Someday, It'll Be Different.(Private)

While it took some getting used to(and probably always would) Aya was learning to take Hiroshi's antics and over the top displays for what they were. She'd have to if she wanted to stay sane.

Aya patted him on the back. "Don't worry, I'll talk to him." She left the older man to head up the stairs before heading to Junpei's door. From there she paused briefly, then knocked on the door. Aya wanted to talk to him and tell him about her day but if he was busy she'd leave him alone.

With a smile, Hiroshi continued skirting about the kitchen as Aya took her leave. He smiled in appreciation of his new found ability to meddle in his son's life. Lively equals fun and that's what that dumbass needs.

Junpei finished drying his hair and let the towel fall limp over his shoulders. With a sigh, he returned his glasses to his face, his visibility clearing up instantly. It couldn't be normal for other people to grow up with such a parent. Worse still, a parent who didn't see anything wrong with their behavior! No, no. Things will only get worse if he allows himself to be sucked into his father's pace. Ignore the crazy person. He turned the computer monitor on with a bitter grunt.

As he donned his headphones, he heard another knock from beyond his door. "It's open." He replied. This time he didn't look to see who entered, knowing who it would be. "What is it." The same apathetic greeting as the day before.

Aya was slightly taken back by the tone, but she went with it. "Um..I just wanted to talk and tell you how things went. ..Is this a bad time? I could always come back later.." She shifted a bit, waiting a bit nervously for a response. Sure she said she would help him in some way but Aya was still a skittish person by her own nature.

"...Then come in. I can work and talk at the same time." Junpei motioned for her to enter with one hand, starting up a few programs with the other. The dull hum of music began to faintly flow from his headphones. He nearly told her not to be so timid, but thought against it. It wasn't her fault, she'd only been in this world for a little over a day. He shrugged off the thought and continued. "The kids aren't too rowdy, you were probably fine. How do you like it there?"

Aya came inside the room, sitting on the bed as she watched him. "I liked it just fine." She then began to summarize how the day went, just enough to get a idea since explaining everything in painstaking detail would have been boring for the both of them.

"..Overall, I had fun there. I think I'll like working there." She kicked her feet very lightly on the edge of the bed. "What about you?"

Junpei continued editing and working as Aya spoke. Music buzzed noisily from his headphones, giving the impression that he wasn't paying her any attention. His responses revealed he was in fact listening. "Sounds good. Claire could use the help." He could occasionally faintly see Aya's reflection in the monitor. Cute. A one word distraction that nearly caused him to slip up on a track.

"Class was boring as usual and homework'll be done in the morning. Nothing of interest." Going to college was just a bother at this point. He didn't socialize so it'd be time better spent if the classes were offered online. It didn't matter too much. There was nothing he could do about it, so why complain? The music in his headphones skipped a beat as he came to an error in the song. "Tch." Junpei clicked his tongue in annoyance as he corrected it. "Anyway, how's the old man been around you? He hasn't said anything weird or creepy yet, has he?"

Aya tilted her head slightly. "Not from anything he normally seems to say. Hiroshi is..different." She said amittingly. "But not bad. In a way he's fresh air. Back at home you don't see people like that. So many people are grim faced. I suppose there's a reason why a lot of people are like that though.."

She didn't like to dwell on the status of her world too much, however. "What does Hiroshi do for work?"

"He's a programmer; one of the Leads where he works. He makes cellphone software and apps, and helps maintain the company's systems." Junpei answered. His father was the main reason Junpei himself was so adept at using computers. Hell, if it weren't for him Junpei wouldn't even have a cell phone. Given his 'condition', they were difficult to use anyway. "It's a mystery how his coworkers put up with him on a daily basis considering living with him is such a treat..." He sarcastically remarked under his breath.

Aya giggled a bit. "He's...we'll, Hiroshi is Hiroshi. He might be out there, but he's not a bad guy." She looked at the clock a bit then stood up. "I'll leave you to your things. Thanks for lending a ear, good night Junpei."

She went to leave for bed, the sway of her hips was completely unintentional on her part after she exited out.

"Night..." Junpei responded, staring at his monitor. He almost missed Aya's exit, a walk that caused him to fudge another song. Pretty badly, at that. He noticed the amount of distractions in his life were on a steady increase...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The scene of the previous morning repeated itself; Junpei at the stove making breakfast, Hiroshi snoring loudly at the table. "ZZZZZZZzzz... bacon strips... zzzzzzZZZZZZZZzz..."

It wasn't too long before Aya had completely finished her usual personal hygiene ritual and headed down the stairs. Her hair was slightly wet from the shower she had taken but otherwise it just flowed naturally instead of being pulled into a bun or something.

"Good morning." She greeted as she came down, taking a seat. She wasn't sure what she was going to do today, she supposed another day at the orphanage. But another part of her wanted to explore the city; problem was she didn't know much of..well anything concerning here.

"Mornin'." Junpei greeted. He wasn't particularly dressed to head anywhere; there wasn't any class that day. "Moommumum." Hiroshi's 'good morning' was much less vivacious. was half dressed for work. His tie was loose around his neck, his jacket barely hanging from one of his arms and his shirt completely untucked. Junpei finished up and set a plate in front of Hiroshi and Aya.

Aya took her time eating; she technically didn't need it as it was more for pleasure but she still enjoyed eating none the less. "Do you have a map or something I could use? I was thinking of exploring the city..just don't know the layout of this place. If I have something to reference, I can figure things out pretty quick."

She tapped her head. "Helps to have a computer here."

"WHAT?!" Hiroshi suddenly shot up from his crouched position, standing at complete attention. His clothes were instantly adjusted properly. His outburst even startled Junpei a little. "Aya-chan. While this city is deserving of its renown and bustling with activity, I cannot allow you to simply wander the streets as you are. Kick ass brain-computer or no." He dashed to Junpei and grabbed him by the collar, holding him toward Aya. "It's dangerous to go alone! Take this."

Luckily, Junpei had dropped his plate on the counter before being snagged. Saving his breakfast had done little to quell the anger slowly rising within him. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"It's your day off. Go spend it outside. Keeping Aya-chan safe. You can come back safe, too. If you want."

Junpei wrenched himself free of his father's hold. "Let me guess. You'll bug the crap out of me if I stay?"

"Yes! Embrace your fate, my son. Now go. It is your destiny!!" Hiroshi pointed ceremoniously toward the skies above. Junpei rubbed his head in anguish.

"Every damn morning..." He knew Hiroshi wouldn't let up if he did stay home. Every foot he put between himself and his father would make his head feel much better. After a few moments, he started off toward his room to get changed. "Just... let me eat first. We'll go after that."

Aya looked at Hiroshi bemused after Junpei left to his room. "...You know..I don't know you that well but you're smarter then that act you give out. You planned these sorts of things on purpose..don't you?" She had suspected after a while that Hiroshi was hardly stupid; it was a act. Maybe it was to give Junpei a kick to get him more social or something else. That seemed like the case.

Hiroshi shrugged as he snickered to himself. "Hehehehehehehe~! Aya-chan, Aya-chan... You're reading far too much into this crazy old man's rantings. If all of my boisterous personality can accomplish is getting that boy outside, then so be it. How that dumbass o' mine reacts is entirely up to him." He teetered on one foot then abruptly sat down at the table, a propitious smile on his face.

"Truth be told, it's nice to see him out and about these days. He would always come home and shut himself in his room with occasional trips to the orphanage. As his father it pained me to watch him grow into a young, well... me." He rested his hands on the table and adopted a more formal speech pattern. "Aya-san. I am most grateful that you have come into our home. As you know, I can influence Junpei because I am amazing and he is my son. I would never do the same to you, however. If you earnestly do not wish to be a part of my spine-tingling roller coaster of a mind game, I will find other ways to ditch my boy out in the streets. Out of respect, of course." His words were superfluous as usual, but no less sincere.

"Though, I'm not so sure he wants that at this point..." That last bit, as Hiroshi saw, was the truth as well.

It was as Aya thought. The more she spent time with Hiroshi and listened, really listened to his words the more she was sure it was a act. More she was figuring out the reason for it was what she expected. Hiroshi didn't want his son cooped up in the house the whole time and thought of different ways to get him more social and outgoing.

A small smile appeared. "I'm sure you have your reasons, and that's okay. I want to be Junpei's friend, if he lets me. I don't know. Maybe..maybe..it has to do with the fact I don't think anyone truly wants to be completely alone. So I don't mind." She waved her hands. "Guess we'll see."

Hiroshi rested a cheek on his hand. "I can attest to that. 'Alone' ain't as fun as one might think. Sentient beings desire interaction. It's a matter of primal instinct!" Hiroshi glanced at the clock. "Ack! And my instinct's telling me I'm gonna be late!" He jumped up and gathered his things as Junpei came back downstairs, dressed to walk around outside. "You two kids play nice today!" Hiroshi called before leaving the house in a rush. Instead of using the front door, he jumped out of the window...

"Ugh, dammit..." Junpei lamented. The neighbors were likely to have seen that. He finished his food quickly. "You ready to go?"

Aya shook her head after Hiroshi had jumped out the window. Hopefully he hadn't hurt himself...Hiroshi was eccentric but he wasn't stupid. At least that wasn't the impression she got so she left it alone.

She turned to Junpei giving a warm smile just seemingly happy to be around as her bright green eyes looked at him. "Yeah. Let's go. And um.." She paused with what she was going to say. "If its okay, I want to try this 'ice cream' when we go out. Back at home, they lost the art of making it so I just hear about it in books and old movies."

Junpei gave her a confused look. "Ice-cream, huh? Well, if that's what you want..." Ice-cream was a pretty common treat here, so it was strange to hear that someone had never eaten it before. However, he knew nothing about her home world. It would have been rude to comment, so he kept his mouth shut and opened the door for them.

A few streets away, the two entered a Baskin-Robbins. "Well, here you go. Pick whatever you want to try." There was a plethora of ice-cream flavors to choose from; each one more colorful than the last. He leaned onto the counter and let the clerk know he'd be paying, so Aya could take her time.

Aya had never seen so many colorful flavors before. There were so many! She didn't know where to pick from so she decided to go what she liked. There was a bunch of flavors and some seemed a bit strange.(What was Purple Paradise if it wasn't even the color purple?)

The older woman behind the counter smiled patiently at Aya surprisingly enough. "Is this your first time eating ice cream hun?"

"Uh.." Aya turned slightly red. "Yeah. I don't have it where I'm from."

"Hm. We'll, in that case you could try vanilla. It's pretty basic and hey if you want second scoop is free if you don't like it."

Aya thought about it, then decided to get it to try. Once she got her cone and Junpei paid for it, she sat down. She was looking at the ice cream at first, almost as if unsure before seeing how the others were eating it. She took a small lick, and was taken back by the flavor.

It was really, really good.

More sure now, she took another lick closing her eyes. "Hmmm." It was completely intetnional but the noise sounded almost like a erotic moan. Pretty soon she was smiling and happily eating her ice cream. ..It was just in the manner she was eating it was distracting for anyone with even remotely working hormones.

Junpei settled for the standard 'chocolate' before paying and joining Aya at the table. He was about to say something when Aya dug into her treat. His train of thought promptly crashed into a wall of forget. Aya was way too cute to have done that on purpose. Wait, where did that thought come from? Junpei's mind was brought back to reality as he felt his ice-cream start to melt down his hand. "Ah, dammit." He quickly started licking and biting into his treat to stop its flow. About a second later he began to regret this. "Nkh..!" He held his head as a cold rush gripped his head. Brain freeze...

Aya stopped eating her cold treat to notice Junpei. "..Are you okay?" He seemed to have made some strange face when eating it. Due to what Aya was, she didn't have to worry about 'brain freeze' or anything like that. She could definitely feel things thankfully but there were other things she couldn't. Brain freeze just happened to be one of them.

"Just... brain freeze..." He rubbed his temple as the pain slowly faded. Junpei realized she likely couldn't experience such a thing. "Don't worry about it. I'm take it you really like the stuff?" It was still hard to believe she'd never tried it before. He figured with the technology that seemed apparent in her world, bringing back such a thing would be a simple task.

Aya nodded happily a bit to that. "Mhm. I like it a lot. I can't believe how many flavors there are, I don't know how they keep up with them." She took a few other licks of her ice cream. "Back at home, the lower class Reploids and humans don't get much of the Lost Relics. There was a war long time ago, and it destroyed much of the land. A lot of things were lost. The Nobles are those who live in the better areas and..people like us are in others. I know they have ice cream and other things we don't have. You just make the best of what you have."

She shrugged slightly, biting some of her ice cream. "..I like this world better though. I don't want to go back after I've seen a bit what its like."