[Date: Tuesday, January 22. Time: 2:50 P.M.] [Weather: Cold, light snowfall. Nothing that's a pain to try to walk through, though.] [We find Katie sitting in her last class as the school bell rings.] [Session Start] * Katie finishes taking notes and starts packing books away. * Katie grabs her satchel and heads for her locker. [Taki and Shingo arrive at the locker shortly] * Shingo walks up slowly, taking care not to make any overly enthusiastic movements. * Katie waves at Taki and Shingo, then goes back to switching books out for other ones. Hi Katie! How goes everything today? Ready to go see Kyon? Pretty good. And yup. * Katie shuts her locker and shoulders the satchel. "Either of you know where he usually is about now?" [Chikako darts by, thrusting a copy of the school newspaper into Taki's arms as she does so. "Higuysheresyourpaperreallybusygottarunitssocoolby!"] * Katie blinks. "Bye Chikako." * Taki blinks "hibyeChikako!" ...that was unusual. Maybe she should switch to decaf. That was most usual. ::unfolds the paper:: Probibly praticing with the team or something. ::scans the front page:: The team? It's winter. Not in season. Oh yeah! What do athleats do when it's not playing season anyway? * Katie shrugs. [Today's paper is mostly reports on sports matches and a fashion column. Most notably, more info on the soccer league, and how the school's hockey team is complaining about no other teams in Japan to play against. One article (written by Chikako, in fact) stands out, reporting about a large stash of drugs found on a student at Seiryuu Girl's High yesterday.] Beats me. * Shingo starts off toward the student council office. * Katie walks after Shingo, grabbing Taki by the arm as she goes. "He's leaving us behind again." * Taki looks at the drug article "Why do people go around making the world stranger? It's strange eno...Shingo!" * Katie blinks at Taki. Stranger? * Taki points to the article. [Saki, Eriko, and Ryuji pass the trio on their way down the stairs. They ignore the group, and head for the front door.] * Katie takes the paper and skims the article as she walks, pretending to ignore Saki and company. "Huh. More drugs." * Shingo continues on to the student council office. Bet that's what Chikako's so busy about. * Katie gives the paper back. [The article says that police think the student may be a dealer, but she refuses to admit to it.] * Taki takes the paper. "You're probibly right. I hope she doesn't do anything that'll get her in trouble..." Hope not. [They get to the Student Council Office!] * Shingo knocks on the door. ["Yes?"] * Shingo pushes the door open. [Shingo sees six students sitting around a rectangular table. One is most deffinately Kyon Sorata.] * Katie peeks in. * Taki looks in over Shingos shoulder. Kyon Sorata? We need to speak with you, please. * Kyon looks irritably towards the door. He's sitting at the far end of the room, and even sitting down, looks tall. His hair is dark orange, and is fashionably cut to hang over his forehead. He glares at the threesome with his dark red and brown eyes. "Now? Who are you people?" * Shingo walks into the room, bends over toward Kyon, and whispers, "The eight of cups sent us." * Kyon looks levelly at Shingo, unimpressed. "Yeah? That's very nice. But I'm in a meeting. We've got very important matters to discuss here, too." [The other students murmer and nod in agreement.] When can we speak with you? * Kyon looks around the table, and sighs. "You really need to talk with me?" Yes. I think it can wait untill they're done though. * Kyon looks at the president. "How long do you think this will take to get through?" * Katie glances at Taki, but keeps her mouth shut. [The president responds. "Oh... maybe half an hour or so."] * Kyon nods curtly. "Fine. 3:45, Tokyo Tower, south entrance." * Shingo nods. As you like. * Katie blinks, then nods. * Shingo turns and exits. Thankyou. ::bows out:: * Katie closes the door after Shingo once he leaves. * Kyon returns to the matter at hand. "Now then, I think we should allot more money for equipment to the sports teams in the upcoming year." * Shingo heads for Tokyo Tower, clad in his threadbare jacket and bearing his bokken. * Katie looks at Shingo, then Taki. "Tokyo Tower, then." She heads for her locker and grabs her jacket on the way out. * Taki goes to her locker and grabs a jacket, and the books she thinks she needs for homework. Then she spends more time chasing down the errant knight. [Time: 3:20. The group makes it outside Tokyo Tower.] * Katie looks around. Hey, Shingo. What did you whisper to Kyon back then? * Shingo goes to the south entrance and waits patiently. * Katie waits for Shingo to answer. I told him that the eight of cups sent us. * Katie blinks, then grins. Direct and to the point, that's Shingo all over. Kind of risky, but yeah. * Katie checks the time and the snowfall. Also marks of Shingo. [Time: 3:25. Snowfall: Light] I always know what I'm doing. I'm sure you do. It'd be nice to be like that...::idly starts making a snowball:: * Katie opens her satchel and fishes through it a bit, finds a small notebook and a pencil, and glances around. "Hm. Maybe no birds this time." * Katie begins a very rough sketch of Taki making a snowball. "" she murmurs to herself. "" * Taki concintrates on making the ball as close to perfectly round as she can. * Taki gets a wide grin on her face as she finishes and starts looking around for a good target. * Katie continues sketching, looking up at Taki for reference every once in a while. [Time: 3:40] [Time: 3:45] * Taki wanders back from the snowball fight she was having with some little kids. "Has he shown up yet?" No. [Time: 3:50] * Katie glances at Taki, then erases some lines. "You have snow in your hair." Hm? A couple of thoes kids have realy good arms. ^_^ * Katie giggles. * Taki tries to brush off the snow with one of her hands. * Katie checks the time, then hmms at her drawing. "I need to work on people some more, I think." She shuts the notebook and puts it away. Did I get it all? No. On your bangs, Taki. [Time: 3:55] Ahh, thanks! * Kyon turns the corner on his motorcycle, and stops in front of the tower. He's wearing a dark ash colored leather jacket, and an ash colored helmet trimmed with dark orange. A sword is sheathed on the back of the cycle. * Katie notices the cyclist, notices the sword, and frowns. * Katie tucks her pencil away. * Shingo remains standing where he is. * Taki removes the snow from her head. * Kyon moves the cycle up the curb next to a bike rack, locks it down, and smoothly hops off, surveying the scene from behind his helmet. * Katie tilts her head and watches the cyclist. Hello again, sorry for barging in on your meeting like that. * Kyon removes his helmet and attaches it to the bike before turning to the group. As he walks towards them, he says, "Hey. Are you really silly enough to stand outside in the snow for fifteen minutes?" Yes. The kids enjoyed the snowballs. * Katie chuckles. * Kyon shakes his head. "Snowball fight? Give me a break. Well, if I'm going to waste time talking, I'm not going to do it cold and wet. Inside." * Shingo pulls the door open and holds it. * Kyon gestures for the girls to go ahead. * Katie eyes Kyon, then turns and enters the tower. * Taki gives Kyon a smile and walks in. * Kyon keeps an eye on Shingo as he passes him and goes inside. * Shingo walks inside after Kyon. [Inside, the group sees a small lounge area, with offices to the sides. In the back is an elevator.] * Kyon walks over to the lounge, and sits up in a windowsill. * Shingo leans against a wall near Kyon. * Katie rubs snowflakes out of her hair as she walks over and takes a seat on one of the chairs. * Taki follows Kyon and drags a chair near the window. * Kyon surveys the group with a small sneer on his face. "So. You were sent to me. Who are you?" I'm Katie Andrews. This is Shingo Ryuuzaki and Taki Shimeru. * Katie indicates each of her friends in turn. "We were told you could help us." * Taki bows slightly in her chair at the mention of her name. * Kyon nods perfunctorily. "Right, Kyon Sorata. But you knew that, I'm sure." He lowers his voice slightly. "Now, who are you?" * Katie looks over at Kyon. That's the problem. We don't know. * Kyon looks at the three incredulously. "You don't know." Not a single, solitary clue. Not entirely true. Well, except that Saki seems to think we taste good. * Katie nods. "We have clues. But no real answers." We know that we are 'one of us' where 'us' includes the young man who identified himself as the 'Eight of Cups' And that. * Kyon rolls his eyes and hops up. "Look, if you want to play around, that's fine, but don't pretend not to know. I don't need to get caught in a scheme." * Katie glares at Kyon. "Why would we lie?" * Kyon chuckles lowly. "Why. Haven't been at this long, have you?" No, no we haven't. A few days, actually. If you mean people trying to kill me, no. * Kyon hesitates slightly. "You said the Eight of Cups sent you. Why?" Because he won't tell us himself. He told me... * Katie thinks, then drops her voice into a semi-reasonable impersonation of Reiji's, "'You are Sakuragaoka students, so it is only fitting that you start there.'" * Kyon stands back up straight. "Bastard. He dumped fledglings on me. Like I need that now." He hops back into the window. "'Fledgling what?' I think is the next question." * Katie opens her mouth, pauses, and sighs, muttering something in English to herself. * Kyon narrows his eyes and looks at Katie closely. "You really know nothing?" * Katie shakes her head. All right. Simply put, you are Arcana. Welcome to the playing field. It's an ugly place to be just now. * Katie blinks. * Shingo blinks. Arcana? I don't understand. Not exactly. I don't understand at all so I think that puts you one up on me. * Kyon shrugs. "Or maybe you're nothing, but from what you've said, and considering the Eight sent you, you probably are. One easy way to check." What's that? * Kyon reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small box with some faded pictures on it. He gestures for them to come to the window. * Taki stands up and walks over to the widow. * Shingo steps over from the wall. * Katie gets up and walks to the rest of the group. * Kyon slides a set of tarot cards out of the box, and hands them to Taki. "Shuffle them, and give them to me." * Katie peeks at the cards. "Tarot? Figures." Uhm...ok. ::shuffles the card and shows her lack of cardsharking skills, she does manage not to drop any of them.:: * Kyon looks at Katie. "What, Arcana made you think baseball cards?" * Taki hands them back to Kyon. * Katie snerks at that. "Did I say it did?" * Kyon holds them out in a fan, backs to Taki. "Pick one." * Taki tilts her head and pulls one from near center. Show it to me. * Taki holds the card up for Kyon to see. [The card is the Knight of Cups.] What next? Knight of Cups. That's you. Realy? ::turns the card around so she can get a better look at it:: * Kyon rolls his eyes. "Really. You're the Knight of Cups. Congratulations. Next?" * Katie blinks and looks from Kyon to Taki and back. * Taki hands Kyon the card back and looks thoughfull. Do I need to shuffle them again? If you're next, yes. * Kyon hands the cards to Shingo. * Shingo shuffles easily and hand the cards back. * Kyon fans them. "Pick one." * Shingo picks a random card. * Kyon sounds bored. "Show it to me." * Shingo holds it up. [Shingo draws the Knight of Swords.] * Kyon nods. "Knight of Swords. That's you." Mmm. * Shingo steps back. * Katie holds her hand out for the deck. "I'm last, I guess." Hey. Give me the card back, kid. I need it for the last one. * Shingo tosses it back. * Kyon catches it, and presents the cards to Katie. So we're both knights...I wonder if Katie is one too? * Katie takes them and shuffles thoughtfully, doing a halfway decent job. She hands them back. * Kyon takes them and fans them, backs to Katie. * Katie bites her lip and chooses a card. OK, you know the drill. * Katie nods and flips the card over. [Katie chose the Page of Sword.] Page of Swords. That's you. Page of Swords? What does that mean? It means you're the Page of Swords. * Katie turns the card over and slips it back into the deck Kyon's holding. Yes, but what does it mean to be the Page of Swords? I need to read up on the tarot. Among other things, it probably means you're a very curious person who thinks a lot about things. Probably knows a lot. * Taki nods. * Katie blinks. "I... guess that's right." * Kyon leans back and looks at the window towards his bike. "The cards don't lie, kid." Maybe not. But this is more than a... You mind telling us what we've gotten ourselves into? * Katie frowns as she tries to remember the word. "Personality test, isn't it?" * Kyon favors Katie with a hard smile. "Oh, much more." * Katie doesn't smile back. "Then why don't you share." * Kyon eyes the three oddly. "It's surprising. You just accepted it, didn't you?" * Shingo shrugs. It fits the evidence at hand. Yes. It seems right. * Kyon looks out the window again at the snow, smirking slightly. "Sure, it does. Anyway, I'm the Queen of Wands. You want to take my word for it, or should I show you?" Your word is fine. * Shingo shrugs. I've no reason to disbelieve you. For now. If you say so. Wait... is a female ruler right? * Katie grins at Taki and nods. Yes, but a page is generally male. * Kyon turns and glares at Taki. "You really, really do not want to go there, knight." The sexual orientation of the cards does not seem to factor into the sex of the... avatar? * Taki shrugs. "Then I won't. If we can have a girl as mans card, why not a man as a womans?" * Kyon nods. "Right. It doesn't matter at all. Male or female on the card, it doesn't change anything." * Katie works on following the conversation. "Avatar?" She thinks, trying to translate that into English. They physical manifestation of a higher being or concept. * Kyon hops down from the window again. "Right. Good of you to figure that out." * Taki nods at Shingo. So the Arcana each... represent? a tarot card. And this representation is magical in nature. * Kyon sighs impatiently. "Yes, you're all magical, and you all have a card." Now, what have we gotten ourselves into, o Queen? * Taki looks expectantly at Kyon. * Kyon glares at Shingo. "I really don't have time to play with you kids, but it's probably easiest to show you." He walks across the lounge towards the elevators. * Katie snorts and walks back to the chair. She grabs her satchel, then follows Kyon. * Shingo follows. Ahh, more chasing after people. ::walks:: * Kyon waits at the elevator, and presses the down button. * Taki blinks. [The elevator moves. You think it's down, but you're not quite sure.] * Katie glances around. * Kyon stands in the corner. "You're in for quite the ride." I'm sure. I didn't know Tokyo Tower had a down. What else is new. [After a few minutes, it opens up again on the first floor of Tokyo Tower. Except nobody is around. Oh, and the entire world seen through the windows has been turned completely upside down] * Katie stares. * Taki boggles. * Kyon steps out and gestures grandly. "Welcome to your new world." * Shingo quirks an eyebrow. Interesting effect. * Shingo steps out. * Katie steps out and looks around. "" * Taki makes her way to a window and looks up..er down...at the ground. * Kyon walks to the lounge and sits in the window again. "It's definitely a thrilling view." * Taki mutters to herself, "If I ask how they stay up there he's going to say magic or something." * Katie walks around in a kind of daze. Magic is just a way of explaining something you're not equipped to understand. You wouldn't happen to be equiped to help me understand this would you? Not at all. Drat. * Kyon smirks. "You need to ask the right people." * Katie shakes her head, then walks over to her old seat and sits down. This is so strange. I have to read up on Tarot Cards. Allright then, will you explain? * Kyon sighs. "It's very simple. You know what the Tower does?" 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katie (2d6-2) and gets 4. [Session End]