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More Than A Feeling (Reloaded) (2/2)
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2022 1:58:20 GMT
After being dropped off by his father, Blake would be in the process of heading inside the mall. While walking, he was seeing that a few people had eyes on him, ignoring the stares being given to him.
For a simple visit to buy shoes, he was looking particularly sharp. By his logic, he wanted to keep up appearances for his father so, he decided to wear a buttoned striped shirt, beige pants, dress shoes and even prescription-less glasses. Even though they looked like hand-me-downs, if you didn't think he was fooling everyone, you would be surprised. He did have a plastic bag he was hanging onto with what appeared to be clothes of some kind and a couple of objects as well.
As he enters inside, even more eyes were placed on him as Blake proceeded to a single stall bathroom, as he squatted down to put down the bag, taking the clothes and standing up, he started changing into more comfortable clothing. He was wearing a grey unzipped hoodie along with sweat pants that felt loose, but fitted in just right. Blake would unzip his hoodie, showing a cyan shirt with black silhouettes of a band. He then proceeded to crouch to take out what he considered "old shoes" for the quarter of the year, which were simple gray sneakers.
Taking off his dress ones and putting on said sneakers, he would keep taking stuff out of the plastic bag as he took out his phone, a wad of cash, and a necklace with the words "PUNK OUT!" in white with black outlines around it. Wrapping the necklace around his neck and connecting it, he placed his sophisticated outfit inside the plastic bag and grabbed it before grabbing his money and phone as he inserted in his left and right pocket respectively.
"Okay...That was a long wardrobe change." Blake would joke to himself before leaving the stall as he suddenly stopped in his tracks. He forgot to take off his glasses as he did just that, slowly removing it and folding them. "Wish I brought my green contacts with me though I suppose being natural ain't bad."
After breathing in and out a heavy sigh, he hoped that he wouldn't have a difficult time finding what he was looking for. This was his first time after all though, it was probably easy just to find a map around here. Wandering around, he ended up at what seemingly was the center as he looked up to see the glass roof and the multiple floors below them. "I suppose this is the atrium?" He wondered, as he soon stumbled upon a kiosk of the map layout. Fortunate for Blake, he understood the text associated with it as it would seem that the Japanese lessons he took online were paying off. Soon he pinpointed a store that sold shoes as he left the kiosk to find an elevator. It was then that he approached one, pressing the button to go up. While waiting, he couldn't help but, find that even more people were staring at him. Ignoring it, he would tilt his head up to find that multiple people were already using the elevator as it was moving from all of the floors except for the 1st one. "How convenient." He murmured with a annoyed tone. He decided to to stick around and wait as there was no way he was going to take the many stairs to the top floor.
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Post by Haruka on Dec 6, 2022 2:32:26 GMT
First thing to say: Having no stamina sucks. Even walking around the mall like this feels like a huge chore! Second of all, this place sure have many stores... and you know what? Many stores means many eyecandy! And she's SERIOUSLY easily distracted by what's on the display window! Like come on, all that cute vest with different patterned sleeves that looked so warm... that looked like something she would nab! But hey, she's not going to waste her precious paint money on these!
"....siiiiiiiiiiigh."
...yeah, she won't. Haruka looked downtrodded as she walked away from the display for the xth time. She want some new fashion too dangit! But no, she haven't been paid yet! She need to look for more art competition just to show more of her artistry!
...Even if it means she have to spend more money on paint. But quality demands the most dedicated reverence, and she will not cut corners when it comes to that! That's why... just today... just today! She only can buy things that she's sure she will use, either for her art or for her daily use! ....This reminds her that she kinda ruined her indoor school shoes too. She need to buy one later... sigh.
Anyway, the thirteen years old decided to walk to the nearest lift. There's no way she would sacrifice her legs to walk around the place trying to find escalators here and there! And when she finally arrived there... huh. There is someone with a peculiar character here, judging by his look. Well, none of her business! Maybe he's trying to get into some audition or something? Swaying at the ball of her feet, Haruka hums a random tunes carefreely.
"...Hmmm, when the lift gonna come down I wonder~"
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2022 2:50:49 GMT
The wait was finally over as the elevator finally opened to what appeared to be a lot of people coming out of it. Blake would raise his eyebrows at the bunch of people as he figured there was some kind of huge sale going on someplace. After a few seconds, the crowd of people exiting dispersed as Blake proceeded to head inside.
However, before leaning over to the button to go to the top floor, he leaned to the other side to see a girl who seemed to be waiting for the elevator. Considering that he didn't want anyone else wanting to deal with the long wait, he called out to her. "Yo, need a lift?" He asked her, hoping he got her attention in time. For good measure, he had his hand on the right side of the door just so he could halt the doors in case they close. It was then a couple people started to head inside the elevator, wondering why Blake was standing in the way of the buttons.
"Can you push a button already?" One of the shoppers asked him. Blake would turn his head a bit as he replied to the shopper with "Yeah yeah, just a minute."
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Post by Haruka on Dec 6, 2022 3:04:02 GMT
Oh! Quite the gentleman this person with peculiar character is! Haruka quickly slipped in while grinning widely. "Well, thank you for that, Onii-san! I do need the lift~ My legs are practically killing me!"
Hm, as for her, she looked at her phone again to check where the store that might caught her attention is... let's see, let's see... streetwear is fourth floor. She looked at the lift button... oops, the big guy is blocking it. "Ano, please press four for me if you don't mind, if it's not already lit that is!" she requested to the guy. ...Speaking of which, her diffuser necklace's scent this time around is sandalwood. Thank goodness she didn't pick durian or something just to be funny. That would be disastrous, especially in lift like this!
"Hmhmm... let's see, let's see... should I buy shoe? Should I buy pants? Or more jacket? Or perhaps more hoodie? Hum... Skirt would be nice too, but they frill a bit too much..." ...Oh, right, there's lolita fashion sold on the sixth floor. She chuckled when she imagined herself wearing one of those. ...And there's a sweet deal on the cafe on the seventh floor? ...Auggggh....
..Eh well. "Nii-san, you dresses quite interestingly~ Are you a model or trying to audition for something?" she asked outta random. Yep, she's already bored, and now she have an excuse to talk to him.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2022 3:26:31 GMT
"Oop, my bad." He replied apologetically, as he lets go of the edge of the door and tapped a button to the fourth floor. The elevator doors proceed to close as it felt like the elevator was going up to the fourth floor. While it was somewhat crowded, at least to Blake, it was worth not leaving somebody to wait even longer than usual for a simple ride up.
While Blake wasn't paying much attention, he did hear the question that she asked. He would turn around to face her as shook his head. "Naw, this is just what I usually wear. Just don't ask about the plastic bag though." He replied to her as he didn't want to have to explain about his wardrobe change. However, he felt the second part to what he said sounded suspicious. "Not that there's anything wrong with it, I'm currently shopping around and I got something fancy for a gathering." He added, hoping it would cover 'all of his bases' so to speak. Gripping his plastic bag a bit more tightly, his head tilted up to hear a "ding!" before the elevator doors open.
As soon as he walked out of the elevator, his head turns to various places that were on his left and right. "What was that name again...?" He thought to himself, trying to remember the name of the store he wanted to go.
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Post by Haruka on Dec 10, 2022 2:43:35 GMT
"Huh, something that you usually wear? Well aren't you trendy..." she mused. Or perhaps this is what they wear internationally? Either way, it was breath of fresh air. "...Excuse me, do you mind if I do a quick sketch of you just as a reference?" she asked. If she got the permission, she quickly whipped out her sketchbook. Fifteen seconds is all she needed to put down his basic looks. Which... perhaps, a bit too long for the elevator.
"By the way, Onii-san, I think you shouldn't carry your stuff in that sort of plastic bag. If you bought something already before you could just ask for a paper bag or something and put your stuff in there. Less conspicious," she would comment. "Plastic bags are rare nowadays after all, unless it's for trashes or... probably some stuff from the convenience store."
Something fancy for gathering? Hmmm, well, not her business! Especially with age gap in mind! But it does sounds interesting. "Hmmm? Are you heading somewhere in particular?" she asked just in case."I might know the shop or you can ask at the information desk. Either that or the map.There should be a hint in google too, right?"
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2022 3:22:32 GMT
She wasn't wrong though, he figured that people still used plastic bags around here. To be fair, he didn't want potentially spend a small sum to even get a paper bag. Even though it wouldn't be a hard thing to do, he was lazy to do so. He certainly didn't mind to be drawn as he did have a high opinion of himself.
Blake would turn to face her as he shrugged his shoulder. "You don't happen to know where I can get good shoes?" he would ask her as he looked down at his phone before looking back at her as a way to enable her to draw him. "I'm still kinda new around here so, any recommendations?" he would add.
While looking at her, he couldn't help, but look back at his phone again as it appeared to flash a brief blue screen before fizzling back to a gps. A sound uttered out of Blake as a sign of confusion, as a message at the bottom of the screen appeared as it said 'Your gift is around the corner'. Dumbfounded by this, he tried to tap the button on the bottom of his screen to go the home screen, but it wasn't working. While button-mashing, he also looked at what appeared to be part of the mall he was currently at, as multiple black lines map out the nearest store to his right. As he stopped button-mashing, he raised his left eyebrow at the route. "The hells going on with this..."
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Post by Haruka on Dec 10, 2022 11:09:42 GMT
Once Haruka put her sketchbook back to her bag, she nodded. "Ah, looking nice pair of kicks is it~? Over here then! I think I know which store might be of your liking. If you prefer the harajuku style you're pretty much in the right place... well, that is also considering that they even have specialitiy store for the goth lolita fashion or the lighter fashion or sort. I'm not into that, of course, but just to explain to you how.... wide the selection is!
Anyway, let's see, western branded shoes are of course the norm, along with UNIQLO-like brands for shoes. However, if you want something like a custom store... there are some also. Basically, they're not the kind of store that sells branded fashion but their own creation. It's quite unique really. You can find almost everything there. Would you like to?" she asked. "Though, they might only sell one or two of the same style due to them being self made and not factorymade. So if you happened to want another pair either to replace the old one in case something happened to them, you probably need to either wait for it to be remade, or custom order. I think custom order only need like 2000 yen extra though of the normal price, so it's kind of affordable. As for me, myself, I think I'm heading to one of such store. Would you like to follow?" she ask.
Hmn? Phone issue? "Might want to get that phone checked or something later. Not sure if there's an electronic store here or not, but there sure are some phone accessories store here."
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2022 14:55:11 GMT
"Oh, no no, it's not that. It's just that my screens frozen for some reason..." He said to her. This was a bad time for his phone to act up now as he'd rather not have to get a new one if this continues. He did, however, feel like this was some elaborate scam as he'd never experience anything like this before. Phone Call scams are one thing, but keeping the screen on a fixed route and a message talking about a gift literally being around the corner yields a lot of questions.
"I don't mind following you around, it'll probably take my mind off electronics. Phones, am I right?" Blake would say nonchalantly. He ultimately decided to put his phone issue aside as he assumed it would correct itself sooner or later. Hopefully, by the time he's done with his shoe shopping that is as his father is the only way of transportation aside from walking a very long distance. He would put his phone inside his pocket as he nodded at the girl. "Care to lead the way?" He asked her. In the back of his mind, he realized he didn't say his name or even ask for her name.
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Post by Haruka on Dec 12, 2022 8:44:35 GMT
"Well aren't that concerning," she mused. "Have you tried to turn it on and off?" oh but that is such an elementary fix, she blushed and smiled. "Oh but maybe you have tried that already? I'm sorry, I'm just running on autopilot there," Haruka apologized sheepishly.
Oh, looks like he's going to follow her? Sounds good then. "Well, then, over here please--- oh, the name's Haruka. Amano Haruka. It might be just for a chance meeting but hope that it'll be a productive day there, onii-san!" anyway, she guided the guy toward a...not so famous store; at least not yet. There's a logo of dinosaur on the shop's entrance, and as advertised, selling many different kind of clothes, pants, shoes and even coats. The store was positively like a fashion gallery.
"Kei-saaaaaaan, are you here? I got a potential customeeeeeerrrrr"
...But there's no answer.
"He might be on the back. I'll try to see if he's around... why don't you check with the robot there?" Haruka pointed out at a multicolored dino robot that looked like fancy lego dino. except not really lego because he's not so lego blocky either.
"Heyo pal, how can I help ya?" a mechanical voice came out from the 'robot'. He's sitting near the counter, and seem to be... hmn? he's not charging. But either way, the robot seem to act like a store assistant or something. "You can ask me anything!" the dino spoke again. "Just don't touch me, because I'm dang expensive!"
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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2022 14:12:42 GMT
Blake would figure that turning it off and on, let alone restart his phone would probably not work though he had yet to check if it did work. "Eh, no need to apologize. It'll probably fix itself by the time I'm done shopping." He replied to Haruka.
After saying her name, he answered with his. "Names Blake. Blake Ukirama." He said before nodding in acknowledgement to follow her, following their lead. As they approached the store, he had to admit, the dinosaur logo did put Blake off a bit, assuming that this store was mainly for little kids. As much as he would like to joke about it, he decided to reel it back as not to be inconsiderate of Haruka's help.
As soon as Haruka called out for someone, assuming it's a manager, Blake couldn't help, but notice something ominously glowing in the shoe section as he shifted his head towards it, furrowing his brows out of bewilderment. It was blending with the atmosphere of the store so, he decided to brush it off as "Dynamic Lighting" or whatever it was. he was told to go to the mechanical dinosaur for assistance as turned his head to it.
Walking up to the counter, he couldn't help, but chuckle a bit. "So you're a mascot, huh? I don't really see much of the appeal. Though, you don't happen know where I can find some good shoes around here? Preferably the latest models or somethin'?"
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Post by Haruka on Dec 12, 2022 14:36:20 GMT
"Latest model? Ya think we're selling factory made kicks and drips or what?" the toy dino asked back. He sounded a bit too natural and high tech... especially when he just hopped off the chair. His movement is still mechanical, but there's just something that screamed high tech about him. "Everything here, Kei made them. Kicks," he pointed at the section with shoes "drips" to the coat and clothes "and even some of those accessories. We only have silver ones, in case of jewelries. Well, sometimes arcylic too, but that's not really that important is it? Gahahaha! Yer here for the kicks! 'nyway, follow me!"
He walked toward one section of the store. "Here are the kicks. We got military style boots," he pointed the one closest to him. "The more modern, futuristic look," he pointed at ones like the one Haruka wore. "or the more simple street wear, factory style. We got different patterns, just keep looking on whichever caught your eyes, eh? If those doesn't caught your attention I can bring something from the back. EY KEI ARE YOU STILL SLEEPING!?"
"'m heeereeee...."
A sleepy, slightly disheveled young... actually he could pass either as a very beautiful young man or young woman. His clothes didn't present him as either gender either, with it being mix of female and male presenting. What was clear however is the button shaped mark on his cheek... he might accidentally slept on the job huh.
"Welcome, I'm the owner, Honma Keigo.... *Yawn* I'm sorry, I think I got too engrossed in making my latest ware... eheh."
"Kei-san, you should at least sleep on the bed you know!" Haruka chided.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2022 14:58:07 GMT
Ok, this is getting a bit too weird for him. As much as he would like to go just go with it since he is still new to this country after all, at the same time, no A.I is advanced to the point in just walking around and showing off the shoes. Though, he did have to admit, "the bot" as Blake would refer to him in his head, knows a lot about them. He did take notice that his speech didn't sound "fixed" so to speak almost as if they're talking naturally somewhat.
Moreover, the shoes he was shown looked better in quality than the ones he would go for back in the west. And it's all made by one person? It did make him think about who to go to from now on when it comes to footwear. While Blake was tailing the "robot", he wasn't paying attention to the orange glow that appeared to be coming from inside a shoebox.
As they called out for their owner, Blake couldn't help, but raise his eyebrows at how disheveled they look. I guess there's no rest for the wicked when you're running a local business. He can respect that.
While Haruka was chiding the owner, Blake couldn't help, but take a quick look at his phone to see if it was working as he took it out of his pocket. The results were, unfortunately for him, still mostly the same but, it appeared that this store was the correct destination. It was then that the "gift around the corner" prompt started to slowly flash colors as the rest of the map showed an exact location of where his "gift" was. "Ok..." He uttered to himself as he looked back. It was the orange glow that appeared to be coming from a shoebox he just went past. Looking back at the owner, he cleared his throat.
"Hey, you wouldn't mind if I check something out for myself real quick. I'll be right back." He said to him. While, he didn't move yet, he didn't want to act suspicious.
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Post by Haruka on Dec 12, 2022 15:32:31 GMT
"Oy, ye should ignore that look about me boss' unprofessional looks, a'rite? 'e's a great lad and all that, but 'e just have tons o' orders recently. Anyway, ye should do just whatever ye want. Browse around, check whichever ye want... oh and tell us yer shoe size or somethin'. Maybe we didn't have them on yer size yet, but that can be easily fixed. We got the raw materials and all," the toy dino reassured. "Plus, with whatever yer buyin', we'll produce the notes of compositions and whatnot so ya can bring that notes back in if ya want another of the dang drip made copies of. Custom order costs ya 2000 yen on top of the original price. So say the original price be like 3500 yen, ye pay 5500 yen for the copy. I think it's a great deal for a custom work like dis, ey?"
"Oh, and we do have a three month warranty for each purchase," Keigo added. "So it would be very appreciated if you would like to buy any, or even just keep us in your mind, really."
Hmn? He wanted to check on something? "Sure, check it out yourself! If you have anything that you checked but doesn't seem to quite like, just put them there," Keigo pointed at some basket right beside the display shelves. "We'll deal with that ourselves later. Don't need to put them back to the place or anything like that."
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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2022 17:26:48 GMT
"Neat-o." Blake would say before walking backwards, appearing to almost moon-walk before his body turned around to speed-walk towards the shoe box. He would put his phone in his pocket as he didn't really need to know where it as The closer he got to the glowing shoe-box, the intensive the light was bit by bit as Blake would place his hand towards the left side of his face before he would put down his plastic bag to the floor. He shifted his position to the left as he grabbed the shoebox with both hands. He would move back to also put it down to the floor as the light would then fade to where it was appeared its natural color.
He looked to his right to where the others were and quickly realized that the light was something that only he could see as he looked back at the shoebox. Was this the source to why the phone wanted to find this "gift" so badly? What type of shoes could possibly be this special to glow in the first place?
Slowly, but surely, Blake would crouch down as he said "Here goes nothing." as he opened the lid to shoebox only to find, in fact, not a pair of shoes.
It was a small green phone-alike device with a couple buttons on its sides and the bottom with a screen coinciding with it. Blake figured it was a phone as there was a black antennae at the top right of it. It wasn't just that, but a yellow spherical blob with a fox tail was next to it as well, sleeping softly on the paper wrapping.
Blake couldn't help, but wonder out loud "What the hell is this..." as he didn't seem to care if the others heard him as he grabbed the device. He would also take out his phone as it appeared that it was almost back to normal as it was on its home screen. The only thing different was that a blue pop-up message appeared saying "You're one of the many chosen. Good luck!" before Blake witnessed the message dissolving. Breathing a sigh of relief, he turned his phone off and putting it in his pocket before inspecting the device while looking over the sleeping blob. "...Is this supposed to be some type of prank...even if it isn't, why is it just being handed down to me like this..."
Not knowing what else to do, he would poke the blob out of confusion, noticing how it didn't feel metallic at all. When poking it, it felt as if he was touching a ball of slime. "Uh, hey little guy? I'm apparently I'm one of many chosen?" He would softly speak, being considerate not to have them be irritated.
He didn't get an answer as the blob was still alseep. "What am I supposed to do with this thing?" He thought to himself as he felt like he had two options. Considering he was getting weirded out by this, his impulse tells him to get out of here though, logic would bring him back to reality as the message on his phone was serious as it was then may be he should take the box with him.
He did, however, thought it over a bit more as he the more he thought about it, the more he started to raise his eyebrows. He then appeared to grin, seemingly knowing what he thought was the obvious reason why he was "the chosen"
"Am I.....a Pokemon Trainer?!" He thought.
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