Shibuya!

An artsy district, many aspiring individuals make their way here as students, actors, performers, and all around dreamers. Exotic shops can be found here as well as exotic restaurants.

It would from one of these restaurants a commotion would start. A white cat bolts out of the front door, being chased by an angry chef with a large butcher's knife. The chef was a portly fellow, the years of making authentic Chinese style cuisine having a net effect over time.

The cat had a large chunk of meat in it's mouth, the theft of which from the plate of a guest in the restaurant started a huge flurry of activity. The cat had hoped it would have been a quiet steal, but his tail knocked over a glass and the rest is a blur.

"Get back here you little thief! I'm going to turn you into the next special!" she shouts, pursuing the animal in the thinning crowds, waving the knife threateningly. At this point, a military police officer sees the commotion and orders the man to halt, noting the public endangerment factor of a fat man running around with a large, sharp object. As the officer and the man discuss and argue a little, the cat ducks into a bush outside one shop and sighs, dropping his prize onto a relatively clean looking patch of snow and gnawing at it a little.

"...Jeez...all that over a piece of meat...don't they know I'm starving?"[/color] the cat mumbles to himself, pausing just a bit longer before consuming the remainder of his spoils.

Sophia travels Shibuya, mostly window shopping for clothing that she can’t afford. Occasionally, she goes in to try something on. From inside one store, she looks in the mirror how a particular coat fits. It is a deep red in color. It is a little light for how much snow that they have been getting. It appears the designer was a little optimistic in it getting warmer. She glances at the price tag on the sleeve and makes a face. An attendant in the shop is looking at her expectantly.

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees the white cat run out of a restaurant across the street. She finds it a little strange, but screams as she sees the chef with a knife running out. The attendant jumps at the sudden screech and turns to look outside. “Excuse me,” Sophia says as she shrugs the overly expensive coat on to the floor.

She darts across the traffic, and she recognizes the cars are honking at her. She gives the driver and apologetic look and mouths "I am sorry". When she gets across, she sees the officer arguing with the chef and the cat eating inside a bush. Sophia goes through her purse. There is a small bag of candy. She drops a few into her hand and crouches down low, holding out a hand with some candy.

“Aren’t you adorable… Hungry kitty… come on. Let’s get you some actual food.” Her voice is kept soft as to not scare the animal. She looks at her hand. “Well, this isn’t it, but my parents have some. And it is better than being out here in the cold.” She knows her parents may be a little upset, but this wasn’t the first time she brought home a stray. And they always got over it.

Artemis looks up as he senses a presence approach, and then crouch down to give him some kind of attention. Mentally, he wondered if it was the chef caught up to him, but then his feline eyes were delighted by the soft voice of a young girl. A pretty young girl!

Jackpot! the cat thought to himself, before a notion occurred to him. There was something different about this girl...something familiar, yet not familiar. Curious, he leaves the piece of meat discarded on the ground as he approaches, sniffing the girl's offering cautiously. Candy, not necessarily Artemis' favorite, but a gesture of kindness that reflected the soul beneath.

"Meoww~~"[/color] the cat purrs, approaching and licking the candy. It would be rude to snub the offering after all, and if his hunch was right...

Sophia takes her other hand and scratches the ears of the cat. “D’awww. Aren’t you sweet?” she coos over the animal. Her eyes scan over the neck, but she can’t spot a collar. “I am surprised that you don’t have a home already…” She continues to look over for injuries, but the cat seems fine. The odd gold crescent mark on the cat’s forehead catches her eye though. She goes over with it her hand, but it seemed like a part of the cat.

She takes off her scarf and prepares to grab the cat. When the cat finishes nibbling the candy, she scoops him up with the scarf and cradles him in her arms. “Warmer, right? Come on, kitty, let’s get out of the cold.” The sun was still up, but it was time to for her to head home anyways. She wonders how much trouble it would be to sneak a cat onto a subway, and onto the military family housing. She could probably bundle him up tightly, so they would thing she was just carrying her scarf.

As she starts walking to the train station, she considers name. “Hmmm… you wouldn’t be a good Tiger or Tigger. Smokey or Max certainly doesn’t fit you.” She stops and giggles for a second. “Simba! Haha. That was a cute movie. I used to love it… So Simba, there is probably chicken or tuna at the house. I am afraid you may have to wait for tomorrow for me to grab some real cat food, but I don't think you will mind much, will you?"

The cat purred slightly, though a bead of sweat ran down the side of his head as the girl rattled off a few names, ultimately declaring the name was Simba. There would have to be an explanation later if she was one of the ones she was looking for, but for the time being, there was little more than he could do but wait to get out into a less crowded area. For now he would enjoy being cradled and warm until..

"STOP RIGHT THERE ZE CAT!" an older voice calls out. The chef stood about 150 feet away, having gotten away from the policeman due to a more pressing matter coming up that required police attention. The chef begins to approach at a fast walk while Artemis' fur stood on end.

Sophia also takes pause as the chef approaches. “It’s ok, Simba, I can handle this,” she whispers to the cat. She looks at the chef with a shy look. She makes herself seem small and scared. “E-excuse me,” she stammers. “I am really sorry for my kitty stealing food. I have been running all over the city for him. I went to get him washed at the groomers east of here. When the groomer loosened his collar, and you know how some kitties hate getting baths and their hair cut, he ran away…” She makes a cautious look straight in the eye and then looks away again quickly. She pauses continuing with her meek act, “And I was really scared I was never going to see him again! But I saw the commotion over here and saw Simba. So I suppose I should thank you for helping me find him.”

She scratches the cat behind the ear. “I am sorry about this. He tends to cause a lot of trouble, I know. But I suppose he got really hungry after running around the city.”

She grabs some money out of her pocket, and asks, “Would this be enough to pay for the meal?”

The chef, paused in his tracks by the young woman's explanation contemplates, glares at the cat once more, and then sighs.

"...Fine, just keep that cat out of my restaurant. or else he might not be so fortunate next time" the chef says gruffly, walking off without taking Sophia's offering. Perhaps it was some latent ability within the girl to persuade people, or a last minute epiphany...

...or the fact that it was getting cold, and the chef's outfit he normally wears in a hot kitchen where he sweats is ill suited for the cold of outside.

Regardless, Artemis lets out a sigh of relief. Saved by a human, he felt his pride slightly blown a little. However, there was a gratitude for getting off the hook for his deed. Now he was certain this one may be one of them...but he couldn't do anything here.

Sophia smiles sort of relieved as the man walks away and puts her money away. She walks back to the train station. When she gets close, she covers the cat up a little more. "Sorry, Simba, this won't be the most comfortable part of the trip, but you should probably stay out of sight."

She hopes the cat will take a nap and not wiggle around too much. No would question her carrying a bundled scarf. However, a wiggling bundled scarf was something to take note of. She hums a song to herself as they ride the train out of Shibuya. She always found trains strange. People never so much as looked at each other for the most part. It seemed like everyone was trying to pretend like the rest of the world didn't exist to her.

She thinks back to when she used to do this a lot as a child, looking for lost animals. Inevitably, she would always come back with a few strays. She watches as Shibuya passes her by.

Artemis squirmed a little in the scarf, obviously uncomfortable by the mild smothering, but reluctantly, he settled and resigned to his fate. On the train ride, he thought about the situation he was in. This world felt far different than the one he was in before. He wasn't sure what happened, or what his mission needed to succeed now, but he still had to try. It was perhaps a turn of fate he came across this young woman, one whom had that potential.

He'd figure it out later...for now the events thus far exhausted the poor kitty...as sleep began to overtake him swaddled in the scarf...probably leaving Sophia little trouble making her way home amid the security checkpoints.

Kail had barely gotten on to the train as he wanted to catch this one to get home. As he did not want to wait for the other train. He was rather tired from walking all around Shibuya. Since there were only a few import stores that sold books in english. He was getting tired of the cold and longed for the days of spring and summer. But now it was none of that.

Either way Kail quickly tried to get a seat before they were all taken up. He got one next to a young lady and sat down. The red head got settled and got out one of the books he got. Although stopped after awhile, as something was amiss for him and put the book away in his bag. The book so far was good but was not interested in it any longer.

He sighed and just leaned back in his seat to relax and just watches the people on the train. Most of them had looks that they just wanted to survive and get through the day. Those around his age and a bit younger were chatting on various things. Then his eyes gazed over to the young lady next to him. And it surprised him a bit as she was a foreigner like himself.

"Sorry if this sounds a bit odd miss. But how long have you been in japan" he asked Sophia in a crisp british accent. He hoped that she spoke English, as it had been awhile since he spoke to anyone that did.

Sophia hardly notices the man set down, staring at the scenery and the approaching night. It isn’t until he let out a disappointed sigh that she becomes aware of his presence. However, at his voice, she finally turns to the man next to him. It wasn’t often someone struck up on a conversation with her on the train, but she embraced it. He seemed about her brother’s age to her.

“Most of my life,” she answers back in Japanese, mostly out of habit. However, as soon as her brain processed the British accent, she switches languages and accents seamlessly in order to accommodate him. Her accent became more American, similar to how her mother spoke at home. “How about you?”

She shuffles around the bundled cat in her arms, and stretches out her hand for an introduction. “My name is Sophia by the way.” In her mind, she is praying that she hasn’t given away the cat’s presence.

Artemis is blissfully unconscious in the scarf for now, and unaware of the conversation going on around him. He dreams of fish...ever so delicious fish. Served by mice in maids' outfits...each a delectable treat in and of itself. The cat salivates a little in his sleep, but it's unlikely that the scarf will accumulate enough moisture to really give him away...yet.

Kail smiles as the girl first answers in Japanese then into English. That she lived in the country for most of her life. He sees Sophia move around a bit and then extends her hand out. "I am Killian Lancaster but you can call me Kail. And I am charmed to meet you Sophia" as he took her hand and kissed her hand. Like a old fashioned gentleman from the days of yore in England. And then he releases her hand gently.

"Lets see.....8 years so far, Its been tough since the world has changed to this" Kail said looking out the window. Seeing the constant grey skies. The endless bleakness on the outside world and it did make him sad. But that should not keep him down though. "It hasn't been so bad though. I have met a lot of interesting people and made a good amount of friends" he said talking a bit. And just opened up a bit.

"Anyway, doing some shopping in Shibuya" he asked curiously since small talk was happening.

Sophia blushes a little when he kissed her hand. The gesture is not one that she used to getting. It reminds of her older movies. This was the first time in a while that she thinks that she met anyone from outside Japan not inside a military base.

When he mentions the world changing, she guesses that he means the appearance of the Obelisks and the never-ending winter. She appreciates his quick change in subject on to a more optimistic topic. Too often people started become all doom and gloom with mention of the Obelisks with the idea that entire world would end. She preferred to look toward the idea of some kind of bright future.

She laughs at the idea of Shibuya. “More like window shopping since I didn’t have much to do today. I don’t think I have enough spending money to buy a single thing for a lot of the shops that I visited today. High fashion tends to be a little pricey. But perhaps in the future…” She does find it odd that Kail would be Shibuya in that he doesn’t look like most of people to go shopping in the area. “How about you?” She looks toward the bag in which he placed the book earlier. “I am guessing that book wasn’t exactly what you were looking for?”

"Ah yes that it does" said Kail as he laughed a bit as his mother Chigusa complained about the high prices. And wished that there were more sales. Which drove him and his father up the wall half the time. But women were women on anything clothing related. But then Sophia asked him about the book which got him thinking on it. "Well so far, I have only read a few chapters so far so I can't say it was not what I wanted" he said to her.

"Eh maybe I was not in the mood to read it right now. I had to walk all over Shibuya to find a import store. I rather support the local shops then rather order it online" he said as everyone was trying to keep it together. "Are you a avid reader Sophia" asked Kail as he was still passing the time while on the train.