Shin Megami Tensei Persona: Dissonant Strain (Private RP)

[NeoAC]

"Hmmm?" Shiori turned around and saw Hikaru asking about her. "Ugh, eh, not really. I haven't been able to get like any sleep. Every time I try, I keep having these weird dreams, and they're always really freaky and...."

Shiori caught herself. Would this really be the kind of thing to talk to Hikaru about? She was pretty much the best friend she had at Akaito, but still, whatever those dreams were. They were a bit much. Hikaru probably wouldn't know anything about them. There was that whole thing with her mistaken identity as one of the subway tunnel corpses, the exact tunnels she was sure she saw in the end of her latest dream. 'Well, I've already started talking about it. It would probably be weird if I stopped now, too. Might as well go on.'

She lowered her voice after thinking about it. "It's really weird, because I think it's linked to me being here. The dream I had last night, those subway tunnels near the school. They were in them. And I don't know what that means, but I'm thinking of going there later to try and figure out if there is anything to the dreams. Probably won't find anything, but I gotta do something so I can sleep."

 

[Cinnonym]

"No!"

Hikaru blurted it out before she'd even thought about it; blushing out of embarrassment, her voice lowered as did her gaze.

"N-No, I don't think you should do that... It's really dangerous right now with the murders and the killer still on the loose... And I'd really hate for you to be caught by the Security Team and suspended. It's so risky."

 

[PresqueVu]

Yamada pulled out his hastily made, but healthy lunch when it was time and flipped through his notes. He stood and wet to speak to Mizushima. He tried to just be social, not wanting to bring up anything too heavy on the moment. He was trying to get used to having people to just talk to. "Are you having as hard a time staying awake as I am?"

-----------------

Satoshi immediately put down his notes when lunch time rolled around. He pulled out a new comic book and started reading. Class had been wholly uninteresting. He was partway through his comic when he seemed to remember something and grabbed out his notebook from that morning and started to just tear through them, scribbling things down ad scratching others out furiously. He didn't really seem to notice anyone at the moment. He absently ate at his snacks as he wrote until he accidentally knocked over his open drink and current snack and jumped sky high just at the sound it made. He saved his comic and notes even though neither seemed to be in any danger at all. He ran to the front of the class to try and find something to clean up with, tripping on the way.

 

[Cinnonym]

Eber paused, jaw slack in preparation of the next bite, as he watched the little kid tripping over himself to get at... was it... the chalkboard eraser? No. Teacher's notes? No. Oh--paper towels. Huh.

 

[NeoAC]

Shiori was a bit surprised Hikaru was so opposed to it. I mean, yeah that was were everyone thought she was killed, but still.

"Well, I don't know what else to do Seiya-san!" she complained. "All these tunnels and shadows and trains and blue, they won't stop coming, and like I said, I gotta be able to sleep. Basketball starts tomorrow, and you know I'm not going to be able to go all out if I'm sleepwalking everywhere, and a lot of stuff is riding on me doing well this year."

 

[ShadowFolk]

"No, actually. I'm doing decently. I mean...um...using the right equipment saves me from getting too tired. I was a little tired when I got back and I slept like a rock, but I feel pretty good." Kumiko was a bit pleased that it was Yamada who got up to speak to her this time.

----

Akinari got out lunch for Eber and himself, proudly displaying the theme of the day. "Ta da!" The attention to detail was impressive, needless to say. He was in the middle of telling Eber what exactly was inside everything since he seemed to be an inquisitive eater when there was a thud, and a desk being noisily pushed one way or the other, fumbling...it was quite a sound.

Satoshi was trying to walk towards the front of the class (and failing) for some reason or another. 'Oh, look at that mess...' That was a decent amount of food and drink that was now gone. Akinari's bleeding heart would not stand for it. He excused himself from Eber momentarily to help Satoshi clean the mess. And even though he did not ask, he took a napkin and placed a few rice balls on it, handing it to Satoshi. "S-so you don't go hungry."

 

[Daren58]

Rin glanced over at Kojiro right after lunch started. The fatigue she felt this morning was quickly catching up with her, but for now she was doing her best to ignore it. "How are you holding up Kojiro?"

 

[Rosen2012]

"I'm really tired." Kojiro yawned. He looked at Rin with a lazy look and smiled at her and then turned to Isoroku, "Hey, Roku, how are you holding up?"

 

[PresqueVu]

Yamada smiled very slight. "I'll need to follow your example. I'm exhausted, though I did stay up another hour or so to tend to my studies."

------------------

Satoshi just stared at him for a long moment then sort of smiled, though it seemed odd, unnatural almost, as if he didn't do it often. "I-thank you." He stared down at the rice balls, the back up to him. He seemed just so confused and thankful and almost suspicious. He'd not met even one other student in the class yet and wasn't quite sure how to approach the situation. "Tsukiyomi Satoshi." He just blurted it out then looked startled at himself. "That's my name. I mean, it's not like you wouldn't know that, but it was sort of- well... Thanks." He felt it sounded pretty awkward and lame but it'd been quite some time since he'd had much conversation.

 

[Daren58]

Rin gave Kojiro a tired nod. She could sympathize with him very easily. She gave him a tired smile in return. "I think I stayed in the shower to long after we got back. But I wanted to make sure I got all that stuff off me." She glanced over at Isoroku as well waiting to see if he fared any better.

 

[ShadowFolk]

"That's...probably why." she laughed at him. "Still. I'm impressed you can even be bothered to do it after all that."

----

"No, no!" Akinari waved his hands in front of himself, "It's okay!" He gave a bit of a bow in introduction. "Fujita, Akinari. It is great to final meet formally." There was something just as awkward in his overly friendly nature as well. But he always worried about coming off too keen on friendship, so he just sorta messed the back of his hair and grinned like a doofus. "D-do you have any friends? You can sit with us if you'd like company."

 

[Rosen2012]

"Oh yeah," Kojiro shook his head just thinking about it, "It took me forever to wash that slimy crap out of my hair."

 

[Cinnonym]

Eber watched, picking apart one of the little rice-swimmers with his chopsticks. He didn't even remember the kid... A fly on the wall.

------

Hikaru frowned, toying with the hem of her skirt anxiously, "W-Well, how do you expect to perform well tomorrow if you spend all night roaming the streets? And, what if you were to get hurt? I mean, doesn't it seem silly to assume it'll help?"

 

[NeoAC]

"Well, I wasn't going to go at night, I was going to head out like after supper," Shiori admitted. "Just to look around. And in case some punk did try something funny, I was going to bring a weapon. Something concealable. I don't know, Seiya-san. It's just those dreams have got me so freaked out. They were so strange and creepy, and I think the weird part is they felt so real, you know? Like more real then any other dream I've had before. And the only thing I've been able to link it to was the tunnels. I don't even really know what to expect from going there, but if it'll put whatever is going on in my mind at ease, I'm going to do it."

 

[Cinnonym]

"B-But... ahmm..." Hikaru was at a loss as to excuses to keep her away, "What if the dreams get worse...?"

 

[PresqueVu]

Yamada chuckled just a little bit. "Thank you. I'm just determined to make it to the top of our class still. It's not particularly noble."

-----------------

Friends? Satoshi thought about it, considering. He did in the past, but really it was just the one. He forced himself off that train of thought and shook his head. "...Us?" He sort of cocked his head to one side. He assumed he meant him and the German but he'd also assumed they wouldn't want to be interrupted when together. "That...might be nice." He seemed tentative, almost concerned and stood up, balling up the paper towels to throw away.

 

[NeoAC]

"Worse?" Shiori hadn't really considered that prospect, but really, these dreams were bad to begin with. Why was Hikaru trying so hard to keep her away anyway?

She was keeping her voice really low now. If she was going to go into details, she didn't need anyone else overhearing and thinking she needed to be even more of an outcast then she's apparently started out as. "Seiya-san, in these dreams, I was eaten by multiple giant monsters, almost crushed by darkness, and saw people ripped to shreds and devoured. If my brain can think of any worse stuff to do to me, then honestly, I probably need to be locked up or something. It was that bad."

 

[ShadowFolk]

"I'd say your drive is pretty damn noble. You're not like those jerks that want to be at the top of the class just to rub it in the faces of anyone who falls under them. So by all means, get to the top if that's what you want."

----

Akinari walked Satoshi over to where Eber sat. "Hey, Eber. This is Tsukiyomi-kun. Have you met before? He's by himself, mind if he joins us?" He was brimming with happiness that someone else actually spoke two words to him and didn't seem to bothered.

 

[Cinnonym]

Eber nodded, "All right, I do not mind. Tsukiyomi-kun, I am Fridmund Eber."

He pushed the chair across from him away from the table with his foot, gesturing for him to be seated. He didn't know if Akinari wanted him to share his lunch, too, but he wasn't planning on letting that go...

"Play sports?"

------

Hikaru made a wordless noise that sounded like several questions had been mashed together at once. She nodded and made a mumbled comment about lunch being over soon.

"Just, ah... Be back before curfew, all right?"

 

[NeoAC]

Shiori just smiled. "Don't worry, I'll be back in time so you don't have to come after me. Besides, if this works, I'll want to be back early anyway, so I can sleep in peace."