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Post by Digizel on Nov 6, 2015 15:53:17 GMT
The dark-haired boy making his way along the upper edge of trench that was this so-called "river" looked down at it, mild disappointment in his eyes. He remembered reading about the Shibuya river in years prior, and how it had actually once been quite a beautiful sight to behold. He wasn't entirely sure what happened to it for it to have gotten to this point. But for some reason, trash had ended up on its inside and eventually, the river was transformed from a thing of beauty to...well, nothing more than a glorified garbage dump. To say he was "disappointed" would be quite the understatement. He had been too young to truly enjoy the sights back at Cape Canaveral when they left for Japan. And here, there didn't seem to be anything really worth looking at down here in person.
Hide let out a small sigh. There was only one reason the boy was here. Because of the murky trench, people actually randomly came here. The smell alone could burn an unprepared person's nostrils. But because of that, it was often quiet here. At least, until they decide to dump more trash into the trench. But either way, Hide could usually use this place to think about things or to simply enjoy the peace and quiet without doing schoolwork. Strangely enough, despite the setting, he found it rather relaxing to come by here when he wasn't looking at schools in town.
Hide put his hands into the pockets of his shorts as he looked down at the trash-filled trench once more. In a way, he supposed that the disappointing aspect of the river was actually what he had to thank for this tranquility. He chuckled slightly at the thought. 'How ironic...' he murmured in his mind as he resumed his walk.
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Post by Riya Castillo on Nov 9, 2015 1:36:57 GMT
"Ugh….No matter how many times I come down here, the stench of this place still manages to amaze me." Riya thought, waving her hand in front of her face as she walked. The local “river” wasn’t a place most went to by choice, but she did. Not because she wanted to, but because she needed to. This area was the only place she knew she could easily keep away from others to practice her personal songs. Anywhere else and She’d most likely be nagged into tons of requests or given unwanted critique. Sometimes Riya just wanted to sing for herself and for the fun of it.
The young lady walk until she was at section that didn’t smell quiet as bad, closed her eyes and quietly thought for a moment. She then started her song, first with a low undertone that gradually grew louder into a gentle and appealing sound. She soon found herself lost into her own little tune and became unaware of anything else going on around her.
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Post by Digizel on Nov 9, 2015 7:02:47 GMT
As Hideaki continued his walk down the edge of the trench, something caught his attention. This would cause him to stop walking and suddenly take a look all around him. The cause of his distraction was some kind of melody reaching his ears. But it did not seem to be some music box, which was admittedly a possibility he had considered. After all, it was possible that somebody had just thrown a perfectly good one away, accidentally or not. But no, this seemed like a clear, albeit somewhat quiet and reserved female voice. And it certainly didn't sound mechanical, like one might expect out of a radio or recording.
His curiosity piqued, Hide set out in search for the source of the voice. As he walked, the voice grew louder until he could more clearly make out each individual word. Whoever it was, they were pretty good at this. And thanks to the fact that this river was open to the air, it was not particularly difficult to find exactly who he was looking for. A young girl all by herself, standing further out into the trench in a somewhat secluded area that, he couldn't help but notice, did not seem to wreak as much as the rest of this dump.
He stopped when he found her, listening to her voice for a short while. It would be rather rude to interrupt a performer while they were practicing, so he decided to wait out the song. Besides, it wasn't like he wasn't enjoying her voice; waiting around was a pretty easy task. Finally, when the girl's voice began to fade and the melody stopped, he stepped toward her. He would then raise his arms in front of his chest an clap them aloud.
"Hey, that was really good!" he would compliment while he approached, a smile on his face.
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Post by Riya Castillo on Nov 9, 2015 22:11:17 GMT
Just as Riya finished up her song, she started to hear clapping. "Oh! What?" She exclaimed jumping around and seeing that she was no longer alone. She never even heard this boy coming, or saw where he came from. She took a step back. about to respond to the dark-haired boy's remark properly, when suddenly the spot under her feet started to crack and give way.The girl let out a quick scream as she slid and fell into the trench below, plopping down near muck, trash and a ton of other disgusting things you wouldn't even want to imagine going near. "Eww my clothes! Gross!" Poor Riya tried her best to get up out of the filth, only to end up slipping and falling back down in it again, sighing in disgust.
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Post by Digizel on Nov 9, 2015 22:27:47 GMT
Hideaki's sudden appearance had clearly startled the poor girl. He hadn't expected such a response, and was more than ready to apologize...but he didn't get the chance. Before he could even say a word, she seemed to slip or something before falling down into the trench. Knowing fully well that the river was full of trash, he knew that this was definitely not going to end well. His eyes widened in fear as he quickly stepped down to the point she had been previously standing. "Ah, I-I'm so sorry!" he called down to her. "I-I didn't mean to...uh...scare you like that...!" he called to her while he thought of a way to help her.
He looked down at the trash piles and started slowly and carefully making his way down. When he finally got low enough for him to actually physically reach her, he held out his hand. His parents would most likely not be very happy when they found out that he had gotten his nice clothes all soiled like this, but he was definitely a lot better off. Besides, they'd understand why he had to do this, right?
Hide extended his arm outward, offering his assistance. "H-hey, are you alright?" he asked her.
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Post by Riya Castillo on Nov 9, 2015 23:12:22 GMT
Riya looked up as the boy called out to her. "I-I guess so. At least I'm not hurt or anything, and it can't get any worse than that right?" She replied, grabbing on to his outstretched arm for support as she pulled her way up from the trench. There was no way she could stay here and continue practicing now.After falling into garbage, the mood for singing was gone. She was definitely in need of a nice new change of clothes after this.
But then, out of the corner of her eye, Riya saw something glimmer in one of the trash piles. She paused and turned her head to get a better look, but suddenly that glimmer turned into a bright flash of light. It had happened so quickly, but it was enough to throw Riya off balance and cause her to fall again. Except this time, she stumbled in such away that would end up taking the poor young man with her.
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Post by Digizel on Nov 10, 2015 0:17:25 GMT
Hideaki felt the girl grab hold of his arm and he nodded to her, beginning to pull her up as much as he could. He helped lift her out of the trench and back onto her feet. Unfortunately, though, he had been incapable of rescuing her clothing, which seemed rather grossly stained by the muck in this so-called river. "W-well, I suppose that you're not hurt at least," he murmured, letting out a small sigh. "Again, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
But while he was in the middle of speaking, there was a glimmer nearby in one of the trash piles. As he turned to look at it, the girl did as well. But in a moment, the slight glimmer turned into a bright flash of light as if a flashlight had just been passed in front of his eyes. He had to squint and recoil for a moment...but before he could fully recover, he felt a sudden tug at his arm. "WAGH!" he cried out, losing his own balance as the girl fell once again, taking his arm, and thus the rest of him, with her.
Now he found himself in the mucky river along with her, white shirt now caked with filth. "Urgh..." he groaned, trying to push himself up and out of the water, trying carefully to avoid slipping back into it again. "Wh-what...was that...?" he mumbled, slightly irritated.
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Post by Riya Castillo on Nov 10, 2015 3:33:40 GMT
Riya quickly hopped up, this time managing not to fall again, and rushed over to the boy's side. "I'm so so sorry!" She said with concern, pulling and wiping off any debris that was sticking off of him. "You're not hurt are you? I'm really sorry for dragging you down here. That light caught me off guard though....I wonder what it was.." Her train of thought and concern temporarily lost as she saw yet another quick flash of light in the same pile. Something about that light seemed to call out to her, and draw her to it. She left the boy's side and slowly headed over, unsure why she was even bothering to navigate through the garbage in the first place. But being pretty muck-covered already, what would matter now? Something told her she needed to check this out before she left.
Riya made her way over to the spots she saw the flashes, but couldn't see anything that would warrant a reason for her being there. She searched a little longer before finally calling out to the boy. "Um..I know it might sound a little crazy but...Would you mind helping me find whatever made that light? I can't quite put my finger on it, but it just feels like something i need to see before i leave this mess."
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Post by Digizel on Nov 10, 2015 4:41:46 GMT
Hide let out a small sigh as the girl quickly hopped back to her own feet and began helping him clean his own clothing again. He supposed he had no real room to be angry at her, consider that he was the one who caused her to fall into the river in the first place. Plus, his mother had always told him to be as nice as possible to women and have a bit of a chivalrous side. He wasn't quite sure he agreed with that ideology completely, but there was little point in losing his cool with this.
"Yeah, I think I'm fine," he replied. "Apart from the shirt and tie my dad gave me being covered in who-knows-what." But regardless, he still gave her a slight reassuring smile. "Heh...but it'll come out, I'm sure. No big deal. Besides, I was the one who accidentally caused you to fall down in the first place, right?" He then let out a small, nervous chuckle, even as Riya moved away and toward the same pile of trash that had been glowing a moment ago. "...Huh?" he murmured, watching as she started to go through the trash, almost like she were in some kind of trance all of a sudden. But a moment later, he found himself following her, before she had even turned to ask him.
Why was HE going toward that trash pile? He wasn't really sure. Perhaps it was just that whatever was glowing was really gnawing at his curiosity. After all, what could have been thrown away that glows like that? It couldn't have been broken, right? So, when Riya actually called out to him, he was already stepping up to the pile himself. "Uh...yeah, sure, n-no problem...." he murmured awkwardly before simply moving to begin rummaging through the garbage himself.
...Oh what would his mother think if she saw him right now?
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Post by Riya Castillo on Nov 10, 2015 21:12:23 GMT
Riya smiled, glad to see that Hideaki came along to look as well. Perhaps He shared the same feeling and interest about the strange flash that she did, But at least she wouldn't feel quite as crazy digging through rubbish now. "Thanks. I know this is probably an awkward time and place for introductions, but....better late than never i suppose. I'm Riya." She laughed awkwardly. She then tried t make cheerful small talk while still searching around the pile, but was soon interrupted by the same flash of light from before. Except it wasn't just coming from one part of the pile this time. There seemed to be an additional flash in the area Hideaki was searching as well, and not only that, there were strange whistling noises too. Both lights eventually formed into some strange device that floated right into there hands. Riya's oddly look the same color as her hoodie, minus the horrible stains from muck. Was it some kind of MP3 player? Or a handheld game? And why did it just float to them? A confused and concerned look quickly filled the girl's face.
"Wha...?! What's happening? Did we press something? Just what are these things?"
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Post by Digizel on Nov 10, 2015 22:18:04 GMT
Hide nodded back to Riya, not answering her at first. He shifted some of the trash around, silently and determined to find whatever it was that had caused that glowing in the first place. His own curiosity kept him focused on the task at hand. It wasn't until a good few seconds later that he finally cast a quick look over at her, taking the time to actually not her name and introduction. Feeling slightly awkward that he had allowed himself to seemingly ignore her for so long, he let out a small chuckle. "Ah, sorry...y-yeah, I guess you're right." He finally pulled away from the trash and nodded to her. "My name is Hideaki Saitou. But people will usually call me Hide for short. It's nice to meet-"
Before he could finish his greeting, the familiar light began to shine yet again. Once more, Hide had to squint slightly to be able to see clearly. Hide looked cautiously at the light, watching it slowly take some kind of shape. And eventually...the shape formed into a small handheld device and floated down and gently landed in his open palm.
Hide was just as confused as his companion. He looked at the device, not sure what to make of it. He turned it over in his hand a few times, trying to think of what kind of technology this might be. But no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't recall any advertisements or articles that talked about anything that looked like this. The closest thing he could think of were those little pocket monster games in which you care for a creature until it inevitably "died."
"I-I'm not sure...." he replied, looking at the screen again. "B-but as far as I know, there's not supposed to be anything out there that can just do what this thing just did. And I-" At that moment, the screen began to light up. "Ngh..." he grunted, holding the device slightly farther from his face. "...Huh?" he murmured, looking at what was now clearly displayed on the screen. There was a small a dot on the screen, blinking occasionally. When he moved the device, the dot would move like a compass, continuously pointing in one direction, further down the river. Something similar was likely appearing on his companion's device as well. They were similar in appearance, after all. So they were also likely similar in function.
"...You think maybe we should follow it?" he suggested, turning to look down the trench they were still in. It did seem a bit strange to follow something he'd never seen before. Even he had to question the logic behind it. But still, he couldn't help but feel like this thing was...guiding them or something.
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Post by Riya Castillo on Nov 11, 2015 0:07:00 GMT
Riya nearly dropped the strange device when it suddenly lit up and beeped. "Whoa.." She gasped, as she stared at the small blinking dot, and realized it was pointing further down the trench. "I dunno. Think it's safe?" She had no idea what this thing was or where it would lead them, and was kinda worried about what could be further down this river. Not to mention, she had thought they were finished trekking through garbage after finding these things.
But just like Hide, Riya felt that this thing was guiding them to something. And against her better judgement, she began walking in the direction of the dot. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to look around a litter further." She said. "Though...This really isn't how I saw myself spending the day...."
As they walked, the dot on there devices would occasional beep and grow larger, until it finally led them to some kind of underpass. Riya quickly looked around, but saw nothing that really stood out to her. "It looks like it wants us to stop here. But....Do you see anything?" She asked Hide. "Maybe we missed something important along the way..." She began to wonder if maybe this was some kind of prank or trap. But honestly. who would think of doing something so elaborate like this to her? Or her new friend? Riya became more confused the more she tried to make sense of it.
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Post by Digizel on Nov 11, 2015 4:22:09 GMT
"Well," came Hide's quick answer to Riya's question. "If this is some kind of prank or trap, then it's one that's very unnecessarily convoluted. And for both of us, who don't even know each other? Though at the same time, I find it rather difficult for this to merely be a matter of pure coincidence." He looked at the compass-like dot on the device's screen, following the dot down the river with his eyes. he wasn't entirely sure where they would be headed. But his curiosity about this device was really starting to get the better of him. Where did it come from, what was it, and who left it here? It certainly didn't just seem like another piece of trash.... However, the boy had a sneaking suspicion that he'd find his answers if he followed the device....
And follow it he did. The boy started walking a few seconds before Riya had. "No, I know what you mean," Hide replied. This hadn't been how he had expected to be spending today either.
Eventually, the two came to an underpass, where the dot seemed to finally stop leading them around."Hm...?" Hide murmured, looking around just as Riya asked her question. "Well, if it was leading us to something back there, it probably would've pointed at it..." he murmured. He looked down at the device again, and saw that it still made subtle movements. It seemed like they were in the right area, but whatever it was that they were looking for wasn't right where they were standing. He quickly took another look around the underpass, using the subtle movements on the compass-device to figure out where he was going.
Eventually, the boy saw something peculiar laying atop a smaller stack of trash. There were two more devices laying there together. One of them, however, matched the color scheme of the device he'd originally received. "Oh, hey look over here!" he called out to Riya, gesturing her over. Once she was close by, he would pick up the object that matched his device's color scheme and tested its weight. "...I suppose these must be what those weird compasses were leading us to. I guess they're like matching sets." He then handed the other small device, which was longer, had a larger screen, and a thumbpad with a few buttons. "What do you think?" he asked Riya.
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Post by Riya Castillo on Nov 11, 2015 5:18:02 GMT
"Oh wow.." Riya said, looking at the new device she was just handed. It too matched the colors of hoodie, and looked even more like some kind of portable game. "Good eye. I wonder if there are any more of these scattered around. But then I guess this one would hav-" She abruptly stopped mid sentence and began staring right behind Hide, as almost in some kind of trance. Just a few feet from them was yet another light, but it wasn't anywhere near as bright. Instead, it had a faint, glittery glow, with what seemed to be pixels floating about it. It almost looked like some kind of space tear you'd see in a sci-fi movie or show. But there was no way that could of been one, could it? She walked towards it in order to get a better look at what she was seeing. "Uh-huh....And here I thought this day couldn't get any stranger. Color me wrong."
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Post by Digizel on Nov 11, 2015 5:37:10 GMT
Hide nodded, turning this new, larger device over just as he had the miniature one that had originally led them here. It seemed to strongly resemble more retro gaming merchandise than anything else. Except that this one had it screen protected by a flap on hinges. Normally something this bulky wasn't that well protected. And for a few moments, he wondered what this thing could possibly be.
The boy looked up when Riya began talking again, but raised a brow when she suddenly stopped herself. Now, she seemed to be staring off into space, like she were in some kind of trance. "Something wrong...?" he asked her. Before she would get a chance to respond, he turned around, looking for whatever she might be staring at.
It did not take him very long to find the strange, glittering rift just sitting there. How...how had he not noticed that on the way in?
"You're telling me..." he murmured, stepping closer to the portal himself. He wasn't quite sure what it was either. He hadn't seen many science-fiction movies or television shows, but even he could guess what it looked like. Still, as strange as it was...he felt oddly attracted to it. He couldn't really explain why. But something was...urging him to just try to stick his arm through or something. Almost as if something was calling to him from its opposite side....
As he approached, the smaller device, still in his grip began to react. It began to give off a glow, growing brighter the closer he drew to it. "...Whatever's going on," he murmured, almost sounding as though he were in a daze. "...I think this device is connected to it somehow." He then cast a quick glance at Riya. "Wh...what d'you think? Should we try it?" Despite the question, he had a slight longing in his voice. For some reason that he couldn't explain, he felt a strong desire to present the device to the small rift. If only to see what would come of it.
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