(no subject)

[hasleveledup]

Who: Junpei and you!
Where: Pisces District, rail station
Summary: Junpei is no longer in Iwatodai. What do?
Style: I'm good with either.
Warnings: None at the moment.

Damn it, that's the last time I pull an all-night gaming marathon.

[Junpei sighs and stretches, kicking his feet out and throwing his arms up before relaxing back onto his seat. Yes, an all-nighter playing games is not the wisest thing to do. But...things had happened. Good things, but also sad ones. Distraction was all he could do to take his mind off of it.]

Ah well, beats lying in bed doing nothing.

[He rubs at his eyes and yawns, his vision clearing. He wasn't on his bed. In fact, it appeared he was sitting in a station. He finds his ball cap sitting beside him, and immediately pulls it on.]

Wh-what? Where am I? Dude, this ain't the dorm... Heck, I'm pretty sure this isn't Iwatodai either. How did I end up here? Where is here?

[He stands up, taking a few steps around to see if he can get a feel for where he is. Was that dream real?]

Aww man, good thing I have my wallet. Should have just enough yen to hop a train back home...and maybe some breakfast too. This is too weird.

[Junpei also has his Evoker, oddly enough. Why would he need it anymore, though?

Time to get a move on.]

Comments

[all_wound_up]

[And as luck would have it, there happens to be a certain robot girl with a wind-up key in her back approaching the rail station waiting to catch a car to the Aquarius district on her way to school.

This is a daily occurrence for her, but she notices someone she's never seen before in the station looking confused and talking to himself. Being the conscientious sort, she slowly approaches, blinking curiously.]

Um... excuse me? Are you lost?

[hasleveledup]

Huh?

[Junpei looks up from fishing through his wallet to see a girl standing there...with a wind-up key protruding out of her back. Junpei's used to weird. He's a gamer, one of his friends is a robot, and he's fought more than his fair share of shadows. But the simplicity of this strange girl makes him second guess himself on whether or not he's awake.]

Hey there! Yeah, I think I am. Can you tell me which train gets me back to Port Island Station?

[all_wound_up]

Oh, um...

[Nano frowns, tugging at her skirt a little.]

...I'm very sorry, but the trains don't leave the city.

[hasleveledup]

Wait, you mean this train is just for this city?

[Junpei's not the brightest bulb in the box, but that just doesn't make any sense.]

Well, what about a taxi?

[He can only hope a flight home isn't his only means of escape. He doesn't have more than 2500 yen on him...]

[all_wound_up]

Um... I don't think there's any kind of transportation that leaves the city.

[electricyousei]

[A pale skinned girl can be seen coming out of a PC room across the street from the station with a blank look but what looks to be a TV screen of sorts just floating in front of her as she moves in Junpei's direction.]

"Are you lost?"

[hasleveledup]

[That. Is. So. Cool. She's like a character out of a mecha series! Maybe he's still asleep?]

Aw man, I am, but that's okay!

[electricyousei]

"Oh. All right."

[She shrugs a bit and the screen vanishes]

[hasleveledup]

[That was unexpected. Damn it, he can't even impress sci-fi heroine girls with cool futuristic computers!]

H-hey, wait a sec! I'm okay, but I'm not...okay?

[electricyousei]

[She looks at him, her expression still neutral.]

"That statement contradicts itself you know."

[tyrantball]

Can you feel that strange pressure? As if many eyes are upon you, staring with an inhuman intensity?

Don't worry, though - you are not being gazed upon by a consortium of vast, cool, unsympathetic alien intelligences.

It's just a demon that looks an awful lot like a seven-year-old girl. Her mouth is slightly agape in an approximation of wonder, allowing just the tips of her serrated, shark-like fangs to show. Behind her, a muscular, crocodilian tail slowly swishes back and forth, and the concentric circles that make up the pupils of her two red eyes are expanding and contracting rhythmically, while the nictitating membranes of her golden eyes open and shut randomly all over her body.

...well, at least she hasn't deployed her tentacles yet.

"Amazing! So amazing!"

[hasleveledup]

...

Please don't wake him up. He's pretty sure he's dreaming now. This girl looks like the cutesy yet super-powerful final boss of Disterra...

"That's my line! Are you for real?"

[tyrantball]

"Of course Desco is for real!"

Desco grins broadly as she continues talking.

"Who are you? Desco has never seen such a...a sidekicky sidekick before!"

[hasleveledup]

"Oh my god, you talk like her too! That's freaking adorable..." Junpei murmurs to himself.

"...Sidekicky sidekick?" Hey, he's a hero! There can totally be more than one hero. Look at the three musketeers!

[tyrantball]

Desco's long, pointed ears are pretty much entirely for show, so she doesn't even react to your muttering. Instead, she nods enthusiastically at your question.

"Yes! From your hat to your clothing right down to your voice, everything you do screams 'sidekick'!"

Suddenly, something occurs to her, and her red eyes widen as she gasps.

"Could it be?! Are you...the Legendary Sidekick?! The mythical character class that exists solely to support the Hero?!"

With that, she drops into a curtsey.

"I am Desco, the Final Boss! It's a pleasure to meet the Legendary Sidekick!"

[themortalhalf]

[It's easy to resent having to get up early when you haven't had to for months. Shinjiro can't say he especially likes having to get up and meander his way into wakefulness before nine—something he and Minato have in common, at least; though the latter would likely prefer noon. Still, Shinjiro has begrudgingly adjusted to the new routine like a cat might come to terms with to some unwelcome invader in its midst: with long, sullen disdain hidden beneath an unreadable stare.

Getting to Andromeda Highschool, thankfully, is easy enough. Head to the Libra Apartment Complex, take the teleporter (which is thankfully not as temperamental as it had been six months ago), and then head to the nearest Pisces station to continue the journey into Aquarius. It's simple enough Shinjiro could almost walk on autopilot, accompanied by his cheery vanguard who seems hellbent on proving that Shinjiro's stubbornness isn't very stubborn at all. It makes his mornings almost criminally sunny, and at times Shinjiro almost wishes she had inherited an ounce of her brother's narcoleptic tendencies. It might make her at least seem sympathetic. (Minato, meanwhile, is lagging somewhere behind them, adhering to the idea that mornings are meant to be taken slowly.)

Shinjiro approaches the Pisces Station without much in the way of conversation. He'd rather hear Minako ramble on about whatever comes to her than to have to verbally confirm that he's actually awake. He slows, however, as he reaches the station entrance, as his eyes catch a familiar ballcap through the crowd of faceless commuters. It earns the figure on the bench a surprised double-take as Shinjiro slows to a complete stop, letting his eyes confirm that he's not seeing some kind of similar-looking doppelgänger.

He's not.]

Hey.

[He catches Minako's arm then, jerking his head towards the bench Junpei is currently occupying. He's not sure if they should approach him—if he hasn't spotted them already—or step back and wait for Minato to arrive, because it's hard to say if Junpei will remember her, and with their track record, he might not.]

[greatseal]

[Minako can sleep to rival her brother when she wants to. It just so happens that mornings aren't when she wants to. Afternoons are (as well as sometimes the middle of class) when she's finally used up so much energy that she needs to recharge for forty minutes or so to keep running.

But for now she's perky enough to make up for Shinjiro's sluggishness. She relates a story of something she'd seen yesterday as they walk, not minding at all that he isn't interjecting much. She can fill the silence on her own.]

So then, the Jack Frost said - Huh?

[Minako stops short as Shinjiro tugs her arm, confused by the sudden stop. They can't slow for too long or they might miss the next train.] Senpai, why -

[Then she spots the ball cap as well.]

[hasleveledup]

[Junpei briefly looks in Shinjiro and Minako's direction, waiting for the crowds to die down so he doesn't get shoved onto a train that'll take him even further away from home.

It's funny; he thinks he sees Minako among the crowds. But Minako has gone to a better place now. Minako's gone, Akihiko and Mitsuru have graduated, Shinjiro and Chidori are recovering and readjusting to life...so much has happened.]

Heh, that couple kinda looks like Minako-chan and Shinjiro-senpai--

[Holy crap.]

Man, I really am dreaming.

[He stands up, moving closer to them to confirm his doubts.]

[themortalhalf]

[Well, it looks like Iori made the decision for them. Not much else for it, now that Junpei's spotted them. Shinjiro can't hear what Iori says above the crowd, but the recognition's clear enough. It's better to get this whole damn process over with, anyway. Get all the complicated skeleton shit out of the closet so people can adjust and move on. The timeline is the main concern: after that, things fall into place like they should. And what timeline Iori's from should be apparent soon enough.

So with a quick look Minako's way, Shinjiro starts to step forward to meet Junpei through the thinning crowd. Shinjiro had never been particularly close to his younger teammate—they weren't the same age, didn't share the same interests, (and, hell, he's pretty damn sure most of the time they weren't even on the same wavelength)—but Junpei was someone who was hard to forget in a number of ways.]

Iori. [He stares at him for a few seconds, looking him over as the distance is closed and rendered obsolete. He's the same as Shinjiro remembers him. Shinjiro's not sure what to say, except to follow some trite script.] Guess you finally decided to show up, huh?

[Were Mitsuru, Aki, and Fuuka still here, they'd just about have the whole set—just like what Aki had said back in September.]

[greatseal]

[Even from a distance, he's unmistakeable. It's been half a year since she's seen Junpei, and she suddenly realizes how much she missed his stupid hat and stupid jokes. Yukari, too, and Aigis, Fuuka, Ken... all the members of the group that should be here together, but aren't. For just a moment, Minako is homesick.

It's a bit of an epiphany. She hasn't had a home to miss in so long.

But the moment passes and practicality returns. Shinjiro is moving to meet him, and so she matches his steps, moving with her usual energetic bounce to keep up with his longer strides.]

Junpei-kun! It's good to see you!

[Her cheery smile and wave don't betray that she's a little afraid to hear his response.]

[prettytamer]

[Does that sound like... could it be... Someone in need of help?

Midori swoops in to assist! She may be relatively new herself, but she's still got some information to offer!]

Are you new here?

[hasleveledup]

[Oh my, what's with all these cute babes popping out of the woodwork? Or the train station in this case?]

L-looks like it. Are you too?

[prettytamer]

If a couple weeks counts as new! Do you need help?

[hasleveledup]

[Stuck for a couple of weeks? He might not make it that long with what he's got.]

I've been trying to find a way home, but everyone's telling me that isn't happening. I guess I need help with finding a cheap place to stay. I don't have much but I can't be too picky, right?

[prettytamer]

Oh, that's easy! You get an apartment for free.