yet time will not stop;

"Ah-- Y-Yeah! Let's go back." She had to admit that her statement had been rather impulsive-- It'd been more of a suggestion, in all honesty. She wasn't all that great at cooking on the electrical devices at home. She always accidentally set the fire too high--

Well, there was no point in fretting about that now. She'd offered to cook a meal to save him the trouble of eating out, and she needed to get the practice in, anyway.

"Er... Genesis?" The name fell out awkwardly. There hadn't been much interaction at home between the two other than brief conversation, and that hadn't gone far.

✎_ { Being home alone by himself, eventually, made him anxious. He had sketched enough in the house to keep him busy for a while, but eventually Barrow decided it was time he stepped out. Neither of his parents would mind, right? He had left a note and all, and it wasn’t like he was incapable of protecting himself.

It was unlikely he’d get hurt in a public place, anyway— surrounded by people enjoying themselves but enough space between them that he was noticeable. Parks were always his favorite; nice landmarks, scenery, and interesting people walking around that made for good practice. The more he got and more he put his heart into it, the better he would be. That was his goal.

Seated on a bench, sketchbook in his lap, the redhead tapped his pencil against the paper as he looked around. He had a few pages filled with drawings of the scenery, and now it was time to try people. They weren’t his strong point, but that was what multiple attempts was for. Eyes settled on an interesting enough looking individual, the sound of pencil scratching paper filled the air, blue eyes going from his paper to the model.

He’s almost done, but luck isn’t apparently on his side, and a sudden gust of wind promptly sends the paper flying, and the child desperately attempts to grasp it but misses by a fraction of inch. The sketch floats through the air, until finally it lands at the feet of someone.

Said someone being who he was drawing in the first place.

Nervousness takes hold, and Barrow quickly approaches, looking quite embarrassed. }

It'd been a risk to try and go anywhere else besides work and the market with nothing to guide her but directions from strangers, but ultimately, she was glad she'd made the choice. Here, there were no crowds. There was no traffic, and there were no overwhelming bright lights, either. It was calm-- it almost reminded her of home, as cliche as that sounded.

She knew the calm wouldn't last long-- she had her family duties to attend to, but she made a mental note to come here more often. It'd really help calm her anxiety about this place, if she could say there was any left within her at all. The freedom to move about without bumping into people constantly was a blessing, she'd learned.

The wind was particularly vigorous today, picking up and slowing down as it pleased. From the corner of her eye, an small object delicately danced around in the wind before coming to land at her feet.

Picking it up, realization quickly hit as she realized the object in question was a drawing of her. It was incredibly detailed, even for a sketch. Was she meant to have this?

Almost as quickly as the paper had materialized, a timid looking boy approached, wearing an apologetic expression.

"Oh-- Don't apologize, it's quite alright! Is this your drawing? It's amazing! You're very talented!"

— Bad bad bad bad bad bad !!!! 

Ryouko was in a bad situation, an awful situation—so bad even the highest powers must have took pity on her. 

It’s gone.

She realizes this soon enough. Her life, her world, all of it was gone before she could blink. The thought alone was enough to make her legs weak, her violently shaking body proof enough. If people were staring she wouldn’t know, the repeating chantra of Gone Gone Gone only occupying her mind.Their stares held no power over her current distress. They had nothing to do with her. Despite the beaming sun, she felt cold. 

If possible, she wanted to run. Leave this new mystery all behind—return to her old life where she could do as she pleased, where she could see him when she pleased, Tears were surely threatening by this point, Ryouko only wanting to run run away from it all and—

Run into a flock of birds. 

They were pigeons, on closer inspection. Rude pigeons, she’d recognized, as suddenly dirty wings and beaks were swarming the girls face. Whether she had food hidden on her or was just a good target was unbeknownst to her. Was this legal? Could a cute, highschool girl like herself really be allowed to be attacked by birds? Helplessly, Ryouko defended herself with her notebook, cowering in distress.

Really, this was such a bad situation.

She needed to get home and cook dinner for her "family," but everybody in the world seemed committed to getting in her way and slowing her down, leaving her with no choice but to bob and weave. In all honesty, it was exhausting. Everything was exhausting. This was a far from ideal situation-- she wasn't quite sure if you could call it culture shock, but there was definitely a sense of alarm festering within her, even now. The first day had been horrid-- it was sensory overload at it's worst.

It was by a pure, unadulterated miracle that the girl hadn't gotten herself lost in the city just yet, but it wasn't as if she went anywhere else besides the grocery store and the flower shop. There was no need, and she knew the risks. The grocery store was a maze in itself-- and unless she had a guide, it would stay that way for awhile.

Surely, there was nothing else the city had to offer, she told herself. Surely, she'd seen it all-- technically a lie, but the probable quarter that she'd seen of the place and it's happenings seemed to be enough to last her a lifetime. She made a turn at the usual corner, headed straight for her apartment-- 

When the city presented her with another wonderful exhibition.

This girl was clearly in a pinch. It was like circus act, almost-- it was ridiculous, but there wasn't much she could do but just stand there and watch, lest the aviary assailants come after her instead. Traffic was packed, there was no crosswalk, and the path to her home was blocked by a girl and her swarm of..... pigeons.

"Pf…pfft…Ahaha! Haha—oh good lord, look at you!” Cyril cackled, to the point where he was losing air. He was amazed. She was petrified! Absolutely petrified! Lord, he could hardly hear her through her constant stuttering—it was almost adorable, if it wasn’t already completely pathetic. Cyril wiped the small tears forming at his eyes, the laughs pouring out as small giggles and chuckles. He let out a final laugh before settling down with a smirk. 

She was too much.

"Keep your sweets," He said. "I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. Unless—" He tilted her head upwards in a quick motion.

"There’s another treat in question."

The tension rolled off his tongue, a silence quickly overtaking. It lasted for 3 or 4 beats until, with another obnoxious laugh he said;

"Just joking."

Laughing.

He was... laughing?

Her mind had now come to a complete standstill. Nothing about this situation made sense to her anymore. Was this guy nuts or something?

She let out a self-pitying sigh. She was almost entirely sure he was laughing at her, after all.

"W-Well, what else do you want me to give you?!? I don't suppose you'd want--"

Her head was suddenly tilted upwards in a brisk motion, with no indication or warning beforehand.

Alarm bells rang off in her head, immediately alerting her to the dangers this man could pose. If she didn't think she was in a sticky situation before, this definitely took the cake. She didn't have the slightest idea who he was, and yet, she'd gotten caught in his sights due in part to her terrible clumsiness and was now being regarded as some sort of object of amusement for the other.

This was certainly unpleasant.

As quickly as it had happened, he let go of her chin. Any previous enjoyment he had taken in her embarrassment was now gone, instead replaced with complete and utter apathy.

A cold sweat ran down her spine. She had no idea what she could offer this man as "compensation."

A thought suddenly came to mind. Maybe it'd be best to just ask... Or, you know, maybe not.

Arms folded, the blonde leaned against a nearby wall outside the school. It was hardly his favourite place to loiter, but at least it was a school he’d previously attended himself so he didn’t raise…too much suspicion. Even so, he’d come here for a reason—a particular underclassman had gotten somewhat acquainted with him. Or, perhaps he should admit the woman was much like a friend.

"A little late, don’t you think?" he questioned, closing his eyes and speaking with jest—having noted the other appearing out of the corner of his eye heading his way already. In truth he hadn’t been there long himself; there was simply no need for it. He knew how that school worked like the back of his hand; the times teachers let out the students—how late they always did so—and just how long it took to cross the grounds. Of course, knowing his friend’s timetable was always useful, too. 

Regardless, he soon pushed himself off of the wall and turned to Chizuru more directly. "So, what is it you want to do today?" he unfolded his arms and canted his head in interest. The pair got up to a variety of things when they found the time to meet with one another—from studying to general tomfoolery. Well, not that the silliness was intentional, but the girl seemed to drag him into the strangest of activities—many Chikage hadn’t previously taken much interest in, and thus didn’t really know what he was doing.

After he'd graduated, with the hustle and bustle of daily life, it was a wonder their lives hadn't come in the way of their strange friendship, but somehow, it had prevailed. Juxtaposing personalities hadn't done much in the way of dividing them; in fact, the two seemed to compliment each other in an unlikely way.

With quick strides, she rushed her way to the entrance of the campus as fast as she could. The man almost immediately came into view, nonchalantly leaning against the front school wall, as she quickly turned to face him.

"Eh? Am I really late? What--" She turned to check the clock on the main building-- she thought she'd made a good attempt at leaving as quickly as possible. A hasty bow was about as much she could offer as apology for her alleged tardiness.

"Um..."

Looking up towards the sky, she remembered the event that would take place later tonight. It'd been on the news fairly frequently, so it wouldn't be a surprise if he'd heard about it already. Nonetheless, she pushed forward, hoping it'd be something unbeknownst to him.

   Kyouko liked to think of herself as reliable. She wasn’t student council president or anything, of course, but teachers did trust her with various tasks, and she in turn was happy to help out with whatever she could, considering her weak constitution. 

   Today, she had been asked to help take care of the school gardens. Nothing too strenuous, but something important nonetheless; it was vital that the school’s appearance was kept up, after all. A poor environment would do nothing for a student’s motivation, after all! Besides, Kyouko loved the gardens; she had liked them since she started high school two years prior. She would miss them when she graduated, but she should at least do her best to leave it in good condition for her underclassmen.

   ”That’s right… Didn’t our teacher say he would send down an underclassman to help me?”

   The fact had almost slipped her mind; she felt bad for it, wondering if the junior had already arrived or not. Standing up straight, she grasped the watering can she had been using moments prior before glancing around for any sign of her underclassman. It didn’t take long to spot them — or rather, her. A young girl with black hair, to be precise. Smiling now, Kyouko hurried over to her — they were going to be working together, so it’d be best to introduce herself!

The sun shone warmly out today, periodically ducking behind the clouds. It was warm out, but it certainly wasn't uncomfortable. Instead, the warmth seemed to wrap around you in such a way that it felt pleasantly cozy; it offered the feeling that this was to be a prosperous and dynamic year.

Despite the perfect picnic weather, though, today wasn't a day for leisure. For Chizuru, it hadn't felt right to attend a school that has offered her so many opportunities and not do anything for it in return. Maintaining the gardens was a good way for her to give back, and this coupled with the fact that she adored flowers and gardening meant that it was the perfect opportunity.

In the distance, a head of hair could be seen moving about, cheerfully tending to the greenery. As she approached, the other seemed to take notice of her presence, and promptly moved to address her accordingly.

"Ah, yes! That's me. I'm Chizuru Yukimura." A respectful bow, followed by a warm smile.

She'd heard there'd be someone out here to assist her, but she hadn't imagined it'd be an upperclassmen. Chizuru had spotted the other around the campus completing various tasks for different teachers before, however; apparently, she was very dedicated to the prosperity of their school. Most of the older students didn't seem as dedicated, but she supposed this was one of the exceptions.

Parties were fairly a common occurrence for the Sakamaki family but the behavior of each of the siblings fairly differed for each person. For Reiji, this was natural to him like breathing, to make small talk, to keep a distance from others and merely stay away from making too much of a fuss over everything. In comparison to his other siblings, Reiji almost felt relaxed in this little event as he adjusted his mask and pulled on his glvoes that came along with his suit. 

Now considering he found no reason to interact with anyone at the moment, Reiji made his way towards the refreshments table as his hand clasped on his throat. Lately he had felt thirsty, terribly so that no beverage he picked could satisfy it but the one way he found he could wave back the feeling was to drink a few cups of refreshments every two hours or so.

Only two hours…

Enough for him to spend the time in the event than to return home to prepare for his studies. Now the only thing to do was to get a drink, he thought as his hand reached out to grab one of the spare glass set out on the table until he realized there was one other person there.

There were numerous glasses of chilled cider conveniently arranged among the table, full and ready to be claimed by the first person to reach them. It was at this that she made an attempt to grab the nearest glass she saw, but a gloved hand came into view, and she realized after a few moments that there happened to be another person reaching for the very same glass she'd chosen.

Cyril didn’t budge, even after the apology. Damn right she should have watched.The silence was most likely painful for the girl, stretching out to be about 2 minutes in length before the assassin actually spoke.

"Well, how are you going to make it up to me?"

"You could have ruined my day. This could be the one thing that tips me off for the rest of the day and makes me snap. I could literally go crazy because of you, in theory. How are you going to make it up to me?" 

"Ah... Um..."

Her eyes hastily darted back and forth before looking up towards him once more.

"I-I don't... I don't have anything on me...! But--"

She pondered her choices in her head before finally deciding to hold the bag of confections out to the man in question.

"This is all I have... Please take it, if you'd like...!"