Shibuya Snapshots

Alone

This a long one so buckle up.

Shiba may be an extremely charming and social butterfly, but now, he finds himself completely alone.

-xXx-

Shiba is naturally a social butterfly. His fiery hot personality and positive speaking skills naturally draws people to him, like moths to a flame. He even draws in Hishima, a man with a cold personality. His sense of humor is sarcastic, but it dampens his spirit at times.

Shiba is popular, so, naturally, he gets many invitations to parties, as is rarely found with only Hishima by his side. He goes to as many as he can to spice up the life of it, but whenever his spirit burns out and gets lowered to a kindle, he and Hishima spend a night in watching movies.

Shiba and Hishima are nearly polar opposites; Shiba is as lively as the blazing sun while Hishima prefers the quiet moon. That doesn't mean that they dislike each other, however. The two often spend nights wandering the streets of Shibuya together, basking in each other's presence. Shiba finds a heat like no other whenever it comes to Hishima, so he can hardly find it within himself to stay away or not indulge Hishima's rare curiosity.

The two die as unfortunate victims of a shooting at a late-night club in Shinjuku's red light district that they had to procure fake IDs to get into, being a year too young to go in legally. Hishima's poker face and Shiba's charm working hand in hand had let them charm their way in without too much trouble. It had been too easy, Hishima had observed when they got in. Shiba didn't speak aloud, but he found himself agreeing nonetheless. Bouncers are usually more strict. But he had ignored his instincts that had told him that they should leave immediately and went to surround himself with people and dance amidst the heat of people.

He wished he had considered Hishima's observation more thoroughly.

The two wake up in the middle of the street, more than confused to what had just happened. Shiba spends more time than he'd like to admit fussing over Hishima, who merely lets him. He muses that that means Hishima was concerned about him, too, and that was his way of showing it.

They are soon greeted by a girl a few years younger than them who explains where they are. They officially join Shinjuku's Reapers' Game and form a team together. The girl, who introduces herself as Tsugumi, explains the rules and even tells them the general location of another Player before departing them with a kind "good luck."

Shiba's marked as the leader of their team and the two set off to find the other Player who they quickly spot due to Hishima's observations. The Player is a stern-looking woman named Ayano who's a year younger than the both of them.

The three turn out to be quite powerful so any and all encounters with the Noise serve to be little issue. It's no surprise to anyone that Shiba prefers the flame and burst psychs. Ayano preferred staying on the defensive, so all healing, barriers, and force and patrol rounds end up in her hands. Hishima displays an efficiency to stone affinities, and surprisingly, time.

After they clear the missions for the next few days, their lack of manpower proves to no longer be an issue as Shiba's natural charisma draws in Players. Ayano's natural beauty helps with that issue as well and they soon have a very large following.

"We still don't have a team name," Ayano points out one day.

"No name nary proves an attachment to our lives as Players," Hishima gently argues. "We do not need to prove to the Reapers that we care enough about their Game to feel a need to make a name for ourselves." A pause, then a smile. "However, I would not be opposed to one." He turns to Shiba, an expectant look on his face.