so baby take off all your armour [mikazuki]

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✖ DREAMS TURN

INTO NIGHTMARES. OUR MEETING WAS A SPOILER BECAUSE HOWEVER YOU LOOK AT IT, THE ENDING WAS CLEAR. THE ILLUSION DIES AS TIME DRAGS ON.

Naomi!

842

and so it begins! X3

   It was never easy acclimating to a new environment. The change in routine, the absence of familiar faces… It could get overwhelming at times, that’s for sure. But the situation only ever feels like a burden if you’re adamant on thinking it as one. Something of which might explain the reason for Mikazuki’s attitude. While the girl hadn’t looked forward to her family’s relocation in the town of Amakuji, she’d made the decision to make the best of it. Even if it was mostly for her mother’s sake, the girl was determined to think of the situation in a more positive light. Of course she missed her friends and her old home, she’d made a lot of good memories back in Tokyo, but it wasn’t as if her entire world ended with Tokyo. Life moves on after all, and Mikazuki figured that she could always make new friends to share memories with. Whatever the case, she’d have to suck it up and tough it out, so why not have fun while she was at it?

A couple of days have passed since her arrival in Amakuji, and Mikazuki liked to think she’d managed to adapt to the new town rather quickly. Sure her new home might not be as busy as the metropolis city of Tokyo, but it was lively place and as a newcomer there was still much about the town that she had yet to explore. Mikazuki wouldn’t consider herself as the typical outdoorsy type, but there was just something about the novelty of exploring new places that appealed to her. Hers was an inquisitive nature. Her inclination to poke around however had gotten her into trouble many a times in the past. It was an unfortunate side effect, but she was used to it enough now to know that it’s always safer to expect the unexpected. It was always best to be prepared for everything in any case. As a case in point, we can take a look at her current predicament.

The day before, as she was on the way home, the high school student had overheard the neighbors gossiping as usual. At first she, thinking that they were trading stories about the obake that were supposedly haunting the town, Mikazuki had ignored them initially. The girl had an intense fear of the supernatural, and listening to ghost stories, even in broad daylight, was more than enough to make her edgy. But that was beside the point. Mikazuki had just made it past her house gates, she’d been rushing at that point, having wanted nothing more than to get as far away as possible to avoid listening to tales of horror, when her ears had picked up on the terms ‘new family’ and ‘moving in’. It was pretty much a hook, line, and sinker deal when she learned that she would be getting new neighbors the very next day. The sheer prospect of being able to make a new friend had left her giddy with glee.

The following day found her standing at the doorsteps of her new neighbor’s house. Sometime last night, Mikazuki had thought it proper for her to visit and pay her respects to them. That perhaps she could lend a hand with settling in and help them feel more welcomed. A part of her also hoped that the new family had a member who was around her age – one could never have too many friends! So, it was with a positive mind-set and a homemade gift basket in hand, that she finally mustered up the courage to ring the doorbell. It was a good thing that she’d stuck with her ‘expect the unexpected’ ideal too, because the greeting she’d received would have come as a complete surprise otherwise. An unpleasant and unwarranted surprise at that.

For a heartbeat, it was all that Mikazuki could do to observe the other girl blankly, her mind momentarily free of any form of thought as she took in the disheveled appearance of the obviously irritated young woman before her. Her speechless state only lasted for a second though. Soon enough her lips curled to form a warm smile and there was even a slight underlying tone akin to amusement in her voice as she offered her own words of greeting. “Oh, hello there! I heard that we’d be getting new neighbors, so I thought I’d just come over and say ‘Hi’. My name’s Mikazuki Akira, by the way, and I've come bearing gifts!”

In retrospect, that probably wasn't the best way to go about greeting someone in a bad a mood as the brunet seemed to be, but Mikazuki stood her ground as she held out the basket of goodies for the other girl to take. She’d spent a good portion of the morning preparing the basket full of cookies, and the girl could only hope that her new neighbor would accept the gift. Barring the fact that it would bruise her ego if it were refused, she hadn't the faintest idea of what to do with it otherwise.

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