Everybody had a hard year

[weaktobullets]

Who: weaktobullets and implausibility (With later appearance by ofthearcana
When: Aug. 28th, Midday
Where: An Alley in Section 4
Summary: Shinji wants to waste his time being worthless alleytrash. Adachi is in the way.
Warnings: Derp.

Comments

lol tpohru

[implausibility]

Adachi jumped, and plastic pieces flew everywhere. Even before turning around, he raised a hand in a curt salute, rambling off most likely pre-composed apologies. "I'm sorry, sir! I just needed a break and I got lost, honest, and no one was around to-"

But no, that wasn't right. If it were one of the men at the station, they would've interrupted him by now. (Everyone took liberties with the greenhorn.) Lowering his hand, Adachi turned around, careful not to step on any of the miscellaneous pieces of his magical toy set. (On sale for only ninety-nine cents, what a bargain!) It was one of those cheap parlour tricks, where they gave you a segmented box and the amateur magician-to-be was supposed to saw the lady doll in half. There were small, toothpick-like plastic sabers everywhere, and a doll head was sticking out of a small, orange container. (Strangely sinister, depending on the light one saw it in

now that you pointed it out I'm leaving it there. :|

[weaktobullets]

Woah, Sir? He blinked, taken aback for a moment at that. He was more used to getting bitched at or called things that one wouldn't repeat in front of their mother than sir. But as Adachi slowed and dropped his stance, he relaxed slightly. Apparently this guy was on edge and had just reacted, which only managed to make Shinji curious as to why

SOB WHY

[implausibility]

If Adachi had caught onto the hint, he certainly gave no indication of it. Almost as if Shinjiro had just declared a shared love of childish past-times, Adachi's expression lit up, and he bent down only to pop right up, with one of the toy swords and the boxed girl in tow. At the top, there was a small hole between the latch that held the two box halves together, and he turned it towards the teenager.

"You watch TV, right kid? Sure you do - all kids watch it these days. So anyway, you've probably seen the trick where the guy saws the chick in half, right? Well, turns out, there's a pretty simple trick to it, and all you have to do is basically get another girl in here, and then once you push her in, you can stick it in-" He pressed the sword into the notch opening. It met some resistance, either because of the poor craftsmanship of the toy, or the poor artistry of the magician, but eventually he managed to dig it through to the other side. Adachi looked up then, eyes dark in the alley, without any light to reflect in the

TO PAIN YOU.

[weaktobullets]

He had opened his mouth as though to respond that for starters, he wasn't a kid, and other than that, no he really didn't catch TV that often other than to watch a few cooking shows and catch up on the news. But Adachi had launched into a tirade about the trick worked and how to saw a lady in half. As Adachi fought with the toy he looked more and more bewildered and annoyed, though the sudden apology threw him again.

Now he remembered this guy. That retarded detective who had saved Mitsuru. Shinjiro's lip drew back slightly. "...So is this how you're gonna fix up the city?" As much as he wanted to be thankful to the man for saving her life, the more he saw of Adachi the more is seemed like some bizarre dumb luck that it had even worked out that way at all.

"And yeah, you kinda were." Maybe if he was a jerk to the guy Adachi would wander off to do his magic tricks somewhere else.

IT'S WORKING.

[implausibility]

Adachi retreated, but only a step. Before Shinjiro could make a move to pass him, though, he spoke up. "...Say, how old are you?" he asked, hands still in his pockets, out of sight, fingers wrapped around the toys, perhaps, thumb and index finger closing down on the doll's neck, perhaps (just to hold her in place). He narrowed one eye, scrutinizing, judging, jumping to conclusions. Shinjiro's attire certainly didn't speak much for his character, and his speech had only confirmed that so far (Shinji wasn't the only one who could make assumptions just like that).

EXCELLENT. BWA HA HA~

[weaktobullets]

His brows furrowed at the question and he shrugged. "...Nineteen." or he was now, at least. Well, he assumed he was. He had sort of died less than two months after he had turned 18, but it had just been his 19th birthday... so what the hell, he'd go with that. His shoulders rose slightly, body unconsciously angling in a more defensive posture.

"What's it matter?"

[implausibility]

Adachi's hands shot up, also defensively, but not as aggressively. He waved them in front of himself as if warding off danger, or simply in surrender. "Whoa, really?" The answer earned Shinjiro another measuring glance. He reminded Adachi of Kanji somehow - tall, good-for-nothing, and always looking like the world owed them a big one just because they had trouble following along with everyone else (teapot, meet kettle). "It's nothing - I thought you were at least twenty-something. You guys really do grow tall these days! Guess it's gotta be the food."

He lowered one arm, the other one scratching at the back of his neck. "I dunno, I was just wondering what job you were on break from."

[weaktobullets]

At least twenty-something. Well, he'd take that as a bit of as complement, especially if Yosuke and Kanji were examples of teenagers Adachi typically knew. No offense to them, of course, Shinjiro liked the guys well enough, but Yosuke was hardly a shining example of maturity. He shrugged a shoulder at the comment on his height-- after all he only had, what, a centimeter or two on the detective? "...Guess so. I ain't that much taller'n most've the people I know." He had a centimeter and a half on Akihiko, he knew-- though his boots probably helped a bit and compensated for his slouch. Who knew, it was a tangential train of thought.

At the mention of a job, though, his attention shot back to the conversation and eyes narrowed a bit, glancing away from the detective. Shit. "...I ain't got one." Which raised the question of what the hell he was doing out and about, sure-- but then again, he could ask the same of Adachi. "I just got nothin' better to be doing right now, detective." The 'unlike you' could go unspoken.

DAMN IT, ENTER BUTTON

[implausibility]

"Oh," said Adachi, with the sort of surprised tone that meant he wasn't surprised at all. His brow raised, but he kept his eyes lowered. Of course you don't, if you spend your free time cowering in some dank shadowy corner, punk. "You don't have a-"

The emotion slid off his face, and he seemed to tense, growing wary. "You know me?" He hadn't introduced himself as a detective quite yet. Even most of his mannerisms would suggest he was more of a slacking, novice cop rather than a detective. "You've heard of me, at least." Adachi wiped his face clean again (he seemed to do this with startling, uncanny ease), replacing it with a close-eyed smile. "From who? Not from that Tatsumi kid, I hope. He's got a whole bunch of things mixed up in that head of his - you really can't take a lot of what he says at face-level. Besides, he's got some ridiculous notion that

S'COOL BRO.

[weaktobullets]

Man, no one seemed to like the fact that he didn't have a job. Maybe people in this city were just ridiculously productive and had stupid-high standards. That or the Monsters just picked up all the homeless vagrants. Who knew.

"Yeah, you were lookin' for the coffee in the station on the network. You saved Kirijo, too." It was hard to forget the voice and the strange mannerisms, after all, especially since there were few people Shinjiro spoke to-- and the fact that Adachi was from Inaba (though hadn't mentioned Personae, so Shinjiro would hold back for now on that front) made him even more interesting.

As the NV was shaken at him, he gave Adachi a flat look. "...It's Aragaki. And yeah. That thing." How did a guy like this save Mitsuru of all people. In fact, on that note: "So you weren't kiddin' when you said they'd let anyone onto the force, were you." Sure, supposedly he had experience from back in Inaba, but really. What the hell?

[implausibility]

Adachi put on a pleasant smile. "Oh, Mitsuru-san," he said with a hint of pride at the mention, straightening and leaning back on his heels, until the sharp shadow that the top of the building behind him cut fell half on his face, from one ear to the other, masking his eyes (it was just a trick of light) - veil upon veil upon veil.

"Right, right. 'Aragaki'... one of her friends," he nodded to himself, as if checking off some mental checklist he kept on every person he met. Under 'Shinjiro Aragaki' was, (a) friend of Mitsuru Kirijo, (b) friend of Yosuke Hanamura, and (c) delinquent punk, just like that Tatsumi brat, with nothing better to do during the day than try to scare upstanding citizens out of his squatting corners. It was a very comprehensive list.

Adachi blinked up at the question, doe-eyed and confused. Of course, he had no idea why he'd be asked a question like that. "Well, not everybody," he replied innocently. He gave a little laugh. "I mean, they wouldn't have let a kid like you in, for example. They have