Episode 2: Michiru goes to the inhuman side? Another threat?

[Anastasia]

Place holder.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

---Arc 2 go!---
> Monday morning. The chaos of the weekend and it's bizarre night has left Michiru to ponder. As she walks the halls to her classroom she is alone - oh sure, she gets a few of the normal looks and even bows, but really, it's not like she has anyone to walk to with class..
* Michiru looks around. "Good morning, Minmei-san", a bow, "Good to see you, Shibuya-chan", a nod, "Thank you for your concern, sister Maaya", a smile. The sleepless night should be well-disguised for the morning, at the very least. Walking towards the room, Michiru usually understood that loneliness walked hand-to-hand with her, but, that sole morning, this fact of life felt urgently bothersome...
> Indeed it does. Everyone seems more into their gossip than usual. With good reason - they're discussing the news. Michiru remembers seeing something about a 'mysterious explosion at the Crown Arcade' in the papers over the weekend and on TV. Further, almost all the girls are clustered together at one desk, talking up a storm.
* Michiru chalks up the memories of the outside world a bit further, and nods away while heading for her desk. Whatever happened at the Crown Arcade was, for better or worse, its own universe - apart from Michiru's hazy inner life. I'm certain someone will bring it up - then, she would have no words to spare about the incident, only with a sense of absence left. She could've been there, in the eye of the storm, and she wouldn't know.
> So the talking goes. It excludes Michiru by her own choice, and soon class starts.  The day passes by without any particular incident, a surpreme unsurprise. But come last period, a note finds it's way to Michiru's desk, an uncommon occurance.
* Michiru blinks. A note? Michiru looks around cautiously, opening the paper piece delicately to avoid sounds. Not getting caught was of utmost importance, and she already had to deal with a detention last week.
> "Michiru: Um...this is Chitose from the other side of the room. Um, would you like to go out with me and a friend for snacks after school?" Chitose is a quiet girl who sits on the other side of the room - brown pigtails with bright blue beads and a normal, indistinc tfigure. Nice girl but not a looker.
* Michiru nods with a bit of dismay and mistrust. Chitose... huh. Michiru was never invited for such trivialities even within her club circles, much less via notes. So, to pick up a piece of paper and write a polite declining note. She just wasn't in the mood to even share formalities. Apologies, Chitose.
> If Michiru cares to look, she'll see Chitose lightly sigh and hang her head as she reads the note back. She looks hurt,b ut doesn't press it, instead sinking her head down into her arms.
* Michiru frowns in dismay. She never quite understood why people cared so deeply about hanging together. Social interactions went down pat to her interests and objective needs. However, spiritually, company always seemed to drag her down, unless that someone could keep up with her own symbols. Neither here nor there, Chitose had no fault... but no reason to be, either.
* Michiru just dismisses any possible thought, regardless. Math lessons were the priority, and she was nearly done anyhow.
> So class ends. It's over for another day, freedom gained. No clubs today, so it's a free shot for Michiru to head whereever she wishes.
* Michiru considers her options. She... hm, she could head to the book club for a bit of peace time. "Mrs. Dalloway" wouldn't read itself magically, and she could use the mental exercise, not only to sharpen her mind, but to ease over Chitose. (Why did it bother her, anyway? She refused... like she had done to everybody else in her life. Chitose wasn't alone, and being around Michiru was far from a privilege, anyways...)
> The bookstore - a place of quiet and peace. A good book can be gotten, coffee and a good seat easy to find. Lots to do, lots of quiet little recesses. Plenty of paces for solitude, be them private, semi private or public. OOC - Go ahead and set yourself up.
* Michiru looks around, comfortable as if she could drown in that place and move forward, breathing. The coffee fumes, the company of Virginia Woolf, a place fairly far from excessive sunlight - that was all Michiru could ask for, maybe besides music. Regardless, she was home, impossibly within her own and possibly even fully aware of happiness. Taking a sip of coffee, she opened the book and went ahead. It was a productive afternoon already.
> A dim corner - it's nice, giving you a view of the bookstore while being alone. The coffee is excellent, the prose passably entertaining. So time passes, and passes. Michiru isn't sure when it ends or what causes her to look up. Perhaps it's merely another thing outside of her, but a man - a tall man. He looms, over six feet high. He wears a simple white suit like a mourner, walking about the store. His hair is perfectly black, too muc
> His hair is perfectly black, too much so. Like inky black if it was spun into hair and given form. His eyes are hidden by sunglasses, his pace slow. A pallor has fallen over the bookstore - ambient noise drops, a feeling of quiet despair. His hidden gaze sweeps about, head turning this way and that. The people who look at him recoil, some clutching at their chest or shivering, the color draining away from their faces.
* Michiru feels vaguely ill. Her sight recedes a little, and the once cozy environment now heeded a warning - leave. And fast. But then, what about the other people? Michiru forcefully sighed - nothing else could be done. Slinking through the aisles quietly, she tried to advance without a noise...
> As Michiru rises up, his gaze sweeps to her. Her bones turn to mushlike jelly, her body quivering as he begins to approach. Rapidly, disturbingly rapidly. At a clip that would get disbelief, but his speed is excellent, as if there is no chance to escape. Your heart quails, is path inexorable! OOC - Michiru, which stat is higher for you, mind or soul?
<Michiru> OOC - Mind.
> OOC - Okay, mind check +3. G'luck!
<Michiru> roll 2d6
[19:00] * Hatbot --> "Michiru rolls 2d6 and gets 8." [2d6=5, 3]
> Michiru feels her feet slow! Exploding in her breast is the darkest despair, a black abyss opened in her heart. The world turns grayer, hopelessness coming to live within her soul. There cannot be anything - he is there. An overwhelming sense of this, inexorable as he approaches. Utter heartrending sadness.
> The bookstore around you beginst o matter less and less. It is moot - only he is there. Bookshelves and te others will offer no succor, there is only him. Each step brings him closer, the hole in your spirit screaming out for him.
* Michiru slowly wanes off. The darkness fever approaching her nerves, the thoughts in her mind started bleaking. The vague senselessness in the world turned suddenly into horror, and all that was left? The nihillistic call of the reaper. Nothing but a promise of emptiness awaited, she knew. And the chilling fever drew her nearer. Yes... give up. Just... give up, Michiru...
> Under this Michiru stops - cannot resist. He is there all too fast. The scent of cold winds tickles her nose as he reaches his hand up, cupping her cheek. "Why are you here," he murmurs, "This is not your world, inhuman." Were it not for his sunglasses, his eyes would bore straight into Michiru's!  "Why do you clothe yourself in the guise of a human being?"
* Michiru is almost devoid of energies by this point. But... Michiru... not... human? Had she the time for ironies, she'd dismiss the theory as too convenient for her oddities. But no. That sounded serious. Cruelly sincere. And she had no way to disprove it, either - what else would explain last night's happenings? A hallucination? Still. She just didn't know. And, in that position, she could either shiver like a puppy or look down in disbelief.
> roll 2d6
[19:15] * Hatbot --> "Kotono rolls 2d6 and gets 9." [2d6=5, 4]
> "...I see. You only stand out from these others a little. I feel your despair; do you know what you are? Do you understand?" Each word is in a syllabant whisper, as if uttered from the mouth of hopelessness as a personal missive to Michiru's heart. "So many of you in this world, un foreseen."
<Michiru> "I... don't know. I'm terribly sorry, I don't know..." The apologies were less to the foreboding, gelid stranger than to herself. Why, all of a sudden, would she know so little? THAT was the misguidance brought by ignorance, then? To think people say ignorance is bliss... pitiful. Pitiful, just like Michiru was. Hollow, dumb, pathetic. A mere shell of a woman, who didn't even know what the hell she was.
> "I am Despair, inhuman. I see the resonance within you. You do not know what you are? Then I will help you." He smiles - it does not warm your heart, quite, but it almost makes it feel fuller nonetheless. "Come." There is a moment of feeling, of being there and here, and then...(More)
> The sky - the perfect sky, blue tinted and with clouds just above you. High and higher above the highest skyscraper of Tokyo, standing there despite nothing but tens of thousands of feet to fall. Yet you do not fall, and instead Despair sits down. "Look down...what is your human name, then?" Strangely you feel a bit of the heart rending loss leave you - not all, but it's as if a grip was removed.
* Michiru gasps a bit, trying to breathe in both a symbolic and literal sense. At least now she felt slightly alive, blood rushing through the veins. Then, with the eyes closed, as if she tried to ignore the heights for a reason, she answered. "... my name is Michiru Kaioh. I have no other name."
> "You have the name the humans gave you. It matters nothing to who you are." Slowly taking off his sunglasses, face looking down so as to still be hidden, "Sit next to me. I will save you from the flickering moment of human existance."
* Michiru nodded. The proposal was so very tempting... and yes, she knew he chose the right words, somehow. Human life... a flickering moment. The promise of abandoning the shell of mankind and living a truth - as sad as that truth could be - Michiru could ask for nothing less. For what she sought may not have been darkness, but to get there, she would have to walk through the shadows, become the shadows. Thus, she obeyed. Silently, willingly.
> Once you sit, he looks at you. His eyes are black empty pools, devoid of all. The void of cessation can be seen inside, neverending. "My gift to you. You deserve to live with us as a being, not as a mere passing image in the dream of the universe." His hand rises up, touching Michiru's forehead with the tips of his finger! Memories of the night past come screaming back - of the water, as his other hand comes out, extending your palm. "
> "It's power is your own...call it to you. Let me see your inhumanity."
* Michiru breathes deeply, drowning in tension. The fear, the insecurity. But she had gone way too far to just hop back and say "I don't want to play any more, mommy!", like a kid. She made a choice - and, as a river takes its course, she would have to flow alongside the stream until its end. Thus, she knew she was doing what she had to - not the right thing. But what she had to do. She extended her own palm. The sign of acceptance. "Yes."
> OOC - Soul check, -2 due to being under the influence of a powerful being drawing you out.
<Michiru> roll 2d6
* Hatbot --> "Michiru rolls 2d6 and gets 6." [2d6=2, 4]
> In Michiru's hand a ball of perfect water forms! She can see tiny droplets come from the air to make it, then form a stagnant, unmoving ball of aqua. She feels it and understand it, as if a part of her has been illumiated. (Michiru has gained EC, level 2: Water, witha  leaning to stagnant forms. This ignores the normal civilian form rules for EC for now.) (More)
> "Water. You command the still, stagnant depths with in yourself and within the world," Despair croons gently, lowering his hand to stroke Michiru's cheek. "It is your fate and your bliss."
* Michiru smiles bitterly, comprehensive and sad. "Indeed. Sad state of affairs when all you have to offer is a circular motion of wordless thoughts. It has been a grey existence, so far." Michiru gazed at Despair's hollow eyes once more. "I guess I should expect nothing less than comprehension from your hollow eyes."
> "This is not your world. It is natural that you fall into my realm when you live here." Nwo he smiles - the despair leaves Michiru's heart, bolstered by a feeling of being more awake, more alive. "The time of the pities of human life is nearly over for you...mmm. Your true name is...let it be Stagnation, until you are ready to choose your own. I welcome you." He embraces Michiru, whispering. "It begins now...hm?" (More)
> Despair pulls back, as another man appear. His suit is black to Despair's white, his eyes normal but black pupil'ed as well. His white hair is close cut, half obscuring his face. "I see. Sir Despair, you found one," he asks respectfully. "Pleasing. All of these humans here are largely so worthless. A good place for the Lightbringer to be so hidden."
> "Pestilence, enough," Holding up a hand to still him, which does just that, "A lost inhuman that will be lost no more," he says gently, stroking Michiru's cheek absently. "What of the other inhumans?"
> A slight bow by him, a wicked smile, "Nothing. Inhuman or not, that girl witht he power of Purity and a girl with the power of Space? Amazing. The Sages said this world would be the world of humans, but yet...there they still are."
> "...and you already crave to meet them again. Typical." A very small smile at this, "Go on. If they will not be reasoned with then so be it. If there is any hope, bring them to us. No need to shed blood that matters unless needed."
> Pestilence bows again, smile growing. "Good. Then who is this?" Looking on at Michiru, his eyes haunt and yet do not stir anything at all inside. Instead they make her feel a passing fever heat, illumating her cheeks in a sour way.
> "Tell him what you are," Despair prods Michiru gently, letting his hand fall away from her cheek.
* Michiru lifts up, the serene expression in her face gazing through her eyes. "I am Stagnation, sir. It is an honor to meet you." Michiru bows gently to Pestilence, and respectfully looks up.
> "Good. I will meet you again," Another respectful nod to her and then he is gone, leaving you with Despair again.
> "Good. Now...for now...close your eyes." His fingertips go to Michiru's forehead am oment - it's odd, for half a second it feels warm and discordant, but it flows back away into that sense of serenity. "I will allow you to see the world how you are destined to."
* Michiru closes her eyes and sighs. Her destiny was no longer in her hands, if it ever was. Now, all that was left... relax. You will understand, Michiru.
> It is a slight jolt. Her eyes sting but briefly, then it is over. "Now...view me as I am." Despair murmurs, lifting his hand away.
* Michiru shakes her head, still a bit dizzied, and opens her eyes slowly. She couldn't know what to expect...
> At first she notices everything else. It's painted dimly gray over the colors - as if everything here has no life to it. Worthless, dull. Except for Despair. (More)
> Black, sleek. A being tall and black, skin like oil. Hungry mouths dot his stomach and elbows, sucking in the glorious food of hope and energy, turning it into the blackest lost. It's face is ridged and with four eyes, each perfect holes into nothing ness. "From the nothingness we come, Michiru. We will take you home in time," His form shimmers, back to the human form, brighta nd colorful. It radiates life, far above the dim pallor of
> dim pallor of the normal world. "Do you see," he asks, human hand again stroking Michiru's cheeks, "Humanity isnothing but a disguise for beings like ourselves when we must come to the world of mortals."
[* Michiru sighs, exhuding melancholic stillness. "I... understand. We are sad beings, aren't we, Despair? To live amongst the humans, we have to pretend we are not empty. Yet... humans are just like us. Without knowing. This is a gruelling state of affairs, one that could pain a god. That... well." Michiru snickers, bitterly amused. "That, if such a thing exists."
> "They do. That...is our reason. But for now, only go back. You will see the world of humans - live the parody of your life a little longer. Walk Tokyo as a being above it's very reason to exist, as one of the true rulers of existance. The time has come for us, Stagnation. But...one word of warning." (More)
> "There are other inhumans in Tokyo. They may be...misenglightened. They will stand out to you - be wary. Learn about them, but be careful. A human being is no threat to you, but an inhuman is. Do you understand?"
* Michiru nods. "Crystalline clear, Despair." With a sigh and a melancholic glare, she looks at Despair's eyes once again. "Then... I guess we shall return."
> Yet you find no Despair there, your heart free of what he inflicted. "Yes. I shall comet o you in this store in a week's time. For now, do as I say." Then you are smiply back where you were, the now gray world once againholding you.
> Despair is gone, leaving Michiru to herself again.
* Michiru looks around, blinking. The world... suddenly, Michiru felt distant, torn apart. Her nucleus had been forever changed, and even if Tokyo was shattered and new lands raised over it, never again she would return. Never, Michiru, you hear? And she'd have to live with her new self as a newborn. (Cont.)
<Michiru> Yet, there was a smidge of warmth in her heart, as if she discovered a sort of joy that could be achieved only through the laughter of blood, the steps of evil. And, as she left the bookstore, "Mrs. Dalloway" in hand, her strings pulled off a smile of malice and unmatchable glee.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

> ---Arc 2 go---
> So the rest of the day passes. The next day dawns early for Michiru - she awakens early, refreshed and ready. A whole new perspective to life as she rises up, the alarm clock noting it's 6:48 AM.
* Michiru processes her body in a steady awakening ritual. After noting the clock, she gets up, staring at the window. The sunshine feels vaguely artificial today, she thought not in words, but as a sudden feeling as if it was born within her overnight. On that colorless note, she went outside the room, heading for the bathroom for a shower.
> The house, the sunlight, everything is pale to her. It's luminence has been removed from Michiru's vision, or has the illusion that it has any shattered? But so Michiru goes to the shower - the fresh and flowing shower, the water moving fast and free.
* Michiru closes her eyes under the fast, consistent stream. She felt that it could stop at any moment, suddenly freezing her world forever. Michiru often felt an inevitable sense of staleness within her own life - the days following one-by-one linearly without epiphanies, as she walked through the streets and met eyes she would never remember again. But, since yesterday, it's as if things wouldn't even get to the first cycle - moving.
> As she is under the flowing water her forehead grows uncomfortable. AS if the movement of smooth, perfect water is offensive to her, a faint headache forming.
* Michiru rubs her forehead, heaving with unease. The pain was delicate, latent, obnoxious. Like a sleeping scar, it stirred into Michiru's body and nagged continuously. Under that note, Michiru cleaned up as fast as possible and closed the valve, proceeding to dry up and change. It seemed clear that the day would consist of growing pains by now.
> She feels better now that the moving flow of water is off her. She doesn't drip dry, she notes - intead, the water just falls away far quicker, towel getting her dry within a few minutes.
* Michiru watches the waterdrops crumbling down her body devoid of adherence. If not even the most basic laws of physics could apply to the world, what hope was there for everything else in the world? Michiru lowered her head. Such a short spasm of time, so many thoughts building into melancholy already. As she got dressed, Michiru's face slowly weathered into a blank, hopeless state. It felt like all the darkest thoughts possible were there.
> Indeed. Even the world is dull of colored, cloaked in gray as she sees things now. Save her body - it is colorful and bright, radiant. It stands out from the human world like a sore thumb, throbbing with each beat of her heart.
* Michiru looked at her hands with a hint of disgust. The brilliance was outright nauseating to her nature, painful to stare at. Uncomfortable with her own body, her very rythm disjointed from the soul, Michiru felt incomprehensibly violated, an open wound under the sun. Her thoughts were so jumbled that she couldn't even focus on what she was doing. Dressing, grabbing her things, breakfast - everything seemed to blur into a single moment.
> So she finds herself walking to school. A dazed time, so many pointless, lifeless gray blobs around her. Just people, beneath her, little fragments of the grand but utterly unimportant show the universe provides every day. As you walk down the sidewalk on the block to T*A, so many gray people around you, one strides towards you. (More)
> She glows alive, standing out from the humdrum. Her hair is like gold, a peekabo outfit warm. She walks slowly, getting attention but only passing faintsmiles to those she does. "Aaah..." she murmurs throatily, taking Michiru's hand as she walks by, leading her away. "Stagnation, is it?"
* Michiru looks up, stern and still a bit uncomfortable. "... there is no way to answer that question without making me look either foolish or gullible, is there?" Then, she tried to draw a smile to her face - which died halfway through. Even her strength to feign had been sapped that day. "... yes."
> "I am Temptation." Her voice is feathery soft, kind and thrilling. It's like everything good in the world, beckoning to her for now. Away the other gray blobs fade away, but who cares about them? "I heard. Welcome to us, and I hope you are entertaining. All these eras plead that our incoming breatherin are just that." She squeezes your hand, smiling. It makes her look heart rendingly appealing, like a cherry ready to be picked and taken.
* Michiru tries to smile again, at least to return the courtesy Temptation showered her in. And her face lights up, natural, crystal-clear - if a bit hermetic. For a second, Michiru's solemn shine returned to her heart, and she could breathe again. "I don't know about entertaining, but I hope to live up to all expectations possible. It's a pleasure to meet you."
> Where are you going? You fade into a gray streaked alley, privacy gotten. Or perhaps the non alive things merely do not matter? "It is." Your hand is let go, Temptation bowing lightly to you. "I only wished ot see you..." Her smile is rare, eyes sad. "It's been so long since I've met someone new. Even temptation only goes so far with the same people for eternity. Even these humans here...are something."
* Michiru nods. Somehow, it all made sense to her. Even from the get-go, she realized that the existence of those inhumans was a philosophical corridor of hell. Solitude, disillusion, truth. Being forced to live within those boundaries in a daily basis, knowing not the bliss of ignorance. It was... that was why she accepted so quickly. That was why she aceded. "I understand. Our life could certainly be called thankless..."
> "It will not be soon..." Temptation smiles even wider, "Soon we will have Lightbringer. Our time is at hand, Stagnation. On that day, at last we will be as truly will be. The endless gray...no more. Not in our home or in the bleeding, lifeless universe beyond it."
[00:09] * Michiru sighs, and breathes in. The uneasiness recedes a bit, her life proceeding a bit more calmly now. "I... want to know more. If there is a hope for us, I want to know. Temptation..." - then, she gazed at her clock. What? Class would start in a minute or two! She would be late! "I... I have to go. Class is almost starting, and..."
> "There is. We will have Lightbringer soon." Temptation promises, "Go, if Despair wishes ou to live in the human world yet, then go."
* Michiru nods, running. Even though she heads towards her human life, Michiru looks back on Temptation until she's out of sight - she couldn't let it go so fast... but she had to. The Lightbringer... the promise of a less bleak future. The hope. It suddenly felt vaguely oxymoronic - but it was, in fact, another philosophy connundrum, she felt. One that she would have to ponder later, as her legs fasted on towards class.
> OOC - Mind check.
[00:16] <Michiru> roll 2d6
* Hatbot --> "Michiru rolls 2d6 and gets 2." [2d6=1, 1]
> Her mind aches! Her head hurts - but yet, she moves faster! In spite of her nature she finds speed to come to her! She passes through the halls like a wraith, coming to her classroom with time to spare! Her head throbs in near agony, but she did what she wanted to alarmingly fast. She gets looks as she sits down, honest shock and amazement.
> OOC - Michiru has gained one level of agility.
> Her head just hurts - she feels shaken, disturbed, but yet so alive at the same time. Alive beyond anything she knew, a moment of LIFE that even the gray world cannot oppose.
* Michiru breathes heavily, her face now unnaturally rosy and bright. That might have been the first time she felt blood running through her veins the entire day. As she recovers her breath, she apologizes. "I'm terribly sorry for the ruckus, everyone... I guess I tried to run too hard." Yet, as she sits down, the same perversely satisfying glee from yesterday looms by, almost grabbing a snicker out of Michiru.
> There are whispers, of course. But who cares? Class begins no matter what, even if the headache lingers. Faint, faint, faint - the memory of that night comes. The water flowing to her - not stagnant, flowing, flowing like a river.
* Michiru looks up the blackboard, as the teacher begins the explanation. However, as she looks more intently, the strings of water break loose. The rivers, the neverending stream, the foreboding, wavy melody suddenly overwhelm her thoughts. The crystalline, almost blinding blue of the waters. The sudden feeling of asphyxia, it all comes back. And condenses itself in the form of a migraine. Michiru bites her lips, trying to concentrate.
> OOC - Mind check again.
<Michiru> roll 2d6
* Hatbot --> "Michiru rolls 2d6 and gets 8." [2d6=6, 2]
> The pain intensifies, but she stays up. Just...so much pain. Memories come fluttering in; a few moments of her mother and then father. Water. Flowing rivers and stagnant, algae filled lakes.  A Princess strolling the halls of T*A. A silly club with her. Memories - feeling. Despair. Justification for everything.
* Michiru nearly clutched her chest, as if the pain could drown and die with a simple, violent gesture. She could barely breathe. The princess, fading under the still lakes of old memories. The world she knew. Her wishes and hopes... all... void. The shivering, the cold. The world was so cold. She couldn't stand it. It wasn't a world where one could live without nausea. She could barely even see.
> To this Michiru should perhaps be unsurprised to see herself falling, falling. Fallen. (More)
> Mmmm. Her head still hurts as the gray haze of unawareness is interrupted by awakeness again. Something cool is on her forehead, soothing the pain. She's looking upward, at a plain gray tinted roof. Lying down? Bed?
* Michiru feels oddly tired, numb. She could barely move - more from her natural lethargy than from actual physical restraints. The sleepwalking atmosphere, the hazy circle of delirium creeping its head all around. Michiru tried to mumble something as a signal, but all that did was sound like a dying man's moan.
> Even as she does, the world comes into focus. A cot in a room with a few of them and whitewashed walls. The schoolclinic. There's a c ool, wet washcloth on her forehead, which feels nice.
* Michiru tries to look around. Heh. If she could see her own face at this point... Michiru felt pathetic. Indeed, that was not a world for the faint of heart. Some would just crumble and bleed. Just like she fell apart. As her eyes focused, Michiru started to breathe more calmly, resting her mind under the cool washcloth. "What happened... ?", she murmured finally.
> "Oh, you're finally up." The nurse's voice, out of your field of vision. "You've been out a couple of hours now. Fainted dead away; there's some crackers and juice. Don't overdue skipping breakfast inf you're in a diet now."
* Michiru tries to sit, keeping the cloth tight over her forehead. "I'm so sorry. It just happened so fast. I... I..." - she realized she couldn't say anything else. After muttering, she just sighed, aiming for the crackers.
> There's a few rice crackers here, as well as a can of apple juice. It's not much on taste, but it is food. "It' alright, dear. Just take your time."
* Michiru nibbles on the crackers slowly. As she finishes one, she opens the can of juice. The way Michiru handles the food is methodical, surgically precise. Even in a situation as pathetic as that, she behaved like a lady - as she should.
> Itdoes make her feel a little better. The headache lingers long and good, however.
* Michiru winces a little, as the crackers and juice subside in her stomach. She tries to rub the forehead a bit with the cloth, but the motion is merely academic. "Do you have any migraine medicine? My head still hurts..."
> "Yes, hold on." A short pause, two brown coated tablets brought over.
* Michiru gently gets a hold of the tablets, and drowns them in the last of apple juice left. With a sigh, she looks up and nods towards the nothingness. "Thank you."
> "You're welcome," she smiles back winsomely, an older lady whos eems to just enjoy company. So MIchiru is left to rest, to ponder...or to simply drift along still.
* Michiru feels the urge to ask a question to the old lady, but suddenly subsides. With a nod, she gets up and heads towards the door, her eyes fixated on her figure. "Once again, thank you for your help. Sorry for bothering you..." With that, Michiru opens the door and leaves.

[Halbarad]

[21:01] <@Anastasia> ---Arc 2 go!---
[21:04] <@Anastasia> Wednesday comes. A day of surpreme not noting, a day of utter abyssal boredom. School just sucks today; nothing at all happens of note. Only misfortune keeps Takeshi here longer than the others. Usagi's already off and gone, but he has to talk to the teacher a few minutes. Nothing major, just to discuss how he's adapting to the class. When this is done he goes back to his desk, a few boys near his chatting. "So you're going there again t
[21:05] <@Anastasia> "So you're going there again today," one asks, a bit on the hefty side but with quick, moving hands and fingers.
[21:06] * Takeshi raises an eyebrow, listening in on the conversation as he gathers his books.
[21:07] <@Anastasia> "Yeah!" A slimmer guy, glasses and with a nose that could serve as a lance, nods. " The girls are incredible there! That one with the dark hair - Hotaru? ...uh, I think her last name is Tomoe or Tsuki or something, but anyway! She's a knockout!"
[21:07] <@Anastasia> "I like the other one - the one with the huge tits!" The other guy gestures to his slight set of own oversized manboobs, licking his lips. "Those things are like a porn star's!"
[21:08] <Takeshi> "What exactly are you guys talking about?" Takeshi butts in, still with raised eyebrow. Hotaru's name is one he knows, but where could these guys be seeing her?
[21:09] <@Anastasia> "Oh...Eiryo, ain't it?" The slimmer one nods quickly, trying not to drool. "There's this shop - a candy and sweets shop, that has these amazing girls in maid uniforms! Great food and the girls...damn!"
[21:10] <Takeshi> "Oh really?" Takeshi chuckles. Well, Hotaru HAD mentioned that she worked in a cafe. "Where exactly is this place, anyway?"
[21:13] <@Anastasia> "It's right by..." Directions are given. Oh, that's right by Taka's dojo, too. You even remember passing it, but paying no mind at the time.
[21:15] <Takeshi> "Might have to check that out then, thanks for the tip." Might as well return the favor to Hotaru, since she saw him at HIS job...
[21:15] <@Anastasia> "Have fun," The bigger guy gives Takeshi a knowing smile, "Maybe you'll bag one of 'em!"
[21:17] * Takeshi snorts. "Yeah, right," he retorts, shaking his head. There are days when he gets a bit disgusted with the way his own gender can act at times... Shaking off the dark thoughts, he heads out of the school, deciding to take a trip past the cafe and say hello.
[21:19] <@Anastasia> It's annoyingly rainy today. Fall rains come in steady movements, getting the poor ex General damp by the time he reaches it! But oh, how have things changed here! The old bakery is metamorphed! While the glass cases exist, they are moved back several feet for more room. The floor is white tiles interlocked, polished to be smooth. The scent of mint and sugar laces the air, several tables set up! (More)
[21:32] <@Hotaru-chan> And the place is a bit crowded! Even if it looks like it was expanded at one point, the shop is bustling with people. Boys and girls, talking and chatting, laughter amidst eating and drinks. Students from a number of schools seem to come here, Juuban no doubt, a small smattering of T*A uniforms, and others. Amidst it though, standing out in her uniform, is Hotaru. And no one was kidding about the uniform.
[21:32] <@Hotaru-chan> Short skirt without being TOO short, white lace petticoats completeing that effect underneath, along with black stockings that lead under them. The sleeves are short, poofing at the shoulders and diving into a neckline that gives some cleavage, but hints more at the curves covered than outright displaying them. The of course necessary white apron is over the front of the skirt, and a frilled maid cap to finish it.
[21:34] * Takeshi doesn't bother to hide his smirk as he catches sight of the dark-haired girl, looking around for a free seat for the moment - not that it looks like those are easy to come by, here.
[21:36] <@Anastasia> There's a few - not too many, but a couple of tables he could go to. Most are in the middle, along the walkway Hotaru uses to take and bring things around.
[21:37] * Takeshi takes the nearest one he can find, waiting for Hotaru to make her way around to him - no sense in trying to flag her down to deal with him in particular, she looks busy enough as it is.
[21:40] <@Hotaru-chan> Busy Hotaru is, rushing this way and that, unloading food and drink, always a little wary seeming around her backside. Eventually she makes it over, stoppping without seemingly recognizing Takeshi. "And...do you know what you'd like?" she asks sweetly, a professional smile on her face right for the moment, not quite reaching Takeshi's face.
[21:41] <Takeshi> "I was actually hoping you could show me where to find the meat department," Takeshi says with a cheeky grin. "If you're not too busy, that is."
[21:43] <@Hotaru-chan> Hotaru's eyes snap up and awake, blinking once at Takeshi. "Oh, Takeshi..." she shakes her head, snorting. "Sorry, ignoring stares. Um...social call, or actually here to eat?" she asks, raising an eyebrow.
[21:44] <@Anastasia> Indeed, the largely male clientel is giving Hotaru stares, as well as the other waitresses. No surprise, all things considered.
[21:44] <Takeshi> "Bit of both, actually. Overheard a couple of guys in my class talking about this place, so I thought I'd come check it out." He chuckles a bit. "Anything in particular you'd recommend?"
[21:47] <@Hotaru-chan> "Since Mako-chan's baking right now, um.." Hotaru hums half a second. "Turtle brownies, triple chocolate fudge cake, or the chocolate cheesecake," she offers, smile twisting. "I'm a chocolate fiend, though."
[21:48] <Takeshi> "That would be the trend I'm noticing there, yeah," Takeshi shakes his head a bit. "I'll go with the brownies - other two sound a bit too rich for me."
[21:52] <@Hotaru-chan> "Live a little sometime," Hotaru gripes playfully. "Want anything to drink?" she asks softly. "We have milk, juice, water, soda, coffee..."
[21:52] <@Hotaru-chan> "coffee, tea...
[21:53] <Takeshi> "I am! I almost never get brownies!" Takeshi ripostes. "Chocolate always goes with milk, so I'll go with that."
[21:53] <@Anastasia> OOC - Takeshi and Hotaru, both make Soul checks +3.
[21:54] <@Anastasia> OOC - Er, -3. Excuse me.
[21:54] <@Hotaru-chan> roll 2d6-3
[21:54] <Reikobot> Hotaru-chan rolled : 2d6-3 --> [ 2d6=9 ]{6}
[21:54] <Takeshi> roll 2d6-3
[21:54] <Reikobot> Takeshi rolled : 2d6-3 --> [ 2d6=5 ]{2}
[21:55] <@Anastasia> Thump. Thump-thump-thump. Hotaru feels the barest, barest brush against her neck as people keel over! Caught in perfect sleep, falling into blessed rest. Takeshi and Hotaru feel fine, even as the others around them slumber!
[21:57] <Takeshi> The laughter on Takeshi's lips quickly dies as the cafe falls silent. "Okay, that can't be good," he says quietly, getting up out of his seat.
[21:57] <@Hotaru-chan> "...FUCK," Hotaru curses loudly, setting her platter down, and retrieving her henshin pen from...her bodice? Nevermind! There's only one situation in which this occurs, and it is NOT a friendly one, so Hotaru looks for someone suspiciously conscious.
[22:05] <@Anastasia> He's simply there - leaning against the glass pastry case, looking on with a sunglasses hidden gaze. His white suit is appealing and rich, a certain tallness to him. "...inhumans again?" Looking over at Takeshi and Hotaru coolly, he pauses. "Tell me, why do you cling to the guise of humanity so doggedly? It's no more suiting to you than the ocean wearing the sky."
[22:05] <@Anastasia> A pallor falls over the room, Hotaru and TAkeshi feel their hearts quail with a faint but poignant feeling of despair.
[22:05] <Takeshi> "I happen to like it," Takeshi says, his eyes narrowing as he counters verbally. "What's YOUR problem with it?"
[22:06] <@Hotaru-chan> Hotaru clenches her jaw, her breath coming out in a hiss. "If you already think like that, you aren't interested in an answer."
[22:08] <@Anastasia> "No..." Standing straight up, he looks dead on, eyes hidden. His hair is pure black, like oil poured into hair's shape. "Come to us. The life you life here is a mockery of what you are. I would not have you oppose us, it would be a waste."
[22:08] <@Anastasia> *live
[22:10] <@Hotaru-chan> "Saturn Crystal Power, Make Up!" Is the gist of Hotaru's reply, summoning Saturn to herself!
[22:10] <Takeshi> "Why the hell should we?" Takeshi growls, attempting to let his hands change consistency.
[22:10] <Takeshi> roll 2d6 for stone fists
[22:10] <Reikobot> Takeshi rolled : 2d6 for stone fists --> [ 2d6=6 ]{6}
[22:12] <@Anastasia> So Sailor Saturn appears in time with Takeshi's fists turning to stone! Two powers summoned, your foe uttelry unresponsive. "Then so be it," he sighs sadly. "Hatred, I summon you. Summon servants and deal with the problem here." (More)
[22:14] <@Anastasia> Where he was before, not another stands! Hatred is large; a great man towering with muscle, ripped clothes covering his frame tightly! A great beard and mane of red hair stands out like fier, his hands clenching as she seeths. "You oppose us? Perish!" Hatred snarls darkly, and in ront of him, three large, blank faced men appear! Nude and muscular, their hands are hungry, devouring mouths. They slaver green saliva, dripping onto the floor
[22:14] * Takeshi spits out a curse, delaying no longer as he takes on the guise of Nephrite and prepares to do battle!
[22:15] <@Anastasia> OOC - React/initiative.
[22:16] <General_Nephrite> "This is going to be fun," Nephrite growls, sizing up his opponents. The big guy's going to be a pain, and the other three... well, only one way to go from here!
[22:16] <General_Nephrite> roll 1d6+10
[22:16] <Reikobot> General_Nephrite rolled : 1d6+10 --> [ 1d6=3 ]{13}
[22:17] <@Sailor_Saturn> roll 1d6+10
[22:17] <Reikobot> Sailor_Saturn rolled : 1d6+10 --> [ 1d6=5 ]{15}
[22:21] <@Anastasia> roll 1d6 Hatred
[22:21] <Reikobot> Anastasia rolled : 1d6 Hatred --> [ 1d6=6 ]{6}
[22:21] <@Anastasia> roll 1d6
[22:21] <Reikobot> Anastasia rolled : 1d6 --> [ 1d6=6 ]{6}
[22:21] <@Anastasia> roll 1d6
[22:21] <Reikobot> Anastasia rolled : 1d6 --> [ 1d6=6 ]{6}
[22:21] <@Anastasia> roll 1d6
[22:21] <Reikobot> Anastasia rolled : 1d6 --> [ 1d6=5 ]{5}
[22:22] <@Anastasia> Hatred>Saturn>Empty One 1=Empty One 2>Empty One 3>Nephrite.
[22:23] <@Anastasia> Hatred>Saturn>Empty One 1=Empty One 2>Empty One 3=Nephrite.
[22:24] <@Anastasia> Rushing forward, Hatred sprints like a gale! "I will rip you apart! Nothing lives that opposes us! I care not if you are human or inhuman!" As he approaches Nephrite, a great mace appears in his hand! "Harbringer Genocide!"
[22:24] <@Anastasia> roll 2d6
[22:24] <Reikobot> Anastasia rolled : 2d6 --> [ 2d6=12 ]{12}
[22:26] <@Anastasia> But the blow is entirely errant, berserker rage causing it to fly way to the side as he overjudges! He sprints past Nephrite entirely!
[22:29] <@Sailor_Saturn> Saturn shifts and pivots in a near blur of violet, white, and black, the glowing violet flames that surround her glaive streaking as she brings it in line with Hatrerd, the razor sharp artifact trying to cut him down!
[22:29] <@Sailor_Saturn> roll 2d6 soul
[22:29] <Reikobot> Sailor_Saturn rolled : 2d6 soul --> [ 2d6=7 ]{7}
[22:29] <@Sailor_Saturn> roll 2d6 ACV
[22:29] <Reikobot> Sailor_Saturn rolled : 2d6 ACV --> [ 2d6=7 ]{7}
[22:29] <@Anastasia> roll 2d5
[22:29] <Reikobot> Anastasia rolled : 2d5 --> [ 2d5=6 ]{6}
[22:29] <@Anastasia> roll 2d6
[22:29] <Reikobot> Anastasia rolled : 2d6 --> [ 2d6=8 ]{8}
[22:33] <@Anastasia> The Silence Glaive turns violet, slicing into Hatred's hip! This doesn't even phase him, only a roar coming out from his chest! Meanwhile two of his servants lunge forward, mixing it up! One going to Nephrite, the other leaping to get to Saturn!
[22:33] <@Anastasia> roll 2d6 Neph attack
[22:33] <Reikobot> Anastasia rolled : 2d6 Neph attack --> [ 2d6=6 ]{6}
[22:34] <@Anastasia> roll 2d6 Hotaru attack
[22:34] <Reikobot> Anastasia rolled : 2d6 Hotaru attack --> [ 2d6=11 ]{11}
[22:34] <@Anastasia> OOC - DCV, Neph.
[22:34] <General_Nephrite> roll 2d6
[22:34] <Reikobot> General_Nephrite rolled : 2d6 --> [ 2d6=6 ]{6}
[22:36] <@Anastasia> One attack is a foul bite at Nephrite, but he gracefully sidesteps, fists at the ready! Even as that happens Hotaru is aerally assaulted, but it's too high and lands behind Hotaru instead!
[22:36] <@Anastasia> OOC - Go, neph.
[22:37] <General_Nephrite> "You think you can take me, you little punks? Ha!" Nephrite taunts, rearing back his fist to unleash a devastating strike at the only one of the creatures that has yet to attack!
[22:37] <General_Nephrite> roll 2d6
[22:37] <Reikobot> General_Nephrite rolled : 2d6 --> [ 2d6=3 ]{3}
[22:41] <@Anastasia> roll 2d6
[22:41] <Reikobot> Anastasia rolled : 2d6 --> [ 2d6=5 ]{5}
[22:43] <@Anastasia> As Nephrite delivers a solid blow to it's chest, it retorts with a powerful handbiteo f it's own!
[22:43] <@Anastasia> roll 2d6
[22:43] <Reikobot> Anastasia rolled : 2d6 --> [ 2d6=5 ]{5}
[22:43] <@Anastasia> OOC - DCV
[22:43] <General_Nephrite> roll 2d6+1
[22:43] <Reikobot> General_Nephrite rolled : 2d6+1 --> [ 2d6=9 ]{10}
[22:44] <@Anastasia> The two trade blows! Nephrite is bit on his arm, a ragged trickle of blood coming down from the injury! (24 damage.)
[22:44] <@Anastasia> Meanwhile the Empty One is knocked back and away, staggered!
[22:44] <@Anastasia> OOC - Initiative.
[22:44] <General_Nephrite> roll 1d6+10
[22:44] <@Sailor_Saturn> roll 1d6+10
[22:44] <Reikobot> General_Nephrite rolled : 1d6+10 --> [ 1d6=2 ]{12}
[22:44] <Reikobot> Sailor_Saturn rolled : 1d6+10 --> [ 1d6=6 ]{16}
[22:44] <@Anastasia> roll 1d6 Hatred
[22:44] <Reikobot> Anastasia rolled : 1d6 Hatred --> [ 1d6=2 ]{2}
[22:45] <@Anastasia> roll 1d6
[22:45] <Reikobot> Anastasia rolled : 1d6 --> [ 1d6=3 ]{3}
[22:45] <@Anastasia> roll 1d6
[22:45] <@Anastasia> roll 1d6
[22:45] <Reikobot> Anastasia rolled : 1d6 --> [ 1d6=5 ]{5}
[22:45] <Reikobot> Anastasia rolled : 1d6 --> [ 1d6=2 ]{2}
[22:45] <@Anastasia> Hatred=Saturn>Empty One 2>Neph>Empty One 1>Empty 3.
[22:47] <@Sailor_Saturn> Hotaru doesn't lose focus, turning on Hatred again with her glaive, the blazing polearm singing for the giant man's blood!
[22:47] <@Sailor_Saturn> roll 2d6 soul
[22:47] <Reikobot> Sailor_Saturn rolled : 2d6 soul --> [ 2d6=8 ]{8}
[22:47] <@Sailor_Saturn> roll 2d6 ACV
[22:47] <Reikobot> Sailor_Saturn rolled : 2d6 ACV --> [ 2d6=7 ]{7}
[22:47] <@Anastasia> roll 2d6
[22:47] <Reikobot> Anastasia rolled : 2d6 --> [ 2d6=7 ]{7}
[22:49] <@Anastasia> Hit! The Glaive slices through it's arm, a vicious hack that makes Hatred ever so slightly shimmer. But the effect is weak and passing, as he roars and turns to Saturn! "Harbringer GENOCIDE!" In his hand a cruel, heavy mace appears again, looking to clobber Hotaru!
[22:49] <@Anastasia> roll 2d6
[22:49] <Reikobot> Anastasia rolled : 2d6 --> [ 2d6=4 ]{4}
[22:49] <@Anastasia> OOC - DCV+1
[22:49] <@Sailor_Saturn> roll 2d6+1
[22:50] <Reikobot> Sailor_Saturn rolled : 2d6+1 --> [ 2d6=8 ]{9}
[22:52] <@Anastasia> The crunch of Saturn's ribs is epic as she is sent several feet back in retaliation! Her wind is knocked out as she slams into the glass display! (42 damage and 5 EP damage.) A hint of feeling explodes into her, a seed of raw rage.
[22:55] <@Anastasia> As Saturn is broken, the second empty one whirls, going after Nephrite!
[22:55] <@Anastasia> roll 2d6
[22:55] <Reikobot> Anastasia rolled : 2d6 --> [ 2d6=7 ]{7}
[22:55] <@Anastasia> OOC - DCVism.
[22:55] <General_Nephrite> roll 2d6
[22:55] <Reikobot> General_Nephrite rolled : 2d6 --> [ 2d6=11 ]{11}
[22:56] <@Anastasia> The bite tears into Nephrite's side! DAmn these things, they're fast and vicious as his ribs are scraped by teeth! (24 damage.
[22:57] <@Anastasia> OOC - Neph.
[22:58] <General_Nephrite> "Oh, fucking hell!" Neph curses, having been too slow to react as Hotaru took the full brunt of that impact. "Pick on someone your own size, you bastard!" he roars, driving a stone knife-hand towards the gashes already inflicted by Saturn's glaive!
[22:58] <General_Nephrite> roll 2d6
[22:58] <Reikobot> General_Nephrite rolled : 2d6 --> [ 2d6=5 ]{5}
[22:58] <@Anastasia> roll 2d6+2
[22:58] <Reikobot> Anastasia rolled : 2d6+2 --> [ 2d6=5 ]{7}
[23:00] <@Anastasia> The one two thump of blows to Hatred's side have minimal impact! They do affect him, but only get him to scream in rage! Incoherent now, bringing it's mace to bear! But the last two Empty Ones chase Neph, biting!
[23:00] <@Anastasia> roll 2d6
[23:00] <Reikobot> Anastasia rolled : 2d6 --> [ 2d6=3 ]{3}
[23:00] <@Anastasia> roll 2d6
[23:00] <Reikobot> Anastasia rolled : 2d6 --> [ 2d6=5 ]{5}
[23:00] <@Anastasia> OOC - Two DCVs, sec.
[23:01] <General_Nephrite> roll 2d6+1
[23:01] <Reikobot> General_Nephrite rolled : 2d6+1 --> [ 2d6=4 ]{5}
[23:02] <General_Nephrite> roll 2d6+2
[23:02] <Reikobot> General_Nephrite rolled : 2d6+2 --> [ 2d6=7 ]{9}
[23:10] <@Anastasia> Argh! Another get sin a solid bite! A gash to Nephrite's chest, uniform front chomped open! As this happens, a soft, despair filled voice murmurs, "Enough." In this moment Hatred and his goons vanish, Despair reappearing at the pastry counter, near Hotaru. "I made my point. I truly don't want to fight you, but if I will, you will die." Bowing his head quietly, "If you help us Lightbringer shall raise you up as well. If you stand aside we
[23:11] <@Anastasia> If you stand aside we shall not hurt you in any way. But if you interfere...your fate is so written."
[23:13] <General_Nephrite> "Like hell I'll stand aside," Nephrite replies, breathing heavily. "After seeing the way your mob operates I don't want any part of it."
[23:14] <@Sailor_Saturn> Hotaru let out a choking, burning half-cackle, her body searing under the brunt of pain emnating for her ribs, but her mind going farther. "My life was already written aside," she hisses, summoning a flicker of violet to her fingers, eyes darkening as she tries to press the small blade of energy into her own flesh.
[23:25] <@Anastasia> "....I see." Despair looks on at Nephrite and then Saturn, eyes unreadable behind his sunglasses. "Do you wish death to release you from your melancholy of brief human life?" OOC - Initiative, I suppose. What'cha doin', 'taru?
[23:25] <@Sailor_Saturn> OOC - Ridding myself of that inconvenient hitpoint.
[23:26] <General_Nephrite> "What I wish is that you'd go back to wherever the hell you came from and leave us alone!" Takeshi snarls back.
[23:27] <@Anastasia> OOC - Mmmm. Okay. Initiative.
[23:27] <@Anastasia> roll 1d6
[23:27] <General_Nephrite> roll 1d6+10
[23:27] <Reikobot> Anastasia rolled : 1d6 --> [ 1d6=5 ]{5}
[23:27] <Reikobot> General_Nephrite rolled : 1d6+10 --> [ 1d6=5 ]{15}
[23:27] <@Sailor_Saturn> roll 1d6+9
[23:27] <Reikobot> Sailor_Saturn rolled : 1d6+9 --> [ 1d6=4 ]{13}
[23:27] <@Anastasia> Despair=Neph>Saturn. Go, Neph
[23:27] <@Sailor_Saturn> "Death is not my goal," Hotaru answers softly in a dark hiss.
[23:28] * General_Nephrite hangs back for the moment, waiting to see what exactly the idiot in the suit is going to do next.
[23:29] <@Anastasia> "So be it. I'm sorry for you - the least I can do is salve your despair by that I'll remember you forevermore. Your warrant into oblivion is written." After those words he vanishes back away, as if he was never there.
[23:30] * General_Nephrite takes a deep breath, going over to check on Hotaru as the man vanishes. "You all right, Hotaru-san?"
[23:34] <@Sailor_Saturn> Hotaru's holding her ribs, a trickle of blood coming out from her fingers as black and violet fluctuate and war inside her. "I'll live, been through worse," she murmurs softly, slumping against the glaive. "I've ahd them broken before."
[23:37] <@Anastasia> The people all around slumber in peace, unhurt and merely resting at Yohko's. No serious damage beyond a few bloodstainds on the floor,too.
[23:38] <General_Nephrite> "All right, if you're sure," Takeshi replies, sighing. "Now we need to teleport out, though. They had someone stationed outside at the Crown, maybe to watch for the people that came out. No telling if this place is being watched the same way."
[23:40] <@Sailor_Saturn> "Oh, there are ways," Hotaru answers, a little...off sounding. "If you want to go, go ahead, I'll cope here," she breathes, summoning her inner reserves, willing the pain and even shattered bones away.
[23:40] <@Sailor_Saturn> roll 2d6
[23:40] <Reikobot> Sailor_Saturn rolled : 2d6 --> [ 2d6=3 ]{3}
[23:42] <@Sailor_Saturn> Her body mended, Hotaru doesn't stop there. Instead she lowers her mental walls, opening her mind to sensations, and throws her senses out into the street and around, looking for anything abnormal.
[23:43] <@Anastasia> OOC - Soul check.
[23:43] <@Sailor_Saturn> roll 2d6
[23:43] <Reikobot> Sailor_Saturn rolled : 2d6 --> [ 2d6=8 ]{8}
[23:43] <General_Nephrite> "Might as well," Takeshi replies with a frown. "Got a few more tidbits out of them, at least, even if I was hoping to draw them out a little more before we got into the fight." He seems to be unconcerned about his own bleeding wounds, clenching his fist at his side.
[22:06] <Sailor_Saturn> "There's no one outside or in the immediate area, no supernatural presences," Hotaru offers softly, pulling her senses back inside her mind, raising the barriers again. "You can just walk out if you like..." she offers to Takeshi, shrugging.
[22:09] <General_Nephrite> "Mmm," Takeshi says with a frown, taking a few napkins from a dispenser on one of the tables to clean up. "I'll probably teleport out anyway. They're definitely interested in recruiting, so I'd rather not take the risk of them tailing me and catching me by myself. Not that I don't believe you, but I'd just rather not risk it."
[22:10] * Sailor_Saturn shrugs, dismissing Saturn, and beginning to right people in their seats before they wake up. Best to make this as easy as possible...

[Anastasia]

> ---Arc 2 go!---
> The rest of Michiru's day passes in a haze. After her stunt of running she spends the day in class. It's utterly dry and boring - gray as the rest of the world. No shining figures of light and life come to relieve Michiru, and more is ahead with her clubs.
* Michiru sighs. Looking around, she looks for a colour, a tone. The possibility of a melody... and, thinking on it, ever since that night, I haven't played the violin, she thought. Less of a realization and more of an abandonment, Michiru decayed a bit more. She missed music in these days... yet, she doubted she'd have the energy to muster that feeling into blood - and actually MAKE music. And the day grazed by so slowly still.
> Indeed. Math class ends, leaving Michiru with her choices - go to club or not. A few people linger, but what do they matter? They're all just blobs of gray, after all.
* Michiru looked down. It hurt. Looking at people as if they were putty matter hurt - and no metaphoric cynicism could really prepare Michiru for the lifeless existence brought to light. At a moment or two, she tried to squeeze her eyes, see if she could distinguish shape, flavor, ANYTHING... and the walking mannequins of clay just grew to her eyes, in their victoriously stupid movement. A songless movement.
> OOC - Soul check, -1 bonus.
<Michiru> roll 2d6-1
<Reikobot> Michiru rolled : 2d6-1 --> [ 2d6=12 ]{11}
<Michiru> ...
> It's nothing. The world become grayer, less lifeful than ever. Everything just flows together - a gray mass, no more worth of attention than the empty void itself. A place where nothing seems to matter at all. A renewal of the despair she felt from Despair himself bubbles within her bosom; reality is nothing but grayness - save for them and perhaps one other. But during all this..."Michiru," A girl asks, voice palpably nervous.
* Michiru snaps awake and turns around, in a sudden movement - like a sharp noise of cracking glass breaking through a room. She raises her eyebrows and meekly responds. "Yes?"
> It's Chitose! Her brown hair and blue beadsa re nothing but gray in this world, however. "Um...I wanted to ask i fyou wanted to go to the cafe with me and a friend again, if you're free?" She asks this hopefully, a mark of gray smiling.
* Michiru blinks. She wanted to... no, she had no idea of what she wanted. On the other hand, she definitely was underfed. And playing the violin alone in a damp school room wouldn't help much, would it? It would wait. It always did. "... I am free, yes. Are you sure you want my company, though? I... haven't been in my best days, recently..."
> "I'd love it!" Chitose perks right up at this, as much as it matters. "I'd really be happy if you'd come with me!"
* Michiru nods. "Fine, then. I will just get my violin case at the room, and we'll head off. Is that okay?"
> "I'll meet you by the gates in ten minutes!" Chitose gushes again, running off after with a cheerful, elated wave.
> For just a moment - a heart stoppin gmoment, there is the faintest hint of color in the world around her, and a dull ache at your forehead.
* Michiru cowers a little. What... was that? Michiru blinks, rubbing her forehead, trying to rationalize that moment. And... what? She didn't know. All that was left was the violin case, which she grabbed as soon as she got in the room. Still... colour... why?
> OOC - Mind check.
<Michiru> roll 2d6
<Reikobot> Michiru rolled : 2d6 --> [ 2d6=10 ]{10}
> She can't remember anything specific, but she gets the strangest, lingeringest headache. Bits of color seep into the world - mainly around a glass of water in the band room.
* Michiru nods her head back and forth, in dismay. Fixating the sight onto the water, Michiru wavers, feeling her pulse faintly - the blood hadn't returned to her veins yet, apparently. At that moment, she actually stopped and realized that she wasn't truly living. At all. For all that was worth, she could've been dead, just forfeiting her sleep. And it left her restless.
> The water's color fades as the headache does. It's not very strong, just enough to leave her unsettled in her unlife. But Chitose awaits, doesn't she?
<Michiru> Oh, yes. Chitose. Suddenly, she felt vague uneasiness and a fugitive whistle sprinted through. She could just leave. Yes. I could leave and smirk at Chitose's expectant glee, and she would never know what happened. On the other hand... it was a favor. And there was little to nothing in her "life", anyway. Violin case in hand, eyes gazing into the nothingness, Michiru headed out, towards the gate. Towards Chitose.
> Indeed! Chitose awaits - she looks nice, you suppose, for a mere human. Her smile helps, too, amid the hum drum of T*A's all the same, smeared together masses. She waves, waiting alone at the gate.
* Michiru straightens up and sketches a small smile. "Sorry to keep you waiting. Shall we?" Before she were devoured by the amorphous blobs, before it was all too late... the world now bleeded like an open wound to Michiru.
> "Yes! Oh, sorry, Shiori-chan had to go home early," she apologizes quite earnestly, bowing, "So it'll just be us to today!"
* Michiru nods vacantly. Listening to her voice was exactly the same as listening the babble of millions, muddled into a single, unrecognizable entity. Was she any sharper that day, she'd consider more. The world, now, didn't simply lack colour or tone: it lacked identity. There was no individual thought to what Michiru gathered - only muted masses. But she wouldn't quite understand. Not today.
> So instead Chitose leads you on! It's not far, only a block before you're at a clean, quiet cafe in a corner booth. Does it matter w here - it's just more gray, isn't it? But as you enter, just as you pass through the door, out of the corner o fyour eye you see COLOR. Blazing color.
* Michiru freezes for a moment. The scant notes of life suddenly converged into one place. The unforgettable fire, the blazing strings and the deadly amethyst that haunted Michiru that night... it couldn't be.
> Is it? The color fades into an alley of gray just as she turns - nary a chance to look at it, as Michiru is across the street as whomever or whatever it is heads into the shadows between buildings. Michiru dimly remembers that it's a cuttrough a few students use on occasion and has a side door into a popular cafe.
* Michiru looks back and sighs. While Chitose leads, Michiru follows. However, she took a bit of a longer look to the area. She would have to return there... and rather sooner than later.
> So inside to that corner booth you go! Chitose takes the menu and nods, hiding a slight blush as she burrows into it. "Um, what sort of things do you like to eat and drink, Michiru?"
* Michiru nods, crossing her arms and looking away, a bit of melancholy in her tone. "I don't have much of an opinion for food, Chitose-san. Anything is fine."
> "Oooooh. Just Chitose, okay," she asks as she peaks up. A blob of gray in waitress form comes, milkshake ordered. Or was it milkshakes - Michiru didn't catch it.
* Michiru rocked back and forth mentally, restless. The world seemed to lose its form - yet, burst out in life with a brilliant gash, then disappear. It felt like all the possible destinies in existence lurked under the earth, lunging towards their prey and burrowing deep under once they had their flesh - and those moments of magnificent instinct were a one-time only glance, unmissable. And she couldn't ever grasp a single of those flashes.
> Meanwhile Chitose goes on as the drinks arrive - two milkshakes. "So...it's just that you'rea  really nice and pretty girl, but you're always so into your music! That's really impressive since I've heard you're one of the best in the school at it!"
<Michiru> "I... you could say that music is my thirst, my rhyme and reason. At least, it has been until now."
> "Until now?" Slurping a little at her milkshake, Chitose blushes gray as she watches Michiru fully. "Do you mean it isn't now?"
<Michiru> "I... don't know. I truly don't know, I..." Michiru sighs, and looks down, internally trying to grasp for the tension, the chords, the thickest waternotes sung from a piano, but in vain. "... nevermind. It's nothing you should be concerned about..."
> "Oh. ...I don't mind listening," Chitose says hopefully, voice low as she looks downward as well. "If you're hurting, I wouldn't mind listening at all."
* Michiru snickers and sighs. She looks up, her eyes -try- to lighten up, most likely failing to even glint. For a moment, a glance of Michiru before the winds of stagnation flew by appeared. Distinct, a bit carnivorous - the feeling of condescension rose to her cheeks. "Don't worry, Chitose. I will be fine, it's just a thing I need to learn to handle on my own. But thank you..." Michiru smiled once again, the facetious, smirking gentleness.
> Ashen faced - surprised - shivering. Chitose holds herself as she looks on, a look of real, sincere fear on her face. "I...Michiru..." she murmurs, slinking back in her seat. "That face..."
* Michiru raises her eyebrow and blinks. "My face, Chitose? What do you mean by that?"
> "Aaah...nothing!" A quick recovery as she goes to her drink, heavily indulging to hide herself. She does look rather shaken, however, hands slightly moving as they hold onto her shake mug.
* Michiru nods to herself, a bit puzzled. As a natural reaction, Michiru looks for a small mirror she usually brings along inside her schoolbag. Grasping it, she opens it and prompts to look. After all, what was that? Why was Chitose acting like that?
> What Michiru sees back - is a face devoid of any hope. In it's place is cold condesension, stagnant and uncaring. It's the sort of face you'd see on someone who has no cares in the world and no hope on which to support them. For a human, it would strike terror into them, even if the mood is already breaking and the visage is weakening.
* Michiru looks more carefully, and the realization slowly sinks in, deeply. At that point, her soul was nothing more than chamber music. However, a sort of tension, frenetic intensity that she could never explain except for its colour - a center within her awakened. As she realized that, her smile slowly grew. "Oh... oh. I... see. I... definitely see..." And she started to laugh. Almost manic, clearly aware.
> "Um..." Chitose looks striken, sinking down nearly a foot into her booth, slumping. "I...Michiru? I thought...I'm sorry!" With that Chitose scurries out, making haste quickly away, as if she had seen the face of the devil himself!
* Michiru looks down, sighing deeply, but in cynical satisfaction. Pathetic, weak little creature. If one couldn't look at the darkest pits of oneself, what hope could possibly bring humans up? It was a very small proof, but one that made perfect sense. With that, Michiru grabbed her violin case once again, smiling, crude. "... ignorant little runt."