[IC] Persona - The True Self

[Takaru]

Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma High School: Classroom 2-2 | Friday, May 15 2015 - After School

When the bell signalled the end of class for the day, the usual hustle and bustle broke out - at least, the same as the last few days. A few had arranged for some study meets with their friends from other classes, others had given up on the midterms all together and were attempting to get others to come along for something fun to do whilst other were unbothered by all of it and just got on with their usual routine. Kotori, judging by the way she was as ever finishing her day's notes, belonged to the latter category - even if she was rather more nervous than such a thing might suggest. Whilst she kept up her studies as ever, the atmosphere whenever big tets were up and coming tended to get to her and left her a little unsure - she'd taken a lot longer on that math exercise than she ought to, she kept forgetting the exact translation of that one English words. With a small sigh she closed her notebook - she knew that dwelling over mistakes wouldn't do any good, but she just couldn't help it.

Looking up, she saw that most of the class had already left the room - a class that included Akane again after she'd shown up again on Tuesday. Kotori had wondered about the absence, but it wasn't really her place to just go up and ask her about it; bothering the girl just to satisfy her own curiosity. Heading out of the classroom with her bag over her shoulder, Kotori headed toward the Agriculture Club - with the rather lax nature of the club most of the days, it really was almost a kind of study meet in and of itself. She'd had to miss out on Monday unfortunately as there had been a rather unexpected influx of customers at the Flower Shop on that day so she'd gone home to help out - she still felt a little guilty, but there neither of the other two club members seemed to mind it; helping to ease the conscience at least somewhat. Come to think of it, she hadn't seen quite as many people dressed in suits about these last days; though they had made up a peculiarly large number of said customers. Reaching the clubroom, Kotori put those thoughts aside though.

Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma High School: Agriculture Club Room | After School

The Agriculture club was much the same as usual - Matthew was already there and watering the flowers in the room, which she noticed had again grown in number, and returned her quiet greeting with his usual cheer. She recalled an odd rumour about some claiming to have seen him tending the plants whispering in relief things about 'pretty flowers', 'nice sunlight' and something about creepy castles earlier in the week, but she had dismissed it as yet another outlandish rumour; much like those that cropped up whenever someone had been kidnapped. Seated at the table in the clubroom and with her notebooks before her, Kotori briefly shook her head as if to clear her thoughts of such things and instead focus on what was at hand.

[Diabolicalrhapsody]

Alexei Dragunov | Anime and Manga Club | Friday, May 15 - After School

It had been a slow day as usual with his classmates gearing up for either partying or midterms. Alexei though was a bit lost in though when the bell had rang and thus had missed the rush as he slowly packed his bag. Sagat had an earlier shift at the diner which meant that there was no MMA club meeting today.

Inoue had said that she had some errands to run and had denied his help. So Alexei was left to himself. Deciding that it can't hurt to check on Akane now, he decided to take a walk towards Anime and Manga club, hoping to meet her. He had heard the news that she had been the latest victim of the kidnappings and that the suits that suddenly seemed to have filled Warakuma were somehow related to her.

He had avoided visiting her in hospital because of this, Yakuza and he didn't have the best of relationship and he never knew which faction would come to the aide of his earlier harassers. But now it was probably okay to go check on her. He knocked at the door as he entered the room. Hoping to gather Akane's attention if she was hidden somewhere, busy by herself.

"Akane! you there?" he asked.

[Amaterasu]

Shizuka Otonashi || Warakuma High Courtyard || May 11 MON: After School

A watering can in her grasp, Shizuka was tending to the seeds which the agriculture club planted into the small, plowed field, the previous week. Since the ever nature enthusiast president had been excited about the piece of land the club had received, its members slowly began to work on the field during club hours. But even on days which did not fall on a club meeting, one would see the dedicated club president planting seeds, sprinkling fertilizer or watering the seeds about the premises. Seeing such dedication was quite admirable, Shizuka thought to herself as she chuckled softly. As such, she thought to help out a little today, seeing as she had some time on her hands, while most clubs on this week before the exams were not having meetings.

"Hey Shizu! We don't have club meetings today, ya know. Or did you wanna deepen your love for nature like I do?" A familiar voice from behind her caught the freshman off guard as she jumped slightly, splashing a little too much water onto one area. Chuckling awkwardly with an apologetic expression as he scratched the back of his head was none other than the agriculture club president, Matthew. When the female turned to face the upperclassman, he started, "Sorry about that, didn't mean to surprise you. But you sure surprised me by being here, I didn't expect you guys to be here around the week before exams."

After calming herself down from the initial shock, Shizuka flashed a soft smile as she parted her lips to respond, "I-It's alright, Ha-Harv.. Harvester-senpai, you just caught me while I was pondering on something. Um... I had some free time so I thought to drop by and assist you with the watering, at least." Hearing her reply, the foreign male grinned and patted her shoulder in appreciation.

"That's nice of you, Shizu, I appreciate the help!", Matt exclaimed as he laughed light heartedly and let Shizuka continue what she was doing previously. She could hear a humming time from the other from time to time, which was a little more lively than the silence from when she was working alone. It was certainly nice to be working with club members, or with other people in general, the raven haired maiden whispered to herself. Matt turned to look at her, wondering if she were talking to him but continued planting some seeds while humming when he saw that it was not the case.

-------

Few droplets of rain splashed on the ground as it alerted the two agriculture club members that it was to start pouring down soon. To take refuge from the inevitable rain, they ran towards the entrance to the school building and not long after, it had started to rain heavily. "Looks like we didn't have to water the seeds after all," Matt chuckled slightly, gazing at the raining scenery.

Shizuka giggled softly and nodded, agreeing to the upperclassman's statement. They exchanged a couple of words before parting to their own ways when the rain had become lighter.

---

Shizuka Otonashi || Star Drop Cafe || May 15 FRI: After School

After a change of clothes and putting time on light make up, Shizuka decided to drop by the cosplay cafe she works at as a mere customer. Of course, she couldn't be caught seen as her usual self and as such, she wore a long, silky violet wig and an elite fashioned school uniform, tailored solely for cosplay. Studying day and night was quite exhausting so this visit was a little reward of sorts to herself and a stress relieving time.

Stepping into the cafe with a pair of polished, heeled black shoes, Shizu was greeted by her fellow workmates, who were dressed in futuristic military uniforms one would see in mecha anime like Gundam, and lead to a table. Kenji, the manager and owner of the cafe, noticed the girl and approached, also with the intention of taking her order himself. "Welcome, Shizu! How's your studies coming along? And I'll take your order down if you've decided."

"Greetings Kenji-san! Well... I suppose I'm doing alright but I'm still a little behind on some lessons, particularly in English. And thank you, I'll just be having iced green tea and hm... A slice of the mobile suit themed cake." After a little scribbling of notes, the manager beamed a friendly smile and told her to await for her orders patiently. Her amethyst eyes (due to contact lenses) took a quick glance about the store for any familiar customers while her cake and tea were being prepared.

[Flood]

Ryan Alon-Warakuma High

Ryan walked out of the school with a smile on his face. It was the weekend before the midterms, meaning he needed to relax and get some rest in preparation. Studying was over. He rolled his shoulders and began thinking. Today was an Anime and Manga club meeting huh? He should head over there. Ryan turned around and walked right back into the school.

A few minutes later he was at the entrance of the classroom and he walked in. Ryan sat down in a vacancy chair and began reading one of the various mangas that that weird shopkeeper had given him. This one was... Fullmetal Alchemist. This could be good.

As he read his mind wandered to when Mom would be coming home. She had dropped by last night to check on him. He had even prepared dinner and everything, just for her. She went straight to bed after seeing how his studies were going and this morning she was gone, with only a note saying she would be back in a month. The usual really.

He snapped back to reality and realized he was gripping the book a bit too tightly. Ryan relaxed his grip and looked around. Was anyone going to show up today? It was the week before midterms after all.

[I-Am-X]

Akane Hanazawa // Warakuma High // Class 2-2 --- > Manga Club
Friday, May 15th, 2015
After School

It was around this time that students would be taking time off of clubs and preparing themselves for the exams that are due to come in the coming days but Akane couldn't be bothered, she had other things on her mind. Mainly what happened last week, as well as Rui's words,'We'll talk about that later when we have everyone present'. But when exactly would that be? It's already been 4 days, how much longer will I have to wait to get answers? With a sigh, she could only continue to stare off into the sky. She knew it was her impatience getting in the way but it's aggravating all the same. When the bell rang, she stood up and silently left the classroom as she made her way to the clubroom.

Still in a daze, she approached the clubroom and snapping her out of it was a loud voice coming from the doorway. "Do you really need to yell, especially in a room of this size? I could hear you from the hallway, you know? Honestly....You'd think someone just died or something." she replied with annoyance, approaching the voice from behind. "You've got some nerve interr-" she started as the person began turning around before she stopped.

"Oh, it's just you Alexei. Need something?" she said flatly, not exactly in the frame of mind to worry about how the words sounded as they came out, as she moved passed him and sat in a chair, placing her things on the table.

[Diabolicalrhapsody]

Alexei Dragunov // Warakuma High // Manga Club
Friday, May 15th, 2015
After School

Perhaps he was a bit too loud in calling her out for she came out in a sour mood. Her initial jabs quite uncharacteristic but she quickly toned down noticing him.

"Nah, just checking on you. Wanted to come meet ya in the hospital but couldn't. How have you been?" he asked her in a nonchalant tone. He was more comfortable with her, she didn't seem to be shy or intimidated by him and thus held her conversation normally. Plus they had hardly been chatty.

He went over to her and kept a packet at her table.

"This a get-well gift for you. Hope you like it. Good luck for the terms." he said in a low grumble and patted her shoulder before going out, he wasn't good in these situations and neither did he try.

--

As he got out of the school he lit up a smoke, calming the unease he felt over the whole string of events. Something bugged him greatly and he hoped that whoever the perpetrators were, they'll leave his family alone. He slowly walked to the mall mulling over the strange events that somehow seemed to be connected. He just had to figure out the motive before his family got involved.

Small wisp of smoke rose from his rather peculiar form as he slowly trudged to work. It was still a long day ahead.

[Sho Minazuki]

Warakuma High - After School > Star Drop Cafe
15/5/2015 Friday

Rui strode by the Manga Club since he heard Akane had been discharged the day before to see if she was fine, but it appears she was. There were quite a few people at the manga club at this moment. A big gruff student, and kind of the polar opposite to that, a feminine looking student in the room reading Full Metal Alchemist. Soon the big guy left, and he recognized from the voice it was Alexei. So Akane knew him too.

"It looks like you're doing fine Akane, if I didn't know better I'd say he was your bodyguard or something", this comment wouldn't seem like much unless you know Akane was a daughter to a yakuza branch.

"In any case, most of my studying is done, so I'm going to relax in town today. If you need any help in the weekends you're free to call me up", that, and he needed to explain the dungeons and such to her. If she was restless about it before exams though, she was free to call him and arrange to share with her the info. Otherwise, when that was established he bid farewell to Akane, and the other club member... Whose name he didn't know. He was sure he would meet him again later though.

---

The bells for the cafe rang as he walked in. The maid cafe was rather restrained today, there weren't many customers, a few students here to try and get some studying in a different kind of environment. As always though he waited to be greeted and seated, which shouldn't take longer than a few moments.

[Amaterasu]

Shizuka Otonashi || Star Drop Cafe || May 15 FRI: After School

The pair of amethyst orbs blinked as they spotted a familiar figure, Rui, at the entrance. On cue, the dominantly male employees (due to the mobile suit theme) greeted the boy with a 'Welcome home, master!' While one of the waiters was leading the customer to a table, Shizu raised her arm for a wave and called over, "Shinichi-senpai! If you wouldn't mind a company, would you like to sit here with me?" A friendly smile flashed across her lips as she invited her acquaintance...? Friend...? The maiden was generally polite and kind towards acquaintances but she usually couldn't tell when someone considered her as a friend.

Putting her previous thought aside, the freshman approached her upperclassman, whether or not he chose to stay at her table, to hand over the menu from atop the table she was seated at. "The theme for this week is mobile suit, as you can see some miniature models being displayed here and there. If you've made up your mind on your order, I can--" Before she had the chance to continue with her statement, a hand lightly pat her shoulder, to which the girl responded with a turn of her head.

"Now, now, Shizu. You're off work for a reason. Let me handle our dear customers, alright?" It was Kenji, the manager. Her lips parted to protest but deciding that he was right and doing her a favor, she nodded with a light smile and sat back down on her seat. "Shizu here isn't supposed to be working today so I'll be taking her place as your server. If you wouldn't mind of course, master. Once you're ready to order, I'll just be close by. "

[Haru Nyan]

Ayano Wakahisa: Warakuma High

Friday, May 15th

The day finally ended and Ayano couldn't help but sigh, she leaned back on her seat and stretched her arms. Today was a pretty hectic day, but she managed to pull through the lectures, well most of them anyway...Physics and Mathematics in general is still going to be a pain. But now, things are going to be a breeze! She hopes.

With the school day over and studying being the least of her worries for now, the girl decided to lay it low in the meantime and hang in the Anime and Manga club, she has received word that Akane's back in action. Her mind drifting to the unusual case, Ayano couldn't help but dabble into their strange choice of victims yet again, and how do these victims end up being saved after a few days, too? Could it be that there was some sort of group dedicated to saving and/or taking out this cult? Nah, the girl must be overthinking things again...Sleeping late because of video games does things to you...Shrugging off the thoughts, she walked on over to the club room.

Before she could enter, that big guy that keeps hanging with Akane crossed paths with her, Alexei was it?

"Just what sort of relationship do these two have?"

She thought to herself, they do seem pretty close. Shrugging to herself, the girl continued on to the club room, opening the door and entering...Seeing that Ryan and Akane had already beaten her here. So much for alone time.

Grabbing a nearby chair, Ayano began to sit down, observing her surroundings for a while. Ryan was reading Fullmetal Alchemist, not a bad read per se...Her attention diverting to Akane, Ayano grasped the opportunity to ask her some questions regarding her disappearance, besides she was just as every bit concerned about her as with everyone else, even if it didn't really show.

"So...Akane, what happened? You're fine, right? Don't feel anything abnormal?"

[Sho Minazuki]

Star Drop Cafe
15/5/2015 Friday

"Yes, I'd be happy to sit with you", he responded to Shizu. As he took his seat she began a familiar line of dialogue, but the server cut her off. It appears she wasn't to be working today, but spoke out of habit. After that, he left while Rui was left with Shizu and a menu.

"It's rare to see you here out of uniform", he began.

"Or... In uniform", in fact he never saw her in her school uniform, which was what he was referring to. He flipped through the menu a little bit, it was the menu she handed him while he was being seated.

"You seem to act like you're in uniform anyways, I guess there's no changing whats inside of you so easily", he was referring to Shizu's earlier reflex to serve a customer. She was visibly studying for the midterms coming up. It seems she felt more at home here, or for some other reason she chose this place to study. Rui wasn't sure whether or not to offer help, but he was going to stay for the cake. That said... What'd she say the specials were? Mobile suits, and there were some small plamo kits in the menu too to build... Maybe he should build one...

[Amaterasu]

Shizuka Otonashi || Star Drop Cafe || May 15 FRI: After School

Once the other student responded positively to her offer, Shizu shoved the English notes and text book atop the table closer to her side. "I apologize for the slight mess, senpai. I've been skimming through my notes for an exam I'm nervous for, you see," she casually stated, before turning her attention back to the upperclassman. Slightly embarrassed at his mention of her slip out of habit, light rose hue tinted her cheeks. "Pa-Pardon me for that, it just... Feels natural for me to react in such way in this environment. But oh no, this set of uniform is another one of my creations, actually." Speaking of which, the violet haired girl had been reminded of something and started to rummage through her bag.

What came out of her bag, once she had located the whereabouts of the items, were pieces of paper with rough sketches drawn on them. With an excited expression upon her features, Shizu slid them over to Rui's side of the table and began, "Shinichi-senpai, please take a glance at these after you've placed your order. I sketched these during my free time, but I'm not exactly sure what sort of style you preferred so I drew what I believed might suit your features."

On them were several faceless figures with outfits that ranged from long coats to suits to turtle neck jackets that were far too unique to be called casual wear. If one knew enough, they would instantly get the impression that these were sketched with cosplay outfit in mind. Even so, the details of each color, specific features/handling, fabric quality and such were written in an informative manner on each design, as if they were carefully thought of. "I do hope they're not distasteful by your standards."

[Sho Minazuki]

Star Drop Cafe
15/5/2015 Friday

"Hm...? 'My' features...?", he was surprised she would do such a thing, but it was related to him, so he just had to see. As she handed the drawings to him, he began to look and shuffle through them. He went silent for awhile, looking at the meticulous detail. He was an artist himself, but he never really thought about clothes in this manner and depth, so it impressed him.

"These look pretty cool", he finally said.

"But... What are they? Costumes? Fashion design?", he would assume costumes... But then some of these seemed normal and stylish, but others looked suitable to be in a video game or anime. He waited for the girl to answer his question as he shuffled through them again. He realized he should probably order something soon, but he'd decided on his order already. Probably the Zaku Cake with a ramune or something.

[Reaper]

Warakuma High // After School

With the mid-terms coming, the school's atmosphere was somewhat tense, with students stressing over their grades and making up for lost time by burying themselves in their books. Jun, on the other hand, had always been on top of her schoolwork and so kept rather calm about the whole matter. Admittedly, she studied hard only so she could justify spending way too much time away from home, usually flirting with a girl somewhere. If she kept up her grades, that was just one less excuse to be used against her.

The best way of internalising one's knowledge was to pass it on to others, and in the process of teaching reinforce the information learnt. So Jun was actually hanging out with her classmates for once, helping them cover the material they were revising by coaching them along. In her usual fashion, however, these classmates were all girls and being subject to her usual charm. She toned it down somewhat, since her reputation in school wasn't the greatest, and any overt flirting was likely to just fuel the degenerate rumours even more.

"You missed the negative sign here, that's why your answer is a negative number instead of positive." Jun explained, pointing to the part in the working where the mistake had been made. "It's little details like that are important, like the rose scent from the shampoo you used this morning."

There was a few giggles at the joke, and Jun drew a blush from the girl before they all returned to their work. Well, the girls did. Jun had done all the questions in the workbook at least twice over and was simply going through her own notes. She didn't like being disrupted by questions in the middle of solving problems anyway, something her kendo training had drilled into her.

An hour later, Jun was done helping her classmates and simply walked through the school aimlessly, taking her time on the way to the main entrance. Her path just happened to cross outside the Manga Club's clubroom, and the sign reminded her that she had been meaning to return a book she had borrowed from one of the club members. She knocked on the door before opening it, and noticed familiar faces inside. "Ah, Hanekawa-san, you're back?" She hadn't been to the kendo club at all recently, and so had no chance to cross paths with Akane. "Well, I just came to return a manga I borrowed from someone in the club. I'll just leave it here."

[Amaterasu]

Shizuka Otonashi || Star Drop Cafe || May 15 FRI: After School

"Yes, I designed them with you in mind since you've accepted my little proposal the last time we've met," Shizu explains with her gaze intently focused onto the male in front of her. Waiting nervously in the silence, she fidgeted in her seat as her eyes watched the sketches being looked through by the upperclassman. What broke the silence before Rui did was the girl, who was responsible for the sketches, reasoning out in case of dissatisfaction from him, "Um... I understand if they don't suit to your tastes. This is the first time I've designed clothes for someone el-- Oh! Really? I'm truly glad you think so, thank you!"

Instead of earning a negative response, the expression of the girl in school uniform brightened at the positive reaction given with an upward curve upon her lips. The question she was asked next was expected as she parted her lips to answer, "Well, I originally intended the designs to be of costume type but some of them are trendy enough to be worn on casual occasions. At least, that's what I believe."

Tearing a piece of paper from her notepad, she scribbled an address on it before passing it over to Rui. "If you're interested in having them made, please drop by this tailoring shop and ask for me, Shizu. My household is at a walking distance away so it'll be no problem." While she didn't mention it to the other student, it was one of the tailoring shops that her mother owns. Concealing her identity from the upperclassman was to be kept in tact, after all.

While they discussed about the sketches made by Shizu, her orders arrived and were placed in front of her. Kenji, who brought her cake and tea remained by their side in case Rui was ready to order. "Thank you Kenji-san. Shinichi-senpai, you may order when you've already something in mind," she suggested as her hand lifted the glass of cold green tea from atop the table and took a sip from the straw.

[Sho Minazuki]

Star Drop Cafe
15/5/2015 Friday

"Yeah, I think they'd be stylish", maybe he could wear these during dungeon visits... He wonders if Kazuki would allow such a thing though, he didn't seem the type to allow it. She gave him her address though, right of course, they still need to take measurements. In any case he turned back to Shizuka, it was time he made his order.

The rest of the day went by quickly. Occasionally he gave Shizuka a bit of help, but otherwise once he had finished eating he hung around for ten or so minutes before leaving and bidding Shizuka good luck with the midterms.

---

Warakuma High
18/5/2015 Monday

TRACK: During the Test

It was the first day of the midterms. They were set to end on Friday on the 22nd, and results posted next week on Monday. As Rui sat down for his test and waited, he was confident he was able to tackle most if not all the material properly. His mind hadn't wavered, and unlike the city, there weren't enough distractions to keep him from studying when he needed to... Soon the test began.

Warakuma High
22/5/2015 Friday

TRACK: During the Test

Each day, students went to school, took their exams for a few hours, then left. It was a fairly standard procedure. As a result, school was always let out very early, but no one was up for clubs or hanging out, because the next day would be immediately followed by another test from a different subject. At the very least the students knew which was next.

Rui's pen couldn't stop moving as he blazed through the last day of tests. He was fairly confident in what his end result might be.

---

Warakuma High - After School
23/5/2015 Saturday

Rui could hear the groans and sighs of relief as they finally reached the weekend. Saturday like every week was a half-day, but considering exams just ended, they were let out even earlier than usual, so it was lunch time, or should be. It was time for the students to await their exam results. Saturday and Sunday was now to be spent in anxiety or relaxation, depending on the person. Rui was going to relax though... Maybe he should go to the arcade again. Ever since midterms he hadn't had a chance to go there... Or maybe go to a club? Nah... They shouldn't be active at all at the moment... In any case, what was he to do today... He watched out for anyone he knew on his way off campus.

[Amaterasu]

Shizuka Otonashi || Star Drop Cafe || May 15 FRI: After School

Chuckling softly at the other's comment, Shizu added to keep his interest, "For accepting my offer to become my model for these designs, I'll be willing to tailor one costume absolutely free of charge! It'd be a gift of sorts from me." Truthfully, it brought joy to the seamstress at the thought of someone wearing her handiwork that she didn't really mind so much about the cost. In fact, she planned to only charge for the fabrics and materials used if her client was a friend. It wasn't like she was a professional yet anyway. Labor charge didn't matter all that much to her, due to the fact that she enjoyed customizing all these costumes.

While she didn't expect to be assisted for the midterms by another upperclassman, Rui taught her what he knew about the subject she was studying for, English. What gave her most trouble was in the pronunciation of words where the help from the upperclassman came in, carefully pronouncing each words before Shizu attempted to follow.

It took awhile for her to sound a little less unnatural but at least the results were showing. As the little tutorial came to a close, the male bid farewell and a good luck to which she returned back to him with a sincere smile and a bow of gratitude for the assistance. Not too long after his leave, Shizu left the cafe with a few goodbyes to her manager and co workers.

---

Shizuka Otonashi || Otonashi Residence || May 23 SAT: After School

"Phew..." Thud. A relieved sigh escaped the girl's lips as she fell backwards onto her soft, comfy bed. After the exams were over, Shizuka immediately made her way home after a few casual exchanges between her friends about how the exam went for each of them. As usual, Rinko dreaded the inevitable, terrible result that she will receive next week while Nozomi was as confident as Shizuka in terms of passing. From the help of her upperclassmen from the previous weeks, the exams were not as difficult as they used to be thanks to their understandable explanations.

Staring up at the empty ceiling of her room, she wondered for a moment on what she could do with the rest of the day. A little moment of thinking later, Shizuka lifted herself off her bed to grab a lavender PSP from within the closet. "Otome games it is!" Click.

[Flood]

Warakuma High - After School
23/5/2015 Saturday

Ryan walked out of the school with a indifferent look on his face. Those exams were a lot easier than he thought they would be, he shouldn't have been so worried. Hindsight is 20/20 though, he was probably going to place in the top 50 in terms of grade at least. In his mind he was anyways.

Ryan stretched his out his arms and felt various bones pop and crack. He should get a good workout in, he's been getting lazy lately. Also, there was something... off. This town felt off in an inexplicable way. It made him nervous, like he needed to get stronger. He should head home now.

Alon Residence
23/5/2015 Saturday

Ryan walked into the house and quickly locked the door behind him. He looked around the house and let loose a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. Why was he being so paranoid? Whatever, training time. He entered his garage and took out his set of close combat knives. They were essentially trench knives, the only difference being that these were made for slashing more than stabbing. After a few hours of practice in his movements he took a break and made himself a snack.

[Takaru]

Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma High School | Saturday, May 23 2015 - After School

Kotori quickly finished up her correction on one of the questions she'd already answered; noticing on a second pass that she'd made the same little mistake that she always did when she'd been practising at home or at the library. Rather than be glad about it though, it served more to make her nervous - it wasn't the first silly little mistake she'd caught barely in the nick of time; leaving her to fear that she might have missed others too. Unfortunately, there was no more time to check as the teacher announced that time was up and the papers were to be passed forwards. Sitting in the second row from the front, Kotori handed quite a few papers, together with her own, to her front-most seated classmate as before breathing a small, inaudible sigh. Whilst she'd kept up her studies and note-keeping all throughout the school term and seemed to be able to answer the questions reasonably quickly and proficiently, she still couldn't shake that nagging feeling that she might have made some mistakes - like on that math question, or the translation, or...

Shaking her head, Kotori decided to put those thoughts aside - or at least, try to - as she instead packed her writing utensils together before slinging her bag over her shoulder as she stood up. Looking about, there were a variety of reactions to the end of the midterms - some were looking hopeful, others a little apprehensive; some seemed rather cheerful in a 'out of sight, out of mind' kind of way and the occasional few had the unmistakable dread at the upcoming results written all over their faces. Nonetheless, most were at least in some way happy that it was over and that the rest of the day could be spent however they wished; a few already discussing plans for this day or the next among themselves.

Having made no plans for herself nor any scheduled meetings in the agriculture club keeping her at school, Kotori headed out of the classroom - for once with the majority of her classmates rather than after them - whilst pondering what to do with the day. Her mother had insisted that she focus solely on her studies and thus had no shopping duties or store tending to do the whole week - though she did feel a little guilty about it, Kotori was thankful as she had been able to review the upcoming material each day. Still, it did leave her with little else to do now that the midterms were over so that she mulled over her options whilst walking through the hallways down to the main entrance. Glancing at her watch, she saw that it was around lunchtime - the school day had ended rather earlier than usual thanks to the midterms. Having arrived at the main entrance, Kotori stood beside it as she mused on her next course of action - should she head straight home and prepare something for lunch or rather get something to eat in town?

[Sho Minazuki]

Shinza Shopping District - After School
23/5/2015 Saturday

Rui had ruffled through his pockets randomly on the way out of school and found the note with Shizu's addressed scrawled on it... Now that he thought about it, he didn't know her actual name, just her maid name, Shizu. Well it probably wasn't that big a deal. He wondered if he could wear one or two of those outfits into the dungeons... It'd be pretty fun, he knew Noboru and Leiko would be the most down for that.

The piece of paper had the shop name and address on it. The shop was unsurprisingly placed in the Shinza Shopping District, though at the same time it was on the side that was closer to the main new urban shopping centers. Soon he arrived to 'Otonashi Tailors'. It seemed like a fairly regular store, a bit on the high side, but tailors considered that was not unexpected... What should he do? Should he just ask if Shizu was in? Was that even her name? That was her maid name right...?

Well in any case, hopefully she was there so he didn't have to go through that awkwardness. He put the paper away and entered the store.

[Haru Nyan]

Ayano Wakahisa: Warakuma High

Saturday, May 23rd

Ayano couldn't help but lean back and yawn after the tests have finally ended. Now her doubts have finally subsided and she could go on to focus on more important things...Like the Boss Raid event that's being held at her game right now, if she manages to get home early, she might be able to snag some goodies for herself! The girl knows she tried her best, but some of the questions were just one big puzzle for her, a puzzle that-unfortunately-she doesn't know the answer to. Leaving her to wish that her other scores would make up for it.

After all, this is only the beginning of what is to come in the school year. But...that will have to wait, right now...It's raid time!
Prepping herself, Ayano quickly gathered her things and went on home, ready to start grinding!

Ayano Wakahisa: Wakahisa Residence

Saturday, May 23rd

Gazing at the clock in her laptop...Ayano can't help but shrug that she's spent her entire day grinding with little spoils of battle...What was the drop rate for these items?! And how come her party members keep on getting the good stuff?

Grumbling to herself that luck is as fickle as always, the girl decided to call it quits in the meantime to focus her attention on other things...