Eris Reinhardt
Eris commented, in a light tone, as Cassandra talked about her issue with being called by her family name, as well as her questioning of Shirou's motivations.
"Then again, you have been a near literal Pandora's Box ever since I met you, one can never know what they will find when prying you open.""It's good to meet you in the real world again, Aaron Fletcher. As I said before, the issues that led to this gathering are behind me now. Furthermore, you are on your full right to try to come and kill Eclipse Princess when I log in again. Just don't think that I'll go easy on you.""Now, talking about the future..." Eris lapsed as Shirou explained his vision and proposed a handshake to seal their agreement.
"That, I cannot do. I'm not convinced that I'll remain a member of the Ebony Strikers for long. Even if you do know my circumstances other people won't and the damage I caused was far too big for many of those players, the older ones might never recover from that loss. I wonder how many people's lives I ruined on that rampage?""Alas, the fact stands, as long as I stay in the Strikers there'll be rebellion and strife brewing within the Guild, like a slow poison that'll corrode us from inside out." Eris spoke as she clutched her book,
"However, I do have a solution that will make the Strikers stronger and more united than ever. I'll leave the guild and become the escape goat for their hatred. As long as they have someone to target and haven't enacted their revenge, the Sweepers and the rest of the Guild have no reason to fight among themselves.""Don't think that I'm doing this out of selfless heroics, though." Eris added bitterly, to not look she was trying to become a martyr. However, the veracity of this statement could be put to check.
"I just cannot stand the stench of corruption that has spread through the Ebony Strikers' ranks like a plague, but it's not my problem, nor my place to correct it. Now, please excuse me, I have dinner in a few minutes, if there's anything more you would like to add, I beg that you be succinct."Emma Fujioka
On a quaint afternoon, like any other else on this city where nothing ever happens, Emma was window shopping alongside a duo of acquaintances from Purple Crown. The talk of the day was that there was going to be a huge party on a "club" named the Network (or something like this). All the bigwigs of the academy would be there, or so they say.
This kind of event wasn't Emma's social forte, but if she could find some nice company, maybe she could give it a shot. Who knows, maybe this could even be a lucky night? Playing Deep Ground wasn't a bad idea either, Emma would just do like the water and follow the path of least resistance, whatever happens happens.
"Anyway, girls, I'm going to grab a drink. Do any of you want something?" Emma asked, but her companions were too absorbed in their task to even notice her leaving, which is what Emma did... just right now.
Emma had barely hit the food court and ordered the biggest serving of sugar-free dark chocolate mocha they had, when she noticed a duo of individuals she was much more acquainted with. Quickly strolling by Thomas' table while giving him a knowing wink and a stealth thumbs up that seemed to say
"Got your back, Prez!", before swooping down on Aaron's table.
"Heyah, Nixon! Who are those, friends?" Emma said, as she approached Aaron and the others with a hand holding the steaming cup of caffeine-loaded beverage and the other raised in a peace sign.
"Just dropped by to say hi to a friend. I hope I'm not intruding! Name's Emma Fujioka, by the way, or the contrary, if you go by Japanese standards. Anyway, do any of you want some?" Emma introduced herself to the other students by the table while reaching into her blazer's pocket, producing a pack of sugar-free mints that she readily offered to everyone else, after dropping one on her own coffee.
Itsuko M. Kanzaki
Itsuko hugged Hibiki in return, glad that someone other than her usual friends understood her problems,
"Wait a bit, now that you mention it..." Itsuko picked her phone again and checked her contacts list, most of it was in fact inherited from business contacts of her mother, but Itsuko was at least partially acquainted with some of them, at least enough to finally recognize Hibiki or so she thought.
"Your parents, do they have a computing company, don't they Hibiki? I think I, or better, my mother knew them. I'm sorry for not noticing it until now." In fact, Itsuko's mother, the former CEO of the worldwide industrial and financial conglomerate that's one of Japan's biggest and oldest industrial groups, the Kanzaki Industries, had been good friends with them, at least until.
"Then I guess that I can tell you, after all, everyone should know it, after all. Mom and dad, they died in a plane accident sometime ago. That woman down there is Miss Yomugawa from the Social Services Bureau, she's here because on of my uncles wants to take me overseas. I don't want to go, and a friend is taking care of me, but if she thinks I'm not living well, she'll send me even if I don't want to." Itsuko sniffed a bit, trying not to cry, before stepping away from Hibiki, with an apologetic look on her eyes.
"I-I'm sorry for bothering with with it, Hibiki. I just needed someone to talk to, please don't change your opinion of me because of that. But, it's really nice that our parents knew each other, not?""Anyway, how about we go down, it's getting late. You can come and have any books you want, whenever you want, I really like that I found a friend that enjoys them." Itsuko said to Hibiki as they made their way down to the mall level, walking her all the way to the entrance,
"Do you want to go home with me? I-I mean, on the bus, or train, I can get a car if you wish as well!" Itsuko said, a bit flustered after her statement that could be so easily misinterpreted.
"And, if you still want to go to the party, or shop together, give me a call. I'll help you whenever you ask."Absinthe Blue
Absinthe checked through her files again, taking a quick look at the gate to be sure that she hadn't forgotten anyone,
"Oh, you're right, Joker! There's someone else, but... they aren't there, are they, I mean unless this Azure Panther is a Rogue, or something like this. Wait here for a bit, I'll g-" Just as Absinthe was about to leave, to look for the Azure Panther, Broker of Fortune approached them.
"Hi there! How are things today, huh, Miss Fortune?" Absinthe greeted Broker of Fortune, with a confident ear to ear smile, before continuing,
"Actually, I'm running some errands for Titania-sama, but you can help Joker here get around the Guild, can't you? This new patch got us more burdened than ever, but finally the Merchants got something to do." Absinthe patted Joker in the shoulder before leaving him under the care of Broker, in the typical way of the Blues of shuffling their workload on someone else's shoulder. One had to wonder how the command chain here worked, bet in the end it was quite like the real world where those on top chuck all the work they can on those bellow.
If you think about it like this, the Bruisers were the guild that helped their members get ready for the outside world much more than any other. The recent addition of Professions only turned this more evident.
"Bruisers, Banzai!" Absinthe yelled pumping her fist in the air, before setting out to find this Azure Panther.
"Hmm... Panther, huh? This makes me wonder if Kitty Kat is doing well? Perhaps I should seek her tail later? Hehehe... that would be fun!" Absinthe walked anyway talking to herself, without a care in the world.
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