Don't call me freak (Yatagarasu)

Naomi would stand outside the entrance for the skatepark, for once without a smile on her face and her board in one of her hands. Not because she wasn’t happy, but because she was looking for one person in particular. If anyone who knew her saw her, they would probably have to do a double take. Instead of her usually stylistic outfit, she went for a more practical look today. She wore a thin jacket that was zipped all the way up to her collarbone. A pair of loose, beige pants going all the way to her ankles covered her legs. And she had wisely ditched the heels for a pair of flats. She wasn’t used to wearing anything like this, but most people seemed to dress like this everyday. She would look around the entire park. Her only target was Yatagarasu and she had a few choice words for him. Something like freak, only nothing like that. She sighed as she realized that she didn’t have it in her to be that mean. She would just have to do the next best thing. The thing she had come her in the first place for. If only she could find him…

No matter how hard she looked around for him, she didn’t see him anywhere. She didn’t know where else he could be, so she had to stick here. At least there was one person she knew here, “Rhyme!” She would call out to him and wave with her free hand. She would go up to him, taking care to avoid and problems that should stand in her way. She only knew two people here, and this was the one that wasn’t currently on her bad side, “What’s been happening? How have you been?” She was immediately cheery. She could at least make a little small talk with him before asking the really big question, “Umm… Would you happen to know where Yatagarasu is? I need to have a talk with him.” She would emphasis the word talk a little too much, giving a small snicker once her statement was done.

Naomi would nod when Rhyme told her where to find Yatagarasu. She had to say one thing before she went back there, “I’m not his girlfriend. More like a pain in his side.” She laughed at her own joke, knowing that no one else would get why it was funny to her. She would still thank him for telling her though and would then head further back so they could have a nice, long chat. As she made her way towards him, she was shocked to see smoke rising up for nowhere. Not too long ago, this would have been weird. Now, it was just a sign that someone was playing with inhumanly powers. Just an average day for her as of late. She would open her mouth to speak, not even giving him time to notice her before the words left her mouth, “When you said you were going to burn down the world, I didn’t think you were going to start here.” Honestly, she expected some kind of government building to be the first to go. This was a new one. By now he probably would have noticed her arrival, “It’s nice to see you again, Yatagarasu. How have you been since we last spoke? I assume you’ve figured out your Persona.” She would point to the smoke with a smile, “Oh no. I’m getting off topic. I came here for something else. Silly me.” She wouldn’t make a move to join him at the top of the ramp. Instead, she would stay on the ground and look up at him. It was his turn to speak, and she would give him that right before she got to the meat of why she had come here today. In the meantime, this was just a pleasant conversation between two people who had just recently been in a small scuffle.

She would raise an eyebrow when Yatagarasu said that he wasn’t burning anything down. She had a hard time believing that considering there was smoke everywhere, but who was she to judge. Maybe his Persona just had an unnatural love of smoke. Accompany that with Yatagarasu’s love of fire, and they made the perfect team. That was actually a terrifying thought. Her eyes would begin questioning him even more when he said he had been waiting to bump into her. She was glad to hear that he had gotten used to some of the changes that came with a Persona. She new it wasn’t easy. Even she wasn’t completely used to it. One time her mother almost walked in the room while she had Intertwined summoned. Thank goodness she had locked her door, otherwise she’d have to answer some awkward questions about a pair of moving teddy bears. As he got closer to her and put his arms around her waist, her entire face would turn red and she would freeze up. She liked people, and all, but this was a little too close for comfort. As he spoke to her from this distance, she would only make out every few words. Her brain was almost completely fried. She couldn’t even bring herself to answer him. She would only return to normal when he let go of her.

She would shrug her shoulders at his latest fling of questions. She wasn’t really here to ask questions or to give him information on the others. She was here for one very important reason. A reason she had spent these last few days practicing for, “Oh, it’s noting too big. I know you don’t care about what I do or who I hang out with, so that isn’t the issue.”  She would set her board on the ground at last, “I just came to challenge you to a race.”  She looked at him with stern eyes, making it clear she wasn’t joking. She had put time into getting faster, and stirring wasn’t really as issue for her anymore. Sure, she hadn’t gotten to everything she meant to, but it was enough for her. Although, she knew in the back of her mind that she stood almost no chance of coming out on top, she was willing to try it, “Think you can do that?”

She would give him her own cocky grin, “I don’t plan on getting my butt kicked, so it’s alright.” As long as she could keep up with him and keep the distance between them limited, she would consider it a win. If she could beat him, that would be even better. Boy, that was a long shot. She would watch as he circled around her, deciding it was time to get on her own board, “If you want to tag along, just tell me. I’ll invite you into the world of the pink doors, but you’re going to have to fight too. The things in there won’t go easy on you.” She had first hand experience with that now. If anyone who went in there wasn’t read to fight, they wouldn’t make it out. Shadows were a mean little race. But they could deal with that later. For now, she had to pick where they were racing to. She didn’t know Standasen that well. She basically only knew the skatepark, “To the stadium. I know where that it and how to get there. Unless you have a better plan.” It was the only other place she knew. It would have to do, “Whenever you’re ready.”

Naomi looked him over once when he said he could take on the Shadows, “I don’t doubt you, but you have to get better control of your Persona first. I’ll tell you what I’ve figured out later. Okay?” For now, she had to get ready for a race. As Yatagarasu started counting down, she would ready herself. If she just got a good start, she could manage this. She was ready to take off the moment her said one, but instead she could feel him grab her. She never expected him to have an ability to fly off into the sky and she really didn’t expect him to take her along for the ride. Understand, she had been in planes before, she was even a roller coaster junkie, but she was now flying above Standasen on a skateboard.

The moment he told her to hold on, she would wrap her arms around his shoulders. There was no way she was going to let go until her feet were back on the ground. She had to admit though, the world looked wonderful from up high. That was probably the reason she wasn’t afraid of heights. Still, she would rather have her feet on the ground. She would sigh in relief as she felt Yatagarasu land on one of the rooftops. She would hold onto him a little longer while she made sure she was really on solid ground again. As soon as that was clear though, she would back away from him in embarrassment. How could she have held on to him like that without feeling slightly humiliated? All of that was lost once he tried to make a joke, “It’s a pun, right? You could have done it if it wasn’t for that ‘d’. You’ll get the hang of it in time.” She wasn’t one to make puns, but she knew more than enough people who did, “Your ‘bug’ging joke was worded better.”

She put her foot on her board and pointed toward the stadium, “If you don’t want me to look down on you, don’t look down on me. We’re going at the same time.” She had been practicing because she wanted a serious race. She didn’t want him to treat her like she couldn’t take care of herself, “Besides, maybe I can still beat you in a fair race. You know what they say: big things come in small packages. Maybe I’ll snag a big miracle.” Unlikely, but possible. She look at him with a smirk, “How does that sound?”

“HEY! We’re supposed to go at the same time!” No time to waste, Naomi pushed off on her board. This would be different than how she had practiced. She had practiced on a flat surface, where she had to rely on her own power to go faster. This was downhill though; gravity’s domain. She was already behind him, so she would have to leave it to the forces of nature to help her out. Unbeknownst to him, Yatagarasu had shown her just what she needed to do. The moment she hit the road, she knew she had to push her weight forward on the board. Good thing she had practiced her balance, otherwise she would have fallen off from the moment she shifted her weight. She bent her knees only a little bit so that she could push more of herself towards the front of the board without falling over. She could already tell she wasn’t going fast enough to catch up with Yatagarasu. She got a bit lower on her board to gain some extra speed, “Better not be underestimating me.” She would say to herself as she kept adjusting her body to figure out how far she could push herself until she could no longer safely keep her balance. She needed to find out how fast she could go so she wasn’t completely left behind.

She had finally found the lowest she could get on her board without tumbling off. It still wasn’t enough to keep up with him, but she was proud of herself. She never would have done this kind of thing before, now she was enjoying it. If someone had told her that only a month or so ago, she never would have believed them. Unlike Yatagarasu, she wasn’t going so fast that stopping should have been a problem for her. She, however, had no idea how to stop going downhill though. As the stadium came into view, she would put out her right foot to try and stop herself. Bad idea. She had been careless and ended up tripping herself instead. Her final way to the stadium was closer to a child rolling down a hill than anything. She would only stop once the ground began to even out, at which point she would sit up and wait for her board to follow behind her. Without a word, she picked it up and began examining it, sighing in relief when it seemed to be undamaged. With the faintest hint of embarrassment, she stood up and straightened herself out, “Is it bad that was one of my better landings?”

She had known going into this that the likelihood of her winning was very low, but she was hoping she didn’t get beat too badly. Based on how this race went, she wasn’t sure how she should feel. It could have been much worse, but she didn’t do that well to begin with. Oh well. She wasn’t a sore loser, “Yeah, I suppose beating you today was a pipedream. Still, give me a few years and I may start to be a threat.” She’d give him a smirk, “Unless of course, you still have room to get better. In which case, you’ll keep soaring above me. Literally.” She hadn’t forgotten that little smoke trick. With that, he could always be on top and watch the world from up high. The moment he mentioned a prize she’d give him a funny look, “We were going to do that. If I would have known, I would have cheated somehow.” She way she said that, it wasn’t clear if she was joking or not. It usually was, but coming from her right now, even she wasn’t 100% sure, “But you won, so I guess it’s only fair.” Even though he also had a head start and smoky powers, a win was still a win, no matter how you got it.

Naomi would give a little pout as Yaagarasu began to lecture her about being careful, “I get it. I won’t get myself killed anytime soon… Not from boarding at least.” She couldn’t guarantee that nothing would get to her, but she could try not to be the cause of her own demise. It was possible something much bigger and scarier could get to her though. Say, a car, or Shadows, or the common cold. Those were all dangerous things that she had no control over, “I’ll be good though. I won’t do anything too stupid.” She meant that, but not just as a promise to him. She had no intention on getting herself killed. Not now, now in the near future, not ever.

“Yeah, a few years is all I’ll need if you’re still going to teach me.” She would clear her throat and look off to the side, “Assuming you still don’t mind teaching me.” She thought they were getting along well, but who knew. When it came time for him to mention what he wanted as a prize, he got very quiet. So quiet, in fact, that Naomi hadn’t really heard what he wanted. She was going to question him, but he then told her he was just joking. She wasn’t sure if she believed that. He didn’t seem like the type to bring up something like that unless he meant it. She didn’t have the ground to question it though, “Don’t worry. I don’t plan on never coming back. I like it at the skatepark. Besides, can’t have Rhyme worrying about me.” She got on her board again, “Thanks for the race, but I have to get home. Next time, you should come to San Malarus. Have fun on my home turf, maybe teach you how to use that Persona of yours.” She gave him a shy smile, “Oh yeah, I have to tell you something. Even if you wouldn’t miss me, I would sure miss you. That and your jokes.” With those words, she took off.

{EXIT}