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Location: [i]Lower Ring -- At the Wall to the Middle Ring[/i]
Interacting With: N/A
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It was said that one way to unnerve a fellow human was to stare unblinkingly at them. So far, Fumiko found it to be a useless piece of information, although a possible reason the guardsman was comfortable -- as comfortable one would be in telling the mass of Lower Ring citizens that they were forbidden passage to the Middle Ring in this current moment in time -- was because his gaze never locked with Fumiko’s. He was far too busy repeating the same announcement while answering the questions and concerns of her fellow citizens. 

Seeing as Plan Gaze Unblinkingly at the Guardsman to Make Them Open a Passage to the Middle Ring wasn’t working, Fumiko braced herself and turned around, pushing against the tide of people closely pressed together. She hated diving into the crowd, honestly. First off, she was smaller than most people and most people could tower over her effortlessly. Second, there was always the threat of pickpockets seeing her as a great target, considering that she had nicer clothes compared to her fellow Lower Ring citizens despite the fact that all she had were parchment filled with information valuable only to her. Third, the press of bodies just plain stink. She may be fine with it, having lived all her life in the Lower Ring, but those in the University didn’t quite like it. 

Lastly but never the least, Fumiko saw some Dai Li agent standing in the shadows. 

The Dai Li just scares her and she didn’t want to be this close to them. It was safer to blend in the crowd, even if it meant quite literally in this case. Elbows jabbed her sides, feet almost stomped her own, stray hands almost snagged her bag and threatened to spill the documents on dirty ground. Noise was everywhere and she did her best to push the sounds away as she concentrated into arriving where no one would be so close to her. 

All hope was not lost, however. Fumiko saw a clearing and she used all her energy to push her way through, even if it meant shoving away the other citizens. She’d take their scorn if it meant being free of this crowd. She breathed, a triumphant smile on her face as she declared a quiet, [color=f26522]"Finally!"[/color] before stepping into the clearing. It was after a few seconds her blood turned cold and her smile froze. 

A man with a white lotus tattoo was looking smugly at two Dai Li agents. Their words of conversation failed to register in her mind as the sound of her heart hammering against her chest and the blood rushing in her ears dominated everything. A boulder lifted from the ground and was sent flying towards the Dai Li. 

Fumiko only stared, overcome in panic as her mind did its best to rally her body to [i]move[/i].

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