Intuition

[KAITOU NAGANO]

Kaitou groaned as he observed the Shadow split apart. Most people were under the misconception that splitting yourself into multiple pieces guaranteed that your power was dulled, but Alastor here was living proof of the contrary. Knowing this, the blonde always anticipated the worst when a foe separated itself. The urge to flee was rising within him, but the urge to just stamp out the threat was growing even faster. Doing neither was just an invitation to be attacked.

(Hn... The records the last group before us left behind stated that the Reaper was supposed to be the most powerful Shadow after Nyx... If I were to go off of that, then there'd be no way I couldn't survive at least one onslaught from this Shadow to gauge its strength and determine whether I should fight or escape. But what if the reemergence of the Dark Hour created even more powerful Shadows than the Reaper? Would I be screwed then?)

His instincts were screaming into his ear at this point to just stop loafing around, and by all means he would have on a normal night, but the fact that Amaranth was likely still watching, just waiting for him to make a move (rather than at least repay him for saving her earlier, the jerk!), impeded his fight or flight response.

In the end, he merely stood his ground, reaching his hands into his coat sleeves to draw his trench knives and hold them out in a guarded stance. He would wait it out. Wait one attack out. No matter how strong this Shadow was, if he could take a direct Ziodyne from the Reaper, he was going to be able to take whatever it had to throw at him. And then he would give it and Amaranth a piece of his mind.

At least, that's what his bravado had offered him as justification.

[REIKA HANAE]

She frowned, but she had prepared for this, especially after he seemed to know she was still here. It was always so annoying when people didn't fall into her traps. She didn't particularly like watching people squirm, so delaying the inevitable was just annoying. Reika frowned, but realized that getting irritated wouldn't solve anything. If you cannot be stronger than your opponents you must be smarter. That is all. Let's see how brave he really is.

The 'shadows' began to bubble and twirl. The one with the mouth, the one directly in front of him finished first. It was enveloped in an orange glow, about the brightness one would expect. It wasn't exceptionally bright like her Red Capote. Then each shadow piece after glowed the same color in rapid succession. To an ordinary viewer they were stronger now, and there were ten of them. Would this be enough to get him to bite?

[KAITOU NAGANO]

Well, shit. The Shadow's pieces were powering themselves up. If every Shadow lunged at him in their enhanced state, then even he probably wouldn't stand a chance of surviving. Kaitou gritted his teeth, glaring at the Shadows and cursing his predicament. At this point it would be suicide to keep his false sense of confidence going just to try and deter Amaranth.

Was it convenience on her end that this Shadow had suddenly appeared so she could scan him when his guard inevitably dropped? If that were the case, then he was caught in the biggest Catch 22 of the century. "Heh, talk about fate screwing me over..." he muttered, lowering his guard. His grip on his knives tightened, and he was about to launch an attack when he stopped to think over his words... They had taken a minute to talk about fate before, didn't they?

(And didn't you believe that fate was inconsistent?)

Inconsistent. That word had ruined his attempt to lie his way into acquiring intel from Amaranth. But in the instant that he processed that thought, he noted an inconsistency in her own behavior.

The girl clearly wanted some kind of information that he was holding on to, whether she admitted it frankly or not. He wasn't quite sure what exactly she wanted to egg out of him, but from all the questions she had led him into during their conversation, it was likely that she just wanted whatever he was stupid enough to slip to her. On the other hand, why would she go out of her way to try and deceptively scan him? Was she desperate to hold some sort of advantage that she could dangle above his head in a future encounter?

Either way, if she was that hungry for information, why did she not feel compelled to get this Shadow off his back? What good was Kaitou going to be to her if he was dead? Was she was some sort of necro-analyst? No, that would be stupid-- she would have just tried to get him killed if that were the case. There really wasn't any reason for her not to help him out, barring the off-chance that she was unexpectedly cruel. Unless...

Unless she was bluffing him like he had tried to bluff her! Kaitou's stance relaxed at that moment, and he gave the Shadow a smug grin. Either this was his victory, or this would be his grave. Only one way to find out.

"...Man, you must really have it out against me for turning you away earlier if you're just gonna leave me to bite the dust here. I know I said I wasn't kind and accepting of most people, but I didn't know you were so damn vindictive." As he spoke, he nudged the knight half of his Persona aside. He stared at his owner in bewilderment, but complied and allowed him to step forward. Now he was mere inches away from the collective group of Shadows, but he could not have looked more confident than he did at that moment.

"Well, even if I were to try and make an attack now, it'd be useless. There's only two of my Persona, and ten of these souped-up Shadows. On top of that, I've been weakened from my fight with the Reaper and having to maintain this spell." He shrugged nonchalantly; his tone was laced with arrogance and sarcasm, devoid of any sense of dejection that one might expect from a man staring Death in the eye.

"I suppose this night will be my last... What a shame that I won't even get to take this treasure home. Heh."

[REIKA HANAE]

Looks like she lost.

She wanted to fight it, to keep going even after this. Reika was sure she could find a way to spin it into something. But she wouldn't do it. She was sure it would only end in tears. She had no desire to hurt the guy, and really if she were to be completley honest with herself, her desire to actually help wasn't entirely fake.

"I'm not sure I deserve that much credit." She waved her hand, dismissing all of her illusions including the one on herself and stood up. "You got me there, I didn't expect you to be able to tell. So sad. That said, you were sure quick to assume I wouldn't ditch you when you keep assuming the worst of me." She laughed. "I think I understand why you're so hesitant to trust people now."

She decided to let him think on that line for a moment. All of this was just making her tired at this point, so she didn't really want to stand. Fortunately, they were right outside the school. There were a few park benches on the walkway, so she decided to lean back into one of those. Legs crossed, arms up on the back of the bench, a comfortable position. Reika blew on her bangs. As frustrating as this was she had a hard time being too upset about it. She wasn't exactly used to being believed in. With good reason, she didn't deserve anyone's trust.

"Aaaaah, it's been awhile since I've been outsmarted like that. And here I thought I'd be able to keep that ability a secret. I guess that's what I get for being greedy."

[KAITOU NAGANO]

So he was right. At long last, Amaranth admitted genuine defeat, and the Shadows that were staring menacingly at Kaitou faded away. When the illusions disappeared, all that was left was their point of origin standing a distance from the entrance to Tartarus. She said something that he only barely caught:

"I think I understand why you're so hesitant to trust people now."

Did she really understand? Perhaps. No, it was painfully clear to anyone who knew the blonde Reaper... From an early age, he was placed in an environment where he felt like he could not trust anyone, and he spent his entire childhood there. Kaitou's trust had to be earned, and doing so was an arduous task. It probably wasn't worth the trouble.

As Amaranth backed away to a nearby bench, Kaitou decided he was tired of holing up in the main lobby and walked over to take a seat at the edge of the bench next to her. Upon sitting, his Persona's halves lay back on the road, seemingly in a relaxed position. He had not yet lifted his own spell; surely she would understand. She had already realized that he had absolutely no trust in her, after all.

"...You deserve my respect, at the very least. I still have half a mind to hit you for trying to sneak a scan on me, but your powers are not to be trifled with. If anybody's lucky tonight, it's probably me. Hmph."

A few moments passed as Kaitou stared up at the morbid sky before he spoke again. "...If we were to meet again tomorrow, would I have to be prepared to fight you? Would I have to be on constant guard in case you wanted to scan me?"

'...Or could we perhaps talk like normal people?' was what he wanted to end his string of questions with, but alas. Kaitou was not one to give people the benefit of the doubt, and with how their first encounter had turned out, he wasn't sure if it would be wise to even consider treating Amaranth as anything but an enemy from here on.

[REIKA HANAE]

Reika stared at him sheepishly for a moment before inching towards the other side of the bench with an exaggerated expression and movements. Sure, she didn't want to be slapped, but she didn't actually think he would. She didn't actually feel threatened or uncomfortable, she was just trying to be funny. Diffuse the situation a bit. There was no need for him to leave angry.

"Well I'm--" she stopped. Her expression changed from exasperated, to inquisitive. She tapped her chin and looked up, then a moment later she turned back to him and grinned. "I dunno man, it seems like fighting favors me doesn't it? As long as you keep turtling like that I can't do anything at all. Clearly I need to be trying harder to get you to beat the shit out of me." She laughed, and her tone was clearly not serious.

His next words brought out that devilish giggle again. She tapped the lower part of her mouth and grinned once again. "You want to meet again? So you did enjoy talking to me! Admit it. There's no sense in avoiding something good because you're scared right?" She continued to giggle with that low chuckle.

It was funny, he reminded her a bit of herself from elementary school. She was always socially aware, so she knew people were generally dishonest and horrible. She was pretty socially reclusive once she was fully aware of them. People were scary. Really scary. Opening your heart to them is terrifying, and while he seemed to think he was a 'leaky faucet' of information, that was true of everyone. Just by conversing people were revealing so many things. Likely things they had no idea they were even saying. It just took someone being attentive to pick them out. He was just making the same mistake she did; closing himself off to other people because he was afraid. It was ironic that he seemed to want to trust her. She was the one person he should never trust at all.

[KAITOU NAGANO]

Friendly banter was not something Kaitou had been privileged to experience since his days as a gangster, so at first, he was thrown off guard by the seemingly frank statement. Once he was able to process her words, his lips curled in a smirk as he shrugged widely. "I may have a volatile temper, but when I need to be patient, I can wait for years before moving an inch. Good luck trying to tear down this defense!" Hell, the guy even snickered.

However, he shook off that amused expression in an instant when Amaranth suggested that he enjoyed talking to her, and he shook his head. "I did not particularly enjoy talking with you specifically-- don't get ahead of yourself. However, the act of socializing... That is what entices me. We may be sitting next to each other talking casually, but you'd do well to remember that you're walking a very thin line between foe and acquaintance. But..."

There was a pause, and Kaitou stared up at the sky once more, pondering his course of action with his words. "...If there was less... tension between us, perhaps I would consider developing a relationship with you further than that of an acquaintance." Yes, that pretty much summed up what he wanted to say.

...Wait. Didn't he throw 'relationship' into his statement? When the realization hit that he could have given her an entirely different implied message, the teen's body whipped around and he started waving his arms in front of his face in panic, practically spluttering in haste.

"N-No! That's not what I meant at all! I have absolutely no interest in pursuing a relationship of... that sort with you! I'm just saying that there is a chance that I might consider you as a more-favored person than you are now! Don't think it means anything else!"

If it were possible for Kaitou's face to redden to the point that steam started to rise from his head, then he was probably at that point right now.

[REIKA HANAE]

"Then it sounds like you don't have to worry about fighting me then," she shrugged. His next words made her have to stifle a chuckle again. "Surprised you're sticking around then. Seems like it'd be easier to talk to a friend, or at least someone that is firmly on the 'acquaintance' of that line."

Reika didn't catch his slip at first. To her, relationships are not a romantic thing, they're just any connection between people. Romance is not something she really thinks about, so when he started to blush at the use of the word she was confused. Only for a moment though. It just took a quick shift of thought from her on feelings towards the word to what most peoples' interpretation is. She lowered her head and started snickering, but it didn't take long for it to turn into snorting.

"Man, I think you've sent me more mixed signals than anyone I've ever met."

She decided to leave it at that. Seriously though, this guy was incredibly silly. He said he didn't trust her despite believing in her enough that she wouldn't leave him to die. He said there was tension around them when he seemed completely comfortable talking to her when he would just let himself go. He said he didn't like talking to her, but he wanted to see her again and expressed interest in becoming what might as well have been friends. Hell, he might have even thought she was cute or something if the word 'relationship' brought up such thoughts. He was such a terrible liar.

[KAITOU NAGANO]

Ah! There she went laughing at him again! If he weren't so damned embarrassed at that moment, he would have... Yelled something indignant at her. Or something. Maybe a half-assed comeback?

"...Tch! Checks and balances! I'm only this socially inept because I'm good at... everything else!"

Yeah, there we go.

Scowling, the blonde turned away and glared at a coffin in the distance, waiting for his face to return to its natural color before facing Amaranth again. (Ugh, this is why you can't talk to people...)

As he continued to sulk on his end of the bench, the air seemed to lighten all around them, and the nauseating green glow of the Dark Hour gave way to the natural night sky. Alastor's halves faded away as time resumed, and the weight of his combined fatigue deemed now to be an appropriate time to hit him like a semi.

"Ugh... That was nauseating..." he muttered, slumping back on the bench and holding his head. Maybe there'd be time to call a cab before too long.

((orz sorry this isn't very engaging, but hurr four pages I'm running out of steam))

[REIKA HANAE]

"I'm sure," she snorted. "Well then Mr. Daisuke, I'm sure my whereabouts tomorrow will be entirely uninteresting to you, but assuming I can get over the post-Dark Hour hangover I will undoubtedly have I'll probably cash in my loot and then head over to the sweets place and eat my weight in cake." It sounded like an exaggeration, but knowing her it probably wasn't.

She stood up and stretched. That was quite the workout. This was why Reika could eat her weight in cake and not get fat. The Dark Hour took a lot out of her. This time it decided to test her limits in more ways than one. Ah well, overall the night was very successful. She was bringing back a huge amount of treasure and she met some weird guy. It was actually hard to decide which of these things were more interesting her mind.

"Guess I should head home. Later." She waved and started jogging back to her dorm.

((No worries. I suppose this is a good place to end then unless Kaitou wants to initiate stalker mode.))