Questions, questions [Shou/Open] [Lake Towada]

Fu~ It is pretty dang cold even during the afternoon but it is no surprise since Lake Towada is located close to the northmost prefecture of Japan, Aomori.

What is Shou doing here? Well, no particular reason. As a traveller herself, it was part of her nature to be travelling across Japan and the place she is currently at happens to be a famous tourist spot but surprisingly, there aren't many tourists at the moment and so she can take it slow and steady, basking into the beautiful lake view that's reflecting the skies back to itself.

She didn't really do anything either for the past several hours that she has been here since she last arrived in the morning, just idling by her time.

Munching off of her lunch while admiring the view, Shou took the time to think about a lot of things - her messy past, this power of hers that she didn't even know how or why she had, and this identity crisis that she has only herself. Well, truth be told, she doesn't even know why she thought of these things now of all times - it was just one of the moments where the brain decides to go, hey, did you know you're pretty fucked right now? and it annoys her to no end.

"How the hell am I still alive.."

She thought of an idea during her stay here near Lake Towada - it has been awhile since she has last explored her abilities, Shou wanted to check the boundaries of her own powers. This wasn't exactly a sort of training but an exploration to understand what sort of rules her power has to follow in order to work the way she wants. There weren't that many people either and it was inconspicuous enough (hopefully) that no one notices what she is doing.

Shuffling through her bag, she manages to get a few things out of it - an empty can of drink that she drank and crushed for god knows how long ago, an unopened can of coffee and an egg sandwich.

Laughing awkwardly over it, she muttered to herself.

"Aren't I stupid if I sacrificed my own food for the sake of testing my power..?"

Well, it does look like she'll be without coffee for a day.

First thing she wanted to check was using the same amount of reiryoku to sell both cans - the empty, crushed one and the unopened one, and then try to "buy" the same thing: electricity. While she can technically do the smart thing and "buy money", it sounds weird but yeah, she can definitely do it but having numerical values really doesn't tell her anything than getting her money back.

So having a more tangible effect like power output is a lot more helpful to determine how she sells and buys things in the future.

"Alright! Let's do this!"

Holding the empty one on her left and the unopened one on the right, Shou "sells" them, both cans vanished into thin air and immediately shows its effect - her left hand had weaker sparks of electricity and almost couldn't live more than just a few seconds, and her right hand had far stronger sparks and eventually forms itself into a ball of electricity before burning out into nothing.

This confirms one of her questions of her powers. The worth of items especially between worthless ones like empty cans, dirt or even grass compares with items of worth like a can of drinks or a packed lunch are huge in its final output.

Though, she doesn't understand if diamond falls to the former or latter category because its, by right, a worthless material with its price blown upwards because of companies so the very exact rules it follows are still unclear.

"Hmm.. an unopened can is a survival item since people needs to drink so maybe it decides if that things will help people.. live better? Eh??"

Shou somehow ended confusing herself when she was muttering in trying to organize her thoughts. It came with a conclusion that felt like no conclusion at all and she lays her back flat into the grass on the ground, sighing a bit before letting out a shout.

"I DON'T GET IIIIIIIITTTTTTTTT-----!!!!!!"

Shou laid there silently for awhile after stressing herself over the rules of her own abilities. There were too many factors she couldn't determine on how her power decides how much something costs when she either sells or buys something, so she just gives up trying to understand it more than that.

Anything else she can try? Not too sure. Oh wait.. There is.

Shou sat herself up from the grass and the first thing she did? Dug out the soil beneath with her bare hands and "sold" it for a piece of 1 yen. Since money falls on being a tangible object, it doesn't prevent her from creating real money out of dirt - this was how she had lived her life during her travels across Japan. Instead of working, she tries to sell things here and there with her powers and make drops of money until she has collected enough to buy food.

It is definitely draining on her to do it so many times so she is always knocked out after a day of just selling things for money with her power. But this time, she is doing it for a different reason.

"I wonder.. can I sell what I bought again..?"

It was an area of her ability she hasn't really explored. Everything she had bought, she has always used it whether if its a temporary ability or something tangible like money. But she has never considered selling something, buy it and then reselling the same thing she had bought.

Holding out the 1 yen on her hand and moved it away from her face, she concentrated.. concentrated.. and.. ? ? ?

Eh?

It worked.

But there is one glaring difference from what she usually gets. What she "bought" with something of similar value at least had enough electrical power to not hurt but stun someone in her experience but testing this method out, it only "bought" a harmless spark of electricity.

Shou guessed that she can at least recycle her ability to sell one thing, buy another and resell that one to "re-buy" a third item but it comes at diminishing returns - the more she "recycles" what she buys and sells, the shittier the returns become. It is pretty useful in emergencies but heck, what sort of emergencies? Its gonna be freakin' useless most of the time anyway.

"Well, at least I know something new now.. So, now what?"

Her face blanked and laid herself back into the land of grass, just this time with one obvious hole she dug with her hands. In a good afternoon like this, even Shou had no other clue what to do than entertain herself with questions about her ability which she rarely even explores anyway.

Sighing heavily, Shou was already starting to feel tired from just testing her abilities a few times and didn't want to waste more of her energy in case an emergency comes up. Instead of trying to use her head to find a way to entertain herself, she decided that a walk around the lake would be the next best option to clear her mind and decide what to do next after her visit to Aomori.

Standing up from the grass, she gave her back a quick pat to get rid of the dirt and a nice stretch.

"Hngh~ Thinking too much ain't my cup of tea. Gonna just poke around the lake and see what's up."

Shou began to wander off from her spot - leaving both her small bag and bottle of water where it is since, well, it is Japan afterall and assumes that no one would be out to steal her things anyway, so she left it as is so she can remember where she last sat.

Keeping herself close to the edge of the lake, Shou took her time walking and humming at the same time, enjoying the almost clear and perfect reflection of the afternoon sky across the lake. It is no wonder that this place is a popular tour spot as it is a sight to behold too.

Stopping on her tracks, she knelt right down near the waters and gave it a good poke, trying to have fun and see the ripples across the clear waters.

"Hehe~ ♪"

There wasn't anything he could do today. He got what little jobs done he could, and was still waiting on a call back from Vanyel, hoping he'd get an interview for whatever thing Van was into. To pass the time, he was wandering around the park. Suddenly, he heard a feminine voice yell out something. It didn't sound like she was in trouble, maybe frustrated? He looked around until he realized they must have been over this small hill the sidewalk was leading him to. He went up and stopped at the top, taking a quick look around. There wasn't many people around, but he spotted one woman with long black hair near the lake. She seemed completely fine.

Sora decided to turn and leave, but a glance back stopped him. She was wandering away from her spot, but had left her things behind. Was that on purpose? He looked around again to see if anyone was with her, but saw no clear signs of a companion. She kept going, so he called out to her, but it was clear she was too far to hear him. He jogged along toward her things and began gathering them up, planning to run it all down the lake to her. She must have forgotten it. Maybe she's an airhead?

After messing about with the waters for a bit, Shou figured that she shouldn't wander too far off of her place and right when she was about to head back, she spotted a person trying to.. put her things together? Oh. Her mind immediately clicked from the sight of it.

Its a damn thief, isn't it.

Taking a deep inhale, Shou took out a piece of 500 yen right out of her pocket and gripped it against her palm. Without any hesitation, she sprant towards the guy at speeds of a professional athlete, "sold" off the coin in her hand to envelope her fist with wind and immediately pummel in right into his guts and a strong blast of wind that followed right after the punch to put him a distance away.

"Anti-thief punch! ☆"

Whether or not it did any sort of harm towards him, Shou pointed her finger towards the male with a smile on her face, somehow an expression that didn't look like a person worried about her belongings.

"You've got guts trying to take my stuff, eh mister~?"

As Sora gathered the girl's things, he wasn't expecting to suddenly be charged and punched. He looked up just in time to watch her fist hit his gut. The wind behind the punch was a surprise, but there wasn't much strength behind it. Sora slid back a few feet, dropping her things as he came to a stop. He put a hand on his gut and glared at her. This was another reason women were fucking scary.

"The hell as that for?!" Sora asked, his voice raised, right before she accused him of stealing. "I wasn't stealing! I thought you forgot it! I was trying to do you a favor!"

Shou's head tilted to the side in confusion, looking at the man in front of her, which she assumed was thief getting angry for trying to hit him. She was listening in to his explanation and apparently he wasn't trying to steal but do a favor? Eh?

Shou sighed - her reaction may be a tad bit overboard but to her, it was a perfectly reasonable one too. She scratched her head and feeling a little embarassed, she started to offer an explanation.

"Sorry about that, what I did was a little too much."

Putting her hand down, she pointed at her own belongings and continued on.

"But you have to understand that anyone would do the same if the first thing they see is some random stranger suddenly gathering their things up without a word."

Trying to offer a reasonable explanation from her perspective in hopes that he'd at least understand, she did felt like resorting to being physical instead of catching him by the collar was excessive. Shou knelt down to her belongings, ruffled through her bag and took out a cold can of coffee, eventually throwing it to Sora's direction for him to catch.

"Still, that was a little too much from me too. At least a drink as a token of apology. I hope you understand my perspective too."

Smiling, she clapped her hands together and tilted her head to the side, gesturing him to forgive her.

Sora was expecting to be yelled at or hit again or insulted. He was not expecting a calm reaction and logical explanation. He kept watching the girl, his face turning a little red, both with embarrassment and... well, she was a girl. Sora took a deep breath and sighed. He went to say something when he was tossed a can of coffee. He looked at it, then back to her. Ahh... he shouldn't have yelled!

"N-No, you shouldn't have to apologize, you know?" Sora said, rubbing the back of his head. "It was just a misunderstanding, and maybe I should have yelled a few more times before... ya know... gathering it all up. I-I was an idiot." Sora looked at the can and then held it out to her to give it back. "H-Here, this is yours."

Shou bursted out laughing, happy that the person in front of her can at least be reasoned with, since it is pretty dang rare to find someone who would even listen to her to begin with so something as simple as easily brought joy for her. She couldn't help herself but give a few pats to Kenichi's shoulder with a big smile on her face before speaking up.

"Hahahaha! No worries no worries! It is my fault too afterall! Glad you're being understanding!"

When the guy tried returning her drink, Shou gently pushed it back to him.

"No need. My treat."

It was just her token of apology since Kenichi seems to be a pretty good dude in her eyes and looked a little fidgety. She wasn't sure if he's shy or what but she figures that if she just act as usual, she can just break the awkwardness between the two of them. Its also rare for her to be able to talk to someone so having a person accompany to at least exchange words were more than enough to stave off her earlier boredom.

Reaching out for one of her bottles, Shou gave it a good chug down and tried to strike up a conversation after she quenced her thirst.

"So what's your name? You here to sightsee or something since the lake's pretty and all."