[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

[defragment]

The pleasure of using your taste buds if you like mints.

[ lol

Also she's never going to take the hat off unless she has to. Fight her. It kinda feels cozy on her head. ]

If you're looking for the Attendants, you can go into the Velvet Room for that.

[ She's already assuming he's not normal because it's... easy to pick people apart from NPCs by how they act and where they are. ]

[suddenlybees]

Hm, hm~ Mints are good with water, but I'm fresh out of water, so that's a no-go~ But where's this room? Can I give you a mint to escort me there? I also have bandaids and tea bags!

[ He will dig into his bandaid stash for this, that's how interesting a weird room is. His teammates can stay lost a little while longer. ]

[defragment]

[ She almost lets out a laugh at that. ]

It's at the castle, so if you want to walk all the way there, jump down from there.

[ But would she catch him? Maybe. Maybe not. ]

[suddenlybees]

And if I don't want to walk all the way there? Come on, what are my options?

[ He doesn't jump, and he can be just as lazy as Minato if he wants to. ]

[defragment]

You can wait until midnight strikes and find the portal at the bottom of the lake.

[ She's not telling him about the school Dungeon.

Suffer, Kano. ]

[suddenlybees]

[ lmfao he never should have left the castle if it's going to be like this ]

Eh... How unnecessarily complicated!! Can't you just open up the portal here? What was the recipe... lighting, something, something ...heat? pressure?? I forget~

[defragment]

Then you better remember if you want to open a portal right here~

[ Though she thinks only the actual Attendants have the power to open up random portals, even if they suddenly pop up out of nowhere occasionally. ]

[suddenlybees]

Hmm.....

[ Yeah, this isn't something that'll suddenly come to him if he thinks hard enough, but he stops kicking his feet for a moment to dig into his jacket pocket for his phone, and after finding what he needs from it, he turns his screen around to show 45. It's a picture of some scribbles on a notebook, that's presumably some magic symbols of some sort. ]

Something like this?

[ He just sort of holds it up next to his face, he doesn't hold it any closer for her to see or anything. ]

Lightning, and... hm... It's drawn kinda wonky, so think of it like the cursive form of it?

[defragment]

[ Your brick nokia screen is hard to see when you're sitting on top of a sloped roof, Kano. Well, not like it matters to 45 that much anyway. ]

Why are you asking me?

[suddenlybees]

He~h... So you don't know this sort of basic thing, huh? Don't mind it, it's okay, it's okay~

[ He would pat her on the head if he were down there, but he's not so the phone gets slipped back into his pocket and he resumes kicking at the air. ]

Guess we got no choice but to take a field trip back to the forest!

[defragment]

[ Her basic thing is firing her gun at your face, but that's fine, Kano. :) ]

Hope you're offering something better than mints for my escort service.

[suddenlybees]

[ Wow, who's going to be the first to kill Kano, 45, Terry, or Ellie?? ]

Hm~ If you want something, you're gonna have to request it. No point in showing my hand, right? We'd be here all day~

[ Nobody else needs to know he carries around old socks unless absolutely necessary, his things are nobody else's business. ]

[defragment]

[ Guess we're all just gunning for a Kano death now. ]

h1000.

[ Cheap, right? ]

[suddenlybees]

[ Cheap, but not when you're broke. ]

And what's the conversion rate to euros?

[ He has a lot of money!!!! That he got illegally but shh. Anyways, he can't access his bank account so too bad either way ]

[defragment]

They don't take euros here, so that's useless money that I won't take.

[ I mean... he can go steal some from a NPC. ]

[suddenlybees]

Yeah, but if I have the conversion rate, I can offer something of equal or more value, right?

[ Please be less than the price of two popsicles. ]

[defragment]

[ Kano looks so pitiful... but you know what. 45 will budge this time around. He must be new. No one has money when they get here. He looks like he could be bear food in 5 seconds. ]

Two corn dogs. Good enough for you?

[suddenlybees]

[ He would be bear food in less, tbh, and the only reason he wasn't eaten back in the castle is probably because Ellie was there to save his ass. ]

Whoa, I haven't had corn dogs in a long time! The kind with the weird sweet breading? I've got some popsicle sticks, if I'm allowed to make multiple payments?? They come with fun jokes and everything~!

[ He will let go of two popsicle sticks for now, and come up with the actual food later... ]

[defragment]

I only take full payments up front.

[ lmao Kano... 45 is having none of that "pay later" stuff. Either way, she could go for a walk, but Kano probably doesn't care about disappointing her. ]

Just get down from there. You'll owe me later.

[suddenlybees]

[ Kano's used to disappointing people, so what's one more? He'll be on the lookout for corn dogs, though, however improbably they'll be around here. ]

An IOU, huh? Yep, those are the best forms of payment, in the end~ One small favor, no questions asked, you got it!!

[ A dangerous sort of promise... but whatever. Kano stands and walks along the gutter, hopping down onto the dumpster next to the building and then onto the ground, because he's not going to jump off a roof without his illusions hiding the messy fall it would otherwise be. ]

[defragment]

[ Just go to that konbini some time when you get your money, Kano. ]

It's this way. People go to the castle often from what I've seen, so there's a preferred path they take.

[ Like how grass is squished down from being stepped on too much. ]

[suddenlybees]

[ The moment Kano gets his illusions back, he is turning to a life of crime. He'll steal 45 her two hot dogs.

Kano follows after 45, looking around at the trees and the sky more than the ground— he never really liked forests, so he got out of this place as soon as he could, so it sucks that people apparently travel through here a lot and he might have to too. ]

What sort of fun stuff's at the castle? Seemed deserted when we were there before!

[defragment]

Stray animals and a portal. That's about it.

[ He can find the stone exit door himself and play around with the throne. Feel like you have the power and all that jazz. ]

I'm surprised you missed it when you were there.

[suddenlybees]

[ Stray animals and a portal... ]

Aah, that shiny blue portal? Nah, I saw it! Threw some rocks through it and nothing really changed, so I decided it's safe enough to leave for now.

[defragment]

Well, that's the portal you'll be going through to see who you described. It's nothing dangerous as long as you don't mind sponsored store jingles.

[ She'll start leading the way and looks back every now and then to make sure Kano is following. ]