[h2]Mako Moritomi//Moritomi Residence[/h2]
[h3]Sunday, April 19, 2015[/h3]

==~==

[color=royalblue]"Welcome, to the Velvet Room."[/color]

Mako opened his eyes groggily, his head suddenly flooding with clarity. [color=0076a3][i]This dream again...[/i][/color] 

Mako stood up a little straighter, glancing around the room he found himself in. He barely glossed over the decor, the double doors, the strange patron who stood before said doors. He knew without looking that his attire had changed to a more formal ensemble. No, what he really cared about was the shadowy patrons that shared the room with him.

The number hadn't changed- twenty figures, counting himself. He knew this fact like he knew the back of his hand, or the pace of his heartbeats. But there was a new trend slowly emerging- a number of the figures were steadily gaining more defined features, going from indistinct shades in a vaguely human shape to sharply-outlined shadows. With a bit more definition, or more time to observe, he might have even been able to identify some of the shadowy patrons. They looked frighteningly familiar if he looked at them in just the right way... 

But he knew this dream well- he was here for as long as was needed, and no longer.

[color=royalblue]"This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter..."[/color] The girl went on, as though she hadn't noticed him. Perhaps she was just reading from rote memorization?

[color=royalblue]"You are here because you possess the ability to carve an interesting future... However, alone you are limited. Do not fret however, as very soon you will be joined by others who share similar fates,"[/color] she continued, still in the same hypnotic tone.

This was what piqued Mako's curiosity, above anything else in this dream, even the shadows. [color=0076a3][i]The ability to carve an interesting future, shared with others...[/i][/color] He assumed that these others with "similar fates" were the shadows who joined him in this "Velvet Room," which was why their indistinct appearance- and worse, their growing definition, in some cases- drove him insane. He wanted, [i]needed[/i] answers. Who were these others? What fate did they have in common? He glared at the girl at the head of the table, as though to intimidate her into giving up the answers he craved. But, as expected, she did not.

[color=royalblue]"Though, today will not be that day, my master urges you to wait patiently, until your invitation is complete... Farewell, for now... I look forward to seeing you again."[/color]

Mako sighed as his vision faded, a signal that the dream was ending. He had had this dream numberless times since he first moved here to Warakuma. Nine years of a singular question always worrying away at the back of his mind. And still, it seemed there was no answer coming.

[color=0076a3][i]One day, I will find out what all this means,[/i][/color] he thought, as the dream finally slipped away. He awoke, slowly, as if in rebellion, his disappointment still tainting his thoughts.

[color=0076a3][i]One day...[/i][/color]

==~==

[h2]Warakuma Mall[/h2]
[h3]Sunday, April 19th, 2015[/h3]

==~==

Mako walked through the mall, feeling some of the irritation he'd felt this morning melt away as he walked about in the sunlight. It was a rather lovely day, as though to offset the frustrating occurrence that had... well, occurred this morning. That dream always did manage to put Mako in a piss-poor mood. If there's one thing Mako hated, it was a puzzle he was unable to solve. And this puzzle had been tormenting him for years, now. 

[i][color=0076a3]If I could just recognize one of the other people, I could ask them about it. Then maybe I could get some answers about what "destiny" it is that we all share.[/color][/i] As intrigued as Mako was about something as potentially exciting as "carving an interesting future," the knowledge didn't do him any good if he didn't know anything but vague hints. He sighed again, before straightening his back, a calm smile creeping onto his face.

[color=0076a3][i]Ah, well. There's no use worrying about it today- I'll just have to wait a few days until it comes again. Maybe then I'll start to recognize one of the shadow people...[/i][/color]

He paused in his thoughts- and his steps- as he recognized a pair of students standing ahead of him a ways off. Drama-tan and Sieg he recognized from the Drama Club. The third member of the party he was somewhat lost on, in terms of identifying him. He tilted his head as Sieg walked off, looking somewhat dejected. Shrugging internally, he walked up to Leiko and her current companion, waving cheerily as he passed into their sphere of awareness.

[color=0076a3]"Hello, Leiko! And you too, Person-I-Don't-Know! Enjoying yourselves?"[/color]