× || Gaining Confidence !

A cat or three was common enough in Nayra’s path that she’d begun carrying treats for them. Sometimes in exchange for being able to pet them, sometimes just because she felt like it. Still… she tilted her head. Had she ever seen this specific cat before? 

Might be a stray who just found the neighbourhood. 

Her steps slowed to a stop. Yep, definitely a new cat. She fumbled through her purse but, when she looked up, the cat began… shifting? Changing? It was a strange sight. One second, she was looking at a cat, the next some… random guy appeared. 

And she looked just a bit silly with a cat treat in hand while staring at him. Especially when their eyes met. 

When strolling through this neighborhood, he thought there was no one in sight... So, he transformed back into his humanoid form. Then... in the corner of his eye-"?!?" He sees someone. Fully turning around, it's a girl, holding a cat treat... "A....Ah..."

He begins sweating nervously. Oh... she definitely saw that. How in the world would he be able to come up with an excuse? There was simply no way he could explain how he went to looking like a black cat to a "human"...!! "U...Um...." He nervously takes a step back. She won't scream or call him a monster....will she? If so, he'll be ready to quickly bolt... But for now, he says:

"H.... Hello.... Ah, erm: p....pls disregard what you just saw. Th-That was... Um...."

"It's true. I... cannot remember anything." With the precision of a long-trained bowman, the arrow was drawn and then loosed, flying gracefully towards a distant target.

-Such was the reality he now explained after running into another bowman in the woods. No better way to exchange words than to do so over exercise, he found.

"I see..." He hums, as he watches the other's arrow hit the target right on the mark. He looked even more of a natural at it than he was! He was impressed....

As he continues to listen, Shuichi sets his eyes on a target that's situated on a higher part of a tall tree. Once he was fully locked on, he shoots his arrow and hits it dead in the center. "That's very interesting. Despite not having memory of how you became so good at handling different weapons, the ability to still comes so natural to you. That's amazing....."

Still, it probably didn't feel good to be able to recall anything about his past. And of course, even if Shuichi would want to help, he'd have no idea how.... "Yeah.... how can you, if you don't even a starting point you could use to search. I'm sorry about that... but, maybe... in due time, you may possibly find someone... or someplace, that knows you, you think? For you to be able to use so many different kinds of weapons, you must have done something in your life that involved a lot of fighting, yes? Surely, someone out there might know about you, I hope..."

I'll ignore the rules laid out by somebody else And break through this thorny path I keep believing in my own answers, I'm not taking orders from anybody.

----- RULES | ASK | ABOUT | OTHER BLOGS ------

-------------------------------------------- Guess who it is again with another fucking blog!!!! It's Pie!!! This time its Adachi *VINE BOOM* Tohru, from Persona 4/Persona 4 Golden. My stupid, disgusting baby girl. If you're interested in interacting, please like and reblog!!! I follow back from my main blog: @whimsical-mercy

"Hm? Ah-" Shuichi's eyes look towards the seagull Korekiyo is talking about. Indeed, it was staring hard at the rocky road ice cream Shuichi was enjoying, which makes him sweat nervously!!

"O-Oh god. You're right. Thanks for the heads up, because a seagull swiping my food is definitely the kind of thing that would happen to me."

And has!!! He'll still never forgive that one seagull that swooped in and stole his ebi katsu sando a couple of years ago..... "U-Um, I think I heard once that if you stare at a seagull right back, it'll eventually go away, right? Well, that's what I'll do: I'm not letting it have my ice cream!" And so, he's staring right back at it!! Let's see who'll be stealing any food, now, he thinks to himself...!

Oh.

Oh.

Shuichi is serious.

He's actually going to try to win a staring contest with a bird.

"Who did you hear this from?" Korekiyo was no zoologist; maybe he was missing something-- however, he could not think of a singular animal that would react with anything other than hostility when met with direct eye contact.

"... The last time I let a bird look me directly in the eyes, it bit my eyelid," he warns as he looks over the beach for a piece of driftwood. He keeps his eyes on the detective and the thief of a bird as he slowly steps away, quickly remembering how much he detests the feel of sand.

"Eh?!" He shoots a panicked ook at Korekiyo. "Am I actually just making it worse right now, th-then?!" He very quickly looks back at that accursed bird. Why did it feel like its stare only got more intense...!

"!" Shuichi can see out of the corner of his eye of Korekiyo waving that driftwood. "L-Let's hope that works better!"

Except... Unless he's imagining it... The seagull looks even angrier and looks like it's kind of inching closer...!!!! "K-Kiyo, um... It's not getting closer...is it?!"

"More importantly, that money is for you and my rent-- I don't know what it's like having a kid, but sheesh...Akihiko keeps messaging about you." And those messages? It was about Shuichi's clothes. Probably still pissed about the old man comment he made...

Letting Tohru live off cheap, unhealthy meals and no extra money for himself? No way Akihko was going to allow that. He'd never allow the same for Shuichi and with him now living with his younger uncle... he wanted his younger cousin to also have some extra for himself, too, on top of using it to care for Shuichi!

"C-Corporate wage slave...?" Is that what he thinks of his fashion choice? He just thought they look nice to him and feel nice to wear, personally... "But um, s-sure!! We can do that, then, if you think I need it..."

Anyone who knows Shuichi knows his sense of style is more on the 'plain' side.... kind of guy who never really likes to stand out. Not that he doesn't like the emo style-after all, lots of people tend to joke he has 'emo bangs', not that he knows what that means-but... would he look good in such 'edgy' clothes? "Ah, I suppose you can say that. I think it looks good on them. But um, you think so? I often don't wear, um... "Flashier" clothes like that. I guess it wouldn't hurt to try dressing more like that, too..."

"You think I care about that? I'm constantly reminded how much of a failure I am around you. You know what? My parents came to visit-- And they told me 'If I was more like Akihiko, I wouldn't be in a detention center!'"

He would've done the same to his own parents if he hadn't been caught! The world was truly shit, wasn't it?

"Even at my lowest, I'm still being compared to you!"

Tohru had snapped. His yelling was muffled behind the glass window, but he was seething. He didn't care--- At least Akihiko knew how he felt. He stood up and slammed his hands on the desk.... Just letting it all out.

"Oh Tohru! Study hard! Then you'll be successful like Akihiko! Get a good job and climb the ranks! I did, and one fucking small mistake and I get demoted! I have had enough of hearing that bullshit all my life!"

For a quick moment, his eyes glow faint yellow before reverting back to it's orginal black colour. But he points at the older detective from behind the window.

He gazes to the side... It was no wonder Tohru seemed even more emotionally charged now. Honestly.. he didn't like it: constantly being used as an example by his younger cousin's parents to remind him how much of a disappointment, a failure, they see him as. Even then, at Tohru's lowest, they still did the same thing that they know angers him to no end. It disgusted him...but... he knows he is the last person Tohru wants any comfort or sympathy from.

"......" His face contorts. Yet, he goes quiet again as the other continues venting and letting his anger out. But...for a second... ("....?") Did Tohru's eyes... go yellow? No, he had to imagine that. Maybe it was the lighting messing with his vision... Either way, the unparalleled hatred and anger in his eyes towards him, was very much real. Of course he'd want to, or tried to, cut ties with him. But that was never possible: not with how much not just him, but Shuichi and Yuki, also kept being involved in Tohru's life, too. After all, in the Saihara Family, they see everyone as equals.. never once, did they look down on him like his parents did. Not even Akihiko, the star of the family: never boasted about his accomplishments, never made Tohru feel lesser than him... not any of that. He just... saw his younger cousin as equally capable of finding his own success in life, too. At least...before everything went downhill for him..

"I never knew... your hatred of me simmered this deeply. Of course, I... always had a feeling that maybe there was always deeper resentment against me that you didn't outwardly show. Maybe I should have just... asked you to be more honest with me about this from the start." Maybe then...could he have went about things better? Maybe found a way to actually make it up to him? But, well: he supposes it's too late for that..... "Hey, answer me this: Yuki, and Shuichi... you don't hate them, too... do you?" Akihiko could accept being hated. But what he didn't want, most of all: is for Tohru to have these same feelings towards his wife and nephew...

"If you do... direct it all towards me, instead. I'm the one... who caused you to feel like this. That was used as a constant reminder by your parents what they feel you "could have" been. I can say for certain... even after all this... those two still love you. Same here: you can despise me with all your heart, but.... I don't hate you, either. But still, I hope that... there were times that they could bring some happiness in your life."

questions only

"You would never understand."

Akihiko was the last person he wanted to see. He was one of the people he despised the most. Constantly being compared to how great he was compared to Tohru.... Well-liked, married, well off... Everything he was not. He worked hard only to get demoted to the sticks with a low crime rate-- It was boring. Tohru was destined for greatness. But he could easily be replaced.

"I never liked you. You were too dense to understand that.... Constantly being compared to you. I've gotten sick of it. I cut ties with my own family only for you to get your nosey ass into my business. I thought I could finally get rid of you."

Seeing Akihiko made his blood boil.

Sure, Akihiko never looked down on Tohru, nor was he ever the arrogant type, but... perhaps in a way, that only made it sting more towards the other? That the man he hated so much, was always trying to be so nice of him? Regardless... Akihiko is more than aware of how much he doesn't understand him; how he could never understand the things Tohru went through. He always had a feeling that deep down, there was hidden resentment Tohru had towards him; and now... he was hearing it all in full. All of the bittnerness, resentment, and hatred the other has always had towards him.

"............." And yet, as he closes his eyes, Akihiko silently listens. He lets him vent it all out. Of course... even he can't deny the stinging feeling of knowing this is how Tohru always felt about him, but he completely expected that. He didn't blame him one bit for feeling this way. After all, he was everything Tohru could never have. He was the one that the other's parents would always sing their praises about. Of course he would hate him!

"....I see." He says, after a long pause. "You're right: I could never understand. We grew up in two completely different lives. After I went to college, I saw you even less. And even afterwards...my life got a lot busier. I know... I missed a lot of what you were going through in your own life at the time." Like when Tohru was sent to Inaba.... and all the events that occurred, leading up to now. He opens his eyes again. "...I always did regret not reaching out to you more. Especially knowing you weren't in contact with your immediate family any more. Yes, I know it might have been naive of me, but... I thought, maybe I could try reaching out to you more... try rekindling the bond that we had in our younger years. Or, at least... try forming a proper one. But... I see now that in doing so, it caused you more pain. With all things considered...and what I inadvertently made you go through, because of how much you would get compared to me... I can see why you feel that way. I know an apology fixes nothing, but... I'm sorry."

Certain indulgent thoughts were thrown out the window when he found out he was rooming with Shuichi. Jeez, even Akihiko still thinks of him as his kid cousin... He was only here since Dojima insisted. He hasn't even taken any days off since they started in Inaba. So he was stuck here... At least he wasn't working.

The thing is... This was a FAMILY vacation.

Akihiko even got the three of them matching Aloha shirts-- How embarrassing. Even forced him to wear it out... His was a dark red, in contrast of his gray swim trunks.. And he insisted he wore it out today for their dinner. But there was some time to kill, a walk along the beach should cool his head. And Yuki decided to join him....At least she was more tolerable than Akihiko.

That, and she's sure Shuichi would someone closer to his age range, even if Tohru's around 11 years older than him, to talk to. When he asks about a bar, she tilts her head. "Um, I think one of the restaurants in the hotel has one... but you want to drink already? It's still pretty bright out for that, don't you think...?"

She figured he would have a drink at wherever they all will have dinner together later at... Either way, she has a feeling that if she lets him go now, he won't leave out there for a while... "Come, come, I don't think you need that right now. Plus, I want to take a stroll with you! I won't let you escape that easily, mister." She laughs softly before she links one of her arms around his. Loose enough when he can move away if he doesn't like that, but it like her way of 'locking' him in so he can't run off! Playfully so, of course.