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The Dragon's Keeper; [Noburu Nakano - Single Post]
Topic Started: Dec 30 2013, 02:48 AM (75 Views)
The One True Nobody
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"...does this clockwork hand follow you... or guide you?"
This post takes place the day after Dead Eyes and Roar of the Yellow Dragon.

---

It was a long, uncomfortable night apart for Noburu Nakano and June Hollyfield. After they were educated on the basics of their new situation by Maki Yamada, the two had been left to return to their respective homes in mute contemplation, nervous contemplation, both of them fully and agonizingly aware that their lives had been changed forever.

Noburu wanted to know the truth behind the mysterious ruins, the truth behind the deaths of Shouta Kimura and so many others. June just wanted to know that she could wake up every morning and know without thinking about it that Noburu was still there, still with her.

And so, the following afternoon, the two of them sat huddled together at a computer in the corner of a dingy Internet cafe on the outskirts of the backstreets, a cheap place that catered mostly to kids like June, to backstreet families who couldn't afford their own computers or Internet providers. The rates were low but the computers outdated and the connection pretty shoddy. It was good enough to browse a forum, though...

"A whole fucking secret society..." whispered June after a while, slumping back in her seat and rubbing at her temples. She sat in a chair pulled up close to Noburu's, at the back of the cafe, as he scrolled through topic after topic on that strange forum. "It's crazy. Like Harry Potter meets the fucking... I dunno, something dark and R-rated, shit, I can't afford to know what movies would compare to this."

"Considering how things have gone so far, I can't blame them all for keeping quiet," Noburu murmured. "But there has to be some way to stop these disappearances from happening."

"Can't we just plug up the entrances?" June asked desperately. Noburu was silent. It seemed like a sound idea, but it also looked like there were ways into the ruins scattered around the city, structural weak points that had given way, places where the sewers connected to the underground labyrinth.

Silently, he clicked on another topic and skimmed it. June shifted in her seat next to him, glancing around at the sparsely-populated cafe. It was gray out, rain was coming--they probably needed to get moving soon. "Noburu-kun," June whispered. "You're not--really gonna go back in, are you?"

"I'm not going to leave it to someone else to work out what's going on down there," Noburu replied through gritted teeth. "From the look of things, they've been doing fuck-all for months. Because of that Reaper, I guess. There has to be a way around that problem, though..."

"That other thread mentioned a cargo elevator..."

"Yeah. A way in, possibly to the deeper floors..."

"But--" June paused. "You don't have to actually go in, do you? You could just help look for the elevator--"

"Fuck that shit. I'm not leaving this to anyone else to clean up. If you want something done right, do it yourself."

Noburu, hand on the mouse and free arm resting on the desk, was so intensely focused on reading what was on-screen (it happened to be the Dangerous Individuals thread, as a matter of fact), that he didn't notice June lean in until her hand was on his upper arm. He looked to her in surprise, and saw her eyes shining with defiance.

"Don't," she whispered.

"...Don't?" Noburu echoed, his voice rising from a whisper to a low growl. "June, Shouta died in there. Because of that butterfly and because of those monsters. If you think I'm going to let that thing or whatever's behind it get away with that--"

"There's more than enough other magic people--Persona-users--to figure this out without you putting your neck on the line!" June hissed insistently, gripping Noburu's arm tighter. Her nails, which were only slightly longer than a boy's and meticulously painted black with streaks of gray near the ends, white skull-and-crossbone designs on the middle fingers and varying patterns on all of the other fingers--the same on both hands, each hand's fingers matching the other's--dug into Noburu's muscled arm a bit.

Noburu opened his mouth to protest, to say he couldn't trust any of them, that he had to see it through himself, but he paused then. The look in her eyes was one of desperation, and he understood why. If something happened, and he died in that place, then she--then, June, she would be left all alone. Alone, with no one on her side, no one...

"June," he said, lowering his voice, and turning toward his girlfriend. "I'll be fine. I won't get in over my head... I promise. Just trust me, and don't worry."

"...There's no talking you out of it," June said, voice thick with frustration. She stood up, and turned away. When she spoke again, it wasn't in a whisper: it was loud and clear, imperious, demanding. "Fine. Be that way. Thick-headed son of a..."

The girl stomped away, heading for the door. Noburu moved to stand up, to chase after her, but before he could even tell her to wait up, she whirled around and pointed a finger straight at Noburu's face.

"If you're going, I'm going!" she said. "Fuck if I'm not allowed in! You'll just have to hold my hand and walk me in through the door yourself, right? No arguments."

And she whipped around, shouldering through the door and out into the street. Noburu called out for her to wait, but then stopped himself before running away from the computer: he was still logged on to Bedlam, he couldn't leave the computer like that, and he still needed to clear the cookies and the Internet history and--

--and by the time he was done doing all of that, and made it out the front door, June Hollyfield was nowhere to be seen. He, of course, lacked a phone... so he couldn't call her, either. As she well knew.

So she was determined to brook no argument, he mused darkly, pulling his jacket closed and zipping it up as the first drops of drizzle began to fall. And determined not to stick around long enough for argument to happen. Just, I'm coming. He would have to talk to her about this later. But it wasn't like she could watch his every move.

Obviously he would need to just make sure she didn't know when he went to the ruins.
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