revolveroyalty:

“Chie-senpai?” Naoto’s eyes widened a fraction, taking a moment to confirm that this was, in fact, her teammate and friend casually walking up to her. She gave the other girl a small smile, nodding shortly.

“It would seem so. It’s a relief to see that you’re doing well. I was… quite worried when I couldn’t locate you and the others in Inaba.”

Man, it’s a relief to see you too!! I was starting to wonder when you’d show up.

[Laughing a little, she crossed her arms over her chest, teetering on her feet with a wide grin on her face, giddy to see the detective. She and her were on good terms.]

You were probably swamped with work, huh? Pretty lame that you got stuck out here. I’ve been here for ages, but it’s not that bad after you get past the bad trailers, the worse food, and the worst of all, the people.

(Source: trialofthedragon)

….!?

Naoto!!

[She grinned, trotting over to her friend.]

You finally showed up around here, huh?

harada-riku:

“The…carnival…? Is that where the Ringmaster is?”

/She looks at Chie with a curious expression./

“I haven’t even…seen the Ringmaster before. Have you, Chie-san?”

Oh, it’s some run-down place past the lake. All the rides are rickety, and there’s a house of mirrors, and a maze… a close friend of mine and I went in there once, and these dogs chased out. It was almost as if they were half dead…

But no, I’ve never seen the Ringmaster. I plan to leave a flurry of footprints on his face in the near future.

[Harumph.]

harada-riku:

“R-Rabid dogs!?”

/She squeaked out, her brown eyes widening at the thought./

“T-There aren’t a lot of rabid dogs around, are there? I don’t know if I’d feel safe wandering around…”

[She sweats a little, looking down at her feet.]

Well not exactly rabid… just kind of scary. [She blinks.] I suggest you don’t go the carnival; that’s where they were when I went there. Nearly got myself killed!

It’s a dangerous place out here, so be careful.

harada-riku:

“Then…Chie-san?”

/She smiles brightly, feeling that she was getting a little closer to being friends. But the mention of ‘this place’ seemed to bring down her spirits./

“I just arrived, actually. Not too long ago…I woke up, and here I was.”

There you go!

[She beams down at her, nodding.]

Ah, I see… you just got here? I’ve been here since forever, it feels like. Three or four months, maybe? It isn’t so bad once you get used to it. Sure, the food’s bad and the trailers aren’t so nice and the carnival has rabid dogs but—

[She chokes a little.]

It’s not so bad!

[Optimistic as ever.]

harada-riku:

“It’s nice to meet you, Satonaka-san!”

/She laughs a little, seeing the sleepy expression on the older girl’s face./

“You seem to be…a little tired. I hope I’m not bothering you.”

Haha, just call me Chie! [She smiles, scratching the back of her head.]

No, you’re not bothering me, kid, I’m just a little worn out, you know?

[She stretches.]

Gettin’ tired of this place. How long have you been here?

harada-riku:

“Hello! I’m Riku Harada.”

/She offers a kind smile./

“I hope we get along. What’s your name?”

Yooo!

[She yawns, waving sleepily.]

Chie Satonaka, at your service.

I’ve already been in this dump for four months?

Doesn’t feel like it sometimes.

[She sighs.]

Sheesh.

balls-of-strength:

 [It was right in my face! Where else was I supposed to look?! I mean…]

Wait, don’t talk like that about yourself! You were just worried about everyone; there’s nothing wrong about that! Really, I should be thankful that you even concerned yourself over me! [He suddenly stopped, now wondering if she would take it the wrong way. Well, most probably not…] Uh… Yeah, I’m good. I’m sturdier than I look, hah.

But hey— That’s something I haven’t seen before. [He said as he tried to imitate her pout. Well, it was ony way to raise the mood.] You’re looking like a real girl now, haha. [Woops. He really was purposedly teasing her.]

Hm… I don’t know how to feel about the Ringmaster anymore. A bunch of people got some of their belongings back and who knows, maybe one day I’ll be the lucky one?  Say, if you could choose to get back one thing, what would it be?

Whoa, hold on. [Noticing her hands, he immediately directed all his attention towards them. He pulled her hand towards himself and examined the palm.] Jeez, what have you been doing? Even if you like to work hard, remember to take good care of your body. Hardened skin won’t do you any good, y’know? If this goes on too long, you won’t be able to stretch your hands like you used too and that will end up hindering you one day. [Woops. He quickly released her hand, not wanting to look like some sort of pervert. He wasn’t was one much. He genuinely cared. Focus, Kou, focus. Too many mistakes in one day…] Y-Yeah…

It doesn’t have anything to do with being a girl or not. [No, maybe it does.] Do you even see me hitting anybody? It’d rather talk my way out of stuff. Take things slow and easy, something like that. Maybe I’ll be begging before you even start& haha— …

[ RUDE ]

[She still frowns, forcing to laugh a little. This always happened; she did stuff she didn’t mean and disliked herself for it. Everything her shadow had told her. But she shakes those thoughts away, because geeze, Kou doesn’t have anything to do with that. And he probably wouldn’t believe her anyway.]

I bet!! You do conditioning and all that for basketball, right? Kind of like for club… but ‘course I’d be concerned! You do realize you should be worried about your classmates, right?

[A pause.]

Wow, really? Huh, I guess I always make the weirdest expressions when I’m thinking. Though, it’s pretty hard not to have to think really hard when you’re always with a group of friends that are smarter than you. [I.e Souji, Yukiko, Naoto. Everyone but Kanji and Yosuke. /BRICKED]

Woah woah woah, what are you trying to get back? I wouldn’t trust that Ringmaster guy; he probably did something weird with everything we own anyways. [She rubs her nose.] But something I’d want back…? Uhm… [It takes her a moment to decide. She’d love to have her greaves back, but it was obvious that wasn’t happening. Love to have her glasses back, too; just for the sake of remembering.]

I’d like to see my dog again! Yeah. I miss him.

[Nice save.]

[Though, she blinks a little bit when he takes her hand, tensing.]

Oh, these? No, they’re not so bad… my feet are probably worse. [Shrug.] I mean, this stuff goes away, doesn’t it? I’ve dealt with worse than cracked skin, and besides, Yukiko always knows how to — [She stops herself, sighs, and shakes her head.] Well, I mean if she was here, she would know how to fix it. I guess until then I just have to deal with it.

[She smiles again. She, of course, was completely oblivious to how that could have been taken as creepy, because she is totally used to physical contact! Totally.]

Aha! Kou, you really have a way with words, don’t you? [She snorts.] But you’re right, I don’t even think you could hit someone if you wanted. You’re just a little to nice for that, aren’t you?

And Mister Star Basketball player might break a nail.

[Oooo come at me bro.]

(Source: trialofthedragon)

balls-of-strength:

[You flashed. That’s different.]

Ah… No, I get what you mean. I guess I kinda deserved it, hah… [I’m not a masochist. He rubbed his side at the spot where she struck him. Ouch. In the end, even if he had moved away, he still would have received the kick. That conclusion was enough to not make him feel like he was a complete idiot for over-fantasizing.]

Yeah, Yosuke’s stuff disappeared from our trailer and… Geez, I had no idea Yukiko-san popped up either. So then, she somehow left too? That’s crazy… [Seeing the girl’s current state, it was about safe to assume that his useless remarks wouldn’t help in any way. What should he even say when nothing was comprehensible to the poor normal boy to begin with?] So… yeah, I’m still here. I feel no more different than yesterday, so maybe I won’t be poofing anytime soon. That is… I was supposed to go ask the Ringmaster for a favor again, but maybe I should halt that thought for now, huh?

[There she was, sitting across him with that painful expression. Should he pat her on the shoulder? Nudge her by the elbow? Then again, he didn’t have the necessary courage to do any of that. Her proposition was even crazier.]

Whoa, no can do! There’s really no reason for me to do that, is there? Really, it’s no big deal! I could probably take a hundred more of your kicks! [Not that he actually wanted to test his endurance.]

[Is not?? You were looking there in the first place.]

No, you don’t deserve it!! I’m dumb, I forgot you haven’t— [Trained, like we have. She cut herself off, shaking her head.] Never mind. I mean, I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions like I usually do. Are you okay?

[Gosh, someone is riding the guilt train.]

Yeah… it’s weird, Yukiko didn’t even say goodbye. I hope she’s alright. [Pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration, she shifts, pursuing her lips in thought. It was a thoughtful face, if not childish - whenever she was thinking hard, she sort of did this odd pout-thing. Usually, she just blurted out answers that sounded correct to her.]

I wouldn’t suggest going to the Ringmaster for anything. It’s usually some weird trick to do something that you end up regretting, from what I’ve heard. He really gives me the creeps! [She gives a shudder, hugging herself.] You do realize  you’d be asking the guy who kidnapped you a favor, right?

[Sighing, she idly flicks dirt clots in the ground with blunt fingernails, obvious that they had been chewed. Rough, calloused hands from training. It wasn’t very lady like, to say the least.]

I don’t see why not!! You’re not afraid to hit a girl, are you? [She can’t help but snort at his remark, lightening up and laughing.] I honestly doubt it. I’d have you begging for mercy in no time.

[Isn’t that what you want though? /BRICKED]

(Source: trialofthedragon)