Distorted | Shimada Genji | g.s. / s.g.

act I: iii.

October 2057

"What about these ones?" Neala inquires thoughtlessly as she holds up a pack of neutral colored mechanical pencils. Kasumi releases an airy laugh as she gives her a teasing smile.

"Girl, they are pencils. Get them." Kasumi scans the school supplies aisle with Neala, and her eyes land on a My Melody pencil pouch that would match her friend's school bag color scheme.

Kasumi delivers a gasp that captures Neala's attention and scatters to present the pencil pouch in her hand like it is a project. She flashes her pearly white teeth to convince her friend, and to her pleasure, she succeeds. Neala nods reluctantly in response and lifts it off her friend's palms and into her own hands. Her hands now hold three different colored notebooks, a pencil pouch, two packs of different colored mechanical pencils, and two one-inch binders.

"I still don't understand why I need this much stuff for school..." Neala murmurs as she guides the path to self checkout in the local grocery store, but she soon comprehends that she has no earthly idea where it is. Kasumi scoffs at her comment and gives an expression in utter terror.

"My goodness! You have no idea how hard school actually is here!" She exasperated and naturally helps her puzzled friend to the self checkout. The two girls leave the store in satisfaction and spend less than the both of them expected.

"I'm sort of surp–" Neala is cut off from her train of thought when her friend gasps. Neala shifts her head rapidly to glimpse at her friend, and she detects her friend staring into the distance ahead. Neala mirrored Kasumi's line of sight and gained a sense of understanding by what she was so stunned by.

"Is that... Shimada Genji!?" Kasumi beams with her hands connecting to her cheeks in disbelief. Neala sighs in annoyance and her mind is clouded with awful judgment.

She doesn't actually care about me.

Why would anyone listen to anything I say?

There is no reason for her to think of me as important.

Neala snatches the bag of items out of her new friend's hand and walks away in the opposite direction. Kasumi is pulled out of her frenzy and furrows her brows to glance at the ombre haired girl scurrying away from her quickly, "Neala!"

The girl doesn't react to Kasumi's words and continues to speed walk away. Kasumi's long legs without a doubt catch up to Neala and she grabs her shoulder to turn Neala to face her, and Neala, being high alert, thoughtlessly grips Kasumi's wrist. Kasumi widens her eyes and pulls her arm away from the girl, "the hell's the matter with you, Neala?"

Neala blinks once or twice at the girl before her, yelling at her. The clouds of rain in her mind set in once again to consume her. She closes her eyes and blocks out the white noise.

Nobody likes you because you are so hard to deal with.

There is a reason she is yelling at you and looking at you like you're crazy for not doing a single thing.

She is like everybody else. She wouldn't love you just like your parents.

In the midst of Kasumi's outburst, Neala sighs and her eyelids open, attempting to compose herself even if all she wanted to do was tell her supposed friend to go away. Kasumi stops abruptly as she takes notice of the girl sighing, and she crosses her arms, waiting for Neala to speak. Even if they're in the middle of the sidewalk, Kasumi is determined to receive an explanation for her friend's behavior.

Neala smirks at this. The thought of chaos; It is all she is used to and what she knows. The thought of not knowing what comes next sends her a thrill.

"Why the hell are you smiling?" Kasumi breaks the tension first and attempts to navigate to a conclusion on what the hell is wrong with the girl standing before her.