I hope the people who submitted these are still reading...:(
Mia walks confidently down the boardwalk, nodding at strangers who stared at her. A short 12-year old in a fashionable skirt and blouse and grey rain boots... walking in front of a robot her size, carrying a giant cannon. She giggles. "Mozzarella, do you think the world will ever understand me?" Her voice is throaty, seemingly mature for a girl her age. Mozzarella, her robot, says nothing. It is a crude copy of the famed Mosca robots, designed from scraps. All the same, it is a capable and handy fighting partner. She reaches into her grey rain boots and retrieved a wrench. "I think this bolt's a little loose. I'll have to check if the re-director is still processing the scan from the VFW later..." She chuckles as a self-proclaimed "computer geek" stares at her. Such imbeciles.
Touhou Shiki loves strawberries. Her cafe is named Strawberry-House, a name that almost always makes people stare. Everything on the menu contains strawberries in some way. And if anyone complains, they could enjoy the feeling of having a poison dart stuck in their head. Even her mother is deathly terrified of her. Today, business was particularly slow, so she stands outside, cleaning the boardwalk. Suddenly, the ground below her explodes. She screams and jumps back as a cute little girl carrying a giant cannon and wearing a creepy schoolgirl outfit that belongs in some Lolicon fan's perverted fantasy runs forward and stoops to pick something up and shove it back in her cannon. Was that a wrench? Shiki was getting angry. She pulls out her darts and is promptly stopped by Yukine, her next door neighbor. Yukine is the most popular girl on the boardwalk. The shop-owners all love her because she is sweet and energetic. Yukine looks like she was 10, but she was actually 14 and she helps out at Strawberry-House. Yukine giggled. "It's okay, Shiki." Shiki glares. "Did you see what she did to me? That," she shouted, "is not 'OK'!" Yukine smiles and places one angelic hand on Shiki's shoulder. "Shiki, why don't we go inside and make another batch of strawberry bread? You'll need it tonight when the RRTWC come to have their dinner party!" Shiki looks at Yukine, looks at the girl, looks at the shop, looks at Yukine again and sighed. "Fine." Yukine giggles happily as the other spectators smile affectionately.
Mia watched, impressed as the cute little girl manages to convince the tough tomboy to give up. Those darts actually looked a bit dangerous. She walks inside.
Several hours later, Mia walks out, a wrench in her pocket, a cannon on her shoulder and a cute 14-year-old behind her. Mozzarella was nowhere to be found. Hmmmm...she is considering calling the next one...Alfredo maybe?...
Letia Talia Hiroko smiled affectionately at the little boy begging her for food. The darker sides of Manhattan always made her feel like crying and laughing at the same time. She dropped ten dollars into the boy's grubby hands. His eyes opened wide and he smiled widely, thanking her quickly before running back to his mother. She chuckled as the boy ran back to his mother, jumping up and down. She continues on down the alley, handing tens out to every beggar. In the shadows, a gorgeous, curvy woman watches her. She slips silently in the shadows, following the woman. Of course it was a woman giving generously, she thinks. Men can't be trusted.
Gin is normally patient, but Felix's paranoid behavior is driving him over the edge. Kazu watches lazily as Felix checks the dead bolt for the 5th time in the last ten minutes. Minami is sitting at the table cleaning her sword. Ryo sits at the computer, video-chatting with his sisters, who have snuck onto a computer in the library. They giggle as he makes a silly face. Gin shakes his head. Minami and Ryo and even Kazu, they all turn out to be surprisingly normal. Gin looks down at his hand. A sparkling orange crystal on a band studded with red, blue, green, yellow, indigo and purple crystals sits on his finger. Engraved in the sparkling crystal is the word ARGENTO, arranged in a circle. Minami, Ryo and Kazu wear similar rings, but Minami's is green, Ryo's is purple and Kazu's is indigo. Felix told them the rings could create dying will flames. Orange was for the sky, Minami's was lightning, Ryo's was mist and Kazu's was cloud. Gin didn't quite get it, but he understood the rings were made by a tech-prodigy and that while they were nothing compared to the three legendary rings that formed the Tri-Ni-Sette, they were extremely high quality. And very expensive.
Felix looks over at the window, checking again. Gin glares at him. "Will you stop pacing? What are you so afraid of?" Felix whirls around. "Boy, just because now you've got a little bodyguard club you naively think can protect you doesn't mean you're safe. Do you have any idea the risks we are taking right now? If anyone else were to discover that we have rings designed by Emilia Monterubbianesi, they would eliminate us. Kazu, Ryo and Minami are weaklings compared to the real Mafioso. You think Hyou and Jane were really trying? Ha! They were going easy because of their personal beliefs in underdogs and women's rights, respectively. This," he gesticulates wildly, "is nothing! You three are like pigs, hanging on a tree, waiting to be slaughtered." Gin stares. "What do we do then?..." Felix sat down. "We wait. Help will arrive."