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

Samuru breathed in relief at Kanna's positive reaction to his offer of friendship. Now to try and not flub this up with social anxiety born from long years of hiding who he really was. "In response to what you said about what you've been through; we've all undergone a lot; that's what we all have in common. Not to say we're all friends or anything; I'm...inexperienced at friendship and I'm also a newbie at that, but we all get along so far. We are not a true Nakama yet, and we probably will go our seperate ways once this is over, but we're united to find out the mystery behind this whole affair." He tilted his head slightly away. "Or at least, that's the ideal state."

"But I'm getting ahead of myself; let's go seek out Rui." And with that, a few pastel-strokes finished the average-quality picture of the blue sky, sea, and shore, and Samuru got up to look for Rui, gesturing to Kanna to follow him.

He would slowly backtrack to where they had last seen the high schooler; the shops closest to the train station. As he did so, carefully making sure Kanna wasn't far behind, Samuru would have an idle thought: [i]We really aren't a Nakama, more a loose coalition.[/i] 

The components of the coalition were Rui and his two friends, Megumi and Kazuki. This triumvirate was the nucleus that kept everyone together. Next were the romantic pairings; Mako and Sato - those two were braver than he was - and Shizuka and Matthew. There was also Kotori and another girl, that bloodthirsty chick who had helped fight his Shadow. Then came Ryan Chideta, the introverted outlier whose bond with the others wasn't as deep as Rui and the nucleus, and now, him and Kanna, the two newbies among newbies. [i]Do not forget the ones we keep shedding along the way; the ones who keep vanishing into the ether after a while.[/i]

Snapping out of his thoughts, Samuru looked around for Rui once more, before turning to Kanna; hopefully, the two would be relatively alone. He would then say, "Kanna, I have to tell you something. Something that might be useful in preparing you for the danger to come, and something that provides another reason for us to come to Rui, get to know him better, and thank him with a gift."

He then continued, "The Star of the Tarot and The Heirophant; those are our cards. The Star symbolizes hope, renewal, and spirituality and the reverse stands for despair, discouragement, and loss of faith. The Heirophant, meanwhile, embodies religion, group identification, conformity, tradition and beliefs. Some of those are ugly things, but counterbalanced by the reverse, which stands for overcoming restrictions and questioning how things are."

Samuru looked around even more, fear entering his expression. He had to choose his next words carefully, "And how things are right now...they aren't bad, but I have cause to fear. As I said before, we are not a true Nakama yet. And there are people who were rescued, joined us, and then vanished into thin air. We might be mistaken for that; we might even really [i]be[/i] that. But point is, we're not truly accepted. Not merely that but - and I hope not to be accused of treason for this - we are not all one unit. We aren't as 'deep' as we could be." He then clasped his right fist to his chest, a gesture of affirmation, and continued, "And I want to change that. In fact, instead of moaning, I will [i]prove[/i] that group identity can be a good thing as well."

A smile. "And, to be honest, I will need Rui for that, and also you. So do not vanish, Kanna-kun."

And with that, Samuru headed back to the changing stations, confident that no one had heard his mini-speech. There, he might find Rui, who perhaps had not have left the place at all. Waving his hand at the younger but wiser student, Samuru would say: "Hello, Rui-san; a moment of your time? Basically, we'd like to ask; are you doing anything? If so, can we join in?" He smiled widely.

"I've also been thinking that we should have a mini-party; we're here for a day or two, right? What about having the party be the climax of that? With cake slices and ice cream and pasta and sushi and seaweed dishes; if they have any." He then thought that Rui and his friends may have planned that already. "But it's okay if we weren't the first ones to think about it." He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

"Seriously, though, something to bind all of us together would be great. Oh, and perhaps a gift exchange?"

[@Sho Minazuki][@Tenma Tendo]