milk hunt!, niel

Sometimes, Mary really wondered what her mother was thinking in the mornings. Mary was fifteen, going on sixteen next year, and yet her mother still insisted on making her a lunch every few days. Not every day -- because on some days, her mom felt Mary was more than capable of making her own lunch. To be quite honest, Mary preferred those days because then she could make something she actually wanted to eat, and something that wasn't out of one of her mom's new cookbooks. It wasn't that her mom was a bad cook, she just tried strange recipes on her daughters, and Mary really hated being the guinea pig in those cases. Food was one of the few things that she didn't believe in messing with. But Mary also couldn't say no to her mom when the older woman wanted to make her lunch, or even Molly's lunch. Mary figured that if her sister was being tortured with the same meal, then it didn't matter. The only way to differentiate their meals on those days was the drink -- Mary always insisted on getting chocolate milk, while Molly wanted juice. Unfortunately, today, Mary had ended up with juice in her packed bag, which meant her sister must have hers ...

So, during her lunch hour, Mary made her way over to the high school, waving at the people that stopped to stare at her as she made her way down the hall. She didn't really know why they were staring at her. After all, she didn't think her reputation had gotten all the way to the high school yet -- unless Molly was saying really mean things about her behind her back. She wouldn't be surprised considering all the things he had done to Molly over the years to warrant such behavior. Still, Mary didn't think Molly liked to let people know she had a younger sister, so Mary didn't really think they were staring at her because of that. Maybe it was because it was pretty obvious that she was a junior high student. She had on the uniform of one, after all. That didn't really give anyone a right to stare at her. It wasn't like they hadn't worn one before, unless they had been home schooled, and Mary was pretty sure not a lot of people were home schooled, or hadn't seen a uniform on television before -- loads of dramas had teens in uniforms being aired, and almost all the schools in the city used them ...

Rolling her eyes, Mary paused in her stride upon realizing that she really didn't know where she was going ... She was simply looking for Molly to get her damn milk. With her end of term exams going on, Mary really needed that milk -- it would get her through the exams, then her spring holiday, and then the start of the next term. Plus, she really didn't like Molly's choices in juice. She always got some weird fruity concoction. She didn't know why, either. Was Molly like their mom, trying some new fad or diet craze? Or did she think drinking juice would make her smarter? Mary actually snorted at the thought, her eyes going down to the bag in her hands. She doubted anything would ever make her sister smarter. Molly wasn't dumb, but she wasn't exactly a genius either. And it certainly didn't help that the other girl spent all her time with Serena, who really wasn't the brightest tool in the shed. And to think that Mary was going to be associated with Molly in another year when she entered high school. The thought was a little disturbing, causing her to shudder. She supposed she might as well get used to it. After all, if her mother kept insisting on packing her lunches and then handing her the wrong one, Mary might be hunting Molly down a few more times.

And speaking of lunch, if Mary was ever going to get her drink, she needed to find her sister before lunch ended. The problem was there were a bunch of classrooms in this building, and Mary honestly didn't know where to start. So, really, it would be a lot easier to just ask someone. So Mary did just that, turning to the first person that seemed to be passing her by. Reaching out a hand, the teen grabbed the person by their top, tugging them to a stop. "Hey you, person there, do you know where I can find Molly Osaka? Short girl. Brown hair. Hangs out with some flaky blonde that trips over herself all the time?"

words: 775   •   tag: open   •   credit: ♥

A fifty year old was found in a high school. Neil was not a teacher, or counselor and he’ll be a horrible nurse. He could deal with a little blood but some of the injuries athletes could come up with… He shook his head at the thought. No, he didn’t work at the school. He was here on a small errand. He had been working at the mall taking guard over a high-end design clothing store. It didn’t help that he kept on getting distracted with the nice suits displayed on the window. The nice suits that were way too expensive. Neil was the security guard not the guy who had to be stopped thinking about taking a suit for his own. He hated window shoppers and there he was, staring constantly at the tuxedoes. He would be suspicious if he was watching himself. There was also a food court a little ways away and that’s where his errand came in. One of the mall workers spotted him and hurried over. He had a necklace in his hand. At first, Neil thought the guy may have taken it before he stopped himself. The guy worked here and he wouldn’t be walking toward security. He ended up asking Neil to find the owner of the necklace and return it. There was a name inscribed on the back of it to go by. He had agreed. Neil just hoped it was his reputation for being an agreeable trusting person and he hadn’t been that obvious staring at the suits.He was left going to the high school. Neil had figured that the necklace belonged to a high school girl. It was a style that appeased the younger generation. He had been by enough jewelry stores and a wife and daughter to guess what a younger and older woman would like. This necklace was silver with a couple diamonds encrusted in the silver heart. On the back the words ‘to Rika’ were engraved. That was all he had to go by. Neil guessed it was a boyfriend’s gift being the second reason why he decided to go to the high school. Anybody younger wouldn’t have a boyfriend. He was guessing that at least. 13-15 seemed too young for him, younger than 13 was crazy. So yes, the high school was his best bet. The question after that was what high school? Crossroads was the closest to the mall. If the girl lived in the area she most likely went there. If she was richer or smarter possibly she went to the all-girls’ school. He would go there next. Right now, he had the best chance to return to the necklace and back to work in the quickest time going to Crossroads.There was one small problem if he went to Crossroads. His daughter went there. It wasn’t that Neil didn’t want to see Lily. He cared for his daughter. It would be awkward if they ran into each other. He will have to explain what he was doing here. That it wasn’t because of her and he didn’t think she was getting into trouble. She probably was getting in some sort of trouble but that could wait until he got home. Neil did not have the time to properly talk to her and it showed in her behavior. School would not be the place to have a lecture. His plan right now was to not find Lily and if he saw her to leave her alone. He was getting off early today. Neil will see her once they were both home. Hopefully, they will have some family time. They hardly had the time usually.Neil’s plan was to go to the office and ask for any students that were named Rika and see if the necklace belonged to them. If nobody claimed it he would try to the other schools and end up at the college. There was a 99 to 1 chance that one of the schools had this girl Rika. Neil was hoping that one chance didn’t show his face. It would be a long day otherwise and he wouldn’t get home early after all. He glanced up the halls, trying to remember where the office was. He caught sight of a couple students outside getting ready to eat. That reminded him that prior he was working outside a food court and was hungry. His mind wandered to what he would do for lunch when a hand grabbed him and brought him back to reality.Neil was curious why anyone would want to talk to him. He had received a few awkward looks from being here. He didn’t exactly blend in. Maybe one of the teachers or staff wanted to tell him to get to the office to submit a reason why he was at the school. That would be nice they could show him where the office was. By the angle which the hand contacted him was not somebody that was his height and age. It wasn’t one that fit a high school student either. He turned around looking down at the fourteen-fifteen year old something girl. She looked familiar. Neil didn’t have time to ponder why because she immediately went into the reason why she wanted him. He slowly nodded. He enjoyed helping people and maybe she could help him after he was done. “I’ll do that. Why don’t we strike a deal? If I help you, maybe you can tell me if you know someone called Rika? If not, that’s OK. I understand you will have to get back to your own school and lunch soon.” Neil had enough calls home concerning Lily skipping classes to know it was bad news. He paused, “No, I don’t know where she will be though.” Osaka? That could be why she looked familiar. He sometimes watched over a jewelry store ran by an Osaka. He knew the woman had a couple daughters but he didn’t see them. If Neil was super lucky, maybe the necklace came from the store and there was a small chance she knew who bought it and where he could return it. That was a small probability though. If he didn’t successfully help Rika today by returning this necklace he will feel satisfied helping this girl find her sister. If his assumption of whom she was is correct.

Her luck was about to change, Mary just knew it. Adults had to know where students were, or where to find him. She wasn’t sure what sort of teacher he was – maybe literature, or math – math teachers were always boring. He didn’t look boring, per se. He simply looked old fashioned, and math teachers could be old fashioned, too. But as he turned around to face her, Mary realized he wasn’t really a teacher. He had on a sort of uniform on. Was he a new security guard for the school? Because he didn’t look like the one Mary normally antagonized. This was bad news. A new one meant learning a whole new routine. She would have to tell Sammy about this later. Until then, he would still prove useful. After all, security guards had to know some of the students around. So maybe he’d know exactly where to find Molly so Mary could get her lunch.

But that was before he asked about making a deal. Mary would have deflated a little at the fact that he wasn’t acquainted with her sister, but the part about striking a deal actually made her perk up. Mary wasn’t the sort of girl that could ignore a good deal. Deals meant favors, and favors were a good way at getting to know someone – and if she could be on the good side of a security guard, luck would really be in her favor, wouldn’t it? So really, it wasn’t much of a surprise that Mary instantly seized the deal idea. She would probably never get a chance like this again.

It didn’t matter that the deal seemed a bit tricky. She had heard the name Rika before, but Rika wasn’t really an uncommon name. “Well, two eyes are supposed to be better than one… but in our case it would be four, so I can probably help you find a Rika person, if you like. If we find my sister we can ask her. She seems to think she knows everyone by name in school here. I don’t know why, she’s not that popular. She’s really dorky, if you ask me. That’s why she doesn’t have a boyfriend. You’ll see what I mean when I find her.” The man had only asked if Mary knew the girl, not whether or not she could help find this Rika person – but if she couldn’t find her lunch, the next best thing to passing time would be wandering around and finding new things to file away in her mind for future pranks on Molly.

“You don’t work here, do you?” asked Mary after another moment. She squinted her eyes at the man a little, trying to decide if he looked familiar or not. She had immediately thought old fashioned when he had turned around, kind of like the security guard that was always friendly to her mom… But wasn’t this a long way for him to be if that was where he worked? “Say, you don’t also moonlight as a security guard down near Osaka Jewelry, do you? Because if I squint like this, you kind of do – I only ever see people from a distance when I’m down there because I don’t really sit around at the shop for long periods of time. Jewelry bores me. I’m Mary, by the way. Mary Osaka.”

Mary stuck out a hand, partially out of politeness, and partially out of curiosity. If he was the same guy she thought he was, he wasn’t that bad – he wasn’t really a scary security guard that intimidated people – he was more the lovable one. At least that was how her mother had termed it whenever the area talked about hiring more security.

Personally, Mary felt her mom was a soft touch and would probably fight to keep the man working there if it meant him keeping his job. She didn’t seem to like anyone going jobless for any reason.

“Why are you looking for a Rika, anyway? Did she steal jewelry? Because I know the faces of people I don’t like that show up there when I’m there –” Mary took a deep breath to finish. “I could totally point them out to you if you want.” She was kind of eager to do something like that, because it would be kind of fun to get people she didn’t like in trouble. Mary wasn’t really on a first name basis with some of the girls that shopped her mother’s shop with their parents – she simply remembered their faces because she thought they had acted snobby, or looked snobby when she had seen them.

Hey, Mary was only human. She judged people just as they probably judged her.

“We can look together, for both of them – Rika and Molly – I’m here for my lunch anyway. Molly has mine, and I got hers. I can’t eat hers. I need my lunch. So we can totally do this together. We can bully our way into any classroom, or use the intercom. Ooh! Let’s use the intercom! That would be so cool.” Mary’s eyes were shining now, ideas of how to use this to her advantage against Molly running through her mind.

words: 877   •   tag: neil   •   credit: ♥

Neil was lucky he knew how to deal with fast talking girls. He didn’t know that many personally- both Eleanor and Lily spoke in what he would consider normal speed. There were several woman he ran into though on the job who had a fast pace in the way they spoke. He wondered if it was because they thought speaking faster would reprehend him in trying to understand what they were saying. Thus getting out of whatever trouble said woman may be in. At first that tactic did work on him but over the years Neil learned to deal with a large variety of speech and accents. In the young teenager’s case, it seemed naturally for her. The voice may not necessarily be fast but there wasn’t much of a break for him to get a word in. He was glad she had agreed on his deal. That way both of them could hopefully find the person they were looking for and be out of the school sooner. Neil believed it will be awkward to run into Lily or be stared at by more students and faculty that he already had.There was finally a break in the young girl’s breath so he decided to insert a few words in before she started up again. “I am pretty sure that the saying means one person’s set of eyes not individual eyes themselves…” he said absently. He should have known sayings better but besides hearing random phrases and slang on the job he was not as aware of them as anyone else. His mind jumped around to the more important part of the statement. Her sister may know Rika. One thing will lead to another and finishing their tasks will come faster. From what he heard, she didn’t sound to view her sister in high regard. He was lucky to have only one daughter. Neil had no idea- and didn’t really want to know- how Lily will handle a sibling or how they could raise a second child when they were too busy to raise one. If there were sibling problems with others it was none of his business. He was not nosy in that way or anyway for that matter. He brushed aside the comments and instead opted with “It would be good if she knew her.” Neil had the habit of making things more complicated than they were. A quicker way and not floating around aimlessly looking for someone will be a nice change.Now the question he thought he would be asked when someone noticed he was at the school. Did he not work here and what he was doing here? A school was a pretty open place and it will be lame for a security guard to have to go through security. This was not like that though. It was only a teenage girl, who looked young to be in this school herself, asking out of curiosity. He let Mary finish her stream of questions before he answered. “No, I don’t work here. I’m here on a favor for somebody else. I think they saw me lallygagging or noticed me looking more at the stuff I was watching rather than for trouble. Either way, they thought I was best for the job and so that’s why I’m doing it.” Yes, Neil can ramble himself. “Yes I do security around there sometimes. I take any job I can but that jewelry store is one of the places I frequent.” He guessed right on her identity. He thought that she looked familiar. That explained why he was not sure right away if she didn’t spend time at the store. “Not interested in jewelry? No chance of going into the family business?” His father was military and that was a large part of why he wanted to go to some public service job. “Neil Takahashi,” he took her hand. Talkative but Mary seemed friendly enough. He liked dealing with the friendly outgoing sort. Working with someone that was all business was boring. In that way he could understand his daughter’s attitude. Lily needed to get serious in general though. The mindset right now was not with his daughter but with Mary so he focused his mind back on that. What they were doing could be called a business venture. They both needed to find someone and agreed to help each other. It was helpful when they could be friendly at the same time.He shook his head. “No, I don’t believe she stole anything.” He took out the necklace again and showed it to Mary. “At least, I don’t think someone will put their name on something that was stolen. It gives them away. This necklace was lost at the mall and with the style the highest chances I came up with were that she is a high school student.” He will continue going in circles otherwise. “Bullying into classrooms won’t be a good idea. It’ll be disruptive and I don’t want to cause a scene.” Neil was a peaceful sort of guy and getting glares from a handful of teachers was not appeasing to him. Plus, he did not want to run into Lily if she was in classes today. A glare from his daughter will be worse than a teacher. The intercom was a good idea though. He was heading for the office before he ran into Mary. The intercom failed to cross his mind but it will be quick and effective. It will give the message to the whole school without barging into individual classrooms. “The intercom is a good idea. Let’s go with that one.” He started to walk toward the office again glad they had a set plan. How hard can it be to find two teenage girls in a school? A large casting of a net through the intercom was the best bet.

[color]"Well,"[/color] stated Mary with a flippant wave of her hand, "they would really state that a little more bluntly. How else am I supposed to take it? Some people go around saying they have eyes in the back of their heads. Since half of them are lying, and the other half won't let me see the back of their head for proof, I just can't take a person's word for it, can I? Those people that make up all those sayings really didn't think things through when they thought them up, did they?" Mary shook her head as though she was extremely disappointed in that fact. If she were going to make up a popular saying, she'd make sure it wasn't something that could be taken literally. Unless she was saying something that could be taken literally. Ideas eluded her at the moment, but she bet she could come up with some nifty ideas eventually.

Mary was beginning to see why her mother talked to the security guard down at the jewelry shop. He was agreeable, and Mary liked agreeable. Plus, he kind of reminded of her a nice uncle that didn't seem to find a problem with anything... if Mary ever had such a figure in her life. She didn't have any family other than Molly and her mother, which was kind of disappointing. Unless she had been adopted -- not only would that explain everything, then Mary might actually have a cool uncle, too. Maybe he was her uncle... Alright, food deprivation was obviously getting to her mind. Mary shook the thoughts away, nodding eagerly as Neil seemed to like the idea of finding Molly and grilling her... even if that wasn't quite what they would be doing.

"Lallygagging... that's a fun word," said Mary with a giggle. She was already mentally filing away the word to use in the future. Sammy would certainly get a kick out of it. She shook her head at his question. "No way I'm going into the family business. My mom says I'm a bad salesperson. I just tell people to take what they want. When they ask me how something looks, I usually tell them the truth. Apparently you're not supposed to do that, but if I was about to buy an ugly green stone as big as my fist, I'd want to know if it really did look good on me or not. And it didn't look good on that lady that bought it. She didn't have much of a neck, so the chain was too small, and she ended up looking like she had this green thing coming out of her neck. Since them Mom has been pretty insistent I keep my mouth shut. Jewelry is more Molly's field than mine." Mary wasn't entirely sure what her field was, but she figured she had plenty of time to figure it out.

"Are there lots of robbers down near the jewelry store? If I come patrol with you one day, will you point them out? I've always wanted to see a robber undercover. I bet they're always there, ready to swarm the place when you turn your back, huh?" In her mind she was imagining robbers dressed in ninja gear, preparing to make a break for the door as soon as Neil whistled and turned around. "Do you have really cool weapons or moves to stop them? Like lightning fast speed or something?" Maybe she could be a security guard one day, or get Sammy to be one with her for a day. That would be a lot more fun than going through Molly's or Serena's room again. It was the same old stuff in there anyway.

Mary deflated slightly when Neil said the girl hadn't stolen anything since her name was on the piece of jewelry. It had been a nice dream for half a second, but Mary supposed that was fine. There was always next time, after all. "Maybe she was throwing it away? Girls do that when they think boys are being mean. Especially when the boy buys the girl things like that." Mary didn't really understand that concept, but she supposed that was how some girls vented. Personally, Mary would have preferred hitting the boy, but that was just her.

She was disappointed again when Neil decided against bullying their way into classrooms, but she immediately perked back up when he liked the intercom idea. Score! Mary grinned and gave a small hop to follow after Neil. He was now her new favorite person ever. "Can I say their names into the intercom? I can do a really fun voice!"

words: 774   •   tag: neil   •   credit: ♥

He was a little befuddled by the girl’s logic. He guessed it was more of a child way to look at it or maybe a generation one. Neil was not quite that sure. He just accepted sayings not being literal. They were sayings because it was not taken literally. To be memorable, sayings had to be creative and not something offhand and strictly literal. He was thinking of it too much. Mary could have her way of looking at it and he could have his. It was a complicated subject now that his mind briefed it. It was not the kind of complicated that he could handle. Give him a hard math problem, Neil will be good. Critical thinking problems were not his thing. He brushed the thought aside. “People don’t mean things literally like that but I guess you can view their unwillingness to comply like that.” He figured that this was the best way to drop the conversation. Why continue on with it if only to get absolutely know where. He was not confrontation nor was he for conversations spinning around in circles. Though with his distracted mind, it sometimes went in circles.Neil would rate this meeting to be going well and being fairly productive. Even with not understanding the young girl’s mind, he thought she was fun to be with. He got the impression she often got in trouble. Maybe that was from the crazy mind he was viewing. It was fun now but he would be upset at the thought that she would be like Lily. He loved his daughter and that was not was his mind was suggesting. She was just unmanageable; Neil did not want Mary to turn out like that. She already could be. He had no idea. Proper discipline and care will be good to set a playful and mischievous child to not become a troublesome one. That thought made him think it was his fault for his daughter’s ways, which was true, yet he preferred not to think of it. He dropped the train of thought and put his mind back into the conversation.“It is a fun word, isn’t it?” He grinned. His word choice was not usually complimented but he would accept it. He was unaware of where he came across the term. It was true on his work ethic and it was not the best term to use for someone. It implied some laziness and getting distracted. Two of the problems he usually had. It was not his fault. Neil tried and that was what mattered. He would keep trying. Besides, putting him in another job besides standing guard on things all the time was a good thing. It gave him a change of pace, something guarding different stores gave him but still. He enjoyed thinking the different opportunities to work as a good thing. If it was while being reprehended or not. He gave a small nod when Mary said she won’t go in the family business. “It does take an opportunistic view to sell something.” All salespeople could be a little sneaky and as long as they did not take it too far they made a lot of money. For almost thirty years he observed salesman giving a little white lie and saying something look wonderful when it did not. They are selling it and chances are they made it as well. Either way, an investment was at stake and someone had to use and make money.He was slightly surprised and warmed when Mary admired his job. He was friendly and got along with most costumers he saw. Most of the time he was hardly acknowledged and then there were the people who looked at him like he was a nuisance and a low class idiot. Luckily, unless he was in a high-end store and could not pull a nice looking suit together, he had few people who looked down at him. Once he became an actual police officer, he could become admired. For the time being, he will enjoy the young ones who thought his job was cool. The problem was he could not glorify the job. He would love to say that he had some awesome weapons or incredible speed but the simple truth was he didn’t. He was out of shape and deemed unqualified to wield firearms. Maybe a stun gun but he had yet got approval for that. It was the step in the right direction. “No, there aren’t many people that actually rob while I’m on duty. I admit jewelry is higher on the list in probability to be stolen,” he would not talk about his probability of things getting stolen now, “The robberies will probably happen at night or closing hours and I usually get the day shifts.” It could be a good thing he was not on duty the chances were higher on something happening. It made his job easier. “Most of the time, it is pretty tedious unless something happens. If something happened at your mom’s place I’m sure you’ll hear about it.” Better, that will be better if nothing happened signaled nothing went bad in the world. Some excitement will be welcomed though at the cost he thought will be too much.Thinking for a minute he said, “Maybe she was getting rid of it. I don’t have a clue how young woman think. I would think selling it back would be better.” Though who would by something that was personalized for someone else? He blinked when Mary practically jumped at the idea of using the intercom. Well, that settled it then. He might as well let her do it if the school office allowed. “I do not see a problem with that. Make sure it is a voice people could understand though.” Fun voices were amusing but people needed to understand what was being said.

phase i: catch a falling star

chosen one, a star of power has fallen from the sky. it has been brought down by an imbalance in the universe, and you are destined to wield it. this star will grant you a specific power, and with it you will be able to protect the planet. but beware, with great power comes great responsibility, and great temptation. chaos is lurking in the shadows, and it too craves your power. but if you are strong enough, you will find all five pieces of your star... and perhaps then destiny will choose you to be part of the crystal kingdom.

UNLOCKED POWER: HEAT

congrats! neil is all set for phase i. have a question? just pm me!

Mary wasn't entirely sure what opportunistic meant, but she assumed it was something that was needed by a job like her mother's. Or just in general. Mary didn't really see herself as being a working girl. Not yet anyway. She could probably imagine herself working in a place like an ice cream parlor, or one of those burger joints where she could wear roller skates -- but that was about it, and only in the next few years. Mary couldn't really see a lot of herself beyond that, and she wasn't sure if she ought to be worried about that, or relieved. It hadn't really bothered her thus far, but she supposed at fifteen, she really ought to be figuring out what she might want to do. Something in the realm of reality, of course. Mary knew she would never be a space fighter or anything. But all the regular jobs out there sounded so boring. How did anyone end up in the jobs they had? She had been told to focus on her interests, but her many interests were along the lines of pulling pranks and laughing at people. Who could really do that for a living?

"That's true," stated Mary with a nod of her head. "Very few thieves are stupid enough to rob a place in the daytime. Not unless they're desperate. All the good robberies happen at night." She thought about suggesting that Neil grab a night shift so he could play hero the next night someone tried to rob a store, but then she thought better of it. Her enthusiasm for things that were dangerous probably wasn't something any normal adult would be okay with. Mary could actually understand that there might be some actual dangers involved with staging a stakeout, and no matter how fun it sounded, or even how it looked on TV, she had a twinge of fear just thinking about attempting such a thing. Mary was reckless, but she liked to think that she wasn't completely stupid. Maybe it would be better to see something happen in the daytime -- at least then she could film it on a camera, and still be out of the way of danger. Well, mostly. She supposed there would be a chance of being run over by a mob of people running every which way.

"Ugh, if someone robbed my mom's place, I would probably never hear the end of it." She could just imagine her mother going on and on about whatever ugly piece of expensive jewelry had been stolen... and then Molly would probably catch on, and that would just make Mary's life absolutely miserable. It would probably be better for her mother's store to never be bothered -- if only for her own sanity.

She did nod along as Neil implied that selling something would be better. Mary could actually agree with that assessment. "She definitely should have sold it. You make money when you sell things back -- so much better than just giving it back and not getting any form of profit." Mary would have done that. She always liked selling things for money. She had sold a few of Molly's things to make money... which Molly had been rather upset over, and then Mary had been grounded by their mother. Still, she liked the idea of having money in her pockets rather than no money at all. That was why if she ever had gifts she didn't like, she took them in to be given cash back, or replaced with something else. Mary liked being able to pick out her own things, which no one ever seemed to understand. They always gave her presents that they felt were "good" for her, and Mary almost always disagreed with them.

Pumping her fist into the air, Mary began to think of what voice she would use when she spoke into the loudspeaker. She wasn't as good at mimicking voices as Sammy was, but she could do a few that might grate on Molly's nerves when she found out. She could try sliding in a prank notice for her sister, but Mary had a feeling Neil would clamp down on that idea very quickly, and for whatever reason, the teen rather liked Neil. He seemed to let her talk about whatever she wanted, and hadn't yet shot down any of her comments. For an adult, he was one of the better ones. "So, how long have you been a security guard?" She had about a dozen other questions, too, but even Mary knew not to scare off a nice person right away. She could save them all for the next time, or even when she hunted him down while working near her mother's store.

words: 792   •   tag: neil   •   credit: ♥

Neil realized that young people used a lot of movements and motions while talking. Mary was not a child but she had that quality and every move she seemed to look enhanced. Ok… so that thought was a little creepy. He told himself that was not what he meant. Since Lily moved into a rebellious teenage stage- from what he could see- it was like ages to him when he noticed that. Or maybe it was something that he never noticed before. The thought was certainly new to him now that he thought about it. He probably thought of it before but it was brought to the forefront now. Why did it matter? That he was thinking about it was a little slightly creepy. He needed to keep his mind on track. For Neil, that was pretty impossible for him. He could at least stay on with sensible topics. It was forever a work in progress for him.He laughed and gave a small nod in return. “Yes, that would be pretty desperate. Hopefully it would mean that they are easy to catch. The kind of people that leave behind their ID or something along those lines. I still would like it if things stayed relatively peaceful. That means everything is alright in the area and I don’t have to worry.” He hoped that Mary understood this. He was not the kind of adult that would be nagging on a younger person to stay safe. He had to be likable as security because the strict persona did not fit for him at all. He did not like seeing kids trying to look for trouble unless they had a firm control that they can handle it. Sure, Mary was not a kid exactly but at fifty everybody that was twenty was considered a child for him. He felt old. Anyway, getting sidetracked again, Neil did not like to hear people getting hurt. So Mary needed to stay safe away from those things. He had semi faith that she will stay out of major trouble. Trouble that will stay out of injury and jail time at least. “I wouldn’t think that you will hear the end of it. I can’t say nothing will ever happen. When things like that are said, it will jinx the chance of it happening.”“Selling it makes the most sense. It could be because it was personalized with her name that nobody would buy it. I learnt that that may cause a small problem.” It was like an autographed book. If it was signed to a specific person that made it special for them but less special and slightly annoying if someone in the future bought it. Not that he was interested in those things. Neil had stood security at a specialty bookstore once and that was what the clerk had told him. He put the information away in his probability of things to be stolen equation. Yes, thoughts were brought to the forefront after a certain period of time. “The extra cash is nice. So maybe if she does take it back than she may try to sell it. It is always something to do. The least that could be done is melting it down for the metal value.” He actually sounded smart and knew what he was talking about when in reality he was rambling on what he thought made sense. Neil tried not to flinch at the thought of how long he had been doing his job. It had been a long time. Where he had to be promoted and get in the police force but no that had not happened. Denying answering the question would mean he was embarrassed to answer it, which he was, so he decided to go through with the question. “Ah, almost thirty years it feels like. It is a pretty long time, considering for someone as young as you.” Neil, not to mention his joints, would like to have some youth back into him. He was not in fit shape for a young or old person. They almost reached the office and he thought of the best way to describe their situation. He guessed Mary would like to jump right in to making the announcement and he needed something to say while she was doing that. They may be kicked out otherwise.

"Hmm, yeah, I guess keeping things peaceful would be nice," said Mary thoughtfully. "At least around the stores and whatnot. They'd probably throw a fit if they were stolen from, and then it would be a nightmare going back to those places. All the guards on the lookout, and people giving you the stink eye for just entering..." Even though Mary was pretty convinced she got the stink eye pretty regularly on that part of town anyway. People didn't seem to trust her -- which was kind of appalling in a way. Mary wasn't a thief. She might target the entrance of doorways with water balloons, or some other prank, but she was not a thief. She didn't steal, she didn't shoplift, and she would be damned if she let someone think that about her. What did she care about jewelry or other overly priced item? That wasn't her forte. If anyone was going to steal, it would be Molly. Not that her sister was the sort -- but she certainly liked jewelry and girly items far better than Mary did.

She found herself slightly unsettled by the idea of her mother's shop being targeted by robbers, and even more so by the fact that she might have just jinxed the chances of that actually happening. But Mary was capable of shaking off unsettling thoughts pretty quickly. It was a defense mechanism she had come up with several years ago when her father had passed away. If she didn't think about something, then she didn't have to worry about it. If it happened, sure her brain would probably have a meltdown. But at least this way she wasn't going to freak out about it on a daily basis until she was an absolute wreck. She much preferred not thinking about serious things at all -- and worrying about thieves targeting her mom's store and kind of ruining their daily income was serious. At least a lot more serious than Mary was used to dealing with. She didn't normally have to worry about those kinds of things, like money and bills, so she didn't want to start now.

"Huh. I hadn't even thought about melting things down. You can get a good price on stuff like that, right?" She pursed her lips together thoughtfully, wondering if Molly would notice if Mary ever took some of the uglier pieces of jewelry she had and melting it down... it wouldn't really come to anything, but melting it down could just be fun in general. Molly would have a fit, and then probably try to kill her. Maybe Mary would just hide the jewelry and metal random bits of metal together and pretend it was the jewelry... That would probably be safer, since then she could give the stuff back and not be grounded for life by her mother. "I don't wear a lot of jewelry... or any at all, really, so I don't know how much things like that are regularly worth. I don't think we own anything worth selling. Mom's stuff is always locked away, and I'm pretty sure she only wears like one or two pieces anyway. And my sister... she just wears weird things. And it changes daily. But I'll have to keep the melting in mind in case she thinks she needs money and can't get a job." And that would be something to tease Molly about, too. What job skills did she really possess that could get her a job?

"That does sound like a long time, but that must make you a pro at your job, right? I've been doing pranks my whole life, so I'd like to think I'm a pro at those... or at least on my way to being a pro. Do you think there's a career out there for something like that?" Mary doubted it, but she figured it didn't hurt to ask in case there was something she might be good at instead of trying to make Molly's life miserable. "If you've been a security guard for so long, do you have like favorite places to guard now? Or fun stories to tell? I bet you've seen a lot of cool things. Or weird things. Like weird to guard things. People are so strange sometimes -- some women are particular about their shoes, and I heard a story once that some rich woman once hired people to guard them during a party she held. Crazy, right?"

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Neil liked things being peaceful on his job. The excitement factor of something going wrong did not enter his mindset that often. What Mary said was true the aftermath of everything would be tense. He wouldn’t want to do security with paranoid owners who just had their store vandalized. Getting distracted was easy for him and being snapped at for not being diligent enough would tire him down. “It would be best for business if they kept happy and wanted people to continue buying from them. I do see what you mean though.” Tokyo was relatively crime free, besides the yakuza and now these monster attacks. Stray random crimes weren’t incredibly common and he was grateful for that. Once he became a police officer he’ll probably run into more problems and hopefully still get a good night’s sleep. Not a good job for someone who was lazy… but it was still his dream.He looked down at Mary and gave a small shrug. Things could be melted down, it wasn’t that hard to do- considering if they got an expert to do it and did not get burned. “Yeah, you can do it. If it’s an expensive or attractive piece of jewelry it probably would be better not to. If it is ugly or personalized so it won’t get anybody to buy whatever it is you can melt it down and get the metal value for the piece.” Talking about it, Neil thought he sounded like an expert. That made him happy, because besides numbers he felt down on what knowledge he knew on the world. Maybe he picked up more over the years than he thought. He smiled, thinking that he could jot down random things he noted on. That way he could recall it easier. Then again, that would be too much effort. He impressed himself while randomly coming across thoughts not frustratingly looking for them through a notebook.Slightly surprised Mary did not like jewelry. She was young but with her mother he thought that would influence her more. It wasn’t that strange if he was allowed to think about it. Neil knew Lily wasn’t huge on girly things either. That may be easier for her mother, not buying expensive gifts; he knew it helped not worrying about buying an expensive necklace for his daughter. “I would be careful about melting down anybody else’s stuff. Money wise, I have no idea how much someone could get. It depends on how much the metal is going for, gold and ones like that. I know the value is going up lately.” The most expensive thing he could really recall is a few watches that he collected over the years. Guys didn’t wear jewelry unless it was chain jewelry or something along those lines. Watches were fine with him.He thought she will never run out of things to say. At least, that was what it seemed like to him. The compliment on being a pro made him feel good. After so many years, even if not running into trouble, he liked to think he was good at his job. “I guess I am I never had to do anything more difficult than keeping a watching eye.” That was difficult enough on its own. The idea of being a professional prankster job scared him. Nothing came to mind when trying to connect that. Well, pranksters had to be creative right? That was something. “I don’t believe so. Maybe some creative design jobs since you have to design all the aspects of your pranks. Design what, I wouldn’t know. My mind doesn’t think that way.” He hoped he was being helpful and not being confusing. “The weirdest thing I guarded was a few specialty items a few foreign statues and art. Not many exciting stories to tell I am afraid. A lot of repetitive look outs are what it gathered too over the years.” He slowly nodded, “That does sound pretty crazy but looking at the outrageous prices for shoes I could believe it."They came up to the office. It seemed like a longer walk from what he believed, talking probably slowed the pace. He gave a respectful knock on the door and when one of the staff opened it he gave a brief exclamation what they wanted. Giving a sideways glance at Mary, he told the lady, “She wants to do the announcement, if that’s OK.” He hoped that she would do something mature enough to be understandable. After the conversation, he was unsure. Neil gave an encouraging smile anyway. He thought he spotted something in the corner of his eyes but when he adjusted his gaze to the gleam it disappeared. He was seeing things.

It was funny how her mother could say the same thing that Mr. Takashi was saying, but Mary found herself not arguing with Mr. Takahashi. Maybe it was the fact that he wasn't lecturing her like her mother often did. Just because Mary might deserve a lecture, and in another world actually listen to a lecture, didn't mean they phased her much. Her mother had been following up things with a lecture or two for so long that it was so much easier for Mary to just zone out. Mr. Takahashi, on the other hand, was quite new, so Mary didn't find him boring or at all like her mother. For an adult, that was a huge plus in his favor.

Another plus was the fact that he also just told her she could melt the jewelry piece down if no one claimed it. Could he just adopt her? Here was the greatest parent ever -- he didn't tell her no in a mean way, nor did he lecture her. He was nice, and didn't treat Mary like she was immature (which she was, but that was beside the point). "Cool! I wonder if it'll go for a lot of money..." Probably not, since most teen girls couldn't afford nice jewelry. And those that could afford expensive jewelry probably knew better than to lose it in the first place, or offered up a reward for it. Still, Mary could probably find some sort of use for it if she got to melt it down. Maybe she'd start up an art project or something. Some people made the neatest stuff with used things... Mary wasn't really into art, but she bet she could be if she put her mind to it.

"Well, if it doesn't go for anything I can just use it in art. I could even use it in a project without having to melt it down. One of those abstract projects or something. My art teacher couldn't dock me points for that unless she wanted me to complain to my mother that I did do art -- I can always come up with a really good title for the project, and what it means." Maybe being an artist wouldn't be such a bad idea. After all, Mary was good at making things up on the fly, and as far as she could tell, that's what a lot of artists did when they tried to make something that meant something.

Pressing her lips together thoughtfully, Mary replied, "But keeping a watchful eye out takes a lot of work and skill. You actually have to be paying attention to things, or you get caught unaware. I can do it for awhile, but then I get bored and forget what I'm doing. I should really work on that, or else I'll end up in a lot of trouble one day. You should teach a class about being observant -- that would be fun. Actually, any class that isn't math or literature would be fun. Or composition. I hate composition." The teen shuddered as she said the name, indicating just how much she did dislike that particular class.

Mary began to ponder her own set of skills in regards to pranks. She hadn't realized that she might actually possess a skill set of some worth. Maybe she wasn't putting it to good use (of course she wasn't), but she had never once considered that she might be useful in other ways. Perhaps she ought to go over what she could do and see how she could apply that to something semi-useful. Okay, maybe Mary wouldn't go that far, but she could certainly start looking at things differently and point out to her mother what she could do with her skills in the future. Perhaps then her mom would stop giving her so many lectures on a regular basis.

The pair finally arrived at the school office, and Mary's thoughts strayed back to the matter at hand. As Mr. Takahashi explained the situation to the woman, Mary contemplated how to go about the announcement. She figured it would be bad to be completely obnoxious while giving it, but she still wanted to do something that might embarrass her sister a little bit. The lady in charge of the office gave her a dubious look, but she eventually nodded her consent that Mary could give it. Practically glowing with delight, Mary skipped into the office and over to the intercom. She pressed the button, cleared her throat loudly, and proceeded to say, "A-tten-tion, boys and girls! We have a fabulous piece of jewelry that was found with the name Rika on it. If your name is Rika, then you are the lucky winner and can come claim your prize at the school office. If your name is not Rika, then please don't come. And would Molly Osaka puh-lease come to the office as well, because you have my lunch, and I refuse to leave without it. Thank-you, and good night. This is Molly Osaka of the Osaka family signing off!" All in all, Mary was rather pleased with that announcement.

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Neil could tell overall that Mary would be fun to be around. With this meeting, he was enjoying himself. There were times when he felt like his old age. Not the aches and pains, though those came too, but knowing he was out of place with the younger crowd. He knew he could be laid back and not a strict persona. However, his occupation as security and being old sometimes gave a strict impression off the bat. It wasn’t fair but he got used to it. With the chance given, people will see that he was easy-going to get along with. Mary did and he was pleased with that. The worst conversation was when one turned tense. This had gone in the opposite direction, thankfully.He tried to think of how Mary would be in a few years. She had the youth in her and clearly did not want to grow up anytime soon. Though, over the years Neil witnessed youthful people like that got hit with reality hard. When that day came for the young teenager, he hoped it wouldn’t be too rough. Despite what she may think, Neil was not a good family role model to have. There were areas where he failed desperately and family was one of them. He had a hard time managing Lily, who he was thankful not to run into here, and his best time interacting with people was on the job. He hoped for all parties involved that Mary did not become as rowdy as his daughter. Not that he disliked Lily; he just needed time to talk to her. He was failing in that aspect again and again. Maybe he could try to be some sort of adult figure for Mary, and possibly have a serious conversation about life when she kept it in her head. Or maybe he was thinking about it too much.“An art project won’t be a bad idea. You can use unwanted pieces of jewelry, maybe some of the cheap ones your mom has and can’t sell or something. If it isn’t ugly it could go for a promotional piece for the store or something.” Now that was seriously stretching it. That was Neil though, sometimes thinking happened the same second he was talking. He had gotten better at it over time. Being old, there were some wisdom perks that eventually sunk in to the children at heart. Mary taking up the idea- most likely, though he sensed if something more entertaining came along she would switch to that. One conversation was never enough to fully grasp a personality so he honestly had no idea.He gave a small chuckle. “Being observant can be difficult.” He decided not to mention the fact he got side tracked very easily. It was one of the main problems he had during his job. When he was paying attention, then he could be observant. Though lecturing a class on it would probably show how much he failed in that regard. He would not take it up and instead of pointing it out, he liked the idea of younger people admiring him, he just gave a solemn nod. “That’s an idea. But as you said it, youth have short attention spans and while one person isn’t bad a whole class will probably be impossible for me.” Maybe coming in and teaching something on security won’t be an idiotic idea. Wasn’t he just thinking he needed to know how to approach Lily and other teenagers? A practice session in being a guest lecturer will be good. He needed faith he could do it and with confidence. That may take a while.He watched as Mary gave her announcement. It was over the top, as he should have guessed by now, but it was not as bad as he thought. Tame would be too much of a word though he supposed it wasn’t crazy. Neil gave a small smile to the office staff. Pulling out the necklace, he placed it on the counter. He hoped this was the right school Rika was in. He didn’t have much time to go all around the city again. He had a shift to go back to. Saying farewell to Mary and the staff, he gave a place of a good lost and found location in the city in case it wasn’t picked up. The school was behind him when he noticed he still had something in his pocket. Finding an odd crescent moon crystal, he decided it must have belonged to either Eleanor or Lily and somehow ended up in his pocket. It was the opposite pocket of where he placed the lost necklace so it was easily undetected since he left home. He would leave it on the counter once he returned after work.