Welcome to Gaia! ::

Hm. A girl with violet hair...

Well, that's what Dr. Hyde told him to look for. But in a city where ease and luxury are as available as they are in Pandorum--hah! As if there was another such city--colored hair, be it natural or dyed, was fairly common to put it lightly. He did specify violet, which narrowed it down. Isamu was no artist, but as one who appreciated the arts and the finer things in life, he was aware that there was a distinction between violet and pink or purple. Then again, that didn't necessarily mean that Isamu was entirely capable of making that distinction. That was work for the artists. You know, the people who need to do manual labor to afford living in this town.

Isamu made his way calmly through the late-night crowd of the Marketplace, after asking the twentieth "violet"-haired girl if she was Mikami Lou. He knew the area like the back of his hand, though his parents rarely took them to shop there. They preferred the larger center closer to their neighborhood. Everyone in this Pandorum needed to be of a certain level of wealth to live there, but there was still a clear distinction of classes, his mother had told him years ago. And Isamu's mother didn't like to "put herself in the mix of the muddle that is the common folk," she she very often told him and his siblings. It was apparent in one's manner of appearance where they stood in those classes. At least, it was once his mother taught him to spot the differences, which Isamu himself always thought were fairly apparent to his eyes. It didn't always mean one's manner of dress, much of it had to do with the way they carried one's self. Though, those who chose to dress in a certain, more cultured fashion were very easy for Isamu to pick out as one of his own.

Isamu himself was wearing his "work clothes." His shirt was a stiff-collared, sleeveless, black and gray-trimmed, fitted shirt that hugged the curves of his muscles while remaining easy to move in. A hand-stitched, slate-gray dragon, mostly on the left side, took up much of the shirt. His custom ordered pants were the same color as the dragon. Over that, he wore a pale-beige, almost white overcoat of a sturdy material his parents had bought for him as a special gift upon graduating and officially becoming a shinobi. While it wouldn't stop blades from piercing him entirely, the material would protect him about as much as the standard-issue chain-mail he wore under his shirt. Combined, they could at least protect him enough so that small projectiles won't pierce him too deep.

Isamu stopped at one of the food vendors, a small shop where you could sit down, that sold tea and pastries. He ordered a chocolate-lemon tart to go with a "pomegranate passion" herbal tea. His mother would chastise him if he drank something caffeinated this late at night, regardless of how late he might be staying up on the job now. He nodded politely to the vendor and returned to his search, taking a drink as he walked. He may be clearly above that woman, but his father always reminded him that the service workers were serving them, and so Isamu should always pay them the amount of respect that they've earned. His father told him the same applied to everybody. And besides, he'd come down to the marketplace plenty of times with his siblings. Much of the time they had to lie to their mother about where they were going and sneak down, but during events like festivals and other celebrations she couldn't rightfully say no, even when it seemed like she wanted to. Their father was head of their house anyway, mostly because his family was the richer family of the marriage. If she ever said "no" he would just take them all himself. So Isamu knew the area well. He'd eaten at this shop before, and gotten to know the woman there fairly well actually. She was a kind woman to him, and so deserved his kindness in return.

Ahead of him was one more girl with "violet" hair, and a very beautifully-dressed one at that. Perhaps he'd be lucky, and this would be the girl he was looking for to get his first mission. He quickly popped the last bit into his mouth, careful not to soil his face or his clothes with even a crumb, whipped his fingers clean with a napkin and threw it away in the nearest trash receptacle along with the small, elegantly decorated wrapper. He took one more sip of tea, but threw it away even though it was half full. He was about to get his first mission and he wanted to present himself properly. He only stopped because she was so hard to find, but he didn't want to give her the impression that he'd been lazy and took his time about it. And besides, if it turned out it wasn't her, he could always go right back and buy another one. It wasn't like his family couldn't easily just buy the darned shop if he asked--he could tell his parents he had to throw out a dozen half empty drinks for appearance's sake. His parents would both say he made the smart choice. He approached the twenty-first violet haired girl and came up to stand beside her, standing with his hands clasped behind his back, and his back and shoulders straight. "Excuse me, miss," he said. As he'd walked up, he'd noticed it looked like she was speaking with two others. "I beg your pardon, I'm sorry to interrupt. My name is Isamu Sugitani. Might you be Mikami Lou, miss?" For the twenty-first time that night, he was sure his father would be proud of how he conducted himself.

Isamu gave a slight, polite smile. She certainly held herself the way he imagined a girl of such a high status as Dr. Hyde's niece would. Taking her hand, he shook firmly but not roughly. Firm enough because he knew she was a shinobi as well as he was, so it wasn't as if he needed to be gentle with her despite her slight frame. But not as "firm" as he would be with, say, his uncle, who would greet Isamu with a handshake that felt more like a bear was clenching your hand between both it's arms.

"Dr. Hyde sent me to you. He said you have a mission that we are to complete together." As he spoke, he did not break eye contact with Miss Lou, that would have been rude, but he did take note of the the other two. The clothes of the man made him look like a servant, very likely he was her butler, but he could be wrong. Isamu was never rude to the help, unless they messed up, but he was never very friendly to them either, obviously. If they were his friends, they wouldn't need to be working as servants, now would they?

The woman, well... she didn't exactly look like the type he'd normally associate with. But if she was a member of his team, he would work with her as well. From the first day he joined the academy, he accepted that he'd be interacting and working with people from all over the city if he was truly to protect it as a shinobi of Pandorum. They were all fighting for the same purpose. So, while they were not his equals in social status, whoever he worked with he would treat them as their skill level dictated he treat them. He would respect them with as much respect as they deserved. Of course, Mikami Lou wasn't merely a shinobi of the same social standing as he. She was clearly several rungs up the ladder above him. As high up as his family was, she was a relative of Dr. Hyde. There were a lot of reasons you never disrespected him and, by extension, his family. Though, most of which Isamu was sure were just rumors.