† Not So Long Ago †

[Michael]

((No prob. Let's just make a few more posts here and then move on to Luca))

Now arm in arm with Reji, Michael began to walk along with her towards Luca, which was coincidentally the place from which he had just come. As he walked along, he cast a glance at the guy whom he had challenged. Victory secured, he gave a smug wink before averting his eyes to look back in front of him. Now that the challenge was over, he could focus on the date that he had just earned.

"Well, Luca isn't incredibly close. I guess we have some time for conversation until we get to a hover, huh?" Michael said. "Tell me something about yourself. Let me get you started. You told me a minute ago that you were 'just walking.' So are you a wanderer?"

[Reji]

Reji thought for a moment. "Well, sort of. I really don't live anywhere, just explore a lot and see the sights." She looked down a little. "My parents are dead. Nothing much else to do."

[Michael]

"Hm. Dead, huh?" said Michael, losing his chance to comment on the coolness of traveling so freely because he felt the need to respond to that last comment. "Well, that's no good is it? They die of natural causes? Or did something else take them prematurely?"

Reji's words caused Michael to think of his own parents. In truth, he wouldn't really have minded if his mother had died by now. But he hadn't heard from his father even after Sin had been destroyed. Whether or not he was still alive was one of those unsolved mysteries. Sometimes Michael wished that he could find his father, but he wasn't always sure if it was worth the time.

[Reji]

"Dunno." Reji stared straight ahead. "I was nine and out with some friends. Our neighbor came and got me. He said they had died of old age, but I knew better." She tried to dig up what she could remember. "The night before, my uncle brought over some fish he had already cleaned and gutted and stuff beforehand. My mom served 'em for dinner. I hated fish, so I only ate the side dishes. But there was an odd brown powder in mine, sprinkled across the part you eat. I didn't know what it was at the time, but...." She sighed. "My parents got very sick an hour after eating the fish."

[Michael]

Michael's eyes narrowed a little as he began to understand the girl's story. It wasn't too difficult to know what happened if one read between the lines. Still, Michael wanted to make sure that he was truly correct before he carried on the conversation thinking that he was when he wasn't. "So then you think that your uncle tried to poison all of you intentionally?" he asked, making sure that he and the girl were on the same page. Part of him hoped that he was wrong. What motivation would a man have for killing his own flesh and blood?... Well, at least when his flesh and blood hadn't wronged him in any way. Or had they?

[Reji]

"Well, he never liked our side of the family, and I don't know why. Maybe because my mother was Al Behd. But after they died, he took me in." Reji spoke bitterly. "He was alchoholic and hit me a lot. He said no one would ever care about me or love me again. My friends....they all abandoned me after that day." She sighed. "And so I ran away. And here I am, walking with you to go eat lunch."

[Michael]

By this point, Michael's smirk had faded. The story had gotten to him, and he had to admit it. Besides, appearing insensitive was never a good thing anyhow. "Wow. Sad story." he said as they walked along. I guess I've got nothing to complain about after hearing that. I'm sorry that all had to happen, but at least you're stronger for it, right? And if it hadn't happened, then I probably wouldn't have gotten this chance to meet you. But that sounds selfish, doesn't it?"

[Reji]

"Not really." Reji decided to sweeten the pot. A joke? Possibly. "Um, where do hamsters go on vacation?" she said slowly. She hoped her award-winning joke wouldn'e be too corny.

[Michael]

Michael opened his mouth as if to speak, but his mouth produced no sound. He raised an eyebrow as he realized what had just been said. How did hamsters suddenly get into the conversation? Odd, but at least it wasn't so depressing as one's uncle killing all of one's family. Michael had no qualms with changing the subject, so he decided that he would play along.

Michael shut his mouth, which then formed into a smirk. "You've got me. Where?" he asked. He didn't hear jokes much anymore, and he was fairly skeptical as to whether or not this one was going to be funny at all.

[Reji]

Reji hesiated before giving her answer. "Hamsterdam."(Amsterdam) Yep. Corny beyond all reason. No wonder she didn't have any friends. With a nervous glance, she calmly awaited his response. If I'm lucky, he'll at least smile. Works on everyone but stuffy rich people with expensive taste.

[Michael]

"Hamsterdam, huh?" said Michael, at first having no reaction to the joke. However, it wasn't long before a smirk spread across his face, and he began to chuckle lightly. "Heh. Well, I'm not going to lie and say that was really funny. But it was fairly clever, and the cleverness of it is what makes it amusing to me." Whether she wanted an explanation or not, Michael couldn't be sure. He personally didn't really think it mattered to anyone why he would laugh at something.

"So tell me Reji. How do you get around safely?" Michael asked. "Do you hire bodyguards of some kind, or are you capable of fending for yourself?" Another random bit of information that Michael wished to know about the girl. He was coming up with a good few of these. He didn't want to let the conversation die, after all. That was never a good sign.

[Reji]

"Well, for transportation, I walk. And if someone gets in my way, I just use this." Reji patted her sword. The thing could slice an enemy into bacon, but she hadn't gotten that far yet. If she needed to, she'd use her fists. A bit of a tribal way to defeat a possible adversary, but hey, worked for her.

[Michael]

Upon looking at Reji's sword, Michael's eyes widened for a moment. He then narrowed them back to their normal size, smirking once again. "Wow. I've never seen another sword like that." he said. "Sharp. Elaborate design. Fine construction. Yep, there's no mistaking it. That sword is just like mine. Here, look." Michael used his free right arm to pull his sword from his holster, holding it horizontally in front of him so that Reji could see it.

[Reji]

Reji raised an eyebrow. "Hey, you're right." She glanced at her own sword. "That's interesting." She wondered how this was. She'd just found the sword lying on a hill where a battle had previously occured. It had to have belonged to a hero or something.

[Michael]

Michael nodded once after Reji's response to the sword, after which he placed it back into its side holster. "Well, maybe we can figure out why that is later. Might be fun." he said. He allowed a short pause in the action before deciding to speak again, at which time he asked a question. "Do you like blitzball?" he asked.