Someday, It'll Be Different.(Private)

Junpei would normally have kept his mouth shut when given the option to perpetuate conversation. He was slowly becoming curious about this world Aya originated from. "'Lost Relics'... You mean things like these are an extreme luxury?" He examined the remains of his cone before eating the rest. "That sucks. Glad you like it better here." His conversational tact needed... polishing.

The young Reploid wasn't so easily offended by the remark so she didn't really pay it much mind. "Yes. Lost Relics are anything from the Old World. That's a term we use before the war that wiped out so many of the things there. Back home, there's really only two sapient races unlike here: Humans and Reploids. The air is cleaner here too."

She finished the last bit of her ice cream. "..If you don't mind me asking, what are you? My scans can tell you aren't human but I'm not sure what you are..or what most people are really. It's kind of overwhelming at times."

Junpei was silent for a moment. "...An Angel. That's the broad category of my race, anyway. I don't know if you know what those are from Lost Relics or whatever, but they're usually of humanoid shape with large wings on their backs." He pointed his thumb over his shoulder for emphasis. "My kind doesn't. Why even bother calling us that... Tch."

Junpei sat back in his chair. He crossed his arms as he spoke. "If it's that important to you, or if you're just curious, you can use my computer at home to get info on the known races here. There's a crazy amount; I guess it'll be useful for you if you're gonna work at the orphanage."

Aya tilted her head slightly at the word. "..That word was mentioned a bit. I remember certain circles bringing up the word. Anyway, when we go back home I'll look them up; it'll give me something to do as well. I also heard the term vampire and demon when I was the orphanage. They seem like another catergory as well."

Junpei nodded. "Vampire, Demon, Angel, Android, Spirits... We could go on for hours. All of them are just categories. Underneath each of them are numerous branched races showing different features and affinities for the energies of this world. We're a melting pot of diversity." He stood up from his chair. "But you can take a look at that later. Anywhere else you wanted to go, or did you just want to walk around?"

Aya got up as well after finishing up her ice cream. "I'm not sure were to go next, so I guess we could just walk?" The Reploid asked with a slight sheepish smile.

"Whatever. Let's go." Junpei started walking first. He started thinking of things to do; simply walking around all day would be a boring waste of time. Might as well try to make the best of it. "Hey. Do they have trains where you're from?" If she hadn't, it didn't matter too much. It was the destination that mattered to him.

Aya paused, then nodded a bit. "We do. Trains are popular where I come from because its not common for many of the people to own their own cars. If you do, it means you have more money or just know the right people. We used to have hover techology, but it got lost a bit so they went back to using wheels."

"...Then this won't be completely new to you. Good." Junpei motioned for her to walk with him as he made his way to the train station. When they approached the platform, he bypassed the ticket booth and simply swiped his pass twice. He had extra rides paid for, anyway. It was still relatively early in the day; the day trains were crowded. "Hey. Stay close and make sure you grab a rail or something."

Aya didn't need to be told twice. She quickly shuffled over to grab a rail or something so she had something to hold onto. Her feet made a bit more noise against the hard floor because of what she was; it wasn't something she could take off or change. Second generation Reploids could take off part of their 'armor' and what not but there were certain things they couldn't do. It was one of the reasons she had always been slightly subconscious of being near naked such as in a bikini around mostly humans.

..Not that were many beaches and such back at home.

Junpei took note of her discomfort during the ride. "Relax. Despite what some jackasses would believe, you're a pretty normal sight." She wasn't getting too many looks on the train. In fact, there were a couple other androids along for the ride, minding their own business. "You're fine." He fiddled with his music player and started up a playlist. He was still listening to Aya, had she said anything. This was the second time he'd done something like that. It seemed he could hear beyond the music blaring through his headphones.

At a seemingly random stop, Junpei motioned for Aya to get off with him. It was a tourist area on the fringes of the city. Rather than city streets lined with buildings and lights, there was a lush green wilderness beyond the road leading to the platform. "Here we go. This place is a common visit for travelers." Walking a bit down the path, he took a deep breath. "If you don't like it, we can head back. I don't really care." Though, this was a place he liked to come to sometimes. It was quieter than the city. "Anyway, I figured we could start here and work our way back. By the way you describe your world, I thought this'd be a good change of pace."

Aya felt a bit better at those words, along with seeing all the people--or rather androids about as well. The new place when they arrived caught her off guard; she hadn't really expected.

"..It's beautiful.." Aya said with slight awe; her face looking like a child's at the moment, which was kind of cute. She hurriedly went to follow Junpei. "What is this place?"

Junpei watched Aya as she rushed over to him. Her face was... interesting, to say the least. It definitely wouldn't be a bad thing to see more of that... "It's like a nature walk. This place, like plenty of other areas around Japan, is blocked off from construction and industrialization. Keeps nature intact." The path was long and winding, passing by lakes, waterfalls and large greenery. "It's a quiet little place. I come up here sometimes. Nice to get away, you know?" He was surprisingly talkative today.

Aya had noticed Junpei had been talking a bit more today, and she really didn't mind. She had come to a conclusion after sleeping on things the other night. She wanted to be Junpei's friend, but she didn't want to go about 'changing' or 'fixing' him to be more social or anything like that. Everyone was different with their own needs and desires. No. What she wanted to do was simply have Junpei let her in a bit more, everything else, if any would come on its own after that.

"Nature walk? Hm.." Aya followed after him, taking in the sight around him. "How did you end up finding this place?"

Junpei thought back. "Think it was the first time I ran away...? It was way too easy for a kid to jump a train back then..." This was, of course, before he lived with Hiroshi. He wasn't about to tell her that, however. As far as he knew, she didn't know about him being orphaned. "I just kept coming back after getting lost here. At first it was to learn the layout. Wound up finding some pretty cool areas off the beaten path. No one's allowed down there, but..." He shrugged. He honestly didn't give a crap about their rules since he wasn't going to pollute or hurt any wildlife. No harm, no foul.

Aya followed him, silently listening to what he had to say. There was something else she had on her mind. Many people besides Hiroshi probably wanted Junpei more social and outgoing. He may miss out on things, but in the end, wasn't that his choice? Did it really matter if he was less social or not?

Those thoughts had occupied her mind since resting the other night.

"I see..." Aya trailed off for a moment then spoke up. "Junpei? I just want you to know something. Your dad, and other people might want you to be more social and active..but if what makes you happier being more in solitude there isn't any need to change. Life is really too short." She blushed. "What I'm really trying to say is, I want to be your friend but I don't want to feel as if I'm trying to change you or anything. Too many people try to do that."

Junpei flipped through a few songs on his player. Though he did glance at her, he didn't appear to be paying attention. Until he responded. "I know you're not pressuring me to change. That old man... I know he doesn't mean any harm, either, but I'm fine with how I live. I kind of felt that you got that, so you're alright." He settled on a song and pocketed his player. "Doesn't feel like you're forcing yourself to be here. It's more natural, if you get what I mean. Don't get me wrong, you're weird for wanting to be around me, but I won't fault you." It was probably difficult to tell whether that was a joke or not.

After a few steps, Junpei stopped and turned to Aya. "Oi... You don't mind going off the path, do you?" It was against the rules, but he'd already admitted to doing it. Plus, there was something he wanted to show her.

Aya could tell he was joking and cracked a faint smile, though it did catch her off guard a bit.

"Um, actually no. You only live once, right?" She asked, ready to follow the angel to where ever he was going. Part of her was excited; what was over at the path he wanted to show? She knew it might not be anything too special and shouldn't get her imagination running but she couldn't help it.

"Hm. A familiar philosophy... Come on." Junpei stepped off the path and led her into the trees. As they traveled, the thicket increased in density before long; the lighting of the area created the illusion of night. As they neared the water, small tunnels of light peeked through the canopy above them. Up ahead, a clearing opened up to reveal a stream. It was largely untouched by people or animals.

"Here we go." Junpei stepped into the clearing. The rays of sunlight mimicked beams of moonlight against the stream. Despite it being day, fireflies buzzed about the air to illuminate what the sparse sunlight could not. "This whole reserve is nice, but this is my favorite spot." He crouched and sat on a rock near the water.

Aya's eyes lit up a bit like a child's. She had never seen anything so clear and beautiful before until now. The closes things were pictures and movies of the Lost Times long before the war or even Reploids came into existence. They had nothing what so ever like this back at her old home.

She looked around before finding a seat on a rock. It was so peaceful here. A firefly landed on her hand, she looked at with fascination before it eventually flew off back with the others. "..This is amazing.." She said to herself.

Junpei glanced at Aya's reaction. The way she kept describing her home world... It was good to know the people there were able to find calm in their own right and keep from degenerating into something less than a society. More so, it was nice to be able to show her something of personal interest. Junpei pushed his headphones down around his neck and shut them off. He started thinking of how he often came to this area as a kid. Though the water was moving, the sound was far too subtle for him to pick up with his power. It was still the same silent clearing he used to sit alone in. Only now, he'd actually brought someone with him.

"Hm..." was his response. Junpei stared out at the sunspots on the water surface. After a few seconds, the faint hint of a smile crossed his face.

Aya smiled contently at the scene, seeing Junpei smile at the corner of her eyes faintly. It made her happy to see that, she just wished she could see that more often and maybe she would if she hung out with him more. The Reploid didn't have anything to say at the moment, so she merely quitely enjoyed his company and the scene before it. It was really peaceful..

Junpei sat beside Aya for a while longer. He wasn't sure how much time had passed exactly, but the sun's rays had moved across the stream by then. "Yosh..." He stood up and dusted off his pants. "We should start back now. We still have to stop by the beach before strolling through the city." He slipped one hand into his pocket and offered the other to help Aya stand. "You okay with that?"

Aya looked his hand then took it, letting him help her up. He was pretty strong to have done that, she wondered what kind of muscles he had underneath..No, no! I can't be thinking like that! The thoughts caught her off guard, where had they come from anyway?

Junpei may have been confused by the Reploid's brief blushing, but it passed quickly. "A-ah, yes I'm ready to go. I don't have any plans."

Junpei gave Aya a questioning glance after helping her up. He couldn't wrap his head around why she blushed. Maybe she wasn't too keen on the idea of going to the beach...? If so, she could just say so before they get there. Junpei brushed off the thought as he led her back toward the station.

A quick train-ride brought them to their next foretold destination: the beach. There were less people around as it was a weekday; during work hours, at that. Junpei walked along the paved path overlooking the beach itself as he showed Aya around. They could easily walk to their next few stops. "Not many people out today, but you get the idea. On the weekends, vendors usually line these sidewalks." He thought about Aya's parts and physical makeup. He knew she could take of some parts of her 'clothing' but... "...Can you swim? Just curious."