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

act I: vi.

November 2057, during day 19

Neala grabs the knob and the neutral colored door releases a low creek as it is opens. Her caramel eyes gleam as they come in contact with the Shimada's gray ones. She crosses her arms and clears her throat, "You are like a pest."

"And you are like a movie. I'm so entertained," Genji teases with a grin and invites himself into her lonesome house, squeezing past her. He hums in amusement as he observes the environment and surrounding aura in the cozy entrance hallway while ignoring the protests of the Reis girl.

"Idiot, idiot, idiot! I hate you." She groans in Japanese and Genji shifts slightly back at her with a laugh.

"Your pronunciation is already better compared to when I last heard you speak," Genji comments with his arms behind his back. He notices her cheeks grow rosy and smirks. She attempts to push him out of the house, and he lets her do so but not without grabbing her hand with just enough force to drag her with him.

"I want to show you something, please." The Reis girl continues to pry her hand back to no success. She pauses and narrows her eyes to the boy holding puppy dog pupils. She grumbles and only gives a short nod. Neala had plans to continue avoiding the boy who did nothing but give her such an odd, staggering feeling that she somewhat likes. She feels embarrassed as she remembers back to the evening when she opened up just enough about herself to the spiky haired boy.

She lifts her chin up to the boy slightly more ahead of her, and her eyes scattered to the sight of their hands still clasping together. She squeals as she breaks her hand free of his and rubs her knuckles. She clears her throat when he gives her a raised brow as the pair continue to gracefully walk.

"You were squeezing my hand too hard." The boy shrugs then casually returns to guiding the two to the getaway.

The pair walked in a comfortable silence as they pass by familiar buildings. Neala unknowingly reads out the restaurant signs and makes a mental note to explore sometime in the future inside of them. Genji smiles at the sight of the girl speaking her thoughts out loud. She begins to actually notice places like a nearby park, library, indoor pools, a football stadium, apartment buildings, a supermarket much closer than the one she originally attends for shopping, ramen stores, arcades, and she spots a rather rich neighborhood entrance that the Shimada is evidently guiding her to.

"My place of residence is nearby," Genji says nonchalantly as he receives a gentle nod from the girl and returns his line of sight to the destination.

Neala gazes upwards at the stars aligned in the sky, "Mars is in retrograde."

"Huh?" Genji responds with a nervous, puzzled laugh. The girl elaborates with her interest in astrology and that lately, studying various subjects like physics, Japanese, astrology, and her books have occupied her time. "Lucky you and Kiriko, I have to practice combat."

"What for? You look tough enough already," Neala inquires with puzzled sincerity as she continues to follow his path into the high status neighborhood that is even more lavish than her own wealthy residence.

"Being a Shimada is no joke, little lady," Genji replies not without his teasing. Neala rolls her eyes as she scoffs.

"I can never have a straightforward conversation with you," Neala exclaims with crossed arms. The comfortable silence continues for a minute with answers, and she inspects the sight of Genji looking as if he was attempting to read the message in the aligned stars.

"My father wants me to be a criminal like them, but I do not desire such violence to define my life," Genji unexpectedly explains with a sad smile playing on his lips. Neala softens her eyes as the Shimada turns to face her.