✦ ； le gentleman-cambrioleur

please like this post for a starter, will cap at 4, castmates exempt.

Weiss was confident that all of the upcoming exams were not going to be too hard. With all of her time spent in the library or at the Grindehouse, there was minimal room for error. Deciding to crawl out of a library study room, she made her way with her laptop and headphones. She had one paper due at the end of the semester that she wanted to knock out before she fully devoted her time to going over her exam material. 

As usual, the smell of coffee awakens her senses. Her usual coffee was a Colombian Dark Roast, with exactly one splash of cream and no sugar. Everyone at the Grindhouse knew her order, which proved that she spent too much time and money in that place. 

To her surprise, a barista approaches her with an unusual request. Change her routine? Much like an old cat who hated change, Weiss furrowed her brows. She supposed since she didn’t have anything going on, she could afford to switch it up.

“Fine. Nothing too sweet though.”  

Akira smiles and gives her a firm nod. Nothing too sweet, huh? He pondered in front of the grinder and several bags of beans available. There were some Blue Mountain beans left over from last week as their special blend, but there was also a new import of Kona beans that Akira personally liked. Akira settled for the latter. He hovered over to a small bag of beans and unwrapped it. Immediately, the strong, smooth scent of coffee enveloped his senses.

He makes quick work of the beans as he fed it through the grinder. Kona beans are best medium ground; its low acidity and richer taste makes up for a great drip coffee with only a hint of bitterness and a tinge of nuttiness. As the last of the grounded coffee sprinkled below, he then headed to the drippers. Rather than going to the automatic dripper though, he felt like manually dripping it today. With the busy weeks, he and his coworkers have been abusing the automatic dripper way too much. It was a convenient, but there was something more satisfying dripping it yourself. He fondly remembers the first time he learned how to brew his own coffee. He smiles as the satisfying aroma of the brew began to rise.

“Hey–! Akira! Why are you running?! WHY ARE YOU RUNNING?!”

The screeching feedback of the megaphone only increasing, Ryuji gives chase to his bro. What was with the cold shoulder all of a sudden? Why was he just trying to sneak by? Argh, forget that, this lanky bastard was actually pretty damn quick for someone who’s diet consists of copious mountain dew and hammers video games all the time!

Which is why he was the perfect third member!!

“You can try to run, dude, but I was on the track team, y’know! Don’t make me bust out my hidden abilities!”

Running with both perfect form and a megaphone still held perfectly in front of his mouth, Ryuji barrels after Akira, his incomprehensible words assaulting the ears of innocent students.

“JOIN THE EFFIN’ VIDEO GAME CLUB, YA DORK! WE JUST NEED ONE MORE–!”

The chase didn’t just contain itself to the outer grounds, oh no. Before long Akira and Ryuji were dashing through the lobby, a hallway here and there, entering and exiting various facilities and giving a very grating distraction to those within.

He’s gotta run out of steam eventually…!

Unfortunately, so was Ryuji. It had been a hot minute since he had a sprint like this, and despite his decorated past with the sport, he began to flag. On the upside, it looks like Akira was also feeling the heat… Forehead slick with sweat, Ryuji still clutches at his megaphone as they stagger throughout the outer walkways like shambling zombies.

“We-We’ll have a mini-fridge or some shaz! I-in the clubroom! Y-you can store all your – your ‘Dew, dude…!”

Somehow, Akira was starting to regret even starting to run away, as if trying to run away from a member of the track team wasn’t bad enough of an idea. He thought that running away and trying to get him to stop pining him was a better and less embarrassing solution—oh no. This turned out to be much, much worse. Akira thought that one lap around the campus was enough. Now they're reaching to their second lap around the campus and god, this was terrible.

Akira’s forehead is now beaded with sweat as he continues to pump his legs forward as he escapes the clutches of Ryuji Sakamoto. But Ryuji is doing the same. He could hear Ryuji’s rather weird panting through the megaphone (somehow he just never stopped using it the entire chase) with no sign of giving up. But chase comes to an abrupt stop when he mentions the important part.

The Dew™ .

Ahh, tree planting! Kasumi had been eager to help out, especially after Haru had asked her to participate as a representative of the Sustainability Club. And, as much as she hated being treated differently at her past school, it wasn’t that she disliked school or school activities themselves. 

Besides, things were different at Blackwood. 

Or at least, they were supposed to be. Still, being asked to form pairs made her heart skip a beat, mostly due to how easily everyone had paired up and how easily she had … not. Hopefully, none of that nervousness came across so evidently. 

Wide eyes stare at the guy who asked to be her partner, breaking her out of her thoughts. He seemed unassuming, and while his hair was messy, it still worked for him. And he didn’t look like the type who wanted to plant trees. She gives him a small nod.

❝ Ah, no, I don’t have one.. So, sure! How many do you want to plant? ❞

How many would I want to plant, she says. Well, Akira had never planted a tree before, so he was unsure what kind of labor goes into it. From what he heard from Haru, it's literally as simple as re-rooting a plant which is just transferring a plant from one to another. If that was the case, he supposes he'd just try to do as much as he can. The girl seemed eager and honest, and that alone made Akira relax.

“As much as we can,” he nods. “I’m sure there’s some kind of time limit, but going on our own pace is a fine idea. If we only end up planting one tree, then so be it.”

He walks over to the potted small tree saplings where everyone is grabbing their tree to plant. Akira manages to heave a larger one, and he waits for the girl to pick up hers. As they walk over to their assigned plot, Akira wonders if he’s seen her before. That red hair is definitely hard to forget, he’s sure to have remembered if he bumped into her already.

Akira wasn't the kind of person to reject a heartfelt request from a very good friend. After Haru's repeated pleas, Akira finally agreed to participate in the campus event; it was something related to planting trees and saving the earth. While mostly indifferent, he does believe that recycling and going green was a good way to save the environment, and that's enough moral encouragement to feel good about joining.

On the days in which the campus are planting trees, Akira could only afford to take off a day from his classes to participate. Not realizing that this was a group activity in which everyone had to split into pairs to plant trees, Akira found himself as one of the last people to get into pairs. He scratches the back of his head, obviously unprepared to socialize today. He could already see Haru’s pleading face in his mind again. I guess it can’t be helped.

Looking around, it seemed that everyone has already found a partner, except one. Her stark red hair stood out, but her personality did not. While not in complete panic, she did fret a little, evidently awkward from feeling alone. Akira walks up to her.

she had spent all day preparing. turning in her classwork at a reasonable time, going to the store to stock on nourishment, she even tidied…the immediate area of her gamer station to sort of act as a cleanse, maybe for good luck or concentration? who knew, but regardless, she had a solid goal.

despite being a highly decorated competitive gamer, chiaki herself wasn’t competitive. sure, she did her best to get good and win, but it wasn’t the end-all-be-all, and she hated to push it onto others who only wanted to play for fun. that’s what gaming is about, after all. however, there were some players in the online scene that she had friendly rivalries with. she knew they would be logging in tonight for sure, bringing their best weapons and probably arriving with a decent sleep pattern. it could pose a problem if she kept getting knocked out for points, but that was the name of the game. well, game on.

”tonight’s the night…the bunny armor is mine.”

with the increase in EXP earned and the level cap raised, there would be a frenzy tonight. this was the perfect opportunity for chiaki to farm up enough to get the upgrade she had been longing for. at midnight, she logged in with just a few taps and the game began. she didn’t look at the player list right away, focusing on the game and clicking her headphones on. usually she didn’t talk, just listened to others, though occasionally she would get on mic if it was a friend or friendly rival. she missed first blood in favor of gathering supplies - yeah, sure, any amateur gamer would say that kills are end all be all, and then they run out of ammo - and equipped her best sniper. not her usual go-to, but she wanted to try a new strategy, and it would help protect her teammates.

so focused on tracking her team’s movements and sniping out attackers as they raided one of the nearby buildings, she didn’t check behind her until it was almost too late, barely dodging behind a tree to avoid gunfire. she took one look at her opponent, sucking in a sharp breath

”oh, no…it’s ren.”

Of course she'd dodge it, why didn't he expect that? For someone to rival Akira in his own game, it would be someone with reflexes as good as his. ArcadeRabbit seemed to have dodge his approach, almost as if they expected him and knew he was there. Akira quickly recovered, immediately reloading after he’s exhausted a half-empty MAG. Perhaps he would’ve gotten them if he quickly sprayed bullets a little longer, but it would require an extended MAG for it to be even worthwhile. It was no matter; he was close now, and he had to act.

ArcadeRabbit quickly retreated for cover, as expected of someone with a heavier weapon than him. He wonders why their movement speed seemed faster than expected—they were probably wearing light armor to increase their mobility. They sacrificed their health for increased damage. Snipers deal about 100 damage per shot (220 if fatal, a headshot). With his health bar reaching 300 HP max including his 100 HP armor, it would only take 1 headshot to bring him down to less than 50% health, and 3 body shots to completely kill him. While he had the advantage close range, if ArcadeRabbit was skilled enough, no scoping him would be no problem. But he already expected that from them. He prepared for it.

He chased after them, stopping by each wall for cover. But after turning into a corner, they were gone. Akira made the mistake for looking for them too long and a sniper shot grazed his view. It missed, but he knew it was a full charged sniper shot. He turned to see that ArcadeRabbit was already mounted on the roof waiting for him—they had a grappling hook equipped in place of a 2nd weapon, a huge risk no one tends to take. All for the sake of getting upper ground.

A full mobile sniper. “So you’re going full damage with your sniper tonight,” Akira mumbled under his breath. He smiles, seemingly amused. “I see. So it’s gonna be a long chase. That isn’t a problem. Bring it on.”

Akira almost works full-time at the Blackwood Grindhouse on his non-test weeks. Somehow, engineering majors tend to take their tests a little bit earlier than the rest of the other majors, which means Akira gets to work on the busiest weeks when everyone else scrambles for their morning espresso shots to prepare for tests or before cramming.

Amidst all the chaos, there was one student who seems to frequent the coffee shop regardless of test weeks or slower days. Her snow white hair and intimidating aura stood out; she was hard to miss. Usually she arrives by herself, but on very rare occasions, she’d bring a friend along. But there was one thing about her that never changes: her order.

She arrives a little bit after opening shop today. Almost reflexive, Akira turns to start the grinder to get her usual order ready, but somehow he felt a little bit adventurous today. He turns his heels and begins to walk towards her.

to: akira from: kyojuro cc: all contacts

message: That’s the spirit! THat’s the spiri!T!@ message: I’ll fill the hole in your heart with fire! message: Yes!! Do you want to go out!? message: Or we can use my room!

to: kyojuro from: akira cc: all contacts

to: akira from: kyojuro cc: all contacts

message: Really?! message: Do you want to celebrate it together!?!

to: kyojuro from: akira cc: all contacts

Today is one of the most anticipated days for Akira. Extra cushion behind his computer chair, check. Noise-cancelling headphones, check. Snacks and Mountain Dew, check. Texted his roommate not to bother him for the entire night and he won't be responsible for anything texted to him during this time, check check. It was time. It's less than a minute till midnight. Thirty seconds. Ten seconds. Two seconds. Now.

As the game fully loads, he’s greeted with a large banner on the welcome screen: THIS WEEK ONLY, 5X EXP BONUS. The largest exp bonus event begins today, and one of its top players, Ren, has logged on. Akira’s mouth curls into a sinister smile. With the new update extending the level cap to 20 more levels, there was finally a chance for someone to outrank him. But not tonight. Not with the 5X exp boost. Ren will stay in the top 8 of the leaderboards.

The game begins and he is spawned into the map. Quickly pressing tab to see the list of players, he spots a very familiar name. Akira bites his lip nervously. It was them. Player ArcadeRabbit has logged on, the only player in the country that’s able to outplay him in rankings. Their infamous rivalry has been discussed for years since the beta, and what luck that they loaded into his game? Akira cracked open his Mountain Dew, and the game begins.

With quick fingers and immaculate accuracy of his wrist flicks, he quickly shoots down 3 headshots in a row. First blood, 3 kills. His team is on the lead, but the score didn’t matter. He got his eyes set on something else. He quickly spots ArcadeRabbit, loading her ultra rare sniper rifle. But that’s nothing compared to Ren’s suppressed SMG.

Usually Akira isn't the type to go out of his way to get his friends gifts, but doing something unusual for once isn't that bad. Christmas was coming up, and the chill has started to kick in. Stores in the plaza have already had their holiday decorations up since the beginning of the month. ‘Tis the season for some capitalism.

For now, he wants to tackle a simple gift he’s been planning on for a good friend of his. He stops at a quaint flower shop aptly named Bloomerangs, the door bell jingling as he steps in. Akira’s greeted with multiple arrangements ranging from simple to downright extravagant. He scratches the back of his neck. That’s probably not what he’s looking for. He’s going to need some help.

haru almost didn’t hear the text, as she often got lost for hours working in the greenhouse. it was one of the things that gave her joy on campus, along with her newfound freedom. she could spend all afternoon and evening in there, planting and repotting, watering, getting her clothes dirty and not getting yelled at by her father…it was nice. she caught the bells of her text tone at the last moment, setting down the trowel and taking off her gloves before wiping the sweat off her brow. when she checked her phone, she smiled.

haru didn’t have a lot of friends back in high school, unfortunately due to her father’s reputation, but one of the few and dearest that she had was attending blackwood as a first-year. she was happy to be able to catch up with akira again, and she wasted no time texting back.

[txt]: Good afternoon Akira! I’m in the campus greenhouse if you’re willing to meet me there. I hope you don’t mind plants!

she probably thought it would be nicer of her to treat him to coffee, but she needed to finish up the tomato plants she had been working on. akira was always easygoing, so she thought he wouldn’t mind.

Akira's phone vibrated quietly in his pocket. Haru didn't seem to take that long to reply, much to his surprise considering he'd expect her to be a busy bourgeosie. She'd asked him to go to the greenhouse to meet up. The greenhouse, huh?

Akira walked a few steps to reach a university directory. It seemed like the greenhouse is ways away from where he was, somewhere near the research buildings. Now that he thinks about it, he doesn’t remember if he’s ever been to the research buildings before. He thought he would’ve been through every nook and cranny of the university due to his tendency to wander off out of sheer boredom. Perhaps this was a good chance to unlock the entire university map, then.

He soon found his way to the greenhouse. He could see the abundance of greenery just from the outside, but actually being inside it was a different thing. It was like a jungle here. Akira knew his limits. Yeah, he's not gonna play Indiana Jones right now. Walking to a seemingly open patch of land, he calls out to Haru.