Fandom Persona: Reflection IC

[Gaius Danius Griinia]

Footsteps echoed across the quiet parking lot. The desperate slapping of feet against solid ground. A woman frequently checks over her shoulder, as if expecting some unseen phantom to appear at any moment. Gripping her left arm, she winced in pain. Blood seeped through the sleeve of her jacket, dying it in a crimson hue. Fearful and verging on hysterics, she screams for help. Unfortunately, her cries are swallowed by the silence. Hearing the sound of steel scraping against the concrete pillars. Her heart begins to beat, each thump felt within the depths of her ear canals. Attempting to flee once more, she missteps. Landing flat on her face; the noise reaches all the way to back of the lot. Trying with all her might to rise. She is pinned by something pushing down with great force. Turning her head to the side. She can only watch through the reflection of a rear windshield as a bladed appendage runs her through...
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Itsuki awoke to a blue butterfly on his phone screen. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He was surprised to see it missing upon closer inspection. Chalking it up to not getting enough sleep, Itsuki yawned. This somehow drew the ire of a businessman sitting next to him. Despite his best efforts to avoid a lecture. Itsuki was treated to a five minute sermon on how kids his age knew nothing of what it truly meant to lose sleep. Staring out the window as the man seemed to drone on and on. The sights of early morning Sumaru captured the young mans attention. Having just moved here a week ago. He was still surprised how modern everything was compared to the more rustic town he grew up in. Then again, this island had been made by the Kirijo Group. One of Japans greatest companies. Itsuki had come to live with his godfather, Datenshi Yuzuru. As his parents would be working overseas for this next year as government liaisons. Uncle Yuzuru had immediately put Itsuki to work the day after he arrived, doing odd jobs in his cafe. Whats worse is that Itsuki didn't even get paid for such actions. Apparently his Uncle wanted him to get a feel for living here or something. Noticing that the next stop was where he was supposed to get off. Itsuki left the businessman to what had basically become a soliloquy. Happy that his new school was near the station. The walk there took less than five minutes. Stepping through the gates and looking up. Itsuki couldn't help but whistle in admiration at Sumaharu Academy.



Forgotten Home
Prodigious Mage
Toya
JINNI
Xcelgamer

 

[Prodigious Mage]

​

"Pigtails?"

Seiichi's voice was barely above a rasp, typical for this early in the morning, his eyes glinting with amusement as he took in his little sister's hairstyle for the day, sipping at a mug of coffee as she rushed around trying to gather up everything for the day ahead of them. It was pretty cute, all things considered, showing that despite everything she could still act like every other fifteen year old in the country.

Atsuko blushed a dark red at the call-out, hands flying to the ends of said pigtails, embarrassed, "Is it too childish? Will everyone know I'm a first year if I show up like this? I thought imitating the idols my age would work with... I don't know, integration? Takiguchi Hikari makes it work..."

"It's fine," he assured, setting his mug down with a thin smile, "you look nice, besides, ultimately, it's up to you. If you want pigtails, you can do pigtails."

Atsuko bit her lip, fingers finding the ribbons in her hair, and debated yanking them out for a moment before leaving them alone. Seiichi was right, it was up to her. Besides, she had rocked pigtails for the entirety of middle school. The first year, or, well, day, of high school would be no different.

Putting the lunch she had prepared the night before in her bag, Atsuko took one last look at all the items she had in it, notebooks, pencil case, pens, erasers, handkerchief, her reading glasses, so on, and so forth. And now, her lunch for the day.

She was prepared.

Nodding to herself, Atsuko zipped it up, slung it over her shoulder, and smoothed out her skirt a bit, and made a point to snag two prepacked anpan buns to shove into her left pocket for when they arrived at Sumaharu, she bounced on her tennis shoes a bit.

She was good, the weather was good, it was nice, she would succeed, the day would be good, the year would be better. Repeating the mantra a few more times, she checked her phone.

Nearly twenty minutes to spare, smiling, Atsuko looked over her shoulder, "Alright, I'm ready to go!"

Just before she could make her to the apartments door, a hand caught her wrist, and she turned to face Seiichi.

"Actually," he began, grabbing hold of something in his pocket, eventually pulling out a somewhat gaudy phone charm, "we got you something to commemorate your first day of highschool. Kaa-san wanted to be here to congratulate you herself, but the office called early, and Tou-san has to leave for the middle school ahead of us anyway, so I decided to just give it to you myself."

Retracting his hand, and putting it to his neck, Seiichi gave a thin smile, "We actually each picked a charm," he removed his hand and flicked the chibi-chick hatching from an egg, Atsuko's eyes zeroing in on the little trinket, "I chose the chicken, Kaa-san the pair of sakura blossom bells, and Tou-san went the tried true path of the maneki-neko."

Here he paused a bit, biting his lip, "The fourth one was meant to give it a bit of 'uniqueness' it's from the Tarot, you know, the future telling cards?"

Atsuko wet her lips, and slowly took the trinket in her hands, holding it tight until the metal of the charms dug into the soft flesh of her palm, and she threw her arms around Seiichi, earning a bright laugh from her dear friend.
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The train was packed, a mixture of business men and woman, random passerbys, and other highschool students, with the odd middle or grade schooler apart of the mix.

Atsuko and Seiichi were shoved against a corner, the latter in front of the former as a protectiom against potential gropers, quietly conversing as the train barreled on to Dare-ja Station.

"You don't have to find me if you don't want to," Seiichi said, voice oddly amused, thinking Atsuko was simply being shy about the idea of making more friends, "go out and mingle."

Atsuko screwed up her face in distaste, "And deal with other teenagers? Are you trying to send me to my death Seii?"

He rolled his eyes, and flicked her arm, "You make it sound like you aren't one yourself, that I'm not one."

"You're better then them," she said resolutely, voice utterly sure of itself, "I'm better than them, no two ways about it."

"Sure."

'For those getting off, the next stop is Dare-ja Station!' The announcer sounded over the speakers with faux cheerfulness, and an undercurrent of 'Please God Kill Me' to her voice.

"Come on, fight the wave with me." Seiichi said, elbowing her in the ribs a bit.

The ensuing little scuffle to the doors alongside the other high schoolers was something of an event.
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Sumaharu was large, imposing, it made Atsuko a little nervous just looking at it to be honest. This was school directly funded by the Kirijo Group, expecting others to sore above and beyond anything they had ever dreamed of in their life.

Her face slowly morphed into a determined scowl, she'd make it. Never mind what had to be done in the process. She'd make sure of it.

Seiichi slung an arm around his little sisters shoulders, grin in place, "First day of high school, excited? Nervous? Ready to start screaming in repressed rage?"

Atsuko shook her head, and threw his arm off, "Just fine actually," she lied through her teeth, putting on a haughty smile and cocking out her hip, and subsequently putting her hand on it, "it's actually a lot less intimidating than I thought, just you wait, I'll be at the top of the grades list in no time. Colleges will be practically drooling to get me to come to them."

She gave a small hair flip, which, naturally, was impeded a bit by the fact her hair had been done up in high pigtails.

Seiichi chuckled, shaking his head, he raised a hand and put it on her head, ruffling it just enough to mess up her hair a bit, but not enough to undo her pigtails.

"Whatever you say, wait for me by the gate after school, will you? I'll introduce you to a few friends of mine then." He snorted at the way Atsuko proceeded to bat at his hand a bit frantically as people began to pass by them, hissing in alarm when two third year girls pointed at them and laughed.

"Off with you! Do you hear me!? Off with you! I'll throw you out a window if you keep trying to embarrass me on my first day here!" She barked out.

Seiichi just laughed.

 

[Forgotten Home]

"Daaaaaad, come on!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming, hold on!"

Artemis was out of bed for the first day of school, her mind hyper and ready. She was extremely excited, hoping that school would go amazingly for her. Unfortunately, her luck seemed to be down lately, but that didn't really matter.

Artemis was quickly walking around the house, talking to her father in English while making sure her breakfast and dad are ready.

Her dad was quickly putting on her uniform and getting his gear ready. He worked as a security guard for a nearby company. Her mother was already at work. She was a doctor at the local hospital.

"Dad, we're going to be late!"

"We're not going to be late, trust me."

Her dad, who's name was Drake, sniffed the air, smelling what she was making. It was just the smell of bread from the bagels they had bought imported but even that smelled delicious.

"Hey, uh, can you... Make me one, too?"

"Way ahead of you." She set down a paper towel with a toasted bagel on top, coated in strawberry jelly, both of their favorite kinds.

Artemis quickly went back to the bathroom to go over her hair one more time with the brush before hearing her dad call out.

"Hey Arty, I'm going to eat your bagel!"

She quickly ran out of the bathroom, tossing her brush on the counter and turning off the light.

"Noooo, don't!"