The simplest spot at the moment seemed like the mall. She had been to a mall a few times in the past, but if this city was as big as she thought, then the mall here was even bigger. Perhaps it had some things to grab and use. She would make her way there, looking behind her a bit more than usual, as the crowd in Shibakuzoi always seemed bustling as massive, like a sea of humans rushing to get to wherever they had to be. So they would not take a second glance at Ruo, which was fine with her. For once, it did help soften her fears lightly as she made her trip to the mall. The mall itself did not take too long to get to, nor was it easy to miss; the place was massive, with people coming in and out, enjoying themselves and having fun. Ruo did not know what to feel. She had been growing some emotions since her awakening, but all she could feel at the moment was confusion. She did have to find a hobby, but where was there to start? She had recently went to an arcade, which was certainly an experience. Perhaps she should try something different to broaden her horizons. That in mind, she would step into the entrance of the mall, and walk along the main aisle a bit slowly, looking at the many stores around, while sneaking in a look behind her here and there. But this way, it may not look as suspicious as Ruo began her roaming through the mall.

Shibakuzoi wasn‘t really a choice with a purpose for Akuma as he strolled around the town. The only reason he was there was to find some entertainment to keep him from getting stuck with his own thoughts. He definitely had a good time talking with the nice girl at the club where he worked, and he figured it would be better for him to try and do something out of his way more often. Friends were supposed to be a good thing, and he didn’t have many thorough his life, so why not now? He was content with his melancholic alone time, but getting out had that sort of magical feel to it. So many things could happen, and he was eager to see the results, which was why he was currently walking around Shibakuzoi, checking the area out, looking for any sort of entertainment.

His feet soon made him wander into the local mall, and he nimbly made his way around using his skills from avoiding big crowds in the club. The stuff they sold was nice, but he was too undecisive and simply kept looking over everything as he walked, pondering over unnecessary things such as what was this made of and so on. Since he was barely paying attention to his surroundings as usual, and his dodging skills not completely godly, he almost ran into someone, managing to stop just a step before running into the female’s back. Wow, sometimes he wondered how he could get so distracted. At least he did manage to halt in time, so it was safe. ‘’Ahem, sorry miss. Didn’t mean to almost run into you.’’, he said in an apologizing tone, trying to at least sound gentlemanly if nothing else, if he already got himself into this. He waited for a response with a small smile on his lips, thinking of her quite revealing clothing, instead of focusing on his apologies.

It was just another day for Jin as he strolled through the mall. He was still pretty new to Ueitawa as he had no actual reason to travel to something like this. But then again, there's that bookstore he hadn't tried yet. There was a few texts that even this teacher wanted to get his hands on. It was always a pain to find a parking space as it almost seemed impossible in this sea of cars that occupied all. But luck smiled upon him as he finally found one.

With the vehicle locked in, he was finally free to walk inside as its expansive space surrounded him. A stream of shoppers was always present no matter where he went. Observing a map board, Jin tried to find that specific bookstore he wanted to find. After an annoying examination of the map and its obscure legends, his eye had finally found it.

With a brief nod, he finally walked out to his destination. Though after deliberate walking and examination of signs... it proved to be difficult to find the right place after all. Mostly due to the unfamiliarity of all of these stores. It was pretty big. He was just about to give up until he saw two others who almost collided with each other. Then there was one of his students that he recognized.

"I might as well ask."

Going up to them he then spoke, "Interesting to see you here, Akuma. I hope you don't mind if I ask you where I can find the bookstore is?"

Ruo had grown rather into the stores itself. For whatever reason, the simple act of strolling was interesting her enough to look onto the stores. She could see every single detail of each store, from the mixtures of paint used to make the colors, to even the materials still lingering on the walls. It was rather bizarre to get this feature programmed into her, but it was certainly proving useful to her. But her way of acting was rather illogical to Ruo. What was going on today? Something had to be seriously wrong with her if she was doing all this, and not feeling as worried as normal. Maybe it really was her Persona doing this to her; since even with her random spikes, it only affected her personality and not her actions. This was turning into a bit of an ordeal with her, and it slowly reverted back from her open self to her worried self. It did help her sure, but she did not know why, and not knowing was one of her biggest fears in this world. Not knowing meant you could not truly be decisive, and that would ultimately lead into one’s own downfall in the near future.

She would take a look behind her right on cue when a man had almost bumped into her, causing her to instinctively turn to him and take a quick shaky step backwards. She did not look suspicious of the man, he just caught her off guard, so if anything, she probably looked confused. The man was a bit taller than her, and seemed to be wearing very regal clothing. Could he afford all of that? She wondered what she would get if she ever came into money, but all she could buy with her current currency is various boons and items in a certain store, unknown to most. She would straighten herself slowly and nod. Perhaps it was sheer luck, but her neck suddenly felt a jolt and she would be very friendly, as though she was never paranoid to begin with. “By all means, it is no big deal. I have never been here before, so it was rather distracting!” she said, giving a smile that was not big, but too big for Ruo. Maybe that was the best route anyway. Learning about the other species could help her in the future. Though, her happy personality still persisted, and her mind wanted her to say hello. That in mind, Ruo would hold her hand out to him. “Ruo is my name. Appreciated sir,” she would say a bit happily. If her had was taken for a shake, she would shake it for a moment, a bit shakily as she had returned to normal before pulling it away calmly. “If I may…” she began. Perhaps she should at least try, maybe it would help. “Did you show up for the same reason I did? To look around? I have never been here before, so I am rather new to it all.”

She would listen to him until another man had showed up, this time, making Ruo’s left arm quickly check her stomach under her ribs. Her paranoia was getting to her. The man had short black hair, and did not seem much of a threat. While Ruo would never be too careful, grabbing her side to check on her heart was rather ridiculous. Regardless, she would check on it for a moment before moving to her right arm to squeeze it lightly, then move to her left to check. It seemed that they were both in order. Could they remain alright all day? Or could she stop worrying in time to not pay much mind? Not oddly, she would hope the former remained. She would remain silent if the two conversed or if neither spoke to her for the moment.

Traits:

The girl in question turned rather abruptly, even taking a step back. She looked confused, rather than startled or scared, so she probably wasn’t pissed about it. Akuma was glad about that, as he wasn’t going out of his way to anger anyone right now. At least for as long as he didn’t see it bringing something good into the mix. For now, he would keep nice and see where that went, as she seemed to go that way too. He tilted his head a little as she offered a handshake. This was a second already. Perhaps people here liked to do so? Or maybe he just had the luck. Whichever case, he would accept with a light shake. How funny, exchanging names and all in the middle of a mall. Such an unusual occurrence. New experiences were always useful, and it proved that things were changing constantly and Akuma was fairly happy about that. His philosophies never made much sense anyway. ‘’My name’s Akuma. Glad that I didn’t offend you.’’, he said while they shook hands. He was quiet for a bit, lost in thought as she asked him whether was he there for a similar reason to hers. Well, in a way he was. Although, he was just looking for something interesting to fixate his attention on, but that may count for looking around too, since he was technically doing that as well.

‘’Ah, well, sort of. I’m looking for something entertaining to do, as it is getting a bit lonely being just myself with my thoughts. Need to get into something real once in a while, and this place seems like a good one to start with. But, yeah, in short, I am looking around.’’, he droned a bit after he made up his mind, offering a slightly amused smile. And he would probably have started another monologue, but someone called him from behind, effectively shifting his attention for the moment. Turning around, he blinked in surprise as he saw one of the teachers from school. So many strange happenings in a short amount of time. This trip was actually worth it from the looks of it. ‘’Hello, sir, nice to meet you here.’’, he said politely, while wondering how much of a coincidence this meeting was. ‘’The bookstore, hmm? I think I’ve passed by it on my way. I suppose I could show you. I have time on my hands right now.’’, he said, tapping a finger on his chin, as he recalled his walk here. As if an idea suddenly hit him, he turned his head back to the female afterwards. ‘’I just thought…Perhaps you’d want to go too? You did say you were looking around. A bookstore is a nice place to hang out at. Maybe you’ll even find something nice to read. Not that you have to go. Just a suggestion, that is all.’’, he would say, somewhat cheerfully. He might as well keep a company now that he had some. It didn’t come often to him after all. Better make as much use of it as he could, and he couldn’t wait to see how would the events turn out, if this went on.

It certainly seemed as if he'll have two other people coming towards his desired destination. Not that he really minded. He really wanted to get his hands on that book... and that replica of an artifact of Aztec times that the store seems to have in stock. Thankfully having connections through his work did pay off somehow. But on the other hand... Jin noticed this other girl who Akuma had just been conversing with. She was dressed rather scantily and seemed much at unease. Rather not embarrassing her, he simply kept his silence to allow the other two to make an agreement to go together or not. Despite whether it went well or not, he'd follow the boy who would lead him towards the store.

"You're welcome to come if you want," he added to her, "I don't mind either way."

She would nod once hearing his name. “Akuma”. That name if she recalled her knowledge of Japanese language, meant “Devil”. She wondered why people would name their children that way. He seemed a bit distracted at the moment, and she would wait to give him a chance to speak. The man seemed to have a similar goal to hers, which was fair enough, and caused her to nod. The mall was rather large. When the man had walked up, it appeared that the two knew each other. She would remain silent when the two conversed with one another. She did not have much reason to talk. Though they would both more or less invite her to join them to the bookstore inside. Ruo might have said no, but it could not hurt to at least explore the bookstore. She would nod to the both of them. “Alright. No problem,” she would say. She would follow the two when they left towards their location, only speaking when spoken to. Maybe it would turn out to be an interesting day.

((Sorry for the short post. Ruo didn’t really do much. Lol))

‘’Allright, let’s go then, shall we? It’s not far from here.’’, Akuma would nod off, when everyone settled down on going to the fore-mentioned bookstore. Turning around, he took a few steps, looking back to see if the two were going to follow him and then continued on the way. For a short while he would remain quiet as he led the way, thinking about books, and wondering whether they’d have something good at the bookstore when he was already headed there. Indulging in books was sometimes even useful. Not many people chose to bother someone who seemed holed in a book, focusing on reading. Then again, Akuma was somewhat doubtful that any kind of book would be able to hold his attention long enough for him to finish it. But, he was willing to give it a chance, if he saw something promising. ‘Maybe a short one? Hmm….’, he shook his head a bit, trying to clear his clogged thoughts, turning to his two companions. Walking in silence too long would be awkward perhaps? And maybe he just wanted to put his thoughts out there to prevent daydreaming while walking. Butting into something because of lack of attention would be even more awkward.

‘’Well, since we’re going to a bookstore already, do you have any favourite books? Or just a genre in general?’’, he’d direct a question to the duo accompanying him, before adding quickly, towards Jin this time. ‘’If I may, guess, I’d say you’re looking for something related to history, right sir? I mean, it is what you teach after all.’’, he’d say, a bit amusedly, as that was sort of an obvious fact. Though, there was no way to be sure, now, was it? Even a teacher could be looking only for something that was out of their topic.

"Let's go then."

He nodded in agreement that they should now leave for the bookstore. Jin was a bit eager to get to the store quickly to finally get his hands on that piece of merchandise he wanted. From what the teacher remembered from reading off from the screen online, it was a limited offer on the store. Which meant there would be more people trying to get it as well. However, he wasn't going to jostle his guide to hurry up for his own purposes. That would be rude, of course. And besides, it's not like it would run out of stock that quickly... right?

The traversing to this store had been fairly silent between them. Lips refused to move as they milled through the stream of shoppers in the mall. Jin simply glanced to both sides to become ever more familiar to the structure and organization this huge medley of stores were arranged in since this wouldn't be his last visit here. Finally the quietness was overthrown with Akuma's question.

"Something among those lines," he replied with a rather droll expression so characteristic of him, "I am after something else as well."

Before his student could try to ask what, the Chinese's face turned towards the girl that was accompanying them.

"What about you?"

She would nod to Akuma and follow once he checked. He seemed to know where he was going, as Ruo did not being new to this mall. She had done some reading every so often; if only because of orders and testing by her creators. She had never read something that was just to read, like fantasy or action. It was rather an interesting thought; read for the sake of enjoying one’s self. She had that just recently when she went to the arcade. The story of the frog crossing the road to get past the river and return home was a simple story, yet it did speak of such dangers one would face when crossing a busy road of cars and other vehicles. It also attested to animals that could kill even humans. But ultimately, Ruo could get into enjoying oneself for that sake. It seemed there was plenty more about the world to learn about, and she was content with learning more ever since her escape, even more so since her awakening. Though as they walked, Akuma would ask them what they preferred. That gave Ruo a pause for thought as she placed the tip of her pointer finger on her chin. Did she have a preferred type of reading? Well, she would have time to think when he made an addition towards the still unknown man; most likely Akuma’s teacher saying that he probably preferred history. And judging by his response, Akuma was probably right, also making it clear he was looking for something else.

Though he would turn to Ruo and ask her what she was looking for. It’s not like she was in the first place really. She just got here. She was more or less talked into it because it seemed like it could help. But, she had to at least repond. She would take a moment to pause, still thinking as they walked, before looking at the man. “Nothing in particular. Whatever interests me I intend to look at. I do not have much time to read as of late,” she said. She didn’t lie, she just didn’t explain everything. And it was for the best; no one needed to know about her past. It was rather irrelevant. In any case, she would look back to the man. “You said you were looking for something else?” she asked. It was not in her to be so curious, but it could not hurt. It will offer up some decent conversation. She would wait for his answer before turning to Akuma and asking what he had in mind as they approached the store.

((Heh, got a short one this time myself. Didn't get talked to much, so yeah.))

Well, at least he guessed right, even though the teacher stomped the subject rather quickly. Akuma would have spoken up, but chose to wait instead as Jin had already turned to question their female companion, rather than give him a chance to inquire. Too bad, he would have loved to find out what the man was looking for aside from history related books. Might ask later if it won't slip his short focused brain. The other two soon turned up a small conversation, leaving Akuma out of it for now. It did bring one good thing, and that was more possibility to concentrate on where he was actually going. It would be a shame if he went the wrong way accidentally.

The girl actually asked the question that he was planning to, so he was kind of happy about that, and would listen to the answer had Jin given one and speak up after they went silent for at least a little while. ''Well, the bookstore is just around this corner, so we're almost there.'', he'd comment, leisurely pointing with his gloved hand in the general direction, as he kept walking forward.

As this girl answered his question, it seems as if she didn't have any particular interests that the bookstore could offer to her. Though, almost immediately she would broach upon the topic to inquire what he had in mind. It wasn't like Jin was really hiding anything. But it was probably about time to actually let them know what exact interests the enigmatic teacher possessed hidden behind the facial exterior.

"A replica of a stone mask of the Aztecs," he spoke as his feet continued to follow the two youths, "I heard there's a limited offer for those. I'd love to have one as part of my collection."

Perhaps it wouldn't be surprising for them that it has some historical leanings towards him as a teacher. However, the part of him being a collector was something that should be new to them as he hadn't shown any of his real interests during school hours. Especially to anyone in Ueitawa.

As the young teenager pointed at the direction of where the bookstore would be, Jin cracked a small grin.

"Good. Then my claim on my mask is within sight."

Ruo would speak if she was spoken to, until Akuma pointed out the bookstore, to which she nodded. “I shall probably spend much of my time there. While I have read some, I have never been to a bookstore before,” she said. The curiosity was a bit overpowering, as it sometimes was lately. She would have to think on what she wanted to look at there, and see what was she going to read. She will probably indeed spend the day there if nothing else came up. She would listen to what the man had said about a mask he was looking for. “They sell masks at the bookstore? Hm, seems they have a larger variety than I thought before,” she said, mostly to herself nodding. Though others could hear easily. Once they reached the store, the teacher would look rather happy about seeing it still there, and Ruo would step on ahead into the entrance of the area to look around. She would zip up her jacket, hearing the little talking compared to the outside; which the talking was still leaking in, but there was still a noticeable difference. She would be looking around until the two walked in behind her, in which she would turn to give them her attention.

Akuma did indeed find it a bit surprising, when Jin said that he was looking for an Aztec mask of sorts. From what he could remember, they were some sort of tribe, so it did have something to do with history. However, he wouldn’t have guessed that the teacher would be collecting this sort of things, artefacts or whatever they were called. Then again, he had only seen him during lessons before, and he wasn’t even paying complete attention most of the time, so it wasn’t something he could have known.

‘’Hmm, yes, as strange as it may seem, many stores sell more than what they’re named after. Perhaps it helps attracting more customers? Less time wasted if you can buy several different things at once place rather than jumping from store to store because thy only sell one type of item.’’, he’d say with a light chuckle when Ruo commented on how they have a larger variety than she thought. It was a sort of conjecture in a way. Or maybe it was just that humans preferred it like this. Soon after, they would walk into the bookstore itself, and Akuma had decided to go wherever the two would, unless they’d choose to split up. He wasn’t that much into book, if only because he never seemed to finish one once started. If he spotted something interesting along the way, he might look, but otherwise he would just keep Jin and Ruo company, in case they wanted to talk about something, or ask anything.

As the two teens commented, Jin would soon find himself into the bookstore where he could finally get what he wanted. Since this was his first time in this store chain, he would really need a little bit more guidance from the boy who had served him previously.

"So have you two been to this store before? I'll need to find where they keep their historical texts first before I can get my hands on the mask."

OOC: Short, sorry! Dx