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Math used to be simple, then the devil said "Let's add the alphabet!"; [Emi's Intro; Open]
Topic Started: Dec 17 2017, 10:55 PM (338 Views)
Ket
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It was another busy day in the Tanjiro shopping center. The sounds of laughing and idle chatter filled the air. People were rushing in and out of shops, always in need of some new bauble. The food court especially was packed today. The smell of the food and the allure of weekly specials brought many patrons in. Even in such a packed area, the air was light and the mood, happy.

But rumor had it that a specific girl was in the food court today. A girl whose negative attitude rolled off her in waves, clashing violently with the happy atmosphere around her.

The girl in question could be found sitting in a small table near the west end of the court. She was wearing a dark t-shirt that went into a bright red and blue skirt. On her feet were a pair of dark combat boots that looked more than well worn. The four tables around her were barren and no one seemed too keen on taking them.

The reason was plain and simple.

Emi Haruno.

Even if one didn't know who she was, the dark and oppressive feeling they'd get as they got closer was a clear and distinct warning that they should avoid this girl at all costs.

She was currently hunched over the table writing furiously. By her side in a massive pile that nearly spilled off the table were balled up and torn papers. Every so often the writing would come to a sudden stop, a few beats would pass, and then it would pick up more furiously than before. On the paper itself were long equations revolving around the same math problem.

She stopped one more time and leaned back in her chair. Her eyes were wide and bloodshot. She was staring at the ceiling with such fire and rage in her eyes that one might think she BLAMED it for her current predicament.

"There's something I'm missing..." She muttered upwards. Was her mind trying to come to grips with the fact that she had gotten over a dozen different answers to one question? Or were her words a plea to the ceiling itself to collapse and drop the answer into her lap?

At least if the ceiling collapsed it might destroy her homework.

That was a valid excuse right?
Edited by Ket, Dec 17 2017, 10:56 PM.
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Parorou
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With a month having passed since his arrival to Nagashima, it was time for Senjirō to do his scheduled shopping again, and walk through the ocean of people of the mall again. Life was very, very terrible right now.

The twitchy teen didn't really expect the second time go any better than the first. He knew he had to expose himself to crowds regularly in order to get used to them, but like with most of his problems, Senjirō had decided to neglect doing that and just force himself into automatic then and any other time he needed to go. Which became harder to do when his stomach started grumbling, making him think immediately of the food court he had passed by not long ago. At that time of day, that was not a place Senjirō wanted to be in. But it was either eat on a bench with people rushing back and forth in front of him, or that place that was full, but where people were less distracting.

He walked there, confirming his fears: it was packed... except for some conspicuously empty tables lumped in one area. He was so hungry and desperate to escape the crowd he didn't stop to think why that might be, and hurried to sit at one of them. However, in the middle of that little deserted area a familiar face was staring at a notebook like it would make it burst in flames soon. The scar and fiery eyes were unmistakable; the girl was Emi Haruno, the delinquent in his class in Reitaku. While she was radically different from him in personality, she'd struck Senjirō as a person who was just as lonely as him. If she had any friends, they were definitely not from school.

Well, he'd promised a certain someone he'd try to make friends; more specifically, drag new people to the literature club. Senjirō didn't stop and consider that a delinquent probably wouldn't be a bookish type before approaching her, eager to have something -or rather, someone- to tune out the other people with.
"Hey. Haruno, right?" Senjirō defaulted to the friendly smile he put whenever he greeted someone, but it was very evident in his shaky voice and erratic movements that his nerves were on edge. "Can I sit here? The other tables are uh-um... too empty?" Crap. That sounded even stupider out of his head.

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Ket
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"..."

Emi's gray eyes shot down to look at Senjiro as he spoke. For a moment, there was a distinct lack of recognition on her face. She hadn't spoke much to her other classmates, nor has she bothered to make an attempt to remember their names. Still, here was this guy acting all chummy with her. She leaned forward a bit and studied his face as she tried to remember just who the hell he was...He certainly looked familiar.

After a few seconds of dead silence, she snapped her finger and pointed at him. Chigusu." Yep, that was it. She leaned back and nodded, now content with her memory. Despite now recognizing him, she showed no signs that she was happy to see him.

"There are plenty of less than empty tables around." She gestured to the food court around them and leaned back over her homework. Oh hell where was she?

"What is this a dare?" Shit like this would happen from time to time, though she thought people had outgrown the whole "poke the bear and run" thing. "You and your friends must be suicidal." Despite the edge to her words, she looked surprisingly calm.

"Oh for fucks sake." Suddenly, a deep scowl flashed across her face. She had completely lost her place...

After a moment she let out a sigh and tore off another sheet of paper from her notebook. At this rate she wasn't going to have any sheets left.
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Parorou
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The girl's piercing stare didn't really help him calm down; when she finally spoke, Senjirō didn't even notice she'd remembered his name incorrectly. He nervously looked around at the other tables, thinking what to do next; thankfully Emi talked again before he panicked. And what she said was just... weird.
"A dare?" He tilted his head slightly, in confusion. The strange question made him forget about his anxiety for a moment, but a second and one little girl scream later he was made aware of his surroundings again. Damnit. Quick, time to distract himself a little more. "Do... people make dares to talk to you? Are you, um..." he lowered his voice, leaning closer "...r-really that dangerous, Haruno-san?"
He immediately regretted asking that; luckily for him she seemed much more preoccupied with whatever was in her notebook. He wouldn't die that day. "Um, sorry. I-I'll go, if you want."
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Ket
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Emi's eyebrow twitched up slightly at his reaction. He seemed genuinely confused by her own question. Then...why was he here in the first place?

She crumpled up her previous paper and placed it into the growing stack beside her as Senjiro began to ask questions. "In Middle school and Junior High, yeah." As she spoke, she had begun to write in her notebook again, her eyes flitting back and forth from her assignment sheet and the paper itself. She hesitated for only a moment as Senjiro suddenly leaned closer and asked another question. If she was offended by it, she certainly didn't show it.

"That's what people say." She stated with a sigh. "I'm not gonna shiv you with my pencil, if that's what you're worried about."

She waited a beat as he offered to simply leave. It would probably be for the best, there was still a chance he might just be screwing with her. Plus she had to get back to the math problem...

The math problem...

...

"Wait." He was in her class! Maybe he could offer some insight on this hell problem. Without a word, she flipped her notebook around and slid it towards him. "You can stay if you help." Almost immediately she understood just how unappealing her offer was...She needed to sweeten the deal. "I'll treat you to anything you want." She idly gestured to the food court around her.

There...That should be good.
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Parorou
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Senjirō listened attentively, the girl not staring at him anymore helping keep his cool. So she wasn't that bad; teens could be so cruel. "Oh, that's good. Sucks that people say all that crap, I guess... Um, bye." He started to turn around to leave Emi to whatever she was doing, when the sound of paper sliding and her voice made him quickly turn back.

Oh, right. The food. He had forgotten to actually get something to eat before looking for a table. Intrigued, Senjirō looked down to the paper, finding a scary string of letters and numbers and symbols... math homework. He wasn't exactly terrible at math, he just didn't care about it at all; trying to befriend this student was probably not worth it... On the other hand, that was a free meal and a potential new acquaintance. After a moment, he nodded.
"Yeah, sure. I'm not that good, though." He pulled a chair and sat in front of her, completely oblivious to the looks he was getting from some people around them. As Senjirō was putting his bag and shopping on an empty chair, his stomach roared. He looked down, embarrassed. "Can we... get the food first?"
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Ket
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"You didn't do it then yet?" Fuck. She was hoping he'd already have the answers and could just...walk her through it. "Either way, a fresh set of eyes would be helpful. I've been stuck on this problem for the better part of two hours."

Her eyes narrowed at Senjiro as he requested the food first. She just wanted to be done with this Goddamned problem already. Then again, some food might help as well. It would be a nice distraction at least. "Fine." She slowly got up, stretching slightly as she rose to her full height.

"I'll leave the papers. There will be less of a chance someone'll take the table in our absence." She felt several eyes on her as she got up. A few conversations stopped around her. Maybe they thought she was about to sock Senjiro. By now though, she'd learned to filter out such looks."Lead the way Chugusu-san" That was definitely his name. "Pick whatever you'd like. Cost isn't an issue."
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Parorou
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"Huh? ...Oh. Right." She was in his class. Which meant he was supposed to do that very same math homework as well. "We can do it together?" Senjirō had his schoolbag with him, which was fortunate. He'd preferably work somewhere less crowded, but the idea of having to spend more time than strictly necessary dealing with homework was very, very unappealing.

"It's Chigusa," Senjirō corrected her with a relaxed tone, making it clear that he wasn't offended. He got up after Emi, his eyes fixated in her as he was still trying to tune out the crowd; and because of this, he failed to notice their continued nasty attitude towards Haruno. They walked to the food stalls, and he took a long look at the menus in the back of the counter. The girl's deliberate style of clothing wasn't very telling of her social status, so he had no way of guessing what would be too much. "Whatever snack is fine. Not picky."
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Ket
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The tiniest bit of aggravation crept onto Emi's face at Senjiro's words. She just wanted to get past this one problem, not do the whole damn assignment with him. "No thanks." She replied flatly. There was no need for her to hang out with him any longer than she needed to. "Besides, it would be bad for you if we were seen together for too long." Then again he could just tell people she forced him to help her.

"Chigusa-san." She repeated him and nodded her head. Okay, she'd remember this time then.

"Tsk." Emi just stared at Senjiro as he made his choice. "Not picky." He says. "Don't be modest." Despite her words, her eyes were narrowing. "Everyone has likes and dislikes. I'm not going to spend my money on something you won't eat."
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Parorou
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Not even the lonely delinquent wants you.

"O-Okay. Nevermind." Her answer felt almost like a punch to the gut; Senjirō's own fault for not leaving when it was obvious he wasn't wanted there. He felt he had to say something about Emi's comment of this being bad for him, coming up with nothing. Bad how, exactly? He was already an outcast and looked at funny by others. Not as badly as her, but still. At least Haruno didn't outright hate him, he guessed. Senjirō was just being too emotional, his mind state being affected by the stress of being in the mall. They were only classmates; that she hadn't outright tell him to screw off was good enough.

Senjirō really wasn't picky and ate pretty much everything, but he could understand perfectly not wanting to waste money. At least they had that in common. "Um, you're right. Takoyaki sounds good, if that's cool." Maybe he could still save this situation somehow. But he'd wait until they were at the table again to extend his invitation... that was if things didn't go badly before then.
Edited by Parorou, Dec 20 2017, 05:16 PM.
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