﻿<strong>Takeo Satoshi<br/>Time: June 5th, 2018. Monday, Midday.<br/>Location: Library, Following to Samegawa Flood Plain<br/>Tagged: Yu Narukami, Yukiko Amagi, Nanako Dojima.</strong><br/><br/>"OOF!"<br/><br/>Satoshi grunted as he hit the floor, clutching his ribs more from instinctive caution than any real harm. He shook his head to clear the cobwebs and blinked rapidly at the ends of his shoes, as a young voice chirruped in front of him. Satoshi looked up and saw the girl-sized projectile that had rammed into him and chuckled softly, waving the girl's apology away. "Don't worry about it, miss. We'll call it a lesson, and in the future, we'll both watch where we're going a little more carefully, huh?" He grinned as he climbed to his feet and dusted himself off. "There now, no harm done," he said with a playful wink.<br/><br/>Almost before he'd returned both feet flat to the floor, two more people rounded the corner and seemed to adopt an almost protective stance over the girl in pink. Nanako, her name seemed to be. Neither of the two adults volunteered or let slip their names, though. "Oh yes, folks, everything here is just fine. Just a little traffic accident, that's all," Satoshi said with a cold smile, despite neither man nor woman bothering to ask if he was uninjured. He met the man's eyes for the briefest of seconds, and for that instant Satoshi let slip the careful mask he wore in public, allowing the man to catch a glimpse of the bitter arrogance and icy contempt that lay in wait behind Satoshi's easygoing, friendly expression.<br/><br/>The man's phone went off and Satoshi broke their gaze, his smile snapping back into place like a jigsaw piece. Without another word he turned and walked a few steps down the next stack, appearing to focus intently on the rows of books in front of him. Satoshi kept his eyes forward and turned his head away from the couple as he listened intently to the man's phone conversation -- or at least, what he could pick up. A gang? The Flood Plain? How...intriguing. A satisfied grin crept across Takeo's face as he heard the others leave. It was often difficult for Satoshi to find interesting things to keep himself occupied in this town, and he was always ready to tag along if someone else had a lead on something unusual -- whether they wanted him along or not.<em>'After all, all work and no play...'</em><br/><br/>The bells over the library entrance chimed as the trio exited the building, and Satoshi was about to gather his things and leave as well when a light thump sounded behind him. He turned and saw an old, black book lying splayed open on the floor, spine up, and he reached to retrieve it. His smile widened as he realized it was the alchemy text he'd been searching for, and he gathered it up carefully to avoid folding or ripping any pages.<em>'This day keeps getting more interesting by the minute,'</em>Satoshi thought, running his thumb over the embossed cover with a triumphant grin. He strolled back to his bag by the desk and stuffed the book inside with the rest of his texts, dispensing with the usual library protocol for removing books, and calmly left the building. Plenty of time to grab a quick lunch, and then off to Samegawa...