#crossxskulled

"You? Forgetting something as important as a friend's birthday? I knew you weren't able to make it, but something told me you already had different plans in mind." The social atmosphere didn't feel the same without Ryuji's infectious vivacity. His animated gestures, loud shouts, but more importantly his overabundant enthusiasm, always added that extra dose of carefree contentment to their little band of thieves. Even Mona appeared rather distraught without the blonde's presence, or engaging in their usual bout of playful banter.

It didn't last too long, however, when the 'not-a-cat' began eyeing up the more fishy appetizers. Thinking with one's stomach in mind drove a person, or in this instance any animal, into a insatiable frenzy.

Overall, though, success and good laughs were spread plenty around the café. Full stomachs too, filled with sweet birthday cake and delectable treats one only ever tasted around these times of the year. Speaking of that...

"We did leave you a few slices of the cake since you couldn't make it." Or before Yusuke decided to sneakily steal the rest of the leftovers before walking out the door. "And some other treats too. I wanted to make sure you indulged on Akira's cooking too." Just as Ryuji didn't forget, Makoto kept the brash blonde in mind even while enjoying herself. And it seemed he surely did not neglect in finding a gift to make up for his absence.

"...ooooh!!" Her demeanor changed drastically, shifting away from the normal upstanding, polite posture to that of a little kid receiving a present they specifically asked their parents to buy. Crimson colors sparkled with a sense of joy, wonderment, and absolute giddy not just because of the shirt, but the secondary item tucked beneath the folds.

"And the game too!? Wow...I mean..." Calm down now! The excitement suddenly swelled within, and without Makoto having much control over its expanding growth she couldn't keep it contained. The wave crashed down, bursting outward in abundance all at once, and swallowing those just nearby as well. "..ummmm...well, I guess this means I uh...have to buy a console to play this on, right!?" From exhilaration to nervousness, it rode its course which left the brunette feeling slightly exhausted. But still, extremely happy.

Moving around the subways wasn’t an easy task but Naoto figured this was another case to take passion towards. The speculation about these Phantom Thieves being Persona users would explain much, especially with the abnormality no one took to consideration. It’s...understandable seeing how the detective used herself to discover the tactics from a past case. She wandered around the city on purpose, hoping for a coincidence to occur. Ironically the sight of familiar blonde locks nearly got the Shirogane detective shaken up. “Kanji-kun? No, that can’t be...ah he’s much shorter than him. How careless of me...I probably walked around for a long time. But he does seem to stand out compared to the rest of the crowd. Hmm...I wonder...” A detective’s intuition began crying out to her chest, taking the direct approach by tapping the male’s back. “Excuse me. Would it be too much trouble to request a place for eating? I haven’t been to the city for some time that I have no understanding of the area just yet.” This was an acceptable way to start a conversation though not entirely a deception --- hunger was calling out to her.

“I apologize if you might find this strange but you remind me of someone I know...a good friend of mine. Oh, you may call me Naoto. May I request for your name?”

Five Senses

Haru would be lying if she said that her body hasn't been killing her lately. On top of her usual gardening lifts and secret dance sessions, she has been hitting the gym a lot more due to stress from school atop the work from her father’s company. For the fluffy haired heiress, the use of the gym was a means of feeling in control of her current situations… Haru could choose when to start and where to stop, she could choose the number of weights to lift, and she could choose how many reps she needed for the day. All this to say… Haru was definitely feeling the strain, and yet, it still surprised her that others seemed to notice her tensing discomfort.

Ryuji, however, was the first to offer some sort of help- to which Haru was incredibly grateful for. At first, however, Haru was a little hesitant; she was taught to keep others at a distance. Her father would often warn her that the closer you let people in, emotionally or physically, the easier it was for them to hurt you. As a child, Haru never quite understood that logic, that is until she tried making friends. Let’s just say being an heiress made it difficult to find genuine connections, but with her friends, with Ryuji– she was learning to let herself trust in them more. They definitely made it easy.

Soon enough, the heiress relaxed under her friend’s touch, so much so that she began to lean into his form to give him free range on her body. Here and there, she heard herself reacting to his work; hissing when he found a knot, and letting out soft, breathy moans of content when he managed to get them out. Haru didn’t mind it though. She just hoped Ryuji didn’t either.

A few minutes into the massage and Haru barely picked up on a scent… Is this…? Lavender? It was certainly something on the floral side, but really, it was a lot more tasteful than the usual Salonpas patch scent she’s become sooo accustomed to smelling.

H-hold on! What did he mean by an appreciation train!?

"R-Ryuji-senpai...th-that's not..." Compliments from strangers were brushed off with ease. However, ones said from friends proved more difficult to pass. Ryuji calling her cute? Of all things!?

RANDOM ASKS. ( ALWAYS ACCEPTING )

being summoned as a personal request of his, the king did her best to hear out what came from him. She hadn't been too familiar with their current technology as it seemed more advanced from the King of Knight's knowledge of this era. Although the Grail granted knowledge that is necessary for the war, this was a case where it wasn't considered essential for Servants. At least the calling of his ability could beckon her arrival...but mostly from residing at his own place. Saber didn't know how to precisely explain their circumstances, especially to someone who was a parent of his. This was a first to be met with these arrangements though they somehow managed to work everything out. Arturia only hoped their relationship as Master and Servant wasn't too much for his well-being, knowing this was simply formalities. Maybe there will come a point where the king wished to know why she was summoned here --- what was her purpose for fighting this time. The Grail might have already been found by someone, at least from how this city's mana levels were oddly rising. Well that situation didn't matter at the moment based on what she was listening to his desire of taking a breather. Even a man like himself needed some rest, almost preparing to leave him attend towards other duties.

"I understand if you require some rest but...I don't see how I would require rest, even if it is a little early to be sleeping. You needn't worry for my well-being though I do hope you can recover your energy, Ryuuji." Perhaps the part about going into town together had escaped the king's ears from not understanding what that meant. Saber could only connect the interest of taking a rest together, not venturing outside where an enemy could ambush them so suddenly. Yet the request for a date...had stumped the King of Knights though not knowing what that meant. "...Date? I'm afraid I do not understand what a date is." Such things didn't exist back in her era as king, not unless her Master wished to court her. It couldn't be possible but the desire to go into town and feasting on a meal meant accompanying him --- that was a date? An invitation for food was not something Arturia can ignore, not when she enjoyed trying out these foreign meals of this era. There's plenty that the Servant had no idea was created during the centuries that progressed with time. "Would I not be free when we reside together, Ryuuji? I believe it would be more appropriate to know when you have time for us to have this...date that you speak of."

Ryuji’s reaction was instantly amusing. That look of bewilderment and confusion etched into the blonde’s mind, the way he was clearly trying to figure out whether he was in some sort of sleep deprived state, or overdosed on caffeine, or something to explain the sudden change in Futaba’s physique. This whole thing had amped up her gremlin levels naturally, so she batted him some more with her tail before letting out pure cat like sounds. Which sounded really like a cat. Strange.

“You’re not, Nya~ I’m just your ordinary catgirl and all. The ears are real and so is the tail. Please don’t tug on them. That’ll hurt.” Futaba responded, batting at him now with her hands. Her fingernails were a bit more sharp as well, something she hadn’t really realized quite yet as she was batting at his bare skin of his arm. “Maybe you can become a cat boy, or a fox boy! Who knows. The point is, I’m going to enjoy this while it lasts, hehehehe. Now, do you have any catnip?”

@crossxskulled asked: ❛ Whoa, Hey, hey, hey hey, Deep breaths, Lot of deep breaths. ❜

Scream sentence starters - No Longer Accepting!

Fucking hell. She knew she should've asked Chiaki to come with her, or at least done a better job of convincing her best friend to help. Instead, Sonia had shown her sympathy when the Ultimate Gamer had hesitated to accompany her to the busy arcade not far from Shibuya. While she was often the one gawked and pointed at, if not approached for an uncomfortable question or a photo, it was Chiaki's turn for such behavior should she step foot into an arcade of any sort. And while Sonia was more than capable of handling, and deflecting, such attention politely, her friend was less so.

What Sonia wasn't capable of was winning at the UFO Catcher games. Or at least, the one she'd been focused on for the past two hours. While other patrons flocked to the latest offerings from otome games, an action series featuring ninjas, wide-eyed maids and anime idols, she'd planted herself in front of a single cabinet. It was full of plush dolls styled after various horror icons from East to West: Sadako, Michael Myers, Freddy Kreuger, Jason Voorhees, the Jigsaw Puppet, Chucky...and her target, the two different versions of Ghostface. One of them featured the popular fictional horror icon with a plain, grimacing mask, but Sonia was laser-focused on the limited edition version, complete with red patches sewn to mimic blood splatters. They weren't available in any of the anime shops, only the arcade, and thus she'd come armed with an arcade card and sheer determination.

And the latter was quickly running out, considering that, without a care for the rest of the patrons of the arcade, she'd let loose a string of swear words. In a variety of European languages, thank goodness, but the tone was enough for several heads to turn and stare at the loudmouthed foreigner, with a glare in her eyes and cheeks turned deep pink in focus. In stress. And now, in shock as she heard a voice behind her.

"Whoa, Hey, hey, hey, hey, Deep breaths, Lot of deep breaths."

He'd distracted her just enough that, in her attempt to snag the small loop attached to the doll's black hood, her grip had shifted and the claw had let go, dropping the soft, squeezable bloody icon right back into the pile. It was one of only a couple in a pile of dozens, and she'd tried for what appeared to be the easiest one to retrieve. Not that she couldn't afford it, but she didn't want to consider the amount of euros she'd spent on the venture thus far.

"But there is no time for deep breaths!" She protested, panicked as she gestured wildly towards the machine. That too earned her some suspicious looks: girls, especially foreign girls in private school uniforms, hardly ever spent that much time in an arcade. Much less making a scene over something as morbid as plush dolls of fictional serial killers. The crowd seemed puzzled, not just due to the fact a pretty blonde girl was choosing to spend her time in the arcade, but she didn't care for either the otome love interests or trinkets featuring the popular anime about groups of delinquent boys.

No, Sonia had far more important things to worry about. "The Ghostface doll with the blood on the mask is limited edition for the arcades only! You can't buy it online or at anime shops yet, and I must ensure one is in my collection to complete the set!" She nodded her head to the display poster, which showed every toy in the horror icon set. With appropriately-unsettling font and still images from all of the film series represented.