Dust, Shadows and Candlelight (Open)

[Leon Loire]

Leon Loire was starting to feel old. Perhaps it had been the strange graduation in the blue and gold Hircine colors instead of whatever had been that of Varron or his old stomping grounds, or the sudden peace that seemed to fill his life in the past few months, and it might even have been simply that, after all that had happened to him over the years, his age was finally catching up to him. He was a nineteen year old man edging on twenty, a survivor of countless dramas, and now they were all over. Nothing else was left but his life, his friends, and a future he never had time to seriously consider.

He had been spending the last four months thinking over that rather large fact. Coming to ignore the problems that had arisen across the school, the former Varronite instead focused himself on personal matters. He had a girlfriend to love, a friend once thought dead to reacquaint with, an old mentor returning to his side, his old nemeses defeated, and the handful of personalities that had once been his second family now planning a move out to San Fransisco, in hopes of seeing him once again. Leon's priorities, for a time, had shifted. And so, for his final year as a slave of the System, Leon finally lived the life he had held together.

But now that school was over, Leon again had to busy himself with a productive activity, at least to cover the bills. So while he was working as an intern at the local hospital that Azumi Philanaski worked for, and he was applying to a few universities on the East Coast, a strange ambition was filling the man's heart, a sort of desire to follow a pair of steps that a friend had taken and conquered.

Add a few phone calls from a charming best friend, shake a few hands and have a few meetings, and there was Leon Loire, standing beside the red headed Christopher Kingston as a commercial Realtor led them towards a shabby old tavern that idly sat in the corner of a distant downtown alleyway, its frosty windows smothered in sheets of dust, the brief stairs that led towards the front door broken and dispersed, and the front door easily needing a new sanding job.

Oh yes, the infamous Varronite ranter was looking to get into the business venture. How wise.

"Remind me why I'm doing this Chris?" Leon murmured to the dark eyed man, the collar of his overcoat wrapped around his neck. While Leon had to admit that his look had matured somehow, he wasn't even close to the sophistication that his old friend now represented: a dark suit knitted across his tall, lanky form with a scarlet-red button up underneath, a chocolate silk tie wrapped around his neck, and a comfortable black overcoat absorbing his bodily warmth. He was the pinnacle of a political representative, and he was still no older than Loire.

"You're doing this because it's smart Leon," Chris replied, watching the Realtor drab on with artificial enthusiasm, "And because I'd like to actually feel important around here."

Leon side glanced Chris from behind his pair of glasses, his own white button-up rather loose, the blue blazer held on only by the shoulders. It had been three years since he had been around Kingston, and being known as "Alex" for all of their lives easily made his sudden comfort with Leon's "new" identity a bit disturbing. Then again, there were reasons why.

"Oh yeah? Well that explains why I've got you paying for it." Loire replied, grinning at the retort, and watching as the Realtor attempted to open the door and failed, before trying to use force with his shoulder and only helped to embarrass himself further.

"Yeah, you're one lucky son of a bitch, Loire." Chris spoke back, before stepping forward and waving his hands towards their little host, "Hey hey, it's all right. I think Leon here would love to just check the place out ourselves."

The dark haired man with a suit to match Chris just glanced both of the potential buyers in surprise, having never heard of self help before in his business. Still, he was a bit of an odd one as it was, with some sort of wild hair cut that only San Fransisco could produce, and smoother skin than any woman Leon had ever known. After a few seconds, he nodded, and took a few steps away from the door, "Well, okay! You guys have my number, so let me know if anything needs to be done, all right? I'll let you guys see the greatness for yourselves."

'I'm sure he's giddy at the thought of avoiding this creepy old place...'

Leon just watched with the bemusement of a typical observer as their Realtor stepped up, took a few steps behind him, made some sort of nervous attempt at a wave, and skidded off, before leaving their sight for good.

Leon only turned his blue eyes towards his friend and allowed his grin to widen, "You're smooth. Real smooth."

The red head only waved him off with a flick of his hand, "Oh please, that was nothing; you should see me with the ladies in Miami. That's skill. Now get down and check this money grabber out."

Leon only nodded as he took a few steps down the mediocre run of stairs and held the flashlight passed to him, before glancing at the door and mimicking the attitude of a pessimist, "Wow, and I thought I was naive..."

Chris just ignored him as he scanned the door for a moment, wondering if the Realtor had just been too weak to budge the door open, before a bit of frustration spilled over his face, and a sudden curse under his breath led his right leg to kicking against the door, literally shoving the old contraption down, allowing a wave of stale dust to fly in their faces.

Waving their hands and coughing, Leon shook his head to relay the dead matter off of his head, rubbing down his blazer with both hands, "REAL graceful pretty boy."

Chris was too busy worrying over his suit, "Shit, why did I wear this? The hell was I thinking?"

Still, after a few minutes of cleaning off their egos, the two men were finally ready to undergo their little steps into stressful, hair-ripping adventure, and glanced at each other. With a grin on his face, Leon simply shrugged, and took a step forward into the abysmal shadows of the old tavern.

"This better be worth it..." Leon Loire spoke back over his voice, the retort echoing over Chris' head and out into the alleyway, echoing out a small bit into the crowds out beyond.

Today, Leon was going to take a little bit of a financial risk - just for the hell of it.

[Kira Karyuudo, Hikari]

I see the angels,
I'll lead them to your door.
There's no escape now,
No mercy no more.
No remorse 'cause I still remember
The smile when you tore me apar—

The cut-off of such a lovely song was caused by Kira flipping her cell phone open, eyes quickly scanning over a text message from Leon, whom she had only heard from fleetingly over the past few months...

Hey, Kira, you free?

It was simple enough, really, and so she flicked her fingers across the keypad. Yeah, I'm free. Why?

I'm making a bit of a gamble of sorts, and I was wondering if you'd meet me where I'm going to be? And tell Kazuki, too.

She tilted her head, now sitting cross-legged on her bed, book set down in front of her, pages splayed and facing downwards on the comforter. Sure, I can do that, just give me the address.

A bubble of excitement rose inside her at the thought of seeing her friend again, despite whatever it was he was doing with this so-called ''venture''. When she received the address, she grabbed her coat, and a thin, soft scarf, and slipped from her room, book forgotten upon her bed. Reiko was in the house, still, and Kira made her way upstairs to tell the teen where she was going.

Kazuki, Leon is wondering if you'd come by if you get the chance early tonight. I know you're at Legion right now, but he wanted you to know, too. That's where I'm headed. Ciao~

Pushing the door open after knocking, Kira peered in, grinning as Hanten lifted his head from his nest upon Reiko's back, peering over her head, the younger girl doing homework.

''Reiko, I'm heading out to meet up with a friend of mine. You be alright until one of us gets back?''

''No problem, Kira... I've got a load of homework to do anyway.'' The raven-haired girl stuck her tongue out at Kira, who only too-gladly returned the gesture.

''I might be persuaded to bring something back for you?''

Reiko grinned but shook her head, waving the older girl out of her room.

<<<Later>>>

Parking her car wasn't much of a problem, there was some spaces a few blocks back from where Leon was, or at least, where she was going. It hadn't taken too long to get there, all things considered with traffic. Stepping out and locking her car, Kira rolled her shoulders, the edges of a familiar trench coat moving like a dark wave with the motion before she buttoned it up, the leather fitting snugly around her body, the end of the scarf she had grabbed swaying with the cool spring breeze.

Pocketing her keys, Kira started making her way along the sidewalk, another five minutes elapsing before she came near enough to hear the sharp crrrrACK[/i] of something being broken down. Something wooden.

Turning the corner, Kira could see specs of dust still settling and being swept away by the same breeze that now played with her hair, tossing the sleek strands to and fro with no cares. Blinking, Kira found herself heading down the street - just happening to be the one she needed anyway, from the sign - and upon coming closer, saw it was Leon.

With a grin, she ran the last quarter of the block to catch him from behind, arms thrown over his shoulder in a move that could only be considered gleeful. As it so happened, she had to jump just a little to get a firm grip, and even with her legs stretched out, the tips of her toes still didn't touch the sidewalk...which could have been possibly because he would have had to bend forwards to compensate for the sudden weight upon his back, lest he be brought over backwards.

''Heeeey, Leon~! I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me what this gambling stuff you'd said via text is about?'' Poor Leon, she hadn't even separated herself and already she was asking questions. Her voice was light and cheerful, making it obvious she was enjoying the fact she was with a good friend again. And still, she hadn't moved. Would she? Perhaps...maybe if Leon Loire was lucky, she'd unlatch herself from his back before he asked her to.

[Kokaku Musha]

It seems everything really needs to come to an end… and there’s nothing we can do about it.


Kokaku, the once cheerful young warrior had now turned into a more grim person. He had aged once more and even graduated. His injuries from his captivity had almost fully healed and he was finally able to drive again. He still had some ache around his right shoulder but that was about it. He had not been able to be of much use in all the troubles going on at Hircine High and had simply focused on graduating, which had been a success. Though his friends were quite happy with graduating, Kokaku wasn’t. He had grown from a boy into a man by going through lots of things, everything starting more than ten years ago. His fight with his past had been dealt with by killing his father, he seemed to be under control of his ‘other self’ and now, another chapter had been closed. Perhaps the final…

Kokaku had been a loner long ago… and on Varron he had finally found friends. Friends with which he had gone through so much… but everything was slowly fading away. Now, by leaving Hircine High behind, he knew he would be alone once more… Kokaku really couldn’t bear it. The feeling of returning to his previous state was terrifying him. He knew Shoaku would only get stronger if he were to feel this way, but even that couldn’t convince him to continue fighting. Kokaku was done… at such a young age, the man had been through too much. More than most adults would probably ever go through… and that was an injury that no medical tools could ever heal… a scarred soul, ripped apart… A broken mind, wondering if anything or anyone could ever make him complete again.

Drowning in his own misery, Kokaku was resting on the roof of his dorm section, a gentle sun tickling his face, but nothing to cheer him up. His eyes were closed, but his hair was restless, waving playfully in the wind. His bandana had been lost in the warehouse that had eventually been blown up, another piece of memory lost. In fact, this wasn’t Kokaku’s dorm section any longer. All of his stuff had already been moved into a storage department… he had no actual home at the moment. He had no idea where he would go next so buying a house was not an option. That seemed to be the only perk in this matter, Kokaku had no financial worries whatsoever. The government had given him quite some money as an apologize for what had happened… and for him to keep quiet about it of course. It felt as if he didn’t belong anywhere…

A short high pitched tune broke Kokaku’s trance and made him open his eyes slowly, his hand reaching out for his pocket. A text message from Leon, asking him to come over to where he was to take a look at something. Kokaku rose an eyebrow as he tucked the phone back into his pocket. He hadn’t heard from Leon in such a while and now he suddenly asked him to come over? What was all this about? Well, it wasn’t as if Kokaku had anything better to do so he could just as easily go over there and see what Leon wanted to show him. Getting back to his feet, Kokaku walked over towards the staircase and walked down, leaving the roof behind forever… Never to return here again. Walking across the parking lot, he easily found his car and got behind the steering wheel. On the passenger seat were some folded papers, his diploma and the backside of a picture frame. Turning around the picture, Kokaku glanced at himself smiling, a laughing Maverik and even a gently smiling Kazuki standing next to him. A small tear slipped down Kokaku’s cheek as he turned the photo upside down again, put his shades on, started the engine and drove off. He waved at the gatekeeper as he passed by, also… for the final time.

At Location.

As Kokaku arrived at the nearest parking lot, he noticed a familiar person walking away from her car towards the place Leon had also indicated him to go to. Kokaku parked his car next to Kira’s and turned off the engine. His black leather Italian shoes made a clicking sound as he placed them onto the pavement and slammed the door shut behind him. It was a good thing he had his shades on because the sun was now shining brightly. Locking the door behind him, Kokaku pulled both the sleeves of his suit’s jacket before taking the same path as Kira had done. After a short walk, Kokaku noticed Kira and Leon standing on the other side of the road, next to what appeared to be a half wrecked building. Placing his hands in his pockets, Kokaku took a quick scan at both sides before crossing the road and finally arriving behind Kira and Leon.

“I’m glad to see you both in such good shapes again, my friends.”

A gentle smile was on his face, his eyes hidden by his shades. In all honesty, Kokaku did not even feel totally at ease with anyone anymore… He had become a troubled man indeed…

[Leon Loire]

The investment was proving to be quite the risk, indeed.

Littered and sunless, the old bar felt more like a hovel carved from a mountainside cave than a drinking joint. From the light of the torn door, Leon glanced around to faintly glimpse a simple bar built into the eastern wall of the establishment, the ravaged stools broken on the ground or leaning against the thick shelves. A set of booths lined the western wall nearest the stairs, many of them stained with clutter and dust. At the center lay a blank void of tables and floors, but beyond that, Loire couldn't even see the end of the hovel.

Flicking on his flash light, Chris started down the entrance platform and made his way to the bar on the eastern side. Leon stayed by the door, trying to get a feel of the architecture. For the most part, Leon was a bit overwhelmed by the mess of the place. How the hell were they going to turn the small underground hole into a respectable business?

'I better get a hold of Taiku and the others... I need advice...'

As the graduate sighed in a bit of stress, however, he suddenly felt a weight tossed onto his upper back, and widening his eyes, found his right hand grabbing onto the arch of the nearby door to prevent both he and the new weight to crash into the darkness below. A breath of released air passed through his lips, and he almost felt mad for an moment.

Once he heard the energetic voice of Kira Karyuudo, however, the old man rested his fright, smiling.

"Well, if you're so curious Kira," Leon replied, turning his head towards her, "then you'll have to just come and see, huh?"

Leon was planning to walk down the stairs ahead of him whether Karyuudo jumped off his back or not, but before he could, his ears caught notice of another presence just above. Turning on his right to glance up at the stairs ahead, Leon Loire caught eyes with another of his old friends, Kokaku Musha.

"Ah, now there's a pleasant face I was hoping to see! Kokaku, where have you been man? I haven't seen you in ages!" Leon spoke back, spreading his arms a bit to speak of welcome and happiness. Indeed, the evening was already getting better, as he now had three friends around him.

Then, of course, he heard word from that red-head of his, with a loud curse and a crash from the distance.

"Well SHIT!"

Loire leaned back a bit to glance his head into the doorway, peering into the darkness as best he could, smelling a bit of fermentation and rising dust pass over the room ahead. Placing his flashlight over the source of the noise, Leon noticed that Chris was avoiding a wave of old alcohol from reaching his shoes. He had apparently dropped a few glasses from the old bar.

"I didn't know you were so clumsy Chris," Leon mentioned, still feeling the weight of Kira over his back, "try not to embarrass yourself too much, all right? We've got company now."

The distraught man looked back at Leon and yelled back, "Well hell Mr. Loire, it'd be a WHOLE lot easier if I wasn't the only one in this shadowy grave, now would it?"

Leon only smirked, "You chose to jump in first, not me."

[Kazuki Akimoto]

Kazuki, Leon is wondering if you'd come by if you get the chance early tonight. I know you're at Legion right now, but he wanted you to know, too. That's where I'm headed. Ciao~

Flipping the screen down on the phone a moment, he gave a short smile to himself as he drove...It'd been a while since he'd had the opportunity to speak with Leon, and considering he had little else to do for the next few hours, he would most definitely be making a detour. Of course, he'd been expected to deal with Legions management tonight, but after a brief grovelling with Rene that involved extra paid vacation time (in other words, money to sit on her ass) and a favour to be called in at her leisure, he was now just taking the afternoon to drive around and get out. Not for business, not for anything aside from the sheer sake of it. He was happy with everything in his life, a job he loved, the fiscal ability to do whatever he wanted for the rest of his days, a family of sorts that he'd never trade in, but every guy needed a few hours to just be by himself and reflect on those things.

Pulling through the intersection, he slipped into a parking lot and pulled up outside a 7/11, idling the car as he stepped out, grabbing his cellphone on the way and immediately flipping it back open to reply to Kiras earlier message.

Sure, I'll drop by in about twenty minutes. Got an address?[/i]

Closing the phone and dropping it into his pocket, he stepped into the gas station and trawled the aisles as he idly skimmed over a few things, grabbing up a can of Relentless and a packet of gum before making his way back over to the cashier. Setting them down, he also nodded at a pack of DuMorier. When the till-jockey turned to get them, his pocket buzzed as his phone received another message. Reaching for it, pulling out a small roll of large bills, he flipped one out and onto the counter as he checked the message, memorising the address before firing out another message as he took his change.

No problem, be there soon. Love ya.

Dropping the phone back into his pocket again, expecting no replies this time around, he left the building and hopped back into the car. With a flourish, the engine roared back into life, and with a deft bit of manouvering, he backspun the car around and pulled from the lot in a single movement, seamlessly gliding back into the light afternoon traffic...A moment of orientation reminded him of his exact location, and once he picked the route he was going to take, he took his turn-off, pulling one of the DuMorier's from the pack and lighting it as he lowered the window, hanging his arm, and the cigarette, from the window.

Shortly later

As the car slowly cruised down the street, he glanced at each building in turn. Most of them were old and disused, but one of them had a couple of cars outside, most notably Kiras car. Something of a slight giveaway, perhaps...Turning into the small lot in front of it, he gave a cursory glance of the building as he stepped out. The size and general stature of it was pretty good, and having had done some previous real estate surveying in the area before, he knew that a lot of these old buildings had rather sizeable basements. A nifty conversion piece. If Leon had business with one of these places, he would be quite impressed.

Sounds from inside of breakage and other stuff, along with a small number of very familiar voices caught his ears, and with a smile he flicked away the cigarette, stubbing it down with the heel of his shoe, and stepped inside. A light mist of dust held the air, understandably, and with a quick look around he found the group he was looking for, or at least, heard them. Pacing through with light steps, hopping over a fallen piece of brickwork here and there and avoiding damaged spots of the floor, he approached Kokaku first and foremost, him standing at the back of the small group, and set a hand on his shoulder.

"There's a face I've not seen in a while. How are you, Ko?"

There was a genuine, warm smile on his face as he addressed the slightly younger man, oblivious to the others at the moment whether they'd noticed him or not, and waited solely for any response from an old friend he rarely saw.

[Kira Karyuudo, Hikari]

[( This is most likely gonna be rather short, so sorry in advance. )]

With a soft snickering laugh, Kira set her chin upon Leon's shoulder, still clinging to his back like a...well, like a cling-on would. Truth be told, she could probably just hang around all day if her strength wouldn't give out. When he turned to see Kokaku, Kira peered out from beneath her bangs, blue eyes glittering in amusement before dulling slightly at the sight of the rather...ill-at-ease Kokaku. He sure had changed - and not for the better, by the looks of things.

Still, it wasn't long after that Kira caught sight of Kazuki coming, and then was abruptly turned as Leon shifted to look inside the dark building, shouting something to a friend. Someone she didn't know, at least. Her legs swayed limply with the motion, and the girl stifled a giggle. She felt like a rag doll. It was rather amusing, truth be told.

Even so, as they exchanged their banter, Kira slowly slid off Leon's back, catching him in a quick hug before she made her way into the gloom, over to where Leon's flashlight had been pointed.

''Right then. Chris is it? You're not the only one here now...and what the heck is it you're trying to accomplish down here, aside from getting the floor soaked and your shoes wet?''

So saying, Kira gingerly stepped around the faint sheen of the old alcohol coating the floor, an eyebrow raised despite the fact he most likely wouldn't be able to see it in the dim light.

[Kokaku Musha]

OOC: Is gonne be a short one as well, cause there’s simply not that much that I can add right now, sorry:(

IC:
“It’s been a while indeed, Leon. I’ve been around, just not that visible I guess…”
Kokaku’s response was calm and he slowly took off his shades as he looked to his shoes. His gaze turned back towards Leon and from him, to Kira. He smiled gently at her and gave her a small nod, giving she didn’t respond to his hello. She hadn’t changed too much from the last time they had met and Kokaku was glad to see that she was alright, even after all she had been through. Before Kokaku could speak more however a loud crash echoed from within the building and someone shouted at them. Apparently it was a friend of Leon’s, whoever it was, his voice didn’t sound familiar to Kokaku. Looking at the place and then to his suit, Kokaku wasn’t sure if this whole thing was for the best of his clothing. However, a rescuing hand landed on his shoulder and gave him the opportunity to for now, avoid going inside there and mess up his suit. Though the hand came as a surprise, Kokaku didn’t startle but slowly turned his body and head around.

He was quite relieved to be standing face to face with one of the best friends he had ever had, Kazuki Shinato. The man hadn’t changed that much either but it had been a while since the two of them had seen each other and Kokaku wondered for a second before taking a step towards the man and giving him a brotherly hug before moving a step back again.

“Kazuki, it’s good to see you again. Ah, what can I say, I guess I’m alright eh? How about you? Everything going well with the club and your little niece?”
Kokaku remembered the day he had met the little girl. She was a friendly spirited young one indeed and that day had been one of the few calm ones at that time. Now however, he didn’t speak of his feelings. He had no intentions of making this all about him… in fact, he didn’t want to bring his feelings up at all. He was here now, he might as well make the best of it.

[Leon Loire]

OOC: Sorry for the delay guys, I've been getting sidetracked as of late. This is also a short post, to get things back along, so don't expect much.

IC: Chris Kingston blinked in surprise when he saw the raven-haired beauty that oh-so-suddenly appeared in the shadows. She was a complete stranger to him, yet she was talking in a strange sort of authoritative query, seeming to place him on the defensive. For a second, he was about to be serious with her, when he realized that the girl must have been one of Leon's mentioned friends.

"You must be Kira, Leon's old - friend! Well, this is a nice surprise. Thanks for checking in on me!" Chris responded with a laugh and a bit of a nervous grin, having caught himself on a mention that he knew probably wasn't appropriate.

'Shit, I was about to say old crush, wasn't I?[/color]'

Beyond that, Kingston shrugged at the question, "I was just checking the place out Kira, that's all. I'm investing in the place, so I might as well get a feel for the place, right?"


Meanwhile, with Kira and Chris chatting in the darkness, Leon turned his attention back up to Kokaku and the new arrival to the little reunion, Taiku Akimoto himself. Loire grinned pleasantly at the two old veterans of Varron Academy casually catching up, and Leon waved his hand to summon their attention.

"So, you guys gonna stand outside and leave us all hanging, or you gonna come into my mess of a bar? We gotta find the power source in here, or else we'll be in pitch darkness when the Sun falls."

[Kazuki Akimoto]

ooc: Yep, I'm on it. ^^ Apologies if I'm 'controlling' something a little into this post.

ic:

"Things are good, Legion's turning good business and I'm doing what I can to keep the kid from turning into a tearaway, but she's my cousin, not my niece. I'm not that old y'know..."

Giving a wry grin to Ko and winking at the faux pas, he patted him on the shoulder with a warm gesture before Leon caught up his attention and called to him. Nodding toward Ko, he turned and hopped his way through the littered floor over towards Leon as he remarked on finding the trip switch for the building...Looking around it, he figured one of a few things...The layout suggested it had been an old bar in the past and he figured immediately that he'd know where those switches would be. A legal requirement of bar owners was that the building had to keep all the electrical power sources in a place out of the way, where drunken customers wouldn't be able to get to them. That left two primary locations; the cellar and the store-room...Thankfully, the light was enough that the latter wouldn't be too difficult to make his way around, and he hoped for the sake of things the cellar wouldn't be required to enter. He had no idea how old the stairwells would be, and he didn't want to risk going through them on the way down there.

"Hey, Leon? I think I know where it'll be. Hang on a minute."

Pacing over the scattered debris, he took in the floor and found what looked like the main bar, or at least, had used to be the main bar, before stepping behind it...The door to the store-room wasn't in plain sight, however, and after a moment of searching he realised why...The building probably kept its storeroom near the back of the building for deliveries and the like, and with a roll of his eyes he backed out and gave a glimpse around...The back of the building was in front of him, and at first glance he saw a couple of potential doors. Pushing open the first one upon traversing the messy floor, he recoiled with a wince at the smell. Old bathrooms.

"Okay, not that one...."

Suddenly thankful for the acrid taste of dust in the air getting rid of the smell in his system, he checked the next one, further towards a corner. Pushing it open met a large, open space with a few broken boxes and wooden pallettes, and at the back, a huge wall-mounted black box.

'Paydirt.'

Kicking the thin sheets of wood to the side as he neared it, raising an eyebrow at a scuttling set of fur that rushed away at one side, he swung open the hatch to the fuse box and took a glance over the trip switches. Now he just had to hope that it was all in working order. He wasn't an electrician by any means, and wasn't about to fry his own nuts for this. Still, everything seemed in order, and after flicking up a couple of dropped breakers, he gritted his teeth and drew down the mains switch. A sputter at first, then it whirred into life as the room was lit in a weak glow. The bulb was either a low wattage or just caked in dust, and without any need to turn around and check, Taiku was reasonably sure he knew which was the case...

Smirking, he shouted through to the others as he turned from the fusebox.

"I think that's it! Try a lightswitch or something, alright?"

[Kira Karyuudo, Hikari]

'Old friend? Is he supposed to be a new friend or something? ...or was he going to say something else? He did kinda lurch over the words there...' At first, her thoughts were indignant at being termed an 'old' friend, but Kira soon found herself wondering about the way he paused and seemed to scramble for a different word to describe her. He was odd, in any case.

''You're welcome, I suppose.'' Kira's response was murmured, but still audible. In truth, she was still pondering over the possible implications of what he had said, but within the span of a few moments, she diverted her attention from that as Chris spoke again.

''Hm, well, I suppose it might help to have some decent lighting to 'check the place out'..?'' She teased, turning slightly towards the open door as Kazuki came down and started looking for something--she could only assume it to be the power source, as there wasn't much else they could do in the building at the moment... Well, aside from stumble around in the gloom as Chris had done.

While Kazuki searched, Kira peered after him, the shadowy outline of his form growing dim as he moved into the more shadowed area at the back of the old establishment. It wasn't too long before he yelled out, and Kira nodded.

Sure, she didn't respond, but she was going to do as he'd asked anyway.

Searching the walls closest to the doors - and obviously the most well-lit areas - she soon found a switch. Slinking over to it while trying not to stumble too many times, she flicked it upwards, along with some of the other sets of light-switches. A moment passed and the faint sound of electricity humming through the light bulbs reached her ears before the lights flickered once and shone to life.

The lights over the old bar were on, as well as a few sets scattered across the main floor sections. Kira smiled slightly at the light before casting her eyes out across the old, worn-out tavern.

''Well, Chris, looks like you can do some proper exploring now.''

[Kokaku Musha]

Kokaku nodded towards Kazuki as he got his response and shrugged slightly.

“You know I’ve always had trouble making a difference between a niece and a cousin… being born in Japan doesn’t really help with the English language…”

He winked at Kazuki before following the older man inside. He looked at his surroundings uncomfortably, but he knew he was in fact happy to be here… He was finally away from being alone… finally among some friends again and it did feel kind of good. Besides, he owned enough suits so if this one got dirty and had to be thrown away, it wasn’t a big deal. Stumbling across the room, he almost tripped on some random rubbish that was covering the floor beneath him. ‘Mess of a bar’ as Leon described it was probably the only and best way to describe it right now. Standing next to the knight, he playfully gave his fellow graduate a slight push.

“Well, at least we can say there’s enough room for furniture… the place is filled with pieces of god knows how many different things!”

Kokaku’s eyes tried to follow Kazuki but the man quickly disappeared in the dark and Kokaku soon found him alone with Leon. Turning towards him, he spoke in a delicate voice.

“So, are you checking it out to see if you’re going to buy it, or have you already bought it? With the internet and all, it’s all just a matter of seconds, no?”

He then turned around and bent his knees, scanning the floor beneath him to see what he had been stepping into. He recognized the leg of a table, some chairs, some of them were half broken... He felt around the objects until he suddenly cut himself, causing him to immediately retreat his hand. Taking a difficult step towards the cause of his cut, he recognized a half broken wine bottle. Whoever left this place, had left a lot of stuff behind... However, Kokaku doubted anything of worth was still here, the place had obviously been ransacked after the previous owner had left. Still, from what Kokaku could see, this place did show potential...

It was funny to see how all of his friends ended up owning clubs... at such young ages. Being raised as a traditional Japanese boy, Kokaku had never heard of young people having such establishments at such a young age... but over here in America, it did seem to work...er of seconds, no?”