ITP: Chariots of Fire

[fracta_anima]

Who: Minami, Open
Where: Virgo Ward
Summary: Minami has come to Hinoto-Ri and meets people both old and new.
Warnings: Minami and friends making fools of themselves.


[So there's a young lady in the Virgo Ward who looks a bit lonely, a bit nervous, and obviously trying very hard to look brave. People who know Minako might notice this girl's striking resemblance to her. Though, if one looked closely enough, they might notice she still seems to have some baby fat on her, her face is a bit rounder, and her hair a different shade of red. She's also taken to wearing her hair pins to form XIII rather than XXII. If anyone asks she claims it's due to losing a couple hairpins and not bothering to buy more.

Being in this place is no sweat. She's been to new places practically all her life and Igor had told her she had a new Journey to partake in. Maybe this was it? The big journey she's supposed to partake in now that her brother had taken her place as the Seal? Maybe, just maybe, this is how she can pay him back?

....but did it really have to be by herself?

With that thought in mind, the girl turns a corner onto a street specializing in food vendors. Her stomach growls (loudly) and she tries not to look too embarrassed by it. That's right, she hasn't eaten for a few hours. Not since her brother had....

It's at this time a very familiar face near a fruit stand spots her. Conveniently at the same time the girl spots said face.]

Minami?!

Miki?!

[>Cue Music

The pair run at each other, both a pair of giggly high school girls incredibly happy to see each other in such a strange new place. Both even jump once they're close enough to reach other, intent on tackling each other in a bear hug.

Too bad they wind up headbutting with a loud "THUNK" and a pair of girly shrieks instead. Both wind up on the ground clutching their craniums.]

[OOC: So, yeah, both Miki and Minami will be replying to threads after making idiots out of themselves. Expect threadjacking and don't be afraid to threadjack yourselves!]

Comments

[second_destiny]

[Asem's attention had been grabbed by the double-shout. He watched as they ran toward each other...and smashed heads.

Welp.]

Uh... Are...you guys all right?

[helenchanted]

[Is this the real life. Or is this fantasy?]

[fracta_anima]

[Caught in a landslide, it feels.]

Uhhh.... I think so....? [She just sounds dazed.]

[second_destiny]

Do you need anything? Any kind of help?

[second_destiny]

...Hey! Hey! Can you hear me?!

[helenchanted]

..I can hear you fine. I'll just need some Eve Quick headache pills.

icon unrelated to post. ;D

[fools_journey]

[ Minato's been spending the day scouring about for music players just in case the worst happens and no one can repair his own, and he happens to be close by when he sees a slow-mo flash of red as Miki goes running by. He turns to see where she's headed only to quickly wince as she and someone else smack into each other.

Well, checking in on friends is more important than music but only just so he hurries over, a concerned look on his face masking the amusement at the ridiculous display. ]

Are you two all ri--

[ But that's when he gets a good look at Minami and pauses to do a sort of extended stare. For a moment, he'd thought it was Minako, but the hair's wrong, and Miki and Minako wouldn't have run into each other like that, and --

he wonders. Is this the Minami Miki had told him about?

But then he remembers the situation and hand and belatedly finishes his word. ]

right?

[fracta_anima]

Someone make the whirly birdies stop.... [Okay, she doesn't actually see birds whirling, but it's something to say after getting a look at--is it really--but no. He has more weight to him and his hair is cut a little different, and yet--]

Big brother....? [It just slips out, like it did on occasion when she first found out about their relation. Because it can't be. He died. She literally just saw him die. How can he be--?

So she doubles over, faking her head hurting more than it is, and groans.]

Ow, my head.

[helenchanted]

...No Minami, that ain't your brother. That's another Minato...

[Hello how are you doing, how do you feel about glares today.]

[greatseal]

[Minako is also in Virgo today, but she was oblivious to this whole scene. Virgo's a big place and she was around the corner and out of earshot.

But a short while later she is standing in the middle of one of the larger of the ward's convenience stores, picking up a few snacks. This kind of shopping outing she has to do alone because Shinjiro would give her a look if he saw what she was buying.

Oh, they have Featherman gum...]

[fracta_anima]

[Minako's hand, as it reaches for the Featherman gum, is bumped by someone else reaching for it. After the run-in with Miki and Minato, she'd gone looking for some Eve Quick because, headbutting aside, she'd found this whole alternate-reality thing was giving her a tensions headache and needed something to help ease it.]

Oh, sorry. I wasn't paying atten.... [She gapes at the girl she'd run into, her mouth hanging for a second. Hadn't the others mentioned someone with a resemblance to her? Oh right--]

...tion. You must be Minako, right?

1/2

[greatseal]

[It's okay, Minami, because Minako's mouth is stuck in an equally unflattering open position for a few seconds.]

[greatseal]

Um... yes.

And you must be Minami-chan.

[Unless there is yet another Arisato, at which point she'd be ready to ragequit and go bop Philemon on the head until he decides to fix reality. Or at least bother some other family for a change.]

[greyerrant]

[ The space marine watches them from a distance with this very face. ]

[helenchanted]

[Miki watches right back....and then waves at him.

They'd met before at the fair, right?]

[greyerrant]

[ Yes. The stoic warrior gives her a wave back. ]

[ihaveanannouncement]

[Saori has gone out job hunting. Virgo has lots of shops so she can be found with a whole stack of job applications. At least filling out forms was something she was experienced with, so it shouldn't take too long.

But she drops them when she sees "Minako" bump into that silver-haired girl, and hurries over.]

Minako-chan? Are you two alright?

[fracta_anima]

Saori? [Minami was a year below Saori in school, but had still managed to be friends with her and even help her out in much the same way Minako had in canon. She looks up at the brunette before climbing to her feet and dusting off her skirt.]

You got brought here, too?

[ihaveanannouncement]

Ahaha. No. I came here to do some job hunting. [Saori responds, assuming she meant being brought to Virgo. Minako met her on the first day Saori came here, so she already knows Saori's here.] They said this district has lots of shops, so I thought I should come here first.

[themortalhalf]

[Virgo is one of the districts Shinjiro isn't entirely familiar with yet. He doesn't have any clear destination in mind this time around. Wandering about the ward, checking out the food markets, trying to get an idea of what place sold the best produce and where.

Eventually, however, he'll round a corner, cutting through a busier part of the ward with every intention to vacate it as soon as possible, and spot Miki just a few feet away, accompanied by a shock of red hair he at first assumes is Minako's, though as he draws closer, begins to revise his assumptions. Because even though it's her it's not. Something was.... off.

What?]

[fracta_anima]

[Minami is still rubbing the ache from her forehead when Shinjiro draws close and she happens to look up at just the right time to get a good look at him. Her heart drops to the pit of her stomach and her eyes go wide. Just like when she first met him, there's a bit of a flutter in her stomach and a warm feeling spreading through her bloodstream. This is shortly followed by her stomach feeling like the butterflies had been shot and then molten lead was dropped into it when she remembered the night he was shot, how hard she'd cried right after and then tried to be strong for Miki afterward.

The crush hadn't gone anywhere. Minami hadn't feel ready to date at the time and had always felt it unfair to be in that kind of relationship with the person one of her best friends considered a brother. What did Junpei call it? 'Bros before hos'? So it'd be more 'Sis before dudes' despite Miki constantly trying to encourage it. No, Minami had been perfectly fine getting chances to spend time with him and be his friend despite her feelings. And then.... he died. And now he was standing in front of her. How....?]

I think I hit my head harder than I thought.

[She turns away from him, tries to compose herself, to will herself to believe she's hallucinating. But he'd been too solid. Too real in a way she can't deny.

When she turns back to him, she waves, her smile a bit too wide and her tone just a little too chirpy and high pitched to be her natural voice.]

Hi, Senpai! Long time, no see!

[themortalhalf]

[No, not her.

But almost like her. Enough. Just similar enough to Minako for him to pick her figure out of a crowd of people, so easy it just might be automatic. Enough that had Minako not been here herself, seeing her almost doppelganger here would hurt. Her hair's a bit different, and her face. Her voice. Even how she's acting. He's smart enough to put two and two together. He could be wrong, but given how complicated this place is turning out to be, he doubts it.

There's not much distance between them anymore, and he stops, staring down at her. He thinks he can see past her false cheeriness, even if he doesn't know her—and that's what makes it hard. He wishes he could say "Yeah, it's been awhile," even though it's probably better for the both of them that he doesn't. He'd only just hurt her more than he probably all ready has. He can't be the Shinjiro this girl obviously remembers. He's probably dead in her eyes, if she's who he thinks she is.

Miki's certainly said enough about her.

He doesn't know how to go about this either. Tch.

Just another dead man walking in a place that's neither hell nor paradise.]

You're... Minami then.

[destinedwaters]

[Well.... that had been quite the collision and tumble. Aqua blinks once... twice... and then there is something akin to Mediarama falling over the two of them. Only, there is no Persona summoned.]

Are you two alright?

[fracta_anima]

Fine.... [Minami sounds just a bit dazed, but she sits up right and looks up at the woman. For a brief moment, she's reminded of the old picture of her mother she'd been given in the hospital shortly after the accident: kind eyes, a unique hair color, and a concerned look.

But the reminder is gone in an instant and Minami pushes herself to her feet to dust herself off.]

Yeah, we're fine, surprisingly enough. Should try being more careful in the future, huh?

[destinedwaters]

[Blue hair seems to be rare in every world, really. She tilts her head to the side for a brief moment, then laughs quietly.]

It would probably be a good idea, yes.