[IC] Persona: Masked Shadows

[Bornlucky]

New Lights University - 4:27 PM Kazuma Murakami was staring at the blackboard with a blank stare. The teacher went off topic. For a solid hour. Kazuma was spinning his pencil between his fingers, and turned his gaze towards the clock above the blackboard which was slowly ticking away the last minutes of this 'lesson'. He even wrote three poems and two haikus in the time waiting. He looked at them disappointed, they aren't his best work, well he never did anything that good, but these are bad even by his standards. Honestly, he only came to today class since it was mandatory to be in this class once a week. He never liked going to school, but he wanted to have a better life, even if that means being bored to death once a week. He would have preferred to work more on his new part-time job at the flower shop. But he ultimately had no choice. Or even stayed at home and slept all day and maybe go up to eat or use the bathroom at one point. Thinking back about being in his small apartment he worried his father would come by and have a fatherly visit and show his support and love like he does once a month. He sighed. He loves his father, but he's overbearing and he wished his father would just give him some space. "Oh! look at the time!" The pudgy teacher gasped as he finally look at his wristwatch. Kazuma perked up and started to pack his stuff up. "I thought I had more time than that, well, just remember to be careful with the recent cases of people going missing!" Spoke the teacher, Kazuma didn't really heard his teacher or really cared about the news, he just left the room, and put on his headphones. New Lights University Plaza - 4:37 PM Kazuma was waiting for the bus, so he can go home or the corner store near his apartment building if he gotten hungry. Kazuma would have to wait a bit, the bus he uses will be here at a weird time. It only ever has high school students who use the late buses and the odd university students who gets off at this time. Looks like he has to wait for twenty minutes. Damn, and he forgot how to charge his phone last night. ??? - ?:?? ?? A man could be heard crying. Whispered could also be heard. But the whispers were inaudible but it drove the man to tears and his yells. He was in his house, the dull lights were red and the rest of the house was covered in shadows. The man was locked in. "Shut Up!" He cried aloud. The whispers increase. "Just stop!" He tried to cover his ears, but it only made the whispers worse. He tried harder to cover his ears, he even dig his chipped and bloody nails into the sides of his head, as if the physical pain will make the whisper stop. But it didn't. "I do whatever you want!" He yelled, "Please just stop!" As he yelled, he opened his eyes as if something was controlling him. His redden eyes fogged over, his fear vanished from his face. He stood up, his limbs moved and contorted in inhuman ways, sounds of bones cracking could be heard as he walked. The once locked door finally unlocked with a click. The man 'walked' through the door. He knew what to do now.

[RoflsMazoy]

Eaglecrest High - 4:30 PM "A-Akiko-senpai, here is the monthly expenditure..." Akiko looked up from her desk at the Student Council's new treasurer. "Ah, yes." She said, "Thank you." She took the sheet from the nervous girl's hands and gave it a quick once-over. She was a new transfer student at Eaglecrest, she had come from Japan just like Akiko had. There were many Japanese students in Eaglecrest, even though it was technically an American school. The new transfer student was incredibly nervous, which was somewhat understandable, but she had gotten the position of Student Council Treasurer by herself which said something of her abilities. "This report is good," She said, handing the paper back to the girl. "You're doing fine you know," She added, "You don't have to keep asking me about each report." "A-ah, yes Akiko-senpai..." The girl said as she turned away "Oh, one last thing, Reiko-san," Akiko said, the girl's name suddenly coming to her mind, "Just call me Akiko." The girl nodded and gave some kind of weak acknowledgement before turning away and leaving the room. Akiko was the oly one left in the room now, and immediately, the smile faded from her face. People change so easily. She thought. Well, it doesn't really matter does it? She'd watched people enough to learn their patterns, how they tended to react, common strengths and weaknesses. Not out of any specific desire to read people, but simply because there was nothing else to do. But now she knew the limits, and she'd grown bored yet again. She looked down at her watch. The car should be here now. She thought, I should go.

Kozue residence, Akiko's room - 5:00 PM Akiko lay back in her bed, idly staring into space. Her mother wasn't home yet, the maids always left her alone... She sighed. Why is there never anything to do? She looked over to her bedside table, an old carefully folded note and a gleaming golden revolver lay on it; inherited from her father. She took the note and read it again. More for old time's sake than anything, she'd read it more than enough. He had died so many years ago, leaving her and her mother confused and bewildered... I still don't understand... Putting the note back onto the table, she instead picked up the golden revolver, the only other thing her father had left for her. She ran her hands over the cool, lustrous metal of the gun, savouring the cold feeling on her skin. It was oddly comforting, even with its history. Her father had taken his life with this revolver, and if what the note said was true, so had his father, and a few more fathers beyond that. It wasn't as if the gun was cursed, but... She sighed again. Thinking like that isn't going to help. She turned onto her side, removing her glasses and reaching out to put them on the table in front of her. Then she curled up where she lay, and closed her eyes; revolver still in her hands.

[Hebigami Shiho]

New Light University - 4 and.... something How fast time passed while one was talking with their friends, yes. Touko's classes had already finished, but she was talking and gossiping with some of her friends after school. It was a good way to kill off time, of course, but she still like wasting her time in other ways, aside from drawing manga... Like reviving her chuunibyo from when she was still in Japan. It was fun to go back to pretending she was a vampire again, from time to time. Just like today, that she was playing around while moving stealthily through the shadows, avoiding the sun rays. She had a satissfied look in her face, no, more like an accomplished one, as she moved through the shadows of buildings. "Kuh.... So, the society is still after me for my betrayal, huh? I can't afford to let my guard down, not even for a moment." She said, overlooking her accent completely while she was playing around. Though she felt the rigors of being an adult from time to time, she still had enough time to fool around like this. She had the day off from her part time work and the deadlines for the new doujinshi were far, far away. "And to think that my own kin would go after me...." She continued on crawling across the wall of a building, until she heard a familiar voice and stopped right on her tracks, with a surprised face and a ridiculous pose. "Touko? What are you doing over there, Touko!" A girl, from across the street, called Touko's name. Touko quickly straightened out and adopted a normal pose, before her friend could catch up on what she was doing. The girl looked to both sides of the street before hurrying to Touko's side. "Hey there, Touko! Um, what are you doing?" She still tilted her head, as Touko's eyes swam around and her face blushed furiously. She just hoped that her friend didn't catch up on what she was doing, it'd definitely creep her out. She wasn't a middle schooler any longer, after all. "Oh, nothin', nothin'. Dun' mind me." Touko said, going back to her usual self. "Anyhow, what's up? Weren' ya in class 'till 4:30 or somethin'?" Her friend looked disheartened. She just couldn't believe her friend was so much of an idiot. Well, being an idiot was one thing, but being such an idiot that you actually forget the time and can't even associate two events with each other. It was sad, very much so. "It's already 4:47 already, you know? I got out of class a while ago." Touko looked really surprised, so much, it even irritated her friend. "Don't give me that and just look at your damn wristwatch!"

Touko's Apartment - 6:00 PM After talking with her friend, and getting something to eat too, Touko finally got to her apartment. She opened the door to her not at all modest house, it actually looked more like a penthouse rather than a normal apartment. She took her bag off her shoulder and threw it away somewhere, making sure it wouldn't hit anything and making it land safely on the sofa of the living room. "Tadaima~" Touko said, after stepping into her house and taking her shoes off. Some habits died hard. "Yeah, right, I dunno what I was expectin'. It'd actually be terrifyin' if someone answered." Touko walked all the way to her bedroom. She turned on the lights and before she knew it, she was already falling face first to the bed. It was comfortable, really comfortable. The bed felt as if it was pulling her towards it, kind of like a magnet. "Nooo.... I've to work on that script, or they'll come 'ere and bark at me..." She still lived in the USA and not in Japan, though, but her circle was vicious, they'd fly all the way to her house just to scold her for not hurrying up. "No, I really need to at least complete the cover." She was now decided, as she hopped to a side of her bed. After yawning and rubbing her eyes, she finally stood up and walked all the way to her work desk. She sat there, feeling a bit drowsy, but she had to get on with things. She took a pencil in her hand, put a sheet of paper right in front of her and started drawing. Her hand moved around the page with a lot of dexterity, and soon, the drowsiness left her. Well, she could work on the cover until she felt like it, and it was better than doing nothing.

[Musoka]

New Light University – 3:00 PM Alyss yawned, a large motion that caused her small mouth to gape much wider than what would seem possible. She flopped on to the libraries counter and promptly huffed to blow the ice white hair that had fallen over her eyes out of them. She was bored. She had finished classes for the day and was roped in to working the afternoon shift at the New Light Library…not that much of it was really new these days. The building was still to go through an upgrade and it sure as hell needed one. Alyss’ emerald eyes flicked up the lights that hung from the high arching ceiling and laughed “That’s so fucking 80’s it’s almost cool” she said to herself as she stared at the bright orange fabric that ensconced the lights as a way to diffuse the brightness “almost” she huffed once more, sending white hair back into its proper position: sticking up as if saying fuck off to gravity. She stretched out her legs and leaned back in the recliner, arms stretching up and causing the knuckles and joints in her back to pop with satisfying sounds. She grinned and settled down into the chair, pulling out a battered copy of Alice in Wonderland to read to pass the time. Alyss’ Apartment – 9:00 PM Alyss collapsed into her lounge after stumbling through her door. Kicking off thigh high boots was a problem easily rectified by laying down. She grinned a little and flexed her toes, happily sighing as she was now free from responsibilities for the rest of the day. She pouted slightly as she looked at the chipped pink polish on her toe nails and nodded to herself as she decided she would need to repaint them tomorrow…but this evening called for video games! She slid off the couch and changed quickly into her most comfortable oversized shirt before turning on her computer and launching Skype to annoy her friends on. Tonight’s game of choice was a MOBA. Alyss grinned and settled in for a long night.

[Tyrant from the West]

New Lights University - 3:17 PM Seo just awoke from his nap! Normally this was good, but now it was exponentially shitty. His nap was in his math class, one of the two he was borderline failing. The teacher was boring, and the material even moreso. It was his last math class he needed to pass in order to get what he needed, but he could never bring himself to pay much attention. He could post most of his classes without putting in too much effort, but math was his nemesis. The Grendel to him, the Beowulf. However, he had himself a secret weapon! One that had yet to fail him completely. He employed a tactic used by a few other students he knew, he recorded the class on tape! His parents were able to afford a small HD recorder for him, which he could use to make the lessons a little more 'digital'. Now he could watch the classes over a gain, and binge on the knowledge whenever it was necessary. Anyhow, he took up his camera and gave the classroom a once-over, no one was there. He looked at his watch and it read 3:17 and then turned to 18. His class had been over for about 33 minutes! The fact no one bothered to wake him up sucked, but what sucked even more was that now he had to get rid of all the extra useless video he had recorded. Seo's Apartment - 7:31 Seo sat his computer, with a bowl of cereal next to his mousepad. He was trying to figure out what parts of the lectures he could crop out, and what others he could keep. Already 1/2 of it was gone, and all of the non-verbal information could just be frame-cropped and turned into low-quality pictures to memorize and study later. He took two bites of his cereal and had trouble getting it down, it had gotten soggy. So he pushed the bowl a bit farther away from him, he was done eating for now. He did not want to finish off the soggy crap, just thinking of the taste and texture made him shiver. He figured he would pour himself a second bowl once he was done making his personal study guide.

[FVGT]

Eaglecrest High - Time to get a goddamn watch Mikael never actually kept track of time during school; he got on the bus in the morning and went through his boringly-easy, craptastic classes before getting on the bus home. However, he'd decided to join a club where he could do his homework at school. However, taking the late bus had finally made him realize something; most people had a cell or something to tell the time, but his parents never bothered to get him a watch, much less a cellphone that he wouldn't call anyone with. "But damn," Mikael thought as he adjusted his shades. "How long is it going to take to get to my goddamn stop?" New Light University Plaza - 4:57 PM As the bus finally pulled up to a plaza, Mikael looked up to a clock in the center of it... The heck? It was already five? He wasn't sure if it always took that long, but he never noticed if it did. "Tch," He clicked his tongue in annoyance. He would have saved some of his homework for the bus ride if he'd known how much longer the late bus took. Sleeping was not an option. "I won't be tired enough to sleep at home if I take a nap now..." He scowled slightly. "This is just a pain," Mikael muttered to himself, venting his building frustration in those few quiet words.

[Edgey]

Eaglecrest High - 4:20 PM Marcus tapped his foot impatiently as he sat there with Sophie. He thought he might get used to waiting for a car after all these years, but it never got any less annoying. All his friends either had people to pick them up immediately, or had their own cars, or could just plain walk home. His mom's house was too far away to walk to, and she was so paranoid she refused to let them use the bus. Having long since exhausted any form of mobile entertainment he had, he was forced to just wait it out with his sister, who was sub-par company at best. Eventually, sweet deliverance arrived; Lucrecia was finally there, in the family car. "Finally..." He muttered, already making his way over. "Hey guys, how was your day?" This was the question Lucrecia greeted them both with when they arrived. "How do you think?" Marcus replied curtly. He had told her how much he detested the school experience enough times for her to get the picture. As she started the car up, she asked another question. "Well, did anything new happen to put you in such a foul mood?" "I was just trying to get to my next class and happened to nudge Mr. Saunders lightly on the way out. So he feels the need to stop me and give me a lecture on how I should've got down on my knees and opened the way for him. I have classes to get to, why do I need to stop for some asshole's power trip?" "I see." Lucrecia knew better than to encourage Marcus' ranting with a more significant response. "And how about you, Sophie?" Sophie had been spending her time in the car so far staring down at her shoes. She only looked up when Lucrecia spoke to her. "I-I'm fine." She replied, but almost in a whisper. "Jesus, Sophie, SPEAK UP." Marcus exclaimed exasperatedly. "This is why everyone thinks you're a lonely little freak." "Don't talk to your sister like that." Lucreica told him flatly. Marcus' first impulse was to argue, but he had learnt through experience not to bother arguing with Lucrecia other something like this. They spent a few minutes of travel time in silence after that. Eventually, Marcus' impatience got the better of him. "I want my own car." He stated. He tended to voice his opinions spontaneously like this a lot. "You could start by getting a license." Lucrecia answered, partly to be genuinely helpful, but also to re-iterate that getting a car wasn't something she could really do for him. "How can I get a license when no one can take me where I need to go? Everyone's busy." "It can't be helped. You'll just have to hope someone has some free time eventually." "Yeah, whatever." Lucrecia's answers had hardly satisfied Marcus, but he didn't feel like complaining anymore than he already had. After Lucrecia picked up Eliza, their youngest sibling, from elementary school, the family would finally make their way home. ---- De Luca Residence - 7:33 PM Lucrecia always took a sliver of amusement from the fact that the five people typically found living in the "De Luca" household were all named Granton. This was of course due to them all being born before their parents split up and ended up living in two different homes. Not that it ever felt like Mr. or Mrs. De Luca actually lived in the house, since they both worked until so late at night it was only a short while before most of the Grantons were sound asleep. But they paid for the house and kept the fridge stocked with food, so they had every right to be the name everyone heard when they rang the answering machine. Still, it was Lucrecia that kept this middle-class household from turning into a complete pig-sty. With Elliot, her older brother, already in the workforce, she was the only Granton child that cared to clean up for themselves, and everyone else by proxy. She didn't complain though, as she had taken it upon herself to do so a long time ago. The only time she planned to stop was when she finally graduated and moved away. But that wasn't today, and it probably wouldn't be for some time. For now, she was just going to enjoy the brief moments of free time she enjoyed outside of her responsibilities...

[Crimson Flame]

Leo's Bedroom - Evening Leo lay comfortably on his bed. With school over for the day, and his homework for the night finally finished, he now had some free time before it was time to go to bed. So, he turned on the Wii U he had gotten for Christmas, and spent his time watching My Little Pony videos on the web browser. He wasn't in the mood to play an actual game, that would have required effort. While Leo wasn't known for being lazy, after spending eight hours in school, and more hours doing homework, sometimes you just want to sit around and watch videos on Youtube. He would've used the computer, but his sister Lilly was using it, as per usual... But that was fine, his Wii U had a fabulous web browser anyway. He went to Youtube, a pulled up a video. Lately, My Little Pony Friendship is Magic had become one of his favorite shows, despite it being aimed at little girls. According to the internet, there were tons of teenage boys who liked the show, they called themselves Bronies. Sadly, he was the only boy in school he knew who would admit to being a fan of the show offline, but whatever. It was there loss, and there was nothing wrong with liking a cartoon about ponies. Besides the adorable animation style, one of the things he liked about the show was the awesome music. As Leo sang along to various pony videos, there was suddenly a loud knock on the door. Lilly's annoyed voice soon followed. "Hey could you keep it down in there?! I'm trying to study for my exams tomorrow, and you're obnoxious singing is ruining my concentration!!" "Oh... Sorry about that." He whispered politely as he lowered the volume on his gamepad, and thought of a quiter way to pass the time.

[Lionheart]

New Lights University-11:16 AM Takashi Miyuzaki sat quietly in one of New Light University's many lecture halls. He was listening to his teacher breakdown a diagram that depicted a modern day car engine, he was going over the various parts and how they all worked together. Takashi was usually a good student, paying attention and taking notes. But today was different, it was only 11 AM and he was starting to doze. Perhaps it had something to do with getting home from work around 5 then getting up at 7 to take Megumi to school. Regardless of the circumstances Takashi knew he had to keep himself awake. So he devoted himself mind and body to taking notes, every word the teacher uttered found it's way into his notebook. ----------- Miyuzaki Apartment-6:22 PM "Megumi! What did I tell you about you about eating your vegetables?" The elder Miyuzaki questioned, his voice loud enough he wouldn't be surprised if the neighbors heard. The younger was however ignoring him completely and watching TV, her new favorite show being something about Titans, titans who were teenagers or some such. Honestly Takashi didn't pay to close attention, it was on a reputable kids channel and that was really enough for him. "Hey! Don't you ignore me!" He called, the girl still facing away from, her light blonde hair shining nearly silver in the light from the bare bulb above their heads. He stared down at the small coffee table they were eating at, the paper plates held a home cooked meal Takashi made himself. He sighed as he ate the rest of his chicken alfredo pasta creation. Finally an idea popped into Takashi's head. "Alright, if you don't eat your broccoli I'll just have to find someone else to share that cake in the fridge with." His voice was light and unassuming, knowing exactly what his sister's reaction would be. Best part was it was chocolate cake, her favorite. Immediately she turned towards him, her emerald green eyes gleaming in challenge as the siblings had a staredown. "You gonna eat the broccoli or not?" "...Yeah...."

[Tracker]

Eaglecrest High – Library: 12:02 PM Aiko peeked around the corner of the bookshelf she was hiding behind, and looked around, making sure that she was no longer being followed. At the beginning of the break, a younger boy, a first year student, she guessed, had approached her. He had stopped her in a hallway, and she had, politely, returned his greeting, and told him unless he needed something, she'd like to be alone. Apparently, he wanted to eat lunch with her, but when she declined, he persisted. She tried to walk away, but he followed her. This, in turn, caused her to panic. She ran without looking back, pretty certain that he would chase her. Without knowing why, she had run to the library. From where she was standing, she could see the boy run past the doors to the library, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Getting her bearings, she found herself close to the door leading to the old book section. Eaglecrest had a, for a high school, pretty big collection of old books from around the world. These valuable, sometimes irreplaceable, books were written in a variety of languages, and varied in ages between a few hundred to almost two thousand years old. Anything from handwritten decrees to mass printed lexicon could be found here. Of course, due to the age and rarity of these books, the room in which they were kept had to have its temperature and air moisture regulated, as to better preserve the books. Aiko slowly pushed the heavy glass door open and walked in. She had often found herself in this place when she needed to think. A smell of old, musty leather and paper filled the room. She breathed deeply. The collection of knowledge and history in the room was, as always, impressive. She ran her index and middle fingers along the weathered spines of some medieval, handwritten tomes. “How often have I been here since I started at Eaglecrest, I wonder...” she asked, as if talking to the books. They, of course, didn't answer. She stopped her fingers, and pulled the book out of the shelf. It was a logbook, written by a French nobleman who had taken part in the crusades. He wrote of his experiences in the holy land, and of the trip there. While not exactly the most interesting thing to read, she still sat down at one of the tables with it. I guess waiting here for a few minutes won't hurt. she thought to herself. ------------