View source for 2023-03-25 - Sorrow in a Container of Cargo

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! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''Title: Sorrow in a Container of Cargo'''
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|'''Summary''':<br>
''Raiko is trying a new coffee shop that happens to be frequented by a new acquaintance, Nori, who eventually makes a rather unique offer of assistance.''
|-
| '''Who:'''<br>
[[Raiko Takashima]], [[Nori Ankou]]
|-
| '''Where:'''<br>
Harajuku Trendy District (Yamanote High City)
|-
| '''OOC - IC Date:'''<br>
3/25/2023 - Saturday, February 27, 2016
|-
|}

 .***************************** Yamanote High City *****************************.
 *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+* Harajuku Trendy District +*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+
   A street like Takeshita likes to warn its visitors what they're getting       
   into. Mounted on chromed gates, LED displays draw rainbows and flowers over   
   and over, cheerfully welcoming one and all, and beneath them the road has     
   just enough downward incline to appreciate just how many people have          
   accepted the invitation. This street is the heart of Harajuku, street         
   fashion capital of Japan and a world-famous mecca for youth culture.          
                                                                                 
   Daring, experimental styles compete and combine here in a free-form paradise  
   of sartorial Darwinism. There's a place for frilly gothic lolita, glam-rock   
   visual kei, and even interpretations of Western styles like punk rock, and    
   only the boring is forbidden. Particularly on Sundays, young people treat     
   Harajuku like a catwalk, inspiring and inspired by the hip local designers    
   who run small shops here, all looking to create the next big thing. The       
   corporations moved in long ago, and so plenty of big international chains     
   have thrown their hat into this lively arena.                                 
                                                                                 
   Harajuku is rare among the elite fashion districts of the world, however, in  
   that it is still genuinely youth-driven. Where Paris's Trocadero would have   
   an expensive cafe, Harajuku has a famous McDonald's. Cutesy candy shops,      
   crepe stands, and kitschy tee-shirt stalls combine with a whimsical           
   aesthetic to make Harajuku's target audience clear. This district is good     
   for wasting money fast, but it's mostly allowances and part-time paychecks    
   it's gobbling, and so the prices it demands are surprisingly -- dangerously   
   -- reasonable.                                                                

 <Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

It is a bitter cold day--not raining or snowing, thankfully, but the kind of day where the wind cuts deep and ecourages the seeking out of warmth, be it a fireplace, a warm blanket, or a cozy little coffee shop and a mug of hot chocolate.

Raiko has opted for number three, today, venturing out from the Infinity dorms to find someplace to studies. The cold almost drove her back, but... the desire to not be in the dorms won out. One quick search for a coffee place she hadn't tried before later, and she would up in a cozy little shop fashioned out of old cargo containers. The pictures and description of it appealed to the maker in her; repurposing an old thing like that into something new is the type of creative craftsmanship she can get behind.

She went in, ordered, and then retreated to the second story, finding a table in a corner to spread out her books and notebooks. A large mug of hot chocolate (with just a few wisps of rapidly melting whipped cream) and half of a rather large, decadent looking brownie sit on a saucer and plate next to her, while the girl herself is... slumped over on the table. There's a science textbook propped up open in front of her, but she doesn't really seem to be ''reading it'', at the moment.

Her puffy pink jacket is hunt up on the back of her chair, and she's dressed for warmth in a blue sweater, skirt, tights, and winter boots, her long blue hair tied back in a ponytail. And while to most observers she simply looks like a tired student taking an impromptu break... those more perceptive to such things might feel an undercurrent of grief drifting around her.<br>
Nori Ankou has partially disconnected.

 <Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

It's a cozy place. It appeals to Nori for several reasons. 

1. Coffee!!!! <br>
2. Decent memories <br>
3. For complex reasons, it's relatively convenient for her - it's a minor detour, not a great diversion or Expedition. <br>
4. The aesthetic 

And so the door opens and a woman in a warm coat walks in. No, it's a girl - she just is dressed like a fashionista. She gets in the queue to place her coffee order, and then Nori Ankou turns her head -- 

And several seconds later, with an eclair on a plate and a cup of espresso on a saucer in the other, Nori comes up near Raiko. "Oh, excuse me-- do you mind if I sit with you for a moment? I saw your textbook..." 

"I think they use the same one at my school, and I'm behind.." 


 <Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Raiko, meanwhile, has travelled great distances in her quest to avoid a few certain places for studying, so the diversion or Expedition matters less to her.

She blinks and looks up, blinking some more as she sees Nori standing there. "Huh?" She sits up a little more and looks at her textbook--it's currently open, and propped up against a couple of other textbooks to stay upright--and then back to Nori. "Um... okay." Her let her materials sprawl all over the table, but she quickly starts to condense a few of the piles to make some space for Nori to sit. "You're... Yumi-chan's friend, right?"

A space cleared, she gestures to the empty chair next to her for Nori to sit. She studies the older girl some more... and then there seems to be a look of recognition in her eyes as if she's finally put something together.

 <Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

"I am, actually," Nori settles down as she says, her china chiming as she looks over and smiles, a little wryly. "I'm Nori Ankou. Do you come here often...? I've never seen you before!" 

Inwardly Nori takes several gentle breaths through her nose. It's all intuitive, and sometimes she wonders how much of it is just motivated reasoning (she learned that phrase in science class in September and has used it a lot). But even so, perhaps she can feel qualities beyond simple grief. Maybe, maybe... 

"Though, I suppose I should amend," Nori says with a tilt of her head. "We've never been introduced!" Her eyes narrow. "Do you still have 'that phone'?" The last sentence is teasing... probably. Her TONE is teasing anyway! 


 <Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Raiko shakes her head. "No, this is my first time coming here. It came up on a list of coffee shops, and I'd never tried it, so..." She blinks as Nori says she's never seen her before. Maybe she meant she's never seen her ''here'' before? That would make sense.

Motivated reasoning or otherworldly abilities, really all it would take is more than a quick glance at a seemingly tired student (entrance exams just passed and finals are just around the corner, so it's not too surprising to see a student exhausted from their studies at the moment) to see there's something deeper concerning the girl.

The claim of not being introduced really makes her puzzled. Didn't they give out their names at the mission? She's pretty sure Yumi-chan said they were all like them: magical girls. So she should definitely still remember all that... and then that teasing question just makes her more confused. "... yes?" She pulls her cell phone out of her pocket and places it on the table. It ''seems'' like an ordinary phone, at least. "I'm Raiko Takashima," she supplies... not sure if the other girl is joking or not.

 <Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

That's probably what Nori meant. Sometimes she gets excited. 

And perhaps, Nori thinks, her approach is getting a little off the right path. She looks at the phone because, yeah, she did just ask about it, raising up her coffee cup to take a tiny sip of the tiny but dense coffee, exhaling afterwards. Her eyes open and close once, slowly, and she smiles a little after that. "Do forgive me if I'm coming off strange, I had a long day and a short night of sleep... I'm sure I'll make much more sense once I've finished this." 

"Do you go to Infinity with Yumi?" Nori asks afterwards, more casually. "I've only been out that way a few times, myself... it's quite the impressive campus, though." 


 <Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Raiko... understands being awkward. She's been quite awkward for a few years now, and is doing her best to fix that, but... it's slow going. "Oh, don't worry about it, Ankou-san. I understand. I've been up late studying... a lot, recently." she confesses with a small but very weary sigh. She picks up her phone and stands it up on one corner, holding the opposite corner so she can spin it slowly. No magic, just a very careful grip.

She nods, "Yeah. I'm a ninth year. Hopefully I get to be a 10th year there, too..." She nods, "Yeah, it's really nice..."

She looks up to Nori again, studying her features for a moment. "Um... You're... Akai Mirai, right?"

 <Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

Nori laughs, raising her pastry and taking a small bite out of her eclair. Don't want to get cream on yourself, after all. "Oho~" Nori says. "And I was asking about your cell phone, for I saw that you were using it for... you know... Cool things," magic, she is definitely insinuating it's magic, look at that tilt of the head and upraised eyebrow, she just doesn't want to get up and say 

M <br>
M<br>
M<br>
M<br>
M<br>
M<br>
M<br>
MAGIC??? in the coffee shop. 

Is that why she had to come to THIS coffee shop? 

"It must be difficult in a skyscraper like that," Nori continues. "I was surprised to hear that it was not simply on, I don't know, four or five stories, but the ENTIRE building--!" A pause then. 

"I am," Nori says, "though not at this very moment, exactly -- if you follow me. Do you follow our work...?" 


 <Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Raiko nods as Nori insinuates that she was using it for 'cool stuff.' "Yeah," she says with a bit of weariness that... doesn't quite suit the admission of doing 'cool stuff' or what she says next. "It's... kind of my specialty, I guess." She looks around. She specifically picked the table all the way in the corner, on the upper floor, to be less bothered by people... so she lifts her hand up ''just'' a bit, and the cell phone continues to spin without her holding the top corner.

That's just telekinesis, but it's still a cool thing with a phone.

But she only lets it do that a moment before grabs it and lays it flat.

"Yeaaaah... it's... the whole thing. ... Including the dorms." She sounds particularly glum when she mentions the dorms.

She nods, "Oh, I see. Sorry, I was just... surprised Yumi-chan knew a model like that, that's all." And another nod. "Oh, I do, a bit, yeah. Um..." She holds her arm out a bit to indicate her sweater. It's definitely from the brand, but since it's blue, it's not Akamira. "... I'm with Aohime, though." She quickly adds, "But I have a friend who loves Akamira!"

 <Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

Nori blinks several times. Then: "Oh! I've heard about their program," belatedly, mostly secondhand, as if it was not coming quite to mind easily. She sips her coffee afterwards, watching the phone thing with obvious awe and small violet sparkles in her eyes. Metaphorically. 

Mostly metaphorically. 

"Oh-hoooo," Nori continues. "What are THOSE like...? Do you have a roommate? I used to live on the dorms at dear Ohtori, but they're laid out quite differently. Now I live in town, of course, and ride the train. It is a little more lonely, but I prefer it." 

She smiles a little then. "I try not to mingle the strands of my lives more than I must... but I do run across people who I met in one string on another now and then, and it's always a lot of fun." And then she glances down -- "Oh! That one, from the fall! Is it the one with the merino collar...? I know there's a few variations I don't end up trying on, just as a matter of, mm, of getting everything right for fast fashion." 

"It's quite alright," Nori continues. "The Blue Princess is a dear friend of mine -- ohooo?" 


 <Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

It's Raiko's turn to blink. "... You... have?" She wonders if Yumi mentioned it. She seems to trust a lot more people with her secret identity than Raiko would. But she ''has'' been at this longer, so maybe that's to be expected.

"Theyh're... fine, I guess," she says in a way that distinctly indicates that they are not, in fact, fine. "I only moved into mine recently so I'm still... getting used to them. Because I moved in so late I don't have a roommate, at the moment, which is probably just as well. I still have Shiori, though, so it's not that lonely, at least. I used to take the bus to and from school, but..."

Mingling threads. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to... um... I get that. I have to keep... certain things separate, too."

She blinks a little and looks down at herself, and tries to tug at the collar a little to look at it. "Um... I'm not sure...? I follow AoAka on social media but I'm not ''that'' familiar with all of the technical terms..." She nods. "Yeah. Her favorite color's red, so it was an easy choice."

 <Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

"You're fine, you're fine," Nori says to Raiko about the threads, perhaps answering the middle first. "&#42;I&#42; try not to mix them... for a while I had only friends who were involved in everything." 

A beat or two passes. Her face darkens, but it passes. 

"And I haven't heard much, I just know there is SOMETHING there," Nori says, with a widening of her eyes. "I'm a lady of the city, I have known many girls...! That sounds sordid," Nori concludes, the latter in smaller letters. She tilts her head. "Shiori?" 

"And!" 

FASHION WORDS TIME! 

"Merino is a particularly fine sort of wool. It's very comfortable, but very costly... so that sweater only uses it for the parts that would be likely to touch your skin in the winter. The sleeves and the collar! The rest is a little less fine - not that it is poorly made, mind you - but it meant it was rather reasonably priced. And how often do you wear s weater without a shirt?" 

Nori then smiles. "It's flattering to hear," she says. "I sometimes feel a sort of responsibility to everyone who wears AkaMira..." 


 <Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Very quietly, Raiko admits, "Well, you've already seen me doing... 'cool stuff', so... I'm used to keeping it a secret from people who don't know about it." And that's just 'normal' magic. Being a magical girl, on the other hand... is a whole other matter entirely.

She glances up just in time to see that look but doesn't make a comment about it.

"I mean, Infinity has all kinds of stuff, so..." It's not exactly an admission, but it's also not exactly a ''lie'', either... but ''that'' is a secret that is definitely not hers to give up. Another glance at that phrasing. She didn't jump to 'sordid'... but now that Nori's mentioned it, on the other hand...

"She's my..." A pause. 'Familiar' is the right word, but it's a bit much to say out loud. "... cat", she finishes. "She was with me the other day."

Raiko nods appreciatively as Nori explains. "Ohhh, I see... That makes sense. It's like having to carefully ration out your budget when you're designing a blueprint for something." She pokes at her collar and the sleeves. "This might be that, then? It ''is'' pretty comfty..."

"She loves the style, too," Raiko reassures. "But... that's kind of a nice thought. Kinda like you're helping everyone who wears AkaMira look their best."

 <Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

"That's very true," Nori says, raising her cup to her lips and finally finishing off the Espresso. There isn't much in a cup of it, after all! But it's strong. 

"Oho~. I suppose if the dormitories are for that program, they would know about such things... I know a girl at Ohtori who keeps a lot of pets. They say she even keeps snails." 

"But I understand it might be discreet!" And after a moment, Nori tilts her head -- "I could see the label if you wanted..." 

"I do like to think that, but I just wonder if i am making them imitate me," Nori says with a little bit of a pout. "But that's not a very happy thought, is it?" Her eyes turn a little towards Raiko. "Do you ever get caught in thoughts like that?" 


 <Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Raiko, meanwhile, has a fairly large mug of hot chocolate still--thought the wisps of whipped cream that were left have fully melted. She picks it up and takes a long sip from it, letting it warm her up just a bit. "This place makes ''really'' good hot chocolate," she comments, in a 'I'll definitely come back here' sort of way.

Raiko shakes her head a little. "They have dorms for all of the students, not just.... those." Still not technically an admission! "But they do try to make sure some of the students get matched up together..." She considers that. "Snails, huh? I know some people use toads and rats, but I've never thought about snails..."

She's referring to some of the traditional witch familiars, but she doesn't quite explain that line of thought.

"Um... sure? It'd be nice to know, I guess..." She pulls her ponytail out of the way so Nori can see the label.

"Trust me, Cheiko-chan was never just copying you. She might take inspiration, but... she always had her own style. She was really good at helping us look our best, too."

She looks a bit taken aback by that question, however. "Thoughts like that? You mean... 'not very happy' ones?" She drops her gaze to her lap, and oh so quietly admits, "... Maybe."

 <Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

"Does it...?" Nori asks. 

Has she never tried it? 

Perhaps she only drinks... the bitter. 

"I think they're little snails," Nori says. "They say she keeps them in her pencil case. But I've seen big snails, you know. I don't know if they'd be good for -- certain things, but if they could speak... I wonder what they'd say." They'd definitely say it slowly. 

"And-- yes," Nori says with a faint smile. 

"It can be difficult, can't it?" With this Nori glances out the window. "It makes the light fade; it means it's hard to sleep." 


 <Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

"It does!" she says firmly. "I think they put some... cinnamon in it?"

Raiko, on the other hand... prefers hot chocolate to coffee, most of the time.

"In her pencil case...? Then where does she keep her pencils?" ponders Raiko aloud. "Does she hav ea second pencil case she uses just for her pencils, maybe...?"

"Oh yeah?" she says of big snails. "How big?"

Raiko hasn't exactly been ''ecstatic'' this entire conversation, but upon the topic shifting to unhappy thoughts she seems to sag a big. She folds her arms on the table and rests her chin on them. Difficult... "... Yeah," she agrees. "It... It just... makes everything seem impossible, sometimes, no matter how hard you try to do something about it."

 <Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

"Hmm," Nori muses. She says, "Well, in this world, they're about the size of your hand..." 

But that was the snail, anyway. 

"I don't know," Nori says, "where she keeps her pencils. She can't just carry them loose in her bag, can she? I mean it's just a rumor, sometimes they're wrong. Or only somewhat accurate." 

"Well... it depends on the thing... some things are impossible," Nori sighs, "but fewer than I think most think." 


 <Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Raiko ''definitely'' catches that, and her attention is drawn back to Nori again. "'This world'? Have you seen them... somewhere else?"

She can't pass up an opportunity to see cool stuff elsewhere.

"I guess that's true... It's probably not really nice to discuss rumors about a person like that, huh? But... maybe she uses a laptop and doesn't have any pencils?" A beat. "Or she keeps her pencils in a snail case?"

"Even if they aren't actually impossible, they're still... really, really hard... I'm trying, but..." A moment to dwell on some thoughts, before she follows up with... "Shiori and Yumi-chan help a lot, but... Even with their help... I dunno."

 <Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

"Oh yes," Nori says. "But it will be some time before I could offer an invitation..." 

("Still, though, very big. About as long as your arm. Flat, though.) 

"I never thought about the laptop possibility," Nori muses. "Ohtori doesn't feel like a place where it's easy to keep a laptop... It's so classically styled." 

"Do you want to talk about it a bit? I don't mind hearing. Even just to say it aloud can ease the mind." 


 <Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

"That's so cool, though," says Raiko. "But yeah, I understand. Travel to other places can be difficult for a whole bunch of reasons. Still. to see all the things they might have to offer..." All those new forms of magic to see...!

("As big as your arm? Wow! Do they still have shells?")

"I guess that's true. I guess I'm just used to using mine..." And indeed hers is on the table with the rest of her study materials... off to the side, with the screen currently aslseep, but it's there.

The offer to talk is met with a long bit of silence. Finally, and the quietest yet, she says, "... I never knew my parents growing up. Something happened to them when I was really young. But I grew up with my grandfather taking care of me, and..." Her voice cracks a little as she admits, "... he's missing."

 <Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

("Yes, but they're flat. Like slippers.") 

"Aiiih," Nori says, though, when the story is unvailed. A soft but high sympathetic sound. She leans forwards a little, her head turning. 

"That must be so difficult," she continues. "Are you doing alright at home..? How long has it been, since..." 


 <Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

There is... a lot more that could be said. Her missing grandfather is hardly her only problem, but... it is definitely the one that looms largest in her mind.

She just nods at the matter of it being difficult. But then she glances, forlornly, to the side to look at Nori. "I'm not staying at home anymore. I had to move into the dorms. It's only ever been me, my grandpa, and Shiori at home."

Shiori takes good care of her, but, well, she is still a cat. Even if she's a magical one.

a"... They're nice, but... I don't like living there. And going home is... not the same, right now." She closes her eyes. "That's why I came here to study, because I don't want to be at either of those places right now."

"He's been missing for a while... long enough that they decided it was best I move into the dorms, so there'd be some adults around in case I needed help. My grandpa often traveled on trips, so I'm used to being on my own, but... he hasn't made it back from his last one yet."

 <Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

Nori nods along. Moving into the dorms. A place you'd be be safe. Cared for. But not a home. She takes a deep breath and lets it out with a little 'pah' of clear sympathy, picking up the eclair. Biting into it. 

"It's not the same, is it? It's one thing if they are on a journey, perhaps they send you a message here and there... at least you know where they are. But this must be so hard, if it is like he was swallowed by the mists." 


 <Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

There are ''other'' issues she has with Infinity... or rather, that Infinity has with her, but... none of them dwarf her missing grandpa.

"It's not," agrees Raiko. "The worst part was, Shiori wasn't even there when I moved in. She tried to find my grandpa, but... then I met Yumi-chan. And then Shiori came back, so at least I have her now."

"Yeah, he was only supposed to be gone for a week, but... it's been months, now... Not a single word, and Shiori didn't find anything, either."

 <Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

Nori is silent for long seconds. Deliberating over something. Thinking. Contemplating perhaps. 

But I've already opened this, Nori thinks to herself. This isn't a great secret or anything. And she is already one who knows magic. She won't be shocked, if she lives with a garrulous cat and knows Yumi. 

"I do not know if it will help," Nori says, "but... tell me, Takashima... do you believe in divination?" 


 <Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Raiko is silent while Nori thinks to herself. She sits up and takes a bite out of her brownie--it looks fairly decadent, with a thick layer of frosting and walnuts embedded within. Another soft sigh as she consumes the all to temporary sweetness.

Nor is right about her, of course. Shiori ''does'' talk, and she does, in fact, know Yumi, and... well, she was casting magic, the same as Yumi was that day.

She looks up to Nori, blinking a little when she asks that question. And that carefully considered question is met with perhaps all too casual of a reply. "Divination? Yeah." As if it were the most ordinary thing in the world. She looks down a bit. "I've studied it, though... it's not my specialty." She looks up again. "Why?"

Complete lack of scandalization by the mention of divination? Check.

 <Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

"Oh, goodness," Nori says. "Did you learn Tarot? I've done Tarot a few times for others," Nori says, which has an Implication behind it. 

"But it isn't Tarot I was thinking of. That is often very illuminating and is excellent for resolving difficulties, but you have a very different issue... you want information that is rather more specific." 

"I do know of -- another method." 


 <Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

It takes Raiko a moment to think on that. "I think... yeah, my friends and I did readings for each other a few times, but that was... a couple years ago, at least..." Quietly she murmurs to herself, "Do I still have my tarot deck...? It has to be in my room somewhere, I don't think I threw it out. Unless I lent it to Cheiko-chan or Kiyo-chan, but if that's the case..."

She looks up to Nori. "How did your readings go?" she inquires quietly.

She sighs. "Yeah, it's great for personal revelations, but... those probably won't help me find my grandpa."

She perks up, looking at Nori curiously. "Another method? Of divination? What is it?" She suddenly looks keenly interested now.

 <Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

"If you didn't wrap it in red silk, you might as well get a new one, at this point," Nori advises. 

She looks upwards. "Well," she says, "It's a bit tricky... but it is more... hm... it's regional... it's something of a memory of something that happened, and an echo of the progress of history. It can answer your question, or reveal how something will rise to the challenge of evil." 

"We call it a game; the Luxor game. There was a city once -- not in Egypt -- by that name." 


 <Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Raiko frowns at that thought. "Hopefully it's with one of my friends, then..."

Raiko is definitely listening to that... slightly complicated introduction. "Answer a question or reveal how something will rise to the challenge of evil, huh...?"

Both of those, as it so happens, are of great interest to her.

"Luxor game, you mean-- Oh." No points for guessing what Raiko was about to ask, there. "... how do you 'play', then?" she asks, with plain curiosity. The chance to see some new magic is always something she's interested in.

 <Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

"Yes," Nori says. And then -- 

Nori shifts herself upwards, and rises. "You get up to a great height -- no I'm getting ahead of myself." 

Back down. "You set something up on the ground," Nori says. "You get a lot of little objects. Shogi tiles, or go stones, or little figurines, or just pieces of woods and matchsticks. Dominos were popular where it is from but I know here dominoes are rarer. (The game piece, I mean, not the pizza.) So then you set things up, you make a pretty pattern on a big flat smooth stone, or perhaps in this case on a table - or on a map. If you know he went to Africa, you use a map of Africa." 

"THEN," Nori says, "You get up this high, with a proper amount of water -- say if it were a map the size of this table's top, you would use about a liter or a half-liter of water... you get up at least one full body height above it and -" 

She mimes turning it inside out. "Dump it. All of it, right down towards the middle." 


 <Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Raiko listens with rapt focus and attention, and halfway through grabs a notebook, flips to an empty page, and starts making notes on the process. "Some small objects... okay... on a map, possibly..." she repeats to herself as Nori continues.

She cuts in a moment to say, "Oh, I have a set of dominoes. I use them for practice." Practicing ''what'' she doesn't say, but it's probably easy to draw an inference.

She finishes scribbling down, "Dump... all.. of... the water..." She blinks a bit and then looks up. "And then...?" She hazards a guess. "Do you use the positions of the objects to read your divination...?" She ponders that. "Sounds like reading tea leaves of throwing bones..." That's actually a favorable comparison, in her mind--she's comparing it to other methods she's heard about.

 <Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

"Yes," Nori says. 

"I mean, no," Nori says. 

"Sort of," she concludes. "It's sort of a, a, an intuitive kind of thing. I would demonstrate but -- um -- it's hard to demonstrate. But it's not that hard to do," she continues, "and I've seen it really work! Someone did a thing and it was quite marvelous, and they did it again to show me it wasn't stage magic, either!" 


 <Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Annnnnd more slightly unclear answers. But that's fine.

"I don't think the coffee shop or my homework would like it very much if we were to try and reenact it right now..." She looks at her paper, tapping her pencil against it. "But we could find a spot, I'm sure..." she muses. "And I've got a lot of dominoes..."

The people searching for her grandfather have probably tried using divinations to locate him, but... there's no harm in trying a new method, right...?

Raiko looks up to Nori. "Do... you think you could perform it? If we found a suitable spot?"

 <Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

"Of course," Nori says, "but it might work better if you yourself do the pouring! But I can set up the pieces, that's no trouble at all." 

A pause. 

"You may want to laminate the map, though." 


 <Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

"Oh! Sure, I think I can do that... but I might need your help in interpreting the results. Divination, um... isn't my strongest subject," she admits in a tiny voice.

Raiko thinks on that a moment and then nods. "... Right." On the page where she's taking notes, she starts a to-do list, scribbling down 'Place', 'Dominoes', 'Water', 'Map', and lastly, 'Laminate Map.'

After a moment's consideration she asks, "... Does the place where you perform it matter? Would it help if we did it in a place that's linked to my grandfather...?" Because if it would, well, there's only one place she can get both of them to--the Magic Association probably wouldn't take too kindly to her dumping water everywhere.

... Then again, they might understand if she explained what it was for. But even so, best not to risk it.

 <Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

"I don't know," Nori says, after some thought. "But if there is one - his home, for instance... I mean, not his bedroom, I suppose. But his garden? Certainly. It could do no harm, and being in private might be useful, too!" 

Since they may have to use a ladder to dump water on some toys on a map. 


 <Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Raiko... looks a bit pensive at that thought as Nori confirms that thought of hers, but... well, she doesn't have to show Nori ''everything'', certainly.

"We could do it at my home..." she ventures quietly. "''Our'' home, I mean." It's hard to think of it as home at the moment, with her grandfather missing, but if it'll possibly help find her grandfather, then... "And the neighbors shouldn't be too much of an issue... if anyody asks I can just tell them I'm doing a science experiment."

 <Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

"Of course," Nori murmurs. "It doesn't have to be terribly terribly high, not if the map's as big as this tabletop or the like. And it won't take that long. If you have a balcony, that works as well... It's a flexible sort of ritual." 

She smiles, a bit. "There's that 'ice bucket challenge,' too, you could say you are practicing for that, couldn't you?" It is a little cold outside still, but even so... 

"I hope it will find something," Nori concludes with a dip of her head. 


 <Pose Tracker> Raiko Takashima [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

"There's not really a balcony, but... we could pour it out the window, maybe... or off of the roof. I think that would work, too..." And if all else fails... there's always flight.

"Well, it being cold probably just helps with the ice bucket challenge, I think? Either way, I... well, my neighbors know I like trying lots of weird experiments like that, so it shouldn't be a problem."

"Um... I'll work on getting everything we'll need together. I think I know a place where I can laminate a map... Um... do you want to exchange phone numbers so I can text you when I'm ready?"

As they do, or don't take care of the business of exchanging numbers, or double checking the materials, or small talk, or any of a dozen other things, Raiko's sorrow still consumes her but... for the first time, it feels a little bit more possible to swim against that tide.
[[Category: Logs]]