[b][i]Samuru Amakusa[/i][/b]

Samuru had carefully and meticulously packed his sunscreen, clothes, drinks and snacks in his backpack. Wearing a starched T-Shirt and jeans, which had a set of bright red swimming trunks underneath them, the young man looked unassuming, [i]was[/i] unassuming. He went downstairs to where his mother and father were watching a televised mass on the TV, and sat behind them as they watched the priest officiate over the sacred ceremonies. [i]It doesn't matter if God is Evil,[/i] he thought once more. [I]What matters, is that his creed can be salvaged.[/i]

His mother was the first to notice his presence, and say: "You ready for your first beach trip without family?" This was responded to with a slight, but prompt nod, which caused the boy's father to smile at his wife and son.

"Samuru," the middle-aged man said as he rose up, brusing off dust from his salaryman's pants, "Before you go, we would like to tell you...we love you for what you are. For what you always were, no matter what you choose to do with it." A roundabout way of saying that [i]they knew[/i]. Gratitude filled Samuru's heart as he said:

"Thank you, Father, thank you, Mother. I love you two too." The televised mass finished at that moment, allowing Samuru to get up so that he can finally go depart on his 'beach trip'. As he walked out of the house, he would wave goodbye, goodbye at the smiling faces of his parents. He would remember that when things were darkest, he supposed. For if he continued with his connection to Rui, things will get darker.

[b][i]Train Terminal, Warukama Town[/i][/b]

Samuru would join Rui's group, taking great care to stay away from Ryan Chideta and Sato Hashimoto and Mako Moritomi. He was not certain where things stood between them after Seto, and was...scared to find out. This state of affairs would last for a while, during which he would look at Rui Sinichi and his two...co-leaders? He would blink, looking at the people around him, the people he had disappointed. And he would not be able to speak.

He visualized the Chapel of the Martyr, then The Velvet Room, the two places where he had confronted his Shadow. He now knew that his troubles had not ended, if anything, they had just begun. Which brought up the question; should he stay within Rui's group?

[i]Flee,[/i] his mind spoke, [i]These people will never be your friends, acceptance or no acceptance. What do you owe to them when they only rescued you out of obligation, when they are merely a closed circle? They will never let you in.[/i] A moment of resistance in Samuru's thoughts, a moment in which he fell back to old habits and denied those were his. That moment passed, to be replaced with acknowledgement. He will not refuse to own up to his failings and his lines of thinking ever again.

He faced his group, for they were his'. They might not like him that much, but he will try his hardest to help them. He just wished he knew how; his first thought was to offer Sato some sunscreen, but the other young man might take that the wrong way.

That and it could also insult Kotori to assume that she didn't bring any lotions. Sigh, it meant that he would have to reply to Ryan, then. Ryan whom he had offended because of his ineptitude and being overly nice in a warzone. Looking up at the Chideta scion, Samuru would say, "Well, I'm doing fine. How are you?"

He then pulled out his handkerchief from his pants pocket and offered it to the obviously tired and sweaty teen. "Here, if you want it." [i]He probably doesn't[/i], the treacherous part of him thought, and Samuru acknowledged that courageously, meaning that he didn't stop doing what he was doing. [i]I stand by my group, even when I failed them before.[/i]

[@Sho Minazuki][@Takaru][@floodtalon][@Sen]