[center] [color=cee4e1][h2]Shou Matsuoka[/h2] 10:45 am[/color][/center] The young professor threw his head back and let the rays of the approaching midday sun reflect off the lens of his spectacles. It was warm outside, and summer was just beginning. A lot of things changed when seasons changed, but Shou was just happy it wasn't freezing anymore. Nevertheless, he had donned a light sweater, cigarette in one hand and the two leads of his dogs in the other. The canines were heavily contrasting in personality, anyone could see. The smaller of them, the Jack Russell, pulled eagerly at the lead, whereas the larger, the German Shepherd cross, trotted ahead of the man at a leisurely pace. Passing by the familiar old lady's house from before, she seemed to be outside already, so Shou gave her a wave. She waved back, and the dogs' ears perked up in response to her presence. Jinxie, the Jack Russell, even yapped happily. But the dogs and Shou had somewhere else to be. It was morning-time, and our professor had overslept, so he had decided instead to take the dogs for a walk. It was just about then he passed the house one away from his, the house that had been empty for a while, suddenly seeming more alive. Moving trucks had been around for a whole day the day before, and Shou Matsuoka was keen to meet the owners of the house. He debated baking them something as a goodwill gesture, and discarded the idea immediately. [i]Never let Shou Matsuoka into a kitchen. Ever.[/i] As he passed, he may have noticed the swish of a tail in a downstairs window. Ah, probably his imagination... Holding the cigarette in the same hand as the leashes, he fixed his earplugs into his ears carefully and unlocked his phone. Tuned into a particular radio station out of equal parts curiosity and some of his younger female students asking him to, he caught the last bits of a broadcast that was on. [i][color=fff79a]Anyways, you should check the place out if you’re craving traditional Japanese food. I gotta get out of here guys, the struggle for caffeine is real. I’m gonna leave you with this song in the hopes of perking everybody up. DJ Haywood, out~![/color][/i] As the tune came on, he shook his head with a tiny smirk. This was Nori Haywood, DJ extraordinaire and as of the last two months, honorary girlfriend of Shou's old, and good, friend, Detective Oliver Holland. Things had changed a lot from New Year's Eve, when the pair had found Shou slurring his words and driving drunk after an evening with a ghost. A beautiful woman, who much resembled his dead fiancee. A woman whose name still lingered in the confines of his mind, somewhere deep down. Was he just incredibly drunk? Or was she really sent, just for him...? [i]Amie...[/i] Her name was coming to be synonymous with Alessandra's. The professor sighed as he continued to walk into town, switching the peppy music on the radio out for something from his own playlist. A little more...chilled out. [hider=What's playing?] [center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqbRLKLnIrM[/youtube][/center] [/hider] --- [i]Sweater weather, huh... Summer's just beginning, but I'm stuck in a November night somewhere.[/i] He mused to himself, passing through the evergreen welcoming gates of Shiny Park. Everyone was right, somehow, through all the seasons, this was the one place that seemed the most timeless, despite expecting it to change the most. The trees changed but the crowds majorly didn't as much. It was soothing, like an old friend. Soothing- [color=cee4e1]"Jinxie, be careful!"[/color] Great. The little dog almost knocked someone over. [color=cee4e1]"Miss, I'm really sorry for her behaviour, I-" [/color]he began, smoke exiting his lips as he looked up to the person who almost fell over his dog. All he knew about her was that she was tall. And...very hurriedly making her way away from him. Maybe she had spied somewhere to sit, or someone she had to meet... The professor couldn't help but follow the dark haired woman with his eyes, until she sat herself down on a park bench. Aah, normal enough...he shook his head with a little laugh. Maybe he should have taken his earphones out and been a little more attentive to what his dogs were doing... [color=cee4e1]"Jinxie, w-"[/color] he began again, the little dog growling under her breath at an abnormally large gathering of...[i]pigeons[/i]. Nothing abnormal, Shou shook his head again. Nothing to worry about. He cooed and knelt down to try and coax the dog, tugging at the end of the lead, to come back to him. [color=cee4e1]"Hey, girl...no, they aren't worth it, I promise. If you're good, I-"[/color] Today seemed to be one of those days where Shou would be cut off a lot. It all seemed to happen in a split second. From where he was knelt on the ground, a fair distance away, he could see someone. Someone tall...it was the same woman from earlier! Luckily he was mostly hidden, or she just might not have been paying attention to his particular direction. Regardless, it looked like she was on the prowl. [i]Wait, is she targeting those...[/i] The thought had barely begun to formulate as the woman bound into the gathering of pigeons, which took flight immediately, sending a flurry of feathers all around her. She might as well have been the bird queen at this point, with how they upped and flew about and away from her. It was an amusing sight, and the professor couldn't help but partake in her glee from where he was Ah, sometimes it was the more innocent things in life that one should take more pleasure in... ...but maybe it wasn't as innocent an act for everyone. Not very far from the woman and the pigeons, a girl with blue hair almost collapsed, and a familiar face, a large redhead, consoled her. Shou couldn't have mistaken that face anywhere. It was Artair Grant, Arty to all. Known and loved (well, sometimes, and definitely not by anyone under the age of 21) as one of Club LUSH's bouncers, but also to Shou personally as a former member of a cooking class they took the previous year. Oh, how time flies... [color=cee4e1]"Is everything alright?"[/color] the professor murmured softly under his breath, cigarette stubbed and lost in a convenient trashcan nearby, as he approached the group of people. [color=cee4e1]"Has something happened here? ...do you need assistance, miss...?"[/color] he spoke softly to the blue-haired woman. Giving a nod of recognition to Arty, who seemed to have the situation at hand, he stepped away to give the woman some room to breathe. He turned to the woman with the shorter hair, his face going a little paler at both how tall she was compared to women in the area. Also, how strikingly beautiful she w- [i]Keep it together, Matsuoka. You can't go gaga for every pretty lady in this city.[/i] [color=cee4e1]"Madame, I..."[/color] the professor began. [color=cee4e1]"...could you tell me what happened here, with this woman? Is...is everything alright?"[/color] He was genuinely worried. [@Saarebas][@Narcotic Dollie][@Jay Kalton]