Under the Trees (open)

[sonofshadows]

Joshua Colquhoun

A peaceful summer's evening, and to celebrate, I do... nothing. Yep. I've been busy recently, doing a brief internship at the hospital. Things were crazy. I shudder, trying to get what I saw out of my head. The heat tends to drive people crazy here...

I relax my muscles, and rest my hands behind my head, as I lie in the shade of a tall oak in the park.

[Yuki Yamaguchi]

ooc: Outfit Here!

ic: Yuki often found that, once he had finished all the household chores, he was actually free to do whatever he wanted. Since Katsuo, Naoki, and Ki generally wanted to do all the dirty chores, he had a lot of free time on his hands. Today had been no exception.

He'd decided to spend the day by enjoying the nice weather outside. He'd even invited Nozomi to join him, but she'd insisted that she needed to catch up on her favorite show, "Modern-Day Mythbusters". And so he had decided to make the trek out himself.

His stroll had taken him past District 1 into the District 2 area, where there was a fairly relaxing park nearby. He'd seen this park a few times before, and had always wanted to go in. Now had seemed a better time than ever.

And so, he had gone into the park, admiring the flora there. He'd stopped in front of a particularly tall oak tree, one that looked like it could pose quite an adventure if he chose to climb it.

He had.

It hadn't taken very long to get to the top. Yuki was quite skilled at climbing, so he'd made his way as close to the top as he could, before the branches became too thin to support his weight. There he relaxed on one of the branches as if it were a lawn chair, placing his hat over his face so he could enjoy a quick nap.

He hadn't seen the younger guy who'd chosen the very same tree to rest underneath.

As the sun became higher in the trees and there was the sound of a bird nearby, Yuki was re-awoken from his nap. He sat up for a moment, remembering where he was, and at the same time scaring a squirrel that just happened to be crossing a branch over him.

The squirrel just happened to be carrying some nuts in his paws, and--upon spotting Yuki sitting up suddenly--freaked out and dropped them all, running off towards the other end of the branch.

Yuki would have thought the whole thing was funny, except all the nuts that the squirrel had dropped fell right out of the tree--and right on top of the head of the guy who was relaxing beneath the tree.

"Oh, sh*t!" Yuki exclaimed, without thinking.

He looked down at the other guy, concerned. Whoops. This wasn't supposed to happen on his day to relax. "Hey...uh, are you okay?" He called, looking down at the other guy from up on his branch.

[sonofshadows]

I was just starting to drift off to sleep when nuts rained on me. This was a problem. I'm allergic to nuts, though I was unsure at the time whether just their contact could provoke a reaction. Fortunately, they could not.

The rain was unpleasant though, especially as several hit me in the eyes. I was certain I'd been rendered colourblind when I looked up at the young man in the tree. Wearing a bright pink jacket, and hat decorated with images of a musician from many years ago, I realised that I had one of the District One eccentrics on my hands. Super. I wasn't a big fan of gaudiness and fashion.

"Fine," I said to him, "just fine. You're from District One, are you?"

[Yuki Yamaguchi]

The other guy seemed stunned out of his sleep by the sudden unexpected raining of squirrel food on top of his head, and Yuki--though thinking the situation a tad funny--felt bad for the poor guy.

There was a moment where the other guy blinked a few times, before he looked up and stared right at Yuki. Immediately, Yuki could see this guy didn't like him all that much. Why was that? He didn't quite know. Instead, he just smiled and waved.

"Fine," I said to him, "just fine. You're from District One, are you?"

Yuki looked confused. "What makes you say that?" It was true that he lived in District 1, but he was actually a Wanderer. He'd only settled in District 1 for the moment because it was the place where he and his "family" could make a good profit. And the clothes? Well, Yuki was kinda an eccentric guy.

"And you're from District Two, I assume?" Yuki asked, the smile returning to his face. "Hang on," he added, deciding this was as good a time as any to come down from the tree.

He quickly limbered down from one branch to the other, until he was finally close enough to jump down to the ground. Dusting himself off, he tilted his hat at the other guy.

"My name's Yuki," he told him pleasantly. Generally, he'd use a fake name, but at the moment, he didn't see anything wrong with just saying his real name. This guy didn't look threatening at all. "Can I ask yours?"

[sonofshadows]

What makes me say that? Your outfit, pal... I want to say that, but I fear it'd be rude. Instead, I say, "Oh, just a hunch. You have that sort of pallor. And yes, I'm Distict Two, born and raised." The boy jumps down to ground level and tips his hat. like he does this sort of thing a lot. Maybe he's a Wanderer? It would explain why he's here... The last time I dealt with a Wanderer, she abused my hospitality and ran off without a word. I wonder if Yuki's that sort of person. That's who he introduces himself as, anyway. Yuki. Could be an alias. If I was a Wanderer, I'd use one. That said, he doesn't seem like a bad guy.

"I'm Joshua. What're you doing here, Yuki?" I say, standing up to shake his hand.