[color=gray][indent][right][h1][color=396690]Chise Nozaki[/color][/h1][/right][right][sub][color=396690]Mentions:[/color] N/A  [color=396690]Location:[/color]Random sidewalk[/sub][/right][hr]
[/indent][indent]Chise's casual stroll continued as he made his way towards his usual grocery store. His after-school journey was nothing remarkable, as one might expect from a simple supermarket trip - but Chise wasn't much one for leaving boring things boring. He dotted the trip with small-talk betwixt strangers, a few brief stops for window-shopping, and a number of daydreams about what he might do after he dropped the groceries off at home.

Between these activities, there was one window in particular that caught Chise's attention. He stepped up to it, his head tilted upwards slightly as he looked at the mannequin on the other side of the store-front glass. The figure was clothed in an eye-catching combination of a darker grunge-esque base and alluring spikes of color and.. [i]spice[/i]. His eyes developed a glassy look as he looked up in admiration. His mind was immediately debating going in there and buying the outfit, closing his eyes as he tried to picture what it would look like on him.

After a few moments of internal debate, a sensation struck him. His brows furrowed ever-so-slightly as the feeling of a sudden beat echoed through his body.
[color=396690]"Well.. that's.. certainly new."[/color] He reasoned. [color=396690]"But.. I suppose the heart wants what the heart wants!"[/color] He cheered to himself as the decision was made and his demeanor brightened once again. His eyes opened once more, and shifted over to the door, checking if the 'open' sign was up, even though it most definitely shoul-

And that was when he saw.. something. His head swiveled to the left slowly as he turned to see the odd shape out of the corner of his eye.
It was a crowd. A crowd of people completely frozen in place. Various states of stride captured as if in a photograph. His mind immediately jumped to some form of street-performer group, but then he looked further. [i]Everything[/i] was frozen. Everything except.. him.

He began to step away from the shop window, and suddenly every single person he had seen was gone. His mind suddenly registered the thrumming heartbeat - the heartbeat that was not his own. Not only that - but it was suddenly darker. The sun gone from the sky - replaced by a vast moon unlike anything he had ever seen before. He stumbled slightly, his hand pulling away from the wall with a concerning wet slickness to it. Chise's eye shifted to his hand as he drew it closer - to find it coated in wet and congealed blood. He turned back to the shop and it was no longer there - replaced by a dull, gray husk of what he had expected.

[color=396690]"W-Woah.."[/color] He murmured. His mind was racing, completely caught off by all the details he hadn't registered before - something he was very much not used to. His lack of awareness of his immediate surroundings was quickly starting to feel overwhelming as his head swiveled back and forth to allow his eyes and other senses to take it all in.

But there was one image that caught his eye the most. His gazed shifted to the towering, looming shape of a great spire splitting the sky above all the other structures. His eyes only broke from absorbing its height by the pounding sensation of the heartbeat, interspersed betwixt his thoughts once more.

Chise's mind was racing, trying to figure out what exactly was going on. Had he been [i]drugged[/i]? Was he.. [i]dead[/i]? Where-

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of a squelching shuffle behind him. He instantly spun as he leapt away from the source of the noise, his instincts guiding his body to recoil from whatever it was that was there.

But then he was back.

He blinked as the brightness of the day suddenly returned, and he stumbled slightly on the spot as he found himself elsewhere once again. He raised his hand to study it -- completely clean. There were a few concerned stares as the people around him watched his confusion. His eyes rose as he noticed the enquiring faces. He quickly assumed an unassuming posture and brushed a strand of hair out of his face as he offered a shaky smile to those around him.

He was quick to turn and start walking once again toward the supermarket, his shoulders hunched defensively as his mind started to dissect what he had just experienced. It had been a long time since he had been caught so off-guard - and it was, honestly, quite terrifying. He didn't like whatever had just happened - at all.

He didn't even notice how fast his heart was beating as his journey continued - now though with an unconsciously hasty pace.
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