towerofanimus | 2ND BUS STOP | MAZES, HEALING & HUNTING [OPEN]

Characters: Shinjiro and anyone else who wishes to interact with him
Setting: Various locations! ~~Fabulous prizes!~~
Format: Any is fine; I'll follow your lead (I started in prose but do action if you want!)
Summary: A guy who goes around places trying not to think too much about the maze and what happened there.
Warning: SMT is suffering. Persona 3 is suffering.

[DORMITORIES - Backdated to the first day after awakening (Locked to Jin)]
The numbness subsided and he stood up, rubbing his head.

He...wasn't sure what to think, and looked down at his hands, before rubbing his head. Had he really...why was Castor back again it was...

No. No it wasn't Castor anymore. No matter how real everything had felt, those last four days of seeing the orphanage burn again and again, how hurtful it had all been he...he wasn't sure if he wanted to see Minako right now. What if it suddenly...no he needed to stop thinking like that! Concentrate on other things!

There were people to thank, as much as he hated thanking anyone. Shinjiro didn't like to owe favors. Others he needed to talk with. Like that asshole in a bed close to his, still sleeping. How do you even talk with a guy who killed you? Didn't know. Probably was having his own demons to fight off, after all. Maybe it was pity he felt, but...whatever. They needed to talk. He'd wait.

[LEVEL 32 - FLOATING ISLAND (no powers)]
It felt odd, not having the sound of any Persona in the back of his head. Knowing that he was, for a short while, just simply a human. It...felt nice at times, although with the situation, he was getting more and more thankful for the fact he could call upon then.

Regardless, the food this month was a farce. That could not do. A series of bags with him, Shinji was busy gathering roots, fruits and leaves. What he could dry later, he would, but most were going to be used in cooking.

If they didn't provide it, he'd make it himself...maybe a nice mushroom soup.

[LEVEL 25 - FLOWER MEADOW]
Most people only saw them as gifts to give to a beloved one (and to be fair a few of these might be going towards this goal) but for the most part, Shinjiro was picking up roses, clovers, dandelions and lavender. He could prepare tea with some of them, and use the others in his cooking to make a salad.

[LEVEL 15 - WORKSHOP]
For the past few days, Shinjiro had spent most of his time on the 15th level, using the forging tools and materials available to him. That labyrinth had sealed it for him, in a way, and he wasn't going to get caught empty-handed for any reason. If he didn't have his axe, he'd make himself one no matter how long it took. But first, there were a few people he needed to thank, for their help...

[This part is opened to everyone but England, Minami and Minako, if you want to meet him this week, he will have something to give you.]

[LEVEL 11 - OPEN AREA, WATERFALLS, NIGHTFALL]
Floor Eleven. The sound of the waterfalls should be soothing, but Shinjiro wasn't here to admire the view or to plummet himself to death. He was waiting for the night to fall, and the rainbows to flip over. Relenting was hard for him, but he knew he needed to practice fighting more. Was it safe to go by himself? Nope. Did he care? Not really.

He needed the practice and alone or with someone and he was going to do it right here...

[LEVEL 6 - FOREST]
Just eating plants wasn't going to be enough, of course. The animals here might be twisted - the birds might have teeth, but they were still, to their very basic, animals. Meat.

He was a cook, he knew how to cut and take care of one. But he'd never actually hunted for them before. A guy like Shinjiro wasn't the definition of someone who'd be good for that kind of stuff either. Which is why he was using his persona instead. Augustus had a lance. That seemed like the best course of action, in this case.

He just needed to find something large enough so he could feed more of them...but that came with its own dangers, didn't it?

[LEVEL 3 - LIBRARY]
Aki would be laughing at him. Him? In the library? You could almost think he was becoming studious! In reality, he was busy looking at cookbooks, trying to enhance his knowledge a little more - hell if he'd ever be caught dead reading wildlife magazines before, but now they actually were teaching him something.

He sat in one of the chairs, a stack of cookbooks and Wildlife's finest on a table nearby.

[LEVEL 1 - KITCHEN]
The first thing you might have notice, if you were the type to go snooping into one of the fridges was a few animals hung with hooks and dripping blood (but don't worry, he had found a pots for all that liquid to go into). Meat wasn't made to be eaten the day an animal died, but it was still a pretty grisly sight for those unprepared for it. Shinjiro hadn't cut and diced it yet, waiting a day more for the meat to rest.

Meanwhile, he was making what looked to be a few vegetarian dishes, and quite possibly cursing the lack of well...ANYTHING this month. At least his chest had come with some salt for his cooking. Next month he'd seriously have to think about stealing things from here or at least drying and smoking it so it could be preserved for later when they decided to pull stunts like this.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Well, she'd been avoiding people for a while now, doing her usual thing of making rounds of the Tower when she saw him in the field. Minami bit her lip a moment. The last time she'd really talked to him he had.... yeah. She'd almost had a meltdown right after.

might as well let him know she's physically all right. She left the stares and shouted his name, waving one hand.

"It's me! Minami!" she adds so he knows which of the Arisato girls he was speaking with.

Oh yes, thank you for the distinction, he actually appreciated it and gave her a small wave back. Confused. As usual.

"Hey." He called back, his basket already half-filled with mushrooms and a few leaves. Man how do you even talk with someone who saw the worst of you in that maze? No idea. He'd been working on a weapon for Minami too, but wasn't sure when he should be giving it to her...considering Shinjiro, that was a common thing.

"Came to pick up something?"

Hey, she was starting to get that the differences were subtle enough some distinction was in order. It was why she started wearing her hairpins so they read XIII instead of XXII. Just another way to people to quickly realize which of them were which.

"Nah, just wandering around as usual. I can help if you are, though," she offered. The Tower was still on her own mind, what she'd gone through. Shinjiro at his worst and best right in front of her and she....

Well, it'd been an illusion, right? Even if she could still feel the bits of flesh under her finger nails. It wasn't like anyone actually saw it, right?

If anyone saw it, it most certainly wasn't Shinjiro. He had avoided the computer network for the last week like a plague. And even then, he woud never bring himself to watch the nightmares of the others. There was just a line he was unwilling to cross. Of course Minami would not know that unless he told her.

"...sure if you want." He handed her a basket. "Know anything about picking wild mushrooms?"

"Uhhh.... just not to eat them if you aren't sure since they could be poisonous?" She didn't even know they were posted at the moment, hence her not freaking out about it just yet and trying to suppress the whole thing until she was in a better state of mind.

"How do I tell them apart from poisonous and edible, anyway?" Might as well learn right then.

"Practice, and not being an idiot and sticking to what you know." He took out a small book from his pocket and handed it to her to explain better. "I learned what I could from the chefs I worked with but it ain't replacing doing it for real. That's why I took this from the library. Stick with one or two species and just pick up those."

He pointed to his basket with golden caps and morels.

"Considering this place, I ain't trusting anything must. For all I know these could be poisoned too." So very motivational, really.

She doesn't blame him. At least she knows death truly isn't permanent here. If one kind kills her she can just not pick it in the future. She takes a glance through the guidebook, studying it intently.

"I should probably pick up some stuff from the library, too. Military strategies and things like that for the Night Watch."

Anyway, mushrooms.

"Is there any particular kind of mushroom you want me to look for so you can cook with it?"

He pointed to her a drawing of a bright yellowish one. "Chicken Mushroom. You should be able to find some off the tree trucks. Just...just be careful around here alright? We don't have our Persona powers and who knows what things might be hiding just waiting to ambush us."

He had his own axe close by and he gave it a glance before continuing.

"Should be enough after that."

"I'll try to keep you in my sight, don't worry," she assured him. There was a reason she stuck to the stairs on these kind of levels. Minami knew that when it came to a purely physical fight her best bet was to defend until she could run the frak away.

Then she studied the drawing and bit back a comment about it looking like a fungus. It was a mushroom. Duh. It was supposed to look like a fungus. That's what it was.

"Why's it called a chicken mushroom?"

For a rare time, he grinned before answering.

"...It tastes like chicken." Usually a joke to describe other exotic meats, this actually turned out to be true in case of this one. He knew that could almost sound too good to be true, so he added, "If we find some, I'll fry it for you and you'll understand why."

Shinjiro already had some himself a few times while working in various in restaurants. It was rather popular to put in soups, when they could import it for the right price. He pointed towards a group of trees a little farther off. "Good place to start looking as any."

Seeing him grin like that made her feel at ease, happy even. Shinjiro's smile was a rare thing and she treasured every single moment she saw it.

It helped the mushroom tasting like chicken made her laugh. It figured. Plus the offer to cook. How long had it been since she'd last properly had any of Shinjiro's cooking? Not since he had--

--well, looks like it was time to try some, then.

"Then let's go! I want to try these things!" she said, marching off tower the group he had pointed out.

He walked quietly after her, letting Minami be the first to get there. After all, there was a certain rush in finding the fungus on the tree first. A discovery that you could eat! It reminded him of happier days. Shinjiro didn't have much changes as an orphan to go to the forests as a child, but had committed them to memory.

As the time when he ate poisoned berries and had gotten a stomach ache for two days. There was a reason why he was so careful. Especially in a place like here.

"Find anything yet?" She'd only been there for a barely a minute, give her time, Shinji!

2ND BUS STOP | MAZES, HEALING & HUNTING [OPEN]

Level 32

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