| Where the Trail Leads; [Naoki/Akari] | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Mar 3 2018, 09:27 AM (572 Views) | |
| Miharu Yoshikuni | Apr 17 2018, 07:11 PM Post #41 |
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Akari's eyes widened as she heard the voices. One was all too familiar. "That's Chisato," she said in a murmur, almost entirely snapping out of the little trance her shadow had put her in. "She...ah, it seems she's followed us here. No doubt she had been keeping an eye out if I tried to run away again." The sound of shuffling feet came from upstairs as they rummaged the area above. Chisato would speak. "Dammit. I don't see in anyone. But I swore we saw them come in here and--Tomoyo, what are you doing!? You can't thrash the place! We could get arrested!" "U-um...Chisato-chan, I still sense people here...so they're probably on a different floor. M-maybe upstairs?" Tomoyo gasped. "You mean like...like in a room and...and--" "W-wait...! I never tried to imply that!" Miharu squeaked, all flustered. She's not with him that way okay!??? An-and she wouldn't dare or she's going to hear it from me herself!!" Chisato suddenly screamed with impatience. "Chi-chan! Sssshhh!" Naoki and Akari would hear Chisato groan. "Uuuugh this is so like her trying to give me a heart attack! When...when I find her, I'm gon a kill her! And then...break that guy's legs! She's lucky I don't have Joseph come here and snipe the guy!" "Ooh! Lemme do it! Lemme break his legs!" "You guys are being REALLY loud right about now..." Hearing everyone upstairs, Akari touched her forebead and rubbed it. "Naoki, I think we should go up," she said solemnly. "It's one thing for me to be in trouble, it's an entirely other if it's you. That said, they don't mean any harm and it's better I just explain things to them." Edited by Miharu Yoshikuni, Apr 17 2018, 07:12 PM.
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| Chidarake | Apr 17 2018, 07:52 PM Post #42 |
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As Naoki listened to the ruckus, he heard a third voice pipe up among the others, again causing him to silently curse his luck. Even worse, it seemed this one had a scanning ability, which meant they weren't going anywhere anytime soon. The only lucky break he could catch was that the girl had suggested they were upstairs, meaning they didn't know about the hidden room. Well, with a third person his initial escape plan had to be thrown out, and now he had to improvise. Akari suggested heading up and explaining things, but based on their choice of words, that was one risk that he wasn't willing to take. "Not happening. They're not finding us. Stay silent," he whispered, grabbing at her hand before moving again, attempting to lead her up the stairs. At least he had the home field advantage against them. Based on the sounds of things, those girls had never been in a thieves den before. So, as they argued, Naoki slowly crept his way up the stairs, his footsteps silent. He quietly flipped open one of five small metal covers located near the top, revealing a peephole that would give him a view of the area the voices were coming from. After looking around, he quickly found his target; the one currently complaining about how loud the other two were being. If he could just throw that one off their trail... "You know what to do." "Ooooh, this is gonna be fun!" Not the word Naoki would use to describe things, but it was now or never. After opening the rest of the peepholes, he pulled down a larger trapdoor above his head. With a silent order, his persona manifested and shot up through it, appearing at the top of staircase before sending the confusing wave of a Pulinpa spell towards the girl Naoki had marked. The moment it was done and disappeared, he shut the trapdoor and shifted back to keeping an eye on the girls' movements - best case scenario, the girl would be confused enough to lead them away. Worst case, he missed, and their attention would be drawn upstairs. In that scenario, they'd definitely find the opening at the other end of the trap door since he couldn't close it from where he stood now, but he'd have to cross that bridge when it came. In the meantime, he kept his hand against the wall panel, ready to make a break for it the moment he saw a chance. |
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| Miharu Yoshikuni | May 2 2018, 12:56 PM Post #43 |
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Akari looked like she was going to protest at Naoki's persistence, but she held herself back and merely nodded. The three girls were still pretty much bickering when Naoki saw them. The one with the deadpanned voice who had threatened to get Akari's bodyguard to snipe him turned out to be a rather pale and lithe girl with stern purple eyes and long black hair. She was wearing an aviator jacket over an orange turtleneck and a dark green khaki skirt. The hyper one was a little taller, toned, also pale but with long silvery-white hair instead and gray eyes. Her attire was a little stranger as she wore what looked like a cut-out rabbit mask propped on top of her head. She wore a jacket too, but it was wrapped around the waist of a denim skirt that was paired with a white polo t-shirt and sneakers. The shortest among them, a girl barely five feet, looked like a pensive little thing with big, curly lilac hair that draped on her sides. She wore a pink duffle coat and mits, and half of her peach-skinned face was buried in a white scarf. It would be the latter who would suddenly perk up when Naoki drew closer. "Guys! I think a couple of users are getting closer!" she said. Chisato and Tomoyo stopped arguing and sharply turned to Miharu. "Could it be them?" she asked urgently. "It could be whoever owns this joint," Tomoyo said warily. Whatever Miharu was going to answer next, however, would never come out as Naoki struck her with a confusion spell. A dizziness would wash over her and Miharu would wince, causing Chisato to look at her in concern. "Yoshikuni-san, are you okay?" she asked. To her surprise, Miharu would no longer seem to see Chisato and Tomoyo in front of her, or at least she wouldn't recognize them. Gasping, she stepped backward and reached into her pocket to bring out a tessen. "St-stay away!" she said nervously to Chisato and Tomoyo. Chisato's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What? Yoshikuni-san, what are you saying?" Chisato said as she drew closer. To her surprise, Miharu's eyes would widen and she would swat her fan in a horizontal direction before casting a weaker version of her Garu spell at her. Chisato would dodge to the left, before yelping. "Miharu, are you crazy!? What's wrong with you!?" Chisato said. But Miharu would begin charging at Chisato again only to be intercepted by Tomoyo, who grabbed her by the wrists to restrain her. "Hey! Mi-chan, chill, will you!?" Tomoyo said. Miharu would struggle for a moment before using her foot to kick Tomoyo in the shin. "AGH! JEEBUS FU--" Miharu would then scream and run towards the stairs. "M-Miharu! Wait! What's wrong with you!?" Hearing the ruckus outside, Akari's face turned into one of both concern and anger. "What did you??" she demanded in a hushed whisper. |
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| Chidarake | May 3 2018, 12:51 AM Post #44 |
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Naoki watched as his spell began to take effect. Either it was more powerful than he had anticipated, or the girl was just really susceptible to it, as she started attacking the other two. Not the results he had expected, but he could work with it. As he again opened the trap door above him, coming up with a second step that would hopefully give them the chance they needed to get out of there, Akari quietly voiced her anger at him. Well, he should've expected that, given they were her friends. There was no time to explain though, as the window of opportunity his distractions were creating were going to close soon, so he kept his response as concise as possible. "Getting out of here. I'm dead if they catch me, but I'm not hurting them. You can keep hold of my hand and come with me to somewhere they won't find you, or let go and give up and go back to your cage with them. Make your choice and get ready, 'cause we're moving in five," he whispered back. 'Round two. Make it flashy this time. Sukunda the masked one.' 'Oh, you know I love a good show!' After giving the orders, Dolus again went up through the trap door and popped out at the top of the stairs, this time aiming a Sukunda spell at the girl with the rabbit mask in an attempt to slow her down. He assumed she was the one who had broken down the door, and if they gave chase he didn't need her bashing in any walls he'd have to make. This time, though, Dolus didn't immediately disappear, but instead appeared to charge towards the panicked girl, dissipating just before he reached her. Five seconds had passed right at the moment Dolus disappeared, and while hoping his ambushes had pulled their attention enough, Naoki pushed open the panel of the wall and bolted for the now broken back door, with or without Akari. He desperately wanted it to be with, but he couldn't afford to waste time trying to convince her. |
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| Miharu Yoshikuni | May 10 2018, 10:28 AM Post #45 |
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Naoki making a referral to her "cage" made Akari scowl, but again she said nothing. He was right, though. He had given her an ultimatum. If he went with her, that would be what he wanted. If she didn't, that would be giving up. But that said, she didn't like either choice, and this irked her to a degree. Going with Naoki was just as bad as not going with him. If she went with him, didn't that just mean she was following under his influence instead of her parents? Akari gripped the handle of the violin case tightly. She didn't know what to do. Mechanically, she held onto Naoki as he timed their breakout. Miharu could still pretty much be heard panicking, as did the two other girls who were chasing after her to restrain her. At the moment, Miharu had been midway up the stairs with both Chisato and Tomoyo running after her. "Mi-chan! Wait up!" Tomoyo cried out. She was going to jump forward and pin Miharu down, but she suddenly felt something overcome her. She felt sluggish, as if everything was taking an extra second or two to do. What the...? To top it off, Miharu would scream once again, both Chisato and Tomoyo unaware of why. Miharu had seen Dolus and had, like with Tomoyo and Chisato, assumed it was a monster. And this time, Miharu would whirl around, trying to push past the two girls and causing them to head down the stairs as a tangled mess. Meanwhile, Naoki and Akari were almost out the door, but just as they were, Akari's eyes sharpened. If he turned around, he would notice very briefly see the figure of a blindfolded angel behind Akari, but it would fade as he'd be met with a bright light that attempted to temporarily blind stun him. Whether or not it worked, Naoki would be met with Akari groaning as she hoisted her violin case over her head and swung it down aiming for Naoki's head with an attempt to knock him out briefly or at least make him dizzy. Edited by Miharu Yoshikuni, May 10 2018, 10:30 AM.
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| Chidarake | May 14 2018, 11:49 PM Post #46 |
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As Naoki bolted from their hiding place as fast as his legs could carry him, he risked a glance at the situation behind him, and was double relieved to find that not only were the three girls too occupied to notice, but that Akari had decided to join him. However, he pushed the joy down for later, as they still needed to get clear of the area - at least far enough away that the scanner girl couldn't find them again. He had decided the best place would probably be his own place in the backstreets just as they approached the back door of the house, when suddenly everything turned a blinding white, almost like a silent flashbang, causing him to stumble and smack his shoulder on the door frame. Naoki stopped and tried to clear his vision so he could keep the escape going, completely confused. "What the hell-" he began, turning his head towards where he believed Akari was supposed to be, only to be met with a large blunt object colliding with the top of his head, knocking him completely off balance and causing him to crumple to the floor, his face planted firmly to the ground. His vision threatened to turn dark, but even though the adrenaline kept him conscious, the dizziness of taking a full force blow to the head meant he wouldn't be going anywhere anymore even if he could stand up. After a few moments it started to subside, allowing him a clear enough head to think, but the only thing he could think of was that for some reason Akari had been the one to stop him - the others had been too occupied to catch up that fast. Rather than question her motives, though, instinct told him he'd get more information by letting the girls talk among themselves. Though they weren't likely to say anything of importance with him around... so he kept his body limp, kept his eyes shut, and with a bit of effort slowed his breathing, hoping that she had a reason for stopping him other than letting the bloodthirsty ones have his head. If that was the case, he was dead either way, so he might as well fake being unconscious in hopes that they would talk as if he couldn't hear them. Maybe they'd even take pity on him. |
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| Miharu Yoshikuni | May 15 2018, 11:21 AM Post #47 |
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The three intruding girls continued to struggle in their tangled mess, but stopped upon seeing Akari land one on a dark-haired guy. Akari sighed as she lowered her violin case. "Sorry, Naoki-kun," she said a little exasperatedly. "But I couldn't leave my friends in an uncertain situation." "Akari!" "Asakura-san!" "MARSHMALLOWS!" Miharu wailed in a frenzy. Eventually, the three girls unraveled. Tomoyo would pin Miharu down to keep her stable while Chisato dusted herself and rushed to Akari. Akari smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry, Chisato..." she said. To her surprise, her eyes began watering and her face reddened. "I've been...difficult..." Seeing Akari on the verge of tears, Chisato's eyes widened and she yelped, waving her hands frantically. "What? No, no, no!I'm the one who should be sorry!" she said, her face flushing brightly in panic. "I-I was upset! I didn't know what you were going through, and I wasn't the one who found you, if anything, I was being a total jerk for not knowing how you felt and then I ignored you for so long and--" Chisato pressed her heel of her palm against her head and sighed. She then placed a hand gently on Akari's shoulder. "You don't have to apologize. And...the only reason I followed you now was because I didn't want you going anywhere again," she said. "Especially with..." Chisato arched an eyebrow and scowled at the unconscious Naoki. "Whoever that is." "Oh, Naoki? He's alright," she said. "And I wasn't running away. We were just...hanging out." Tomoyo, who had now locked Miharu in a sort of hug, gasped and pointed a finger. "Going to a house with a guy at night is not hanging out!" she said, completely disregarding she had recently gone on a thrashing spree with Shou. "It's not like that!" Chisato defended Akari. And then, nervously looking at Akari, "...is it?" It was Akari's turn to turn bright red and she yelped shaking her head frantically. "W-what?? Of course not! I'm not interested in Naoki that way at all!" she said. "You know my type, Chi-chan." "If you mean Akamatsu, that's not much of an improvement," Chisato deadpanned. "E-eh!? I-I didn't name anyone! A-and why would you pinpoint Nagaru!?" Akari said as she stroked her hair nervously. "W-we just hung out a lot, is all!" Chisato sighed. "Uh...guys? I'm a liiiittle busy with a hysteric little girl in panic here!" she said. "O-oh! I can help with that!" she said. Akari would summon her own Persona, a silvery-haired angel in a blindfold, who would then quickly cast a Patra over Miharu. Miharu would stop resisting and slump in Tomoyo's grasp. "Mmm...hmmm? What happened? Why am I so tired?" Miharu murmured. Akari scratched her head. "It's...it's complicated. I'll explain later. But first, I think we should get this guy in a chair." "And break his legs!?" "N-no!" Akari gasped frantically. "Naoki's my friend. You can't hurt him!" "You literally just whacked him with a heavy violin case, Akari." "W-well...I guess you're not wrong there." |
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| Chidarake | May 15 2018, 11:44 AM Post #48 |
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Naoki's suspicions were confirmed when Akari apologized to him, but he continued playing possum. As the girls reunited and began to chat, he was slightly stung at Akari's words, and decided to remember to look up whatever info he could on this 'Nagaru Akamatsu' later. And despite the threat to break his legs, it seemed he was safe... for now, at least. He had already picked up more from the two girls' conversation than he had from trying to pry at Akari all night, so he decided to keep up the act just a bit longer, just in case they let something else slip. If they tried to tie him to that chair, though, sleep time was ending. A welt was forming just above his forehead where the violin case had struck him, with a trickle of blood was running down his face from where a metal hinge had broken the skin, but he ignored the throbbing pain and stayed silent and still. |
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| Miharu Yoshikuni | May 15 2018, 04:04 PM Post #49 |
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Chisato, who had been looking at Naoki with disdain, started when she saw him bleeding. She crouched down. "Not to alarm you, Akari," she said. "But you hit him pretty hard. He's bleeding." Akari gasped in surprise, and an expression of genuine panic and concern ran over her face. "W-what?? Oh no, I'm so sorry!" Chisato raised a hand to reassure her, but then remembered Akari was blind. Ah, the habits you forgot when you and your blind friend didn't see each other for extended periods of time. Refraining, she instead gestured to Miharu to come over. "Yoshikuni-san, can you heal him?" "H-huh? O-oh, right! Of course!" the lilac-haired girl squeaked. Coming over, she knelt down next to Naoki and hovered her mitted hand over the wounded area before casting a Dia spell. Naoki would feel his wound reverting to its non-injured form and the wound itself would close. "U-um...I'm just gonna say healing him might wake him up as we're technically reversing any damage you did." "Better tie him up fast then," Chisato said bluntly. Akari flinched. "Is tying him really necessary? I mean, I'm sure I can calmly talk to him if he comes to." "Nope," Chisato said. "Besides...I promised Tomoyo a little classic interrogation action." "Sweet!" Tomoyo said as she made a fist pump. "Chi-chan!" But it was too late. As Chisato gestured Miharu to step away, Tomoyo drew closer with rope in her hand as Chisato reached for Naoki's wrists to keep them together. |
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| Chidarake | May 15 2018, 04:35 PM Post #50 |
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Naoki had to resist the urge to smirk at Akari's concern over his wound. What did she think would happen after bashing him over the head with something like that? Either way, the dizziness subsided, and after Yoshikuni gave him a free healing, he felt perfectly fine. However, he wasn't learning anything new at this point, and the next few lines meant it was time to give up on the act. "Sorry, I'm not a fan of interrogations," he suddenly blurted out, quickly using his arms to push himself first to his knees and then straight to his feet before hopping back a few paces. "You should really listen to Akari, you know. I'm a reasonable guy, and we can talk things out without needing that," he said, pointing at the rope. "Forgive me for earlier, but I don't take kindly to threats to break my legs or call in snipers, either. Besides, Akari joined me of her own free will. Aren't you the ones basically trying to kidnap her here? Especially after stalking us all this way... And you say I'm the bad guy," he jabbed at Chisato, obviously testing his luck. The open door was still behind him, meaning there was an escape route if he needed it; otherwise he probably wouldn't have added that last bit. For now though, since Akari had decided to slow things down, he figured talking was a better option than running at this point. |
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