2020-06-28 - Sister Schools or Stealing Schools
| Title: Sister Schools or Stealing Schools | |
|---|---|
| Summary: The rash of thievery plaguing the Sister Schools shows no end of stopping and, with several precious items stolen brazenly! Tracking down these thieves, several magical people make their way to Industrial District... | |
| Who: Fate Testarossa, Mikoto Minagi, Fuu Hououji, Niramo Umokeshi, Steven Universe, GM: Fumiko Inoue | |
| Where: Tokyo - Sister Schools | |
| OOC - IC Date: 9-8-2015 - 6-28-2020 | |
.**************************** Shitamachi Low City *****************************.
*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ Keiyou Industrial District +*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*
Stretching across eight districts, Keiyou Industrial Zone is like a small
city unto itself, consisting primarily of factories, power plants,
warehouses, refineries, and other heavy industry. Boxy, soot-stained
buildings, multi-story chemical tanks, and baroque masses of pipes and
girders dominate the architecture, and a distant clanking or hum can be
heard at all hours of the day throughout most of the district. Cranes,
forklifts, and other heavy equipment are common in this area, as are metal
gratings exhaling steam, dizzying catwalks and ladders, and tall stacks of
shipping crates.
The buildings closest to the bay are often the most presentable, so as to
avoid besmirching its beauty overmuch. The district cannot help but encroach
upon the bay, however, for it is its lifeline, providing thermal power,
naval shipping, and copious quantities of water for industrial purposes.
Keiyo long ago outgrew the land allotted for its uses, and so artificial
islands have been built up to permit its continued expansion.
Since its relatively low potential for civilian casualties (particularly at
night) appeals to magical girls, and its profusion of powerful industrial
machinery appeals to their foes, combat is not infrequent in this area.
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
School has barely begun, and things are already going crazy! All three Sister Schools are getting back into the swing of things, as are their students. Kids that missed each other over the summer are once again crossing each others' paths. Students and teachers are meeting once more. Club activities for the Fall are already being planned. Elementary students have flooded the playgrounds.
But it isn't all fun and games. Classwork resumes. Writing, mathematics, science and more are forcing students to exercise parts of their brains that had all Summer to relax, while their bodies are being exercised by Phys Ed. Threats of homework loom around every corner. And something more sinister...
What was once rumor has become fact - prized possessions continue to go missing, or worse - turn up in the hands, pockets, desks, backpacks, and lockers of their closest friends and worst rivals. It is still only occasional isolated incidents... or so the 'official' stories go. It is 'being looked into'. However, it will soon be looked into by more capable hands. At the moment though, these students must deal with the fact that their treasures could go missing at any minute. But what do they truly treasure?
(OOC) Part 1: These are your Stories Before you all meet up, now is the opportunity to make a small pose about your school day, your thoughts on the thefts, and what prized possessions you might take - and have taken - to school. The last part is optional, if you do not want anything (temporarily) taken from you.
<Pose Tracker> Fate Testarossa [Infinity Institute (5)] has posed.
"P.E. classes are the best when they're held in the pool." Arisa Bannings towels off her hair after her shower. "I wish it could be like this year round."
"It wouldn't feel the same in the winter though. Even with our indoor pools I doubt you'd feel the desire to." Suzuka Tsukimura's replies quietly with her own opinion, as she adjusts a hair band.
"I would! Feito-chan, settle this for us. You fine with swimming even if it isn't in season right?"
Fate Testarossa isn't paying attention to the conversation, she's instead in her uniform, her blonde hair damp drying, as she kneels down and checks under benches.
"Ah - Feito-chan?"
The girl crawls down further, eyeing the shadows and corners of the room. Before she then gets back up and walks back to the locker. Eventually she says to noone at all, with a tone of numb shock.
"... I can't... find them..."
The hair ribbons she exchanged with Nanoha, that day they became friends. That day she called her name on the bridge. That pair of white ribbons, her most precious of possessions, symbolic of the friendship between the two...
...where could they have gone?
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
HERE IS THE GOOD NEWS: Mikoto is, officially, Not Failing All Her Classes Any More. Ohtori triumphs over delinquency. It's a grand success story. Everyone claps. (Okay, only Midori clapped.)
HERE IS THE BAD NEWS: She's an eleventh-grader, so she /already has more homework./
This is, of course, the biggest thing on Mikoto's mind, at lunch. It is /the greatest torment/ that she should be expected to do /more work/ after doing /all that work./
She's so busy sinking into her bento that she's not /really/ listening to Chie Harada, one of Ohtori's foremost rumourmongers and Mai's normal friend who seems to have adopted Mikoto just by proxy.
That grey-haired girl chats amicably to the girl with longer brown hair on the other side of the table, Aoi. "... going missing," she's saying, one hand still holding her phone as she gestures. (The other has her chopsticks, of course. It's lunch. Chie multitasks.) "Everyone's going nuts about it - you hear about that girl whose earrings ended up in Nanami's locker?"
"E-to..." Aoi interrupts, head tilting.
"I know, but it's not like it's just that! This is really widespread!" Poking her in the side with her flip phone, Chie points out, "I bet even Mikoto-chan's heard about it!"
"I don't wannaaaa," Mikoto whines, before she shoves another bite of rice in her mouth. At least /that/ makes her brighten up. Mai's food... is delicious!
"Chin up, Mikoto-chan!" Aoi encourages her, pulling out her own phone. "I saw a really cute cat the other day - I'll send you the picture now..."
Click, Aoi presses the button on her phone.
...
There's no beep from Mikoto's backpack.
Mikoto's face crinkles in consternation, as she hoists her backpack onto the table and digs through it. "It's off..?" She wonders, but she's /sure/ she remembered to plug it in last night. On the table goes all her books - really /way/ too many books, /school is hard/ - but even when she pulls out her pencil-case and all the other smaller items...
There's no phone, in its cheerful yellow case which could withstand even falling out of /Mikoto's/ pocket when she's up high.
That phone Yumi gave her, to try and keep her connected to everyone else...
"It's gone!" Mikoto wails, in sudden realisation.
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
When the rumors started at first, Fuu took passing note of them, the way she keeps an ear open for most rumors at first contact. Frequently there's little in the way of truth to them: maybe some accurate detail that's been blown out of proportion, like the story making the rounds that Fuu herself would be dropping out of Infinity for some reason - whether because she was scouted by a major game company (to which story she politely laughed, and refuted thoroughly) or getting married (cue a massive blush and equally thorough, if more desperate, refutation).
But while many of the rumors were swiftly weeded out by the unrelenting scythe of Truth, a few persisted. Gold Star exchange students at Ohtori - certainly they were there, and as unpleasant in person as rumor depicted them (to judge by Fuu's brief encounter with one of them) ... and then there's the one about prized possessions being stolen. No seeming rhyme or reason, save that the objects were of great importance to their proper owners.
Do I have anything that precious to me? Fuu wonders, as she's packing her bag up at the end of the day. Something I normally carry with me ... She double-checks her pockets, finding her keys, her glove-jewel, her phone; she goes through her bag for good measure. Textbooks, notebooks, laptop, game case ...
"What?" Fuu whispers to herself, hurriedly but systematically emptying her bookbag onto her desk - the main compartment and all of its pockets. She has her games, even though she shouldn't technically bring them to school (and she knows it, but as long as she doesn't play in class and keeps her grades high, there's not really a problem) ... but the system she *plays them on* has vanished.
Fuu sinks down into her chair again, her heart sinking further and harder as she goes through the bag one more time. Ironically, she'd just come to the decision that she'd leave her 3DS at home until the problem of stolen items is resolved - but apparently it's already too late.
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
As the last class comes to an end and the school bell rouses many students from boredom strong enough to cause glazed looks, Niramo is one of a few that doesn't immediately rises from her seat. Not that last hour Japanese isn't a subject that riviting, more the ravenette has something else on her mind than joining the 'go home' club for today. There's the demand for a cooking club luncheon stall once a week that she'll need to help with and how to figure out when is the best time to practice dancing on her own.
There's also the rash of thefts plaguing Juuban, and if rumor has it, the other two Sister Schools as well.
Wakatsuki has actually been a victim of these thefts. A new wireless gaming headset she purchased for an amazing price went missing from her bag during class, and was found in the desk of a shy seventh year student boy the next day. Wakatsuki was kinda at fault for showing off her bargaining purchase off at school, but the 'thief' never had any history of being a troublemaker. It didn't seemed to fit at all, and a lot of students were getting angry about getting blamed for stealing something they never seen before!
"Father always said to write down everything when you're starting an investigation." Flipping the flap lid of her bookbag away and to the open light, Niramo starts searching through the contents for a notebook she's been using for several months now. One of her father's, a fancy leather-bound notebook with his name written in goldleaf font on the front. There's her Social Studies textbook and her phone...but the notebook wasn't here?
A small yawn distracts Niramo from her search for a moment, and she looks at a side pocket to see Takk stick his head out and stretch his arms out wide. Apparently the Kwami has been napping while she's been fighting off sleep during the last class.
"Ah, Takk-san, have you seen my notebook?" "Hmm? It should be in the large pocket to my right. You always keep it there." "But I already looked...there...?"
A few more seconds of rummaging can be overheard before a shout can be heard outside the classroom. "It's gone?!"
<Pose Tracker> Steven Universe [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.
Some present find their items missing over time after the theft, whomever may be stealing them. Others find out quite quickly. One such case is in the Sixth grade classroom, where little Steven Universe speaks with a teacher. "You saw me walk in with it, right? It is really hard to miss! Very chic and popular overseas!"
Okay, bit of embelishing there, but it was important.
The class had let out to find the hook where Steven place his back day in and out was empty. His books and everything inside was gone too, but was postly school related.
A furrowed brow crosses the boy's face. "Who took it...! I gotta call some people, see what is up..."
Didn't even elave the school books! "Uh, miss teach, I gotta borrow school books for homework until I can find it..." Thankfully the teacher does remember that silly backpack of his, and that he came in with it.
"Awh, I'm gonna have to use the hot dog duffel now..." Which isn't bad, but it is no hamburger. Lera would be ashamed of this burger misplacement!
"Maybe the lost and found... Or Lion maybe! Can he smell backpacks? Huhhhh...."
<Pose Tracker> Fate Testarossa [Infinity Institute (5)] has posed.
~Not too long after~
Standing dramatically upon a rooftop, the figure dramatically slices down her poleaxe, before twirling it to hold him horizontal.
"Bardiche. Wide Area Search."
<Yes Sir. Commencing Wide Area Search.>
Fate extends out her senses, using Bardiche as a conduit. Yellow concentric runic circles moving both clockwise and counterclockwise form layers upon layers of shining interlaced magic at her feet...
... only to abruptly vanish
<Not Found.>
"Eh? That was too soon to give up on a wide area search."
<Not Found.>
"Bardiche... are you trying to tell me that a wide area search only locates magical auras?"
<Yes Sir.>
"So the ribbons..." Fate doesn't even finish her sentence before Bardiche chimes.
<No Sir.>
"... even though they're very precious?" She asks muted.
"<No Sir.>"
"They're magical to me." Fate note sulkily, as she pouts on a rooftop, the wind whistling through her fluttering cape and blonde hair.
<Yes Sir.>
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Fate's Story
Hair ribbons are not important to some people. To many, they are just fashion accessories. But the friendship withing Fate's hair ribbons make the much more important. Someone who treasures them that much could recognize them from a mile away.
For Fate, searching from the rooftops, she did not have as far to look. It was impossible to make out her features from that distance, but the ribbons in that girl's brown hair, the girl running as fast as she can... those ribbons had to be them! And perhaps a tiny ping of a magical aura could just now be sensed....
Mikoto's Story
Despite - or maybe because - the lunch room was so busy, nobody seemed to spot anything out of the ordinary. Not even when someone - or something - stole Mikoto's phone. It was a 'simple' flip phone, but such an object could not truly be considered simple. After all, a phone can be one's lifeline. A method of communicating - and connecting - with others. A gift from a friend that allows one to stay in touch with other friends, that is something to be treasured. Something for Mikoto to treasure. And all that is left of it...
...is a ringtone? Faint, almost inaudible, but it was definitely ringing SOMEWHERE. And it was getting fainter. Quieter as it is clearly moving away.
Fuu's Story
Does Fuu have anything precious to her? Such a question. Surely she did, but would she bring such a thing with her? Yes. Her 3DS. A portal to many worlds, a device perfect for escape from the everyday world, and a way to have fun with many others. And it was gone. It seems it was more than mere rumor.
Another victim. And no sign of the thief. Not for a while, anyways, until later, in the hall, just within eyesight of those with the sharpest vision, is a short-haired girl with nearly- indistinguishable features, a uniform that doesn't seem to be Infinity Institute's... and a 3DS. One that seems awfully familiar. It is placed... somewhere, probably in some pocket? And the girl runs.
Niramo's Story
Detective Niramo is on the case! She seems to catch on to the fact that the motives and history of some of the accused don't make sense. She went to put her clues in her notebook... but it is now just another clue, a missing piece of the puzzle in the wind. A notebook that was a fatherly memento. Love and memories and words. A powerful artefact of the heart. And now it is gone.
Or perhaps that obscured boy with the obscured backpack has it. Yes, that is what is in his hands, and now in his backpack. He breaks into a sprint... and is gone. But something was wrong with him. A whiff of magic? And something suspicious about him. Maybe the way that he can't seemed to be completely identifiable...
Steven's Story
Steven's backpack was gone. Not just any backpack, but his Cheeseburger backpack! A classic Steven backpack, one that reflects his personality. A backpack is a precious object. One that can contain just about anything and everything important to its wearer. It can even contain memories. And such a backpack is unmistakable, it could not have been grabbed by accident. Not even by that short girl who is turning the corner... and gone. Though not gone forever, as if one is sharp of eye and quick of feet, they could just barely keep an eye on her...
COMBAT: Fate Testarossa transforms into Barrier Jacket Impulse!
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
The only thing that can cheer Mikoto up in the wake of this horrific loss...
Is lunch.
Which might explain why she hoovers down the rest of her meal, HOMPH nomph nomph, and Chie and Aoi know her better than to interrupt when Mikoto is Very Busy Eating.
She leans back in her seat when she's finished consuming it all, the cafeteria chair's front legs tilted up off of the ground. "It's gone," she repeats herself, but she at least sounds a little less /devastated/ now she's had something to eat. A little more reflective...
Sure, it's gone, but Mikoto isn't exactly a stranger to looking for something important. And Chie said these things are turning up with other students, right..?
All a sudden her ear twitches, as her keen hearing picks up something faint in the distance. A faint chiptune...
BGM: Toby Fox - Walls Covered In Blood https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__ijkQhO6Xs
Mikoto bolts up in her chair, with a /scrrrape/ of ornate legs on the ground which causes a few tall and glamourous students to look up from the next table over. "That's it!" She declares, as she grabs her sword-case and shrugs it onto her shoulder, bounding out of the cafeteria towards the fading noise of the ringtone.
"Wait-- Mikoto-chan, your books--!" Aoi calls after her, looking from the bag still strewn across the table to the retreating girl.
"It's fine," sighs Chie, with the tone of someone who has Definitely Dealt With This Nonsense Before, "Mai-chan can take care of them..."
Mikoto doesn't even think about the responsibility she has thrust onto Mai's shoulders - or about the other girl she practically barrels over as she bounds out through the hall - because she is busy /chasing that ringtone./ Her hearing is really very good, but it's getting away..!!
<Pose Tracker> Fate Testarossa [Infinity Institute (5)] has posed.
Fate sees a reflection tracing across the glass. An indirect view. Amplified. Her chin lifts. And suddenly... "Those look like..."
<Sir. Detected. Distance - 10.>
OST Change - Retaliation - Promised Neverland - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydXhgMORSM8
Without hesitation. Fate suddenly leans forward, and it's like she's topping off the building. In a freefall dive. "Hold it!"
Except it's not really. Her downward trajectory subtly shifts such that she arcs to be parallel to the streets rather than perpendicular, flying just above the level of the street lights.
"You won't get away!" She declares, as she turns the corner in a blur.
<Sonic Move>
Flash
Flash
Flash
Flash
Strobe flashes erupt as the girl skips half blocks of Tokyo at a time. Her spell moving her around a hairpin turn of a corner.
<Distance - 20.>
"Bardiche. Load Cartridge."
<Cartridge Load.>
A plate on the haft of her weapon opens as she flies, moving into a revolver like spin, before pounding in a cartridge. Golden energy boils off of her.
<Sonic Move.>
Now she's skipping whole blocks at a time, as she follows behind that faint magical signal.
Flash
Flash
Flash
Flash
With a look of absolute determination on the brief look of her speeding image, she gives chase through the streets of Tokyo at ludicrous speed.
Not far away. A stray Shiba Inu puppy jaywalks across the road.
Only for her to gasp.
The child abruptly shifts course, corkscrewing up, and over...
... sideways...
Skimming down to road level she grabs the puppy before the truck would have impacted it. "That was close." The girl says to the shivering pup in her arms, that's obviously terrified.
-=-=-
"Please take her."
The animal shelter worker looks confused at the fact that a girl just appeared in front of her in cosplay, holding up a puppy. "Okay - um -" She takes the puppy.
Only to notice the distinct lack of the girl who gave it to her standing in that spot.
Fate is already speeding back along the streets of Tokyo in hot pursuit. "I /won't/ let you have your way." She vows.
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Now with the fear of having to explain to her father that his 'borrowed' detective notebook - let alone what was written inside it - was lost, an annoyed Niramo starts heading towards the lobby of the Juuban school building. Now the stakes were even higher since she was a victim, but she can't just start searching all the desks one by one. She could be mistaken as the prankster.
So it's time to take another page from her father's stolen notebook. When you don't know the suspect but have a general location, it was time for a stakeout.
That's how Niramo is found leaning against the side of a piller as she watches students exit the building on their way home or to their after-school clubs. No one really seems like they would be an obvious thief, but Niramo does like the idea of Chloe somehow getting in trouble for everything. "No, bad thoughts. This is a stakeout, I have to be professional and-hmm?" She's not quite sure what about the boy student gains her attention. Black hair, plain face that seems hard to read, but moving a little faster than the other students.
Or maybe it's the sight of a very familiar notebook disappearing into a simple backpack.
"Hey! Give that back!" Warnings of going from standing still to a sprint being bad for her muscles are ignored as Niramo starts chasing after the fleeing student, bookbag bouncing on her hip. A problem quickly arises by how difficult it is to keep an eye on her suspect, not because of him being fast but how her eyes don't want to pay attention to the Juuban runaway.
Niramo sees a crossing light ahead of her just turning green and starts to put a little more speed in her steps when- "Stop! To the left!" The ravenette stops herself before she rushes into a businessman and looks down at her jostled bookbag to see Takk sticking his head out, nose twitching rapidly. "Huh? Takk-san, are you-" "No time to explain. Just follow my directions...and hurry up! The trail is already growing faint." Complaints are tossed to the wind and Niramo nods once before going around the corner of the block. She just have to trust Takk and hope the Kwami doesn't lead her astray.
And only then does Niramo realize the worst part about the situation. She has to jog just to keep up. Strong words are going to be said about this unwanted exercise later.
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
When something goes missing at school, the proper and correct thing to do (as long as it's not explicitly against school rules) is to report the missing item ... and with the rash of thefts, as much as Fuu hates to join the statistics, reporting her missing 3DS is about the only thing she can think of to do. It's not like there's much in the way of distinguishing features, though; it's an original model, blue in color, with her own username, things like that.
She leaves the office with little optimism - at least until she catches sight of a girl, just around the corner from the office door. Fuu reaches up briefly to adjust her glasses, but she can see easily enough that it's *not* an Infinity uniform that girl is wearing. "Excuse me - ?"
A glimpse of blue plastic, part of the shape of a game system. It could be a coincidence, and yet it
- can't* be; the sure evidence would be to turn the system on, check the username and Mii, play
records -
The girl disappears around the corner, running footsteps retreating. Fuu abandons subtlety and courtesy in a breath, and runs in pursuit, uwabaki slapping against the floor - but by the time she reaches the corner, the stranger has vanished.
Gone. Like her game system. But now Fuu's suspicions are up, and she makes her way out of the Infinity Institute main tower, texting an apology to the archery club's vice president.
A few moments later, the Magic Knight of Wind stands atop a skyscraper near Infinity Island, wondering which direction she needs to head in. She lost track of the stranger inside, she could have gone anywh--
There's a blink of gold in the distance, and another. The Wind Knight peers in that direction, then calls the wind to assist her leaps, picking up speed as she guesses at whose lead she's following. Fate is a good ally, and while she might be on a different trail entirely, at least it's a possible direction to head in. It's certainly far better than nothing.
<Pose Tracker> Steven Universe [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.
A deep sigh escapes Steven as he worries for a precious item from a younger day. Where could it have gone? Who could have taken it? And why? Perhaps this was a time to BE A DETECTIVE.
Though with few leads, there was nothing to go on. A promising lead could be asking other students where they last saw it. But no other students are present, except...! "H-Hey!" Steven calls, looking toward the door. A short girl just left-- difficult to tell if a classmate or not, but lingered an odd amount of time near the classroom entrance, the only others who were inside were the teacher and the Gem victim.
Sneakers hit tile, and Steven jogs to try and keep up with them-- strangely enough they appear to pick up the pace as well, whether late to a club or actually fleeing is unknown, but this boy will be sure to catch them and talk it out!
Who knows, maybe they saw where the backpack went! "Waaaaait!" he calls out to them.
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Mikoto's Story
Mikoto rushes out after the mysterious ringtone without books, without manners, and seemingly without care of consequences. She is on the hunt! And... spots her potential prey. Someone that doesn't belong to this school. Someone with her phone? It seems that way. At least, the ring tone is coming from that person. And that person... has left the schoolgrounds, and is still running.
Fate's Story
If Fate did not stop for the dog, she could have caught the thief. However, the trail does not go cold. The girl with the hair ribbons stays just barely in sight, heading towards an industrial area...
Niramo's Story
Detective work, intuition, Takk's nose, and unwanted exercise get Niramo within vague viewing distance of the boy with the backpack. The backpack containing her notebook. It takes a lot of jogging to keep up, but at this rate, he will be caught in the industrial area.
Fuu's Story
Following the school rules was the right decision for Fuu - for an unexpected reason. She manages to spy the girl with her 3DS. Well, A 3DS, but... wrong uniform, running when seen... she is at least up to no good! Even after losing her, Fuu finds her again as the Wind Knight... or at least finds Fate, who is on the trail of another thief at the very least.
Steven's Story
That short girl... Steven was able to tell something about her, even if she had a vague appearance. She was either the thief or in the wrong place at the wrong time. When she is now seen wearing the Cheeseburger Backpack - one of the only distinct things about her besides her height - which one of those she was is confirmed. And she's out of there.
<Pose Tracker> Fate Testarossa [Infinity Institute (5)] has posed.
<Sonic Form.>
Fate's Barrier Jacket shifts and suddenly she's streaking towards Keiyou Industrial District at speeds that supersonic jets would envy.
... one can tell she's pretty determined to catch this girl...
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
The Theives'(?) Story
All of the thieves seem to be just one-half a step away from everyone. A corner here, a distraction there, and they fade out of sight for a little bit. They all seem to be heading to the same place - The Keiyou Industrial District, and not the friendly-looking part. Small factories belching steam and smoke, loud machinery whirring and beeping away, and other obstacles make it difficult to navigate and search. And... it seems the thieves are gone. With the heroes beginning to arrive all in the same general area, it is strange that none of them have caught the culprits. There is no trace of them left, except for a giant cheeseburger with straps and zippers in the middle of a warehouse's parking lot...
To Be Continued...
