Author's note: A little idea snowballed into mass typing which led to a multi-chapter story. Funny how that can happen.

Please review if you read this story.

Daily Facets

Chapter 1

"So good! Tasty! Try Russia Sushi."

"T-There's no better place to, um, spend a fantastic evening out..."

At Russia Sushi, the air was hot and the fish were jumping. Unfortunately, business was not as lively. Arisa Shigemitsu knew that before working here, but a job was a job. The owners, Simon and Dennis, seemed like good people which was the main reason she stayed.

She worked part-time. Arisa usually served food indoors. Simon got the idea to recruit her to assist in his advertising, too. A change of pace, he cheerily claimed when Arisa asked why she had to do it.

Getting strange stares and the frequent dodges from passersby didn't encourage her to drum up catchy phrases to call out.

Again, Simon insisted. Demanded, pretty much. Potential customers were afraid of him; they weren't afraid of her.

Thing was, Simon was getting her to shout random suggestions that were making her face turn red. She hated attracting unwanted attention, but here she was ironically doing it.

To top off her bad luck, her outfit was a bizarre mix of paint cans exploding over a dress. Splotches of neon colors adorned the fabric. Foil trim lined the hems of the sleeves and skirt and bulgy sequins were pasted all over. Arisa really appeared like a space alien. A frilly hat perched on her head with the same colorful theme.

Whoever made this uniform had no sense of style.

Arisa hoped she didn't have to wear this on a regular basis. She only started working here a week ago. Well, at least her dark hair stayed the same. She didn't feel like jazzing up her long hair in elaborate styles every time she worked.

Simon looked around for prospects. The black man handed a flyer to a graying elderly woman with glasses. "Lovely sushi to eat."

She peered at the paper and kept walking.

Simon nudged Arisa. She cleared her throat and said loudly, "Make your dreams come true and eat at Russia Sushi. The- The prices are amazing and sushi is-" -Arisa paused and he elbowed her again- "...it's sushilicious!"

When Arisa finished, she noticed a businessman coming up. She gave him a pamphlet. All she got in return was a pitying shake of his head, like she was wasting her breath.

Nodding in satisfaction, Simon praised her.

"We're not getting anyone and I'm saying more ridiculous things." That must've been the 60th "she's from outer space" expression she had received today.

"No, no, not true. You speak the truth. The sushi quite sushilicious. I should write that down."

"This is crazy!" Arisa blurted moodily without restraint.

Some passing walkers stared at her. Embarrassed, her eyes looked down at her heap of flyers.

A long afternoon stretched out before her.

Arisa was dragging her feet home as she walked from work. It was great being walking distance, but sometimes she wanted the option to instantly teleport from one place to the next. She was so tired that the mere act of putting one foot in front of the other was the toughest thing to do. Add carrying a big bag of belongings and Arisa was set to be extra lazy at home.

Ikebukuro was such an exciting area filled with tons of people and the hustle and bustle of the shopping life. Aside from traffic and city sounds, one strange noise that didn't seem to fit but did was loud crashing. Heavy objects would thud the pavement. Depending how close Arisa was to the source, she could almost feel the sound waves at her feet.

Arisa had occasionally wondered about what caused the racket. Rumors of gang members inhabiting there gave her caution. She didn't stray to those parts. She was left to imagine who caused the ruckus since she couldn't see.

Usually when she left Ikebukuro those harsh pounding noises faded to background and she thought nothing more of them. Today was different. The screeching and metallic whacking and clanging almost followed her trail home.

Was there such a thing as sound ghosts?

Well, Arisa could think about it later. The block of her apartment came into view and she began thinking up what order to do her eating, sleeping and bathing in.

Or concurrently. Eating in the bathtub was convenient.

That is, it should be if it weren't caving in due to a falling lamppost. Arisa gaped when the lamppost was joined by a huge block of-

Arisa squinted. Vending machine? Two of them? She began to sprint.

Flashes of dark colors whizzed by her overhead. Vulgar swearing coupled with the clash of metal resounded throughout the neighborhood. Haughty laughter accompanied the yelling. The sounds quickly faded towards Ikebukuro.

Arisa slowed at what was left of her apartment. She lived on the third floor which was the topmost. The stairs leading up to it were mangled. Crumbled like a crushed cardboard box was her side of the building. There wasn't anymore window as two huge, bulky vending machines had crashed through it like an interloper.

Covering her eyes, Arisa began wailing loudly. Rage flared in her veins, drowning out her sadness and despair.

She was going to find out who did this damage and make them pay dearly.