Battle Fantasia MUSH - User contributions [en]

Sakuyo Izumi

2013-10-27T12:39:32Z

Purophet: Concealing Diva Heart's identity.

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!style="color:black;background:#D2B48C;font-size: 120%;text-align: center;-moz-border-radius-topright: 10px;-moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px"|Sakuyo Izumi
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| [[File:sakuyo.png]]
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|style="text-align: center"| ''Left: Street fashion; Right: Puella Magi''
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!colspan="2" style="color:black;background:#D2B48C;font-size: 120%;text-align: center;-moz-border-radius-topright: 10px;-moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px"|Status
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|'''Name''' || Sakuyo Izumi (井積咲世)
|-bgcolor="#FFEFD5"
|'''Cast''' || [[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]
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|'''Gender''' || Female
|-bgcolor="#FFEFD5"
|'''Age''' || 15
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|'''School''' || [[School: Ohtori Academy|Ohtori Academy]]
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|'''Grade''' || 9th
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|'''Clubs''' || Manga Club
|-bgcolor="#FFEFD5"
|'''Organization''' || [[Organization: The Tuner Organization|Tuner Organization]]
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!style="color:black;background:#D2B48C;font-size: 120%; text-align: center;width: 1500pt;-moz-border-radius-topright: 10px;-moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px" | Quote
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<blockquote> ''"Pretty hands are hands that don't know honest work." ''
 </blockquote>
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!style="color:black;background:#D2B48C;font-size: 120%; text-align: center;width: 1500pt;-moz-border-radius-topright: 10px;-moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px" | Profile
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Sakuyo Izumi is one of Ohtori Academy’s stormier delinquents, but at least she’s honest about it. Daughter of the oyabun of the yakuza Izumi-gumi, Sakuyo speaks harshly in the Kansai dialect, dares to physically strike those who are above reproach, and voices open disdain for the fine cultures and refined palates of Ohtori. By evenings, she fights Witches, youma and other Tuners, maintaining her urban territory and poaching elsewhere alike. At school and beyond the Barrier, she dirties her hands to bring her own idea of justice to the world, and damn anyone who will stand in her way.
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{|style="text-align: left; border: black solid 2px;background:#F5FFFA;-moz-border-radius: 10px;margin: 0.5em 0 0 0"
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!colspan="2" style="color:black;background:#D2B48C;font-size: 120%; text-align: center;width: 1500pt;-moz-border-radius-topright: 10px;-moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px" | What's in your heart?
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|'''[[Eri Shimanouchi]]''' || ''"I've let her in. There's no going back now. I can only hope this goes better than the last time I let somebody in."''
|-bgcolor="#FFEFD5"
|'''[[Hayate Yagami]]''' || ''"She's a sweet kid. Got something magic going on, but that's beside the point."''
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|'''[[Madoka Kaname]]''' || ''"She looks up to me. I can't let her down."''
|-bgcolor="FFEFD5"
|'''[[Nadeshiko Fujisaki]]''' || ''"Kid's got a mouth on her when she feels like it! Good for her."''
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|'''[[Naota Uneme]]''' || ''"Uneme-chan trusted me with something important. I don't know why, but she trusted me."''
|-bgcolor="FFEFD5"
|'''[[Rei Fushigiyo|Diva Heart]]''' || ''"Tougher than she looks. Tried to poach from me, but she handed it over, so we're even. Still pissed about that hospital visit, though."''
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!style="color:black;background:#D2B48C;font-size: 120%; text-align: center;width: 1500pt;-moz-border-radius-topright: 10px;-moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px" | What have you been through?
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Sakuyo was born to Kanon and Daigo Izumi, both ethnic Koreans native to Kamagasaki, or as it is officially (and euphemistically) now known, Airin-chiku, a slum neighborhood on the outskirts of Osaka. Daigo was a street tough with a soft side, gone straight some years ago in an effort to create a safe family environment for his family, Kanon a blue collar girl who’d gone through her wild years and just wanted to eke out a living in the shadow of Kansai’s great city. Both loved their daughter dearly, but it quickly became apparent that providing for her was a labor beyond the slum city. Construction work was too thin to support the dream of a comfortable lifestyle, and a drought in available work soon forced them to choose between food or shelter. They chose food, and the Izumis joined the growing number of homeless people living in Kamagasaki.

Sakuyo grew up as a street urchin, occasionally a beggar, and as she grew older, occasionally a pickpocket. She stared in the window at secondhand electronics stores selling old televisions, on display playing American music videos and Japanese TV dramas, and as she did, she dreamed of living that way, with a cozy futon to sleep in, with indoor heating, with a CD library full of music and visits to the bakery to pick up fancy Western-style breads. Occasionally there was work, and with the shady construction dealers around Kamagasaki, she ended up putting in extra hours herself, digging and carrying heavy loads from when she was 9. They needed the money; still, Daigo was apologetic, and he always made sure to keep a little money free to buy Sakuyo a manga or a treat of some kind. The manga ended up being read over and over, until they were worn and stained.

Sakuyo had few friends her age those years in Kamagasaki. It was a dying slum, and the workers who drifted through the town were mostly middle-aged or elderly men without families of their own. They treated her well enough; Daigo was on good terms with his fellow workers, and Kanon had taught Sakuyo not to steal from their fellow poor, after all, who needed everything they had. They taught her songs and salty language. What few children there were were mostly from gangster families or, in any case, better off. They taught Sakuyo to keep up her guard, emotionally and physically. More than once she started fights with them, to be scolded by Kanon and privately encouraged by Daigo (“well, let’s keep it a secret from your mother… hey, did you win?”). Daigo taught her pride; he taught her to stand up to bullies, and to never let them get to her. That she could be better than them, and she could even show them a lesson or two.

Two years ago, at age 13, something strange happened. When no one was around, Sakuyo found a bizarre white mouse nibbling on a crust of fallen bread, and the mouse called her by her name. It said she could call her Kyubey, and that it was a fairy from far, far away; it told her of secret battles waged on the edges of the world, between magical girls and Witches; it told her that she had a gift, a special dream, and it could awaken that dream for her in exchange for her assistance protecting the world from the Witches’ curse. She hesitated; in truth, she appreciated just having a friend around, somebody to listen and something to pet. But in her dreams at night she saw those brightly lit sets, she felt the warmth, she smelled her mother cooking on a shiny new range. And she made a wish: to get out of Kamagasaki, to reach the light; to have what those gangster kids had.

That night was when everything went wrong.

That night was the night when a bouryokudan organization came through, clearing out the homeless in preparation for a construction development. Sakuyo doesn’t know who threw the first punch, and Daigo has never told her, but three things she knows happened on that night. A fight broke out. Kanon was stabbed, suffering a mortal wound. Daigo’s anger and drive from his days on the streets reawakened. In the space of one night, Daigo rallied his fellow destitutes and friends from work, and he told them he was fed up. They deserved better. Sakuyo was there when they broke into the organization’s local bank and burned their stockpile of ill-gotten gains. They fled immediately; several of them were arrested, but they sought passage east, where they wouldn’t be recognized, where they could start again. Tokyo. The Izumi-gumi was born, a small but preternaturally successful syndicate filling gaps left open in Tokyo’s underworld.

At first, Sakuyo was swept up with Daigo’s temper. She had lost her mother; the wish-rat had betrayed her; and they were on the run. On the way to Tokyo, she did not stay long enough in one place to encounter many Witches, nor was she in a mood to. Upon reaching Tokyo, though, the Izumi-gumi’s fortunes multiplied, as if by magic, and soon she was living in the kind of luxuries she had always dreamed of. Her first few encounters with Witches were desperate and left her in rough condition, until she was joined by a water-shaping Tuner Puella Magi named Shizuko, herself relatively newly minted, who showed her the ropes. They became friends, aiding one another for half a year before her mentor fell in battle. She reached out to the rest of the Tuners, largely to be rebuffed and taken advantage of. She has seen the first friends she made at Ohtori turn their backs on their lessers, as well, and consequentially, has thrown herself increasingly into her work battling Witches, alone. Increasingly distant with her father, dissatisfied with luxury and rough with her classmates, Sakuyo is a problem waiting to happen.
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==== Logs and cutscenes ====
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[[Category:Characters]] [[Category:Ohtori]] [[Category:Tuners]]

2013-10-17 - A Father's Grief

2013-10-18T03:52:47Z

Purophet: Creating cutscene.

Daigo sat by [[Sakuyo Izumi|Sakuyo's]] side, his head lowered.

"What am I going to do with you," he said. Sakuyo simply glared at him from the hospital bed.

He sighed. "I guess it won't do any good to ask what you were really doing out there," he said. Sakuyo glared. "Or to ask you, please, to behave yourself. What would your mother--"

"Don't you dare say her name!" Sakuyo shouted, bolting up in bed. Daigo stung as if slapped. She stared at Daigo with hate in her eyes, until the moment subsided. Then she fell back to the bed, sandwiching her head between the two ends of her pillow.

"...you don't want to talk to me. Fine," Daigo said, standing up and walking to the entrance of the room. He picked up a small black ornament and returned, holding it out. "But I want to know what this is." The ornament had a delicate thorn lattice. On its top, a bloom on its top like the end of a brush; on its bottom, a needle, though it curiously stood upright, like a perfectly balanced top. Sakuyo's eyes widened in recognition. "That," she began. "The girl who you were fighting - and I know you were fighting again - left it with you. She said it was yours," Daigo said.

"...leave it on the table," said Sakuyo. "I want to know what it is," Daigo pressed, anger creeping into his voice. There was no reply. "Dammit, Sakuyo! Are you stealing? Is this from some museum somewhere? What have you been doing all these nights?!" He slammed his palm into the tray of the food cart next to him, spilling the remains of the evening's meal on the floor.

No reply.

Daigo crossed his arms, and his head fell into his lap. "Sakuyo," he said quietly, his voice strained, but no longer in anger. "Sakuyo, please..."

No reply.

[[Category:Cutscenes]]

2013-10-14 - Love and Motorcycles! Secret identities revealed

2013-10-15T22:37:20Z

Purophet: Creating log! Aww.

{|class="toccolours" cellspacing="2"
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! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''Love and Motorcycles! Secret identities revealed'''
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|'''Summary''': 
''Circle Sakura Beat! sells their latest release at a minor convention in Akiba. Identities are revealed. Secrets are shared.''
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| '''Who:''' 
[[Madoka Kaname]], [[Naota Uneme]] and [[Sakuyo Izumi]]
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| '''Where:''' 
Akihabara Electric Town
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| '''OOC - IC Date:''' 
10/14/2013 - 10/01/2013 (Backdated)
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Akihabara, home of cartooning, is a place where comics markets are simply a fact of life. They're not around all the time, but for today, a number of amateur mangaka have assembled on the outskirts of Electric Town for a minor convention, attempting to attract readers with hand-drawn posters and cheap sketch commissions. Circle Sakura Beat! is one such amateur stand, selling a compilation of Love and Motorcycles, a slice of life manga about a bosozoku with a heart of gold and his high-society girlfriend. It's manned by Ran, a bubbly cyan-haired girl with a ponytail and one of the members of the Ohtori Manga Club, who makes time to talk with each person who comes to her booth. Which is not many, so that's not difficult.

Sakuyo is not at the booth. She's somewhere around here, her street fashion blending her in with the occasional cosplay weirdos, keeping an eye on things from a distance.

The noisy crush of Akihabara might not be a place one would expect Madoka Kaname to venture alone, much less in a cute, flowing white sundress and pink denim jacket! And yet, here she is -- only one thing could have gotten her to do it, therefore. The thing that drives her to extreme measures like braving the wide world all by her lonesome self.

Responsibility, that craved, coveted intangible. To feel like she's doing something worthwhile for someone else... that's the only thing that makes her feel alive.

Whoever put her up to this has created a monster, or at least a girl on a Mission. The soles of her little pink boots make firm slapping sounds on the sidewalk as she makes her way along. And, to her eternal, unchanging surprise, she finds that once she's put herself out there, she's actually enjoying herself -- with increasing confidence and the hint of a brilliant inner smile poised in the corners of her mouth, she pokes her head in at various booths and tables. Eventually she arrives at the Ohtori Manga Club's.

"Ah, um," she starts, in her meek, stumbling way. "...hi?" A flush paints her cheeks, as she realizes that she recognizes Ran from school, but has never been properly introduced and therefore does not know her name. This is fairly quickly admitted. "I-I think I've seen you at school... I'm Madoka Kaname!"

She bobs a little bow of respectful greeting, twintails bouncing enthusiastically.

Naota is also here and likewise not at a booth. Not that he wouldn't like to have a booth, but... no. Just no. Instead he's wandering the market in what he no doubt thinks are in cognito clothes: a sports jacket and his hair inexpertly stuffed into an Angels baseball cap. Every so often he stops at one booth or another: mostly the typical shonen fodder, where he'll browse for a moment but usually leave without picking anything up. But every so often he stops, seemingly at random, at a stand offering something in the shojo vein, where he'll buy a volume 'for his sister.'
Circle Sakura Beat! is the latest such booth, one that he hasn't seen before. He picks up a volume, opens it up to check the art and the quality of the writing, then tries to get the attention of Ran. "E-excuse me," he says, coughing and attempting nonchalance. "How much?" It's about then that he sees Madoka: his eyes widen a little for a moment and then he looks away quickly, not wanting to be seen staring.

"Hmm?" Ran looks up from her boredom, and spreads a wide smile across her face. "Hello! Oh, you're an Ohtori student! And - hello to you, too!" She bows her head to Naota. Not the usual type that stops by the booth, but Ran isn't judgmental. "I'm Ran Hisakawa. What brings you all the way out here, Kaname-san? Are you interested in the work?" She holds up one of the copies for sale. "Love and Motorcycles is Sakura Beat!'s latest work. It's a thousand yen for a copy, we wanted to make it more affordable but production costs are hard for us. It's funny, it's sentimental and you might cry! That's the sales pitch I memorized. How did I do?" She grins.

Madoka hasn't bought anything anywhere quite yet, but she stared hungrily at no few selections of shoujo manga on her way to this booth -- especially that of the magical girl variety. Here and now, she blushes even more deeply upon the realization that she may have interrupted a sale between Ran and Naota, and takes a shuffling step back, gently bumping into some random passerby in the progress. Any notice of Naota's staring is therefore hopelessly unlikely.

A flurry of heartfelt, timid apologies later, and her attention is back on the booth, just in time to get the second half of the introductions. "Nice to meet you, Hisakawa-san!" She giggles lightly at the commentary, her eyes sparkling with admiration; she's not sure she could do half so well. "It was really good! You've got me all excited, I'm a big fan of Sakura Beat's work." There's some history here: originally Sayaka had her picking up these manga to deliver to yet another friend, but somewhere along the way Madoka started reading them avidly pre-delivery.

"Y-you did good. Are you the writer? Penciler?" He fishes into his jacket for his wallet and for the requisite moneys, handing Ran a few bills. He looks like he's ready to just wander off, eager to keep on the move, but when he looks up he spots a familiar face watching the booth and blinks a few times. To Ran, he asks, indicating Sakuyo with a nod of the head, "Is she with you?"

"Thank you! We really appreciate it," Ran says to Madoka, taking the credit happily. But then Naota has to spoil it, and Ran admits, "Actually, sales rep." She usually lets people assume she's the author, but she doesn't like to outright lie! "Sakura Beat! is just one person, really. She likes to keep her privacy - between you and me I think she's a little embarrassed! - but she's standing right behind me, isn't she?"

Sakuyo puts a hand tightly on Ran's shoulder, having come up quietly from behind in the midst of the crowd to check on the booth. She smiles through grit teeth. "They wouldn't have known for sure if you didn't say that last part, Hisakawa-chan." Here she stands, in a white frilled shirt, mint green vest and torn jeans: Izumi-hime, the yakuza princess of Ohtori's grade 9, looking stormy as usual, though the expression softens when she looks over the two readers at the booth. "Uneme... kun," she says, hesitating a little on the honorific. She pauses, and then gives a nod. "And... Kaname-san." She's vaguely familiar with Madoka - she may have stepped in to protect her honor from some of Ohtori's more predatory girls, probably in ways that left them bleeding. She clears her throat, and then gives a bow. "Thank you for your patronage."

Madoka hasn't pulled her wallet /quite/ yet, allowing Naota's transaction to finish first. She listens earnestly to Ran explain the story, and her eyes are like mirrors as Sakuyo comes up slowly behind her. "Izumi-senpai!" she squeals happily -- once in the Madoka Good Books, always in the Madoka Good Books. "I had no idea you were Sakura Beat! Wow, you're so /cool/." The bow is returned, with interest.

No matter how fast it is in coming, the adoration is always sincere. She glows with eager interest as she looks to the slightly older girl's fashion with equal admiration. Sakuyo had her at the frilly white artist's shirt. Adjusting her denim jacket a bit self-consciously by yanking down on the short, rib-level hem, she now produces her moneys. For being the daughter of a high-powered executive, it looks pretty threadbare and empty; apparently the trickle down system is not implemented in the Kaname household. "I've always wondered, um... do you ride a lot of motorcycles? Papa says the drawings are always super realistic."

Yes, Tomohisa Kaname is also a fan of Sakura Beat!, and sometimes borrows his daughter's manga for a good long read after the tomatoes are trimmed, Mama and Madoka are out the door and Tatsuya is fed.

See, now this he wasn't expecting. Naota blinks a few times, then bows in return. "It's nice to see you again too, Izumi-san. I didn't know you drew to- that you drew." The volume goes in a bag which he's carrying under his jacket. He looks at the three. "Do you all go to the same school, then?" He bows. "I'm Naota Uneme, from Juuban."

Sakuyo shifts awkwardly to the side a bit. Ever since she stepped in for Kaname-san, she's been like this, and Sakuyo just doesn't know how to handle it. Fear she's used to. Even friendship... she's dealt with that. Adoration? How is she supposed to deal with that? Flip her hair around and say something cocky? Her hair's too short for that.

"Super-realistic," Izumi repeats, a little taken aback at the comment. "No, I don't ride. I've seen enough of them, though..." She doesn't explain that any further. "Listen, don't go spreading this around, okay? People find out and I'll never hear the end of it. I've got a reputation to maintain. But... but thanks," she mumbles. To think that she's appreciated that much... she always thought Sakura Punch! was just a dead-end that got read by a handful of people and tossed away.

"Ohtori," she answers Naota, and there's a tone of disdain in her voice. But it might not be for the lesser sister, because when she follows it up with, "Juuban's a nice school," there's no tone of condescension.

"Nice to meet you!" Madoka repeats cheerfully, fixing her friendly gaze on Naota fully for the first time, now that they aren't competitors for someone's attention. Since she's already given her name, she doesn't repeat it, but she does bow for about the fourth time in the last two minutes. It's a good thing those phenomenally adorable red ribbons are tied tightly, or her cotton candy-pink hair would be /everywhere/.

"Juuban is a /great/ school. I'm so excited about the sports festival being there this year! The Gardening Club is going to make garlands to give to all the winners. And everyone else, too, hehe... I thought it was sad, so I made sure we're making enough for everyone!" Secretly, she kind of wishes she attended Juuban; much less pressure, socially and academically. It wouldn't actually solve her problems, though, which are entirely independent of location, given that she carries them around in her heart.

That bubble of excitement having burst out of her, she bends an ear to Sakuyo in a slightly more subdued fashion. "I'm happy to keep your secret, but... why would you ever want to hide how great you are?" She's genuinely confused, one imagines, given her bewildered tone and expression. "Sakura Beat! brings romance into lots of peoples' lives... I'm sure I'm not the only girl who'd like to thank you!"

"It's nice to meet you too, Kaname-san." She certainly is friendly! "I'm looking forward to the festival too. We're hoping to be able to have an unofficial game with the other two baseball teams this year. Not that I'm in the main line-up or anything." It'll be fun to watch, one way or the other.
He chimes in when Madoka asks her question, although his tone suggests it's something that's coming from him almost unbidden, a thought skipping his volition and just waltzing out his mouth. "Because she doesn't want people to get the wrong image of her. When people see you one way, it can make things easier, even if that's not all of who you are." He looks sheepish all of a sudden, tapping his index fingers together. "I mean, that's what I'd guess. I don't want to put words in your mouth, Izumi-san."

Izumi cracks a small smile at Madoka's gesture of benevolence for the sports festival. Sweet girl. She glances then over to Naota, and quietly raises a brow. That kind of answer... maybe makes her second-guess herself. The wrong image of her...?

"...because Ohtori girls are sharks," she settles on as an answer. "When they smell blood in the water, they fall on you. If you want to stay afloat you need to bite back. And I don't feel like beating the respect into people all over again. I already had to do it once." She falls quiet, for awhile, and glances off in the distance. "Besides," she says, a little lower. "Who wants to know that the love in their heart was brought to them by Izumi-hime?" She's punched people for calling her that, before - it's not a nickname she likes, not her being arrogant. It's a mark of shame. It's as close as she'll get to admitting that the rumors about her are true - she's a gangster girl raised out of the gutter. "Let them imagine. It's better that way."

Madoka studies Naota more thoughtfully as he gives his answer; apparently she's seriously chewing on his food for thought, rather than just letting it waft in one ear and out the other. It's a moderate change of pace for her, for sure, and clear demonstration that she has more than one setting. She nods firmly in quiet understanding when he's done.

So too does her intent listening, and gaze, drift to Sakuyo as she adds her own piece; the senpai's smile teased her own out of the corners of her mouth and into full bloom, in return. It doesn't even wilt, either, when the Yakuza Princess starts to put herself down -- rather, it flowers more strongly and firmly than ever.

"I already promised to keep your secret, but anyway... you being the author is better than /my/ wildest imagination," she admits, simply, softly, gently. Then she holds out the manga she just bought. "Please, do you think I could get an autograph from Sakura Beat! ?"

Naota blanches a little: Sakuyo's description is rather frank and mildly terrifying. But she's a girl, so clearly she knows what she's talking about. Also, hime? What's that all about. Either way, he nods. "I won't tell anybody either. Not that I think we know too many people in common anyway." He regards Madoka again, this time less furtively. "What year are you?" he asks, realizing that he has no idea. She IS quite tiny, after all, but some girls are lucky like that.

There's the fear. Sakuyo is used to that fear in Naota's eyes; but all the same, she can't help but feel a little disappointed. "Thanks," she says to Naota; and then to Madoka, she cracks that small smile again. "You're really something, aren't you, Kaname-san. Sure." She looks down, around, and then takes a few steps off to the side and plucks the brush pen out of another artist's hand. "I'm borrowing this," she says, and reaches out to accept the purchased manga. While Naota and Madoka talk amongst themselves, she signs it, after which she hands it back: 'Madoka-chan, use your smile to light up the world. Sakura Beat!'

"You'd be surprised, Uneme-san... with the Sister Schools program, we probably know more of the same people than you might think! I'm second-year middle, what about you?" Madoka finishes offhandedly, completely and entirely at odds with her appearance. She looks like maybe fifth or sixth form elementary, tops. Sakura Kinomoto is taller than she, and Nanoha Takamachi will probably lap her before long.

She doesn't find it lucky at all, but the grass is always greener on the side of the fence that can actually reach the top shelf where the cookies are.

Accepting the manga gratefully, she looks down at it, pinkens to put the hue of her hair to shame, and clutches it to her chest, right over her heart, like it's the most precious thing in the world. "Th-thank you, Izumi-senpai, Sakura-Beat-sama!" The suffix is not even ironic; such is the due of one's fans.

"I-I understand if you're too busy, or if it would ruin your image, but, um, my birthday is on October 3rd and I'm... having a party? I'd be really honored if you would come, not as Sakura Beat!, of course, unless you wanted to come in, uh, disguise..." Now /that's/ a manga plot, yikes. She doesn't seem wildly eager for such shenanigans, fortunately, it just kind of popped to the top of her mind, then out of her mouth. "You're welcome, too, Uneme-san! It's tradition to invite new friends!" Apparently he's a new friend -- congratulations!

"First-year middle, Kaname-senpai," he says with a little grin. He's not THAT surprised, all things considered: he's at that age where some girls have shot up like dandelions while most of the boys are still not quite coming into their own. It's an odd time, being thirteen. He does blink at her offer, though. "Y-your birthday?" He blushes, but she's just so SINCERE about everything. "W-well, sure. I'd be glad to come. I might need to be looking after my little sister that day, though: is it all right if I bring her? She's seven and very well-behaved." This time his smile is unforced, genuine and not the least bit sheepish. Akari is the best little sister.

Sakuyo averts her gaze, unable to help the smile on her face from growing. She's never even really been called Sakura Beat except by her fellow members of the Manga Club, and there it's a joke - a friendly joke, one she's as comfortable with as she'll get, but nothing compared to the feeling of having... well, a /fan/. A wholeheartedly devoted fan, kinder than anyone she could imagine. "It's nothing," she says.

And then she's... invited to her fan's birthday party?? The thought of coming in disguise creates an image in her head of stepping in wearing fake nose-and-mustache glasses and a trenchcoat, and she suppresses her reaction to the thought. "That's... very kind of you, Kaname-san," she says. She clears her throat again, and glances away. "I'll... yes. Yes, I'll come." The thought of saying no to Madoka doesn't even enter her mind. The girl is just too nice; how could she help but give her everything she asks for?

"Yay~"

So much pure joy is infused into a single syllable that it's hard to believe that it isn't going to cause a happiness event horizon to form.

"Your sister can come..." Madoka turns mock-stern, though her poker face leaves much to be desired, trembling with internal giggles, "...but only if she likes tea and cake!"

Glancing back down at the manga she's clutching so tenderly, she cocks her head to the side, briefly processing the reality that she bought this for someone else. After a moment, she lets it go -- how much cooler of a favor will it be, given the autograph?

"It's going to be at the Seaside Park at 5pm on October 3rd! After school, of course..." Alas for birthdays falling on school days; but such is life.

Somewhere, even in hypermodern Akihabara, a clock chimes. It might be an electronic, musical sound, one that pays homage deliberately to a certain famous anime, but even so.

"The time -- oh no! I have to run -- it was really nice to meet you again, and thanks for the autograph!"

Kicking up her heels, pigtails flying, the pink and white girl disappears into the crowd.

Poor Madoka; if she had just asked, Sakuyo would have given her another copy to give to Sayaka.

"I'll be there," Sakuyo says, mentally pencilling in the date. It's not like she had anywhere to be anyway except fighting monsters - and while intellectualy she knows otherwise, she can't help but feel that showing up to Madoka's party is just more important than that. There will be more monsters. "Goodbye, Madoka-chan!" Sakuyo calls, slipping up and forgetting to use her last name instead. She glances back to Naota. "I guess we'll be seeing more of each other after all," she says, regarding her with a nod.

Naota can't help but smile again, watching the girl go running off. "She seems nice. I'd like to have such an energetic, friendly girl as a senpai." He nods back to Sakuyo. "I thought we would. Have things been... I dunno, quiet, at least, for you? Puchi wants me to keep my eyes out, but I haven't been seeing anything."

Sakuyo glances to either side, while Ran innocently leans in closer from her position behind the booth. "I've got something to discuss. See you later, Hisakawa-chan," she says, leading Naota through the crowd to somewhere they can talk without prying ears, while Ran frowns and waves. (Is it to do with her family? They're up to something after all, aren't they...)

"Nothing since the last incident. I've been keeping my eye out. But things have been busy this month. It won't be long before there's something more." She glances sidelong at Naota. "Who's Puchi?" Cutesy name.

Naota blushes again. He seems to blush readily. "Sorry. I got into the habit of calling him that when mom and my sister are around. The Perfect Mirror Guardian. He's, well, I guess you could say he's the one who gave me the job to do." He pauses. "He's a hamster. Well, not really, but he pretends to be one." It's probably the least weird part of the whole affair, all things considered.

"And you trust him," Sakuyo says.

Naota blinks, then nods. "Well, yeah. When I met him... well, you've seen things, right? It wasn't like what we fought. It was a person, or it was wearing a person. Mirror demons, they're called. Puchi says they come to people who can't..." he hesitates. "Who can't accept what's true about themselves. They hurt people who are already hurting, make them hurt others." He shakes his head.

"Believe what you see," Sakuyo says. "I'm not questioning what you've run into. There's been all manner of monsters out there, not just the kind Puella Magi hunt. But... fairies, whatever you call them... well, be careful what you commit to. People lie. So do fairies."

"I really don't think Puchi would lie to me," Naota says, a dubious expression on his face. "He's really not that smart. I mean, he knows some things, but I think he knows them because he was told them. There was a wizard, long ago, and she told him to wait until the time was right." He sighs. "I don't really understand a lot of it, but I don't like bullies and these things are worse than bullies."

"Fine, then," Sakuyo says, folding her arms. "Use your judgment. All I'm saying is that I would have been better off if somebody had told me that. Don't drop your guard." She seems to have no interest in the strange tale of the creature's origin. "Is there anything I should know about these mirror demons?"

Would have been better off? What's that mean? He's about to ask but then she beats him to the punch. "You'd know them when you see them. They all wear masks - or ARE masks, I think - and that's the thing to focus on. You need to break it to free them. The people, I mean, not the demon." He pauses. "Puchi says they work for someone called the Three Shadows, but I haven't met them yet, so I don't know about that." He's starting to look sheepish again, and finally he breaks the ice himself. "I... uh, you weren't weirded out, were you?"

"I'm glad you told me," Sakuyo says. "I'll remember that." So the masked creatures are just riding innocent people - she's going to have to share that information to make sure people don't get hurt. Then the topic shifts. Sakuyo averts her gaze, looking around anywhere but at Naota himself. Herself? "Never saw anything like that before," she says. "Really not sure what to make of it." Is he a girl? Is she a boy? Or a boy who turns into a girl or... ahh, whatever.

"I'm not either. It's..." He looks around again. But really, if it's going to fail to stand out anywhere, it'll be here. People will probably just think it's a prop. He reaches into his jacket and pulls out the mirror he had with him before. It's small, something he can hold in one hand, and circular. "It's called a True Heart Mirror. Puchi made it for me with a part of another mirror. It was this broken piece of glass, right? And he just pushed it into me: I was scared, but it didn't hurt at all, like it wasn't really /entering/ me or anything." He shrugs: it's a difficult experience to explain. "And then this appeared." He blushes. "It... it reflects a truth. My truth."

"So your truth is a ballgown with a fire-spewing mace," Sakuyo says neutrally. She peers into the True Heart Mirror, curious what she's going to see - if anything at all. She's learned in the past years that there are a lot of these things, and many of them seem unique to particular people. Like her Soul Gem. "Remember what I said about fairies."

It's a mirror, like all mirrors, and so she'll see herself in it. Naota turns red, whether from embarrassment or irritation is hard to say. "My truth is that I'm a girl!" Thank God they're in a crowd, because the general murmur kept people from hearing that and he - she is looking stricken from saying it outloud. "I mean... I wish I was. I think I am. I don't know. It's all really weird." He puts the mirror away. "I don't know why I'm telling you this."

The truth is, Sakuyo doesn't know why she's telling her this either. Her expression doesn't betray this thought, or much of anything, as she stops in the crowd and listens to Naota's outburst. She is silent for a time, just looking at Naota. Then she resumes walking. "So what's the problem," she asks.

"Kaname-san is pretty, isn't she?" He says it casually, nonsequetorially, as he follows along her. "I mean, I can see that she's shy, but she just looks so perfect, right? I mean, not, like, the most beautiful girl in the world or anything," he clarifies, "but like she's being what suits her. Does that make sense?"

Sakuyo listens as she walks. She permits the nonsequitur, listening along as Naota tries to lead it back to what she's talking about. But when she asks whether it makes sense, Sakuyo says, again, "So what's the problem? Do you want to be a girl or not?"

She's quite straight-forward, which seems to be flummoxing Naota. "I wish I were like her. I want to be... I think about being a girl and I don't even know if I'd be able to make it work. As a /real/ girl, I mean. Not as a joke." He adjusts his jacket a little, pulling up the collar in a self-conscious manner. "I just want to be someone my little sister can look up to and not feel embarrassed about."

"Uneme-kun," Sakuyo says with a sigh, putting her hands in her pockets. "Uneme-chan. Whatever. Let me tell you something about life. Life is not fair. Life will give you a shit hand and expect you to pull out a win, and if you don't, it'll point and laugh at you when you fall. If you need something in life, you can't just wait for it. You need to take it. You need to take it by force. Be Uneme-chan. Be who you are. And if anybody thinks that's not all right, give them what's coming to them."

"I'm trying, but it's harder than it sounds. Thanks for listening to me, Izumi-san. I'm still not sure why I shared it but, well, you saw something people don't usually see. I'm gonna go home now, make some dinner for me an' my sister." He's about to walk away, but then he pauses and pulls out his cell phone. "Do you want to exchange addresses? In case something happens. I'm happy to back you up, I mean."

"Yeah. Well, good luck with that," Sakuyo says, stopping in the crowd and raising a hand in salutation. "Cell phone... eh. Yeah, sure. And you can call me if you have any trouble," she says, drawing out her phone. "But remember what I said. We might be on opposite ends one day. Don't take it personal."

Numbers are exchanged. "Do whatever you think you have to. I just don't like bullies." And with that, he's off.

[[Category:Logs]]

2013-10-12 - Poster infractions and the Blue Hearts

2013-10-13T09:28:55Z

Purophet: Creating log!

{|class="toccolours" cellspacing="2"
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''Poster infractions and the Blue Hearts'''
|-
|'''Summary''': 
''Jay Dawson has not gone through the proper channels to raise posters on Ohtori grounds. Yakuza princess Sakuyo Izumi plays guitar when she should be going to class, and shares memories of her mother.''
|-
| '''Who:''' 
[[Alexandra Noblesse]], [[Eri Shimanouchi]], [[Hayate Yagami]], [[Jay Dawson]], and [[Sakuyo Izumi]]
|-
| '''Where:''' 
Ohtori Academy courtyard and garden
|-
| '''OOC - IC Date:''' 
10/12/2013 - 10/03/2013
|-
|}

There is music wafting between classes in the courtyard of Ohtori Academy this afternoon. Sakuyo has classes herself, of course, but that hasn't stopped her from sitting herself down at the base of a high, shaped rose bush, strumming on an acoustic guitar and singing. She has stopped and started over a couple times when playing the wrong chord or falling out of the melody, or to scare off passing students making fun of the 'busker' or gawking at "Izumi-hime," the mob princess, just enjoying the outdoor air and playing a song she likes. Her voice is unpracticed and rough, and her accent is prominent on the English.

: "Take me out tonight
: Because I want to see people and I want to see life
: Drivin' in your car, oh, please don't drop me home
: Because it's not my home, it's their home and I'm welcome no more.

: And if a double-decker bus
: Kurashes into us
: To die by your side is such a heabenly way to die
: And if a ten-ton truck
: Kills the both of us
: To die by your side, well, the pleasure, the priv'ledge is mine..."

And then there's Hayate, who passes by for reasons of her own. She stops when she hears the music, turning her wheelchair towards the girl and listening from a distance. After the song is done, Hayate claps a few times for Sakuyo. "You play well." She says softly, though probably loud enough for a girl good at music to overhear. And of course, the clapping draws attention to her.

Jay Dawson is here on an errand. You see, last period, a fellow student--one Rei Fushigiyo--asked him to help put up flyers during a break between classes, and assured him she'd tell the teacher he was off on an official school errand.

Or more accurately, Rei shoved the flyers at him while shouting orders, and didn't even look at him. Jay didn't argue, because Rei is kind of scary when she gets like that.

This explains what a young American guy in a Juuban uniform is doing taping posters to anything that isn't fast enough to get out of the way. Each has a big, colorful header for 'AMERICAN PURORESU CLUB', the dates and times of meetings, the location, and a really big picture of John Cena delivering a huricanrana to some other dude. He is in the process of taping a poster to the wall when he catches sight of someone actually playing a guitar--it wasn't someone's speakers after all. "Hello!" he says, approaching Sakuyo fearlessly. "Would you like a flyer?"

: "Take me out tonight
: Take me anywhere, I don't care I don't care I don't care
: And in the darkened undapass
: I thought oh God my chance has come at last
: But then a strange fear gripped me an' I just couldn't ask

: There is a light an' it never goes out
: There is a light an' it never goes out
: There is a light an' it never goes out
: There is light an' it never go... shit."

Sakuyo stops playing abruptly after stumbling on the lyrics at the end. Time to start over - or at least, if not for a few witnesses who approach her after this attempt. She glances at the young kid in the wheelchair - oh, Jesus, a kid in a wheelchair, poor girl - and looks down at her guitar. "I'm still workin' on it," she says, in a thick Kansai dialect that Jay might have difficulty interpreting. "Fucked up the lines a few times. But thanks, kid. You like the Smiths?"

She glances at Jay, and takes a flyer out of his hands. She gives it a serious look - American Puroresu Club, some muscled guy doing a double leg lock. She crumples the poster up and tosses it behind her without a word.

Meanwhile, Hayate has no issues with that Kansai dialect at all. She slips into her own a bit deeper, "I don't know them, but I liked your singing." She answers, and to be fair, she's nine years old, she probably doesn't have much exposure to that kind of music. "It doesn't matter if you made a few mistakes, I liked it."

Suddenly there's a loud shout across this side of campus, "What kind of thoughtless jerk would do this to the trees?!"

Eri storms from tree to tree ripping down each flyer in turn. She doesn't toss them though, instead keeping them all in an orderly stack in her arms. She's wearing the standard middle schooler uniform with only a green windbreaker added which matches atrociously. She's so obviously upset that she doesn't even notice she's entered... the Sakuyo zone.

Jay hangs back a moment as Sakuyo reads the flyer, glancing sidelong at Hayate. He's seen other people in wheelchairs before, so the existence of one isn't as big a shock as it could be, but... she doesn't seem to have anything indicating a broken leg. Huh.

And then Sakuyo crumples up the flyer. "H--hey!" Jay cries, bending down to retrieve the crumpled paper. He tries to flatten it back out, but no matter how much he fusses with it, it still has crease lines. "Someone else paid for these! Do you want to get me in trouble with her?"

At the shout, Jay then tenses up, glancing back over his shoulder. He gulps.

It's been a bit of a long day for Alexandra Noblesse. She'd been hosting a group study session that, as per usual, largely devolved into a gaggle of girls asking questions about Touga Kiryuu. It takes a bit of inner strength not to tan their hides and kick them out of the library, but that's not how proper ladies behave, so she managed to mostly concentrate on helping people with their studies. She's not sure the event worked out particularly enjoyably for the two Juuban girls she'd invited, but, well, she tried. Even if she put a friendly foot forward, Ohtori is Ohtori, after all.

The young student treasurer glides along the campus with an elegant stride, wearing a slight, warm smile that looks genuine, but is simply well-rehearsed. And so it is that she comes across... a rather large number of posters for the American Puroresu Club. Plastered everywhere. Her smile takes a hit. "..." The French girl just stares at the first poster she sees for a moment, and then looks around, trying to determine what an acceptable amount and location for these posters would be. John Cena. Huh.

"...Non, non. Cela ne va pas..." ''(...No, no. This will not do...)''

It's really not her job, even as a student council member, to go around tearing down posters. She leaves that to Eri. However, she'd be remiss if she didn't find the villain responsible for violating Ohtori's carefully maintained decorum and instruct him to take most of the posters down and keep them in the appropriate places. She expects that the conversation will go well. .oO( What do you expect me to do, just go tear down all the posters I put up? ) She tries to follow the trail ... and it leads her... towards the garden.

...

...

"...Non, Monsieur Bond, je vous attends pour mourir." Uh oh.

Sakuyo climbs up off the ground, taking a step back to pick up the crumpled poster along with her guitar. She steps a little closer to Hayate, smirking a little at hearing her own dialect returned to her. "I used to listen to American bands through electronics storefront windows, with my mom," she says gently to Hayate. "You know Linda Linda?" By the Blue Hearts, a Japanese punk band. A favorite. She probably doesn't, Sakuyo figures. She'll offer to teach it to her.

Sakuyo glances aside, as trouble brews. "Heads up," she says to Jay and Eri both, tossing the crumpled poster Eri's way. "One more." That should keep him busy. Poor guy.

While Hayate notices the trouble brewing, it's not her trouble, she'll stay out of it if she can. There's a brief, faint frown at the mention of a mom, but it doesn't last more than a fraction of a second. "I don't think I do, maybe? I don't really listen to a lot of music." She's more of a reader, and libraries are quiet places. Hospitals of course, don't lend themselves to musical appreciation either. "What's it like?"

A bead of sweat trickles down Jay's forehead, and he clutches the posters to his chest like they're contraband. "There's no 'no posters allowed' sign or anything," he says. Sakuyo's accent is thoroughly confounding him, but there's no mistaking her intent.

He turns to Eri, and manages a weak little smile. "Hi?" he says.

The familiar voice of Sakuyo causes her to freeze in her tracks, "I-Izumi-senp..." She gets cut off from being startled by a piece of paper sailing at her and hitting her in the head. While it doesn't hurt, it causes her to drop the sheaf of papers that she'd been collecting.

You are then all treated to the sight of Eri running after the papers as the wind carries them away further just out of her reach. She looks even more upset though now leaning more on the /feels like she's going to cry side./

Until Jay addresses her in the midst of his excuses to Sakuyo. You know how anime protagonists can do the giant head with the flames of wrath thing? Well Eri can't so that, but she wishes she could right about now as she looks up at Jay stating very tersely, "Hello. My name is Eri Shimanouchi, might I have the pleasure of your acquaintance?" After all, it would be unseemly to murder someone without first knowing their name, she thinks.

It is, perhaps, exceedingly fortunate for Jay that Eri has reached him first. As Alexandra Noblesse finally rounds the corner to see the scene at hand, her eyes lid, and a few thoughts go through her head. An American putting up the posters seems all-too-fitting. Eri has a crumpled poster and several torn ones at her feet, which can't mean good things for the American she was shouting at. About? At. And then there's one of the school's resident yakuza girls, speaking with the young wheelchair-bound Hayate Yagami, which actually doesn't seem to be a problem. Alexandra takes it all in stride, takes a breath, and then begins striding, nearly floating confidently through the garden.

"Izumi-san." She says the name as more of an acknowledgement than a greeting. The student treasurer is practically required to express disdain of the school's mob princesses, but Alexandra doesn't DO rude. Period. Besides, it's not Sakuyo that Alexandra came here for.

On that note, the white-haired French girl looks to Jay, and a thought just gets beamed into her head, seemingly from out of nowhere. "...I beg your pardon. I assume you're here at the behest of Fushigiyo-san?" She knows he didn't come here of his own volition?

... Oh thank God. Maybe she won't kill him.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Sakuyo says with a sigh. "C'mon," she gestures to Hayate to wheel herself along, as Sakuyo bends to start picking up the posters that Eri dropped in her panic. "My mother loved the Blue Hearts," she continues as she picks them up, and from the bittersweet affection in Sakuyo's voice, it should be clear to Hayate (and anyone eavesdropping) that Sakuyo is cherishing something that she's lost. "Linda Linda was her favorite song. The words are easy, so once you get the hang of it, you've got to sing along, okay? Doesn't matter if you're not good at it. You hear Linda Linda, you have to sing."

"Noburesse," Sakuyo returns the acknowledgement, not bothering with an honorific. That cold, huh. She's not so cold when she hands the gathered posters over to Eri. "Wasn't aiming for your head," she says, which is as close as she's able to get to 'I'm sorry.'

Jay's lips tighten into a line as Eri scrambles to retrieve the papers. "My name is Jay Dawson," he says. "I was just here to put these up for someone--"

And then, a newcomer arrives! "I am," Jay says, turning to Alexandra. "She told me to come put these up at Ohtori and Infinity, and she wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. I'm sorry if I messed up your garden, I just thought it'd get attention since a lot of people come here. You aren't mad, are you?"

It's clear from the way Hayate nonverbally reacts to Sakuyo that she understands the concept of losing your mother, perhaps a bit too well. She follows the older girl, though she remains a bit quiet for now. She nods, "I'll try." There's a bit of strength in that little sentence, the strength of someone who understands far too well why this song would be so important to Sakuyo. She doesn't elaborate further, and prepares to learn the lyrics.

Eri seems more than a little surprised when Hayate and Sakuyo join her. For the time being all the ire that might have been directed Jay's way just.. deflates out of her.

She states very quietly to Sakuyo, "It's... alright, no harm done." And then after a moments thought states, "Thank you very much.. by the way." To Sakuyo it might be unclear what she's thanking her on, precisely.

As for Jay? He's here at the behest of someone else which fortunately for him, spares him a good measure of her wrath, "I was." She takes a deep breath, "I'm not so much anymore. Just.. this garden is important to me." She hands the stack back over to him.

She gives Alexandra a furtive look, suddenly uncomfortable about her presence given the context of the library study session. She still nods politely to her regardless, stating, "I'm glad to see you again Noblesse-san." Sans death laser of course.

The lack of honorific in Sakuyo's address doesn't seem to bother Alexandra. If it does, she certainly shows no sign of it. However, she speaks quietly under her breath. "That language around a third grader..." It's not really quiet enough that noone can hear, which is probably the point. Whatever anyone else thinks of Sakuyo Izumi, the student treasurer is not afraid of getting on her bad side. As long as she doesn't have to be rude to do so.

Watching Eri's reaction, to make sure she doesn't kill the young man (at least not yet), Alexandra clears her throat quietly, waiting for the right moment to speak, which will be once Eri and Jay are done spouting exposition and being nervous - not necessarily in that order. When that happens, she blinks slowly, and then speaks in a softer voice than she was intending to use.

"Please tell the honorable Fushigiyo-san..." They've never met. "... that she may only place posters for her club in the properly allocated spaces." The white-haired girl lets her eyes close. "...Also, she will be held directly responsible for anything she instructs her subordinates to do." Subordinates is a strong word...

"Now..." Her blue eyes slip open, bright and piercing. "...You may proceed to help take down all the posters you have placed, and breathe easy, knowing that you are doing the right thing." ...It sounds a little like she's saying he wouldn't be able to breathe so easy otherwise.

Jay bows to Alexandra like she is the Empress. When he rises, he does so reluctantly, and he doesn't meet her eyes. "All right," he says. "I'll go gather them up. Eri-san, I'm sorry for messing up your garden, and if she sends me out again, I'll only place them in the proper spots."

With that, he gives Eri a bow of her own, and hurries off to start cleaning. But not, mind, before pulling out his cellphone and making a few quick posts...

Sakuyo waves Eri's quiet thanks off wordlessly. They're square; she doesn't need thanks. Having done that, she returns to her place by the rose bush, though this time she remains standing and lifts her guitar once again. She strums for a little while, stops, and then resumes strumming. She croons:

: "I want to be beautiful
: Just like a gutter rat
: I want a beauty that won't
: Show up in photographs."

There is a brief pause, and then she begins dragging her hand across the guitar rapidly, trying to emulate the chords of an electric guitar, and bobbing her shoulders as she enters the chorus loudly. As she progresses, she begins to hop in the air along to the beat, gesturing briefly for Hayate to get into the music as well, however she feels like.

: "Linda, Linda!
: Linda, Linda, Linda-a!
: Linda, Linda!
: Linda, Linda, Linda
: If someday you and I
: Should get the chance to meet
: On that day, please teach me
: The meaning of love!
: Kinder than anyone
: Just like a gutter rat
: Warmer than anything
: Like a gutter rat!
: Linda, Linda!
: Linda, Linda, Linda-a!
: Linda, Linda!
: Linda, Linda, Linda-a-aa!"

Jay's sudden politeness as an American throws her off guard, "All is forgiven. Thank you for that.." She even bows slightly to him.

She inches closer to Alexandra at this point and states, "Thank you as well, Noblesse-san." She lowers her voice even moreso than the errant comment in the library, "I suppose we should discuss the other matter.. another time."

But then Sakuyo starts to sing, and given her explanation to Hayate which she overheard earlier she quiets down, giving her her full attention.

Hayate listens to the song, trying to memorize the lyrics. When the song is done, Hayate asks softly, "I think I got them, can you start over so I can try to sing along?" Of course, it likely won't go right the first time. She really seems to be trying hard, possibly more than most girls her age would in this kind of situation. No, definitely more.

Alexandra smiles at Jay as he leaves to go pick up the posters. Well, he responded exactly as he should. She shall have to congratulate him on his life choices when he returns - because people really need to be congratulated on that kind of thing by other people they don't know!

Eri's comment causes her eyes to lid again, and Alexandra tilts her head to one side slowly, but doesn't say anything more, but instead turns to listen to Sakuyo's performance. She purses her lips together for a moment after it is finished, and then offers some mild but polite applause. "Encore, s'il vous plaît." ''(Again, if you please.)''

Sakuyo catches the look in Hayate's eyes, and she trails off in the middle of her first performance. "Sure, sure," she says, beginning the opening strum again. "Yer a sweet kid, you know that? You can just sing along with the Linda Linda, you don't have to get the whole song." The kid is really giving it more than Sakuyo asked for, and she can't help but smile at it. She glances at Alexandra, and nods neutrally.

: "I want to be beautiful
: Just like a gutter rat..."

Sakuyo sings her way through the song once again, recalling the same energy she brought to the first try. She gestures upward for the listeners to follow her lead - or clap along, or anything, given Hayate's situation - and to sing along to the chorus.

: "If someday you and I
: Should get the chance to meet
: On that day, please teach me
: The meaning of love!
: Even without love, even without fire
: I'll still never let you go
: Even when all I have left
: Is this tremendous strength!
: Linda, Linda!
: Linda, Linda, Linda-a!
: Linda, Linda!
: Linda, Linda, Linda-a-aa!
: Linda, Linda! Linda, Linda! Linda, Linda, Linda-a-aa!
: Linda, Linda! Linda, Linda! Linda, Linda, Linda-a-aa!
: Ohh ohh!!"

Eri hates to admit it but she's so tone deaf that she attracts cats when she sings in the shower, how the cats even get into the Shimanouchi home is a mystery for another time. For now she ignores the head tilt from Alexandra.

But despite how bad she is, she starts to sing too, and not out of fear, but because its important to her. She needs no other reason to do it. And while she hasn't lost family.. she felt the numbing heart wrenching pain of what might as well have been that loss. And so, she follows along too, with just the Linda Linda and the few words she picked up. Her terrible English accent makes it even more terrible but.. she tries. Whether that's to her credit or not is up to debate, but Alexandra's eardrums might be experiencing some sharp pains at the moment.

Hayate sings along as well as she can, which is okay. She's got a good memory and sharp senses, but she forgot part of the lyrics, humming along where she's forgotten the words. It's not great singing, but it's acceptable. She smiles as she sings along, and when they're done, she asks a quiet question, "Do you miss your mother a lot?"

When Sakuyo starts over again, Hayate and Eri are not the only ones that join in the singing. Alexandra, the distant, proper, unrelatable student council member, lifts her voice just a bit as well, and doesn't even wince at Eri's singing!

Anyone who's heard the treasurer sing before, which is probably many of her classmates and upper classmen, knows that she has a soft, beautiful singing voice that is far too perfect, like everything else she lets people see of her school persona. To most people, it's rather nice - but here, it would be wholly inappropriate. This is not exactly a traditionally soothing and gentle song, and such vocals would probably ruin the mood at least a little.

Which is why it likely comes as something of a relief and/or surprise, when the white-haired girl's voice comes out with a hint of a rasp behind it, harmonized with Sakuyo in that off-the-cuff, imperfect way that only someone who has heard the album version of the song in question would probably know to do. And when the song reaches the chorus and takes off, she /almost/ puts the amount of energy into it that Sakuyo does. She's pretty close to doing it the way she's supposed to... but as an under-current to Sakuyo's voice that only makes the mob princess sound better, without calling much attention to itself.

Of course, the fact that Alexandra Noblesse is singing a Japanese Punk song, and doing it properly is... noteworthy enough. One can easily imagine the massive amount of Cease and Desist orders Youtube and NicoNico would get within the first five seconds of someone putting up a video of this. Which is probably why Alexandra glances around after the song winds down, getting ready to snatch and crush any cell phones in the area that look like they're recording.

Crush? Accidentally completely destroy.

Yes.

That.

Thankfully, Jay has finished texting and twittering and has since put his phone away. He does turn to listen to the song, smiling a little.

Sakuyo doesn't care how people sing along. It just matters that they sing along. As a matter of fact, she gets into the song so much that she barely registers how perfectly the student councillor manages to supplement her performance. But everyone has followed along with her request, and the song...

"Shit," Sakuyo says when she's done, and the last note is resonating from her guitar. She raises a hand to her eye and rubs. "I got something in my eye."

She shakes her head a little bit when she's done, sighing and calming down a bit. "Yeah," she says quietly, in response to Hayate's question. "Yeah, I do." It seems like that's as much as she's willing to say on the subject. She's not mad; everyone has treated her well here, and she's thankful. She just... can't express it.

There's a nod of acknowledgement from Hayate, though she doesn't offer any physical attempts of comforting Sakuyo. Perhaps she assumes Sakuyo doesn't want it, perhaps there's some other reason. Instead she just says, "I know what that's like." She says it in a very quiet voice, it sounds a bit pained, and she forces herself to smile again after a moment, her Kansai dialect very obviously there when she starts speaking again,

"You're a really good singer, I don't know what you want to do with your future, but you shouldn't stop singing." She is looking at Sakuyo here, because she's certain Alexandra already knows. "Oh, and I'm Yagami Hayate. I transferred to Ohtori recently."

One of the first questions on every Puella Magi's mind when meeting another is /What did you wish for?/ Eri didn't ask that question normally. While she was blunt, that was too personal for her to think of asking others.

But it does dawn on her this much. Sakuyo got her wish, but her mother is dead. There may not be correlation to that she realizes but it still hits her hard. /Wish rat./ /Kyubey fucked you./.

She pales all of a sudden, feeling very ill. Mumbling something along the lines of, "I am truly sorry for your loss..." in the most sincere way possible she starts walking away as fast as is seemly.

For better or worse, Alexandra doesn't seem to have anything to add to Hayate's words. There's a strange look in her eye, though. It's hard to read. She just stays quiet for a moment, slipping her hands behind her and waiting in silence. If Jay comes back, or Eri wants to speak with her on her way out, she will definitely engage them, but... for now she seems to be without anything to say. She also does not appear to be going anywhere, though her expression changes to something more sympathetic as she watches Eri stride away, and doesn't change back when she turns her gaze back to Sakuyo and Hayate.

"Yeah," Sakuyo says to Hayate, turning her head at the same time to watch Eri scutter off, with a frown. She really scared that girl - and she really is getting soft. "I don't think a lot about the future. I dunno, singin' is just something I do for fun. But thanks, Yagami-chan. Yer a good kid," she repeats, putting a hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "I'm Sakuyo Izumi, grade 9. I live in the dorms here. You can talk to me if you have any trouble. Okay? Anything."

Sakuyo glances across to Alexandra now, looking still distant, but a little less cold. She says nothing, just a visual question, wondering what Alexandra is planning to do.

"Thanks, Izumi-san." Hayate smiles, clearly a bit forced, but it's starting to become more genuine again. "I will. I own a place not too far away from school, so I don't live in the dorms. I'm grade 3." Yes, she said she owns a place. She pushes herself towards the path again, "Thank you for sharing this song, I like it." The sadness is leaving her again, so whatever pain she has, it's likely not too recent, her smile stops having that forced aspect. "I don't think a lot about the future either."

What is Alexandra planning? Nothing. She's waiting for Jay Dawson to return, so she may thank him for his prompt removal of the posters that he put up. It doesn't matter if the mood is sad, if she wants to cry a little, or if she wants find a way to make happy those who have lost a loved one. She's waiting, because that's what she does, she does her job, and she does it politely, perfectly, and without fail or error. So long as she can keep doing that...

This would be the part where she says something sympathetic or insightful, and lets the other two girls know that they can come to her if they have any difficulties, any worries, or any fears. The part where she interjects herself, an outsider, into their lives in the hopes of making them better, or at least providing a shoulder to cry on. The part where she, just maybe, behaves like someone who could one day become a friend. This would be that part.

...

...

Nothing.

Sakuyo expects no condolences, and receives none. Everything is as it should be. "Right," she says, leaving it ambiguous who she's addressing. "Were you going somewhere, Yagami-chan?" She puts a hand on the grip of Hayate's wheelchair, offering to wheel her somewhere if she was going. Nothing else to do. Except 'go to class,' as if Sakuyo was going to do that. Pfft.

"I was going to class." Hayate answers, she doesn't really make any movements to suggest she objects to being pushed around in that particular way, at least, not right now. She's taking a good look towards Sakuyo, trying to get a better feel for the older girl, but she doesn't ask any more questions. Instead, she just smiles.

"Class it is," Sakuyo says, proceeding to begin wheeling Hayate out of the courtyard for the main building. "Where d'you have class?" The warmth she's showing Hayate is unusual for her; as she encounters other students on the way, she remains distant, carrying herself with a dignity that suggests being above them; and the other students, in turn, tend to give her a wide berth. And she certainly doesn't seem to have any respect for the rules - not only is she not following the official dress code, she's not even following the unofficial, socially expected "dress code," with her cheap knockoff Harajuku fashion. But Hayate is a sweet girl, and while her language is rough, she remains quietly affectionate to her.

[[Category:Logs]]

2013-10-11 - Sing your heart out! Karaoke night

2013-10-12T21:54:41Z

Purophet: Log created.

{|class="toccolours" cellspacing="2"
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''Sing your heart out! Karaoke night'''
|-
|'''Summary''': 
''Tokiko Amagawa invites her friends and fellow Tuners to snack night and karaoke. No Tuners show up. But there's snacks and karaoke!''

|-
| '''Who:''' 
[[Aimi Saionji]], [[Fuu Hououji]], [[Lera Camry]], [[Madobe Kuroi]], [[Tokiko Amagawa]], [[Yoshirou Kurotsuki]]
|-
| '''Where:''' 
Pino Karaoke Lounge
|-
| '''OOC - IC Date:''' 
10/11/2013 - 10/02/2013
|-
|}

The itinerary for the night: cheesy karaoke. The number of Tuners who have showed up for Tuner Snack Night: one! Tokiko Amagawa sits on the curb outside Pino Karaoke in casualwear, her favorite camouflage hoodie and cargo pants. She looks cold in the evening air and a little lonely, though Yokkun is here, so it isn't all bad. "Still, it's discouraging, you know?" she says, filling her cheeks with air and blowing out in frustration. "Sometimes I feel like, why do I even. It's not like these nights are cheap, either. I could buy such a sweet model jump jet with tonight's room rental and food money."

Lera arrives on time, eager and ready to meet new people and socialize. She is still contemplating yesterday -- the run-in with Alyce Ducati and the discovery of Fate Testarossa -- and has started thinking about just what to do about that and what the TSAB agent's presence on the Earth means. However, her other concerns come to the forefont. Things like fitting in and making friends. She has brought food. It is in a glass container, with a plastic lid sealed tightly over it. She walks up, looking at Tokiko -- and sees her looking down.

It makes the third year frown for a moment, before she takes a deep breath, and resolves to be a good friend. "Amagawa-san!" she calls out, waving a hand. "Hi. I brought a traditional Earth food: beef stroganof enchiladas with a side of potato chips!"

Look upon her works, ye mighty, and despair.

Yoshirou, meanwhile, has gone for jeans, a t-shirt with something English and nonsensical written on it and a nice jacket. "Hey, they'll come. I think most of them just aren't used to, you know, hanging out. Not all of 'em are like us, after all. Look, I told you I'd help out with the rental-" He looks up as Lera comes over. "...um."

He pauses. He turns to Tokiko. "Do they eat that in America?"

While she's not a Tuner, Fuu has managed to clear her schedule for tonight (read: 'got her homework done early') and decided to take a certain magical soldier up on her invitation to snack night.

... just as long as Fuu doesn't have to actually sing. She's not good at that.

And rather than bringing snacks, she brought drinks, to judge by the bottles peeking out of the top of the shopping bag she's carrying. "Good evening, Amagawa-san, Kurotsuki-san," she smiles, bowing politely to the two of them and to Lera - whom she doesn't know yet, so she can't really introduce herself."

DESPAIR! SNACK NIGHT HAS LEFT MADOBE IN DESPAIR!

ACtually not really, Madobe is happy to come to snack night. She has no intention whatsoever to actually engage in Karaoke but she's happy to be here in any other aspect. She isn't the first to arrive--she lost track of time while playing something you probably don't want to hear about. She has brought /donuts/ as part of her snack contribution. Hooray for donuts!

"H-hello..." She stammers as she arrives. "I'm not late...am I?"

She hasn't met some of these people without being HENSHINED UP so she doesn't recognize Fuu or Lera.

.oO(?)

Tokiko looks up as people begin to arrive, putting on her best smile despite the situation. "Lera-san! Hi! Hello! Thank, um... thank you..." She doesn't entirely even understand the /name/ of the food Lera's brought, and just responds to Yoshirou with a shrug of her shoulders and a vague noise. If it's not in an MRE, she doesn't know what Americans eat. "Hououji-san! Over here!" She blushes a bit at the way people seem to have brought snacks of their own. "Oh, you didn't have to bring anything! Actually, you're not really supposed to bring outside food in here... but Suzuka-san is really nice, so I think we should be able to get away with it. Madobe-chan, you're not late!"

Tokiko looks between them, and then looks at the time. "Well, I don't think anybody else is going to come anytime soon, so we might as well go in, but let's get to know each other. I'm embarrassed but the truth is, no Tuners actually came to snack night besides me, it looks like. You all know Yokkun, I think; Madobe-chan, these are Hououji-san and Lera-san, who go to school with me at Infinity. This is my friend Madobe-chan. I hope we all get along and have a great time tonight!" She leads the group into the karaoke lounge. "Why don't you get to know each other while I go get our room ready? We have five people, that's a pretty good number for a karaoke night. Room rental is on me, and I have some extra put aside to order from the menu here if you want anything else."

"All the time!" Lera tells Yoshirou, cheerfully. It is a complete lie, but it sounds true to her. It matches the America that she imagines in her head. "It is a proud American tradition."

She nods at what Tokiko says. Unfortunate that no Tuners came besides her, but maybe they're busy. She can reason it away pretty quickly. She looks back at Yoshiou -- she remembers him from the fight, but doesn't know him -- and smiles.

She likewise does not recognize Madobe or Fuu. In fact, she realizes, she doesn't know anyone here. She straightens up and raises a hand, waving at them all and looking at them in turn. She balances the glass dish on her hand easily -- it keeps it fom dropping to the ground and shattering, which would be a true tragedy. She starts following after into the lounge, balancing the dish carefully. "I'm Lera Camry. A third year middle schooler in Infinity Institute. It's nice to meet everyone!"

"...if you say so!" Yoshirou shrugs. "Yoshirou Kurotsugi, on the off-chance that any of you have forgotten my name." Not that he really believes that's possible. After all, he's amazing. "Anyway, we can get it in, it's fine. So, who's up for some singing? I'm totally ready for this. You are all going to be /amazed/."

Similarly, Fuu only recognizes Tokiko and Yoshirou - mostly because she's met them in 'civilian mode' - but she bows politely to the other two arrivals as well. "Fuu Hououji, 8th-grader at Infinity Institute," she introduces herself with a smile. "It's good to meet you as well, Lera-san, Madobe-san."

With the introductions concluded, she heads inside as well. If nothing else, she's wondering what drinks are normally available from the karaoke lounge's menu; if she brought something that they don't offer, then it was potentially worth the trouble. If not, well, she's sure none of it will go to waste.

Normally Aimi Saionji wouldn't exactly be late to such gatherings. Of course, normally she wouldn't be thinking about tall dark strangers and what evil they could have done that couldn't be forgiven. Her mind works at shoving that out of itself though. It really tries hard.

As it is, she's showing up after introductions might have been made already, and most likely as people are going in to the karaoke room itself. She blinks, looking around a bit confused as she tries to see if she can't find someone she recognizes and maybe find her way to where this fabled snack party was. Aimi isn't sure who of her friends might be here... and if any of them are ones she has a phone number for.

Madobe says, "O..oh okay." Blink, nlink. She looks over Lera again. How many of these people are Tuner anyway? Nobody's actually saying 'hey I'm a tuner' which is a little worrying because Tokiko oculd have easily just invited a lot of friends. Maybe these are the NEW TEEN TUNERS? Sure, that could be it. They go to Infinity, though, so there's that. That's information she is aware of now.

"N-nice to meet you both." She bows her head a touch and tupon straightening adds, "So uh."

She's about to say more when Aimi arrives. "Oh!" She says. "...Th..this is Aimi!!" She gestures to her friend. Who hugs her a lot!

Tokiko finishes arranging for the room, and returns from the counter. "Okay. I paid a little extra to thank Suzuka-san for letting us bring food in with us, and... oh! Saionji-san, you came!" She smiles widely, gesturing for Aimi to come in, and leading the group down the halls to their room. It's a small, dark room, with a large projector screen showing mostly stock footage and an occasional legitimate music video, along with the karaoke machine in the corner, seats around the perimeter, and a low table in the middle with menus laid out on it. Fortunately, Fuu seems to have brought a wider spread of drinks than those on the menu; there's not much for kids who aren't old enough yet to drink.

"So, I want these meetings to be as open as possible, so everybody please feel free to speak openly, everybody here can be trusted. But if you still want to hold something back, that's okay. I'll start us off: I'm the Soldier Angel, defender of wishes and captain of the stars! So that's a thing you know about me." It's a thing she's pretty sure everyone already knows about her. "If you want to order anything from the menu, that's okay. You should probably order early so they have time to cook it. And..." She leans over, picking up a small device with a little scrolling screen of songs. "Let's get this party started! Who wants to break the ice? Yokkun, you're up!"

Lera follows Tokiko's lead into the room and sits down, leaning back into one of the cushioned seats. She glances at the menu, but she pushes her dish onto the table, and looks up. It's a little bit of a surprise how open she is. She looks around -- people she doesn't know, including Aimi, who she hasn't even said hello to, so she waves -- and then takes a deep breath. She can't admit the truth. It's complicated.

"I'm Lera Camry, from San Francisco," she says. "I found an Intelligent Device and became a magical girl, too, and I've fought--um, but I have no secret identity, exactly. I suppose this makes me a mysterious swordswoman fighting against evil."

She lifts a finger up and nods, talking knowingly. "There are worse career paths to pursue--oh, yes, take away the thing, Kurotsuki-san! I did not realize you are an amazing singer. I am, of course, also an amazing singer!"

And chatty.

Yoshirou grins. "Well, if you insist..." Once they get in the booth, he turns to the machine, moving through the selections quickly. He's been here before - he knows what he wants. He's gone for one that doesn't get used as much. And in English, too! But Yoshirou practices singing. He has to - he likes to star in the school musicals, too. And when Infinity puts on a musical, it's a /production/.

"All right...here we go." He holds up the microphone as the music stars. "My story is much too sad to be told...but practically everything leaves me totally cold. The only exception I know is the caaaaase, when I'm out on a quiet spree, fighting vainly the old ennui, and I suddenly turn and see...your fabulous faaaaace!" He grins, tipping an imaginary hat.

"I get no kick from champagne! Mere alcohol doesn't thrill me at all! So tell me why should it be true! That I get a kick, out of you?"

He's shockingly good. There's an accent, yes, but he actually manages to pull off a vague approximation of Sinatra. "Some, they may go for cocaine. I'm sure that if, I took even one sniff, it would bore me teriiffffffically, too! Yet I get a kick out of you!"

"I get a kick every time I see you standing there before me! I get a kick, though it's clear to see, you obviously do not adooooore me! I get no kick in a plane! Flying too high with some gal in the skyyyyyy is my idea of nothing to do! Yet I get a kick, mmm, you give me a boot, I get a kick! Out of yoooooooou!"

Aimi smiles when she hears Madobe and Tokiko, walking up to the two of them. The hug that Madobe might be bracing herself for now, though, never comes. It isn't the first time, but still...

She does take a seat next to Madobe, so things aren't too bad now.

"I'm Aimi Saionji," She says, nodding politely to the others. "It is nice to meet you all. I suppose I should also mention that I am Warm Vanilla Sugar... which I don't think any of you have had a chance to meet..."

Aimi frowns a bit as she goes back through her mind now to try and remember who of the people she is just meeting tonight, might have seen her before. "Maybe? Perhaps... ooohhh... I really should work on my combat awareness."

Fuu bows again to Tokiko, as though to thank her for smoothing things over with the lady who runs the lounge - and she bows as well to Aimi, introducing herself, "Fuu Hououji, 8th-grader at Infinity. It's good to meet you." ^_^

And as we're getting settled into the room itself, she takes a quick look at the menu, then starts unpacking what she brought. Juice, oolong tea, soda ... she couldn't bring that wide a selection, but it's a step up from the handful of non-alcoholic choices available.

"I'm a Tokyo native," Fuu explains when it's her turn to say more about herself. "And I don't really have a magical girl 'identity' per se ... I was summoned into another world and tasked with saving it, along with two other girls who were given the same quest." She looks at Aimi, "Were you at the waterfront when the monster who was giving away Kuro-chan plushies was unmasked, battled, and destroyed?"

Madobe looks around. Everyone here can be trusted, but if she wishes to hold something back. She already knows the gist of Tokiko's story so Lera gets some thoughtful gazing as she goes into her own story. She has no secret identity? Well, she supposes the Perfumers haven't really behaved TOO secretly but they haven't been announcing their identity either. She doesn't mind sharing her own, but she probably shouldn't go into the details of the perfume kingdom without consulting Sakura first. After all, the perfume kingdom's powerful scent based magic could be tragic in the wrong hands--and the sweet seductive scent of strength can draw even the most stalwart soldiers to succumb to sinister schemes.

"Well I'm Sweet Pea." She says. "I don't really have too much to say though--I'm also a native, I guess."

She pauses. "Er..." S..she was also there. But she sort of doesn't want to push it. "She was the one who hugged it."

Wait, she thinks, something strange is going on here. She looks at herself, then Aimi, then herself again.

But what is it??

Tokiko smiles and leans in, switching her focus between the conversation between the girls and Yoshirou's singing. She's heard him sing plenty of times, but he's always pretty impressive, and she duly applauds when he's finished. "I guess we should probably share any important information we have - and I have some! There's something that's escaped here from some kind of magic world, called Jewel Seeds. I don't think they were around before, and they're little gemstones that shape people's wishes into monsters. Lera-san, do you know anything about those?" She has an Intelligent Device; isn't that what Nanoha has too? And she was the one who sealed them when they came up. "Apparently you need some kind of sealing magic to make them... shut down, I guess, stop operating. Just beating them up alone doesn't do it."
As she finishes, she picks up a beef stroganoff enchilada, and begins to bite into it before she realizes she's not even sure how to /hold/ it. She tilts it one way, then the other, then sets it back down, wipes her hands with a napkin, and takes a donut instead. "Mm, pon de ring."

In Aimi's mind, that event, Fuu, is titled 'Trying To make Monsters Friendly Through Hugs: How Not To Do.' She does now, smiling softly. "Yeah. I was the one that started the group hug on it. I mean... I thought love and warmth would help it out."

"I'm a native of Tokyo too, but didn't live in this area of town until just last year as it is. I'm in 8th grade over at Juuban, and enjoy sketching, painting, drawing... art in general really," She says. Aimi doesn't help herself to the snacks for now, enjoying the music and just realxing.

Clearly, Lera thinks, she almost underestimated Yoshirou. He /must/ be famous. He is very good! And singing in English -- which she actually understands better than Japanese, thanks to strange cosmic coincidences on Mid-Childa. She sways back and forth, then at the end, she applauds loudly.

She looks at Aimi and Fuu after the song ends, and then she nods. "I don't think I've encountered either of you. But--" She puts her hands over her mouth and looks at Madobe. She nods her head, eaely, at the end. "I remember you! You were there--ah, I had the energy swords!"

She looks at Tokiko, then, and shakes her head. "Only a little," she says. It's the truth; she didn't come to Earth for those. "I heard they are called Lost Logia. Ah, a form of very powerful magic. I know a blonde-haired girl with an Intelligent Device like mine has been looking or them, though..."

Yoshirou bows several times. "All right, ladies, who's up next? I mean, I could go again but I need a drink first." He holds out the microphone. "And, uh, I'm just a wizard, myself. Nowhere near as powerful as the rest of you guys. But I manage."

Aimi didn't hug her, Madobe realizes. That's a bit ... sobering. No it's not just that Aimi didn't hug her. She didn't hug ANYBODY. Madobe gives Aimi a bit of a suspicious look. Hrmmm there. HRRRRM. What could be the trouble with Aimi right now. Hrrrrmm.

She picks up a donut. She looks up and over towards Aimi, then towards Lere and Tokiko, then back to Aimi.

She wiggles the donut at Aimi slowly--then quickly!--then slowly again.

She holds it up so she's looking through the hole in the donut, as if she were scanning Aimi. She wiggles it a couple more times.

What Madobe is doing is clear. She's asking: You donut do hugs anymore?

Aimi looks at Madobe a bit, her actions getting her attention. She couldn't help but smile some more and start to giggle, giving Madobe the hug she so seem to want. "You're being silly Maddy-chan," She said, smiling still.

She's not sure what else to say or do just yet, sitting back. "Hmmm... why don't you sing something next Maddy-chan?"

Tokiko claps her hands. "That settles it! Madobe-chan is up next." Lera said she's good at singing, but it would be a bad idea to open up with the best singers; wouldn't that put pressure on everyone else? After all, karaoke isn't really about singing the best anyway. It's just about having fun singing! "What song do you like, Madobe-chan?" She's already scrolling through selections.

She glances up from the screen, though, back and forth between Madobe and Aimi. Donut... shaking... Aimi, wiggling the donut...

"You donut do hugs anymore?" Tokiko says, quietly and hardly audible over the noise of the karaoke lounge. "That's right, Saionji-san, how are you doing today? You're not as energetic as you were when I met you the other day!" You don't forget an ambush hug.

Fuu raises her eyebrows, "A wizard? A direct student and practitioner of magic, rather than someone who just uses spells or powers bestowed on you by whatever force empowered you? Interesting ... might I ask where you study?" A friendly smile punctuates her question, hopefully smoothing out any errant tone that could have sounded demanding.

"... and what would anyone like to drink?" she asks, looking around at the others. "I didn't bring cups or ice, so we'll have to request those from Suzuka-san."

Lera looks up at Yoshirou and nods. She knows about wizards; Mid-Childa is full of mages who aren't quite as strong as people with bonds to Intelligent Devices. In that sense, she is quite lucky. "It's still impressive!" she says, then she remembers that she is on Earth. "I mean, how many of us thought we'd ever do magic, right?"
She looks at Fuu and grins. "Sure! Whatever's good, I'm just thirsty!" She leans forward, getting some of her terrible beef stroganov enchiladas served up on a paper plate. "Go do it, Kuroi-san."

"I'll take some tea if you have any." Yoshirou doesn't want to strain Tokiko's wallet by ordering drinks from the karaoke place. "Where? Ah...well, I've learned some from my grandfather, but mostly at school." Yoshirou grins. "They teach magic classes there, it's just...not easy to get into them. I didn't even know they existed before I got invited in.

Madobe head swerves back to Tokiko. DID SHE UNLOCK THE CODE? BUT HOW??

She actually doesn't want to be hugged, precisely, she just wants Aimi to be herself or, perhaps, a better mood. It's not that she KNOWS she's in a bad mood but she is behaving a bit oddly. Wait, there was something else Tokiko said.

"--Wait, what? A--are you talking about singing?"

Her face goes pale. Is she...hyperventalating? Maybe a little. GULP!

"S...so um...favorite songs...favorite songs..."

Maybe she should do a fast one that way she could get it over with. "Um.Um..."

"W--what do you think... Ahh...haha....there's so many songs. I'd like water. Uh. Uh..." UGH SHE CAN'T THINK OF ANY QUICK SONGS RIGHT NOW.

"Huh? Oh... I'm doing alright is all. Just been busy with some artwork," Aimi says. "Being creative can be tireing at times."

"And I'll just have a glass of tea, Hououji-san," Aimi say, nodding. She continues to smile, nudging Madobe lightly. "As for you, just go up there and sing your favorite song. Doesn't matter what it is. Just sing! This is part of friendship now Maddy-chan. Embarassing yourself infront of the people you know!"

"I'll have some of the Fanta," Tokiko says to Fuu, without specifying what flavor she actually wants. She reaches over and presses the call button, and shortly, waitstaff is along to provide glasses for the drinks. He looks over at Madobe, a little alarmed, as Tokiko waves it off frantically. "No, no! She's okay, she's okay, she's just... gosh, I didn't realize she was this shy. Madobe-chan, breathe! Breathe! Breathe." She hurries to Madobe's side, putting an arm around her shoulder. "It's okay. We're all friends here, okay? Nobody's going to mind if you take your time. Karaoke is about doing silly things with friends, that's all!"

"Yes! You can do any silly thing you want. That is the soul of karaoke," Lera agrees. She nods at Madobe, seriously. "So don't worry about it! If you need a moment, others can go first! Kurotsuki-san simply rolled the ball."

Earth sayings are still hard, sometimes.

Then she takes a bite of her beef stroganof enchilada. She chews it once, twice, and quickly makes a face. This American food, she decides, is /vile/. She manages to swallow the bite and stares down at her plate disbelievingly. Is it really supposed to taste like evil?

Fuu nods, and takes a fresh look at the menu to see what kind of snacks she might want ... but her bigger priority right now is drinks. So once the staff brings cups and ice, she pours the drinks as requested - oolong tea for Aimi, Yoshirou, Lera, and herself; water for Madobe, Fanta for Tokiko.

She's still hoping to dodge a turn at singing, but she's not about to draw attention to that fact either.

Madobe says, "Okay..." She breathes. "No I..." She reddens, takes in a deep breath, then another deep breath. "Sorry." She says. She doesn't quite calm down just enough, but yes--she does seem to have 'the shyness'. Just stay...relaxed, she thinks, imagine the audience is naked.

She looks up--determined--then sudenly turns an even brighter red and looks back down. Okay, she thinks, imagine the audience are clowns.

Madobe looks up again. Okay...this is...actually kind of worse. She looks down--Okay!--this time...imagine the guys you successfully added to your dating sim collection conquests! She looks up and nods firmly. "Okay." She says. "I'm r-ready..." She stands up and stumbles over to the machine.

She doesn't actually--she still can't think of a song. So instead of a song she likes, she picks oppa gangnam style. The internet seems to like that song.

Madobe sings it, flushed, but it should be noted ... her singing voice ... it cracks a few times and, okay, she's not actually a good singer. Yeah. And she's too awkward to actually do the oppa gangnam style dance along with it.

And once she's done she looks towards Fuu and points to her.

IF SHE MUST GO UP THEN ALL MUST GO UP.

And of course she rushes back to her seat, covering her face.

Yoshirou cheers for Madobe! "That was great! I like that song." He raises his glass of tea. "You just need a little practice for the dance. But that was definitely good." Sure, he's being generous with the singing, but why not? Being critical is for times when it /matters/. "See? It's all about just having fun with it."

And what is waiting for Madobe when she sits back down? Why another hug from Aimi! She smiles, hugging Madobe tightly now. "That was great Maddy-chan!"

"So what was that song again?" Internet. Aimi doesn't have it.

Tokiko bounces along with the beat, smiling and trying to look for points in the song when Madobe might look like she's enjoying it. Hmm. Well, even without that, she tries to contribute, singing along with the backup vocals and clapping her hands. "See? That wasn't so bad," Tokiko says, smiling and leaning in. "OKAY! Hououji-san's up!"

Lera takes her oolong tea with murmured thanks and sips it.

And then she discovers Oppa Gangnam Style. She stares at this; she tilts her head until it's close to a ninety degree angle, a look of awe and confusion on her face. She hasn't ever heard anything like that before. "That was good! I've never--um, it's--" Is it popular in San Fancisco? She has no clue. "I think I liked it."

"It's a Korean pop-rock song that went viral around the world some months ago," Fuu answers Aimi ... and then she gets picked for the next victim.

She tries really hard not to wilt visibly. "I'm really not that good of a singer," she attempts to demur, but that's not going to fly, is it? Especially if poor Madobe-san got strongarmed into singing despite her shyness; Fuu's composure is too good to court a breakdown, or even to convincingly fake one.

Besides, we're sharing our magical secret identities here; how much more embarassing can karaoke be by comparison? "All right," she says with a suppressed air of resignation. "Let me just take a look ..."

She pages/scrolls/whatevers through the list, looking closer at a couple of possibilities which she notices. She picks one of them and steps up to the 'stage,' taking the microphone ...

The lyrics are in English, but she's sufficiently fluent not to mangle them horribly, and she can carry a tune reasonably well if she concentrates. So you all get to hear her sing 'Beyond the Sky,' from a sci-fi RPG that came out a year or two ago for the weakest console of the hardware generation (that was STILL incredibly successful by any unbiased measure).

Madobe laughs. It about a half step below deranged. "I-i-i-i-i-i-it w-w-w-w-w-w-was o-o-o-o-pp-o-o-p-o-o-pp-o-pp-p-o-ppa-papappa--oppapapapa..oppa..."

She takes in a deep breath and covers her eyes again.

It's not just that she went up there and sang. That's part of it, of course. Of course it's PART of it.

But the bigger issue is that she now can't stop seeing her friends as a bunch of pretty harem boys.

She looks sort of at Lera, not directly, sort of--askance. "U..uh... it's popular online."

And one of those said boys was hugging Madobe. Sorta. Aimi doesn't know this though obviously.

She listens to Fuu sing her song, smiling and nodding along with the music. She's finding it very enjoyable. As things go, it does seem like the Turners aren't all that bad a group of people in Aimi's mind.

Aimi picks up a donut, playing with it a bit and having it 'scamper' up Madobe's arm some like it was a living creature. "Just breathe now Maddy-chan. Your friends are here for you. No need to be so nervous and upset."

Tokiko holds a donut in her mouth by her teeth while applauding for Fuu's impressive performance of Beyond the Sky. She finishes her bite and sets her donut down, bowing her head. "Okay, okay. Fair is fair. It's my turn to make a fool out of myself." She drifts through the screen listing. "Idol... idol idol idol... idol idol Rip Slyme. Yes. This one."

She rises to her feet, picking up the microphone, and proceeds to rapidfire her way through a tight mixing of Japanese and English, which she handles pretty well, though she stumbles and has to reset a few times for the sheer speed of the song. She's got some energy to it, though, throwing what she assumes to be gang signs and making pistol fingers through the performance.

"Now listen, yo! People put yoah guns up mazu ore ga run dat, hashirimawatte yatsura wo gun shotto, brand new sound sou stiru sur... uh, sound boy ko no sekai ni ikiro! Shiryoku tairyoku to un ga mau ze flow, fukuranda atamannaka wa zakkubaran nanda, savanna de banana ni one punch kantan knockout kan-kan-kan, one time for your mind ikinuke around the world! Ikisaki ni yasuragi wa nai, tachina saa don't give up the fight, ima sou so no shunkan mo die, die-hie-hie, die-hie-hie-hi-hie!"

"Ohhh," Lera says, like this explains it. She nods cheerfully at Madobe. The shyness is impossible to miss, but doesn't deter her. "The internet likes it! I understand now!"

She still sometimes thinks that the internet is a huge Intelligent Device with an opinion. She doesn't quite register it as an amalgation of a lot of people. She gives Madobe a cheesy thumbs-up, then she looks back at Fuu. She remains quiet while she sings, before she sits up straighter and beams at the other gil. She applauds at the end.

"That was a very nice song!" she says. "You have a good voice, too."

And then Tokiko. She tilts he head again -- her Japanese is fantastic, but it's not quite to the task before her. She opens her mouth and stares for a moment, before she taps a finger against her cheek, then nods. She applauds after that, too.

"I liked how that one sounds!"

"Huh, never heard that one, Hououji." Yoshirou grins...and then sits back as Tokiko starts rapping.

He grins, and as the song nears its end, he starts clapping and cheering. (The observant my notice that he's doing so harder for Tokiko than he did for the others.) "Nice pick, Tocchan!" But then, is him subtly playing favorites /really/ that unsurprising?

Madobe takes a donut as Aimi criticizes her for social anxiety issues she can't really control. Okay, Madobe doesn't QUITE feel like it's like that, she knows Aimi is trying to help and is the most wonderful of people but it feels just enough like that that it ends up depressing her instead of actually calming her down.

"I...i'm fine." She says. Instead she listens to the songs. Maybe she should just be Sweet Pea all the time, she thinks, people would like that probably.

"Sorry." She adds, applauding for Fuu and Tokiko. She is used to songs with engrish.

Fuu waves a hand in politely modest dismissal, "I'm really not that good of a singer, it's just that became a favorite song of mine when I first heard it ..."

Then Tokiko busts some moves, both vocally and physically, and Fuu switches to watching and listening. "I could never match up to that performance," she smiles with a bit of a blush.

"Ooo! That was really good Toki-chan!" Aimi said, smiling and clapping. "Are we sure most of you aren't professionals at this?"

She smiles, sitting back now and sipping her tea. She wants to cheer Madobe up now, but she needs to figure out how. Its just not right for her to be depressed like this. Think Aimi think.

Tokiko sits down with a smile, waving off the compliments. "I can't really keep up with the song all the time," she says. "And truth be told, I don't really understand half of it. But I think it's about guns, and I like guns!" And that is enough to satisfy her. She shakes her head to Fuu. "The secret is to really get into the music, and go in prepared to look totally silly. Once you're comfortable with being silly, it actually starts to work!"

She leans in, then, with the same concern that Aimi is silently considering. "Madobe-chan, the donuts are really good," she says, trying to force a smile. Always with the smiles. And then her thoughts drift, and she leans back again and says, "I really wish some of the other Tuners would have come, though. I was hoping to get everybody together to compare notes and be ready to back each other up, but it just ended up with me and my friends again. Which is okay, I love you guys! I'm really glad I met all of you and we could have fun together. But, like... sometimes it gets to feel like business with them, you know? And that gets me down."

Lera has another drink of her tea -- trying to get the taste of stroganof enchiladas out of her mouth -- and nods her head. "That makes sense," she says. "If they treat it like a job, they might take it too far. I met some people like that, um, back in San Francisco--er, not with what we do, but in geneal." Her mother and her compatriots come to mind, building Devices for people. "It's better if the people you work with are friends. You can work better with them, you know?"

Aimi nodded. "Yeah. Its perfect if you can work with friends and not have to take the jobs any more seriously than you must. But then... given what we do..." Aimi said, starting to remember her talk with Dark Amber from the other night.

She was going to have to get with the others and go over what she had learned. In the meantime though, she had a donut in her hand. Munch munch munch.

Yoshirou puts an arm around Tokiko's shoulders. "It's important to have fun, Tocchan. We know that. Sure, some other people out superheroing might not get it, but..." He grins. "They don't matter so much. I mean, it's their loss, they don't get to hang out with cool people." Inwardly, Yoshirou is trying to figure out how he can fix things with the Star Lion. He doesn't like seeing Tokiko unhappy like this, and...well, that's his big tool for dealing with magical girls.

"I think it's important not to lose sight of what you guys are fighting for, even if it gets serious and tough. I mean, if you can't smile and have fun at the end of the day..."

Madobe nibbles on her donut. She looks down at it and says, "Oh--uh--thanks. Store bought." Well obviously. "So um... Yeah, don't worry about it. It was fun." She puts just enough energy to make it sound convincing. "I uh..." And then she trails off, glancing over to YOshirou. He really has the inspirational speech down pat, doesn't he? Oh wait--does that mean.. if this WAS like one of those games, does that make him the protaganist?

Madobe takes a quick survery after willing the girls back into girls and the like.

"I guess some tuners ARE too serious for snack night." She adds.

Fuu hms softly, "What's the purpose of the Tuners, anyway? I know Sailor V-san has identified herself as affiliated with them, but between that and yourself, Amagawa-san, that doesn't really tell me a lot ..."

Seeing as the donuts appear to be fair game, she selects one from the box and sits back with the donut and her glass of oolong tea, nibbling on the former between sips of the latter,r and looking at Tokiko.

Aimi blinks a bit. Sailor V is a Tuner? Well, guess they all can't be as awesome and... well as normal as Magical Girls can get as like, Tokiko is or even Madobe. Aimi doesn't hate Sailor V, just thinks she's... kind of weird.

She keeps quiet though, curious herself about the Tuners too. Its not like she's heard about them before or anything.

Tokiko smiles, and puts an arm around Yoshirou's shoulder, squeezing him tight. "Yeah. I guess Yokkun's right. And if they ever turn around and change their minds, I'll still be around!"

She remains with her arm around Yoshirou's shoulder as she answers Fuu, "Tuners silence Noise - that's like, a metaphor for all the monsters and youma and Witches and stuff around. I think they started as kind of a mutual assistance organization, like favor-trading? You help me fight this monster, I'll help pay for your medical care, or make excuses for you so you don't blow your secret identity. Stuff like that. They're really big now - I think they're worldwide! - but the idea's still the same. The people at the top assign some monsters 'bounties' you can cash in for defeating them, as a kind of a way of formalizing the favors, but I've never been into that. I give mine away to people who seem like they need it. I do pretty good on my own."

Tokiko looks one way, and then the other, and then leans in. "Between you and me? Sailor V's kind of... well, she's not a /jerk/... she means well, but... I don't think I really like her. She's pushy, and she really takes the bounty thing seriously."

"Bounty thing?" Madobe asks. "Actually...what is the difference between a Tuner and all the other, um, magical people?" She hasn't really noticed any meaningful difference yet except for Tokiko is in the tuners, and now apparently Sailor V!

"Not really anything," Tokiko says. "It's not like you get special Tuner classes on how to Tune. You beat up monsters and help each other out. We're all kinds of different magical girls with all kinds of different magic. The only real thing we have in common is we want to work together to fight the Noise."

It isn't unlike some of the rules on Mid-Childa. The mage adventurers there have laws and regulations -- and that includes bounties and the like, sometimes. In that sense, it is familiar, but it does give Lera another brief bout of homesickness. She glances at her tea fo a moment, swirling it in her hand, and then she takes a quick sip of it.

"That makes sense," she says, a little more subdued. "It does sound like a good deal. The bounties... it probably helps for the girls who need the income." Of course, it could also create a mercenary attitude. If Tokiko is there, though, they can't be bad -- and it can't be a really prevalent attitude. "What do we do, if we want to sign up? Is there paperwork?"

She would need to do a little research. Filling out foms means making sure her cover is good.

"Huh... guess I'll have to learn more about them," Aimi said, nodding. "Though I dunno if I really need to get paid to help out now."

[[Category:Logs]]

2013-10-11 - It wasn't what I wanted after all...

2013-10-11T09:46:28Z

Purophet: Creating log.

{|class="toccolours" cellspacing="2"
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''It wasn't what I wanted after all...'''
|-
|'''Summary''': 
''Puella Magi Eri Shimanouchi defeats a Witch cursing the Ohtori Academy library... and encounters her first Grief Seed poacher, in a tense and emotional standoff.''

''Warning: Some foul language is used.''

|-
| '''Who:''' 
[[Eri Shimanouchi]], [[Sakuyo Izumi]]
|-
| '''Where:''' 
Ohtori Academy, Library (and environs)
|-
| '''OOC - IC Date:''' 
10/11/2013 - 10/02/2013
|-
|}

Eri Shimanouchi had only defeated her first witch the other day, and nearly died for it. This one she was having better luck with. It started the same as before. A student with a witch's mark, a game of hot and cold with her soul gem. A surreal world of nonsense words. Where books where everywhere, but none of it made sense. Wormlike servants and familiars with vaguely human faces traipsing across images of human suffering. And then, in the center of the labyrinth, the witch. She might have had time to even take a picture of it with her camera phone for Kumi because.. it was vaguely moth like. Except upon its torso was an ever-shifting book which showed images of suffering rather than words which made sense. From its insectile legs it wielded objects that looked akin to letter openers, and thrown just as easily and sharply as any knives.

It was a running fight, where it flung some sort of dust all over her, which caused her to light up with a luminescence which drove all the servants of the labyrinth crazy. Unlike the last fight, she dismantled it cautiously. She had her friends clean off the phosphorescent dust, and eventually it ended with her vine-like whip wrapping around the creatures wings, its thorns extending to massive size to impale it from every direction.

It dissolved into a yellow smoke, there were some distortions, where the world turned to water color, and then the barrier collapsed entirely. She was back in the library, just past closing time. A librarian was slumped over some books that she'd been mutilating. She'd almost certainly be horrified when she awakened.

At that point Eri picked up the grief seed, which had an emblem upon it similar to a book with a pin through it. It made her feel... rather good about herself, "Well, that was... a little easier." Considering she'd nearly died during her first fight with a witch the other night, and had to be saved by Kumi.. that was a big boost to her confidence. She pockets the seed at this point, and starts walking towards the window, where she would simply leap out into the night if given the oppurtunity...

Applause.

Sakuyo Izumi, princess of the Izumi-gumi, emerges from behind one of the library bookshelves, giving a light golf-clap. She's not clad in her normal street fashion, but in what is hard to mistake for anything but a Puella Magi costume, complete with a mint-colored sapphire binding her collar. "Good work. Shimanouchi-san, wan'n it?" She folds her arms, leaning against the side of the shelf. "You musta made the deal recently. I haven't seen you around with the little rat. Well, sorry about that," she says, waving a hand to the side. "I really am. I was gonna take this one, but I felt somebody beat me to it. So I'm just gonna have to take the Seed. It ain't personal or nothin'. But you're gonna hand it over."

Especially when she viewed who it was. While Eri made few to no assumptions, it wasn't much of a stretch to think that at least half of what they said about Sakuyo Izumi was true. What surprised her even more, was the instant recognition, as she paled a few shades, her breath catching in her throat. This was the last thing she needed, a Puella Magi who was also a Yakuza princess knowing /exactly/ whom she was..

The last thing her family needed.

She starts in a suddenly shaken voice, "I don't want any trouble. I don't want to fight any of our kind or hurt anybody. Please.." She states in a very plaintive tone, almost begging, "...I'd prefer we work together. Less danger, less magic used per fight, fewer grief seeds needed to support the group."

She takes a deep breath, calming notably, but there was still a hint of desperation, "It's just.. I need this one, I'm very new, that was only my second witch. I fight a lot of familiars and other creatures and I use a lot of my magic up very quickly."

Could the look in Sakuyo's eyes be sympathy? Maybe... probably pity, if anything, right? Maybe nothing at all.

"Believe it or not, I don't want to hurt anybody neither," Sakuyo says, taking a step forward. "If you're new, I'll give you a hint. I don't know if you've noticed, but Witches don't split when you gang up on 'em. Teaming up means somebody gets the Seed and somebody doesn't. Or you're both sucking on a tap built for one."

"We all do a lot of fighting, and we all need 'em. Don't use up any more. You just fought and you're tired. Do the smart thing and hand it over easy."

Eri doesn't see it, or if she does.. she doesn't realize it. Perhaps she's just bad at reading people. Really bad. She still seems very frightened.

"B-But it's simple d-division. Less power used per witch, so fewer seeds are needed for e-everyone to benefit." But upon Sakuyo's statement on doing the smart thing, she just states, "I-I can't. Please.."

But seeing how scared she looks, it isn't any surprise that the first thing she does is attempt to bolt, by jumping out the open window... Isn't that adorable?

"Kid," Sakuyo begins. Eri bolts.

The next thing Eri senses is Sakuyo tackling her from behind. And then, as she pushes against the air, they're spinning, dizzyingly fast, fast enough to hit the ground rapidly tumbling to disperse the force from Sakuyo disrupting the balance of her jump. On the ground, there's a hand in her pocket, and then it's gone, and Sakuyo is standing over her, holding the Seed up in the air. "Kid," she says, a little louder. "Lissen to me."

That was fast. Eri was not very fast. If anything her magical talents made her rather hardy. But she wasn't any faster or more agile than say, an olympic gymnast. Definitely not so fast that she'd be akin to a superhero. She's tackled, she hits the ground hard. Not hard enough to hurt her very much, more her pride than anything.

But then she looks up, and sees the grief seed she'd just fought so hard to attain in the Yakuza Princess' grasp. There are some tears in her eyes, as she stares at her, "I /am/ listening. I've listened to every word you've said." And then she starts to get up, very slowly, not even making the move to dust herself off. "I wanted to be better than this. I wanted to work with all of you. To be friends. I don't want to fight you.. but I can't let you just.. /take/ what I've fought hard for every time you cross my path!"

She doesn't sound very sure of herself at all, as her vine like whip coils around her hand. "Please don't make me do this... /please/!"

"I said fuckin' lissen!" Sakuyo roars, tightening her grip on the seed and trying to keep herself from cracking it.

"You think you're the first one to come into this game thinkin' you're gonna be pals with everyone? You're not! We all fuckin' started that way, every one of us. So lissen up. You team up with somebody, it don't matter how great a team you are, the Seeds ain't gonna keep pace. They don't hold enough before they're about to hatch again and you gotta toss 'em. This game's rigged against us." She raises her head, looking down her nose at Eri. "Face it, girl: Kyubey fucked you over."

''COMBAT: Sakuyo Izumi has used Shut Down! on Eri Shimanouchi.''

''COMBAT: Sakuyo Izumi has finished attacking.''

''COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi narrowly dodges Sakuyo Izumi's Shut Down!, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Eri Shimanouchi is Quipped! Eri Shimanouchi is Taunted!''

Eri Shimanouchi winces visibly at her statements, each one hitting her like a brick to the face. Her lip quivers notably. She definitely seems on the verge of more tears, but if anything, she looks slightly more resolute, it may just be a show of bluster though in light of the words "I won't be so /stupid/ as to say that there's another way. Only that I think you're wrong. It's a division problem. Fewer grief seeds are required, if you use less magic per person. I.. I'll find a way."

On the second statement though, she states in a quiet tone, "No, he gave me exactly what I wanted. I /know/ that I'm dead eventually. I know that! I /accepted/ that as part of the package deal. But I don't care... one day I'm going to die. So long as my family gets to go on without me. So long as I do as much good as I can before I go..."

She takes a deep breath, "...I'm not backing down though. If I do this is just going to happen again, and again, until I die. And while I know I'm going to sooner or later." She bites off the words in a loud, acidic tone, "I WANT TO LIVE A LITTLE LONGER FOR THEM!"

''COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi has used Resolute on Sakuyo Izumi.''

''COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi has finished attacking.''

''COMBAT: Sakuyo Izumi fails to brace Eri Shimanouchi's Resolute, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Sakuyo Izumi is Quipped!''

Family... that word stings before any of the rest. Sakuyo clenches her free hand into a fist, just for a moment. Her teeth clench tight; her fist trembles. "Stupid kid," she says, as quiet as a whisper. "Just like me."

She takes a step forward, and though she applies none of her magical speed to it, in an instant she drives a slap across Eri's face with her free hand. "THERE IS NO WAY!" she roars again, her eyes misting up. "I tried! /We/ tried! It's not a fuckin' math problem, it's what /happened/! Don't spit in my face with your sunshine and tell me it's raining, it doesn't /work/!"

''COMBAT: Sakuyo Izumi has used What the Five Fingers Said to the Face on Eri Shimanouchi.''

''COMBAT: Sakuyo Izumi has finished attacking.''

''COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi narrowly dodges Sakuyo Izumi's What the Five Fingers Said to the Face, taking 4 Fatigue damage! Eri Shimanouchi is Quipped!''

Eri doesn't hear the whispering. Nor the comparison to her. If she did, she might have been shocked senseless.

She definitely notices the incoming slap though. She tries to roll with it, and it stings like the dickens. Her speed wasn't just for show. Her arm reeled back, as if she were about to strike back, but then it goes lax. And she states quietly, "No. I'm not going to fight you. It /can/ work! I have to believe it can! Akemi-senpai says it can says it has! It's just people being people, who break it up over misunderstandings! I just have to find the right people!"

And then she stares right into her eyes and asks just as quietly, "Are you one of them? One of the people who can help me make it work? So we can all live a little longer by helping each other?"

''COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi has used Idealism on Sakuyo Izumi.''

''COMBAT: Eri Shimanouchi has finished attacking.''

''COMBAT: Sakuyo Izumi accepts Eri Shimanouchi's Idealism, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Eri Shimanouchi is Psyched!''

Eri's endless belief isn't what does it. That just seems to make Sakuyo angrier. It's those eyes, that quiet voice. Maybe it wouldn't work if she had said it louder. Maybe it's the look directly in the eyes.

Just like me.

"I must be getting soft," Sakuyo mutters to herself, holding the Grief Seed forward. She says nothing about it; she just keeps her hand out, and waits for Eri to take it. "Don't get the wrong idea from this," she says. "I'm not lettin' my guard down around anybody. And you /owe/ me for this one."

Eri Shimanouchi just looks at her squarely in the eyes, as Sakuyo hands it forward to her. She reaches out with a single hand, and then with her hand closes Sakuyo's fingers over the grief seed gently, it is obviously not a hostile gesture.

She then states in a quiet voice, with eyes closed, "If you're doing this, then you probably need it more than I do... just..." Her voice sounds like she's begging again, "...promise me you'll never drag my family into this and... we're square."

She is silent for a while, before stating, "I.. just please think on it. I.. can't keep doing this, and I really don't want to fight you. I really would rather work together."

Her shoulder slump as if defeated, she starts to mumble, turning away, "...but I'm gonna have to if you do again. I just can't keep giving it up. I work hard for what I earn, just like how my daddy taught me."

She turns away, and even though she's not showing it, it's obvious she's crying, mumbling even more softly as she wipes a hand across her eyes. "..Just, you have a good night." And then she starts to run, full speed. It isn't a slow walk as some sort of ploy for sympathy, no she's running full tilt.

Sakuyo is stunned. She opens her mouth, but no sound comes out. Being given back the Seed, as if she needed it more, with her acquisitions... being asked to leave her family out of it, as if she would ever...

"Piece of shit kid," she whispers, and a tear falls to the ground below. She turns, raising the Grief Seed to hold before herself, observing the bookish ornament atop it, and begins walking to return to the dormitories.

Once again, she has fought for something, won it, and realized it was not what she wanted after all.

----

The next morning, a plain brown package has arrived at the Shimanouchi home, addressed to Eri with no return address. Inside, cushioned by packing peanuts, is the Grief Seed, along with a simple note in chickenscratch writing: "I would never hurt your family."

[[Category:Logs]]

Tokiko Amagawa

2013-10-08T20:50:13Z

Purophet: Capitalization normalization.

__NOTOC__
{|style="-moz-border-radius: 10px;background: #FFFFFF;width=100%;padding:5px"
|-
|
{|style="border:2px solid black;background: #FFFAFA;width: 22.5em;float: right;clear: right;vertical-align: top;-moz-border-radius: 10px;margin: 0 0 0 0.5em"
|-
!style="color:black;background:#FFD80A;font-size: 120%;text-align: center;-moz-border-radius-topright: 10px;-moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px"|Tokiko Amagawa
|-
| [[File:tokiko.png]]
|-
|style="text-align: center"| ''Left: Tokiko Amagawa; Right: Soldier Angel''
|}
{|style="border:2px solid black;background: #FFFAFA;width: 22.5em;float: right;clear: right;vertical-align: top;-moz-border-radius: 10px;margin: 0.5em 0 0 0.5em"
|-
!colspan="2" style="color:black;background:#FFD80A;font-size: 120%;text-align: center;-moz-border-radius-topright: 10px;-moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px"|Status
|-
|'''Name''' || Tokiko Amagawa (天川軍子)
|-bgcolor="#FFFFCC"
|'''AKA''' || Soldier Angel
|-
|'''Cast''' || [[Star ☆ Crossed]]
|-bgcolor="#FFFFCC"
|'''Gender''' || Female
|-
|'''Age''' || 14
|-bgcolor="#FFFFCC"
|'''School''' || [[School: Infinity Institute|Infinity Institute]]
|-
|'''Grade''' || 8th
|-bgcolor="#FFFFCC"
|'''Clubs''' || Survival Club (President) Drama Club (Set design) Track and Field Club
|-
|'''Organization''' || [[Organization: The Tuner Organization|Tuner Organization]]
|}
{|style="text-align: left; border: black solid 2px;background:#FFFAFA;-moz-border-radius: 10px"
|-

!style="color:black;background:#FFD80A;font-size: 120%; text-align: center;width: 1500pt;-moz-border-radius-topright: 10px;-moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px" | Quote
|-
|
<blockquote> ''"Entering the situation zone, Starry Soldier Angel reporting!" ''
 </blockquote>
|}
{|style="text-align: left; border: black solid 2px;background:#FFFAFA;-moz-border-radius: 10px;margin: 0.5em 0 0 0"
|-
!style="color:black;background:#FFD80A;font-size: 120%; text-align: center;width: 1500pt;-moz-border-radius-topright: 10px;-moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px" | Profile
|-
|
Tokiko is more than just an army brat. She’s a full-fledged military otaku. She can field-strip a submachinegun and tell you who manufactures the ammunition for the JSDF’s Type 90 battle tank. Her enthusiasm never quits and often outstrips her common sense. She has little sense of personal space or social boundaries. Who would ever mistake her for the mysterious and heavily-armed Soldier Angel, protector of wishes made on shooting stars? Nobody. Tokiko wears glasses. Soldier Angel doesn’t! Case closed.
|}

{|style="text-align: left; border: black solid 2px;background:#FFFAFA;-moz-border-radius: 10px;margin: 0.5em 0 0 0"
|-
!style="color:black;background:#FFD80A;font-size: 120%; text-align: center;width: 1500pt;-moz-border-radius-topright: 10px;-moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px" | Vitals
|-
|'''Blood Type:''' B
|-bgcolor="#FFFFCC"
|'''Favorite Food:''' Nikujaga
|-
|'''Least Favorite Food:''' Cheeseburgers
|-bgcolor="#FFFFCC"
|'''Favorite Subject:''' World History
|-
|'''Least Favorite Subject:''' Literature
|-bgcolor="#FFFFCC"
|'''Favorite War:''' Russo-Japanese War
|-
|'''Least Favorite War:''' War of the Roses
|-bgcolor="#FFFFCC"
|'''Favorite Thing:''' Hito-maru-shiki-sensha 120mm smoothbore main battle tank
|}

{|style="text-align: left; border: black solid 2px;background:#FFFAFA;-moz-border-radius: 10px;margin: 0.5em 0 0 0"
|-
!style="color:black;background:#FFD80A;font-size: 120%; text-align: center;width: 1500pt;-moz-border-radius-topright: 10px;-moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px" | What's in your heart?
|-
|'''[[Minako Aino|Sailor V]]:''' ''"She's... kinda flighty? I think she means well. I wonder if she has anything to do with Sailor Neptune-sempai."''
|-bgcolor="#FFFFCC"
|'''[[Ren Aizawa]]:''' ''"There are more magical girls going to the Infinity Institute than I ever imagined. More importantly, Aizawa-sempai helped save the Survival Club! I'll forge her into a force to reckon with."''
|-
|'''[[Lera Camry]]:''' ''"The exchange student with the funny Japanese. She's nice! But her weapon's got a mouth on it."''
|-bgcolor="#FFFFCC"
|'''[[Suzu Hamasaki]]:''' ''"Star buddies!♥"''
|-
|'''[[Sei Itazura]]:''' ''"Some trash gangster who's full of herself. Where did the yakuza get a magical girl anyway??"''
|-bgcolor="#FFFFCC"
|'''[[Michiru Kaioh|Sailor Neptune]]:''' ''"Sempai doesn't like to socialize, but she's got a good heart."''
|-
|'''[[Yoshirou Kurotsuki]]:''' ''"I couldn't imagine life without Yokkun! Best buds forever!"''
|-bgcolor="#FFFFCC"
|'''[[Madobe Kuroi]]:''' ''"Madobe-chan is a great friend. I hope I can help her feel more confident in herself. She's more capable than she thinks!"''
|-
|'''[[Eri Shimanouchi|"Puella Gardener"]]:''' ''"She called me sempai. That's pretty cool, I'm somebody's sempai!"''
|-bgcolor="#FFFFCC"
|'''[[Nanoha Takamachi]]:''' ''"Takamachi-chan is new at this, and so young, but she's got a brave heart!"''
|-
|'''[[Mami Tomoe]]:''' ''"I wonder what awful thing happened between her and the Tuners..."''
|-bgcolor="#FFFFCC"
|'''[[Vita]]:''' ''"Little brat."''
|}

==== Logs ====
{{#dpl: |category = logs
|linksto = {{PAGENAME}}
|notcategory = News Files
|ordermethod = title
|notcategory = cutscenes
|columns = 2
|suppresserrors = yes
|noresultsheader=There are no logs on this wiki that {{PAGENAME}} participated in.
}}

[[Category:Characters]] [[Category:Infinity]] [[Category:Tuners]]

2013-10-02 - Fight, ShiShi-kun! Ome Water Park Troubles!

2013-10-03T17:53:40Z

Purophet: Adding to category.

{|class="toccolours" cellspacing="2"
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''Fight, ShiShi-kun! Ome Water Park Troubles!'''
|-
|'''Summary''': 
''A Jewel Seed manifests at the opening of Ome Water Park. Magical girls and mascots to the rescue — and Vita seeks revenge!''
|-
| '''Who:''' 
[[Ren Aizawa]], [[Tokiko Amagawa]] (as ShiShi the Lion), [[Jay Dawson]], [[Suzu Hamasaki]], [[Madobe Kuroi]] (as Merry the Melancholic Mule), [[Nanoha Takamachi]], [[Fate Testarossa]] (as the Jewel Seed), [[Vita]]
|-
| '''Where:''' 
Tama Outer City, Ome Water Park
|-
| '''OOC - IC Date:''' 
10/2/2013 - 9/27/2013
|-
|}

IT'S FRIDAY.
Better start enjoying the weekend while it's hot.

A small water park located on one of the many rivers of the Tama region has done a lot of publicity lately. Predictably it's gotten pretty crowded and popular. Now everyone wants to go see what's up there! Lots of attractions, lots of staff, it shows why it's popular. It's awesome, and the heat lends itself to visiting these places. Especially on friday evenings!

But not everyone might be here for their entertainment. Somewhere in the park, a dim magical signature can be picked up. It's active, powerful, but trying very hard to hide. It's hard to pinpoint, though, and that's why people are going to have to suffer the crowds and scout the place if they don't want to just wait for it to show itself.

In such a location it'll probably be awful either way.

So far nothing has exploded, at least, but there's always that weird tingling in the air that tugs at the magically inclined. Like being observed, from all angles.

Hurray for Friday!

There's school on Saturday, mind, so it's not as awesome as it could be. But hurray for Friday anyway!

Suzu actually has limited homework to do today. She thought she'd go out for a nice long walk. It's not quite what she wants to do - she really, really wants to go swimming - but it's the best she can without causing problems she does not want to.

Suzu is currently not at the water park, but just near it. At Juuban she's assumed to be afraid of water because of how much she hates even rain and the fact that she's missed every swim day ever, but she's not too far from the river at the moment, sitting on the side in one of the parks and looking out at it a little wistfully.

The faint sense of magic is a nagging sensation to her, though - something new. She didn't feel it before. Suzu rises from where she was sitting and begins to pick her way toward the water park, half curious and half nervous as to what she's going to find there. It's probably nothing, right? She's not even very /good/ at detecting magic.

Vita is in the waterpark. She is also in a swimsuit. It is a white one-piece swimsuit with a big black skull in the middle of the chest. She frowns to herself as she walks around on bare feet, pushing through the crowds of much larger people. "I know there's a stupid magical source here, but I don't think this 'disguise' was a good idea." She grumbles to herself. "I feel so unprotected! Do people really wear this stuff for fun?" She looks at the evidence all about her, and it makes her frown some more. "I guess so. Can't I just make a barrier? Then I wouldn't have to bother 'blending in'."
"Nein, Kapitan!" Graf Eisen replies, for her ears alone. He is currently a hammer-shaped pendant on a chain around her neck. "Die General will, dass wir vorsichtig sein!"
"Yeah yeah, I get it. Don't show our hand until we know the prize is worth it." Vita sighs, elbowing a little kid out of the way. He windmills his arms and tumbles into the pool while she walks on, without even looking back. "This better be worth it, that's all." At least Hayate is safe at home with Shamal and Zafira, so no one here is likely to recognize the pint-sized redhead.

Something has been nagging at Tokiko Amagawa all day at the Institute. It's taken a few hours after school let out to track it down to the Ome Water Park - but it's packed with people, and she can't very well transform in the middle of all this, nor can she just walk around as Soldier Angel, right?

You're following SoldierAngel on Twitter.

@PeaSplash I have a plan, meet me outside Ome Water Park #ihaveaplan #megucateamup

ShiShi-kun the big cuddly orange lion lumbers his way out of a lockpicked back room and into the crowds of Ome Water Park, waving his hand with a frozen smile on his big cushy face-mask. "Welcome to the park, kids!" says a female voice trying to sound low and male, and ending up appropriately cartoonish. "Make the best of summer while you can, shi! Soft cream is 10% off today, don't forget, shi!"

ShiShi-kun comes to a stop in front of Vita, pointing a thick paw at her. "Hey hey, play nice now! Or we'll have to call security, shi!"

The water park was not where Ren planned on ending up on a Friday after school. Not that she's opposed to the idea of spending time in the cool water to escape the heat. She hasn't been swimming in ages, so it would be a welcome reprieve from her daily routine. But /no/. Unfortunately there will be no swimming today. Even though she's clad in a light t-shirt, shorts, and sandals combo and totally looks the part of someone seeking a dip in the pool.

 Souverain Heraut's crisp masculine tone echoes in Ren's head, prompting her to sigh softly and nod. "Of course I believe you. I can feel it too, you know." She mumbles, moving along through the crowds of people populating the park. This was not a good place for something bad to go down. Too many civilians. Ren blinks at that. Civilians? When did she start using that term?

Somehow. SOMEHOW. Between homework, working in Midori-ya, training, getting Alyce her tea for being battered, more training, and Raising Heart needling Ren for being a naughty little eavesdropper... Nanoha has managed to break off some time for a bit of relaxation! Rare, lately, yes, but a little needed, between getting shot and running around almost all day and night looking for Jewel Seeds with a Ferret.
This is exactly why Nanoha Takamachi is in the water park. In a swimsuit. It's kind of adorable.
But... A telepathic nudge of her Device, and the water park is suddenly a lot less fun.
<A STRONG MAGICAL SIGNATURE IS DETECTED.>
There simply is no rest for the weary.

Jay Dawson is at the water park because it's Friday, and he wants to go for a swim. Really, that's it. It's not like he's here to go hunt down some weird source of energy, or anything like that, and he's certainly not avoiding the actual pools because he doesn't know how to swim. Don't be silly.

Jay tends to stick out wherever he goes--he's clearly a foreigner, with short blonde hair and blue eyes. He's tallish for someone his age (about thirteen), and thin. He reclines on a beach chair, arms crossed behind his head, a pair of sunglasses resting on the bridge of his nose. He's wearing a pair of blue swim trunks as well.

Jay frowns as he watches Vita... being Vita, and shakes his head. Inwardly, he kind of hopes they call security, if only because it's getting boring waiting here for the whatever-it-is to show its face. It is an unknown unknown, and Jay doesn't like those.

Madobe has been moping all day because her brother's a jerk who didn't accept her forgiveness for eating her yogurt (which she had left, open, in his room) that she also happened to give at 3 AM. Brothers, am I right? When Tokiko sends her a message as SOLDIERANGEL through their twitter accounts because that's the most private and secure method of communication Madobe can imagine, she is actually happy to have a 'job' and sends a response.

@PeaSlash Be right there #mybrothersucks :|

Merry-Chan the Melancholic Mule is present, giving hugs to small children and patting them on the head. Merry the Melancholic Mule looks sad because Merry the Melancholic Mule is always sad. It was the only costume Sweet Pea could find...

Merrry pats a young girl on the head, finding this a lot easier to do when nobody can see her face than normal.

"That's right!" Merry follows after Shishi-kun. "If you're feeling down, there are better ways to express yourself, muu! When I feel sad, I get myself an ice cream! Do you need an ice cream, little girl, muu?"

Vita stops in her tracks as a large, fluffy lion beast blocks her path and threatens her with arrest if she does not comply with the local regulations. Her scowl deepens, her small fists coming to rest on her hips as she glares up at ShiShi-kun. "Are you this area's Guardian Beast?" She demands, her voice haughty and slightly heated. "I am sorry if I've violated your customs, but I don't have time to waste with your security. Please stand aside. I don't want to fight you, but if you try to restrain me I won't have a choice."
She crouches slightly, still glaring up at the big fuzzy mascot, and puts one of her hands over the Graf Eisen pendant around her neck, free hand fingers clenching, waiting to see if she has met her first great challenge in this new world since awakening. Merry the Mule is met with another cautious glance. There are two of them. "This is bad, Graf Eisen," she whispers below her breath. "I might have to flatten the whole area if I can't pacify these creatures. Hopefully Hayate doesn't like to swim."

People pour in! They have fun. They meet, they do silly things, they get horrible feelings about this place. It's all pretty normal. Nothing's gone horrible wrong yet, although Vita getting Tokiko's attention might be able to be classified in the category of things going horribly wrong.

(As do most things Tokiko does.)

But so far so good. The magical signature isn't powering up, or waking up more than it already is. Being this close certainly makes it easier to track it down, though. It's... somewhere under the main slide. The brand new slide they just built. It towers over every other attraction here. It is the slide to end all slides. Like skiing on a diamond course, but for water parks. And boy is it crammed with people wanting to try it out.

Whatever's giving off the magic is under it, somewhere in the water. Just out of conventional view. Why would it avoid rampaging in such a good area?

Well, that's not an expected response. Tokiko - I mean, ShiShi the Lion puts a paw to his chin and tilts his head, pantomiming confusion. "No fighting in the park, shi!" ShiShi-kun finally concludes, holding his arms out wide. "Just be nice to your fellow parkgoers! That's all that ShiShi-kun wants, shi!" Tokiko looks around quickly for some way to extract from this weird situation, and spots - hey, it's Takamachi-chan! She might be young enough to still enjoy mascots, and it gives her an excuse to wander more to try to find that magical source. She thinks she's getting close. "Are you having fun, little girl?" ShiShi-kun says, waving his hand. "ShiShi-kun says welcome to Ome Water Park, shi!"

Though Ren is technically "on duty", there's no reason for her not to indulge in certain leisure activities. Like getting ice cream. Which she does. Licking the vanilla treat she's acquired she smiles softly as her taste buds tingle. A little bit of confectionary heaven to lose herself with before getting down to business. Leaving the vendor she moves closer to where two mascots are interacting with the parkgoers. Or one parkgoer in particular -- a short little girl with red hair.

Suzu Hamasaki gets momentarily delayed at the entrance because she does not have a bathing suit, nor was she expecting to spend money on this today. Suzu has never owned one in her life. Why would she need one? This is some kind of human thing, isn't it? The colours and designs are kind of staggering.

She gets in, though. Suzu is uneasy inside the park because of all the water around, and it shows, but as long as she doesn't actually get in or something she should be fine. The odds of getting splashed are pretty low, right? If she stays away from the actual attractions.

Suzu decides to head closer to the mascots, because they probably won't splash the mascot outfits (they don't look waterproof). She is trying to triangulate. This might take her a couple minutes.

Wow, Tokiko is good at this. As to be expected of SOLDIER ANGEL. She's going to have to step up her game! What the heck is a Guardian--ahh, that's right, Madobe understands! The girl is playing with the power...

OF HER IMAGINATION!

Merry the Melancholic Mule rests a hand on Shishi's shoulder. "I've got this handled." She tells Soldier Angel. "I know just what to do..."

She turns to face Vita and after a moment's thought says, "Orrrraaaa!!" playfully. "I am this area's Guardian Beast! Don't run while in the water park because you might slip and fall!" She waves her arms up and down and approaches. "Boo! Hiss! I will defend this area...but the custom is to answer our riddles three!"

She waggles a plush hand. "First riddle! What is your name?" She bends over to try and be less intimidating to this clearly yonug girl!

Vita frowns as the one Guardian Beast wanders off in the face of her challenge. Cowardice! This land must be weak indeed to have such paltry defenders. But she can't let her guard down, because now the second one is approaching her in a threatening manner! Vita crouches again, fingers tightening into a small fist around Graf Eisen, ready to summon forth her Barrier Jacket and her weapon! But.. well, it seems kind of silly, really, this beast. It is behaving foolishly. And.. a riddle?
Vita frowns, relaxing a little bit. Then she says, "I got your answer right here, Beast!" She curls one of her tiny hands into a fist and punches Merry the Mule right in the face. Its cushioned somewhat by the big mascot head, but even without her power active, Vita hits a lot harder than an 8-year-old should.

It's not everyday you witness a little girl wallop a costumed mascot in the face. So when Ren sees exactly that transpire, she stops, eyes widening slightly. Talk about awkward. What was that little girl's problem, anyway? So aggressive! This was a water park where people were supposed to laugh and let their worries melt away. Obviously someone hasn't given the redhead the memo about proper behavior!

<YOUR MAJESTY. THE MAGICAL SIGNATURE.> Souverain Heraut prompts, reminding Ren of why they were here in the first place. Not that she's forgotten. Nope.

Jay relaxes in his beach chair, the very image of relaxation. It's only half-genuine, because the longer he sits here, the more uneasy he gets. Where is that energy source coming from? Why is this place not swarming with magical people shooting beams everywhere and dropping airstrikes?

Fine, then. If you want something done right...

Jay rises from his chair, takes off his sunglasses, and leaves them atop his towel so no one goes and takes his seat. He stretches luxuriously, rolling his shoulders; he watches the mascots and the oddly belligerent eight-year-old out of the corner of his eye. Suddenly, /pow/. Jay blinks once, and hastily makes his way over to the slide before the lion makes good on its threat to call security. As funny as that might be, he doesn't want to get caught up in it on accident!

VIIIITAAAA UPPAHCUT!

Normally Sweet Pea could avoid a punch or just take it, but it is such a surprise to her that she just takes it full on in the snout. She is actually pulled up briefly into the air before she lands flat on her back, dazed. You can see the swirlyeyes in certain flavors of media.

"guh....ghh...muu..." Sweet Pea croaks.

God, Madobe thinks, why are kids today so violent and surly? Is this one related to that Li kid? Who is a ninja? Were they dating or something? Why is life so cruel, as to allow a proud middle schooler like her get beaten up by an elementary school student? In front of Soldier Angel no less?

At least she is wearing a mask, she thinks, so nobody besides Tokiko knows its her.

"eheh...eheheh....wahhh..."

Oh dear. Violence.

There's a pulse of magic in the water. A ripple invisible to the naked eye, but like a wave of power spreading out. It's a high pitched noise, like the obnoxiously loud gleaming of a gemstone. It almost conveys a message, not in words, but in feelings.

'PREY'.

The magical entity is now much easier to pinpoint. Because it's glowing. Civilians can see it. It's a bright blue gemstone about the size of two marbles. As it rises from the depths of the pool, the water begins to churn unnaturally. People rush out of the pool, but they kind of stay around it to watch.

The usual cries of 'ooh' 'aaah' 'that's cool!' 'what is it?' resonate amongst the crowd. On one hand this should totally save Vita from those two creepy mascots (or THEM from HER). On the other lives are now in danger!

"Hey-hey, shi!" ShiShi-kun turns around, staring for a moment as Vita just outright /decks/ Swee-- Merry. This is a problem. Not a problem on the level of a magical beast, but, well - it doesn't seem to have stirred, and that brat just hit her friend! Sadly, there's nothing magical about this, and so ShiShi-kun can do nothing more than stomp forward, point a paw at Vita, and intone, "Look what you did to poor Merry! I'm going to have to ask you to leave the park, shi!"

Something pulses deep within the pool, flaring like a beacon on the edge of Jay's senses. He stops in his tracks, padding closer to the edge--ignoring a lifeguard who tells him that this is not a swimming area, and that he should get to the end of the line. Jay keeps right on staring as the gem emerges from the pool, his eyes growing wide. He makes no attempt to move, looking every bit the enraptured civilian as he stares at it.

It's like he's forgotten his source of power is in a rented locker or something.

Annnd of course things only heat up. Ren's attention is forcibly averted from the growing confrontation to the much bigger threat. "What...?" She blinks at the blue gemstone that's causing such a ruckus, /and/ is emitting such obvious pulses of magic. Her hand moves to grip the ring that is Souverain Heraut's standby form. "This is bad... Why are they crowding around like that?" People always seem to not turn tail and run at the first sign of something supernatural. It made no sense!

Vita watches in satisfaction as the Guardian Beast flies backwards and lands flat on its back on the ground beside the pool. She dusts her hands together as she straightens, nodding her head. "Victory goes to the strongest, Beast! Next time, you should consider your words more carefully!" She puts her little fists back on her hips and scowls down at the defeated Mule. Then, of course, ShiShi-kun is stomping back over to confront her, and Vita wheels around to face the second mascot. "She attacked me! I was defending myself. Which I will continue to do if you force me!" She's getting a bit peeved now.
Things might have gotten comically worse from here, but instead they just get regular worse. Or better, depending on who you are. Because at about that time, the magic signature pulses and begins to rise from the pool, a glowing blue gem! Vita whirls about as people begin to flee the water, her eyes widening slightly. How many pages of the Book would that thing fill, she wonders! The mascots are entirely forgotten. "Eisen!" She calls, hand going to her pendant at once.
"Jawohl!" comes the audible reply, and suddenly there is a bright flash of red light and a small concussive shockwave, enough to likely send Shishi-Kun stumbling back a step. Out of the top of the red flash streaks a red line, the light clearing to show Vita, in full battle regalia, sweeping up and away, trailing visibly distorted air in her wake from the fury of her passage. She is not heading towards the glowy thing just yet, but rather seeking a more advantageous observation point. She will likely throw up a Barrier any moment unless someone else beats her to it.

Suzu Hamasaki was halfway over to the mascots before one of them gets punched in the face.

Suzu's expression changes from nervous to shocked in about half a second. Who would punch someone like that? "Are you okay?" she asks, hurrying over - she has no idea who's in the costume, or who Vita is, but she figures it can't have hurt that much - Vita's just a kid, after all. "What's going on over - "

Suzu becomes distracted a moment later by a stone rising out of the pool. She can feel it more intensely, and so can everyone else by the looks of it. Then she starts to inch slightly to the side. This doesn't look good. Suzu's hand lifts up, toward her star-shaped hairclip, as if absently touching them to reassure herself.

Well, /somebody's/ not worried about secret identities. Tokiko kind of envies that. She keeps her footing, taking a surprisingly tense stance for a mascot, and reaches up to remove the head-mask.

Tug. Tug, tug.

It's stuck. The mask is stuck.

The mascot-suited Tokiko looks about in concealed panic for a moment, before making a snap decision. There's a magical entity on the loose, potentially hostile. There are people /right there/ in danger.

ShiShi-kun leaps improbably high in the sky, flipping before landing in a battle crouch, paws clasped around two furry orange handguns. "Entering the situation zone, ShiShi-kun reporting! This is a designated red zone; all civilians evacuate the area! Don't worry..." He turns his frozen mascot smile across the crowd.

"ShiShi-kun's got this, shi!"

So much for fun. Sigh.
In the hectic delige of countless people haveing waterpark fun, and mascots and little girls harassing each other; Nanoha has, so far, been working on trying to figure out just where the origin of the signature. It's the gleaming sound that gets her.
Hands cover her ears with a wince, there's no mistaking the chime of a rousing Jewel Seed.
<IT IS HERE.>
"A-ah..."
This is a problem. If she were to transform now, it would be... Well. Awkward with so many people around.
<DON'T WORRY. I HAVE A PLAN.>
For a moment, Nanoha is left staring inquisitively at the gem on her necklace, as if waiting for Raising Heart to elucidate on this keen idea to stealthily handle a dangerous issue.
<BARRIER JACKET SET UP! . . . BEACH MODE!>
"Bea-wha-?!"
There's a flash of pink from the changing room she's managed to sneak into.
And then Nanoha emerges, Device clasped in her left hand. In a white and blue swimsuit now.
"Eh?! Eh?! This was your plan?!"
<IT WAS THE BEST I COULD THINK OF, YES.>

Merry the Melancholic Mule seems to be crying underneath her mule mask. Something about that girl seems familiar but--Well, she's too distraught to connect any dots here. "Y...y...yeah I'm okay...muu." She says, pretty much entirely because she's too embarrassed to admit that a kid uppercutted her off the floor.

Wait that means---and that weird kind of talking--

"ah...that must be..." Merry snaps out of it. "Careful!"

She grabs at Suzu's arm. "It might be dangerous!" She pulls Suzu down, intending to cover Suzu's body with her own in case the stone or whatever starts shooting lasers or whatever. Or water guns. She doesn't know. She just knows Suzu is a normal girl and probably ill equipped to handle monsters! "Shishi will stop that monster! It is part of the show muu! Ha ha ha muu! ha ha muu. Ha..."

Violence AND magic. The Jewel Seed pulses again.

The water starts rising upward in a column. There's far more of it than the pool should be able to contain, suddenly. The column starts taking on a more humanoid shape, with massive arms forming. Though the head is still mostly just a really big blob of water.

In the torso of the monster, the Jewel Seed glows brightly, evidently shielded by the layers of now magical water surrounding it. Not EVERY civilian backs away like they should. In fact many of them just take a couple of steps back at most, now convinced they're watching some big show for the park.

That's unfortunately when the water monster turns its non-existent stare towards the crowd. It can sense all that magic, and it's hungry. It roars! It's kind of a loud, wet gurgling mixed with a roar. It lifts one of its arms, pointing its fist at the heroic ShiShi-kun. The hand fires off, like a big orb of water slash rocket fist. Blunt force, mostly.

Now they know it's hostile!

The situation accelerates! The surly little girl who punched out the mascot transforms! Then ShiShi-kun leaps impossibly into the air and readies for battle! Ren is a bit taken aback, of course. This is getting a bit whacky.

<YOU SHOULD TRANSFORM IMMEDIATELY.> Ah. Souverain Heraut being helpful as usual by stating the obvious. When the Water Monster takes shape and strikes out at the heroic mascot, Ren is more than inclined to agree with the device's suggestion. Turning around she runs to a secluded spot behind a closed hot dog stand. "A royal duty to defend against tyranny... To strike down chaos where it lurks... To become a shining beacon that beats back the darkness... SOUVERAIN HERAUT, SORTIE!" Ren says with absolute conviction as the ring comes to life and detatches itself from the necklace she normally wears it on.

<OK! BARRIER JACKET, SET UP!>

A flash of golden light overtakes Ren, who spins around as the pieces of her outfit form in quick succession. When the light fades, she's fully decked out, the half-cape on her right shoulder fluttering majestically in the wind. An ornate scepter is clutched in her hand, sparkling magnificently. Taking a deep breath in she steps out from behind the booth and falls into a battle-ready stance.

Suzu Hamasaki gets about two steps before Merry the Melancholic Mule covers her. She was not expecting that - she'd have thought that the mascots would clear out, too! But they're claiming it's part of a show... is that what they do up here?

It can't be, she decides. It's definitely attacking for real. "I'm going to get out of here," she declares, squeezing out from under the bulky costume and scrambling up to her feet. She certainly does hide pretty quickly!

Well, 'hide'. Suzu just ducked behind one of the ice cream stands, pulling off her star-shaped clip and tossing it up. It spins around her, her clothes turning into ribbons of light and reforming around her - a skirt-like sarong, an open and vaguely translucent vest with detached sleeves, a pair of abalone shells. Even her hair lengthens and shifts.

Seafoam Suzu comes back out a moment later, bare-footed, her hairclip back in place. /Now/ she's ready to fight... but can she actually just fight water?

Jay glances over his shoulder as red light erupts from nowhere, and when the spots fade from his eyes, he spots the first Magical Girl of the incident. His pulse quickens, and nervous sweat begins to bead on his forehead. Here is to hoping his disguise still works. "Look out!" he cries, as the water monster punches poor brave Shishi-kun. Act or not, he is going to help sell the hell out of this thing as one.

Vita stands in the air high above. Its not really hovering. She just sort of stands there, feet planted on nothing, looking down as the massive water-creature forms around the Jewel Seed. She holds Graf Eisen, now a warhammer in truth, across her shoulder behind her neck, supported by one hand gripped near its base. The other hand is on her hip. "Well. I don't know what /that/ thing is, but it positively reeks of magic." She says, sounding a bit excited. So many pages! Oh! She spots other blips of magic as people around the pool transform. She nearly salivates. Too bad she can only go after one.. and that big one is the prize, she's sure. But there's competition.
Still, better safe than sorry. "Eisen! Barrier!" She snaps, and the Device responds, "Gefangis der Magie!", a huge orangey diamond-shape growing out from around her and soon swallowing the whole area.. civilians vanishing, leaving only those with magical affinity.. and possibly Jay Dawson, out of complete bad luck and circimstance.

ShiShi the Lion throws out his paws, anticipating the incoming mass of water and taking it on at full force. The splash pushes him back some, certainly more than a mass of water that size and velocity should, but the mascot costume isn't even wet when the water has cleared. "ShiShi-kun, ShiShi Strafing!" he calls out, running sidelong around the disappearing citizens, and firing his handguns when he can - not at the bulk of the mass, but aiming straight for the reinforced water protecting the Jewel Seed. The magical charges ignite when they exit the gun, burning up like gouts of golden flame.

In this way he passes in front of Jay Dawson, who seems to be the last civilian left (thank goodness for that brat's magical barrier, at least). "Take cover, shi! Bunker!" He throws his hands down on the ground, and a solid stone wall crashes upward, out of the cobbling of the park grounds, to stand between Jay and the monster. ShiShi-kun leaves Jay with one last message, as he leaps again into the air, straight at the monster, firing both guns as he goes.

"Remember to visit our gift shop, shi!!"

"Good idea!" Sweet Pea agrees, standing up and shaking her costume's sleeves for a while. It takes her a bit to actually fenagle her guns into her hands. Her head isn't stuck on she just isn't going to want people to know she's Sweet Pea after an 8 year old--even if she's a MAGICAL 8 year old--laid her out on the floor with one punch!

Eventually she gets a Sweet Pea Shooter out and aims it towards the creature. "Everybody deserves happy memories here, muu! Be nice to our friendly (except that red hair girl) guests muu!"

She fires off several pink blasts.

"Yes but WHY?!"
Raising Heart decides to remain silent on the matter and halts any further discussion. So aside from her neat 'toy' staff, Nanoha can at least pretend to blend in as the water monster rises. There's just a problem. That thing is dangerous, and the mascots are going after it? Even WORSE, comes a familiar voice- two voices in the form of Ren and her Device. "Ah..."
<A BARRIER HAS BEEN ERECTED.> Raising Heart suddenly warns as Vita's spell encloses the area. And all subtlety is out the window now that the civilians are safely out of the picture.
"Did..." At this point, Nanoha decides not to ask. Just to Do.
"Raising Heart!"
<ALRIGHT. RESTRICT LOCK.> The Device announces, bands of pink light forming to try and bind the water and make it easier for closer people to wail on... Water.

The barrier washes away the poor masses of bystanders, although they don't seem to disperse entirely. Maybe the Jewel Seed's interference makes the events inside the barrier visible to those outside? Though if that's the case, it must be very hard to see and hear. Judging by their reactions that's the case, at any rate; they're still oohing and aahing! And cheering for ShiShi-kun, predictably.

The show finally heats up, and ShiShi-kun fights back! The bullets crash into the watery body of the monster one after the other, stopping an inch or two in. It's hard to tell from just looks, but the magical signature of the monster seems to be weakening with every hit, even if it's not sustaining a lot of damage. It is, after all, water. It'll be easier to exhaust it out than try to destroy its body, unless you have a fire or ice user with you.

Sweet Pea meets much the same success; her blasts disrupt the water protecting the Jewel Seed, but they don't make it all the way in.

Vita might notice, as the specialist in collecting magic, that every hit on the monster is leaving behind motes of mana and magic she could collect. If the prize is too contested, the consolation prize looks like it'll be quite meaty. It won't be worth a good Linker Core but it'll be close enough to filling a whole page by the end of the fight, at this rate.

Then it gets bound! Pink shackles form around the watery limbs of the monster. If they were physical, it would just slip through. But they're not. So unable to move, it resorts to ranged attacks.

Its body bubbles, and a massive shark made of water charges straight for the wall protecting Jay! The shark, like a porcupine, shoots smaller, water piranhas everywhere. EVERYWHERE. They're insanely sharp!

<BARRIER DETECTED.>

Ren watches as the barrier expands, and the civilians all disappear. "Well that'll keep them out of harm's way. Now we can really focus on downing this thing."

ShiShi the Lion and Merry the Melancholic Mule apparently have the same idea and start to attack. Ren would take the time to ponder just why two mascots for a waterpark are engaging a monster in battle but now isn't the time to try to make sense of things. Raising her scepter she focuses her magic. A split second later a dazzling array of jewels appear in the air around her, brimming with spiritual heat.

"GOOO!" The jewels spin around furiously before zooming off, aiming for the water pirrahna's that are going to really hurt should they hit anyone.

The water-monster looks at Jay not unlike how someone might look at a nice, juicy steak. He's gotten that look before, and instinct takes over; the young man throws himself to the ground, curling up in a tight little ball. Clearly, he's practiced this part a lot! The ground rumbles beneath him, and when he dares open an eye, he sees a wall made of concrete and brick between him and the monster.

"Thank you, Shishi-kun!" he cries. He glances up, but all he sees in the way of shelter is the wall, the barrier, and the slide. Best to stay where he is. Oh, and-- "I will! Are you having a sale?"

Vita looks around as her barrier swallows the area, a tiny frown still on her face as she notes the interference. "I don't know what that thing is," She says to Graf Eisen, "But it sure has a lot of magic." People begin blasting at it from all sides, and Vita's magic robot scanning eyes can see that its being weakened by the shots, even if they don't seem to be doing much in the way of physical damage. She also notes the freed mana floating around, but doesn't move to collect anything just yet- that is the consolation prize, after all. No need to rule out taking home the trophy just yet.
The water-shark, spewing its water-pirahnas, passes by underneath. Vita is high enough that only one or two fishes snap in her direction. She holds up her free hand, the chimes of magic accompanying a glowing red triangular barrier which easily deflects them away.
"Well then.. I guess I'll let them soften it up a bit first." She muses. Normally she'd be leading the charge, but Signum had warned her to be cautious.. and she's really not sure what this giant thing is. She's fully aware her chances improve if she observes a little of how it fights back against the others attacking it..

Seafoam Suzu remains on the inside of the barrier. This confuses her, mostly because she doesn't know what the heck the barrier is or why most of the people ended up on the other side of it. Still, she's not going to /complain/ if someone decided to protect a bunch of other people...

Suzu glances at Jay. She has to protect him, too - he's the one who doesn't even look or feel like he can fight back. Suzu strides forward, water gathering around her hands. "Sea spray!" she yells, spraying a wide arc of glittering, enchanted water, blessed with the starlight that looks trapped in it. She realizes, a moment later, that this is probably not going to help even a little bit.

And then the pirahnas come. Suzu yelps, throwing herself to the side. She hits the ground, rolls - and then rolls straight into one of the pools, vanishing entirely in it!

That's a very long jump ShiShi-kun made.

As he sails for the water monster, he drops his fuzzy orange handguns, which dissolve into a mass of lion dander in midair. He holds his hand out at the end of the jump, forming a small orange device looking something like a tambourine, and in his other hand a small orange control device. He holds his hand out and releases the orange device inside the mass of magical water, as close to the Jewel Seed's core as he can, and then braces for impact, pushing his legs forward. Hopefully enough of that core is semi-solid to jump off of, rather than just get caught in.

He's fought a monster a lot like this one recently, and learned a thing or two about them. A small light on the orange device begins blinking.

"Y--yAhh!!" Sweet Pea cries out, throwing herself away from several sharp water needles as they slam into the ground where she was moments before. Sweet Pea doesn't have much variety in what she can do to strike--if her pink blasts fail to push through that water shield...it may be tough for her to even touch the true monster here!

"AH..that's right! Maybe my cellphone can help!"

She shakes out her other sleeve until her cellphone (MAGICAL) pops out. She raises it up into the air and snaps a picture.

"SWEET PEA CELLPHONE ANALYSIS START!" She yells in Engrish as the cellphone scans the creature. Maybe she can get some tips. Or help her give advice to Tokiko. Or Seafoam!

Phew.
<SUCCESSFUL LOCK.> Raising Heart congratulates. Up until the water forms some form of ghost shark. That shoots pirahnas from its body.
Nanoha gawps.
<PROTECTION.> Raising Heart reacts for her, having to worry less about doing things like mentally process 'shark that spits pirahnas', the Device erects a wall of pink light in front of its wielder, several of the sharp bitey fish slamming against it. It holds, but cracks begin to form after a few more impacts. But. This is just getting wild. She's just... Going to do what... Raising Heart's been teaching her.
Holding up her left hand, a sphere of light forms in her palm.
She's just gonna shoot it. Yeah.

Pink chains? Ren turns. "N-Nanoha..." She says softly, surprised yet relieved to see the young girl. Who is clad in a cute bathing suit. "Umm..." Well, at least she's dressed appropriately given their surroundings? She smiles and gives her a thumbs up. At least there's one friendly mage in the mix.

And... oh right. The pirahnas that her jewels didn't quite reach are still flying dangerously at their intended targets. Which also includes her. <PROTECTION.> Obviously taking a page out of Raising Heart's book, Ren raises her scepter and a wall of golden light sparks into existence, keeping her relatively safe from being chomped on.

Ren's attack intercepts a large amount of the sharp projectiles! It might not damage the monster but it sure will make everyone else's job that much easier.
Jay is still safe! Although the way the monster targetted it might indicate it's smart enough to tell who to aim at. And that cover won't last forever!
Vita observes. The projectiles can't get past her shield.
ShiShi-kun has experience on his side, plopping a grenade inside the monster. As the water reforms, it's possible to use it to leap away, which is probably better than being caught in the explosion.
Merry isn't one to leave ShiShi to do all the fighting, right? Her cellphone is whipped out and starts scanning! Results forthcoming.
Nanoha also hides behind a shield, which holds for now. Her own counter projectile slams into the water, penetrates in and-- hey is that a grenade?

ShiShi-kun's explosive detonates, splattering the entire top half of the monster around the pool. The Jewel Seed lay exposed in the air, crackling with arcs of wild magic and energy. It's... not sealed. Definitely not safe to try and contain yet. It tries to generate more water to recover its defenses.

Sweet Pea's cellphone predictably enough reveals that, while exposed, the Jewel Seed would be vulnerable to being contained if you have the right spell. You just have to do enough damage to the watery shell to expose it! Simple, right?

Vita sees her chance. The explosive device detonates, sending the entire top half of the creature splattering in all directions, and exposing the Jewel Seed (Vita doesn't know that's what it is). Vita is almost directly above it, though quite far. Still.. seeing that source exposed, crackling with magic and energy, her eyes light up. "This is it. We're going, Eisen!" She shouts, her blood beginning to boil in anticipation.
"Jawohl!" The Armed Device shouts in return, and without needing to be told, smoothly reconfigures itself into its Rocket Hammer mode, the sharp triangular spike roating out of the front a the triple jets spiral out the back. Changing her grip, Vita holds the reconfigured hammer above her head. "Raketennnn.."
The jets spit, then ignite with a roar. Vita spirals straight down at the monster from above, accelerating the entire way, shockwaves ripping out from behind her as she descends.. aiming to drive right into the exposed core of the monster when she hits with all the force of a runaway freight train. "HAMMMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!"

"Huh..." Sweet Pea says. It seems like from this she doesn't have to push past the shield, she just needs to break the shield! Easier said than done, though.

"ShiShi-kun!" Sweet Pea shouts. "I've received information from..uh...the management, muu! They say we just have to disrupt the shield and then it can be sealed away, muu!" How, of course, is beyond her but if she doesn't have to punch through to the jewel...

She snaps her pistols out and--

"oh...you already...er, well, I won't let it reform!" She blasts at the water trying to reform, intending to disrupt it before it can repair itself!

Suzu Hamasaki vanishes in the water, falling - surprisingly - to the bottom of the pool rather than floating.

From deep in the water, there's a glimmer of light - and then a downright bright flash!

And then Seafoam Suzu resurfaces. There's something different about her, though; her ears are still the frilly fins they were once she transformed the first time, but now her legs are completely gone! Instead she has a large mermaid tail with long, elegant trailing fins, the scales faintly iridescent and glimmering in the light.

For the first time in a while, Suzu feels pretty good! Relieved, almost. She lets out a satisfied sigh. "Okay, you," she says, "I don't know what you are, but I, Seafoam Suzu, am not going to let you do it!" Vita opens up with a hammer at the core. Suzu doesn't attack the core - instead she 'attacks' the water that is trying to reform around it, sealing it in bubbles and pulling it away from the main mass to fall in the pool.

She swims circles around the monster, too. In the water, Seafoam Suzu is /fast/. She uses that tail like she was born with it. Which, of course, she was.

ShiShi-kun kicks off the monster, drawing his control device once he's clear enough from the blast zone. "ShiShi Anti-Personnel Mine, shi!" The eruption that follows is fantastic, splattering half the monster all over half the park, even splattering against the edges of the barrier.

The big lion mascot, suit a little charred from the backblast, comes landing by Nanoha in her swimsuit Barrier Jacket (aw, that's cute), and watches as a massive offensive begins upon what remains of the rampaging Jewel Seed. "Here it comes. Get ready to contain it, like before, okay?" No shi - that's the voice of the Soldier Angel speaking to Nanoha from inside the suit this time. ShiShi-kun puts his paw on her shoulder. "You can do it!"

The barrier shakes ominously as the mine detonates, a few stray clumps of concrete tumbling down its outer face. Jay takes this as his cue to get moving, springing to his feet and dashing away from the pool. Getting through that weird barrier is still out of the question, but--

"Everybody!" Jay cries, turning his mad dash into a wide, looping arc around the edge of the bubble. "Cheer Shishi-kun and Muu-kun on!" Just part of the show, folks, keep going with it! The sight of Suzu almost makes him double-take, though; he's never seen a mermaid-before, and he gives her a look that he /hopes/ the civilians don't see and interpret wrong.

Phew. At least her shield held. But the call of her name gets Nanoha's attention. To Ren.
In an instant, the girl's face is beet red. "A-ah! It's! You- I mean! But! Thisisn'tmynormalBarrierJacket!" She blurts in a flurry of flailing. Until super mega ultra mascot savior ShiShi-kun is suddenly placing a hand on her shoulder.
D-didn't someone warn her about bear mascots at one point?
Regardless, though, it's when she hears SOLDIER ANGEL's voice that she nods. "Mm!"
This time. She's prepared. THIS TIME. She plants her feet. A wide and runed spell circle of pink light forming beneath her as Raising Heart mode shifts.
<CANNON MODE!>
Gripping the rifle-handle and setting her finger on the trigger she takes aim and slowly pulls the trigger...
<DIVINE...>
Click...
<BUSTER!>
The FSHOOOOM of energy that lances out in the form of a massive pink pillar sends water everywhere, leaving a dry path on the ground, the shee force and speed splitting pools and parting water on its direct course aimed for the Seed monster. And...
Oh crap, Vita!

Wait. When did a mermaid come onto the scene?! Oh well, at least she was helping? Ren can't be entirely too flustered. With the monster exploded all over the place thanks to ShiShi-kun's intervention, Ren lets out a small cheer. Ooops. She couldn't help it, though! Her heels click against the concrete as she hurries over to Nanoha and ShiShi, beaming brightly. "Well this seems to have gone in our favor! Good job!"

And then Ren gets to see Nanoha's /true/ power. Holy crap. <IMPRESSIVE.> Well... yeah.

The exposed Jewel Seed is hit dead on by the hammer. If this were an actual monster core, it would shatter into a million pieces, and the day would be saved, right then and there. Sadly this is not a monster core! This is a terrible Lost Logia, which ACTS like a monster core but isn't one.

Vita's blow rages against the core for several long seconds. During those seconds, Sweet Pea bombards the regenerating water shell, preventing its growth. The magical girl (mermaid!) manages to make things even worse for the Seed, as she seals off chunks of the water, actually making the shell take even longer to regenerate.

This is all time that Nanoha needed to charge up her laser.

The Jewel Seed suddenly cracks. That's... that's not good. Vita might feel an overwhelming pressure pushing AWAY from the Jewel Seed, and it seems like it's on the brink of detonating. This much built up magic could take out the entire park and punch right through the barrier! Until pink light can be seen, anyway.

Cue aforementioned laser.

Whether or not Vita gets away in time, the Jewel Seed itself is engulfed in the Divine Buster, and when the light and dust settles, it is left floating in the air, no longer letting off much of a signature. It's sealed. Perfectly safe to touch and contain now. Just don't HIT it.

The magical mermaid Seafoam Suzu is actually pretty good at dealing with water, mysteriously. Holding the drops and splashes away from it so it can't regenerate is definitely something she can do; the area around the monster starts to look progressively more foamy as she holds more and more in bubbles of various sizes. "Dream Bubble Trouble!" she calls, as she holds a particularly big wave back.

And then someone shoots the thing. Suzu didn't get a good look at who did it but it doesn't matter; the water sprays everywhere. Including all over her, despite her bubbly shields. But it isn't surrounding the Jewel Seed anymore!

Suzu doesn't know what the seed /is/, and her first instinct is to put that in a bubble too, a quick gesture of her hands releasing one to trap it in. The bubble shield isn't very strong, though - someone else can definitely contain it better. It's not that Suzu is weak so much as she has no idea what needs to be done to it.

That done, she looks around from her position in the water, trying to identify the other magical girls. ...and mascots, apparently.

Is...is that a mermaid?
She's a mermaid??

Sweet Pea peers at the mermaid. And then she looks towards Tokiko. And then back to the mermaid. Big energy blasts of doom are sadly starting to become a normal faciet of Madobe's life but mermaids? Yeah. Mermaids.

"M...mermaid..." She says. "...Oh my gosh..."

She sinks to her knees, mascottly. "That's so cool." She really is not terribly concerned about the jewel, that reeks of hopefully someone else's problem. She supposes that this went as /swimmingly/ as one could have hoped.

Vita's hammering is a success! Or at least it seems so to her, as she grins like a maniac behind the flaring jets of Graf Eisen as the Device drives itself at the Seed, cracks beginning to show in the Logia. Of course, she has no idea what it actually is, so has no clue that this is a Bad Idea. Everyone around is saved from the price of her ignorance, however, because Nanoha decides to attempt to Befriend the Jewel Seed.
"Energie Explosion eingehenden!" Graf Eisen suddenly warns, even while still pummeling at the jewel. "Wha-?" Vita looks up just in time to see the glowing, quickly expanding pinkness coming her way through the fire and smoke of her own attack. "Eisen, prote-" She begins to say, but isn't even quite finished when the blast strikes the Seed.
Vita barely manages to throw herself out of the way at the last second, but not completely.. the blast clips her on its very edges and sends her spiralling away from the point of impact, where she crashes into a souvenier stand, levelling it. For long seconds, there is no sign or sound of her.

"Ah! Good shot!" Of course, only then does Ren realize that Vita is technically still within the blast radius. Oops. "Umm... Hopefully she'll be ok?" That question is answered when the tiny mage is flung soundly into a vacant stand. Ren winces. "Ow... I'll go and check on her!" The concerned magical girl leaps into the air, flying with enough speed to clear the distance in no time. She lands next to the destroyed stand, clutching her scepter as she walks closer, leaning forward.

"Umm... Do you require some assistance?"

The sealed Jewel Seed is now in a bubble.

It kind of floats there looking really cool.

For once... FOR ONCE... Nanoha did not get launched by her own recoil.
Ports opening up with a hisssssssing gout of steam, Raising Heart rapidly vents all the magical heat buildup. Shoulders rise and fall in a huff of breath, and the looks like... The seed is sealed.
She SHOULD be moving to acquire it. But she sort of lowers her staff, "U-um... Did I just."
Did she just catch someone in the blast wave?
The seed's not going anywhere now. Supposedly. "Thanks everyone, I'm uh gonna..." Maybe go check on that girl that crashed into the souveneir stand, too. That is her fault, after all.
<IT WAS NON-LETHAL.> Raising Heart does note.

Well, nobody seems very concerned about claiming the Jewel Seed. ShiShi-kun watches Ren rush off to check on the little brat, so there just remains one thing to do.

"Thanks for coming to our spectacular end of summer show, everyone!" ShiShi-kun declares, turning and bowing to each end of the civilians outside the barrier in turn. "Let's have a hand for our guest participants, shi! Hooray!!" He leads the audience in applauding, and speaks sidelong to Merry in Soldier Angel's voice. "Go get the jewel before anybody does something with it, okay? Give it to the little blonde girl. Man, it's hot in these things, isn't it?"

Vita /explodes/ out of the wreckage of the souvenier stand like a missile, scattering debris in all directions and likely sending poor, helpful Ren right back on her butt. Ascending quickly, it is clear the pint-sized berserker is not pleased. Her teeth are locked in a snarl, and her eyes are nearly glowing bright blue as she scans the battlefield. "Who /did/ that?" She snarls. Luckily, her hat is more or less undamaged. THIS TIME.
Those hateful eyes lock on Nanoha, standing down below. More specifically, on Raising Heart. Pink. PINK. "PINK!" Vita declares, as if declaring war. Then she launches herself at Nanoha, with an "aaaaAAAAAAAHHHHH" of rage, Graf Eisen's rockets flaring back to life with another concussive roar, her passage blowing up dust and throwing up whatever water is left as she zooms across the surface of the pool!

Jay takes a big, sweeping bow, and reconsiders joining the drama club. If nothing else, he could--

Vita happens, again. He sidles up to ShiShi-kun, and whispers: "Um, is this part of the act, too?"

Suzu Hamasaki has never been told she's cool just by existing before. One of her fins twitches. It may be a sign of embarassment.

"Uh, thank you," she says, with a smile. "I'm Seafoam Suzu. I just thought I'd help - "

Suzu has to duck (dunk, actually) when Vita skims across the pool to avoid accidentally getting a fly-by hammer. "Watch out!" she yells after Vita - and her target. All the bubbles holding up water abruptly vanish (the one around the Jewel Seed remains) as Suzu puts a new bubble-shield up.

This one is on Vita's hammerhead. It is, at least, a cushion. Unless she hits hard enough to pop it, anyway.

"Um..." ShiShi-kun says, quietly. "I don't think we're going to hire her back next time."

"Argh!" Ren /is/ knocked back by the rampaging Vita. She manages to regain her balance before falling onto her butt, though. "Jeez... Oh no!" She spins around to see the mad mage zip across the surface of the water, rocket hammer seeking to do damage to poor Nanoha.

<INTERVENE?> Souverain Heraut queries.

"...Right!" Kicking off the ground she takes off after Vita, spinning her scepter in one hand.

<ROYAL SHIELD.> The scepter spits out sparkling rubies that immediately zoom forward in an attempt to build a barrier between Vita and Nanoha.

Look at it there. The Seed's not going anywhere, and it's sealed and protected. It's even got a cool bubble field around it. Nanoha can afford to let it be for a few minutes, if only to apologize for her terrible aim.
The issue in this is...
Vita is INSANE.
"Uh-"
And coming right for her with murderous intent. "--Ah! Awwa! Ahh! I'm sorry!?" Well her original intent was to apologize, but it looks like she needs to PROTECT herself.
Thankfully, like some gallant savior, Ren swoops in the way, but Raising Heart also rects her own shield at the last second.
<PROTECTION!>

What's wrong with pink?, Madobe wonders.

She doesn't get involved in the fight with Vita and Nanoha. It's all pretty awkward and she has already been beaten up by enough kids today.

She turns her head to Tokiko and laughs, "I...I guess all's well that ends well, huh? Ahah...haha...haha."

...

"I'm...sure they'll be friends. Right? Haha..haha...ha."

Vita is like a boulder rolling downhill - the farther she goes, the more momentum she builds up on the way. She was all the way across the open area when she began, so by the time she strikes Ren's shield, out in front of Nanoha's, she has worked up quite a head of steam, the contrail of her passage twisting back to show the path she followed, her own nearly continuous shriek of rage lost amidst the powerful roaring of Graf Eisen's triple rocket engines. The pointed tip of her hammer slams into Ren's shield, vibrating as the continuous force of the gets push against it from behind, shockwaves of power radiating off in all directions. The shield trembles, holding for a few seconds.. then shatters apart under the force arrayed against it.
And Vita immidiately encounters Nanoha's shield just behind the first one. But its pink. And she is very mad at /pink/ right now. The jets flare brighter. "SMASH THROUGH IIIIIIT!" Vita screams at the top of her voice. "Jawohl!" Graf Eisen snaps out in reply.. and the red cylindrical part of its shaft, just below the head, pumps upwards and downwards once.. twice. The rockets suddenly explode with unparalleled brightness, throwing the entire area into backlit relief as the cartridges are consumed, and cracks begin to grow in Nanoha's shield.. the water left ni the pool being rapidly turned to steam behind where Vita seems to hover in place, amidst a storm of fire and smoke around the fragile shield.

"Okay," ShiShi-kun says, "this is getting out of hand... shi." He elbows Merry. "I said get the jewel! Go!" And with that, he's off, running within closing distance of the giant pile-on, staring at it. There's no way Tokiko can close the distance on foot, and she's still stuck playing the part of this stupid lion mascot... ah.

"Park security powers, ShiShi Tear Gas Grenade!" ShiShi-kun declares, doing a pretty little pirouette and hurling a volatile orange canister Vita's way. It erupts in a thick, wide cloud of magical lachrymatory agent.

Sorry, buddies. Tokiko will have to make it up to you later. It's non-lethal, though!!

Suzu Hamasaki has to /push/ to maintain the bubble around Graf Eisen's head. It's not blocking the entire impact (of course) but it does do a little bit to spread it out, making it less bad than it otherwise would be.

Suzu herself is concentrating really hard just to keep it there. "Come on!" she yells, swimming - into the steamy area, where she just kind of falls, her long body thumping against the pool bottom as she fails to swim. She flops for a moment, distracted, before: "We don't need to fight any more!"

For a few moments, Ren considers the fact that Vita has to break through /two/ shields in order to reach Nanoha now. It's a relaxing thought! However, that pretty much goes out the window when her shield is promptly dispatched, and the rocket hammer moves on to start doing the same to Nanoha's. "Souverain Heraut! Please lend your support!" Ren cries out. The golden gem embedded on the bejewled head pulses brilliantly.

<OF COURSE, YOUR MAJESTY! ENGAGEMENT FORM!>

The scepter twists itself into a glittering rapier, complete with a jewel-encrusted basket hilt. "HAAAAH!" Ren cries as she charged forward to swipe at Vita. The tear gas chooses to make it's appearance at that moment, hopefully aiding the rescue effort.

"Eh? Oh. Right. Jewel." Madobe was hoping to totally not deal with that. "Sorry I'm still a bit loopy!"

She rushes over to push her hand in and take the jewel to...give it to someone else! Wait, she thinks, were they fighting over this? Or is that girl just fighting Nanoha because she randomly attacks people for no reason all the time? ?__?

That's. That's something else entirely. The German-shouting Device suddenly loading and spitting cartridges for an extra burst in power.
<CANNOT SUSTAIN PROTECTION!> Raising Heart announces.
And the pink shield shatters.
"Hwa...?"
Thankfully, Suzu's bubble prevents the impact from being bone-shatteringly devastating. But it's still more than enough, amid the tear gas cloud, for Nanoha's Barrier... Swimsuit to take the blow from the mad knight's supercharged hammer.
WHAM!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i4T6nRPC1Q

"Hyaaaaaaaaaaa?!"
Off she goes. Into the distance and-.
*~bling~*

"--Uh anybody else I can give it to?" Sweet Pea asks.

ShiShi-kun droops. "I'll give it to her at school," Tokiko says.

The Jewel Seed pulses lightly. In its sealed form, it seems harmless enough... but it's looking like it won't stay sealed for very long. Proximity to people, especially transformed magical girls, seems to be making it unstable again. Very slowly.

It definitely wouldn't last a day in someone's pocket. That first time, Nanoha had Raising Heart internalize the Seed. Seems like that would mean they'll have to have Ren do it... or Vita. If they don't want it unsealing and rampaging again.

Graf Eisen, the Black Iron Count, can smash through any barrier! He maintains his record here tonight, shattering through Nanoha's shield despite the forcefield blunting his tip! Had it not been there, Nanoha might have been splattered, but instead she is just sent comically spiralling into the distance. Blasting off agaaiiinnn. She'll be fine. Probably.
Vita is left amidst swirling steam, panting heavily, standing in the air. Graf Eisen spews forth two spent shells, which clatter down onto the concrete base of the pool, along with a big cloud of steam. This steam.. blends with the tear gas that suddenly surrounds everything! "Wha-?" Vita asks, only now coming out of her oblivious berserker rage as she begins to choke on the stinging smoke.. and then she sqwaks a protest as Ren dives at her with a rapier! She brings Graf Eisen around just in time to deflect the blow, sending the other Device scraping off his hilt in a spray of sparks. "Hey!" She shouts. "You're asking for trouble!" She looks around, swirling in the air, keeping a defensive eye on Ren as she looks for the Seed.. narrowing her eyes (tearing up from the gas) as they focus on Madobe and Tokiko.

"Um. Well." Seafoam Suzu looks a little lost for a moment. "I hope she's okay," she says, shooting a glance in the direction Nanoha went.

"And you!" Suzu raises her voice at Vita. "I hope you're happy, causing a ruckus here after we just saved people! What is wrong with you?" Suzu realizes she is sitting immobile in the mostly vaporized pool. She pushes herself up with her hands, trying to subtly shove herself toward deeper water rather than being beached. "You two had better stop, or - or I'll put you /both/ in bubbles!"

CLASH! The two devices meet, and Ren grits her teeth. Then.../OH/. Ren watches Nanoha get flung away into the distance. That's really disconcerting. "Ahh!" She backs away from Vita, eyes wide, sword hanging a bit limply in her grasp. "N-Na..." She can't even finish saying the tiny girl's name. The tear gas begins to choke her a bit too, bringing a gloved hand up to cover her nose and mouth. "You're the one causing trouble!" She shouts back at Vita, looking down at the others on the ground.

ShiShi-kun accepts the Jewel Seed neatly - Tokiko doesn't know enough about these things to be able to tell that that pulsing isn't normal. She clasps it in her hand, but looks up as a teary Vita seems to be fixing her with The Look. "Oh, for... give me a second, shi," he says half-heartedly, getting really sick of this schtick now, and walks off to the side, behind a nearby lobby building.

What comes back out is an orange mobile artillery chassis painted with a motif of a roaring superdeformed cartoon lion, rolling along on tank treads. The mounted howitzer slides heavily into position, locking onto Vita's position, at which point ShiShi-kun's voice comes voiced over a loudspeaker.

"Are you really gonna make me do this, shi?"

Suzu Hamasaki stares at the tank. She doesn't know what a tank is. (Or a howitzer. Or anything of the sort.)

She debates dunking again just to get out of the way, except there's not really enough water left in this pool for her to do it properly, and she can't get to another one.

"Shut up!" Vita shouts at Ren, because she is a consummate debator. She flies up, out of the cloud of teargas, trailing little puffs for a few meters until they dissipate. She coughs and wipes at her eyes for a minute, before looking down.. and seeing the howitzer thing rolling out. She doesnt know enough to identify it as 'howitzer', but she knows a cannon when she sees one. She frowns. She's used up a fair bit of power in this fight already, and has precious little to show for it. She looks about at all the invisible mana bits floating in the air.. she should at least gather those up. But she has a feeling these meddlesdome mages won't allow her to do so at the moment. Hopefully they'll last a little while.
"Eisen, we're leaving." Vita says, without responding to Tokiko directly. Without further ado, she blasts off straight up, curving slightly after a moment, within moments turning into a red streak flying off over the city. She'll be back in a few hours to gather up the scraps, but for the moment apparently she has judged the cost of going after the Seed too high.

Madobe looks on over to Vita, noticing her narrowing eyes. She doesn't reach out to pat or anything because Vita punched her in the face. Ughh it still hurts.

"Um," She looks back to the mermaid.

Somehow just knowing mermaids exist makes her feel better, a bit. "See you sometime again."

When a tank rumbles up and trains its sights on Vita... /Well/. Ren stares in disbelief. Though it seems to be enough to get the aggressive mage to stand down and retreat. A sigh of relief escapes from her, and Ren then makes her descent back to the ground. "Thank you." She smiles at the assembled magical girls (and lion?). "But... we need to go and find Nanoha!"

Suzu Hamasaki realizes, after Vita leaves, several things. She's still in the water, and she's not going to get out of the water very easily because she can't get her legs back until she dries off. And there's not even enough water for her to bring with her enough to get to a deeper pool...

She stares at the tank for a few moments, thoughtfully. Then she says, slightly urgently, "Can you give me a ride to the... 'changing room'?" She knows what those are! More or less.

The artillery unit sits there for a time, training its cannon on the sky, until it's satisfied that Vita is gone.

A hatch opens on the side of the unit facing away from the audience, and the Soldier Angel sneaks out, having finally gotten that danged mascot suit off. She holds the Jewel Seed up in the air as it trembles. "Another fine day's work! At least, as soon as I find Takamachi-chan..." She trails off, looking out to Ren. "You know Takamachi-chan? You're right, we should find her! She needs to do something to this thing. I hope she's all right," she says. She hurries off!

She hurries backwards. "Oh! Um... sure, mermaid-san! I mean... 'fellow park worker-san.'" She kneels and reaches down to lift Seafoam Suzu out of the water like a groom carrying a bride. "OKAY! Let's go!" she roars, hurrying off once again to find Nanoha!

So the lion was really a magical girl in disguise. Intriguing! And... yeah, makes a lot of sense now. Mascots didn't usually have amazing magical powers, as far as she knew.

"Yes I do!" She nods affirmatively, watching Soldier Angel sweep up the mermaid so heroicly. "And yes!" She follows after them, flying at a brisk pace.

[[Category:Logs]]

2013-09-30 - I'll just have to prove you wrong

2013-10-01T18:17:48Z

Purophet: Forgot to tag category, fixing brackets.

{|class="toccolours" cellspacing="2"
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''I'll just have to prove you wrong'''
|-
|'''Summary''': 
''A Witch's Labyrinth manifests on the grounds of Ohtori Academy, and two gun-wielding magical girls take it on.''
|-
| '''Who:''' 
[[Sakura Akagi]] (as the Hydrophobic Witch), [[Tokiko Amagawa]], [[Mami Tomoe]]
|-
| '''Where:''' 
Ohtori Academy, outer grounds
|-
| '''OOC - IC Date:''' 
9/30/2013 - 9/26/2013
|-
|}

Visits to Ohtori Academy are always awkward. So many students here treat Infinity students like new money - and Tokiko Amagawa isn't even new money! She's not poor, but she isn't money at all! She's still determined to spread the word of Gun far and wide, and she's sure there are kind Ohtori students just waiting for the right club to come along, and so a middle school girl in the Infinity Institute blazer and skirt is here today, stapling up flecktarn-backed posters with bold, militaristic print on them, a thick roll of more posters held under her arm. Join the Survival Club today, Mac!

Mami Tomoe doesn't tend to have anything bad to say to Infinity students. Truthfully, she doesn't tend to have /anything/ to say to Infinity students, but it's not as if she's terribly talkative among her own classmates, either. No, as usual, she is on her way home. What is not usual is that there's been a bit of extra time before she could get on that path, staying after to deal with something.

Which means that she's late today for 'work'--the blonde in the Ohtori middle school uniform walks fairly briskly through the grounds, the teal still holding up in the light, as her steps lightly click on the ground. She is about in sight of the posters.. but seeing another person, she stops her hand, which had been moving upward. A glance to the ring on her finger, and she lowers that hand again.

...She'll have to wait a little longer before checking campus again, at least a minute.

Annoyingly, it's starting to rain.

It's really kind of sudden. The sky seemed fine a moment ago, but now it's getting cloudy suddenly, and the sky goes from clear to drizzling.

A lot of students are using this as a reason to run inside. But something else might be striking Mami at least as unusual. That feeling that something is about to happen. That bolt of lightning, that strikes from the sky in an oddly orderly pattern, zig-zagging in perfect right angles.

Tokiko looks up as a shadow is cast on the ground, and sees Mami lowering her hand. She smiles, tilts her head and waves 'back.' "Please consider joining the Sister School Survival Club! Thank you! Um, your campus is lovely..."

KRAKOOM! Tokiko looks about at the sudden rainclouds in the sky, furrowing her brow. "Well... it was lovely just a second ago!" She drops her head and clutches her posters tight against her chest, trying to protect them from the rain.

At first, Mami doesn't seem to realize she's been addressed, which may not do much for Tokiko's spirits of recruitment; the third-year is instead looking distant over something, that very same strange feeling that she has that's only amped up by the strange behavior of the weather. "...Oh," she says, and turns to face Tokiko, smiling slightly in what is hopefully a more welcoming expression. "I'll definitely have to think about it, though I'm afraid I might not have the time." Survival Club? What is this??? "...Sometimes we get sudden storms," she explains. "You should get in out of the rain! I'd feel terrible if we had a guest to our school become sick while she was here."

...Mami, though, is not making moves to head inside. Hopefully that isn't as apparent, though.

There's another weird lightning bolt in the sky that's hard to miss - that is, if you're looking for it. The bolt is definitely straight side sonly... and it lingers, shooting through the air like cracks in the world, in perfect orderly fashion, then flashing a few times.

Then another such white bolt appears on the ground, drawing out perfect lines in right-angles, crawling toward those foolish enough to remain out in the rain. That's probably just the Magical Girls, at this point.

"This sudden, in the middle of Tokyo?" Tokiko asks. She looks up into the sky, watching that second jagged bolt of lightning linger. "...don't worry about me, I've done elements training before!" She brings a smile to her face, turning back to Mami as her braids droop in the rain. "Field operations don't always offer the luxury of good weather."

Her suspicions are confirmed very clearly when the lightning starts creeping along the ground itself, though. Her expression changes in an instant, and when she speaks, it's with the confidence of an officer issuing an order. "Go, get to cover! FALL IN!" She sweeps her hands down sharply across her arms, forming white sleeves, and draws her arm up across her body, trailing a white and golden military uniform, finishing with the formation of a peaked cap she tilts down over her head.

The transformation of the Soldier Angel is complete just in time to leap clear of the ground-bolt. "Entering the situation zone, Starry Soldier Angel reporting!"

"It's unusual, isn't it?" Mami agrees, in that sort of way that makes the agreement kind of null. But when Tokiko looks to the sky, Mami's eyes return to it, as well. "Elements training, you say....?" It's for the best that most aren't likely to look for it, especially as whatever it is flashes forward further, and keeps going.

Mami does not move for cover, or even flinch as th lines crawl towards them. In fact, what she actually does is turn again to Tokiko for a moment, surprised; perhaps that gets overlooked in the transformation, however. The blonde, too, leaps, out of the way of the bolt headed towards her feet, and twirls as she moves to hit the ground--in a flash of golden light, it's her shoes first that change, becoming boots, and then the glow covers the rest of her, before her clothes have completely changed; her little hat, unruffled by the rain, sits firmly atop her head as Mami catches her feet. "I'm afraid I can't do that," the Puella Magi offers to Tokiko. "This is my territory. Be careful--we'll be within the barrier at any moment!"

There's a flash of light and a rush of rain and wind. The air gets warmer suddenly, and then it .... breathes, the whole world around you inhales.

The pounding rain ends as abruptly as it started. Now it is dry, and little dust-devil tornadoes spin around. The ground is white and the sky is bright gold... for miles in all directions. The academy and the students are suddenly gone. There's a smell like seawater... but you can't see an ocean and certainly can't hear it. There is nothing but silence in fact, save for the very faint sound of a child's weeping, somewhere far away.

What kind of place is this? Mami at least knows.

"You're a magical girl too!" Soldier Angel watches in minor amazement as Mami invokes her transformation, calling over the sound of the rushing wind. "Territory? You have territory? ...oh!" When she mentions the barrier, everything seems to click into place. This is a Witch attack. ...this is a Witch attack? Uh oh.

The Soldier Angel holds up her hands, and with a golden flash, a white and gold battle rifle appears in her hands, which she promptly loads with a cartridge drawn from nowhere. "Well, looks like we're in it for the long haul now," she says, smiling at Mami. "Team up?"

Mami knows well the sort of place this is, catching her footing again as the entire world has suddenly changed, and none of what was before is so easy to recognize. It came on more suddenly than usual; her instinct to look here was right... Except that there were people in the way. Hopefully, the others will have escaped, as the one who's left...

'Too', Tokiko's mentioned. "That's right. I protect this city," Mami answers. She glances once towards the rifle in Tokiko's hands, and smiles again, slightly, in return. "...All right," she answers. "But be careful. Have you fought Witches before? I haven't seen you here."

She is rather more suprised by the offer than she sounds.

Another streak of angular lightning strikes across the sky, but now that the sky is gold, the lightning is black. It's still perfect right-angles of energy.

There's still that sound of weeping, too. You might be able to pinpoint it.

The ground resembles sand dunes, flat with ridges. They start to slowly rise up, as if sand is shifting. But to the touch, the ground is as hard and rough as old concrete.

"I've been operating for about a year. I've fought Witches, but not often," Soldier Angel says. "My jurisdiction is mainly in stolen wishes." She adjusts her balance to maintain her footing on the shifting whiteness. "Looks like a wide field, unstable footing. Ground travel will be uneven, air travel risks magic attack..." She sets off while the ground is still relatively even, trying to place the sound of the weeping. "I'm thinking we hoof it and see how far to the red zone. If it's too distant, I can call in an air transport. So," she says, suddenly turning friendly again, "what's your name?"

Mami continues to project an expression such that this is entirely normal--but she remains focused. That this is a matter in which she has experience isn't an excuse to get this other girl hurt in what may well be an unfamiliar situation. Though, as the explanations come in... stolen wishes...? Mami lifts an eyebrow, at that, but responds instead with just an inclination of her head. "I fight them often. ...The wide field, at least, should be good for both of us, looking at your weapon."

"Mami Tomoe," the Puella Magi answers. "Let's make sure no one was trapped in the barrier, hm? I believe... The sound's that way." Taking Tokiko's suggestion, Mami starts to walk. "I don't mean to seem unsociable," she says, eyes on the horizon, as she searches. "You understand, I'm sure."

On the path to the sound of crying, there's a rip that splits in the ground before them. It seems sudden and yet not sudden at the same time - it's ripped and intact and then ripped and then intact and then definitely ripped, at sharp angles that follow the dune path. There's a lack of any sound accompanying this ground shatter.

But a moment later there is wind blasting from the crevasse! A quartet of dust-devils pour out of the crack before them. They're spiraling tornadoes but yet they seem to have eyes one moment, then fingers, the next, then sharp spikes and horns. It's hard to get a precise idea of their nature or location, but there is some kind of mathematics to it: the eyeballs and fingers and spines all switch places in an orderly fashion. To stare at it too long to try to figure out the exact pattern... would be death: they're heading for both of the girls!

"That's a good idea," Tokiko says, trying to scan the landscape for anyone who might be caught. What Mami says next elicits just a confused glance back at her. "Understand what?" What reason is there to be unsociable? Unless she's talking about time constraints, but there's not much going on and oh, there are tornado monsters now.

"Hostiles at twelve!" Tokiko falls back, seeking cover behind an outcropping of white torn out from the 'page' they stand upon. She peeks up from behind cover to level her rifle, which with the press of the trigger erupts with golden light, streaming fire at the dust devil whatevers. She seeks at first priority to take out any of them that might be sneaking up on Mami in their ambush, and second to protect her own cover.

The hiccups in reality and the shudders in perception of a place like this never actually get natural, or easy, or boring; Mami certainly continues to look as if that's the case, as if she is entirely unruffled, but that speaks of a different kind of skill. The confusion doesn't end up needing a direct answer, however-her answer suddenly rushes up in the form of mobile dust, that shake along as they go. Mami's eyes narrow, as she gets a read on their path, and on how they're moving. When they're halfway to her, she lifts her arms, and in a semicircle around her six muskets appear, jammed into the ground all of a sudden. "These are nothing. Look out for the real Witch!" One fire; two fire; three fire; she picks up a musket, lets loose its payload, and throws it away, where it will disappear soon enough. The pattern isn't hopefully necessary--but she'll remember what she's seen, in case this goes poorly.

Guns and blasts and bursts of musket and rifle fire seem to take care of these familiars with relative ease - they shatter, spraying clouds of sand at each explosion.

Another volley of them come forth from the cracks, and these, too, fall to guns. They try to surround the Magical Girls, but they're mowed down...

But as they do so, the ground behind the girls drops down suddenly in a sharp ridge, and then the ground to their right, a flat world creating sudden dropoffs.

The sky cracks - always at angles, and then it opens up as if a crank were pulling on a jagged door. Where the sky is gold, it's hot, dry. Where the crack appears, the rain from earlier comes pouring down, gathering itself in that new crack in the land.

Over the sound of the rain, the noise of crying is now louder than before.

On a shallow dune, about twenty yards away under the dry gold sky, you see a girl. She might be about ten. She has long, dark hair and she's wearing what looks like a little swimsuit with a skirt. On the ground next to her is a dropped and melted ice cream. Her face is in her hands.

"We're getting surrounded," Tokiko observes, pausing in her takedown of the familiars to reload her rifle. She's smiling, though, when she turns to Mami to check up on tactics. "Nice. Went the antique route, huh? I've always been more of a modern girl." It's a genuine compliment nonetheless; she's done her share of military history. At the appearance of the younger girl, she sets her rifle down to rest on the white 'rock' serving as her cover, and as she changes ammunition, it elongates and forms a bipod to rest itself on - a white sniper rifle with golden filigree and handle. "I don't think anybody from the school grounds would have been wearing a swimsuit in the weather we were having," she says, lining up her sights with the girl's head. "You think that's the Witch?"

The dropoffs, the cracks, Mami is already looking towards them to see what might be coming next; it's best not to waste too much energy on the small ones, but....

"There's something to be said for style," the blonde returns lightly, though she seems pleased enough all the same. "I'm glad we're both the type to favor range. It's tricy to deal with someone you don't know getting into your line of fire, isn't it?"

Still, now, amid the crying, Mami can see the figure down in the heat, the crying louder. With a sigh, she focuses her vision. "...My instincts say yes. But as long as it might be a person, I have to check." She turns her head back towards Tokiko, "You stay here; keep your shot. I'll signal you if that's our target after all."

With barely a chance for confirmation, the Puella Magi is off running, jumping farther down than anyone has a right to jump. ...She has brought one of her muskets.

Of course a crying girl is a problem, no matter what it turns out to be. One would be right to fear the worst.

As Mami approaches, the girl stops sobbing suddenly. Her shoulders slump. She looks up.

A hidden face could contain something terrible. This one contains - for a moment, nothing but a dark and open maw, edged with teeth -

And then it contains ooze, liquid... no, it's water, but it's water so dirty and salty and thick with silt that it's disgustingly viscous. It flows out of the open mouth and becomes the girl's hair, oozing around the body in all directions. It subsumes the swimsuit and anything resembling a body, though hands with little fingers are still present. When the liquid the ground it flows into near-imperceptible cracks, creating tiny dark lines in the white sand.

"You have to stay adaptable, anyway," Tokiko says. She gives an OK sign to Mami's plan, nodding her head; wait for the signal... "Oh, wow. That's a hell of a jump," she says to herself.

She settles down in position, lying prone with the rifle trained on the girl's head. The view is too tight, and the target too distant, however, to make out much of what's going on - and besides, the plan has been set into motion. She tenses, but does not fire, waiting for the signal.

It could have been a real little girl, trapped in this barrier recently enough that she was still alive. And given Mami's mission, she can't simply ignore that possibility. But once the little girl looks up at her, her ever-changing face moving from teeth to a brackish sea to /something/--

There is not time to appreciate how someone's noticed her jumping; she just has to /demonstrate/ her agreement with Tokiko's comment about adapability. Leaping backwards again, her free hand comes up to her collar, tugging at one of the yellow ribbons about her throat until it comes away, and then /swings/ it upward, where it spins and grows and makes a huge sign for Tokiko:

NOW

The water continues to flow into cracks and the cracks all arrange themselves in angles. Another split happens in the sky, creating a series of bands: dry, then wet, then dry, then wet. All orderly with hard, sharp cuts between them.

The ends of every stream of brackish water drive upward like spikes. They're attacking even at Tokiko, snaking around and jabbing at her side from far away, but the majority of the spiked silt is stabbing at Mami.

That's quite a signal, but Tokiko has no time to dwell on that. "Starry Heart..." she begins, tensing her finger around the trigger as she trains as well she can on a killshot for the Witch - or what would be a killshot if it weren't a Witch, anyway. "Sniper!" The bolt that emerges from the rifle is a dazzling white limned in gold, searing with the power to burn away darkness. The Witch, unfortunately, is not dark in exactly this sense; but the bolt remains a powerful charge of magical energy centered straight on the witch's head.

No sooner has she taken the shot that she abandons her rifle, flipping forward in the air to get clear of those streams of water. When she lands, there is a line of red soaking into the side of her uniform, the sign of a swipe she failed to entirely avoid. "Look out, Mami-san!" She looks for Mami to get clear while she draws a white canister, snapping the pin off with her teeth. If Mami can get clear, she hurls the device forward for the brunt of the spiky waters and the Witch itself; if not, it will have to go behind, where the spikes attacked Tokiko. Either way, it erupts into golden fire, a gambit to divide and evaporate the waters. "Angel Incendiary!"

Mami is still moving back, flipping with all the agility and experience she can. To her credit, she is not speared to death by the spiked silt crashing towards her. However, her gamble required a sacrifice--she isn't fast enough to evade it entirely, taking slashing blows from the dirty water, a bit of red running down both of her sleeves and more to come. Hopefully, Tokiko's shots give her a bit of an opening.

If they don't--the ribbon shrinks back to its original size, and Mami hurls it out towards the 'little girl', where it segments, lining about Mami's opponent even as the yellow edges turn sharp as blades, to try to cut off this form of attack. "As if something like this could take me down!" she boasts in return. "Tagliare!"

The first sniper shot hits water. It splashes -- not in a loose and clean way but in an almost ooze-like way. Individual sand particles are lodged thick in the water and visible as it's backed against the bright gold of the dry side of sky. Soldier Angel then throws her canister. It strikes a sharp shark-tooth in the waves, and splinters the tooth and itself, then bursts as it explodes. The water and fire fight with each other... but water winds, rolling over the flames with tendrils of ooze. The water at least looks... less organized, from this blast. Mami follows up a moment later, cutting off a few of the tendrils. The witch hisses... it sounds like bubbles and dust at the same time.

While the witch regroups, a few more of its dust-like familiars burst out of holes in the ground. From every hole, the world drops off or shoots upward more, making the terrain increasingly unstable. A river is building in one cut in the ground, dark and salty water.

"Need heavier firepower," Soldier Angel muses in a low tone. She looks up at the emerging familiars, and hits a crouched run. "Mami-san, cover me!" She dodges around the rising towers of 'ground' as she advances on the Witch, throwing her arm out to her side. A surge of golden light is thrown out by the gesture, forming into a large white barrel with a golden warhead protruding from the end.

"Shooting star fallen to earth," she begins, entering a stationary crouch just outside the blast zone and shouldering the weapon. "Angel Heavy Arms!" The rocket is fired, erupting upon impact into a magical shower of stardust and stellar fire.

"A liquid body," Mami murmurs to herself, "So where's your core...?" At least the combination of attacks has given her enough time to get range, to be able to do more than just focus on dodging the Witch's attacks. She's about to get more of a chance to look, however--Tokiko calls, and the Puella Magi rolls back into action.

As Tokiko readies her rocket, Mami curtsies lightly, dropping two more muskets down, and with a spin, still more appear; she fires, one after another, moving to the side each time in almost a dance with each flourish, to ensure that the pressure isn't let up on the Witch at all.

SMASH

A rocket hitting the liquid form of the witch disperses the water and dirt all around. The center tries to linger. It's... a hand, with very long fingers, reaching out of the brakish water. It stretches and reaches and then pulls the water down toward it as if it is plunging under. Each splash of water that it tries to draw into itself is burst with Mami's muskets. The hand grasps at nothing... and one musket shot shoots off a finger. It leaks dark blood into the already filthy ooze all around.

The ground under Mami drops out suddenly, plunging her toward cold water.

"Direct hit on... Mami-san!!" Soldier Angel spins her head around at the sudden sound to see the Labyrinth fighting back against her partner. They have a chance now, the core is weakened and exposed, but what good would that be if they left someone behind?! She drops the rocket launcher and breaks into a run, ducking and rolling underneath incoming dust-devils to reach Mami's position. As she runs, she draws a golden grappling hook on white rope, and looks around the changing landscape quickly for something that won't give at the Witch's whim...

She cranes her neck around, and throws the grappling hook to tangle around the long-fingered Witch itself. "Fine! If we're going down you're coming with us!" This accomplished, and with the rope latched around her uniform's belt, she dives face-first, arms outstretched ahead of her, to catch hold of the falling Mami.

There!

Not that Mami can yet act on the new information; she keeps firing even as the hand shows itself, learning more about how this one shields itself with every burst of water she blasts apart. There's at least a wound in, but Mami's offense is suddenly cut off; with no ground beneath her, the Puella Magi has no choice but to fly or fall.

...She can't fly, so it's a non-choice. Fall it is.

The shock of sudden weightlessness is enough to halt her fire, at least, but before long, there's help coming her way. Before she can fall beneath the water's surface so far that she's out of the light, her temporary ally has arrested her descent. The yellow-clad Witch hunter gets her breath back, "Thank you--but quickly!" Grabbing hold of Tokiko's arm in return, Mami reaches out and the ribbon at her cuff stretches, wrapping hard around one of the spires of ground that yet remains, "You have the opening!" Because she does /not/.

The ground is stable just for now, but the rain keeps pouring, and the witch.... is regrouping again. Water surges up around it in angular spikes, spinning into a spiral. It seems to be in pain, though, inflating and then sucking itself in like some kind of gasping lung. Black blood is leaking into the filthy water. Its hand is no longer visible in there, but is definitely there somewhere. The black cracks on the ground start to close up again as the witch liquid body reconsolidates into a wet thick shield around its core.

Tokiko pulls Mami up as hard as she can, until she sees that Mami has secured herself safely. She looks back at the regrouping Witch, then down at the dangling Mami, and nods her head. "Okay." She climbs her way back up the rope, swinging herself onto dry 'land,' and sweeps into position to stare down the Witch.

Soldier Angel lifts her right hand into the air, where her white pearl ring shines blindingly bright. "Painting hostile," she recites, as the gleam seems to fire up out of the ring and into the space between the stripes in the sky. A distant roar begins to be heard, and a shadow is cast over the whiteness of the land, as a small formation of white low-altitude bombers sweeps suddenly out of that interstice, dropping a bevvy of golden bombs down upon the Witch's position, exploding in a larger-scale shower of starshine.

"Heavenly Air Raid!"

It quickly seems that they could go on like this until they flat ran out of energy; the Witch is unlikely to do so, on her own.

When Tokiko looks back at her, Mami nods right back firmly, and swings into her own position, making use of her new tie to swing over to a higher vantae point. The spiral may be the place to aim, if she's right, and she keeps searching for the right spot. The flash of light from her teammate, though, preceding the roar--

"...She wasn't kidding," Mami murmurs to herself, since the momentary drop in her facade is unloikely to be seen here. Instead, on the heels of those glowing bombs, "Tiro..."

Leaping once more from her position, Mami brings down her arm with a dramatic pop, as three huge cannons spring into being at her feet, each silver and shining even in the grimy water's light. There's a hum, and a spark of energy, before--

"FINALE!" They fire straight at where she thinks that core must be.

The golden bombs explode, bursting, bursting, each explosion and shine creating a bubble that pops in dirt and disperses some of that muddy water. Every bubble disperses the liquid just a bit more, and it seeps into the cracks of the impossibly dry ground. The lung of the witch almost has the impression, for a moment, of a woman trying to gather up her skirts, but every time it lifts up a tendril another one drops, as they spiral slowly around. In the center of all of this is that wounded hand, grasping at water that slips through each finger.

Two fingers break away from the others with sick snaps, looking at Mami, as if they had eyes at the tips... the look somehow conveys shock....

and then, it splatters under the blow from her finisher. The hand explodes in black ooze! The skies above creak together slowly, groaning and then SNAPPING as the cracks seal shut. The ground begins to level.

The air itself lets out another ragged, desperate warm breath... And that is the last gasp of the Hydrophobic Witch.

You are standing outside Ohtori Academy. The sky is clear, but the scent in the air is as if a late summer squall just passed through here. Darkness comprised of sharp angles and flowing waters are all sucked in toward the ground...

The Grief Seed spins on the sidewalk like a wounded top.

Through the magic of the release of the barrier, Tokiko Amagawa stands untransformed - or perhaps she just managed to change during the destruction of the Labyrinth. It was distraction enough. She leans down and pinches the top spire of the Grief Seed, stopping its spin. Then she lifts it up and gently holds it out to offer it to Mami. "Here. You're one of those magical girls who use these, aren't you? You earned it." She smiles, bowing when the Seed has been accepted. "My name is Tokiko Amagawa. I go to the Infinity Institute. Pleased to meet you!"

The bombs, in the end, are what allow Mami to take the shot that she does; this plan would not have worked without two of them, regardless of the fact that she usually hunts alone. The Witch may be shocked... But now, it will hurt no one else.

There's a faint glow about the Ohtori student as she is standing their in her uniform once again, holding a gold-set yellow gem, flecked with black here and there. She glances to Tokiko, before she looks to the Grief Seed at hand. As it's offered, she lifts an eyebrow.

"...Most would want to hang onto that," she says. "...But, thank you. You're right; I prefer to keep thse out of the hands of those who might not be able to dispose of them properly." She bows in return, with a smile.

"It's nice to meet you, Amagawa-san. I'm sorry that I didn't have time for introductions in the Labyrinth." There's a moment, as she closes her eyes, and sets her gem beside the seed, and then the yellow egg shines as if it had never been dirtied.

"Are you hurt? That was a tricky Witch; I'm glad to have had help."

"Well, I don't need to use them for anything, and I'm not doing this for bounty money, so why would I keep it from somebody who needs it?" Tokiko smiles to Mami, clasping her hand lightly around the Grief Seed. It's yours. "The Witch scratched me a bit, but I can treat that well enough myself. It got you too, didn't it? Do you need treatment?" She makes a little flourish with her fingers in the air, and a combat medic's kit with a golden cross on it materializes in her hand. "Either way," she says, "you've got to tell me how that cannon operates. That is some serious hardware!" Yep, grinning like a maniac.

"I'm glad to hear that. There are those that would try to use Grief Seeds for more than just restoring their magic--and they're too dangerous to be trifled with that way." Formal or not, she does seem at least fairly pleased, though she glances over Tokiko as the scratching is mentioned. "Oh, I'll be fine; I can heal myself, given a little bit of time and space to do it. ...But that's a lovely kind of magic you have, as well. Stylish and useful."

Ha! Of course. "Oh, that one's a bit of a style secret, I'm afraid. But I've had a long time to practice with it, regardless. ...Still, did you say bounty money? Who would be offering you bounties on Witches here at Ohtori?"

Tokiko rings a magical bandage around her side, which soaks in the blood and dissipates, leaving even her school uniform clean and healthy. "Thank you! It took a lot of hard study to get the details right, but it's rewarding study. You must know about that anyway, if you're able to reproduce Tanegashima rifles with magic... where did my posters go?" Oh, dear; she must have dropped them when she transformed! She kneels down and begins to scour the grounds for them!

"Oh, I'm a Tuner," she explains to Mami, as she searches for her posters. "I was just here in Ohtori putting up posters for my school club - I still hope you consider it! - but the Tuners have this bounty system for stuff like Grief Seeds. Like I said, I'm not in this for bounties, it's about keeping people safe and happy and I don't need the money or the Seeds. Some people do need it, so I give mine away. That's the kind of important help we're able to give each other."

"So, conjuration magic, then," Mami replies thoughtfully, before offering a light laugh. "Yes, I've done a lot of... Ah! I'm sorry, I don't see them." Though she does glance around to see where any of them might have gone. Her ears, though, remain focused on Tokiko, as the answer comes. There's no obvious reaction to the news at first, of course. Instead, she answers other things.

"I keep fairly busy with this business," Mami explains. "I don't really have time for clubs, as a rule. I wish you luck with it regardless, though."

"...And some advice," she continues, turning around fully to face Tokiko again. "Be careful. You might find if you mention my name that I don't get along very well with the Tuner Organization. ...I can't tolerate the cavalier way in which they treat the lives of those we should be protecting. Watch yourself around them. ...And I'm afraid around me, if you're really committed to the group. I'd prefer to work together, but with such an alleigance... I can't guarantee we won't come into conflict if we meet again, Amagawa-san."

"Cavalier... lives?"

Tokiko pauses in her search, looking up while still kneeling in the grass. "...I can't see Neptune-sempai treating lives cavalierly... I just thought it was a group of us to get together on snack nights and help each other out. What happened to Mami-san...?" What happened that would cause such a traumatic rift with what she saw as a pretty harmless organization?

But more importantly... "Do you really think we would end up fighting each other?" She sounds genuinely hurt by the suggestion; Tokiko doesn't believe it for a second. Why would she attack Mami? They're on the same side!

"...I've been at this for a long time now," Mami explains. "Not everyone is as willing to help others without thinking about the reward that's in it for them. Mm, how to put it..." Mami steps around a little, and turns to face Tokiko again, "The girl we saw, in there. This time, it was really the Witch. But most of the Tuners wouldn't stop to check; they'd have attacked right off, and thought that if they saved more lives, it was worth the sacrifice of the one. But that 'one' adds up over time, and that 'one' is important to someone; maybe the most important to someone."

Mami shakes her head, "I hope we don't, personally. But, it's possible."

Tokiko nods her head slowly. "Then... I think I've learned a lesson from this meeting. I should be more careful myself, too. I don't want to lose sight of the mission parameters."

"There they are," she says, her enthusiasm dampened by the subject. She picks up her posters and stands back to her feet, turning to face Mami with the posters hugged against her chest. "Well," she replies quietly. "I'll just have to prove you wrong." She gives a small smile.

"That's right. As long as you understand why you're fighting, and you keep in mind what's important to you, you won't have to regret your actions."

Mami smiles back, as if the subject weren't any more weighty than an important test coming up, or some other normal task. "Feel free. I'd be glad to see that more around act like you did today than I've seen before. Regardless, thank you again, and take care. ...If you find trouble in this city, you can still come to me to let me know." A bow, "Good luck with your club, Amagawa-san. I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun with it."

"Mami-san is still welcome any time," Tokiko offers. "After all, I keep pretty busy myself!" She digs around in her pockets, and holds out her cell phone. "Exchange numbers?" she asks. "You can call on me any time, too - and this way you can do it literally!"

Blink. "Oh!" Of course. Mami pauses, and reaches to pull her phone out in return. "That's a good idea, isn't it? I appreciate the welcome. Here," she says, and moves to... actually get that exchange going, though if Tokiko has the infrared port like Mami's phone does it'll be all the faster.

She does have that handy port! "Thank you!" Tokiko says, sealing her cell phone up once the transfer is complete. "I'd invite you to snacks night, but I guess with the Tuners being there you wouldn't be very interested. Maybe we can go shooting together sometime. I hope to see you again, Mami-san!" She heads off to distribute her posters, but halfway on her way, she turns back and waves goodbye enthusiastically. Then, she's on her way.

That just makes it that much easier! Mami takes hers back in return, "Thank you." Contact added, she at least doesn't have to turn down the almost-invitation. Instead, the blonde just inclines her head, "That would be nice. See you another day, Amagawa-san." Mami, too, starts to walk off, though at seeing that enthusiastic wave, she offers a smaller, more elegant one in return. She, too, is then on her way.

''<I-Tuners> @soldierangel Tokiko Amagawa has set today's poll: 'What would you do if you could guarantee the defeat of a difficult bounty, but there were bystanders near the blast zone?'''

''<I-Tuners> Minako Aino says, "Bystanders are good because they help to guarantee confirmation of kills."''

''<I-Tuners> All the NPCs forever answer the poll, very rapidly pushing it to at least 95% 'defeat the bounty anyway.'''

''<I-Tuners> @soldierangel Tokiko Amagawa says, "Fine, you guys suck!"''

''<I-Tuners> Sailor V Minako Aino says, "What other options are there? I would WIN, as usual!"''

''<I-Tuners> @soldierangel Tokiko Amagawa has disconnected.''

''<I-Tuners> Sailor V Minako Aino says, "Wait, I like bystanders? What were you asking..."''

[[Category:Logs]]

2013-09-28 - Star Lion attacks! Shibuya's mysterious sleeping spell

2013-10-01T18:04:34Z

Purophet: Removing unnecessary header.

{|class="toccolours" cellspacing="2"
|-
! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''Star Lion attacks! Shibuya's mysterious sleeping spell'''
|-
|'''Summary''': 
''The Star Lion attempts to steal the wish of a Shibuya shopper for some peaceful rest, and magical girls assemble to stop the attack! After the fight, everyone goes out for snacks and video games.''
|-
| '''Who:''' 
[[Sakura Akagi]], [[Tokiko Amagawa]], [[Madobe Kuroi]], [[Yoshirou Kurotsuki]], [[Fate Testarossa]]
|-
| '''Where:''' 
Shibuya Shopping Center - Shitamachi Low City
|-
| '''OOC - IC Date:''' 
9/28/2013 - 9/25/2013
|-
|}

Shopping can be fun...or it can be torture. For Juichi Iijima, it's torture. Juichi is the overworked and tired salaryman boyfriend of Chisaki Ichihara, who loves shopping. He'd love to make her happy, but he just can't catch a break. Today, he's come off several very long workdays only to be dragooned into carrying bags and judging clothing purchases. he leans against the statue of Hachiko near the station.

"Ugh...I wish that she'd just let me get a bit of rest...this is gonna kill me!"

Overhead, hidden by the sun, a star falls.

The black ring guides the Star Lion, who appears atop a roof nearby. His armor is black and intimidating, easily seven feet tall and laden with spikes and long blades. In his hand, he wields a black blade nearly as long as he is tall. Blue fire is all that is visisble behind the faceplate of his helmet.

"I have heard your wish. Now...see it granted! From the darkness of the void, behold! Star Lion!"

The falling star turns black, darkening the sky as it falls down towards Shibuya. A wave of chills sweeps over the shopping district as, by ones and tens, the entire place begins to fall asleep.

A shadow falls over the sun, edges glimmering in the daylight. As it descends, it resolves itself into a human form falling at terminal velocity, the wind shearing past it so harshly it becomes visible as white ripples.

"Entering the situation zone..."

A white parachute decorated with golden filigree erupts from the figure shortly before landing, billowing in the wind. The figure stands up, wearing a golden flight suit and helmet with a white visor. She flips up the visor with a flourish of her arm, and as she does so, the flight suit, helmet and parachute all dissolve into the open air, revealing a white military uniform!

"Starry Soldier Angel! You're in violation of galactic wish law! Release that wish or I will open fire!"

The Star Lion has not come alone, although one of his helpers at least is really not into the whole... mass danger and potential death thing. She's not into the whole fighting thing at all, actually, but her mother's word is law, and she wants to help her be happier in all ways possible.

Considerably shorter than the two others with her, Fate Testarossa hovers down, already transformed into her Barrier Jacket. The long black and red cape, aside from the black and red color scheme otherwise, is all that really separates her from just being "another magical girl". Without any mask, recognizing her isn't that hard. At least, Tokiko could, having seen her, even if she doesn't know her name.

There's a lot of shops here, which is at least good for her. She raises her poleaxe, Bardiche, to look into the yellow gemstone at the end.

"Is there... anything we can do here? For mother?"
<YES SIR. IT DETECTS MINOR MAGICAL FLUCTUATIONS THERE.>
"That's... an antique shop? It might have magical items..."

Secondary objective found, at least.

Her main one's to keep heat off the massive figure that have summoned her here. She wonders if she can really compete with those kinds of obvious powerhouses, though. She's just a child, comparatively.

For now, she's going to suuuubtly shuffle towards that antique shop. As subtle as she can be with that big poofy cape and obvious WEAPON.

Was that the shooting star she was supposed to watch out for?

Cherry Blossom saw it from the corneer of her eye. She wasn't sure, but it might not hurt to check it out.

She arrives on a rooftop overlooking the shopping district. She sees the huge figure of Star Lion. This isn't really her fight, but Solider Angel seemed... to be a good person. Maybe she could use a little bit of help.

She does not focus on making a dramatic entrance. And... perhaps because of this, she sees that one person is uneffected by the powers at hand. That looks like she might even be a Magical Girl too. But whose side is Fate on?

A girl with pink hair and a short kimono is looking down at Fate from the tops of the roof.

"Entering the situation zone, *SIGH*, henshin sweet pea *groan* splash, I guess. *ANOTHER SIGH*."

Sweet Pea was about to give up on fighting evil when she not just got her butt kicked but also got shown up by elementary school kids. The fact of the matter is, she is now pretty depressed. She walks onto the scene, with dull eyes of unhappiness on her face even before someone said her costume was way too pink or anything of the sort.

"Please stop putting people to sleep and causing a disturbance...eheh...eh.h...It's not nice and ruins our shopping trips..."

And she's also remembering how she yelled at that one yakuza girl who either wants to have her killed now, probably, or even possibly worse is interested in her, which means she might go yell about how she likes tentacle hentai now. MADOBE DOESN'T LIKE TENTACLE HENTAI. She prefers boy love and reverse harems, okay?? IT'S NOT ALL THE SAME, OKAY?

She actually sort of mumbled her intro lines today and ironically wasn't just with Cherry Blossom today, having been around on unrelated business.

The Star Lion turns, raising his blade and pointing it out over the area. "Soldier Angel! You've come to stop me again, have you? I've told you before - these wishes are mine, and no law can hold my power back! If you want to stop me, you had best do it yourself!" He turns, the blade sweeping over the area. "I see you've brought allies today...well then!"

The blade rests briefly, aimed at Sweet Pea. "Sweet Pea, valiant defender!" He ignores Cherry Blossom for now - if she wants attention she'll make some noise, after all. Right? "Your name does not frighten me, for I am the Star Lion! Even you cannot intimidate me!" ('Even?')

There is a flash of darkness, and Star Lion appears between Sweet Pea and Soldier Angel. "Still, I cannot ignore you. Very well! Soldier Angel, Sweet Pea! Show me your power!" He turns, pointing his blade at Sweet Pea. "Do not think this will be easy! The Soldier Angel may be confident with you at her back, but I am prepared even for that!"

''COMBAT: Yoshirou Kurotsuki has fully healed himself. He is now ready to take on 2 opponents!''

''COMBAT: Yoshirou Kurotsuki has used Calling By Name on Madobe Kuroi.''

''COMBAT: Yoshirou Kurotsuki has used Lion's Roar on Yoshirou Kurotsuki.''

''COMBAT: Yoshirou Kurotsuki has finished attacking.''

''COMBAT: Yoshirou Kurotsuki accepts Yoshirou Kurotsuki's Lion's Roar, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Empower and Withstand applied to Yoshirou Kurotsuki!''

The blonde girl is totally a Magical Girl. But for her to not rush and help the two who so bravely oppose the armored behemoth? Surely that casts doubt. If it doesn't cast enough, Fate just sort of walks into the antique store without paying immediate attention to the fact she's being watched.

Tunnel vision, sadly. There's signatures in the store, even if they're just really lousy magical baubles, she probably thinks if she makes a BIG pile of them it'll make her mother happy. It's no Jewel Seed for sure but magic is magic.

At least she's polite. She doesn't smash the glass or anything. She walks in like a normal person, using the door! And then, two little orbs of yellow magic slowly come out of gemstone on her poleaxe, while there is a lot of shouting outside. She wonders if that means she was supposed to attack one of those people.

<BEGINNING AREA SEARCH.> Bardiche announces.

While the little orbs flutter about, scanning old chests and furniture and jewelry, Fate awkwardly stands by the door, giving an uneasy look towards the cashier who has fallen asleep at his desk.

At least none of them are dead, right.
Right? D:

Japanese Cherry Blossom does not know why a magical girl would rob a jewelry store. There are the obvious reasons. But usually their motives are something more interesting, like looking for true magic. It's still possible Fate might not be a bad person.

But Cherry Blossom has her suspicions. She pushes open the door also, and stands in it, pointing a finger at the other girl. "Stop right there. If you have a plan to take advantage of these people to steal, I can't allow it!"

Soldier Angel hasn't spotted the arrival of Japanese Cherry Blossom yet, being on a rooftop as she is, but she turns with surprise to see Sweet Pea entering the scene. "Sweet Pea-chan? You shouldn't..." She glances back at the Star Lion, and remains silent as he delivers his shpiel acknowledging Sweet Pea's unquestionable power. Okay. He wants to do this. She didn't have the chance to tell Sweet Pea to go easy on him... not that that's very easy to do anyway. How do you tell a magical girl not to hurt your archnemesis too much without giving the whole thing away?

"Okay! Let's do this. Together, all right?" She holds out a hand to clasp Sweet Pea's and shake it confidently. "I'll lay down suppressive fire, you do your thing and catch him!" She lifts her hands in the air and draws a white and gold assault rifle out of the sky, training it across Star Lion's means of escape, though she doesn't strike the Star Lion himself.

''COMBAT: Tokiko Amagawa has used Suppressive Fire on Yoshirou Kurotsuki.''

''COMBAT: Tokiko Amagawa has finished attacking.''

''COMBAT: Madobe Kuroi accepts Yoshirou Kurotsuki's Calling By Name, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Madobe Kuroi is Cheered!''

WHUMP.

That's the sound of the door slamming into the extremely distracted Fate, who ends up face first into the ground. She is definitely a killing machine who assaults people for fun and profit, yep.

Fortunately she does kind of pick herself up quickly, and actually wastes no time pointing the business end of her sharp, spiked poleaxe Device at Cherry Blossom. There's an idle crackle of golden electricity along the blade, but no immediate attack.

"I-I can't. I don't want to harm these people, but if you force me I..." She'll what? She wouldn't just shank the sleeping shopkeep or anything. Though she could be forced to shank Cherry Blossom instead.

"Please. I'll be done soon."

She omits to mention she's here to help Star Lion out. She's not sure she should be shouting they're allies or anything, though if she had to she guesses she'd have to take obvious, visible orders from him anyway.

Sweet Pea blinks a few times at Star Lion. "...Huh?" Did ... did he even actually hear her? "...Wait..." She seems a bit flustered. Did she do something amazing at some point? She doesn't think so. Okay, she beat that perfume demon or...or maybe it actually is a show? Maybe even magical girls put on magical girl shows on the street. No, that's impossible, people wouldn't be falling asleep then. She goes a bit cross-eyed.

"Uh." She says awkwardly. "...O...kay."

Wait! She thinks she gets it. Tokiko seems to have fought this guy a few times already, that means that she may have told him about Sweet Pea and given him the idea that she's badass or something. She looks towards Soldier Angel. Man, she's glad Cherry Blossom isn't here to hear--

In the background, faintly: 'Stop right there. If you have a plan to take advantage of these people to steal, I can't allow it!'.

Her head slowly turns back to look at Sakura. And then she says, "Ah--don't worry about...us! We'll be able to handle this guy! St..stop that jewelry store robber! People have the right to uh ... ... well... I don't really have something cool to say there but..."

She draws her PEA SHOOTERS out and opens fire! If her blasts hit the Star Lion, flowers will sprout where he's hit adorably.

"Um--um..." She tells him. How does one go about telling an evil demon lieutenant type that he's their favorite evil demon lieutenant type? Are magical girls even allowed to say that??

Oops.

Well, that's awkward. Cherry didn't actually mean to hit her with the door. She just was a lot closer to the door than Cherry Blossom originally thought.

She does pause when Fate threatens to harm people. No jewels are worth the cost to a life. "I'll give you one chance to explain yourself," she demands, which she thinks is quite fair. The young lady seems distressed.

''COMBAT: Madobe Kuroi has used Flower Shot on Yoshirou Kurotsuki.''

''COMBAT: Madobe Kuroi has finished attacking.''

''COMBAT: Yoshirou Kurotsuki narrowly dodges Tokiko Amagawa's Suppressive Fire, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!''

''COMBAT: Yoshirou Kurotsuki narrowly braces Madobe Kuroi's Flower Shot, taking 4 Fatigue damage! Yoshirou Kurotsuki's Parry ability activates! Diversion and Stun applied to Yoshirou Kurotsuki!''

She doesn't have time to explain! Who knows how long this'll last? On the other hand, it might buy her a bit of time. It's a tough call, does she say something useful about her ~mission~ or does she just, once again, open fire against the interlopper? One certainly takes a lot less time than the other.

What would she say, anyway? Some of these jewels are faintly magical! Let me take them so they can't harm anyone, also because I'm trying to build a stockpile of things that are magical for someone to do things with. No, she wouldn't buy that. Really, who would? Fate's not sure she even buys her own reasoning anymore.

Really, there's only one way to justify herself left.

<PHOTON LANCER.>

Just like that, lightning arcs from her Device and forms a glowing, bright yellow ball of light, which immediatly shoots straight at Cherry Blossom. For what it's worth, the blonde looks insanely conflicted right now.

''COMBAT: Fate Testarossa has used Photon Lancer: Standard on Sakura Akagi.''

''COMBAT: Fate Testarossa has finished attacking.''

''COMBAT: Sakura Akagi perfectly dodges Fate Testarossa's Photon Lancer: Standard, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Critical Dodge!''

Bullets fly down around the Star Lion, but he ducks under them with a grand sweep of his deep blue cloak, posing dramatically amid the hail of shots. "You are so confident in her, Soldier Angel? Then let us see what she can do!" Star Lion turns on Sweet Pea as the Pea Shooters come out. He raises his blade, meeting the shots with the flat of it. The flowers sprout around it, roping the blade to his arm and sprouting along it. He looks down at the arm, then nods once, shaking it.

"Not bad! But you face the greatest necromancer that has ever lived! Born of the darkness beyond the moon, speaker to the black cosmos!" This is not actually a meaningful set of phrases, but Yoshirou Kurotsuki understands that part of impressing your foes and building a legend is saying things that are cool even if they don't make sense.

He raises his arm, intoning. "Tenebrarum, et signa mea hostem surgere!" Darkness rises around him. "Soldier Angel! Have you seen what lies between the stars?" The darkness flows over the rooftop, moving to surround Tokiko, flowing ominously. What dark plans could he have once she's trapped in place?! He then turns on Sweet Pea. "As for you..." He sweeps his free hand forward, the darkness flowing at Sweet Pea like a crushing wave! "Let me show it to you! Black Cosmos!"

''COMBAT: Yoshirou Kurotsuki has used Darkness Between Stars on Tokiko Amagawa.''

''COMBAT: Yoshirou Kurotsuki has used Black Cosmos on Madobe Kuroi.''

''COMBAT: Yoshirou Kurotsuki has finished attacking.''

''COMBAT: Madobe Kuroi fails to dodge Yoshirou Kurotsuki's Black Cosmos, taking 9 Fatigue damage!''

''COMBAT: Tokiko Amagawa narrowly counters Yoshirou Kurotsuki's Darkness Between Stars, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Tokiko Amagawa's Tactician ability activates!''

''COMBAT: Tokiko Amagawa's counterattack, Starry Flashbang, partially gets through, doing 2 Fatigue damage to Yoshirou Kurotsuki!''

"Huh? There's a jewelry..." Soldier Angel trails off as she looks aside in the direction of the jewelry store. She can't spot who's in there, but Japanese Cherry Blossom is on the scene, which is good! She smiles and snaps off a salute, and then turns back to Star Lion, who has done nothing to her in the interim.

"The stars shine brightest when they reflect off each other," she retorts, making not much more sense. She doesn't understand Latin, but the battle plan covered all these things Star Lion says, so she tenses her legs when he begins to cast, and leaps into the air as he casts the cloud of darkness. Soldier Angel disappears into the blackness...

"Starry Flashbang!"

A small, golden-filigreed canister falls down from the cloud of darkness, cracking open at the Star Lion's feet, where it releases a glimmering torrent of starry light. The flash subsides quickly, revealing an unentangled Soldier Angel landing within melee range of the Star Lion's blade, rifle gone. "The darkness only waits to be filled with spectacular light!"

Cherry Blossom has to leap into the buiding to dodge the ray. She lands behind a jewelry case. She doesn't like this, since things that are important might be easily destroyed in the melee. Maybe there's a way to slow Fate down, or get her outside.

She casts a very quick spell. She clasps her hands together. "Cherry Trees - please aid me--"

Pink branches bloom up from the ground, and try to surround Fate in a small trap. That should give her a little time to figure out what to do, but she thinks she might have to take this outside somewhere. If she just leaves, though, Fate probably won't follow her, so what to do? This isn't a problem she thought she'd encounter, since most mindless monsters don't steal from stores. She knows she's going to have to get more clever about this...

''COMBAT: Sakura Akagi has used Blossom Tangle on Fate Testarossa.''

''COMBAT: Sakura Akagi has finished attacking.''

''COMBAT: Fate Testarossa fails to dodge Sakura Akagi's Blossom Tangle, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Tangle applied to Fate Testarossa!''

Having landed before the Star Lion and made her declaration, she throws an arm out to her side, forming a gleaming golden combat knife. She ducks under the arc of the Star Lion's blade and rushes in close, levelling the knife for the Star Lion's very heart, as it trails stardust in its wake. The knife does not cut, but it sears at the evil heart - and if she gets the chance, it will burn that much more when she takes the opportunity to twist it in.

''COMBAT: Tokiko Amagawa has used Close Quarters Miracle on Yoshirou Kurotsuki.''

''COMBAT: Tokiko Amagawa has finished attacking.''

Sweet Pea breathes out--she actually got him! Yay! Maybe it's because Tokiko patted her earlier, allowing some of her coolness to rub off on her. If she knew that physical contact could make awesome rub off on you, she would have been grabbing people a lot earlier than now!

Madobe learns the wrong lessons.

But then--Tokiko jumps into THE DARKNESS. "Oh no! Soldier Angel!" She cries out. "Are you okay? There might be a grue in there!" But instead, Star Lion unleashes a wave of darkness at her! It ripples around her and sends her crashing along the ground. She naturally goes 'Aieeee!' as she's flung away from him. "Latin...? Tenebrarum is..ah...ah...Well mea is some form of me and--"

She stands herself up. "Probably--"

She is inspired by TOkiko launching a canister over at Yoshirou and she grins. She's okay! Well of course she is.

"Um...you said you're...Star Lion, a great necromancer? Um..are you after one of those boxed stars?" Did she get caught up in the most magical game of Mario Galaxy ever?

She fires another shot at Star Lion, trying to keep her spirits up.

''COMBAT: Madobe Kuroi has used Sweet Pea Strike on Yoshirou Kurotsuki.''

''COMBAT: Madobe Kuroi has finished attacking.''

''COMBAT: Yoshirou Kurotsuki narrowly dodges Madobe Kuroi's Sweet Pea Strike, taking 4 Fatigue damage! Madobe Kuroi is Psyched!''

''COMBAT: Yoshirou Kurotsuki narrowly counters Tokiko Amagawa's Close Quarters Miracle, taking 12 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Tokiko Amagawa is Psyched!''

''COMBAT: Yoshirou Kurotsuki's counterattack, Forsaken Blade, partially gets through, doing 20 Fatigue damage to Tokiko Amagawa! Critical Counterhit!''

Cherry has a good idea there. There isn't a lot of room to dodge while indoors. At least, not to dodge quick assaults like this. Branches and vines break through the floor tiling and tangle Fate's feet and legs up, grounding her there for the moment. She tugs on them, very briefly, to see how solid a trap she's stuck in, before the indecision and conflict in her scarlet eyes disappears.

When she isn't fighting, she's awkward, doesn't know how to deal with people, and can't really say much. In battle, though, it's a lot easier. There's just one thing to consider, and that's how you'll beat your opponent. No complicated social mazes to navigate.

"Bardiche, finish the scan for now."
<YES SIR.>

Lowering the weapon, Fate instead aims her empty, gloved hand towards the other magical girl, as electricity arcs between her fingers. "SHOOT!"

It's not a spell, so much as direct conversion of her mana into lightning. She lets a lightning bolt loose at Cherry Blossom, while she continues tugging on the branches holding her down.

The collateral is probably going to be unavoidable with this girl.

''COMBAT: Fate Testarossa has used Lightning Bolt on Sakura Akagi.''

''COMBAT: Fate Testarossa has finished attacking.''

"The falling stars are /mine/, by right and by claim! Their wishing power belongs only to the Star Lion, and no other, no matter what you or Soldier Angel claim!" As Sweet Pea fires at him, Star Lion tries to duck under the shot again as he turns. It doesn't work out quite so well, and the Sweet Pea Shot strikes him on the shoulder, causing the blue fire in the helm to flare brighter, perhaps in annoyance.

As Tokiko gets in close, however, he continues the spin, bringing his sword up to meet her knife with a solid and very loud CLANG! The light of the knife and the darkness of the sword flare against each other, outlining the entire rooftop in monochrome for several seconds. "Fill the darkness? Nothing can fill the darkness! It consumes and devours all!" Star Lion is the first to break the clash, shoving Soldier Angel away.

He sweeps out with the blade, making several slashes at her - never enough to really cause a deep cut, but enough to force her to move and keep her on her toes. The Star Lion prefers to wear his foes down, it seems. It makes for more dramatic fights. "All that lies within the darkness will fade away, but the blackness remains!" He whirls, bringing the sword down onto the rooftop. Black power gathers around it, and he brings it up at Sweet Pea, firing off a shadow clone of the blade towards her. "BLACK FANG!"

''COMBAT: Yoshirou Kurotsuki has used Darkness Duel on Tokiko Amagawa.''

''COMBAT: Yoshirou Kurotsuki has used Black Fang on Madobe Kuroi.''

''COMBAT: Yoshirou Kurotsuki has finished attacking.''

''COMBAT: Tokiko Amagawa fails to brace Yoshirou Kurotsuki's Darkness Duel, taking 8 Fatigue damage!''

''COMBAT: Madobe Kuroi narrowly counters Yoshirou Kurotsuki's Black Fang, taking 8 Fatigue damage!''

''COMBAT: Madobe Kuroi's counterattack, Sweet Pea Shooters, partially gets through, doing 5 Fatigue damage to Yoshirou Kurotsuki! Critical Counterhit! Trap applied to Yoshirou Kurotsuki!''

Cherry Blossom doesn't want the lightning bolt to hit the case, so she leans into it a bit, and takes it to her shoulder. It hurts... but she just winces, and presses on. She never thought, after all, that this wasn't going to involve taking a hit or two.

She raises her hands up, and the branches on the ground begin to glow with a soft pink light. They then explode, with a blast of pink magic that totally surrounds Fate! It might be a little more painful than just grabbing at her. The nature of the magic is such that she doesn't do nearly as much damage to the surroundings as lightning might, but she still doesn't feel really good about where this is headed. "Sorry, but... I can't let you steal from innocent people-- you'll have to leave before they wake up! Even if I have to make you!"

''COMBAT: Sakura Akagi has used Blossom Burst on Fate Testarossa.''

''COMBAT: Sakura Akagi has finished attacking.''

''COMBAT: Fate Testarossa perfectly counters Sakura Akagi's Blossom Burst, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter!''

''COMBAT: Fate Testarossa's counterattack, Defenser, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Sakura Akagi!''

Soldier Angel grits her teeth as the massive blade of the Star Lion comes into contact with her. Time seems to slow down as the rooftop is limned in black and white alone, until, as Star Lion declares, the darkness consumes: the black overwhelms the white, and Soldier Angel is sent sprawling. She desperately pushes her combat knife up to try to halt the blade as the Star Lion follows his assault up, but a combat knife can only do so much against such a mighty weapon as the Star Lion's.

"Sweet Pea-chan," Soldier Angel says, climbing back to her feet, hands resting on her knees. "I need a second. Keep it up, you're doing great... and use this!" She spins her right hand, and the combat knife in it glows and resolves into golden light, reshaping as she tosses it Sweet Pea's way. As it lands in Sweet Pea's hands, it resolves itself into the borrowed power of the Soldier Angel gifted to Sweet Pea: a semiautomatic machine pistol, white, with trim that quickly fades from gold to pink.

''COMBAT: Tokiko Amagawa has used Borrow My Power on Madobe Kuroi.''

''COMBAT: Tokiko Amagawa has finished attacking.''

''COMBAT: Madobe Kuroi accepts Tokiko Amagawa's Borrow My Power, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Madobe Kuroi is Cheered!''

"I... I can't..."

Fate can't go home empty-handed. Nor can she just leave her (however intimidating and massive) ally to fend against three people instead of two. Both terrible outcomes!

The branches detonate, and the dark magical girl is seemingly engulfed in the bright pink explosion. Before the smoke even clears, a faint yellow light breaks through it, revealing the blonde standing a few feet back from where she used to be, large yellow circle of magic maintained in front of her by her empty hand. A barrier spell, evidently, since she doesn't seem to have been harmed.

She was worried for a second there, though.

"I-If I return empty-handed..."

She doesn't finish her thought. Doesn't want to either. No ifs! No buts! She raises the poleaxe up, which chimes with its smooth, suave, polite and perfect for a butler male voice:
<THUNDER BULLET.>

Nothing happens for a moment; if Cherry Blossom is fast, she'll notice another one of those golden orbs has appeared to her rear, in a blind spot. It launches itself straight at her, somewhat faster than the first. Seems to have a bit more of an electrical punch to it, too.

''COMBAT: Fate Testarossa has used Thunder Bullet on Sakura Akagi.''

''COMBAT: Fate Testarossa has finished attacking.''

''COMBAT: Sakura Akagi narrowly counters Fate Testarossa's Thunder Bullet, taking 7 Fatigue damage!''

''COMBAT: Sakura Akagi's counterattack, Thrown Blossom, partially gets through, doing 2 Fatigue damage to Fate Testarossa!''

"D..do you have a receipt?" Sweet Pea asks. "I'm um." Woah! He's already firing back! Even though Star Lion talked a while about doing it, it somehow still is a surprise for Sweet Pea! She brings her pistols forward and fires a few shots through the Darkness in an attempt to stop it--some simply punch through--but the bulk of the strike slams into Sweet Pea. She cringes in pain before collapsing to a knee, panting for breath.

She pants there for a moment before Tokikotosses her a weapon. In a moment of panic, she drops her OWN pistols to catch it with her hands (rather than with her face). Woah woah--how'd Toki--Soldier Angel do that?? Is she doing this because she knew she was feeling crummy lately?? Could she tell?? Actually, she doesn't know Sweet Pea is Madobe right?

"Th...thank you." She says. "I'll...I'll make sure it counts." This probably means that she won't be holding back against the mighty Star Lion. It's not like anybody told her to!

Well she's still pretty new, Star Lion can probably handle it, right? Feeling confident, she swings the pistol so it points towards Star Lion's chest. Her hand isn't even shaking.

"Wishes belong to those who make them! Nobody can claim them!"

She hopes she's actually right on these ones. Maybe there's like a wishing company or something and Star Lion is the CEO or whatever, she doesn't know! But she believes in Tokiko and is willing to do so blindly!

A pink swirl ripples out of the pistol for Star Lion!

''COMBAT: Madobe Kuroi has used Viewtiful Pea on Yoshirou Kurotsuki.''

''COMBAT: Madobe Kuroi has finished attacking.''

''COMBAT: Yoshirou Kurotsuki narrowly braces Madobe Kuroi's Viewtiful Pea, taking 11 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Yoshirou Kurotsuki's Parry ability activates! Exhausted applied to Yoshirou Kurotsuki!''

Cherry Blossom tries to get a flower in the way of the orb, but it's not very effective. It still blows up, exploding in her blind spot and knocking her off her feet. That was a rough one -- and the interior of the store shakes a little when she hits the ground on her side.

She stands up... a bit slowly, her face flushed.

But she didn't miss what Fate said. "Return empty-handed... to who?"

She dashes toward Fate, attacking with a simple karate-style chop to her neck. It's not super powerful compared to magic, but it might be surprising.

''COMBAT: Sakura Akagi has used Cherry Chop on Fate Testarossa.''

''COMBAT: Sakura Akagi has finished attacking.''

''COMBAT: Fate Testarossa narrowly braces Sakura Akagi's Cherry Chop, taking 5 Fatigue damage!''

Yoshirou knows that signal - 'give me a breather.' At least, he thinks it's that signal. Well, he can focus on the other girl. He might have to swing harder, because she doesn't know the deal...but that's okay, she seems like she can take it. The Star Lion turns fully to Sweet Pea. "You dare to order the Star Lion!?" He brings up his blade, trying to cut the pink swirl in half. It doesn't go so well - the blast strikes his blade and sends him staggering back.

"Gh...perhaps you have more power than I had anticipated! Very well. Let me taste that power myself! Consumens sideris, da mihi potestatem!" He holds his clawlike gauntlet out towards Sweet Pea as the darkness flares, trying to surround and overwhelm her, feeding her energy into his armor. He focuses, then gathers the darkness around his claw, turning and slamming it down at Soldier Angel, trying to overwhelm her defenses. Of course, it's all very showy, but Yoshirou is always careful not to aim for anywhere vital.

Firstly, because Tokiko is his friend. Secondly, because dead heroes can't tell your story.

''COMBAT: Yoshirou Kurotsuki has used Starlit Darkness on Madobe Kuroi.''

''COMBAT: Yoshirou Kurotsuki has used Consuming Claw on Tokiko Amagawa.''

''COMBAT: Yoshirou Kurotsuki has finished attacking.''

''COMBAT: Madobe Kuroi fails to dodge Yoshirou Kurotsuki's Starlit Darkness, taking 21 Fatigue damage! Exhausted applied to Madobe Kuroi! Yoshirou Kurotsuki drains 8 fatigue from Madobe Kuroi!''

''COMBAT: Tokiko Amagawa narrowly braces Yoshirou Kurotsuki's Consuming Claw, taking 8 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Tokiko Amagawa's Block ability activates! Tokiko Amagawa's Parry ability activates! Stun applied to Tokiko Amagawa!''

To who indeed. Can she say it? Mother probably wouldn't like that. She's avoided attention for so long, hidden in the Garden of Time. And she certainly didn't do all that just for her daughter to prance around antique stores shouting her name! The TSAB would be on her faster than... faster than... faster than something that is very fast. Fate feels very sorry she doesn't have a better analogy to think of, right then and there.

Cherry Blossom comes in with a melee strike, and Fate lifts her arm, allowing the chop to hit her forearm. It's actually sort of painful, because she's not very strong physically. Sakura could tell her opponent would probably have a harder time dealing with an all-out melee fight than a magical one.

"I'm... I'm sorry, I can't say... p-please just leave me!"
<AREA SEARCH COMPLETE. FOUND EARRINGS WITH MAGIC.>
"A-Ah! Then we have to... B-Bardiche!"
<GET SET. GLAIVE FORM.>

The poleaxe shifts, as the axe blade angles itself up like a spear, and sprouts three golden fins from the weapon's top, all the way down to about halfway across the shaft. They'd make a pyramid if they were linked at the base, with the spear end the summit.

"S-SPARK--"

There's a sudden build-up of magic, a big orb of yellow light between Fate and Cherry Blossom. In the instant it takes for it to form, she thrusts Bardiche's tip into it, breaking the sphere.

"--SMASHER!"

It is a very large yellow laser. With lightning. The store front may not survive, or the store in front of this one either. Unless Cherry Blossom has very good barrier spells, anyway! It doesn't threaten any sleeping people, thankfully.

''COMBAT: Fate Testarossa has used Spark Smasher on Sakura Akagi.''

''COMBAT: Fate Testarossa has finished attacking.''

It's true, Tokiko could use a breather for a moment - that sword hit was pretty heavy! - but mostly, it was a good way to keep Sweet Pea's spirits up. A novice can use a good solid win once in awhile, and now is a good time for it! She catches her breath and throws her arm out to catch the Star Lion's claw attack, pushed back by the force of it and tiring out her arm, but remaining on the offensive. She uses the force to slide further backwards, falling into a tactical crouch and holding her arms out as a long white pipe with a golden handle forms in them. She draws another hand in the air to grasp a developing golden rocket, loading it into the launcher, and rests it against her shoulder.

"Sweet Pea-chan, stay clear! You heard her, Star Lion, you can't pluck a wish from the heart any easier than a star from the sky! Exploding supernova, Angel Heavy Arms!" The recoil tips the launcher up only slightly as a rocket-propelled grenade blasts out with a burst of stardust, spinning through the air for the Star Lion to explode in a burst of golden magic!

''COMBAT: Tokiko Amagawa has used Angel Heavy Arms on Yoshirou Kurotsuki.''

''COMBAT: Tokiko Amagawa has finished attacking.''

''COMBAT: Sakura Akagi fails to dodge Fate Testarossa's Spark Smasher, taking 32 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!''

Sweet Pea surprisingly doesn't cringe when Yoshirou shouts back at her. This might be because of all the encouragement (ironically even from him) she's been getting this fight. She's feeling pretty good about herself right now. Yesterday with Satan was clearly a fluke. Yeah, that's it. She didn't embarass herself in front of people who haven't even yet hit double digits on their years alive number too much! She'd very much like to believe that. So she does! Man, the power of belief and wishes is amazing!

Sweet Pea tries to bounce outta the way of Yoshirou's darkness but it still catches her and draws her purity of essence into him.

She pants for breath for a few moments before shaking her head. NOPE SHE ISN'T DESPAIRING.

"Soldier Angel...is my friend! And my sister is fighting her hardest out there...I won't go easy on you just cause you got me out of my funk (and I kind of want your autograph!) because what you're doing isn't right!"

She brings up Tokiko's pistol and one of her own, swinging them together. "For the snack nights to come..."

A large pink eruption of a blast explodes out of the pistols, leaving a field of Sweet Pea flowers where it passes--and possibly over the Star Lion too, as it's heading straight for him.

"SWEET PEA SHOTGUN SOJOURN!" Sweet Pea cries.

''COMBAT: FINISHER! Madobe Kuroi has used Sweet Pea Shotgun Sojourn on Yoshirou Kurotsuki.''

''COMBAT: Madobe Kuroi has finished attacking.''

''COMBAT: Yoshirou Kurotsuki fails to brace Tokiko Amagawa's Angel Heavy Arms, taking 39 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!''

''COMBAT: Yoshirou Kurotsuki narrowly braces Madobe Kuroi's Finisher, Sweet Pea Shotgun Sojourn, taking 39 Fatigue damage! Yoshirou Kurotsuki's Parry ability activates!''

A barrier? Not... so much.

Cherry Blossom just tries to dodge. But she fails.

The windows shatter as she's pushed back through them, sparkling bits of glass falling everywhere around her. She hits the ground as the shards all fall around her, landing on the road outside. The storefront across the way also shatters, leaving glass dust all over the ground.

Cherry Blossom's knees wobble as she tries to stand. She finally gets to her feet, but she looks fatigued. Maybe Fate is going to run away, leaving her hopeless...

She tries to brace herself. She knows that Sweet Pea is still out there too, fighting, and she can't give up for her sake!

She closes her eyes, raises her hand, and mutters another spell. "Please give me strength to fight!"

A pink wave of blossoms streaks through the shattered windows, carrying with it cutting petals and a sweet scent.

''COMBAT: Sakura Akagi has used Beautiful Blossoms on Fate Testarossa.''

''COMBAT: Sakura Akagi has finished attacking.''

''COMBAT: Fate Testarossa fails to dodge Sakura Akagi's Beautiful Blossoms, taking 26 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Sakura Akagi is Psyched!''

The Star Lion steps back into a defensive stance. "Rrrgh...show me the best you have!" He tries to bring the blade around to chop the incoming missile in half - but as Tokiko knows, this can't possibly work. It explodes on contact, sending the Star Lion back, his armor smoking from the impact! The golden light washes over him, forcing him down on one knee. He raises the blade again as Sweet Pea fires - but all he can manage to do is get it in the way of the blast, which surrounds him utterly.

When it clears, he has one gauntlet on the ground - well, the roof - and he's visibly panting. "You...you are strong."

He forces himself to stand. "But I...I am the Star Lion! I cannot be defeated so easily! You have forced me to this length...forced me to use my greatest power! If this does not work, then I cannot win! But on my word of honor, I WILL NOT BE STOPPED!"

He lets out a load and terrible roar, dark power exploding around him. The sky blackens for an instant, as the falling star centers over his body. It is still black, as he tries to siphon its power. It halts in its fall, glowing darker and darker. "Soldier Angel! Sweet Pea! PREPARE YOURSELVES FOR MY POWER!"

He spreads his hands, and the black star seems to explode into darkness, sending a terrible black light down towards the pair in a massive column. The darkness wraps around them, trying to consume and destroy them...well, possibly. Yoshirou doesn't /think/ it'll manage to do that.

There's always some risk, though.

"BLACK STAR! GIVE ME YOUR POWER! OPEN UNTO ME!"

MOUTH OF THE VOID!"

''COMBAT: Yoshirou Kurotsuki has used Calling the Void on Tokiko Amagawa.''

''COMBAT: FINISHER! Yoshirou Kurotsuki has used Black Star Rising on Madobe Kuroi.''

''COMBAT: Yoshirou Kurotsuki has finished attacking.''

''COMBAT: Tokiko Amagawa fails to brace Yoshirou Kurotsuki's Calling the Void, taking 34 Fatigue damage!''

Out! She blasted her out! HOME FREE!

Fate scrambles for the earrings Bardiche spotted, and ends up not paying enough attention for what she SHOULD have been paying attention to. When she sees that Cherry Blossom isn't just still standing, but attacking, it's too late to dive for cover. Oh, she tries, but she's caught anyway.

The magical flowers cut through the blonde's Barrier Jacket, shredding parts of her cloak, leaving streaks in her thigh-highs, damaging her skirt! It's horrible, because her clothes are like armor. And now they're all busted up. She avoids bleeding cuts, miraculously, but this is no less of a bother. She regains her balance and avoids falling over, glaring her opponent down.

"W-Why... why can't you just leave me? Is this... store important to you?" Why else would someone risk their life like this? Not to mention...

What the HELL is going on outside?

It looks MASSIVE, whatever it is. It's kind of telling Fate she needs to hurry up.

Lightning crackles into existence around Cherry Blossom, with no warning. The gemstone on Bardiche gleams, and announces a bit too late:

<LIGHTNING BIND.>

The lightning attempts to form large shackles around both of her ankles and wrists, to hold her as firmly in place as possible. They're not impossible to break free of, though. Just takes a bit of willpower.

And then Fate yanks the earrings, plunging her hand through the glass without care that large shards of it are now sticking out of it, despite the gauntlet. She must want that pair of earrings real bad.

''COMBAT: Fate Testarossa has used Lightning Bind on Sakura Akagi.''

''COMBAT: Fate Testarossa has finished attacking.''

''COMBAT: Madobe Kuroi narrowly dodges Yoshirou Kurotsuki's Finisher, Black Star Rising, taking 70 Fatigue damage! Madobe Kuroi is unable to keep fighting! Madobe Kuroi's Flash ability activates!''

Lightning strikes down around Cherry Blossom, rippling through her feet and pinning her to the ground. She struggles. She could try to build up another spell... she's brave enough, but she senses something else has gone wrong. That big attack above their heads....

Was Sweet Pea in trouble? She can't try to defend a jewelry store if someone she cares about is hurt. That would be pointless. It looks like Fate might get her way after all, as Cherry Blossom disengages, leaving the store behind to see what's happened in the other fight. "Don't think you've won, but... you're right, my friends are more important to me."

''COMBAT: Sakura Akagi has finished attacking.''

Her... friends?

Fate bites her lip. What an uncomfortable topic. And a sentiment she truly can't understand. She has family. Not friends. It's... it's complicated.

But Cherry Blossom's words are enough that the blonde lowers her weapon. She pockets the earrings, and kind of... sulks there for a couple of long moments. Right in the feels, Sakura.

The action outside eventually snaps her out of it, and slowly exits the story. Flying up, she parks herself on the roof, and kind of looks in Star Lion's direction, as if wondering what to do. Maybe he'll know what she should do now? Does he want help? Does he want an out?

''COMBAT: Fate Testarossa has finished attacking.''

Madobe looks down and sees darkness swirling up and around her. Shrieking, she runs from the explosions like a maniac. She even manages it--until she runs face first into a wall and collapses onto her back, an red imprint on her face.

She lies on the floor, laughing disturbingly. "eheh..heh...heh...I thought I was gonna die..."

Yeah she seems done x.x.

The black star rises. This is always the part that stings. Soldier Angel clasps her hands quickly, trying to call upon the power of the falling star herself, but she's too late - the Star Lion has claimed the wholeness of the star's power for the moment, and she crumples to one knee under the force of the column of dark light, breathing heavily. Like her own attacks, the assault is magical enough not to leave physical injury, at least, simply draining at her will to fight.

That's not what concerns her right now; what concerns her is Sweet Pea, knocked literally silly. "Sweet Pea-chan!" She looks up, and fixes a glance on the Star Lion, one more fit for friends in a tiff than archnemeses: one that says, 'you just messed up, and you know you're going to take the punishment now, right?'

"Begin operation," Soldier Angel says, and the Star Lion knows what's coming next. She sweeps her arms across her chest in a cross shape, forming glittering white grenade belts, which she clutches in either hand as she leaps into the air. She sweeps her hands across each belt in turn, arming them all in quick succession, and hurls both belts down at the Star Lion's feet. As they fall through the air, she points down, and golden suppressive fire emerges from seemingly nowhere in the sky. She withdraws her hand and clutches her fingers as two man-portable recoilless rifles flutter into existence, one for each hand, from which she begins to fire a repeated flurry of anti-tank rounds.

The resulting cluster of explosives is visible by magical girls across the city.

"SHOKKU ANDO OOOOAAAAAA!!"

''COMBAT: FINISHER! Tokiko Amagawa has used Shock and Awe on Yoshirou Kurotsuki.''

''COMBAT: Tokiko Amagawa has finished attacking.''

''COMBAT: Yoshirou Kurotsuki fails to dodge Tokiko Amagawa's Finisher, Shock and Awe, taking 84 Fatigue damage!''

As the darkness fades, the Star Lion is visibly panting, the armor moving in and out. Part of that is for show...and part of it is sudden fear. Yoshirou hadn't /meant/ to channel that much power. The magic shouldn't leave lasting injury, at least. Probably. But he's messed up. His helmet turns to face the Soldier Angel. Yeah. Yeah, he fucked up there. "What - no!"

The shells explode around him, and the Star Lion tries to get away...but he's far too slow. The light of the explosions grows around him, enough to obscure the darkness of even his armor and sword. When it fades, he is on one knee, head bowed against the sword. "Ugh..."

He tries to salvage what he's done. He /has/ to, now, he owes it. "You...without her help...without her help, you would never have won. But I am...I am a man of honor." The black star overhead fades, as the Star Lion releases his grip on the falling star. The darkness flows out of it, and the star becomes brilliant white once more.

He struggles to stand, and then collapses back to one knee. The pain is coming through the armor, even. "Next time...next time it will go differently, Soldier Angel. Next time, you won't have the help of the Sweet Pea!" Hopefully she's coherent enough to notice.

The darkness flows around the armor, as Yoshirou uses the dregs of his power to vanish, reappearing on the street below, near Fate. He reaches out to take her by the shoulder. "Child. Come - we are done here." He's going to have to apologize to /her/, too. When he'd asked for her help, he hadn't realized she was just a little kid. Oops.

Cherry Blossom wasn't trying to just hurt Fate's feelings. Though she sees she did.... which makes her pause. Just for a moment. But not very long, since then she's rushing to find Sweet Pea. She runs to her friend and skids down to kneel next to her. She touches her face.... "You'll be okay."

Though not startled, it's pretty obvious Fate did NOT expect the massive armored tower of a man to just sort of APPEAR next to her. Mostly from how fast she turns her head. Fortunately she doesn't attack so much as suddenly look twice as out of place as before. It's probably the whole hand on her shoulder thing.

"Y-Yes. Alright."

The blonde does glance towards Cherry Blossom. Very briefly, to avoid eye contact. Oh how she dreads that. "Sorry..."

Soldier Angel lands neatly, abruptly unarmed in the wake of the great firestorm. She watches Star Lion escape with a mix of practiced contempt and genuine irritation, and then hurries to Sweet Pea's side with Cherry Blossom. "Is she hurt?" she says, leaning over the kneeling Cherry Blossom. "Any signs of a concussion?" She glances in Fate's direction, but not long enough to really absorb anything, before she turns to the sky. "Well. Let's fix things here..."

She spreads her arms wide, and the star in the sky twinkles and gently drifts down into her hands, which she clasps around it. "You've had a hard day," she says to the star. "It's over now. Go on your way!" She throws her hands open forth like releasing a bird, and the star streaks across the sky, resuming its falling path.

Across Shibuya, people find themselves waking up, uncognizant of the sudden sleeping spell. All except one: Juichi Iijima's wife, who rests on a bench with him, her head resting on her shoulder. He looks confused for a moment, but when he notices her lying next to him, he smiles, clasps a hand over hers, and enjoys a quiet respite with the woman who, despite her occasional faults, he loves.

MEANWHILE, IN THE BACK ROOM OF THE LOCAL DARK BURGER

Yoshirou groans as he finishes the spell to teleport himself and Fate away. That's always tiring, and on top of the beating he just took...he takes off his helmet, which means his voice reverts from 'sounds like Darth Vader' to 'normal fourteen-year-old'. "That...was not as planned." He looks down at Fate, ruffling her hair with one claw-like gauntlet. "Sorry about that, kid. I, uh, I didn't mean to make you have to fight like that, I thought you'd be a little older."

Pause.

"So, you didn't get too hurt, right? I mean, you did a good job, I definitely couldn't handle three of 'em at once. But you're okay, right?"

"Aheheh..." Sweet Pea stares at the stars. "I wish... that these guys were less scary...Would you wishing stars grant this unworthy one's wish?" She is starting to, shall we say, see the issues of using Sweet Pea as an avenue for getting confidence. Namely, in order to get confident she has to fight people a lot scarier than she is, who are like great necromancers and the like. At least this guy didn't make her want to curl up and die. She...she will call that a victory.

She turns her head to Cherry Blossom. Oh her best friend and past life sister..."Hi, Blossom-Chan... eheheh...that guy was scary...eheh..."

Knocked silly seems to be the most accurate descriptor. Maybe that star flying off is her wish, her wish for a confident and unbruised future.

"Hi Soldier-Chan. I'm ok. Is snack night coming soon?"

Yes! Snack night! Sweet Pea shakes herself out of it. That is what all these sacrifices are for. If she continues to fight, Tokiko will share snacks with her and Cherry Blossom!

"I'm okay. Sorry. Eheh.." She offers them a smile.

"I'm okay," Fate manages somewhat uncomfortably, plunging a hand in her pockets to retrieve the earrings she found. She takes a moment to examine them; they're a bit old, but kind of pretty. Gold and silver with little diamonds. More importantly they feel magical, but go figure what they do. It's probably some really minor enchantment. Or curse. Hard to tell. Well, a prize is a prize.

"And it's alright. I want... I want Mother to be happy. And she said, it would make her very happy if I helped all of you. I didn't find a Jewel Seed, but maybe these are good enough...?"

She breaks eye contact with the jewelry to look at Yoshirou, who is now far less intimidating and easier to talk to, considering. "Did you find what you were looking for too?"

"Good. I, uh...well, I got what I needed, yeah." The original plan was just to put on a good show and make more of a reputation, along with satisfying his mentor. That...probably succeeded. It just didn't succeed the way it was entirely /meant/ to. "I'll be sure to tell your mom you did really well, okay?" He grins weakly, then mutters the spell to banish the armor. Outside it, he's really much less intimidating, not least for not being immense and dressed like a horrible dark lord.

"So, you want some ice cream? I think I owe you ice cream."

Japanese Cherry Blossom helps Sweet Pea to her feet. "You did great, okay?"

"You know what?" Soldier Angel says, with a smile. "Snack night is tonight. If it wasn't before, it is now. Let's go hit the conbini and pick out what we want, okay?" She helps Sweet Pea up to her feet as well, and puts a hand on her shoulder. "She's right. Madobe-chan did amazing."

Japanese Cherry Blossom gives Soldier Angel a Look when she says that.

She looks over at Madobe to confirm if she heard that too. And if she was okay with it.

She wants to say yes so much.
But... Arf is probably worried sick about her right now. Familiars always know when their master's using mana. Not to mention Precia'll get mad if she wastes time doing trivial things like "enjoying food". No, that's just terrible. Like sleeping more than five hours. That's just unforgiveable. Such a waste of time. Well, if it's just a couple of minutes, though...

"I could... yeah. I'd like that. I just... I need to go tell someone I'm okay first. It won't take long!"

"All right. Whatever you want, okay? My treat." Yoshirou grins. "You've earned it! Actually, I should check something..."

He pulls out his cell phone, sending off a quick message.

!! Her wish came true! Snack Night! Yes! Of course, Tokiko seems to know who she is now, but Madobe had already tried to tell her once so it's okay. She still turns bright red from embarrassment.

"e..eh...you knew?" She smiles brightly. In the right circumstances, Madobe can get good smiles off. This is one of those! Clearly the perfume is making her a better smile.

She is helped up. "I'd, um, like that." She is definitely not too cool for snack night. "Can..uh...Blossom-Chan come too?" She won't spill Blossom's secret ID if she doesn't want to.

"Sorry!" Soldier Angel says, bowing her head apologetically. "I didn't mean anything by it. Sweet Pea-chan is strong, no matter what she's like." She nods to Sweet Pea. "Of course she can, if she wants! And I have a friend who's a magician studying at the Infinity Institute. Do you mind if I invite him? You can trust him, you don't have to tell him who you are but he's the best guy I know."

Yoshirou looks up from his phone. "Okay. We can go get ice cream, or you can come with me while I grab some snacks and then meet up with some...friends. But if you come with me, you have to promise you'll never, ever talk about it with anyone else, okay? I'd get in big trouble if it got out."

"Ah, um... n-no, it's okay. We can get ice cream when you're not busy! I guess... I should get these to Mother, or at least put them somewhere safe while waiting to. I promise I won't say anything to anyone though." Normal teenager or not, Yoshirou's Star Lion form kind of... well, intimidates her. She absolutely wouldn't want to anger him. But then, she doesn't really want to anger -anyone- ever. Sometimes she's just forced to, but it's all for a good cause!

"Well, okay! See you around, kid, just ask me whenever you want that ice cream!" Yoshirou waves. Nice kid, that Fate. He wonders what she's doing with all the horrible monsters. (And him. But he often wonders what /he's/ doing with all the horrible monsters.)

Madobe is starting to feel pitied, but she'll take it. Actually hurting the greatest necromancer in the world is worthy of some good feelings even if she ran into a wall. The best guy Tokiko knows...Madobe thinks. Is this...a /boyfriend/?? OF COURSE IT IS, Soldier Angel can even beat up big monsters and crap, of course she's got a guy.

""eheh...okay.... It'll be fine..." She kind of wants to get out of her perfumed state.

----

The Kurotsuki household is shockingly empty, for being so big. It's a large, Western-style mansion, with three floors, plus whatever's underneath it. Despite this, there is a grand total of one servant (a little, silent old man who seems to appear out of nowhere when needed and then to vanish just as quickly) and a black cat which always seems to be in the last convenient place. The house itself is a bit spooky - everything in it seems to be antique, and most of the rooms take a bit for the lights to come on.

Snack night is in the games room, which is a large room with all kinds of old Victorian-era books lining the shelves around the walls, a pool table, a very out-of-place big-screen TV with various consoles attached to it and several large, plush chairs. There is also a piano tucked into a corner. The snacks have been placed on the pool table.

Tokiko has insisted on carrying the snacks; her hands are full to the brim with bags, boxes and bottles on the way in. Cheese snacks, potato chips, fresh nikuman, even a sheet of fried squid, and of course the requisite soda and tea. "Yokkun's grandfather isn't here, is he?" she asks, looking around with a bit of suspicion. From her tone of voice, she doesn't care for the old man for some reason. "Brr... it's always cold in here."

Sakura has decided she can probably trust Soldier Angel.

But she's a little nervous when she sees the size of the house they're going to. She must be... from one of the wealthy schools, not public school like her and Madobe. She's lacking the confidence from her henshin perfume and feels a bit nervous when she walks up to the door to knock.

This seems to be the place, though.

Madobe has TRANSFORMED back to being Madobe. Even if she knew about the stranger danger elsewhere, she is way too beat up and tired to care. In Li we trust.

Madobe doesn't blame Tokiko from not wanting her boyfriend's grandfather around. It would be super awkward, wouldn't it? You wouldn't even be able to kiss. Madobe's mind has been thinking up scenarios between Tokiko and Yoshirou who, for a while, looks like a handsome man with no face, dating sim style, a bit plain. She seems to trust Soldier Angel.

In fact, she seems very happy--if not especially talkative. Maybe that's all she needs in life, a decent amount of companionship with people who at least kind of sort of like her. She is pretty sure Tokiko actually likes her and isn't just pitying her and, of course, Sakura is practically family.

She sees the house and is now imagining Yoshirou as Tamaki from Ouran High.

"Wow..." She murmurs before clasping her hands over her mouth.

"He's...resting right now. I don't think he'll be up for a long while." Yoshirou shrugs. He's not entirely sure why the old man needs so much rest, but there it is. The silent old man opens the door when it is knocked on. He bows, and gestures inside, towards the game room. Once the girls seem to know which way it is, he vanishes while no one is looking. Not even the floor creaks as he moves, even though it's pretty creaky in spots.

"Hi! I'm Yoshirou Kurotsuki. Come on in! You're all Tocchan's friends, right?" He isn't Tamaki. For one, his hair is black. For another, he has mastered the concept of 'casualwear', and is wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

Sakura does not know who this boy is. But she gives him a greeting bow. "Y - yes. I'm Sakura. Pleased to meet you."

"Yokkun is a magician, but what he really loves is acting," Tokiko explains as she lays the snacks out on the pool table. "He, um, he lives with his grandfather here." That's as close as she gets to the subject of Yoshirou's parents, and she looks appropriately somber about it. "Please don't be intimidated, Yokkun is really easy to get along with! Yokkun, this is Madobe-chan, and this is..." Actually, she didn't catch Sakura's name, but luckily, Sakura provides it herself.

Madobe thinks Yoshirou looks a little generic. Maybe he is the sort of person who is super rich but likes to pretend he is just like the common people. Though...the house is kind of spooky, with all the creaking...and emptiness....

She wonders if the old man was a butler or something. Butlers are pretty good at vanishing when nobody is looking. She has met Satan recently, but ghosts are too scary to consider.

T...tocchan, she thinks. They really are <funimation edit> really good chums </funimation edit> with each other.

"Y...yes...." Madobe says, bowing deeply. "I'm Madobe. Pleased to meet you."

Did she just copy Sakura?

"Oh...um...can he do, uh, tricks?" Somehow telling her not to be intimidated doesn't make her not intimidated.

Sakura walks all the way inside, but she's looking around a lot at this place. After a moment she realizes she's staring, and...politely, puts her eyes forward.

"It's not anything that big, but...yeah, I can do a little magic. It's pretty great." Yoshirou grins, then begins to chant under his breath. A purple circle appears on the floor around his feet, and then one of the bags of chips opens and pours itself. He shakes himself a little as it happens. "See? Kinda tiring, though. I, uh...the place can be a little overwhelming, I guess, but make yourselves at home! So, what school do you guys go to?"

Tokiko sets the snacks around neatly, and ducks into another room, coming back with a set of plastic cups. "What do you like to drink?" she asks the perfume girls. "Tea, Fanta, Coke? Milk tea?" She giggles at the suggestion that Yoshirou is more of a stage magician, and pours herself a cup of milk tea, picking up a meat dumpling to nibble at. "Thank you for your help today, by the way! What was with, um, that blonde girl who was with the Star Lion?" she asks Sakura. "I think I missed her."

Madobe goes quiet for a few moments. "Uh..." More silence.

She applauds politely. "Wow! That was a really impressive trick! I didn't even see the strings! Eheheheh..." In the animation, she sweatdrops. And it only gets worse when Tokiko basically gives out their SECRET IDENTITIES. Well, whatever, it doesn't really matter--does it, Madobe? Right. right. It seems apparent this guy knows Tokoki's. He must be with the Tuners too.

What should she pick? She wants a coke or maybe a fanta, but ... but will Tokiko consider her childish if she picks up a coke? SHE MIGHT. So she says, "Ah--I'll...have a milk tea too."

Whew. Good thing Tokiko poured for herself first

"Um...Juuban." She tells Yoshirou. "Are you Infinity too..?"

Sakura looks really astonished at the magic. She knows about magic, but... her studies are not so formal. Not yet anyway.

"Ah... Milk Tea, would be nice, thank you." She bows again, and sits down in a delicate way. She really is just going to ask for what everyone else is having.

"She was robbing the jewelry store. I tried to stop her, but, it wasn't worth risking either of our lives."

"Yeah, Infinity. It's the only place I know about that has classes on magic." Yoshirou nods. "I'll take some milk tea, too, Tocchan." Sure, he paid for it himself, but if Tokiko wants to pour, that's fine by him. "I can't believe you guys go out and fight like that...it's always amazing to me. I'd be terrified to go out there and just fight stuff without any protection." Which...is technically true.

"Milk tea all around!" Tokiko says, pouring out cups for everyone and handing them out. She notices Madobe's alarm, and bows apologetically again. "Oh, I'm sorry! I'm sorry. You can trust Yokkun. He's a good guy, and he knows how to keep a secret. You promise not to tell anybody, right, Yokkun?" There's no edge to her voice, she knows she can trust him for it.

"Robbing the jewelry store, a girl her age? That doesn't sound right..." She frowns, trying to mull it over for a moment. "Anyway, the magic is really impressive at first, but then you realize that opening a bag of chips exhausts him for like half an hour and it's not as big a deal. It's easier just to use your hands!"

"Infinity has classes on magic?" Madobe asks. She's pretty stunned. The way these people just treating it so matter-of-factly. Maybe it's not actually as big of a secret as she thought? It's certainly something of a secret, there isn't--like--magic TV or anything, though there probably should be.

She laughs a bit at Tokiko's comment. "Y--yeah... I guess so. But it's still pretty cool."

She'll take some hchips totally unabashedly and put them into her mouth. Eating means she doesn't have to talk as much and as such is generally something she does a fair bit of at snack nights.

Still, she's talking a lot more with Sakura, Tokiko and friends a lot more than most peeps. Any peeps, really.

"How um...how long have you known each other?" There, she thinks, that's a question people ask a lot at these things, right? Right.

She laughs a bit at Yoshirou's comment regarding being terrified. She isn't going to admit that she almost broke down crying earlier today, no sir.

Classes on magic? Wow, that's interesting. Sakura kind of wishes she had that at her school. But she only learned just this year that magic is even real.

She quietly sips tea, since that question was the same as hers.

"Well, it's...technically not something we're supposed to talk about with normal people." Yoshirou shrugs, grinning. "But you guys aren't normal people, you're superheroes! So, you know, that's okay." He looks over at Tokiko for a moment. "Oh, yeah, I promise. Won't tell anyone, not even Grandpa." He means it, too. This isn't the first secret he's had to keep from his grandfather.

"Oh, we've known each other forever. Since we were both little kids."

Tokiko nods enthusiastically. "I live just down the street," she says, pointing out a window and down the block a little. "And no," she says with a smile, "I don't live in a big fancy manor. That's just Yokkun. He was pretty lonely back when we were just little," she muses, finger on her chin. "But that was then, and Yokkun's got lots of friends now!"

"What about you?" Tokiko asks, leaning in a little. "How did Madobe-chan and Sakura-chan meet?"

"Ah, in school," Sakura says. She laughs very softly. "I guess we were always the ones sitting alone at lunch, so we sat alone together."

Madobe looks down awkwardly as Sakura just comes out and mentions that. Though to come out in support of her friend she does say, "Ah...but you've made a lot of friends actually, like Aimi-Chan." Normally she'd be suspicious that a guy like Yokkun would be lonely, but this house...it FEELS lonely, even in the floorboards. She accepts this at face value.

Yokkun was lonely too, huh...

"..W..well we could...um..."

She trails off.

'Yokkun' blushes a bit around the ears, coughing. "Uh...yeah." He seems to be embarrassed about the whole 'lonely' thing. "People were scared of the house. ...people still /are/ scared of the house sometimes." He glances over at the TV. "So, uh...you guys like video games? I have a bunch of them. Tocchan's really good at the shooters."

"I like video games, a bit." Madobe admits, glancing away because she's underselling here.

"Wow, really?" Tokiko asks. "I wouldn't have figured!" She's being completely unironic; Sakura has a good head on her shoulders and doesn't seem like the unpopular type, and Madobe... well, it would be really rude to exclude Madobe from that! "Most of the shooters Yokkun has are very unrealistic," she says, holding her head high and adjusting her glasses, and in so doing, entering lecture mode. "They have you carry all kinds of guns like you have some kind of magic backpack that doesn't weigh anything, squad tactics are undervalued, and when you play online everybody wants to be snipers. But I like a few of them, when I have time to play them."

Video games with guns aren't really Sakura's favorite but she's too polite to mention this. She nods when Tokiko says a few things about guns. That must be why she's the soldier angel. "Are those the American-style gun games?"

"Everybody rags on American games but I just can't get into most Japanese games," Tokiko says. "I like Dance Dance Revolution, and some arcade games, but the fantasy adventures and the colorful stuff aren't for me. But everybody has their own tastes, and that's okay! I just wish more of them came out on console. A lot of them are on computer, and I'm not great with computers."

"I like the fantasy adventures." Yoshirou shrugs. "What I like most are the party games, though. They're nice and easy and I don't have to figure out weird strategies. Fighting games are pretty neat, too. I don't have a lot of time to play, though. Clubs and stuff, plus Shakespeare in the Park. I've been trying to get that off the ground for months."

"Is it, uhhh, Eks Box?" Sakura asks Tokiko. She certainly doesn't have one of those. "If... it was a party game, all four could play," she says. Plus then it wouldn't be very difficult she thinks.

"Sure, I'll play a party game," Tokiko says with a smile. "The important thing is having fun with friends, right? What do you have around here, Yokkun? Do you have enough controllers?"

It's hard to believe that Tokiko is really Soldier Angel, except maybe when she's talking about artillery and guns and survival and stuff, but when she wears those glasses it's like she's a totally different person. If tokiko hadn't just flat out said it she would have never guessed!

Hmm...maybe if she puts glasses on Sweet Pea, nobody will realize she's Madobe? She likes the flamethrower using guys in games like these, anyway. Even if flamethrowers are not a very efficient weapon in reality.

She wiggles her feet up and down a bit. She naturally plays a lot of japanese games. She has a lot of time in her life for gaming. Less now, though, by a matter of course. She's actually been considering going to school more than a couple days out of the week.

"There's party games... a lot of them, actually..." She murmurs. "I have a couple."

She got 'em before middle school thinking a lot of people would want to play games with her :-(.

"I think we have four wii remotes around here somewhere. I've got Wii Party and...one of the Mario Party games, I have no idea which one." Yoshirou starts digging through the area behind the TV. "One...two...three..." He gets up and starts checking the shelves. "Ah! Here we go, the cat stole it. Four."

''[OOC] Tokiko Amagawa says, "I'm not sure how to keep Mario Party poses interesting for very long, so do we fade out around here with a fun night of Mario Party and snacks, or does somebody have something else to throw into the pot?"''

''[OOC] Sakura Akagi says, "I admit I am good with that!"''

''[OOC] Madobe Kuroi says, "sounds good to me!"''''

[[Category:Logs]]

Star ☆ Crossed

2013-10-01T03:42:03Z

Purophet: Entering the situation zone, Star ☆ Crossed cast page reporting!

== Theme music ==
'''Season 1:''' [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0f3Fg5V_m0 Porno Graffitti - Saboten] 
''I used to invite you to the movies just to see your face. Back in those days, I enjoyed myself. Why had I forgotten about those times? I usually hated getting too intimate with someone.'' 
''I touch the cactus gently with my finger. A soft thorn pierces it, but I don't notice. The subtle signs you gave me... now, it hurts.'' 
''Where are you in all this rain? I found my feelings. I'm sure we can make it through this. Look, soft beams of light have started to shine. Let's make a little flower bloom.''

== Long ago... ==
In the fall of the Silver Millennium existed a man with a wish to surpass the world. His name has been lost to generations, but this legendary magician was the first to discover the secret power of the falling star: that those who made a wish upon a shooting star would see their wishes fulfilled. He, too, had a wish: to pluck the very stars from the sky and steal their power. Doing so, he became known as the Star Lion, and his armies drowned the Earth in darkness. Even in those early days, though, light shone. A young woman wished in those ages for the power to stop the Star Lion's conquest, and the people called her their Soldier Angel, who fought back the Star Lion's forces and confronted him in his fortress. Her power was not enough to destroy the Star Lion and release his ill-gotten power, so she made a great sacrifice. The power of an entire meteor storm was harnessed, and the Star Lion was banished from this Earth, his power imprisoned within a ring of black pearl.

This is the legend of the Soldier Angel, though few remember it.

== Our days ==
Across the arc of history, the blood of the Star Lion has appeared in ancient Babylon, in Gaul, in Siberia, giving rise to the myth of a secret tyrant in black armor with the power to steal the stars from the sky. The Soldier Angel, too, has appeared across history to stop their dynasty of evil, young men and women who devoted their hearts to arresting his conquest and restoring hope to the land. Today is no different.

Except, by a strange twist of fate, today's Soldier Angel and this generation's Star Lion are best friends from long before either ever took up their mantle. Tokiko Amagawa, the Soldier Angel, and Yoshirou Kurotsuki, the Star Lion, are so inseparable that their school mistakes them for lovers on a regular basis. Yoshirou is of no mind to harrass or harm people, and so they secretly coordinate his attacks, seeking to minimize the harm done in the process.

But Gorou Kurotsuki, the dead spectre of the previous Star Lion, watches over his grandson, and exerts his influence. How long will this situation last?

== The theme ==
Friendships strained at cross purposes. The difficulties that get in the way of friendship and, yes, love, and the lengths we will go to overcome them.

== Starring ==
[[Tokiko Amagawa]] 
[[Yoshirou Kurotsuki]]

[[Category:Cast Pages]]