[Sayu] Cold Cut

[Ringo Shiro]

Ringo started to walk from the stratums. A little bit roughed up from the adventure he had there but he only got a few busies that were covered up by his clothing and he already dusted off the dirt and such from it. Ringo sat down at one of the rest areas. He placed his elbow on the table as he propped up his sword on the side of the table and took a sigh of relief.

His ability to use his persona has been getting better. Only improving since he got it. True he was a touch behind due to getting his persona a little late after experiencing the truth of the outer ring but none the less he was, at the moment, proud of himself. He won't be nearly letting loose at work at any rate. Ringo relaxed himself until he noticed something as his eyes wandered.

"Hold on..." Ringo got up, his chair pushing back. "Hello there!' Ringo wasn't exactly sure since its been about a month ago but this girl..."You were there at the school right? That time that demonic school girl attacked?" Ringo walked over, hoping she'd at least know what he was talking about. "You weren't there the last full moon...did something happen?"

[Sayu Nakano]

Sayu had been carrying on with her own business, minding it and it alone, as she sorted out the money she received from the blonde. Her left hand held her phone, naturally, while her right sorted through the coins and bills. Eventually, she had counted up everything accordingly. She smiled slightly. The money was dirty and all, sure, but, despite poking at it with her bare hand, she only felt a mild discomfort and an entirely negligible level of disgust. She really was making progress! On the other hand, something annoying buzzed through the air. She hadn't had much luck with random people lately. The first ruined her shish-kebob. The second was a Shadow that raped her. If her social fate was anything like the Richter scale, and the first two examples seemed to follow that, then this asshole was going to be a pain. She turned, expression displaying her annoyance without problem or hesitation, as he asked questions that had nothing to do with his own well-being.

"Give me one reason why I would deign to inform a complete stranger, or a potential stalker, of my whereabouts during or reasons for abstaining from participation in a fight." She typed in the words, and her lips synced with the phone's utterances perfectly. If one bothered to strain their ears, or just observe, they'd realize that the voice wasn't coming from the girl herself, despite the emotional inflections behind the voice.

More importantly, this boy was definitely not a fan. His potential to be a fan was also limited. He was easily skirting in that low-level filth that corndog-boy from the festival was safely in. How he responded would determine exactly what degree of value he had to her. Or in general.

[Ringo Shiro]

Ringo froze a little when he saw the small black haired girl's rather annoyed expression. Suffice to say she did not seem at all happy to see him. Ringo began to wonder if he did or say anything wrong or if it was just a bad time. Maybe she wasn't too big a people person what with the growing size of the party that fights against the full moon shadows but then again why would she avoid such an obvious danger especially when she contributed to the last fight? The girl began typing words in her phone.

"Give me one reason why I would deign to inform a complete stranger, or a potential stalker, of my whereabouts during or reasons for abstaining from participation in a fight." Ringo's eyes slightly widened. He didn't even realize it before but...She's mute. Ringo kept the thought to himself but placed it in the back of his head. He had to think about how to communicate with her without further annoying her granted he wasn't exactly sure how to react to be accused of being a potential stalker. One reason...technically Ringo has multiple reasons but she did ask for one. He decided to go with the one that was the utmost concern.

"We fought along side each other as allies when that demonic schoool girl shadow attacked the school. Of course I'd be concerned about someone who fought along side me." Ringo said. For him it was straight forward. They were on the same side when they fought that shadow. Granted Ringo could've performed better during that fight seeing as how he had no persona. Speaking of which...there was a girl with brown hair in pigtails that he hasn't seen recently...but that was beside the point at the moment.

[Sayu Nakano]

The boy claimed that he'd be concerned about allies. That? That was. . . absolutely fucking hilarious. That girl fought alongside a group of the most ridiculously rag-tag assholes during her initial awakening, and, outside of the general effort of their battles when everything occurred, she did not care about them. Their acquaintanceship ended at the same time as the incident. Even if some of them were, by technicality, “colleagues”, she had zero interest in them personally, and, regardless of whether or not they happened to be alive to that day, she would carry on. To date, the only ally she had had up to that point that was noteworthy was the woman that accompanied her on that mission. Ayakura Alisa was at least respectable in that she didn't go to unnecessary ends to try to promote friendly relationships. Respectable? No, that was actually kind of damn admirable, given that most of the people here tried to get involved way more than necessary.

”Don't feed me that generic, socially acceptable bullshit that you plebians eat up like damn sweets. In the end, all people care about is their well-being. Whether your partner downstairs got a perk-up, or you felt like your life was in danger in the last fight and wanted more people to divert attacks away from you is none of my business, but I personally don't give a shit.” Her lips went still and she finally went to folding up the paper money, pocketing it before the coins. Everything was in order, it seemed. Good, good! Something had to resolve in a positive manner after this boy approached her. Corndog-boy tier? Eh. Probably under him. Corndog-boy at least had a reason to maintain some sense of camaraderie. This dipshit approached her on something as weak as “Hey, we're classmates! Let's be friends!” and that shit was completely null and void in reality.

”Now then,” The mute began, lips curling and tongue flicking, as though she really were the speaker, ”do you have anything worth saying to me, or are you just gonna continue to spew that happy-happy, joy-joy bullshit that all the kids seem to think is the faddest shit since sliced bread?” Why soften the blows? He came to her acting like working together to the same goal meant they were friends. The world? It didn't work like that. This kid? He'd learn from her, then, or he'd learn it in a much harder way somewhere down the line.

That was what she believed.

[Ringo Shiro]

”Don't feed me that generic, socially acceptable bullshit that you plebians eat up like damn sweets." Oh wow This girl did not like Ringo at all. "In the end, all people care about is their well-being. Whether your partner downstairs got a perk-up, or you felt like your life was in danger in the last fight and wanted more people to divert attacks away from you is none of my business, but I personally don't give a shit.” Okay scratch that, she doesn't seem to like people in general but Ringo could not believe the negative reception he is getting. Did he say something wrong or spoke at the wrong time?

”Now then,” Oh boy here it comes...”do you have anything worth saying to me, or are you just gonna continue to spew that happy-happy, joy-joy bullshit that all the kids seem to think is the faddest shit since sliced bread?” Ringo could use some sliced bread but that was beside the point. As Ringo listened to her harsh words something dawned on him. He admitted this was mean even for him but if an outsider were to note what he was about to say it was less mean.

"Oi, then what about the people that bothered to help you? If I remember correctly you were snared by that shadow...twice..." Ringo didn't want to be too harsh but maybe some of the girl's bitterness is rubbing off on him. "And I believe that two different people went out of their way to help you when one can argue it would've been easier to leave you there to keep its tentacles occupied and limiting its options on snaring others." Ringo turned around and started to sit down. "With that, I apologizes for bothering you." Ringo looked over to the owner of the break area and raised a hand. "Some water and garlic bread please."

[Sayu Nakano]

Though it was easy to miss, given the fact that the girl had no sound to accompany it, the mute did, in fact, sigh. And it wasn't the happy or pleasured type of sigh, either. It was one that typically was emitted by someone when they were frustrated because their peers seemed to lack any degree of social understanding. Perhaps the boy was a bit lacking in his vocabulary? Or had he simply not wanted to admit defeat in this topic? Or was he. . . one of those disgusting optimists that believed every human was inherently good? Whatever the case, it was both annoying and angering. Like a thorn jabbed in the side of a quadruple amputee. No, there was no "apologizing" for "bothering her". If a person was going to start going into the inner workings of peoples' actions, then just back off, it obviously showed that they didn't want to admit that there might have been some fault in those beliefs.

"You talk that shit, then you back down. Know who does that? Pussies that can't back their words. Or idiots that realize that they can't argue. Either way, think back to what I said to you. Excluding your sexual interests, I said that you wanted my presence to divert attention from you. Now, with that in context, let us consider your flimsy argument. When I was grabbed by the tentacles- which, by the way, the same person saved me both times, not that I expect someone other than the victim to remember- the person that saved me utilized ice. Ice was ineffective. In other words, her combat abilities at that point were useless. I, on the other hand, had advanced fire attacks. Not only were my attacks more powerful on the basic level of power backing the attack, but the enemy was weak to it. Easier to leave me there? Wrong, kid. Learn some fucking 'Art of War'. The most effective, most dangerous resources are the ones you want when you're fighting a strong opponent. That girl knew that and acted accordingly. Good on her, she facilitated in the defeat of the enemy despite her skills lacking." The typing and mouthing paused as the mute shrugged. It was exaggerated, as though she were silently asking "I have to explain this to you?", and seemed more as though she pitied him as opposed to being annoyed at him by that point.

"If she recognized me on looks alone, I suppose that wouldn't be shocking. However, I can assure you that she had no care for me beyond the fact that I was instrumental in attacking the enemy. Beyond that, nobody there had any reason to be concerned with me. We come together to fight and survive. Not to make friends like a primary school kid's sleep-together." Now, the girl's options were simple. She could linger while the boy floundered over in his ignorance, or she could attempt leaving. On the one hand, his tone would likely get louder and grate on her ears. Plus, he probably would utilize circular thinking. Or repeat arguments. On the other hand, if she left, he would potentially follow her. And then he might attack.

Well, the latter wasn't necessarily bad. A flash bang and a Maragidyne or Die for Me! would likely knock him down a peg. Choices, choices. Of course, while she tossed the options over in her head, she stood there, eyes boring into the boy. Ah, that was bad. She needed to decide before the decision was made for her.

But there was no "fun" or "positive" alternative. Both were annoying.

[Ringo Shiro]

"You talk that shit, then you back down. Know who does that? Pussies that can't back their words. Or idiots that realize that they can't argue."

"I was more pointing something out but that's beside the point."

"Either way, think back to what I said to you. Excluding your sexual interests,"Do you...always accuse people of being sickos? Ringo thought as Sayu said those words. Ringo was pretty sure he showed no sexual interest towards her or anything in particular. Was that something she just accused everyone in general?"I said that you wanted my presence to divert attention from you."

"I'm pretty sure its more anyone else could've left you there rather than me in particularly wanting your presence to divert attention from me." Besides after the shadow 'changed uniform' Ringo's blade could no longer slash it anyways. Not to mention Ringo could remember his attempts at saving someone else ended in him getting pelted with ice.

"Now, with that in context, let us consider your flimsy argument. When I was grabbed by the tentacles- which, by the way, the same person saved me both times, not that I expect someone other than the victim to remember-..."

"Apologizes."

"...the person that saved me utilized ice. Ice was ineffective. In other words, her combat abilities at that point were useless. I, on the other hand, had advanced fire attacks. Not only were my attacks more powerful on the basic level of power backing the attack, but the enemy was weak to it." That was true. The last Ringo saw her fight he remembered in particular how powerful her attacks were. "Easier to leave me there? Wrong, kid. Learn some fucking 'Art of War'. The most effective, most dangerous resources are the ones you want when you're fighting a strong opponent. That girl knew that and acted accordingly. Good on her, she facilitated in the defeat of the enemy despite her skills lacking." Sayu shrugged after awhile, Ringo now turning over to her. "If she recognized me on looks alone, I suppose that wouldn't be shocking. However, I can assure you that she had no care for me beyond the fact that I was instrumental in attacking the enemy. Beyond that, nobody there had any reason to be concerned with me. We come together to fight and survive. Not to make friends like a primary school kid's sleep-together."

"Have you spoken with your savior since then?" Ringo began. "Unless you're a mind reader, what makes you so sure about that person's intentions or the intentions of any person for that matter?" Ringo watched as he was presented with the water and bread. Ringo turned over to the one who presented the food to him and made a quick bow for a moment. "Thank you." Ringo took a sip of his water. He looked back at the girl staring at him. There was a moment of silence before Ringo took a piece of garlic bread and took a bite out of it. So was she going to take a seat? He really can't since he doesn't own the place in anyway. Ringo can't exactly ask anything of her at this point. He'd ask for a name but the really negative reception would most likely get him shot down. He isn't completely clueless of his situation.

[Sayu Nakano]

The boy spoke again, but, again, he fell precisely into what the girl feared. The words might have been different, but the effort and the image was the same. Another silent sigh, and the mute closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose with her free hand. She rubbed it a little before finally releasing it. Leaving might have been the better course of action, yet she lingered. Did she really want to tell this boy off that bad? Or was it simply boredom? Misery loves company- some kind of shit like that? Whatever the case, rather than leaving, she remained. He did ask a question, and, if she left without answering, he'd likely see it as a triumph of human nature. And that shit would not fly so long as she was a queen of the airwaves.

"No. Not a mind reader. Don't have to be. Rather, were you dropped on the head as a child? Humanity is not so pure and warm that people care about strangers. Friendship is a shaky concept, at best, and, typically, it's built out of mutual profits. Humans care about themselves, first and foremost. They want to live. They want to be comfortable. They want to feel good. Why do you think crime exists? Greed. Envy. Lust. Wrath. People want things. They want what others have. They get jealous. They get aroused. They get a tingle in their thighs and they call it love, throwing the concept of 'romance' into the mud and stomping it a few times in the process. They kill over the most minuscule and insignificant of things. I don't need to be a mind-reader. If your optimism prevents you from seeing the world in anything but bright, sunshiney rainbows and sparkles, that's not my problem. Just don't cry when reality comes crashing down with the force of some morbidly obese otaku."

Ah, she should have taken that last bit back. Not all otaku were morbidly obese. Mentally, she uttered a small apology to her fans. They were the exclusion to the rule. Even if they were still easily as perverse as the rest of humanity. Shit, that was what kept her account filled with money half the time.

[Ringo Shiro]

"No. Not a mind reader. Don't have to be. Rather, were you dropped on the head as a child? Ringo was honestly wondering when that saying was going to come up. "Humanity is not so pure and warm that people care about strangers. Friendship is a shaky concept, at best, and, typically, it's built out of mutual profits. Humans care about themselves, first and foremost. They want to live. They want to be comfortable. They want to feel good. Why do you think crime exists? Greed. Envy. Lust. Wrath. People want things. They want what others have. They get jealous. They get aroused. They get a tingle in their thighs and they call it love, throwing the concept of 'romance' into the mud and stomping it a few times in the process. They kill over the most minuscule and insignificant of things." Ringo laid back on his chair and continued to look at the girl. In a way she is right...or rather she is right in general."If your optimism prevents you from seeing the world in anything but bright, sunshiney rainbows and sparkles, that's not my problem. Just don't cry when reality comes crashing down with the force of some morbidly obese otaku."

"I figured if I cry, I want to be the one to wipe my own tears." Ringo took another bite of his bread. "You're absolutely right." Ringo began. "People are horrible. I meet people who weren't exactly the most pleasant to be around and I've seen people do horrible things to others." He finished the bread and took a sip of water before gently placing the cup down. "Even so I don't see what's wrong with trying to be nice to others. What's wrong with trying to protect others? Some people are trying, whatever the reason might be. We have the freedom to choose how to react to the world."

"That being said, I'm sorry if my earlier greeting and question was that intrusive." Ringo might have strength in what he says but the boy still doesn't realize exactly why she's mad. In fact the conversation kind of derailed in a way, going from a negative reacting to a greeting to how two different people see the world.

[Sayu Nakano]

The boy, it seemed, was aware that humanity was pretty disgusting overall. Despite that, he still hoped in it. Well, that was fine, if he took some sort of masochistic pleasure out of having his expectations betrayed. The boy was at least right that everyone was free to have their own viewpoint. She had sufficiently spoken and declared her own to him. One day, he'd be betrayed. Then he'd see the wisdom and truth in her words. Until then, he'd just wallow on with pink-tinted glasses. And, frankly? The mute didn't really care, either way. His suffering would be his own. Not hers. She'd be fine, at the end of the day.

”'kay, then. Accept that my reaction is the rejection of the possibility of positive motives. That said, it seems I've made my point, and you've made your stance clear. I see no reason to continue wasting time on this topic.” With that, she turned away. Money? Check. Gear and goods? Check. Phone? Obviously. Nothing remained that kept her there, so it was pretty much time to go. With a slight nod to herself, the mute casually made her way towards the exit of the rest area. To go out and murder more Shadows or to head home and compose? Either way, she'd be more relaxed. The only issue with wandering in the ruins was that Shadow, but she had some new tools that would have possibly altered the course of that inevitable battle, even if she was lacking in new skills.

. . . wandering hosted a better chance at growing stronger. Plus, no telling what the Shadows would have on them. Yeah, time to go wreck some Shadows.

[Ringo Shiro]

”'kay, then. Accept that my reaction is the rejection of the possibility of positive motives. That said, it seems I've made my point, and you've made your stance clear. I see no reason to continue wasting time on this topic.” Ringo watched as she turned around. Come to think of it, there was at least one thing Ringo was curious about as she turned to leave.

"Hey." Ringo called out. He might as well try to at least get a name. "Can I at least get a name? I'm Ringo Shiro. I'm not sure if pleasure or nice to meet you is the proper term but I would at least like a name." Personally Ringo is wondering if he should considering that there is a high chance that the girl is going to turn his name into the police and get him accused of being a stalker. Being a court case was not something he looked forward to writing his parents about.

[Sayu Nakano]

The howl of words from the boy reached the mute once more. He certainly was insistent on getting something out of her, wasn't he? Well, she would agree that it was neither a pleasure nor a nice occurrence to become acquainted with this boy. Was he worse than corndog-boy? Possibly. She didn't really care. Actually, she had no intentions of lingering around either of them unnecessarily. Even so, the boy would likely bother her further if she didn't provide him with something. She had no desire to give her name. Actually, fewer and fewer people seemed to really be worthy of knowing her real name. So why not just utilize what got her followers?

”I'm DJ Nyanimaru. Empress of Beats and Queen of the Airwaves. And a veteran of Shadow-slaying.” That should have given him enough to shut up. She hadn't even bothered to look back at him. Instead, she turned towards the direction of that castle. It was a great ways off, but she was patient enough when it came to walking. She'd get there eventually. And then? She pressed onward.

[Ringo Shiro]

”I'm DJ Nyanimaru. Empress of Beats and Queen of the Airwaves. And a veteran of Shadow-slaying.” Ringo was honestly not sure what sort of surprise he is feeling right now. Was it the fact that she gave him a name and didn't verbally accused him of being a stalker or was just the surrealism of the fact that she said such a name (which is obviously fake). Ringo knew it wasn't nice to make fun of someone's name and titles but he can't help but to think of one word as she left him. Chuunibyou?

Ringo stood up and picked up his sword. Well, he met someone...interesting he supposed. A bit harsh but maybe she has her reasons for that. He might as well get going. Maybe search up what Nyanimaru means.