PERSONA

   AKIRA had been outed. funnily enough, by the same person whose face had been ( embarrassingly ) plastered across streets he roamed frequently at one point in time. he’d recalled seeing fans within his school express genuine enthusiasm towards her performances, with many whom would’ve jumped at a chance of having such an impromptu meeting. for someone who kept a relatively unshakable calm, he found himself at a loss of words.

    ‘ no, i… ’ 

    ‘ i spent a semester in shibuya. during that time, i saw your face often for a show you were doing. you’re a pretty recognizable face. i wouldn’t have expected to meet you here, of all places. ’

『 Show? 』

りせちー { She’s done plenty of shows, concerts... movies in her life time, she’s been in t.v since younger age but... she didn’t really bother pestering as to which exact advertise he had come across. 

『 Pretty random huh? An idol like me stuck in this city. It’s not even the first time so I don’t stress about it all that much... 』

And back with the shop manager, taking another bite of the Popsicle the model suggested...

  『You know, if you hire me to be the face of your shop... that’d get you a good amount of costumers. It’s kinda my inherent charm~ 』

glancing towards the boy with a light smile and a wink, a swirl of her index to emphasise }

『 Just... WHAT KIND OF GAME IS THIS? My poor magikarp just got snatched by a pidgeot after I raised it with so much love and care? THE AUDACITY! 』

Summer plans in the out lands? None of that she’s busy training her magikarp to jump! }

   SUMMERTIME had arrived in style. cherry blossoms were in full bloom, the heat was borderline unbearable, and the city was as lively as it’d been since he arrived. if there was ever a perfect moment to go sightseeing, it was now. away from his shabby apartment complex in sector 3, akira found himself in the heart of sector 2. while the smell of smog was thick in certain areas, his intuition led him to a rather secluded place. waiting in line to purchase a cold treat from the nearest ice cream truck, the teenager recognized a customer directly before him. a famous face back in japan, rise kujikawa was a renown idol. why on earth was she here, then? perhaps they weren’t far away from japan, after all.

      ‘ …correct me if i’m wrong, but you’re the famous idol risette, no? ’

りせちー { Somebody in this city who wasn’t a former comrade recognised her? Okay---nothing to fret about, she is famous after all. Amongst the entirety of Japan and the nearby areas. It was just slightly puzzling in this city as they had no way of knowing who she was, the former citizens she came in contact with in the past weren’t around any more.

『 Yeah... that’s me.  』

However she cannot think of ever seeing him in the past, so ... a fan? Even in this city? News sure travelled fast! }

『 Doesn’t seem like it’ll go away any time soon, guess we’re stuck here, huh? 』

At least someone was in the same bus stop waiting for the rain to pass. Maybe a little chit chat for them.}

❛   ahhhhh … JEEZ! then - YOU take ‘im!! it ain’t like I picked ‘im up on PURPOSE, to begin with!!

❛   some guy—   ❜   —a HICCUP—    ❛   h- handed the li’l fella off to me, & then—                 & then the bastard TOTALLY DITCHED & left me with him!!   ❜

cue one extremely tense mad dog, unwitting victim of a particularly sad case of “ caught in the wrong place, at the wrong time. ” however, we all know tenga—— can’t be lookin’ like no PUNK, can’t be caught throwin’ a medium-sized bull terrier into the air because he’s too damn SCARED to continue to hold onto it —— or even to let GO of it in a natural manner. an inside look at tenga’s lungs right now : there’s absolutely NO AIR in them. he wishes he could breathe, but. it’s just—— NOT HAPPENING——

——and now he’s shaking, on top of it.

『 Listen, this little puppy is not at faulr that you are it’s new caretaker. Just look at their little face they’re even more scared than you are? Why do you have to be just so awful about this? 』

りせちー { Personally Rise didn’t have anything against picking up the little puppy but this guy needed to learn about tolerance. Just because he was a bit spooked it didn’t mean the doggy had to suffer.}

『 Hey put that puppy down! Don’t you see you’re squeezing too tightly? Are you out of your mind? Let go! 』

What kind of monster would hold like that an innocent puppy who had done no harm to literally any soul ever.}

りせちー { It just wasn’t normal. Maybe it also wasn’t any of her business but again, it had been a good 20 minutes and this girl would just not move! People though, they just didn’t stop by to check on whatever happened, somebody would need to be that someone, even it that’s Rise. 

This street a busy one, with many  cars speeding by and people not granting a single glance to others, odd enough for a  city were nobody really needed to work to make a living, they were given everything so why just acting like those workaholics with no time for others? ---First thing was to get to the other side, with some difficulties crossing the road and inching closer to the destination, a couple of steps in between both. 

『 Hey! Are you okay? I noticed you can’t really stand up no matter the times you’ve tried to... is there a way I can help? 』

Wow looking at the girl now from a short distance she could really tell how shaky she was, maybe even way too scared to do something to help herself out of the way? Did somebody purposefully hurt her though? Better to get there and offer a hand and a shoulder if possible.}

『 Here I will help you out, just take my hand. 』

りせちー { This girl just doesn’t seem to feel like socialising in the middle of a hot weave. Specially when it felt like even the streets were melting! It wasn’t even the hottest part of summer yet so why was it so damn annoying already?--of course the one behind the counter at least didn’t mind her huffing in the front of the shop. Popsicle in hand but still annoyed with the current weather.

『 Don’t they have something like pools or even a beach to drown this hotness? You should totally open up more of these ice cream places you will become a millionaire you know? 』

She doesn’t know and more than that, doesn’t care if there’s a costumer waiting in line, too busy having a fit at the moment.}

りせちー { Spring suited any place in the world, even a city as weird like this one. It was just about blooming flowers, gentle breeze and fun! Over all fun... And to think of it now that she’s stuck here, for a second time in her life then maybe she should take on simply enjoy her life as normal girl. Yes, that was it! Just getting to know new people, finding fun stuff to do with them, even in this city there was a purpose to her even finding new parts of her she didn’t know before.

Of course, not because she wanted to see this as an opportunity to grow it meant everyone else did. Specially not the young boys. Like that one staring at the sky. 

『 You do realise this is a crowded street right? You shouldn’t just throw yourself on the ground, you’re getting in people’s way. 』

Plus, is just not normal. Seriously, she couldn’t say her friends were the book definition of ‘normalcy’ but this boy was ranking high in the list of ‘weird things I’ve run into’. Aside why did he just look so angry at the world? Okay---she cannot blame him, getting kidnapped and dragged into an entire different world against your will isn’t all that enjoyable. So maybe he’s just in that stage of denial. 

『 You should just ...get up before someone kicks you or even worse, they could step on your face, you wouldn’t want that right? 』

Nobody likes a foot in the face that’s for sure. And maybe he wasn’t mad because he got kidnapped maybe he fought with someone here? Maybe he felt lonely or maybe he just had very awful personality, the possibilities were endless. It didn’t hurt anyone to ask anyway.}

りせちー { First impressions matter.Or at least that’s what she always thought. Ready to jump in new thrilling situations, yet this time... this time it wasn’t something unknown and even when it had been quite a few years this place still held all those memories from past moments lived with her friends. That in itself just pointed out the familiarity Rise had with the city. Much to her surprise it had only grown bigger but even then it remained as chaotic as ever. 

『 Well, I still got Himiko with me so I should be just fine. Specially if they’re still rolling under the same idea. 』

She could not say to expect to see her friends, at least not yet. Who was to say they had gotten all dragged at the same time? Even in their own world their kidnappings all occurred at different times, but it was good this wasn’t midnight and for now no shadow awaited to encounter her. Thus what’s logical is to simply have a stroll, remind herself of the different sectors, maybe even finding the shopping district. There is just no time to question the circumstances or mourn over the new found environment, for now the smart thing was simply to enjoy herself...---Her many walks took her to different places, the shops were never changing but she couldn’t help to squeal at the different kinds of adorable goods. 

Upon entering a store, a small one in fact. Her eyes fell upon the sight of the most adorable little piglet doll. Something she sure had to get her hands on.A girl needs a buddy after all. Of course she didn’t take much notice of the others near for it was the common they’d be there to get something for their significant other. It was just that kind of place to go to. Though by mere luck she glanced over her shoulder to a familiar figure standing right next to her. 

A dramatic gasp ensued. It couldn’t just be?! But then again it totally was. What a glorious way to be received, her own personal buff body guard kitten lover was in here! That was the cue to jump on his back, catching him off guard of course.}

『 Kanjiiiiiiii! I totally did not expect to see you here but I’m not surprised how’s that plush collection coming? Since you’re here and love me it’s only natural to get me one too, right?!!  』