Magirl 3/18

03[17:58] * Nobody_Important is now known as Nakano_Haruko
[18:04] <@WBL> October 29th, 2018. It's a cold autumn morning in the Mizushima households, somewhere in one Sumaru City in the suburbs of Tokyo. Cold enough to wake up Shizue with the sound of her own sneezing. She sits up on her bed in a flash, completely unlike her, and turns her head aside to look at the window. She notices that the sky is blanketed in thick, off-white fog, enough to cover the sun
[18:04] <@WBL> entirely.
[18:04] <@WBL> She really, really, REALLY doesn't want to go to school today.
[18:07] <Mizushima_Shizue> Shizue groans and rubs her eyes. She's pretty sure that skewering herself in the chest would be less painful than having to slog through school today, but few people would walk through weather this shitty just to go to the arcade, either.
[18:08] <Mizushima_Shizue> She takes a moment to listen. The house is silent. "Lemme guess," she mumbles to herself. "Dad's working, Mom's 'wooorking'."
[18:08] <Mizushima_Shizue> And her sisters are still asleep. The perfect excuse to just 'take a walk outside'. A walk that will coincidentally last the entire school day. Oopsie-daisy.
[18:09] <Mizushima_Shizue> Shizue dresses hersellf warm for the weather and wanders outside, looking for something to entertain herself with the next eight or so hours before school lets out and the weather might lighten up.
[18:10] <@WBL> Shizue takes the chance to exit her room and her house and school and her life and pretty much everything because who even cares. The spare change and juice bottle left by mom with a note reading "don't go dying of thirst out there" on it does little to dissuade her of her assertation.
[18:12] <@WBL> If there's anything she cannot just leave behind and ignore, though, is the blasted fog. Layers upon layers of freezing cold air blanket the sky and streets, making seeing pretty much anything beyond her inmediate personal space a greatly challenging prospect. But it's not like she can just walk back home - what for? To spend the whole day nursing her mother's hangover? As if - so she
[18:12] <@WBL> decides to try and feel her way out.
[18:13] <@WBL> It doesn't work. Less than a minute in, she's hopelessly lost. Uh oh.
[18:13] <Mizushima_Shizue> Shizue shoves the spare change into her pocket and downs the juice bottle before she leaves. Another day of mediocrity, a perfect fit for some mediocre trash. Then, like the oh so intelligent person she is, she finds herself lost in some soupy fog, barely able to see where she's stepping.
[18:14] <Mizushima_Shizue> Shizue whips out her phone and tries to see if she can get any reception.
[18:19] <@WBL> There's enough. Not much. She can probably try and make a call, but using the internet (hey, smartphones) is not going to work. Thing is, who would she call? And, in the back of her mind she thinks, who would answer? There is NO ONE out here, which only makes it creepier. It's still a while before the school bell rings, and the streets SHOULD be jammed full with schoolchildren on their
[18:19] <@WBL> way to, well, school, and housewives on their daily shopping runs. But there isn't anyone around. She can't see them, she can't hear them.
[18:19] <@WBL> In fact, she can't see anything nor hear anything besides herself.
[18:21] <Mizushima_Shizue> A little bit of panic starts to bubble up in her, but with a practised mental gymnastic of holding her own head underwater, Shizue shrugs and lets it go. The fog's bad today. It's fate biting her in the ass for not attending school today.
[18:22] <Mizushima_Shizue> Still, Shizue tries to at least phone home. Warn her sisters not to venture outside or something. Pat herself on the back for being the beeeeest onee-chan ever.
[18:26] <@WBL> The exchange is short and to the point, particularly because Yuki is the one who picks up and because her father (who was apparently still there) snatches the phone out of her sister's hands to quite loudly remind her that she should be at school RIGHT NOW. Not feeling like having that conversation (again), Shizue hangs up on her own and... does something. Anything.
[18:28] <@WBL> She bumps against a nearby wall and - wait, she recognizes that fence. And that tile. And that broken window. This is the Akabas' home on the other side of the street. Slowly but surely, she gets bearing of her surroundings and manages to leave behind the fog bank, exiting... right in front of school.
[18:28] <@WBL> Well, fate isn't being subtle today, is it now.
[18:29] <Mizushima_Shizue> Shizue squints at the school standing in front of her, her father's words still hanging in her head. "Oh-fuckin'-boy, it's gonna be one of those kinds of days, isn't it?" She looks behind her, presumably to see the fog even thicker now, as though nothing but the school existed. She shrugs and relaxes. Counts to ten in her head. And enters the school.
[18:30] <Mizushima_Shizue> At least her homeroom can't possibly be that bad. A few announcements, maybe the re-election of the class representative, and then she can go hide in the bathroom or in Aikawa-sensei's room.
[18:31] <Mizushima_Shizue> She greets her fellow classmates nonchalantly and shrugs off any questions of why this is the first time in a week she's been in class.
[18:33] <@WBL> Fortunately for her, Yoshinoya-sensei is a leaden-footed klutz like always, possibly the one person who cares even less than her. A transfer student was due to join today, but apparently she isn't here. Her old friend (maybe) Murasaki eyes her with concern behind the swirls in her thick glasses but doesn't say anything. And so, the day passes quietly and without incident, the way Shizue
[18:33] <@WBL> likes it.
[18:33] <@WBL> Class rings, and everyone leaves for lunch.
[18:36] <Mizushima_Shizue> When Murasaki eyes her Shizue gives her the same wave as she does to everyone else, then winks. The only acknowledgement. When class lets out,Shizue checks to see if she can somehow sneak out of school during her lunch hour. There are usually a few teachers hanging around to make sure no one plays hooky, but, hey, at least she could've made an attempt, right?
[18:39] <Mizushima_Shizue> She tries to sneak her down to the gym. If it's anything like her old school there's likely an entrance to a field or court out back.
[18:39] <@WBL> A quick glance at the court shows Momoe-sensei, the PE coach, running a couple of tardy students through hell and an obstacle course. It's still foggy outside, though, so if she puts her feline grace on, she can probably sneak herself out underneath the cranky unmarried woman's nose. Maybe she could get a cardboard box from somewhere...
[18:43] <Mizushima_Shizue> There's probably something in the storage lockers that could help her out, so she edges her way there first. It takes her a moment to remember her locker combination, but then she has a better idea, and looks around to see if she can find a fire alarm anywhere.
[18:45] <Mizushima_Shizue> She raids through her gym locker beforehand to find something to wear that isn't her school uniform.
[18:46] <@WBL> She finds one alright, law requires every public building to have one in every hallway, but moments before she pulls the switch, a hand places herself on her shoulder. Busted.
[18:46] <@WBL> "Oh my. What is this, Shizue-kun?" Or not. She could recognize that voice anywhere.
[18:48] <@WBL> Of course, it's Riko-sensei. Somehow he seems to have a knack of finding her whenever she tries to play hooky. It'd be somewhat annoying if it was anyone but the dreamy music teacher that let her skip classes in the clubroom.
[18:49] <Mizushima_Shizue> Shizue turns around with an expression that borders between ignorance and apathy. "Mornin', Aikawa-sensei. You wanna join me? I was just heading to lunch." She pats her pocket as though she'd brought some food.
[18:50] <Mizushima_Shizue> Riko-sensei*
[18:51] <Mizushima_Shizue> "Or do you have some date with one of the gi~irls you're late to?" She winks and pretends to stretch as if she were bored.
[18:55] <@WBL> Sensei narrows his eyes at her comments and the casual way Shizue tries to dismiss her almost violation of the law. "Well, not exactly a date, but I do have an appointment with two second-years right now. Nothing says you can't join, though. Come on, lunch will be on me." Sparkles practically fly from the young teacher's face as he turns around and pulls Shizue towards the music room,
[18:55] <@WBL> drawing stares from people in the way. Not to her, never to her. Riko-sensei just has that je ne sas quoi (French word, she learned it from him even) that gets all the attention. Maybe that is why she tolerates his constant attempts of making her actually not be a lazy piece of garbage.
[18:58] <Mizushima_Shizue> "Ooho, how scandalous. Do try not to get yourself fired." Shizue follows behind him at a brisk pace. Of course he'd know that she didn't bring lunch. But, hey, she won't deny free food,especially if that comes with a free side of skipping class.
[18:58] <Mizushima_Shizue> "So who are the lucky bachelorettes today?"
[19:00] <@WBL> "Mm, you'll see. I think they're rather popular among you children." She's rushed through towards the music room where two girls, different as night and day, await Riko-sensei. One, a tanned girl with short, boyish black hair and a messed up uniform that completely screams "delinquent", as many parts of it replaced with black as she could get away with, tapping her fingers on a nearby
[19:00] <@WBL> seat in exasperation. The other, a pleasant-looking girl with a perfectly worn and cared for uniform, bright shoulder-lenght red hair, sitting straight up with a smile. Riko-sensei is right, she knows them. They're Kuroda and Hinoyama, from 2-C. The infamous 'Needle Princess' and the ace of the tennis club together? Who would've thought?
[19:01] <@WBL> "Hey sensei, what took you?" "Hello, sensei!" Even their responses are like oil and water.
[19:04] <Mizushima_Shizue> Shizue plops down in the nearest chair and sprawls out, rather unladylike. "Yo. Riko-sensei, is this some secret cult meeting? You gonna sacrifice us to some dark god? Sugar..." She gestures to the tennis club ace. "Spice..." To the Needle Princess. "And everything lazy." She points to herself last.
[19:06] <Mizushima_Shizue> She laughs at her own joke and then lets it die off, before she brushes imaginary dust off her shoulder and exhales.
[19:08] <@WBL> "If by 'secret cult meeting' you mean 'rehearsal', then sure, fthagn p'ghlui." Riko-sensei snarks back. "Now, before I sacrifice you all to the Dark Lord Mozart," he adds while producing a bento box from beneath his desk and placing it on the nearby desk where Kuroda is practically banging her fist in impatience. Hinoyama pulls out a thermos and some disposable cups from her backpack,
[19:08] <@WBL> while Kuroda drops nonchalantly three cookie packets on the desk after being stared at expectantly by the redhead. "Something tells me you're somewhat hungry." He pokes Shizue's growling belly for emphasis. Oops.
[19:09] <@WBL> This seems to draw a giggle from Hinoyama, and an amused almost smirk from Kuroda. She seemed to really want to not show it, even.
[19:11] <Mizushima_Shizue> Shizue raises her eyebrows. "Is this an intervention or something? Ooh, cookie hoarders anonymous." She opens the cookies as slowly as possible to hide how much she wants to shove them into her mouth at once. "So, wha," she comments with her mouth full of cookie, "you 'tsu datin' or somefin?"
[19:11] <Mizushima_Shizue> "A rehearsal for what?" Shizue asks finally.
[19:14] <@WBL> After all is said and done, Hinoyama turns towards Shizue with a friendly smile. "Hey, sorry for not introducing myself. I'm Nagase, second year. That girl there is Ryuko a-" The redhead is stopped cold by Shizue's comment. The delinquent seems to be as well, sputtering out her juice. "Say what, pipsqueak? That's no way to treat yer elders!" Oh boy she's went and done it now. The 'Needle
[19:14] <@WBL> Princess' rolls back her sleeve and inches in menacingly towards her, only to be stopped seconds before breaking her everything in several pieces by her not-girlfriend. "Not in front of sensei, Ryuko!" "Tch, fine."
[19:15] <@WBL> "But to answer your questions, no, we're not dating. We just go back." "Way, way back."
[19:16] <@WBL> "girls can't love girls anyways what does she even think-" Shizue swears she can hear Kuroda mumble that.
[19:18] <@WBL> "AAAAA-nyways!" Riko-sensei cuts in with a grandiose flourish before any shots are fired or punches are thrown, "Nagase-kun and Ryuko-kun here have volunteere-" "-no I didn't!" "-BOTH OF THEM have volunteered to assist us in the upcoming play of the drama club, which of course needs some background music. Which is great for me, because without them the amount of volunteers would be zero."
[19:18] <Mizushima_Shizue> "Hey, hey, you don't need to explain yourselves to me or anything. It's 2018, y'know? People are cool with that kind of stuff." Shizue talks with such a level of nonchalance that she might sound genuine rather than trying to piss them off. "I've heard a lot 'bout you guys, though. Like I'm meeting legends in the flesh. The tennis ace and the delinquent ace...
[19:18] <Mizushima_Shizue> ...someday I hope to be as great of a delinquent as you are."
[19:18] <@WBL> "I really hope that's one of your black humor jokes, Shizue-kun."
[19:19] <Mizushima_Shizue> Shizue nods sagely at Riko-sensei's comment. "I see. Well, I sure am glad that you've got two volunteers already. Have lo~oads of fun with that, you two~" If she had any glitter she'd toss up in the air.
[19:19] <Mizushima_Shizue> Instead she opens up her bento and digs in. Maybe if she keeps he rmouth full of food they'll stop asking her stupid questions.
[19:27] <@WBL> It doesn't really work. While Nagase and Ryuko-senpai eat (mostly Ryuko, who's tearing at the food almost as fast as Shizue does, forcing sensei to pull out a second bento), the former tries to strike a conversation with her. "Mmm... say, Shizue-chan. Have you heard any good rumors recently?" "Aw, don't- gulp- start with the ghost story -smack- crap again, Nagase! -chew-" "Aaas I was
[19:27] <@WBL> saying... you should know about now, but this town is full of urban legends and strange rumors! They say the ghost of a woman murdered by yakuza wanders the streets, and only shows up in foggy days like this!" Nagase is oddly... fired up about this, her bright blue eyes locked towards Shizue's gaze enough that she feels like she could fall and drown in them if she wasn't careful.
[19:28] <@WBL> "No, Nagase, stop! Stop. You're going to freak her out again. Nagase. Naaagaaaseeeeeeeeeeee... Nagase! Listen to me, dammit! Oh for crying out loud." Ryuko audibly facepalms while Riko-sensei watches on with an amused expression on his face.
[19:31] <Mizushima_Shizue> "Yeah, and did you know that my dad's actually Junji Ito-san?" She stuffs an entire takoyaki into her mouth. "Hey, Nagase, you wanna go through the fog looking for her, just in case? Like a school field trip."
[19:32] <Mizushima_Shizue> She glances at Riko-sensei. "The ghost of a woman murdered by yakuza sounds dangerous. It's only right for us esteem students to care for the safety of the town. Like...volunteering."
[19:34] <@WBL> "But they're not all spooky rumors. People say, that if you call your own number on your phone at exactly midnight, a fairy will grant you a wish! Wouldn't that be nice?" As she says this, Nagase's own phone starts ringing as if summoned. "Well, what timing. Excuse me-" she turns back to answer her call, giving small "uh-huh"s that become more worried every time. "I see. We're on our way.
[19:34] <@WBL> Ryuko, come on." "Eh, me too?" "Of course you too! Come on! Sorry, sensei. Uhh... family emergency. Hey, are you gonna sit there all day or what?" Nagase forcefully pulls the delinquent by the wrist and exits the room completely ignoring Shizue and her snark. They're totally gay for each other. There's nothing wrong with that except how bloody obvious it is.
[19:35] <@WBL> "Well, looks like I'm down to one volunteer." Sensei adds menacingly as soon as they are left alone in the clubroom.
[19:36] <Mizushima_Shizue> "You're volunteering yourself for the show? That's really sweet of you, Riko-sensei." Shizue licks her fingers. "Well, thanks for the lunch. And you know, I think I was a bear in a past life, so do you mind if I hibernate a bit in the back?"
[19:38] <@WBL> Riko-sensei grabs her by the shoulders and shakes his head, a terrible murderous aura coming out of him. "That is not what I meant, Shi-zue-kun~" Shizue screams into the fog, but no one hears her.
[19:39] <@WBL> By the time classes end, Shizue finally manages to slip out after being made to play the violin time and again until her fingers felt like falling off. Good lord, if Riko-sensei wasn't so dreamy, she'd definitely hate him. Making her actually stick in school all day! The nerve...
[19:42] <Mizushima_Shizue> Shizue massages her fingers on the way home, cursing under her breath. At least she didn't have to attend class -- the real reason that she doesn't hate him. If only there were a way that she could quit school permanently without driving her parents off the deep end completely.
[19:43] <Mizushima_Shizue> She wanders home and starts making dinner for her sisters. When she takes out her phone the girls' rumours return to her. Call at midnight and make a wish? Pfft. She's not five years old anymore. That kind of stuff doesn't work.
[19:44] <Mizushima_Shizue> But even if it's silly, she should at least prove it to herself that it doesn't work...right?
[19:45] <Mizushima_Shizue> As expected her father doesn't come home that night, and her mother leaves around nine o'clock for a "night shift"...at the bar. Shizue tucks her sisters into bed and spends the next few hours playing games while waiting for the clock to tick to midnight.
[19:45] <@WBL> Other thing that she notices when she takes out her phone is a message from Murasaki-chan. She doesn't want to open it just from its title, the thing she hates the most in the world. "Homework".
[19:46] <@WBL> "Hey Shizue Edo-sensei assigned us as a team I'm fine covering you but please chip in a little"
[19:46] <@WBL> Oh hey, it's almost midnight who would've thought.
[19:47] <Mizushima_Shizue> "Gimme a break," she moans out loud. Still, she sends Murasaki a quick text: /I can tell him to fail me and pass you. Or just throw the homework in my direction. I'll get it done. Sorry that it'll be mediocre though./
[19:47] <Mizushima_Shizue> When she's finished sending the text she notices it's 23:59.
[19:48] <Mizushima_Shizue> "Are you really doing this, Shizue?" She sighs and finds herself typing in her own number. "You're so desperate you want to believe in half-baked school rumours, huh? Maybe next you'll believe in the toilet ghost too."
[19:48] <Mizushima_Shizue> As the clock strikes midnight she hits call.
[19:51] <@WBL> The call lingers for several seconds, Shizue's heart beating in trepidation despite herself until, against all odds, someone picks up. "Mizushima Shizue", a tinny, male voice comes out from the speaker. That's definitely not how she expected a fairy to sound like. And it knows her name. "What is the meaning of your call?"
[19:52] <Mizushima_Shizue> "Oh my God. Did what's-her-face slip me some drugs in those cookies?" Shizue bursts out laughing. "Well, gee, some girls told me that if I call myself at midnight -- in whatever timezone -- I get to make a wish. Right? Is this free or is it in sixteen easypayments of 199.95?"
[19:54] <@WBL> The 'fairy' on the other side remains silent. Eerily silent. Deathly silent. "What do you wish for?" it then speaks, its voice as abrupt as its silence.
[19:55] <Mizushima_Shizue> "Uh...are there any limitations on this? Y'know, can't make poeple fall in love, can't bring people back from the dead, that sort of stuff?"
[19:57] <@WBL> "Yes."
[19:57] <@WBL> "What is your wish?"
[20:00] <Mizushima_Shizue> "...Uh. Uh. Well. I guess I wish that I could get out of -- that I could get out of any responsibility when I want to. No, uh, that I would be...that I could be successful somehow without it being academic? I...I don't know. I guess I want to run away, but like -- for no one to remember me. You know like, make it so I'd never been born. Or for my family n fri
[20:00] <Mizushima_Shizue> ends to not know who I was...I...I don't know."
[20:02] <Mizushima_Shizue> "Heh, I guess that's what I want most. A world without responsibility, so that no one knows me. If I live or die, it's on me, right? So I could just run away. That's what I want."
[20:02] <Mizushima_Shizue> "Where no one expects anything of me. Where I can just do what I want and not see everyone's disappointed eyes."
[20:03] <Mizushima_Shizue> "You guys got something like that in the catalogue or should I wish for a lifetime supply of red bean paste?"
[20:06] <@WBL> "...Very well. Your wish can be granted, but there is something you must do in exchange." Of COURSE there's always a catch, Shizue thinks. "You must make a contract, and become a magical girl."
[20:06] <Mizushima_Shizue> "A wh-wh...a what?"
[20:08] <@WBL> "You must make a contract, and become a magical girl."
[20:08] <Mizushima_Shizue> "This is a joke, right? What do you mean, become a magical girl?"
[20:13] <@WBL> "It means exactly what it means. Become a magical girl."
[20:15] <Mizushima_Shizue> "Uh...sure. Goro-chan, I swear that if you're pulling a prank on me, I'll bust all of the DDR machines in Ikuhara. Or, Riko-sensei, if that's you, I'm skipping town. But, 'kay, whatever. I'll become a magical girl. Just as long as I don't have to go into any candy vans, all right?"
[20:19] <Mizushima_Shizue> If this turns out to be some kind of prank and she's being recorded to become the laughing stock of the school, at least she'll finally have an excuse to take the next train to who-gives-a-fuck-kyo.
[20:21] <@WBL> "Understood. Now that you have accepted the contract, it is time to move to extraction. Hold the device in front of your face for approximately five seconds." An ominous statement if there ever was one.
[20:24] <Mizushima_Shizue> "Extraction, huh? Okay-dokay." She sets the volume to one click above mute and dims the screen to the lowest setting in case of a screamer. And covers up the camera with her thumb in case they're intend on taking a picture for a prank. Then she follows the instructions, positioning it in front of her face. "Do your worst, buddy."
[20:26] <@WBL> "Proceeding to extraction. You might feel a momentary discomfort." The fairy's voice lowers a couple decibels, taking a warped, clinical tone as it speaks that last sentence, then Shizue's cellphone explodes into a writhing mass of silvery sharp, bladed, whirring nightmare devices, a terrifying mix between a dentist's office and a torture suite, all lunging towards her chest.
[20:26] <@WBL> And then all she knew was pain.
[20:28] <Mizushima_Shizue> Just before the pain hits her, she thinks that the cookies really were poisoned. Good though. To finally have an excuse to stop giving a shit. And then she dissolves into agony, and it's all she can do not to scream.
[20:31] <@WBL> The devices latch onto her body and rip a hole in her chest, but instead of blood and guts coming out, her body seems to fray like a torn cloth, leaving strings of technicolor stuff. The center stalk of the device lunges inside her chest and pulls out holding a strange accessory with a gemstone of some description embedded in it, the rest of the murderous tools retreating with it. The
[20:31] <@WBL> fairy's voice sounds from her phone, which looks like it never turned into a bladed hell. "That is your Anima Core, the physical proof of the contract. It cannot be lost or stolen, and destroying it by mundane means is close to impossible. Protect it with your life nevertheless."
[20:34] <Mizushima_Shizue> Well, if she's trippin' balls, she might as well be trippin' really ornate, shiny green gemstones, right? "Uh-huh. Sure. Animal Core. Sounds...fun." She's speaking distantly, swaying on her feet, as though she were a puppet on strings, the pain having washed away her thought processes.
[20:34] <Mizushima_Shizue> " So does this turn me into a furry or something? I guess that's one way of killing respons...responsibi...ility...haha...what the fuck just...happened."
[20:36] <Mizushima_Shizue> She looks at the accessory. A dull green...it's almost like a cloth, but not made of actual fabric. The technicolor threads she saw earlier, woven into something that reminds her more of liquid than anything else despite the firmness. Almost instinctually she can tell it's meant to be tied around her neck, with the emerald-coloured gem at her mouth.
[20:38] <Mizushima_Shizue> She puts her phone under the heaviest textbooks she can manage and eyes it from there. "Did that just, uh, happen? What do I do now? I don't...I don't get it. I thought I was being torn apart, but I'm...haa...I'm fine. Like nothing ever happened."
[20:39] <@WBL> Her reverie is broken by the sound of a ticking clock resounding in her ears. Loudly. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Looking for the source of the sound, she looks out the window... and sees the gears.
[20:40] <@WBL> Completely MASSIVE gearworks dotting the sky, blocking the moonlight partially, grinding relentlessly as if the world itself was a giant clock.
[20:43] <Mizushima_Shizue> "Ha ha. Ha ha. Ha...no." She attempts to draw the curtains over the window but the ticking reverbs in her mind.
[20:45] <@WBL> "...zushima Shizue. Mizu... ..zue." She can barely hear it over the sound of the gears and the like, million bajillion books she put over it, but the fairy is still speaking over the phone, calling out for her.
[20:45] <Mizushima_Shizue> She opens the curtains again. The gears are still there. She opens and closes the curtains a few times but the gears refuse to vanish.
[20:46] <Mizushima_Shizue> With a grunt of frustration Shizue removes most of the books but one and puts her ear against it. "Okay, buddy, what's going on out there?"
[20:47] <@WBL> "Mizushima Shizue." The fairy drones on and on her name like a scratched record. "There you are. What you are seeing right now are the Gears - they keep reality working as intended."
[20:47] <Mizushima_Shizue> "Oh, jeez, so Ptolemy was right? I should've paid more attention in history class."
[20:48] <Mizushima_Shizue> "So, uh, what, has the balance of good and evil been upset, and if the magical girls don't fix it, time's gonna unwind?" She tries to laugh casually but she can't keep the fear from her voice.
[20:51] <@WBL> "...Correct but not quite. You have been contracted as a magical girl for the purpose of finding and eliminating rogue beings that threaten the correct operation of the universe. Chaos Beasts. Humans cannot perceive them, let alone fight them. As such, forming a contract is necessary. As for the wish, it shall be granted once you defeat enough Chaos Beasts to collect 10 objects that they
[20:51] <@WBL> leave behind designated Darkness Seeds. However, as per the nature of your wish, an 'advance payment' has been authorized. Its effects should become apparent soon. You will be contacted again at a later date."
[20:51] <@WBL> The call hangs up, and then there is only the sound of the Gears, which never seems to go away. Never.
[20:52] <@WBL> Never.
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[20:55] <Mizushima_Shizue> Shizue closes the curtains again and tries to dial the number again, but (presumably) it doesn't work as intended. She checks on her sisters, checks on the house, but everything is as it was before, with the exception of the -- the 'Anima Core' -- she's still holding.
[20:55] <Mizushima_Shizue> She lies down on the bed and tries to go to sleep, but the ticking of the gears throbs at the base of her skull.
02[21:49] * @WBL (~WBL@E3142C94.A463EC88.7E8214BB.IP) Quit
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[22:00] <WBL> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[22:05] <WBL> October 29th, 2018. It's a cold autumn morning in the Naka... in Haruko's house. There is no one else there anymore. She wakes up alone and cold and ALONE in her room, surrounded by dust bunnies and thrown clothes and a beeping alarm clock that shows 7AM. She's going to be late for school, not that there's anyone who would chide her for that.
[22:08] <Nakano_Haruko> Haruko tries desperately to not acknowledge the world around her for about five minutes in a typical display of laziness before getting up and getting dressed in a half-rush mostly out of habit. She'll be late anyway, but being hurried is practically second nature to her.
[22:09] <Nakano_Haruko> Out of habit she opens the fridge only to realize after she's opened it that there's still no food in there, same as last night and the night before. She'd drop by the convenience store to get some food if she had any money, but she doesn't, so she won't. She gathers her things and prepares to leave, stomach quietly protesting.
[22:10] <WBL> Haruko stumbles out with figurative toast in her mouth (there is no toast), half-expecting to run into someone like in her anime. The only thing she runs into is fog. Lots of fog. Layers and layers of it. She can barely see beyond arm's lenght. Feels oddly symbolic.
[22:11] <Nakano_Haruko> How decidedly inconvenient. At least she knows the rough way the roads are supposed to go, but stumbling around in the fog is disconcerting. Still, Haruko does her best to generally wander in the direction of school without getting too lost.
[22:14] <WBL> She does, getting by memory mostly fine, particularly because there is no one to run into during her journey through the cold mist. She accidentally wanders off the sidewalk and onto the open road once... but there's no cars. No nothing. Not even any sound except the faint sound of swaying tree leaves. For a moment even that goes away and everything becomes silent. Eerily silent. Dreadfully
[22:14] <WBL> silent.
[22:14] <WBL> Haruko feels like she's in a horror movie, moments before the monster lunges out at the defenseless pretty heroine from the dark. But she is not a pretty heroine so that doesn't happen.
[22:14] <WBL> Nothing happens.
[22:15] <Nakano_Haruko> That doesn't stop Haruko from checking over her shoulder ever few minutes and holding her things closer to her, of course. It's pretty eerie.
[22:18] <WBL> Thankfully for her the trip is short and she emerges out from the fog conveniently near the school gates, although she is certain she felt someone staring. But there was no one there and even if there was they wouldn't want to stare at a plain(ly ugly) girl like her anyways. She quick-checks her phone. 7:59. If she sprints, she might reach the classroom before Ichiyanagi bitches her ear
[22:18] <WBL> off.
[22:19] <Nakano_Haruko> Well... best not to be too late if possible. Haruko re-pockets her (extremely brightly decorated) phone and takes off at a decent clip while hoping to not run into anyone anime-style. She'd probably just get knocked out even if she did anyway.
[22:26] <WBL> She does anyways, smacking right into the back of a gigantic man-shaped lump of meat and angry, who turns around when hit glaring at her with anger and meatness... no wait that's not right. Either way, she knows this lunkhead, sort of. Inukai Motoharu, one of the ne'er-do-wells that hangs around her stepsister Suzu and her street gang, self-declared "Mad Dog of Akanomori", but mostly
[22:26] <WBL> known by others as simply "Motoharu the yankii" or "Doggy-kun". Inukai gives Haruko a once-over then instantly calms down, scratching his head in embarrassment. "Oh, it's you, Tomoko. You runnin' late to class? I was headin' there anyways so, c'mere." Before she can say anything she's grabbed by the wrist and pulled through the hallways at breakneck speeds.
[22:26] <WBL> She's still late.
[22:26] <Nakano_Haruko> So it goes.
[22:26] <Nakano_Haruko> She does her best to hold onto all of her supplies, but she still loses her cute bunny eraser in the rush.
[22:27] <Nakano_Haruko> Haruko would probably have asked him to slow down if they weren't in such a hurry, but at the speed she's being dragged she couldn't really ask anyway.
[22:29] <WBL> The classroom door opens, Inukai entering class in front of her. Meanwhile, Suzu is talking about trivial nonsense with the class rep, Ichiyanagi Hokuto. She's probably giving her another speech on delinquency and whatnot. "So, as I was saying, Nakano, I- Excuse me for a moment, please." She turns around to face the delinquent guy with a crossed vein of anger clearly visible on her
[22:29] <WBL> (prominent) forehead. "Inukai Motoharu! Late again! I swear, this is going to be a mark on your -permanent- record!" "Aw, shut it, iinchou! Like anyone cares abo-" the two of them start bickering like an old married couple, conveniently ignoring the other tardy student.
[22:30] <Nakano_Haruko> Haruko shrinks back for a moment under the (probably correct) assumption that she's about to be yelled at, but with uncharacteristic luck someone else is taking the fall for her for once! Carefully she slinks away to her seat in the back-middle of the room, waving to her half-sister as she goes.
06[22:32] * Nakano_Suzu sees her half-sister out of the corner of her eye, and throws her a wink and a smile. Then she gets back to arms-crossed, oh-so-bored looks at the class rep. It was too easy to get her mad, and too fun, as well.
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