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Bookstores and Cafés: Jinbocho
[Boring evening it was. Kazuya was quietly resting sitting on one of the benches by the walls of the inner streets, in front of a simple café with a name he didn't bother to check. He would drink from a dark green mug as he reads through an antique book he seemed to have bought recently. He felt fine, he liked walking to new places and then resting for a moment to take it all in.]
A strange samurai would walk past the bookstore, not bothering to check it as well. He would notice Kazuya out of the corner of his eye as he walked, but felt no need to interact. Instead, he would just keep walking forward, abruptly stopping to look back at the stranger once more. Feeling something off, or rather familiar, about the man, Walter decides to walk a couple feet closer to him and shout out, raising his right hand in greeting.
"Hoi!"
[Kazuya would react to the man's calling by immediately turning to face him. At first, his eyes would grow in surprise before having to remind himself this wasn't the same person. Even their voice was different. Besides, those clothes and the lack of glasses pretty much made it clear.]
"Oh...! Yes, do you need anything?"
He thinks for a second, responding casually.
"Naw, you just reminded me of someone, is all."
He solemnly closes his eyes, reminiscing.
"It's strange, though. You don't look anything like him, and yet..."
"I think I know what you mean, you also reminded me of a friend of mine. I think..."
[He would think it over for a few moments, closing the book and leaving it by his side.]
"...It may actually be the hair. It's all spiky and short, my friend used to have a similar style!"
He smiles
"Yeah, that must be it."
He chuckles, appearing more relaxed as he glances around himself.
"It sure is peaceful around here. Kinda unsettling, if you ask me."
"How is it unsettling? Tokyo is always like this... Are you not from here then?"
[He would raise an eyebrow as he asks the man. The clothes alone made it somewhat obvious, all things considered. Even so, he could not tell this man's origin. He had the looks of a Japanese man but the airs of a European. It was confusing.]
"My name is Kazuya, by the way."
"I guess you can say something like that. My homeland isn't really a place an average Japanese citizen knows much about, anyways."
He smirks, listening to Kazuya with interest.
"I've known Tokyo for quite some time now, and yet, it's like it's a completely different city to me now... Oh, and, name's Walter."
"It's nice to meet you, Walter."
[He would smile at the man, taking a sip of coffee from his mug.]
"Maybe it's because you've been gone for a long time. I had a similar feeling a long time ago. It's really hard to tell how truly fast things move here. Buildings seem to pop out of nowhere and... new trends come and ago. I actually find it really nice."
"The pleasure's all mine."
Walter would take a look back at the buildings, not seeming interested in any of them.
"I suppose that part I don't mind. I can enjoy a little adventure, after all."
"With how big this city is, you're bound to find something happening! I would just suggest you don't wander around for too long. You might get lost and end up somewhere weird."
[Kazuya would chuckle at his own comment.]
"I know I have gotten lost before, the city is just too big. Honestly, between Shibuya or Shinjuku, I prefer staying in my hometown, Kichijouji."
"Is it big?"
A small, amount timid souncing voice comes from the pair's side, outside the cafe.
Standing there is a gray-haired woman wearing a heavy red coat, more appropriate for winter than anything else, yet she seems perfectly satisfied. She hadn't been there a second ago, yet it was at this moment that the Lupus appears
"It didn't... Seem hard.."
Walter would remain interested in Kazuya's words, even while the stranger had appeared, whom he appeared confused by.
"Huh..."
He then pays her no mind, replying to Kazuya.
"I don't think I have to worry about getting lost. It's still Tokyo, after all, and save for a few new buildings I know my way around it like the back of my hand."
[Kazuya would jump the moment he hears Lupus voice. He would take a deep breath and would shake his head before actually addressing her.]
"Not to be rude, but from where did you come from...!? You scared me, don't do that!"
[He says so jokingly before nodding at Walter.]
"You seem like a capable fellow, even if you did get lost, I don't think you could run into too much trouble."
Red looks over to Kazuya, puzzled. It had seemed simple enough to her, so it never would ahve occurred to her that someone could be startled
"I walked...."
Red points to the roof of the building behind them, that is where she had descended from after all. It was natural to want some form of high ground, as doing so made it easier to see the city around her.
Still, the woman shifts somewhat nervously, her ears dropping lower to her head in shame as she adds
"I.. Didn't mean to scare anyone."
[The young man would close both eyes as he smiles trying to help her ease a bit. It was his fault after all, or at least that's how he felt. He pays no mind to the fact that she had apparently jumped from such a high place and that she was probably not a human. At this point, stuff like this was to be expected.]
"It's okay, really! I only got scared because I was a bit distracted."
[He laughs it off, fighting off his desire to pat her on the head. He had a bit of a weakness towards canine-like features.]
"My name is Kazuya Yasuo, yours?"
"My designation.... is Projekt Red."
Red turns to the side to let Kazuo see the name written on the side of her hood, the word "Red" surrounding the longer "Projekt" within. A stylish label she used to identify herself.
Still, something bothered her, it almost felt like Kazuo's initial reaction was familiar... Yet Red couldn't place it anywhere.
"Are you sure?... Its okay?"
The woman closes her eyes in thought, trying to search for something, yet whatever was there seemed to be beyond her grasp at the moment.
(edited by Projekt_Red)
"Ooh...! Projekt Red huh...! I'll call you Red then, if that's okay with you."
[Maybe she was genetically engineered? It wouldn't be the first time he meets such creatures. He didn't feel like assuming however, he would rather understand the one ahead of him at the moment.]
"I'm sure it's okay, really! I won't get scared again, so if we meet again, you can show up however you like."
[He would finish by offering the girl a wide smile, trying to reassure her in that he was being honest.]
"Red?"
Projekt Red narrows her eyes and looks at the ground in thought for a few moments, before slowly nodding her head
"I do not mind.... Whatever you call me."
When Red looks back up at Kazuo he's doing... Something strange, she doesn't really understand it, but they didn't seem to be in pain...
"Your.. Face...?"
Red leans in a little closer in order to inspect Kazuya's face, the smile was strange to her, and didn't seem like it could be comfortable, yet as far as she could tell there was nothing wrong with it either.
[He would blink for a couple of times before he realizes what she means. He would point at his smile and speak.]
"This is a smile, you do it when you feel happy or want others to know you don't mean ill will. You don't know how to do it? It's easy."
Walter tilts his head, staring at the eccentric women with intrique.
"Not the most socially educated, now, are you?"
He chuckles slightly.
"Show others...."
Red steps back, giving Kazuya a bewildered glance before bringing her fingers up to her own face. She would use her hands to force her lips to curve upwards, much like Kazuya was doing before she asks
"Like this?"
[He would happily nod at Walter, albeit a bit nervously. That wasn't something he would say to someone like Red, and even then, he figured she would not really mind. He would see her smile and would try to fully explain it. She did have the right idea.]
"Hmmm... Yes, like that! But you need to let it come more naturally, without using your fingers. Think of someone or something that makes you feel glad and relaxed, like... you feel like because that exists, you want to keep on living!"
[He would count his fingers.]
“Like friends, maybe foods, family, could be a place…”
Red lets go of her mouth and looks back at Walter, she didn't really understand why, but it felt like she had done something wrong....
Of course, Kazuya would give her an explanation, yet it merely causes the girl to close her eyes in thought once more
"Red does not have friends... Red has....."
There's an unusually long pause as Red looks up to the sky, the faint image of clouds passing by as the girl tries to remember something... Yet it seemed that no longer how much she tried nothing would come
"Red has.... Always been alone?"
Red briefly rubs her face with her hand, it didn't feel right... Something about the question didn't feel right which brings forth uncertainty in the Lupus's voice. As she struggles to think the woman's hood falls off, fully revealing the woman's lupine ears.
"You don't sound convinced of that. Are you sure there isn't anybody you know that you like seeing or at least meeting with?"
[He would cross his arms, trying to think of what else to say. Clearly there was something bothering her or rather, something was missing. Even so, he didn't want to press much, since they just met after all. Instead, he needed to find a way to help.]
"At the very least, there has to be others like you, right? That could mean that you aren't truly alone."
"Lupus, Projekt Red is a Lupus. Not wolf, Lupus."
Red repeats the words she had often told herself, it was one of the more important things she could remember, part of what she was and what defined her as separate from her prey. Of course there were other Lupus, she could remember some details about her race clearly
"The other Lupus were scared of Red.. None of the Lupus there liked me... Lappland was particularly...."
Red shakes her head again. Of course Lappland was violent, Lappland was always unstable, so it wasn't unusual for her to have a more extreme reaction than the others..... But where, and what, and why? It was very stressful, none of it made sense. It was a feeling of anticipation, like a dam was about to burst, but never did.
"I just wanted... To touch their tail..."
"Others of your species have tails you like then? Maybe like this Lappland?"
[He would tap his right cheek as he considered where to take the information he was given. She was a Lupus, and others were scared of her but maybe one.]
"You could think of those tails then, wouldn't it make you feel glad to touch them?"
"I never got to touch any of them.... Everyone would run away.... Except Lappland.. Lappland was worse...."
Red briefly shakes her head, as if trying to shake off the memory. her rbeathing grows more and more rapid before the woman finally turns around to the building behind her...
"I need to go..."
And with only a short running start, the woman leaps to the wall above the doorway and simply runs up the building, finding hand and footholds where none appeared to be before finally clearing the edge of the building and vanishing back into the city.
[Kazuya would sigh, shaking his head and wondering if there really was anything he could've done. He decided to just let it go, waving goodbye at Red as she leaves. That done, he would pick up his book and bow at Walter.]
"It was nice meeting you, but it's gotten a bit late. I'm returning home now, so see you around Walter."
[He would calmly be on his way back home.]