[open] wow i hate thinking up titles so i'm not going to

[suddenlybees]

i. 9/28, castle/shrine
[ Man, he knew that portal was no good— he should've just drawn it himself instead of relying on his team members, and now he's got to go find them, wherever the hell they ended up. Kano had come to inside some battered old castle, but with nobody else around, he takes his time looking around, frowning when he realizes that being in this place somehow nullifies his powers; he isn't surprised, but it's still annoying, him having to roll down his sleeves to hide the cuts and bruises on his arms and hands, and flip the hood over his head because he is also one of those unreasonable people who wears hoodies when it's still hot out. There's a bearded dragon hanging around behind his neck, tail flopped over one shoulder and head poking out the other side.

The blue door to the Velvet Room is the main point of interest here, but he simply makes a note of it and moves along, steps slow and silent, head turning and eyes darting around at the slightest sound. Like this, he eventually makes his way to the shrine, climbing the steps two at a time.

Huh.

He is absolutely that person who sees a box full of shiny stones and tries to fish one out. He's going to stuff these into his infinite pockets if he can get away with it. This should be alright, right? In return, he pulls a couple of ketchup packets out of his pockets and drops it into the box. ]

ii. 9/28, town
[ He really does stand out in town, Kano realizes, seeing all the townspeople and being a little unnerved by the lack of diversity compared to his school back in France, or even Canada. But the nice thing is that they don't even give him a second glance as he walks through town with a baseball cap on with as much hair as he can stuffed under it, hood flipped up to cover the hat and provide more shadow to hide his face, and wearing sunglasses over bright red eyes he can't otherwise hide.

Still, having people's eyes on him is never a comfortable feeling no matter how brief, so he eventually takes refuge on top of one of the buildings in the shopping district, perched at the edge of the gently sloped roof as he surveys the street below and stares pointedly at the signs on the street and storefronts without actually reading them. Just staring. His phone is out, and every few seconds he idly taps the screen, looking around for people who look at least a little out of place like he is. ]

Hey! Hey, pssstt!

[ He waves you closer to the building from where he sits on the roof, legs crossed at the ankles and lightly swinging. The bearded dragon sitting in his lap lifts its head and blinks blearily down at you. Come here. ]

There's a desk mint in it for you if you help me out~ How 'bout it?

iii. 9/29-10/2; lockdown
[ He hasn't slept in days. Not since he got here, and especially not at night when those things come out and Kano's training is to avoid them, watching and learning as much as he can before taking action. The monsters— the Outland Mists— crawl their way inside some of the houses, but they never get up to the rooftops where Kano sits, so it's been a good place to keep watch and see what's going on.

From what he can tell, the Mists appear for one hour a night, when the world is overcome by the Blight and turns dark. The Mists originate from the lake, but there are Tamers who also go into the lake to supposedly eradicate the Mists. If that's the case, they're not doing a very good job, because night after night, the numbers don't decrease in the slightest.

But by watching, he's learned that the little charms the Tamers have contain runes that call their Familiars to them, and it really is a stroke of luck that Kano had founds one abandoned in that castle back there. He's not a Tamer, but he tried it out, holding the charm and focusing on it, but no being suddenly comes out to greet him. Instead of the light that emanates when people summon their Personas, the space around Kano becomes darker, shrouding him in shadow and the faintest hissing noise. Disappointing, but not surprising. Like that, he strolls off towards the lake to intercept the next person about to take the plunge, footsteps light and hard to catch, at odds with his voice, loud and cheery. ]

Heeeeeyy! Wait up, wait up~

[ It's a voice that immediately attracts the attention of every Shadow in the area, and it's a voice that speaks in English instead of Japanese because he assumes this is what most Tamers would speak. ]

I'm looking for the Herald! Do you know? Is it down there?

Comments

iii. 9/29

[overstrain]

[ Terry ditched his glasses at home, since going to the Dungeon would probably be bad with them, but it's not like he's blind. It's fine. Things are just a little blurry. No big deal. He can still see well enough.

So when Kano calls out in a loud voice that attracts all those Shadows in the vicinity, Terry isn't sure which one to comment on first--his seemingly lack of awareness or the fact that he spoke in English. Either way, he gets out Vassago and he's working on trampling those Shadows as Terry goes to approach Kano, even if he's... covered in the shadows... what the heck is this. There's so much he wants to say. ]

< There's nothing like that here. >

[ Of course he'll speak English right back at him, but ??? ]

[suddenlybees]

Huh, really? That's kinda disappointing!

[ He doesn't lower his voice at all, but neither does he react to seeing Vassago come out and lay waste on the Mists, simply stuffing his hands into his pocket and bouncing on the balls of his feet a little. ]

In that case, what are you hunting?

[overstrain]

< Not hunting anything in particular... >

[ Since he's not picky about the loot drops, it passes the truth barrier.

Well, it's fine. This is fine. If Kano's loud voice draws all the attention of Shadows, he won't have to go into the lake this time and he can just kill stuff from where he stands. Good enough for him.

He kicks a Shadow back into the lake though. Begone, you wispy thing. ]

< This isn't really for hunting. Are you new to the whole thing? Haven't seen you around. >

[suddenlybees]

Hm, hm~

[ What can he say? He's been at it for four years now, but he's still a student at the end of all things, still being made to sit through technical classes and learning about the Mists instead of being out there and fighting them off. Being sent out into the Outlands like this is a rare occasion, so the amount of experience Kano has with fighting anything can be counted on one hand. ]

Yep, that's right! It's one of my first missions, so it'd be great if you could lend me a hand~ What sorta tips do you have for me? Come on, come on, spill all your secrets~

[overstrain]

[ Terry's starting to think Kano has an interesting choice of words there. Hunting? Missions? He guesses he probably had a mission from the Attendants or something, but "missions" sound so serious.

...

Well, it's not his place to be picky about wording. ]

< What's your mission then? I need to know that first, don't I? >

[suddenlybees]

[ Everything is serious in Hirajiro, Terry, maybe not taking things seriously is why y'all are dying ]

Nope! No can do~ It's top secret classified information~!!

[ That Terry can just pull out of his head, but Kano doesn't know that. ]

Can't give you any details, but I'm looking for an Outlands creature. If you're not hunting it, that means I'm not sniping your kill from you, right? No competition here! We're on the same side!

[overstrain]

[ ... ... ...

Maybe Kano's a little like Wyatt. Maybe he's LARPing to cope with the new situation? For some reason, he gives off a totally different vibe than when Wyatt did it. Maybe he's just that much into it? Something about immersion. ]

< I guess not...? What does the creature look like? You can find bird-like monsters in the school at midnight and you can find stuff like eels, wolves, slippers with eyes, bipedal deer, bears, horses, and an abomination in the lake. >

ii. 9/28

[defragment]

[ Yeah, she really sticks out, still forever wearing the blue Attendant uniform and all with the hat. She looks up when Kano tries to get her attention and wow. This guy is so dark. If she didn't know any better, she'd think it's some kind of shabby disguise. ]

What do you want, shady-looking kid?

[ Despite her words, she's smiling up at him, a little intrigued by how the situation ended up. ]

I might or might not take up on the offer depending on what it is~

[suddenlybees]

Ohh, most people don't say that to my face!!

[ But they do think it. Kano grins down at her, making no effort to quiet his laughter and also making no motion to get down from the roof. He just kicks his feet a little, swinging them in the air below the gutters. ]

Anyways... A desk mint is a mint taken off a desk~!! So, what you do say? Gonna help me out?

[ That is what she's asking about, right? Well, there you have it. ]

[defragment]

I figured as much. So, Let's hear it.

[ She needs no mint, but she's curious as to what he wants. ]

[suddenlybees]

I'm looking for some people, actually! Some guys and gals in uniform, little bowties and everything, complete with a stupid hat~ Kinda like yours, actually!

[ It's a really stupid hat and it's no wonder neither of the other Attendants wear theirs. ]

I got four mints, one for each head you bring me! Preferably with the rest of the body still attached~

[defragment]

Sorry, but any assassination jobs require much more in payment than just four mints.

[ At least she can say this with a straight face, because she's done them and said the exact same words before. Humans? Looking after their well-being? What a crock of shit. ]

Feel free to ask me again once you have something more valuable.

[suddenlybees]

He~h, expensive services, huh? Four mints is my highest offer, so it's too bad~

[ All he has is a bag of trash on him lmfao nothing 45 would find very interesting if she isn't going to be swayed by melty minty goodness. ]

What can I buy with four mints?

i

[elliexir]

[ arriving at the same castle, ellie wanders around with caution. oh great, what bullshit did she land into now? maybe cutting through that alleyway wasn't the best idea because the next thing she knows, she wakes up in some weird castle in the middle of nowhere. she walks, looking everywhere but in front of her so when she turns the corner and nearly bumps straight into kano, she jumps back with a loud yelp. ]

Jesus--!

[ maybe it's slightly overdramatic, but she was genuinely scared and her hand goes to her chest. ]

You scared the crap out of me.

[suddenlybees]

[ Be glad that Kano's not the stab on sight sort of person, but he does also jump back to put some distance between him and Ellie, and then closes the gap again when he sees it's her. ]

Hey, hey, hey! What're you doing here?! I already smuggled one kid in, I'm going to get in trouble if there's two of you!!

[ He doesn't sound mad, though, and Nightmare pokes her head out from her little hammock in Kano's hood to blink over at Ellie. ]

[elliexir]

Psh, as if trouble ever stopped you from doing anything.

[ she waves him off and oh, hi, nightmare! you're a sight for sore eyes. when kano visited her, did he ever bring nightmare, maybe not because animals through customs are a pain but then again... this is kano. ]

But I could say that for you too. What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were back in France or whatever.

[ blah blah timelines whatever ]

[suddenlybees]

[ Kano probably disguised Nightmare as a travel pillow and brought her along because fuck customs.

Anyways, Kano just laughs, because yeah, he gets it. ]

Just 'cause I disappeared to go class for two days, that means I must be skipping off back to France?? But nah, it's a mission, Ellie! A mission~ Looks kinda boring, though... Last time I got to go to Scotland! I almost died!

[elliexir]

A mission?

[ she looks around. also that comment about kano almost dying totally goes past her because kano always exaggerates so she's sure that he's just exaggerating again lmfao ]

What the hell? So they just dumped us here? Man, this school sucks.

[suddenlybees]

[ That's fair; Kano's almost dying every other day, and most of the time it's his own doing anyways. He looks around the castle a bit, but there's no sounds of chatter or anything he'd expect from a group of kids being taken out for a field trip, so it's pretty weird it's just the two of them. ]

Yep, sounds like something the school would do!! But really, what's new? C'mon, we might as well play around until somebody drags us away~ Race you to the top of the castle?

the invisible wc, 9/30

[overstrain]

[ When Terry came back before the lockdown had actually ended, he saw that the doorknob had gone missing. He went to the store the following morning and learned to fix it himself. Though, it's pretty strange. Of all the thievery he's dealt with, they never stole a doorknob. They either broke it on the spot or lockpicked it. This was new.

Anyway, he has a lot of experience with burglars, so he decided that on the upcoming night, he'd pretend to leave and then sneak back into his own house from the back without letting anyone see.

Terry would use the serrated knife that he received, but he doesn't want to charm the burglar. So he just has his regular kitchen knife that he often keeps sharpened throughout so much use. He's not using the scissors either. He doesn't want to be reminded of his original right now.

He's standing very close to the front door while inside the house, waiting... waiting... ]

[suddenlybees]

[ So this is where Kano will be murdered in cold blood.

The doorknob is safely within the depths of his infinite pocket, along with anything else he may or may not have pilfered from the house while he had access. There were some people sleeping on the couch in the living room, but he's quiet enough not to wake them— he's practiced in that, out of necessity, and it serves him well in times like these.

He's quiet tonight, too, walking up to the house. A little shuffle in front of the door, and he sidles over towards the window to see if he can peek in. He was sure last night that nobody was awake, since Terry had taken him in, but no good thief tries to steal doorknobs while somebody might be awake. ]

[overstrain]

[ Of course, Terry had taken care of those things in preparation. Some windows have curtains over them now, and from the windows that don't, it shows the sleeping Hibiki zombie on the sleeping bag as usual and Rei's empty room. He would have gotten a curtain for Rei's room first, but since she hasn't been using her room lately, Terry figured it would have been fine if it went without a curtain for a while longer. He's still saving money. Sorry, imouto.

He smells someone outside the house and it sure smells familiar... ]

[suddenlybees]

[ Kano probably smells like a strange mix of blood and mint, two very strong smells on their own and is noticeable even normal people if he lets them get close enough. Sorry. It's kind of gross.

It sure is a big house, though. Kano can't quite get a grasp on how many people actually live here, judging by the empty rooms and that one guy sleeping on the couch, but he hasn't gotten to see Kido yet. Despite his denial the day before, he recognizes the name, but his image of the girl is still grumpy little Tsubomi and he has no idea what she'd look like now. He's pretty sure she'd punch him in the face if he was caught peeping, though, so he pulls away and comes back around the house and gets to work on the doorknob. It'll only take him a few minutes, if Terry gives him that much time. ]

[overstrain]

[ He's used to smelling blood since he has to drink it all the time, but the mint scent is so strong it makes him wince a little, but at least he can tell that the burglar is here. As soon as the one of the screws on the doorknob is halfway loose, Terry immediately opens the door, since the doorknob is still usable at that state and grabs onto Kano's collar with the kitchen knife pointed at his face. ]

Oh.

[ It's just Kano. He doesn't withdraw the hand with the knife though. His look is pretty cold compared to the other day. ]

Why are you here? Trying to steal my doorknob again...? Did you want to rob my house?

[suddenlybees]

[ Just Kano... The surprise shows on Kano's face, but it isn't one of fear— it's amusement, and he snickers a little, hanging there in front of Terry by the collar. Ahh, he's been caught, oh no. ]

Hi, hello~! Can you come out to play?