soul_campaign | [ 13 | May 11th, Afternoon

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[ 13 | May 11th, Afternoon | Video ]

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['Keep calm'... that's what the video said. But he's anything -but- calm. With a fist slamming down on the counter, he finally lets it sink in. His jaw's tight and his eyes are steely.]

Some son of a bitch took Naoto!

[Then he turns his head away.]

And whoever did it must've taken Yako-san and Cupid, too. Damn it...! How did-!?

[He's at a loss. He's searched every part of Death City that he knew, but nothing turned up. He seems to have forgotten he was recording then, as his fists are balled his knuckles are turning a little white.]

Why the hell didn't I offer to walk with her to work...!?

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When and where?

Park. Right now. Wanna go back over the route she walked. I gotta find SOMETHING...

I will see you there, then.

Oh, and please. I know that emotions are running high, 8ut do not leave the park until I get there.

[Which is why she's going to start powerwalking over...]

OK.

[Powerwalk! Powerwalk for your life!!]

[So, Kanji, did you know that trolls sweat in their color? Well, if you don't you'll see a very blue-faced Aramea walking over once she finally gets there.

She must have decided walking was too slow and started sprinting instead...

So, after taking a moment to catch her breath, she starts looking around -- mostly in the training area -- to see if she can spot Kanji.]

[He learns new things about trolls all the time, so it'll bring him just a moment's pause when he first sees her, if only because he remembers her blood's that color and he didn't sweat red in that regard.]

Sup-- Sh-shit, you okay?

Huh? [She looks up, perspiring greatly.]

Yeah, I'm fine. Why?

[Wow... she sweats in blue, too? Weird. Kanji reaches into his jacket and tugs the handkerchief tucked into one of the inner pockets, offering it to her.]

Here. Y'didn't need to sprint, ya know!

[She reaches for it? It's good to be gracious about gifts.]

Oh, well.

I didn't want to keep you waiting.

[Or to do anything dumb...]

D-don't worry about it. Had to remember what way we took gettin' outta the park.

[With that, he extended an arm and pointed down a nearby street.]

Anyway... I was standing here, and after we talked a bit, she went down that way. Always takes that way since it goes right to the Agency on foot.

[He lowered his arm.]

Once this shit's over, she's getting a ride to work until further notice, damn it! The one day I leave my bike at home...

That sounds like a plan of action. [Aranea nodded.]

Though, it would be more than a little obtrusive if the reason for doing it would be for your benefit and not Naoto's. She's an autonomous person, too, you know.

[She sees that he has the best of intentions, but he also needs to be open and honest with himself how he is feeling. Obfuscating his anxieties will only cause him to become more discomfort with leaving her anywhere.]

So, we know her route and her style. She prefers efficiency. What's the most efficient way to get to the Agency from here?

[Which was part of why she insisted on heading in herself on foot. It really did get her into trouble a lot, though...]

There's a lotta paths that head to the Agency, but this one's most direct. Less traffic, so the crosswalks tend to stay green so she ain't late for work.

If shit gets heavy, there's always duckin' into an alley, and they kinda connect, too. I've been takin' those lately to get around the stupid riots.

Sounds like we've got our work cut out for us, then.

[Did not like the idea of Naoto going by herself down the alleys, though...]

[Welcome to his world of absolutely fretting over the ones he cares about. The town gets dangerous, and the riots and kidnappings only added to it.]

If it were easy, everybody'd be home by now.

You remember the kinda stuff she wears, right? Maybe a button popped off in the struggle or somethin'... a clue that might be lyin' around somewhere on the way!

I've seen her a couple times, though she seemed to maintain a professional distance. I would probably recognize her hat, but something as specific as a button might be a little too much detail for me yet.

[She notices Kanji's jacket.]

Unless they look like these?

[Not an impossibility, given that they were both in the Agency and seem to know each other.]

Professional's a pretty good word to describe her.

[Blink. He looked down and inspected his own buttons.]

Hey, yeah... they do look pretty similar! Pretty simple, brass.

[Aranea always had a way with words. It made intolerable individuals slightly less intolerable.]

Well, with that as a guide, I think I have a pretty good idea of what we are looking for.

Oh, and if you were worried. [Aranea lifted up a small sword, which she was hiding behind her back.] I am not unarmed.

Now, shall we?

[Now, that... that just had him blinking at her for a moment. How the hell did he not notice that sword before?]

Good. I got my Meister Ability and the left and right. Between us, nobody's gonna start up any trouble.

[But he was all set to go. Taking a moment to crack his knuckles, he proceeded to retracing the detective's steps.]

[Aranea, for her part, was letting Kanji take point and watching his rear. Half of the time she spent looking for scraps and objects that might be important, while the other half she kept her eyes and ears out for anything that might try to jump her or Kanji. For the moment, it seemed like things were quiet. Though that was subject to change any second.

Most of what she saw wasn't important, either. Discarded trash, mostly. A few scraps of paper or shattered pieces of glass.]

Somebody really ought to clean this mess up. [She half-grinned.]

[That was something that worried him most of all. He'd been jumped on more than a few occasions, and thugs that knew him had attacked Naoto before. As his stomach tightened into a knot, he had to wonder if they decided to rank themselves up to kidnapping, and were making good on that 'returning her in pieces' threat--

No. No. Those assholes were still behind bars right now. Yet it still made his heart race uncomfortably, enough that maybe he was staring at a spot on the ground for too long. But Aranea's voice snapped him out of it, and he played it off with a snort.]

Heh... Riots ain't exactly a tidy outfit. For people who love their city so damn much, they should probably take a little better care of it!

[He scratched the back of is head, but sighed when he saw something that might look close to something that may have come off Naoto's outfit, but was in fact some blue scrap of rubbish. No... it wasn't this light of a blue. It was a deep one, like one of those clear skies at night. ...Tch. Maybe Teddie was right- he did have the heart of a poetic little girl.]

Shit... y'know how many heads I knocked together back home for catchin' people littering? I never thought to count 'em all, but it'd probably be some outrageous number.

[Aranea smiled, not at all surprised by the young man's answer. True, he was crude and perhaps a bit rough, but from seeing him work and live she could tell that he never fought to cause harm, only to protect or defend. It was a good, strong quality to have. Her only worry was that temper...]

It doesn't seem right, does it? [Aranea mused, bringing her attention to the scrap of trash that caught Kanji's attention.] To get this caught up as though we were the agitators, while also showing just as little regard for their own property.

If I didn't know better, I would say that they may not be from here at all.

[A possibility. Perhaps. One of the many considerations she saw that could possibly bring about this scenario.]

The minute you wanna make a statement's the minute a lotta people stop givin' a shit about the thing they wanna protect. They end up all wrapped up in the fight instead.

[He brushed his hand off his jeans and stood, stepping toward an alleyway and taking the steps down to have a peek.]

Wouldn't surprise me if they weren't even from here. 's all desert for miles around the city... probably came in when the island crashed and we called outside help to keep the refugees fed and get the last of that emitter shit removed, make sure those Black Clowns ain't hangin' around.

That's quite the astute observation. [Hey, credit is owed where credit is due.]

[The troll followed, turning to face her back to look down both sides of the street to make sure that nobody was tailing them.]

Black Clowns? Don't you mean the Black Witches?

[New information is always good, too.]

Never heard of Black Witches, but the black clowns're these monsters made of that black blood of madness stuff they got on hand. Like... dolls that can kill you or somethin'.

They make you crazy just by standing near 'em, and they know it, try to get in your face and cut you to pieces while you're seeing things or clawin' off your own face. It's shit like that that makes me hate this goddamn place.

I don't doubt they'll throw 'em at us again eventually.

[Despite herself, she couldn't help but be fascinated.] Living embodiments of madness manifesting as clowns. Oh, how interesting. I wonder why clowns, however? Though bards are known for their mercurial nature, I have never found them in general to be particularly terrifying.

[She thought about it some more and frowned.] Though I cannot believe that any being created in such a way would possess any kind of existence that wasn't mired in unspeakable agony. Though, perhaps when one is of madness, the order around it may seem foreign and hostile? It's an interesting phenomenon and though I do not look forward to seeing it specifically, I couldn't help but be curious were I ever were to encounter one.

[She overlooked a pile of debris piled next to a trash dumpster.] Did you see this, over here?

[ 13 | May 11th, Afternoon | Video ]

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