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Back in the Game [Chess] [1/1]
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Post by Makoto on May 16, 2018 9:35:26 GMT
There had always been a certain strangeness in living in the Shibuya Ward of Tokyo, Makoto Terauchi found. Not only in the ways of its people, who were so into the ways of anime, video games and the occult that it befuddled even her, but, the actual goings on tended to be strange too. Several times in her time here she would have sworn that she had seen a ghost or some bizarre entity from another world at the corner of her gaze but when she turned, they always seemed to disappear.
Well then. Now that she had one of these "digimon" of her own, she now understood what this world was.
Since Makoto had met her partner, Deuce the Dracmon, well, she had to admit that she had quickly become rather fond of him. Yes, he was clumsy and embarrassing, yes, he was kind of annoying at times, but, he had loyalty. And that she valued very much. Even if on the days she had patience to explain things the silly digimon didn't understand, he'd do his best to please her, and, Makoto knew better than to show disdain to such a creature. It was as though he was one of those 'familiars' in the old stories of witches. Not that Makoto was inclined to that particular way of life, but, she supposed, in her own way, she genuinely liked having this little demon around.
Still though, Deuce didn't do much to quell her contempt for most others. Especially today, when she had forced herself to emerge from her room and "socialize" just to please her parents' fears that she'd grow up to become a hikikomori - a modern day hermit. Makoto didn't think she was such a person like that, she just hadn't met anyone that had earned her respect.
As though to prove this, Makoto was sitting at a table at the side of Hachiko Square, seated at a table opposite Deuce, a chessboard between them. She supposed she might as well spend her time attempting to teach him games.
"This piece is a bishop" Makoto said, drearily, holding up the piece in question. "It can move diagonally in any direction all the way across the board if possible".
"Can it jump over pieces like the horse?" Deuce asked, scratching his head with his King.
"...no. And it's called a knight, not a horse" Makoto said, quickly getting bored with this lesson. Deuce could detect his partner's irritation and sighed.
"I'm sorry, Mako, but I'm not too good at this strategy stuff" he said. "My thing's always been with cards, you know that".
Makoto exhaled deeply, supposing he had a point there. Yes, Deuce had quite the flair in learning card games. From the standard playing card parlor games to trading cards, Deuce was excellent at that. But a game like Chess, where there was no hiding behind luck, where everything involved in the game was there and exposed, that was a different matter.
Kind of a pity. Makoto had hoped that this lesson would be an excuse to distract from the wrath of that... person earlier.
The girl had been confronted by one of the biggest men she had ever seen, dressed in a leather outfit, black hair descending past his shoulders. He had made her freeze with a few small words.
"You be careful with that digimon partner of yours. Don't draw attention, and don't cause trouble, or you both will regret it" he had told her. Makoto had been too shocked to make a rebuttal, when the man explained further. "I'm Lantis of AEGIS, deputy of the organization that monitors digimon activity in Tokyo. You can walk around with your Dracmon as long as he acts like a human in costume, if you don't, there'll be trouble".
Makoto was about to challenge him, but Deuce had informed her that this "Lantis" was actually another digimon, a Champion level in disguise, and he didn't have a chance against him. It was only this that made her hesitate and decide to play good for the moment.
Either way, she resigned to the fact that Deuce didn't want to learn how to play Chess, and ended up returning to her usual pursuit, reading a book on her Kindle. Deuce wandered over and climbed onto the bench next to her, laying down for a nap. Makoto didn't mind. She also wouldn't mind being approached by someone who was willing to play a game with her. Not much chance of that in Japan though, where the more popular games were Go and Shogi. Still, wouldn't hurt to try, right?
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Post by Hououin Yuma on May 20, 2018 5:41:27 GMT
Hn. There are no more books at the library on the subject.Hachikō Square was filled to the brim with people, which was about what Yuma had been expecting as he slowly trudged out of one of the many shops around, a small box contaning 32 pieces and a simple, 8x8 black and white square mat in his grasp.
It was a cheap set, usually meant for use at one's home. Which was good, because it was likely that he would be playing with only himself or his parents for a good while.
Over the past few days, with the increasing monotony of the HEMA club and the trips to the gym, the tall youth had taken an interest in Chess after playing a simple match with a child at a local, close by park.
As with most things he tended to take an interest in, he had taken to the game a tad too enthusiastically, going home to research the subject on the internet before moving to the library to see if he could find any books on it as well.
After reading through the same rules in three different languages and listening to three different authors try to explain the same renown gambits in different but essentially identical ways, the youth quickly realized that no matter how much he read on the matter, the only real way to learn Chess was to play it.
Problem was, Yuma wasn't particularly skilled at engaging people in social activity, and his physical appearance tended to make interactions even harder with the average Japanese person, what with him looking moderately foreign and intimidating.
He didn't have many people to call upon if he just wanted to play a hand of chess, and he had no idea of where the blind boy he had played chess with was. Chances of them ever 'seeing' each other again were poor.
This meant that if Yuma wanted to play, he had to go out, and find people to play with.
As the youth slowly moved to take a seat on an empty bench, holding the box against his chest, he couldn't help but sigh, glancing down at the cheap thing before shrugging his shoulders to himself and looking around the square.
There was the typical mass of people running around, going about their daily schedules without paying his large silhouette even a glance. There were businessmen, mothers, high school students, children, weird Halloween looking demon children...
Wait, something wasn't right with the picture.
One of the high school students had a chess set nearby! Shit. It had to be a peer of his!
And it was a girl. Double shit.
"You've got to be kidding me..." He groaned under his breath, dropping his head on his lap and letting it smack onto the box. Why did it have to be a girl? She would probably think he was some weirdo trying to hit on her or something!
He was not in the business of humiliating himself, not even for chess. He was going home and playing a hand with the mirror!
And so it was, Yuma stood, popped his neck to both sides, and proceeded to almost robotically walk up to the girl with chess set.
'But why tho.' Was all he could say as he came to stop in front of the girl, seemingly staring her down intensely.
The only intense thing here was the amount of concentration it took him to string together a coherent sentence.
"C- C- Ch- Chess M- match?" Coherent being a relative term here, of course. The thumbs had successfully punched through the cardboard box of his cheap set in the process.
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Post by Makoto on May 23, 2018 6:12:43 GMT
Makoto glanced up from her book as she saw someone approach her. Her magenta eyes widened slightly at the sheer height of him. It was with a start that she realized she recognized him from school. After all, it was hard to not notice senior boys his height. But since she was a year lower than him, she didn't know his name. Still though, she regained her composure, closing her eyes and her book, putting it into her bag. She then fixed the glance of the tall boy. He seemed to be a little nervous in approaching her. But, he seemed to want to engage her in a game of chess. To this, she smiled, glad to finally have an opponent. "Why of course, I'd be glad to" she answered. With deft hands, she quickly set up the starting position, not noticing that he was carrying a chess set of his own yet. When all 32 pieces were arranged, she fixed her fingers on the center of the board. "Now then, would you like to play White?" she offered. Even though it was customary for the challenger to play black, at least from what she heard, she was still willing to offer the advantage of playing white to him, possibly as a means of thanking him for approaching her. Deuce meanwhile didn't notice the commotion, still laying down on the bench next to his partner, not doing much other than turning around and scratching his thigh, tail flicking lazily.
"My name is Makoto Terauchi. Pleased to meet you" Makoto said, politely bowing. "I've seen you around school but I don't think we've been formally introduced yet".
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Post by Hououin Yuma on May 24, 2018 19:42:59 GMT
Hn. There are no more books at the library on the subject.The youth began to wonder if he the girl would say no, what with the look of shock that suddenly crossed her features, but she recovered from it rather smoothly.
He felt like she was familiar in some way, but it was unlikely he and her had ever actually spoken to one another; for one, that would imply he had actually approached or been approached by a girl.
His braincells quickly ceased activity as the girl smiled up at him, words his ears registered but his mind failed to immediately comprehend tumbling out of her mouth.
By the time Yuma's brain had restarted, the girl had finished setting up the game, asked him two questions and introduced herself.
Crud; how did socializing with peers work again? His ears had thankfully registered her questions and name before, even if his mind was just now beginning dissect the actual meaning of her words.
Oh, so that's why she seemed familiar to him. Yeah, that made sense. She probably had spotted him on the halls. He didn't spend much time at school beyond regular classes, so he had probably only seen her in passing.
"Uh..." Well, may as well answer things in order. If memory didn't fail him, and it usually didn't... "I- I'm the challenger, black is f-f-fine." He started, looking around the place for somewhere to sit.
Not finding anything, as the bench was mostly occupied by her and what he assumed was her cosplaying little brother, he decided to remain standing, bowing at her.
"Hououin Yuma. Pleasure, Terauchi-san." he said, "I t- t-" He visibly clicked his tongue, clearing his throat before trying again. "I thought you looked familiar." He said, clearly trying his hardest to enunciate his words.
It looked like she wouldn't have to suffer through his constant stuttering if he had something to say about it.
"You are not in my year, are y-" He paused and stared blankly at her brother as his... 'fake' tail flicked about lazily and suspiciously organically, his words dying in his mouth. "Uh... nice costume?" He finished, his brow raised high.
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Post by Makoto on May 25, 2018 18:28:38 GMT
Makoto noted that the older boy seemed a little nervous in talking to her. This was somewhat surprising, ordinarily she was the one to feel nervous in initiating any form of conversation. Maybe this was a chance for her to better herself in social skills? Makoto often struggled in this field unless something was happening that interested her, and, well, playing a schoolmate at chess should probably interest her. He remained standing. Makoto raised her eyebrow at this, as she had made sure to pick a table with her bench at one side and a chair at the other. Yuma was free to sit as he pleased. And also he said he was fine playing Black. Well then, that would be fine on that case. He introduced himself as Hououin Yuma. Makoto forced a smile. "Nice to meet you then, Yuma-senpai" she said. Even if he had called her -san, well, they had technically just met. Perhaps they could move up the ranks as they played along? She chose not to judge him on his stuttering either. Some people did have genuine impediments and Makoto simply had to work with what she was given. Yuma stated that she wasn't in his year. " Yes that's right, I've just finished my Sophomore year, about to head into 11th grade" she stated. Then Deuce did something to distract him. Makoto glanced at the Dracmon with an annoyed look, then turned back. "Thanks, he's a strong hobbyist at this kind of thing". She referred to cosplaying monster things in general. Well then, as she would be playing White, time to make the first move. Makoto thus took hold of her Queen's Pawn and advanced it two squares forward. "Alright then, here we go" she said.
Makoto moves: 1. d4
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Post by Hououin Yuma on May 25, 2018 22:37:14 GMT
Hn. There are no more books at the library on the subject.At her raised brow, Yuma couldn't help but finally notice the seat directly across from her on the other side of the table, free for him to take. How the heck could he have missed that?
An embarrassed flush crossed over the youth's features as he slowly reached for his cap and tugged it down, hard, over his features.
"I... do my best thinking on my feet." he excused lamely, chewing on the inside of his cheek nervously.
Hopefully this wouldn't be setting the tone for the rest of their interactions with one another...
At least she didn't seem to mind his inept conversational skills. She had even called him se- se- sem...
The young man fake coughed on his fist, tugging down at his cap further as well in a not so expert way of hiding away the dumb smile and blush that covered his cheeks at being referred to as senpai (by first name, no less!) by a girl.
Did that make them friends? Was it really that easy? He could hardly remember how this was supposed to work...
He was beginning to be somewhat thankful he had met the blind child.
He tried to shake off the grin stretched across his lips, breathing deeply before glancing back to the chess table, cocking his head ever so slightly as Makoto started them off with: d4.
He stared at the move silently, his hand slowly reaching for one of his pawns, this one located directly in front of his own queen on d7. Instead of grasping it however, he instead planted the tip of his fingers around the piece, not quite touching it as he narrowed his eyes at the board.
After a few seconds of silently glaring down, his hand moved away from the pawn and grasped the king's knight instead, moving it over the row of pawns and placing it in front of the pawn in the f row.
Then he finally looked up from the table.
"..." So... were they supposed to just play in silence? The few videos he had seen of chess tournaments were largely in complete silence, but this was hardly a tournament...
"Uh... So, for how long have you been playing chess?" he asked awkwardly, slowly pulling back at the seat in front of the table and plopping down onto it, already having forgotten about his previous excuse.
He fiddled with his fingers under the table nervously, looking about the crowded Square.
Yuma moves: Nf6
Moves so far: 1. d4 Nf6
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Post by Makoto on May 26, 2018 10:36:10 GMT
Makoto found herself smirking at Yuma's excuse. Heh, this guy was actually kinda funny through his nervousness. Well, maybe a few more moves would help them both relax. Indeed, his reaction to her calling him Yuma-senpai made her feel like she had made a mistake, she thought that was the right way to meet people. She hadn't spoken to many seniors before. Okay... just calm down, if she had done something grievously wrong then he probably would have said so. She was just going on what she knew. She noted what he was thinking next, seemingly aiming for his own Queen's Pawn, ah, was he going to go for that kind of game? She watched with interest. But, no, it seemed he changed his mind and instead played his king's knight to f6. "Ah, Indian Defence, this makes things interesting" Makoto remarked. Yuma then asked how long she had been playing chess. "Well, I picked it up in elementary school, it just seems more my style than the usual games like Go".She responded relatively quickly, advancing her Queen's Bishop Pawn two squares forward. Standard play, from her experience.
Makoto moves 2. c4.
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Post by Hououin Yuma on May 27, 2018 22:53:41 GMT
Hn. There are no more books at the library on the subject.Well crud, she knew the maneuver he was going for by name. Did that mean she had read all the books before? No, even he knew his tendencies weren't normal...
She was probably just really good. She had just revealed she had been playing since Elementary School, so should he really have even been surprised?
"S- since elementary, huh? You must be pretty good at this then by now." He said, tugging at the neck of his shirt nervously.
This... was good. Yes, this was good. He was playing with a good, experienced player. He could test the knowledge he had acquired from his intensive reading and see how far it could take him. He didn't need to win. Just learn as much as he...
Ugh, fuck that.
He liked to win. He didn't care if he was playing with a schoolmate, a super computer or Garry Kasparov himself, losing sucked! And he was not gonna defeat himself before his opponent did it herself.
His brows furrowing slightly as he sought out the knowledge the books had given him, he grasped the pawn directly in front of his king, moving it exactly one square forward from e7 to e6.
"I've only been at this for a short while; I read every book I could find on the subject. Was kinda eager to test the knowledge." He said, holding up his brand newbox of cheap plastic chess pieces.
"I got into chess after playing a hand with a blind kid at a park."He informed, feeling oddly conversational. He scratched at his chin. "While reading the first few chapters of the first book I found, I learned that he had apparently defeated me with the oldest, easiest trick in the book."
"I was pretty embarrassed back then; but after reading all those books, I'm even more embarrassed now." He said, his cheeks showing a light reddish tint at the memory.
... In retrospective, confessing to a clearly experienced chess player that he had gotten his ass handed to him by a Scholar's mate was... all kinds of embarrassing too.
He tugged down at his cap self consciously, his cheeks flushing further. Yuma moves: e6
Moves so far: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6
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Post by Makoto on May 31, 2018 7:29:03 GMT
Makoto gave a sort of half-smile at that compliment. "Well, I'd like to say that was so, but, I haven't had many opponents, at least in real life" she said. "I've mostly played matches online, but, they tend to lack a certain spark, you know? Playing a game with someone right in front of you tends to be much more engaging than just seeing the board on a screen and making a move every day or so".So, Yuma had been studying hard at the game? Makoto's interest was piqued too. She wanted to win too, but not too easily. She wanted... a worthy battle. Not one where she could pounce on a lower order player and simply demolish them without any kind of accomplishment, not get crushed by a master either, but... play against someone of her own skill level. She eyed Yuma's next move, recognizing it from the books. Yes, a sound play in this particular game. She was surprised to hear that he had played a blind kid in a park, and had lost. Wow, that must have been a blow to the ego, Makoto thought, but said nothing on that matter. "Well then, you're playing a sound opening so far and there doesn't seem like much scope for tricks here" Makoto said, her eyes flicking between both sides of the board, before eventually moving her king's knight to f3. "By the way..." Makoto began, feeling a little distracted by Deuce beginning to snore. "Have you heard of the rumours about strange things going on in Shibuya?". She was kind of curious and thus had to ask.
Makoto moves 3. Nf3.
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Post by Hououin Yuma on Jun 14, 2018 4:29:17 GMT
Hn. There are no more books at the library on the subject.A worthy opponent? He could understand that sentiment. It was part of the reason his old 'hobby' had sort of been falling off to the side recently.
"W- Well, hope those online m-m-matches were good practice; cause I fully intend to give ya a run for your money." It was a pity he couldn't match his apparent confidence with some eloquence. Terauchi's lack of a Y chromosome was turning out to be a problem. Surprise surprise.
He intended to deliver on his words regardless; there would be no scholar's mate here. The blind kid may have been nice enough about it, but if the youth suffered such a humiliating loss to a peer he was going to die.
With that in mind, he couldn't help but grin at her words, leaning back against the seat slightly as the girl moved her knight into position, his hand reaching for his chin to rub at it pensively as he took in her move and its scope.
"Huh?" He uttered while looking up from the board suddenly, his hand hovering over his d7 pawn. "Rumours?" He asked, cocking his head to the side slightly, brows furrowed.
Rumours... Had he heard any? He pulled his hand away from the pawn to rub at his chin, leaning away from the board to recline against his seat, brows furrowing as he tried to remember.
"I... am not very good at talking to people and stuff." He admitted after a short while; he hadn't discussed rumours or been told about them, that was for certain.
"I'm not sure which rumours you mean, exactly?" He had heard a few things, here and there. What he had learned by listening on other youths' conversations was segmented and barely coherent.
"I've heard a few stories at school. Some at my club as well; but they all sound like urban myths. Bizarre and nonsensical." He said, tilting a brow.
"Rumours like that?" He asked her, before glancing up, as if remembering something.
"Also some tidbits about strange gang like activity in Shibuya." He said, before finally looking down at the board and grasping the d7 pawn, moving it 2 spaces forward to d5.
"I'm never really part of the conversations regarding these rumours, so I'm not really privy to the specifics of 'em." He admitted, shrugging helplessly. Yuma moves: d5
Moves so far: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5
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Post by Makoto on Jun 14, 2018 8:34:04 GMT
Makoto gave a grin with that competitive statement. "Well then, I'd say 'best of luck', but, chess is a game where luck doesn't really come into things... the pieces are there in front of you, nothing is hidden, I'd say chess is a pure game where luck has no place and all falls down to tactics and strategy".That said, if she lost, well, she'd have no excuse other than to admit defeat. Which she had no intention of doing. As Yuma pondered his next move, he admitted he wasn't good at talking with other people. 'Yes I've noticed that' Makoto thought, but didn't bring attention to it. There was nothing to gain from taunting him about it so she simply looked at him to go on. He seemed to be evasive about what he knew, at least from what Makoto could make out. But when he spoke of events bizarre and nonsensical, Makoto thought that maybe they were on the same wavelength here. "Yeah, rumours like that" she said, and watched as Yuma played d5. But gang like activity? That was something new. But it seemed like something that wasn't unconnected with things. "Say, Yuma-Senpai... does the word 'digimon' seem familiar with you?" Makoto asked, moving her Queen's Knight to c3 after some thought of the move. If not, then he'd probably think she was just a weirdo that made up names. But if so, then, maybe that could be something they could discuss even further.
Mako moves 4. Nc3
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Post by Hououin Yuma on Jun 14, 2018 22:31:30 GMT
Hn. There are no more books at the library on the subject.Yuma pursed his lips, squeezing at his bicep. No luck? Better yet. He didn't need to rely on luck; he studied for a reason.
He had something of a single track mind, so frankly he would have been okay with just focusing on the game, but he couldn't honestly say the subject Terauchi had brought up wasn't of interest to him; there was a reason he had listened in on his peers, after all.
Shrugging his shoulders, the boy reached for his face, index finger pressed against his cheek while the rest of his digits hovered in front of his lips, his other hand cupping his elbow as the girl played her next move.
"Well. Basically... People are c- convinced the Shibuya Train Station is cursed." He said with something of an air of disbelief as he reached down and grasped his Queen's knight, shifting the horse shaped piece to be in front of the Queen, settling it at d7.
"S- some folk claim they've seen s- strange stuff at the station. Specially during th- the evening hours; shadows and silhouettes that don't quite look like humans. Or something like that." He rolled his eyes, clearly not finding these rumors too believable, even if they were interesting.
"But the 'cursed-slash-haunted' station rumors didn't really began until a couple of months back. Apparently some students started going missing while riding the train. They say some passengers even saw them disappear; swallowed into the train or something along those lines. Creepy stuff." He shrugged his shoulders.
"Buuut a lot of these disappeared students popped back like a day later. Some where only 'missing' for a couple of hours, even. And all of them claimed to not remember anything about it, so..." He shrugged his shoulders. "Honestly, it's bizarre alright, but I doubt anything is 'haunted'."
He couldn't exactly explain the nature of the disappearances, but...
"Anyways. That brings us to the other rumor." He said, looking a bit more sober.
"Some strange gangs have been popping up 'round Shibuya. Or rather, coming back? People say they are old gangs, but under new management. There's a lot more kids in there, and some people say there's members even in our school. It's weird; they don't seem to be doing anything during the day. But during the night, they spend a lot of time around the Shibuya station." He finished, looking at her with expecting eyes, wanting to see her reaction.
"So yeah, some people think they have something to do with the 'ghosts' in the station." He said, sounding not too impressed. "But frankly, the gangs are all probably just taking advantage of how scared people seem to be of the place this days to keep their stuff under wraps, whatever it is."
He had spoken for so long he had almost forgotten he was a stutterer after a while.
At the girl's question, the youth simply tilted a brow.
"No, never heard of it. Is that a Pokemon rip off?" Yuma moves: d5
Moves so far: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Nd7
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Post by Makoto on Jun 23, 2018 13:27:47 GMT
Makoto shifted her glance between Yuma and the chessboard, eventually fixing her eyes on the older boy when he mentioned Shibuya Station. "Really. I've heard that too" she admitted. Even before she had been involved in all this digimon nonsense, she had heard enough silly little tales from her classmates about that place where strange beings had been seen. Initially she had dismissed it all as the goings on of that stupid little superstitious occult club, but, as the months went by, she had heard more and more consistent stories about the station that had hooked her interest and made her think that was a major hub of "digimon" activity. Well, she no longer thought of digimon with doubt, given that she now lived with one. Makoto then looked up at Yuma. "Well, I've been hearing similar things too, so that's interesting" she said, pondering her next move. "Some strange secret involving monsters within the depths of Shibuya Station..." she summarized briefly. What move to make? Well, she didn't much like the idea of attack this close in to an unknown game so she'd play it safe, moving her King's Pawn to e3. Disappearing passengers? Makoto's eyes made a doubtful expression at that. If a whole train had gone missing, with hundreds of passengers disappearing, well, that would definitely be in the news. With as much contempt she had for authority in that they could easily make someone disappear without anyone noticing, hundreds of people on a train going missing without any mention on the news, well, that was a scenario she couldn't accept as true. But she chose not to confront this idea. Especially in that she knew that these missing children traveled to the digital world like she had. "I see" she said instead. "Yes, that does seem bizarre".Then Yuma mentioned that old gangs seemed to be coming back. Including members in their school. Makoto was intrigued for a moment by that, but instead chose to probe for more information. "Old gangs? You mean the proto-Yakuza wannabe gangs?" she asked, frowning with distaste. She'd need more of a prompt than that. "No I can't say I'm familiar with them" she said truthfully. That he had mentioned ghosts in the station was interesting though, but she wouldn't comment on that for now. "Yes, that could be right" she said noncommittally, shrugging at his next sentence. Lastly, the mention of 'digimon' didn't seem to prompt a reaction. Yuma asked if it was a pokemon ripoff. "Well it certainly sounds similar I guess" she said, keeping her voice even. "But I have heard of talk that they may be linked with the goings on of Shibuya lately. Namely some of the high school students mentioning them when involved with goings on after dark. Of course I don't really think that's true, but, one can't be 100% sure of anything these days, right?".
Makoto moves 5. e3
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