An Afternoon Gone Sour (OPEN)

[koyuki]

"So this is Metropolis Island, hmm?" Koyuki mused to herself as she made her way down the sidewalk of the technological wonderland. There was a bored expression on her pale face, and she was twirling a strand of brown hair around her finger as she walked. All of the gadgets and gizmos looked sort of neat displayed in the windows of the countless stores that lined the busy street. Koyuki didn’t much care for how neat they were to look at though. She was here solely for entertainment.

Still, what was it exactly that humans did for fun? Finding out the answer was also one of the reasons that Koyuki found herself wandering the impressive looking city. It’s not like she had much experience being human. Hell, her human form was nothing more than a mask she wore. She was still a demon. Koyuki would have quite a bit to learn if she ever wanted to blend in here in the human realm.

Just the act of walking around among the masses was actually kind of funny to the young demon. The average demon noble wouldn’t be caught dead among the commoners. That is, unless they were beating one or two of them to serve as an example to any demon who would think to start an uprising. Koyuki chuckled to herself. What would the rest of her family think if they saw her mingling with lowly peasants like this? It didn’t much matter. Oddly enough, Koyuki was actually sort of enjoying herself. Perhaps it was the rebellious streak in her. Human or demon, she was still a teenager.

A particular store window caught the eye of the daughter of the Zotto Clan. A row of capsules lined the display behind the large pane of glass. Koyuki raised an eyebrow. She had heard lots of things about this particular human technology. How could you stuff entire homes into those tiny little capsules without magic though? Humans may be a generally weak race of beings, but their technology was certainly impressive. What was it about these capsules that intrigued her so? There had been plenty of impressive looking gadgets that Koyuki had seen on her way here. What made these things so different? Why did she feel drawn to them?

The young ice demon was about to waltz into the store and order a few dozen capsules when she suddenly stopped in her tracks. A few dozen? Who was she kidding? She couldn’t even afford one capsule. If she were back home, none of this would be an issue. All she would have to do was send one of her servants to fetch some for her without sparing another thought. Not only was she going to have to get used to living among humans for the time being, she was also going to have to get used to the fact that she didn’t have a seemingly endless supply of money to spend.

For a split second the thought of returning home entered her mind. However, she immediately shook it away. No! She wasn’t going home until she was ready to stomp Tenka into the ground. Who cares if she had to live in the dirt for a while before she was ready? The ends justified the means. Just the thought of the old bastard made Koyuki scowl. She tore herself away from the store window and started angrily pushing her way through the crowd. It didn’t matter where she was going, she wanted to get there in a hurry. As far as she was concerned, anywhere would do as long as it was away from here.

[Serori Yakedo-Satsumaimo]

Serori's wounds from the Jabberwock had finally healed. It hadn't taken too long, the medical technology in Metropolis Island was overwhelming. She hadn't even needed to see too many doctors, and was finally able to work a full day without having to rest halfway.

Her day started out fairly boring. For a Tuesday, nobody was coming in. She'd sat there with Ms. Miranda, and talked about life. Serori had to make up most of what she said, as she didn't want most people to know about her past.

When finally a customer came in, she jumped up, and rushed over to him, eager to help.

"How may I help you today, sir?"

The man pushed up his spectacles. He was old, balding everywhere but around the sides. His hooked nose, large ears, skin complexion, and accent pushed Serori to think that he might be Jewish. He was also wearing a hat. "Yes, uh, I placed an order for a rented tuxedo about a month ago, for today."

"Yes, sir, let me go check for it." Serori walked to the back room where ordered items were stored, and sorted through the different bags. When she came upon one labeled 'Steinberg,' she figured that was the right one. She grabbed it and returned to her waiting customer. "Mr. Steinberg?" The man eagerly reached for his tuxedo.

"Yes, thank you young lady." He tipped his hat in thanks and farewell. "Shalom to both of you, I'll be back in a week to return it." Serori waved to the man, along with Ms. Miranda, who let out a sigh once he had left sight.

"You know, me and that man used to go out, on such wonderful nights..." Serori couldn't see Ms. Miranda going anywhere with anyone, but she didn't comment.

The rest of the day went by fairly quickly, averaging about 10 customers an hour. Finally the store was closed, and Serori was going to go out for a walk. She told Ms. Miranda she'd be back in a bit, opened the door, stepped outside...

Smack! Serori ran head-first into another girl, who was scowling, and had been walking fairly quickly. Serori put out a hand to help her up, hoping she wouldn't harbor any resentment. She didn't like making enemies.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there! Its my fault, I should have been paying attention. Do you need anything? I'm Serori, its nice to meet you, though under more pleasurable circumstances would have been better." Serori half-smiled, hoping she hadn't offended this young girl.

[koyuki]

Rage can do funny things to your head if you have enough of it. It can cause you to completely block out what’s going on around you. Not only that, but it can also mess with your balance and coordination if you let it get the better of you. Koyuki was about to find this out the hard way. Perhaps she should have spent less time seething over what happened in the demon realm and focusing more on where she was going. If she had, then perhaps the young ice demon would have avoided bumping into a stranger and tumbling to the ground.

”Alright, who’s got the death wish?!” Koyuki snarled as soon as her rump hit the concrete. Upon lifting her gaze, she saw the person she had bumped into. It was a woman who was currently holding out her hand to Koyuki and apologizing profusely. The Zotto Clan daughter raised an eyebrow. So it wasn’t someone trying to pick a fight with her? No, apparently it had been nothing more than a mere accident. She took a deep breath and was now noticeably calmer.

Koyuki picked herself off the ground and lightly brushed herself off, not even bothering to take the woman’s hand. ”You should really watch where you’re going,” she stated, even though she was fully aware that the accident was probably mostly her fault. That wouldn’t stop her from playing it off like she was completely innocent though. She was demon nobility. Shifting her mistakes onto others practically ran in her blood.

The demon looked the woman over. She appeared to be just an average human. However, there were two things about her that stuck out in Koyuki’s mind. The first was that she appeared to have a tail. Odd, she thought that all humans were tail-less. Perhaps one of her parents was an anthropomorphic animal? It really wasn’t any of the demon’s business though. Besides, that was nearly as strange as the fact that Koyuki could feel energy radiating from this person.

Koyuki studied her carefully after she introduced herself as Serori. Humans were supposed to be pretty weak as a general rule. Why did this specific human possess such power? Where this got even weirder was that she could tell that Serori was even stronger than she was! Was this really just another ordinary human? Was she a demon masquerading as one just like Koyuki?

Deciding that she had been silent for too long, the young woman returned the greeting. ”The name’s Koyuki. Uh… nice to meet you,” she introduced herself. Koyuki decided not to delve into the issue of the power she felt from this person. Not yet, anyway. For now she would merely observe. Who knows? Maybe she would even learn a thing of two about how human life worked from Serori.

”I’m not from the area. What do you people do around here for fun?” The topic seemed a little random, but Koyuki had never been excellent at starting a conversation. She figured she may as well just toss something out and see where things went from there. If nothing else, at least she might get an answer to her question.

[Serori Yakedo-Satsumaimo]

The girl picked herself up, and brushed herself off, without taking Serori's offer for help, leaving her hand there awkwardly hanging until she put it down. The girl had brown hair, and looked like a regular human, though fairly strong compared to the average human.

"You should really watch where you're going." The girl's voice had a...novelty to it. Its characteristics told Serori that this girl was used to having her orders obeyed by someone lower than her. But nevertheless, Serori returned with kindness.

"Again, I apologize, it was my mistake."

After a slightly elongated pause, the brown-haired girl introduced herself. "The name’s Koyuki. Uh… nice to meet you.I’m not from the area. What do you people do around here for fun?" Again, judging off of choice of words, specific emphasis on different syllables, and body language, Serori could tell another thing about the girl. She probably wasn't used to starting conversations, either. 'Those psychology classes in high school really payed off,' she thought to herself, before speaking to the girl again.

"Nice to meet you, Koyuki. As for fun...well, I'm not exactly from around here, I've only been in the area for less than a month. I'm not too much a fan of Metropolis Island, its much too much technology for me. But if you want something to do, I'm sure we can find a dojo somewhere around here and spar. Or I could take you to a nice diner, your choice. Of course, only if you want to...I'm not going to force you to do anything, if you'd rather be on your way." Serori held her head high, speech flawless. She wouldn't let Koyuki know what she thought about her, and there was no hint of it in her voice.

"By the way, where are you from, and how long have you been on Earth?" The last part of the question was a test, she knew there were many races that looked humanoid enough, but even in adolescence were stronger than the average human. If Koyuki tried to play herself off as a regular human, she'd have to be a pretty smooth talker to get it past Serori's perceptive mind. After all, there is a lot of inadvertent body language that shows when one lies.

[koyuki]

Koyuki cocked her head to the side. So this woman was new to Metropolis Island as well? Maybe this wouldn’t be as helpful as she had first thought. Still, even a little bit of information was better than nothing.

The young ice demon raised an eyebrow at the two suggested activities. ”Isn’t it a bit weird to offer to take a complete stranger to dinner?” she asked, her voice a mixture of amusement and confusion. She had always thought of going out to dinner as something more of a date scenario or something you did with a close friend. Definitely something that you wouldn’t offer someone you just randomly bumped into on the street. The dojo idea, on the other hand, could prove to be interesting. ”I suppose if we can find a dojo, sparring wouldn’t be so bad.”

Serori’s next set of questions made Koyuki’s train of thought come to a screeching halt. What kind of questions were those? She could understand being curious about where she was from, but what was up with asking her how long she had been on Earth? Koyuki was under the impression that nearly all humans were born on Earth and never left. Was it possible that Serori was onto her? Her acting couldn’t have been that bad. It was actually kind of frustrating. The demon was tempted to snap at the woman and claim that it was none of her business. She couldn’t do that though. This wasn’t the demon realm, and Koyuki wanted to keep her cover as best as possible. She was better than that.

”Tiny little village up north. Really cold, lots of snow,” Koyuki replied while keeping her cool. Short, sweet, and to the point. Not only that, but it was kind of true. The portal that had brought her to the human realm had dropped her near a village exactly like the one she described. She had even hung out there for a little while to get down the basics of human life.

”I don’t really get your second question though. Do I look like some sort of alien, or something? I didn't think I was that weird...” Koyuki chuckled lightheartedly. That's it, she would just play it off like Serori was just tossing a joke her way. Nothing more, nothing less.

[Serori Yakedo-Satsumaimo]

”Isn’t it a bit weird to offer to take a complete stranger to dinner?”

Serori laughed. "I said diner, not dinner, a little place to get just a small bite to eat, discuss where your from, why you're visiting." The girl gave her a strange look.

”I suppose if we can find a dojo, sparring wouldn’t be so bad.” Serori shrugged her shoulders.

"Fair enough, let's try to find one, I think there's a dojo over this way." [If Koyuki follows] As they began walking, Koyuki answered Serori's other questions.

”I'm from a tiny little village up north. Really cold, lots of snow.And I don’t really get your second question though. Do I look like some sort of alien, or something? I didn't think I was that weird..." She let out a soft chuckle, and Serori smiled in return.

Serori found no falseness in the younger girls voice, and found no reason to believe she might be lying. "No, I don't think you're weird, or look different. You look like a fairly normal human to me. I was just wondering, because you're speech patterns and accent don't match those of what I'm used to. But you said you're from up north. And you don't shy away from my tail. Most humans are wary of a Saiyan's tail. Don't get many Saiyans in your village up north?" She laughed, as they continued walking forward.

It didn't take long to find a dojo, a nice looking white building. There were three windows in the front, two large rectangular ones showing different practice rooms, and one on the upper part of the door leading into the building. Serori could see through the window in the door that there were a few more rooms which were empty, while the two in the front featured two people to a room, garbed in black gis, the first two fighting hand to hand, and the second two using wooden poles.

"Well, here we are," Serori said to Koyuki.