(ooc: Hi! I’m still in the process of canon review and voice testing, so I’m keeping the timeline vague here. I’m just itching to get started. Also, I know some people haven’t played/are canon blind and I intend to avoid major spoilers in my tags.)

I. Crash Into Me

“This an interesting shade…” A tall, willowy young man commented absentmindedly as Raimon made his escape from the many questions that had been thrown at him moments before he handed over the welcome-bag.

It was as though he’d wandered through the looking glass… Which, to be fair, wasn’t really that strange of an idea given the way his life had progressed of late. Still, this… Didn’t look right. It was far different from Tokyo even with just a vague glance, and it certainly wasn’t mementos… At first the teen thought perhaps he’d slipped into a palace- it had happened to him once before after all, but it didn’t have the right… energy.

There were people walking around, people of substance and life. Not shadows, not a representation of how a palace's ruler saw them… Just people going about their daily business. If it weren’t for the setting, one could easily believe there was nothing strange going on. There was, though, and it was puzzling…

But also beautiful, in a way. The aesthetic of this land was somewhere between a historic drama and a fantasy, like out of a video game he’d could imagine a friend of his playing. But it was intriguing, so much so that Yusuke wasn’t really paying attention to where he walked.

He was too caught up in picking out details and perhaps how he’d approach capturing it in a piece… Not smart, no, he should be paying more attention… Or freaking out… And maybe he would, at some point, but even then? The truth would always be stranger than fiction, and he had already accepted the idea of strange worlds other than his own that were beyond understanding.

II. What Goes Bump in the Night

The sun had long since fallen across the city, but Yusuke was out and about. His lodgings weren’t exactly satisfactory, even if he knew the experience among others would be valuable to someone who still had much to experience about the world around him. He knew that in many ways he’d been quite sheltered under Madarame’s care for so long… A weakness on his part for allowing it to go on for so long; it had left him with so little understanding and ultimately would be his downfall. It left him lacking in the understanding of the human heart, of what allowed it to bring forth beauty into the world…

But, the positives aside, it was still less than ideal. The orphanage wasn’t much different from a school dorm, but with the… added sorrow and a wide variety of ages and people who were without families. Not that Yusuke could say he didn’t fit, the young man supposed. He had no family. At least not blood relations, though he had come to think rather fondly of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. They cared about one another, asked how each was doing, bonded over the bad that they had been through… Was that not enough to be considered family? Probably not... Yusuke wasn’t sure, but he liked the thought of it.

And the sudden lack of contact was bothering him. His cell phone was little more than a paperweight and a reminder of those he couldn’t text. The tell-phone was a helpful too, to be sure, but it wasn’t going to get him in touch with any of those he wished he could talk to right now.

That all, of course, was why he was wandering in the evening. The city was both quiet and alive, even at this hour, it seemed. At first, the walk had been relaxing and contemplative, but it had rather quickly changed when he caught the glimpse of… someone? Something? Out of the corner of his eye. Turning and looking revealed nothing, though… Had he imagined it?

Or had they simply been fast enough to duck around a corner? Were they hiding? Was this… an ambush?

The teen felt some comfort in the knowledge that he could still feel Goemon’s presence inside… And even now, the kitsune mask easily slipped in place at the shift in his cognition, the knowledge that not everything was as it seemed and the possible need to hide (though he wished he had a weapon now). “Is someone there?” He spoke up, a little louder than if he were talking to himself. Still, his head tilted the other way quickly as he caught the sounds of a whisper and another shadow moving out of the corner of his eye. “I ask again, is someone there?” Nothing. Nothing but more whispers… “Why do you choose to cower in the shadows instead of approaching openly? Do you have something to hide, or are you simply planning on accosting a stranger for their meager coin in the night?”

III. When the Carnival Came to Town?

“What is that?” Came a voice from just over your shoulder, as Yusuke continued to have a very poor grasp of personal space once something had intrigued him. He didn’t mean to come off as so pushy, of course… But enough people found it rude and sometimes a bit stalker-ish since he tended to follow and approach with very little indication that he was behind you.

Which was the case this time, having been following since the prize was won and his curiosity piqued.

But the teen was focused on a prize that they’d seen you win. It was colourful and absolutely weird, but… “The design is rather intriguing, and the colour composition inspires.” He continued a moment later, tilting his head one way and then the other as though trying to view it from different angles.

Yusuke would back up when prompted, but for the moment his attention was on something else other than the person he’d approached.

(ooc: Bonus: you can make this prize as weird/strange as you like)