[fieldbox=Mitsuko Shiki | District Zero, red]
Mitsuko looked at the oldest person in their group for a few moments, before sighing. There was nothing she could do if Ainsworth wanted to go with Grener, but that didn't stop the slight anxiety. It would be a waste if those two just went there and died, simply to see if there was something wrong and then get caught up in the conflict themselves.
I've already made my decision. She was going to stay with Kirigiri and Shoriya. At least now, Grener wouldn't be going in alone, he had a partner. The larger group could simply leave signs for them to track, if they had to leave.
She looked at the youngest girls, Yeul and Amber. Even she had to admit, it felt wrong to ask those two to go willingly into danger. The innocence that Amber hand displayed earlier, in her excited talking to Jack, made the redhaired girl soften a little. There was no way she would allow those two to go with Ainsworth and Grener, at least. And Grener seemed to be of the same opinion. She nodded in agreement to Shoriya's plan for their group's arrangement. While she didn't know what to say about being put in the front, she had seen how capable Shoriya and Kirigiri were with their firearms. Yeul was unnervingly good at her chain scythe, and Ainsworth had her cards. She also had a feeling it wasn't the limit of what the older girl was capable of. Grener clearly had experience, even with those strange gauntlets.
The redhead cocked her head to look at the purple-haired girl.
"The longest we could wait, as Shoriya has said, is an hour." The place where the light was shining from earlier wasn't too far away, it wouldn't take long for anyone to get there - given that no other Static creatures would get in their way and attack them.
"Any longer and more of those creatures might pop up, we have to keep moving."[/fieldbox]
[fieldbox=Hoshiko Kagami | District One, blue]
There wasn't much to do in the lull that had come over as the Fragments scattered from District Zero. Hoshiko merely watched the ongoings through her mirrors, eyes listless as she saw one of the lone Fragmented, a young boy, huddle in an empty shop. He had ended up on the edges District One, running out of the starting district as fast as he could. His expression was the place between panic and disbelief, even as his eyes frantically darted to the door where he had burst in from. Even if she couldn't hear anything, she could see the telltale rapid rising and falling of his chest. He was also wearing a school uniform, most likely in middle school, or at least a first year in high school.
Hoshiko had been a high school student once. Her clothing, having never changed from the long, long time before, was still that of a school uniform. A white button up shirt with long sleeves, a dark navy blue vest, and a red tie. A black skirt and knee high dark socks, shiny black shoes. All in all, she was the picture of a put-together school girl. But it had been a long time since she had even sat in class. Now she didn't even now a reality other than being a Collector.
And she felt nothing about it. Now, shown through one of the reflective surfaces, the wide store window, she could see the nameless boy trying to calm his breaths. This one had been unlucky, having separated from the others in his rush to get away from the earlier pandemonium. Alone as he was... He was...
Easy pickings.
She knew she had to go and kill at least one Fragmented, lest she be sent back. REM also didn't tolerate Collectors deliberately not killing anyone, or at least sabotaging the game. Anything that counted as sabotaging the game was grounds for a Collector to 'disappear'.
Why do I even care? She thought disinterestedly. She had been in this place for too long, maybe simply disappearing would be a blessed reprieve.
This was a good opportunity to get that one kill done. Hoshiko didn't particularly feel like extending much of an effort with the others, unless she was explicitly called upon.
Moving out of the shop window's glass surface, she silently stood and looked at the empty shop. The boy had hidden behind one of the tall desks by now, and she silently walked towards the place where he was hiding. Terrified wide brown eyes bulged out at her, before the boy visibly calmed as he saw a blue-eyed girl of similar age standing in front of him.
"I-I thought I was alone," he said, breath leaving him in a rush. He laughed a breathless, relieved laugh, the laugh of someone simply relieved to have gotten out alive. The boy still couldn't believe what had happened. A boy was mauled and killed by that... Wolf creature... It was unreal. He should be in school right now, right? Even if he couldn't remember which school, or who his classmates were...
A feeling of disquiet came over him as the blue eyed girl still looked down on him, her standing as he was crouched. He noticed, feeling strange, that the girl's vacant expression hadn't shifted, not once.
"Are you okay?" He asked, growing concerned. Maybe this girl was also shocked, and didn't know what to do?
Then the girl crouched before him. It was then that he realized he had never seen her until she was in front of him, or that she had never made a sound, not once. Her breaths were even, but he couldn't hear anything. Her movements were almost mechanical, he realized, her expression absent. Her blue eyes stared down at him with a thousand yard stare, as if seeing past him.
The boy, had this been a normal situation, would have blushed as the girl crouched in front of him. Her face was close to his, and scratch that - he was blushing, and a little bewildered at the girl's closeness. He had never had much experience with girls before, and this one was a stranger.
"Hey...?"
He never even saw the glass shard that appeared in the girl's hand.[/fieldbox]
