[Day: Thursday, April 7th. Time: 4:45 p.m.] [Weather: Drizzling and cool.] [Haruko and Taki arrive at a small cafe. Johnny's Cafe. The guy who runs it isn't Johnny, it's Hiroki Ashita, some middle aged businessman. If you asked him, he'd tell you he called the cafe Johnny's to give it an American feel, but in fact no American has ever worked there. Remi is sitting alone at one of the small, two-people tables.] [Session Start! Also.] * Haruko glances to Taki as she sees Remi's table. "I'll check if she minds the company first. I don't think she will." * Taki nods at Haruko, "Right." * Haruko walks over to Remi, looking her over to see if she's as in as bad of a state as she sounded on the phone. * Taki waits by the door and for the record stopped by her apartment on the way back and changed out of her school uniform and into a pair of jeans and an oversized sweatshirt. She left her backpack there as well. * Haruko is wearing jeans and fairly casual blouse that's white with blue edges. * Haruko does have a large purse/small tote bag with her. [Remi looks depressed, although not as bad as she sounded on the phone. Maybe she's faking it. She has a cup of tea, and is staring into it aimlessly. ] * Haruko smiles tenatively but doesn't try to hide a note of concern in her voice. "Hi Remi." [Remi looks up. "Hi."] I was with Taki when I got your message, I thought you might want to talk to her too. But if you'd prefer it just be us I don't think she'll mind. [Remi blinks. She mumbles, "Uh... I guess..." And looks around Haruko to see Taki.] * Taki gives a little wave at Remi when she notices the look. * Haruko bites her lip for a second and then nods. She signals a waiter to ask for a table for three. * Haruko also waves for Taki to come over. * Taki nods at Haruko and walks over, when she reaches Remi's table she gives a small and polite bow, "Hello Remi, it has been a while." [Remi gets up. By the way, she's wearing a red sweater and a short skirt. Nothing special. "Hi. Umm... Kaede doesn't know you're here, does he?"] Uhm... Katie probibly told him... (Have I mentioned lately that Taki's an idiot?) * Haruko nods. "I'd mentioned where I was going this afternoon. Is that a problem?" ["Oh." Remi looks down a bit, then shakes her head. "No, I guess not..."] (Oh, can we get a bigger table Brett? :P) (Not in the past few days no, but that's because we've been avoiding each other. :P) [What do you think this is, a restaurant? Get your own table!] * Haruko pulls up a chair for Taki and then sits down. She doesn't hide the concern at all now. "What's wrong?" * Taki drags the chair over a bit and then sits down at the edge of the table, slightly closer to Haruko, but facing Remi. [Remi sits back down. "I..." she starts, then her voice kind of cracks. "I don't know. Something's wrong with me."] * Haruko puts an arm up on the table. "I'm hear to listen if you want to talk it out." * Taki nods, "We're worried about you." "I feel like I haven't been acting like myself. For a long time. So long I don't even remember what I was like before." * Taki swallows and then nods. * Haruko nods. "That must be terrifying." She nods. "It's gotten so bad, I can't even sleep right anymore." Do you know who and what you want to be? * Taki looks twords Remi, but not at her. [She shakes her head, then rubs it.] * Taki still isn't looking directly at Remi, "Do you... Do you at least have a a guess as to who you want to be?" * Haruko looks ready to speak, but doesn't interrupt Taki. [Remi shakes her head.] Well, I'll be here for you while you try to figure it out. It's not an easy question to answer, but you don't have to face it alone. * Taki looks down at the table for a bit, "I... I..." * Taki looks up and at Remi, and then blurts out, "Don't be afraid to guess wrong." * Haruko had shot a quick look of slight concern when Taki stuttered but seems rather relieved at what she eventually said. She then wholy focuses her attention on Remi. [Remi shakes her head. "I can't sleep anymore. I keep having these nightmares... they're driving me crazy!"] * Haruko looks worried. "What happens, are they about a past incarnation?" * Taki clenches her hands under the table, and looks like she's about to speak when Haruko speaks up. "Ummm... I don't know..." * Haruko nods. "Okay, then just say what you do know. It's okay if it doesn't really make sense." Do... * Taki falls silent. [Remi shivers. "I'm doing something at this mansion... sneaking for some reason. I'm not sure why, but it has something to do with the owner."] * Haruko nods and looks more concerned. "Have you been having any gaps in your memory or blackouts?" [She shakes her head. "No... But my hand hurts sometimes."] The one that... I... sorry. (Taki cut Remi's hand off!) (Taki is Remi's father!) (Nooooooo!) (Oh GOD NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!) (Tim is bad enough by himself, he doesn't need Remi as a sibling. @_@) * Haruko looks thoughtful for the moment and awaits Remi's response. [Remi continues. "In my dream, I'm fighting in a bamboo forest. I have a sword, and I can cover it in frost."] * Haruko nods. "That might be a past incarnation then, go on." * Taki nods slightly. ["I'm fighting a woman. She looks like a foreigner, except her eyes. She's also got a sword. I keep thinking I should win. I have better training and better powers."] Her eyes? * Haruko nods and she surpresses a comment. She nods. "Her eyes were Japanese, but everything else... even her hair was blond." Odd.. I take it the fight doesn't go well? [Remi clutches herself. "She parried one of my attacks and rammed me head first into a tree. Then she knocked me down and stomped on my ribs until a few cracked."] [She shivers. "Then she picked up my sword and drove it through my hand into the ground, all the way to the hilt. And just walked away like I wasn't worthy to be killed by her."] * Haruko tenatively reaches out to put a hand on Remi's. "That's horrible." Tha... That's not you anymore. I... I am not Yoshiko. Y...you arn't the same person that happened to. * Haruko lets gives an encouraging nod to Taki. [She looks at Taki. "Then why does my hand hurt! It's supposed to be fixed, right?! Why does it still hurt?"] Is... is it the same hand that got... * Taki pauses to swallow, "cut off?" * Haruko bites her lip for a moment. [Remi nods.] ...The...then... * Haruko tilts her head slightly. "I don't know. I had my stomach sliced open, but it hasn't hurt again." * Taki brings one of her hands up and brushes her bangs back over her ears so Remi can see the scars on her face, "Y... Sa... Saki clawed out m... Yoshiko's eye. I still have both. I am not Yoshiko." Remi looks down. "Then it's just me." * Taki shakes her head, "I..they're... similar things... but not the same. Your hands and our faces I mean. We arn't the same as we ... we're ourselves." "Does your eye hurt?" * Haruko keeps a hand on Remi's shoulder but doesn't interrupt. * Taki shakes her head slightly, "My ... the scares ache and itch sometimes... And I get headaches ... but.... it never hurts like it did then... But what happened to your hand... was so much worse than ... than what happened to me." "I feel a searing pain when I wake up, or sometimes I feel nothing and have to check to make sure it's still there." * Haruko nods. "There's an Arcana that has some psychological training. If it's a nerve thing or the like he might be able to help." * Taki winces and puts a hand around her watch, rubbing it lightly. "There is?" * Haruko nods. "Masaru Uehara. He's weird, but he's a good guy. I'll get his information to you, or can try to get him to call you if you prefer." He... helped Katie. * Haruko nods at that. ["Um... I don't know..."] * Haruko smiles slightly. "How about we go to see him together. If you don't like him, you don't have to stay." "I guess... we could..." * Taki lookes at Haruko and nods slightly, "Tha... that sounds like a good idea." * Haruko nods and squeezes Remi's shoulder lightly. "At worst, he's slightly pretentious and confusing. But I'm pretentious and confusing and you're willing to tolerate me." * Haruko smiles at the end of that and tries to make eye contact with Remi. [Remi changes the subject! "How has Kaede been?"] * Taki looks up and then brushes her hair forward again. * Haruko lets go of Remi's shoulder. "Not all that different from usual. Very angry at me. But I think he's adapting to the Arcana thing." "Oh." Is there something you want to talk about? He needn't hear. [Remi shakes her head. "Did he mention anything about me?"] * Haruko sighs for a moment she then looks right at Remi's eyes. "I'm sorry. He's doesn't wish you ill, but he isn't looking to date you." * Taki started to say something but let it die after stuttering a few times. [Remi looks down. "Of course he isn't." She gets up and leaves some money on the table. "I'm going to go, I think. I've got some homework to do. Thanks for coming." [She heads out!] * Taki watches her go and then calls out after her, "Good luck!" * Haruko tags after Remi for a moment. "I'd like to talk to you more. But it doesn't have to be today." [She nods as she goes.] * Haruko keeps up for a moment more and tries to give Remi a hug. * Taki is still sitting at the table watching. * Haruko is not quite quick enough and sighs and walks back to the table. She sighs. "I hate love." * Taki slumps across the table, "blaaaah." * Haruko sits down. "Could have kept her longer, but it'd be too cruel to let her hope." She gets out her cell phone. * Haruko then sends a text message to Satoshi. Done here. Went as well as to be expected. Sumire up for concert? * Taki lifts her head far enough to nod and say, "Know how she feels" before resting it on the table again. * Haruko gives Taki a hug. "You helped her today I think. If only a little." * Taki sighs, "...Not knowing who you are... Thanks Haruko." * Haruko nods and leans back. "So, I doubt we can get over there in time. Want anything to drink?" * Taki sits up, "We could, but ... I'd rather not... Uhm... just some juice, please." * Haruko nods. "Save your energy." She goes and gets a Juice and presuming they aren't willing to give her booze, some tea. * Haruko brings them back to the table. "If you want to talk about that, I'm here. So Satoshi I'd bet." * Haruko glances at her phone when it beeps. "And they're doing alright." She messages back. Thanks! Would be cool, but okay if you don't get a chance. * Taki gives Haruko a weak grin, "Nah, I'm pretty sure I know who I am now... what I want to know is what happend the past couple of weeks. Everythings kinda blurry. I remember some big important things, but well..." (So is Satoshi) * Taki takes her juice and sips. * Haruko takes a sip of tea. "Well, I've got homework, but if I get sleepy finishing it up then I have less temptation to go out." She gives a slightly sheepish grin. "So, where should I start?" * Taki sighs, "... S... start with us getting attacked at Tokyo Tower by the loony with the scythe and the weird eyes... I'm pretty sure that's .... yeah." * Haruko shakes her head. "I think you're a little confused. The guy with the scythe was the one that would have killed me if it weren't for you." She smiles. "Thanks again for that. I believe it's Toshiki you're thinking of." * Taki nods, "You're welcome... and like I said it's all blurry... so pick one and start... please?" Right, so the guy with the scythe was fighting the computer club president: Yorihisa. His power is to put up forcefields. So he, well, gutted me and then you teleported me to the hospital. * Haruko does lower her voice some as she says this. She sips at her tea. * Taki nods, "There... there wasn't anybody there, I remember that." * Haruko nods. "It might have been your first use of the field." She smiles slightly. "And you should keep a journal or something so you can figure how that works. Anyways, Isao appeared with the cup." * Haruko then frowns and looks down with a slightly melancoly expression. * Taki starts to nod and then looks confused, "He's.... an old pri... wait wasn't he.. You I mean your last... How could he?" * Haruko smiles faintly. "The cup kept him alive in the reversed world. We both existed at once somehow, I like to think he lives on in me." * Taki 's confused look fades slightly and she takes another sip of the juice, "Go on please." So, we went to Kyon's apartment to talk about it. I wanted to be secretive because of it's power. It was my fault. ::Haruko sighs:: I had Kyoko put up a field. * Taki hums for a moment, "...This is the bit where we all turned into ghosts right?" * Haruko nods. "Yeah. So Satoshi and the Heirophant manage to save the day. They get Akemi and Matthias to help them get to the reversed world in order to get the cup." We just talked a lot on the inside. ::Haruko looks briefly bemused:: Some important conversations, and some trying to keep Katie happy and distracted with a dove made of water. * Taki nods, "...Something about a field inside The Tower I remember that from when I.... yeah." * Haruko nods. "A field inside the tower opens the gate to the world reversed." She sips at her tea. And I kinda remember your bird. * Haruko nods. "You actually managed to teleport out of the field. I don't know if that was because of your new power, or if it just happened." Did I? You're right about my needing to make a list. * Haruko nods and then digs through her bag for a bit and takes out a piece of clipboard paper and a pen for Taki. "No excuses. So, Satoshi got to the world reversed with Saki. They find Isao's church and." ::Haruko takes a breath and steels herself slightly:: * Taki takes the pen and paper, but doesn't do anything with them, waiting for Haruko instead. He died for us... I'm getting ahead of myself. ::she rubs at an eye with the back of her wrist:: To save us he had to give up the cup, to let his life end. I'm sorry Haruko, if ... no. I'm thankfull to him for saving all of you. * Haruko nods and steels herself slightly. She gives a half smile. "I just hope I have a while before it's my turn and I acquit myself as well as he did." * Taki nods, "A long while." Kami willing. So, Satoshi saves the day. You, Kaede and I go back to the tower to look after Matthias and Akemi. We me Toshiki there and he's looking for a fight. * Taki nods, "And... we I ... yeah... I gave it to him." * Taki nods, "In the dark because the lights wern't working." You'd put up the field, but the fight wasn't really your fault. So we manage to get the field down and escape down the elevator. Then we heal up Matthias and Akemi and get them home. * Taki scribbles something down on the paper. Then we meet the next day, talk for a while, you Satoshi and I were at his apartment when we finally figured out that the fields were yours. * Taki pauses and then writes something else, "Uhm... do you remember what we did?" We were exchanging stories. Satoshi had found out more about Hideo. You were... hmm... ::Haruko then giggles for a moment:: * Taki sounds worried, "...I was what?" Going to get pants. I forget why. Nothing untoward, but it was funny. ...Pants? * Taki shivers, "Oookay." * Haruko nods. "From your apartment. Anyways, the next day there's a Toshiki and Saki fight. Saki actually got thrown off the roof." How did... oh yeah... * Taki rubs at her left eye. Something wrong? Just remembering Yoshiko... it's hard for me to think about Saki now without her memories coming up. * Haruko cringes slightly and nods. She then speaks hurriedly to finish that day. "So, Ryuji ask me out, we didn't interfere in the Saki fight and Katie and Eriko had a big fight about it." * Taki blinks, "They did?" * Haruko nods. "Eriko thought we should have done more and wished she had powers. Katie wasn't happy about that." I... yeah, I can see that happening. How's sh... no, I'll wait for you to get here. It then starts to run together for a few days. We'd been looking into Yushiro, I'd actually asked Arisu to help. Then she got attacked. * Taki shivers again and takes a large gulp of the juice. * Haruko nods and speaks particularly quietly. "Her memory was erased, but the film in her camera and everything our investigations all pointed to Yushiro." * Haruko glances around. "Want to take this to a more secluded place?" * Taki nods, "That yeah... If the next bit isn't just my nightmare we have too." * Haruko nods. "A park or one of our places?" * Taki does her own looking around, and picks up the pen and paper, "Dad'll be home in a bit, so yours..." * Taki shakes her head and holds up the paper, "Might as well start now." * Haruko nods and finds a safe place to teleport from. * Taki closes her eyes for a moment after they get there, "Okay, I hold your hand." * Haruko takes Taki's hand. "Probably go for my room. No point startling my parents." They probably aren't there, but you never know. * Taki nods, "I ... want to be in your room and..." [The are there, and the house is quite.] Here we are! Simple as that. * Haruko checks her cell phone in her free hand. "And not tired at all?" * Taki checks her watch and then sounds agrivated, "Or not." [Haruko's cell doesn't work!] * Haruko nods. "Well, I guess write down anything you felt or thought while porting." * Taki points at an arbitrary point on Haruko's floor, "I want to be over there." * Taki is over there and still pointing. She checks her watch, "And that's not it." * Haruko grins slightly as Taki works. "Hmm.. it isn't apparently stress. Didn't matter if you were teleporting two people or just you. Distance didn't seem to matter." I want to be a tiny bit to one side. * Taki flickers, and checks her watch again, "No, no it isn't." I ... want... OUT! * Haruko giggles slightly at that. * Taki flickers again. I want out of this field. And I want to still be in here. * Haruko settles on her bed and puts away various things from her purse. Including, among other things, a glowstick. Never can be too careful. (Screw Dicy, that last one should work.) (MAybe have her rapid flicker. ) * Taki checks her watch, grumbles, starts to speak again, and then checks her watch again. "I wa... Wait... Yes!" * Haruko smiles at that. "So, anything feel different that time?" * Taki walks over to Haruko's desk and steals one of her pens to write on the sheet of paper, "trying to teleport in place has always been ... odd because I have to want to be somwhere I already am." And teleports with fields... feel the same as the ones without. * Haruko nods. "Huh. Maybe it isn't emotionally linked." * Taki hmms and writes something else down, "it's never happened when I'm not teleporting and that's emotionaly linked... and it's never happened at home when I was trying to make it work." * Taki blinks and looks at Haruko, "Do you know if it's ever happened when you wern't with me?" Well, it came up I think when you teleported to the car after the Chariot fight. Hmm... And I was there at the computer lab. Oh! There was a time. When we were trying to find Fuyuko. You'd put up the field before I got to the bridge. * Taki clenches her hands, and then forces herself to relax. She doesn't seem to be listing what Haruko is saying for a few moments. "...I can't remember much about that fight, but I... I... you need to continue with the story." * Taki puts the pen down and walks over to one of Haruko pillows... where she proceeds to pull off her shoes, "Sorry." * Haruko nods. "So Kyon talks with Souichirou briefly and there's a fight with Katie, but that can wait." She then settles down and takes a breath and removes her own shoes. "So, we go to confront Yushiro." On the way, we meet Soliel, a French Arcana, we'd first met her when Arisu was knocked out. She was trying to return an Arcana deck to the Fuyuko, but we manage to get rid of her. * Taki opens her mouth to ask a question, but just nods instead. So, we confront him and even with Satoshi reading his mind I'm not able to get him to confess. Katie then starts asking him about his sister and the fact that he hit her behind the door when we'd first gotten to the house. * Taki asks quitly "...Her Fuyuko or her Katie?" Her Fuyuko. He tries to shut the door on us, slams my foot repeatedly and gets a knife to stab Satoshi's hand. ...Oh. * Haruko 's voice has an increasing tinge of disgust. "It wasn't much of a fight at first, he just threw things. Fuyuko returned, we tried to talk, and Yushiro threatened to kill us all. Satoshi said he meant it." This... was still before I got there? No, you got there a little after we got inside. * Taki closes her eyes, "... I yeah... I promised Fyuko we wern't going to hurt him... And then I thought that Katie could take care of herself.... And she did, didn't she?" She sounds a bit bitter as she finishes that sentance. * Haruko looks up at Taki and her voice is slightly mournful. "We'll all get our chance when we find Tenjirou. It won't be just her. We won't let it be just her." * Taki rubs at her eyes with the back of her hand and then looks at Haruko, "I owe him for he did to her, to me, to Remi, and ev... and you, and everybody else." * Haruko grabs a packet of tissues from her desk and brings it over to Taki. "Just... don't forget that it's not just that he deserves it. There's just no lesser option that will stop him." She sounds slightly as if she's trying to convince herself. * Taki takes two tissues; one to blow her nose, and one to wipe at her eyes with. "That's n... yes. Stop him." * Haruko hugs Taki for a moment and then goes to sit down. "So, Yushiro has the power to turn Fuyuko into a weapon. Satoshi throws him through a wall and Katie goes after him. The rest of us subdue Fuyuko." * Taki hugs Haruko back, "I should ... I should have gone with her, but Fuyuko seemed so... so..." * Haruko nods. "We should have done a lot of things. Fuyuko should never have been there in the first place. But, Kaede ran out to Katie, but by then she'd already stabbed him." * Haruko continues the story slipping in and out of a slightly detached tone of voice. "So, I look after a wounded Satoshi and Fuyuko. I waited too... It doesn't matter now. Kyon got drag-ported by Jin. The rest of you went to Satoshi's apartment. I washed up the crime scene and then met up with you." * Taki hugs her knees and speaks in a quite voice, "... I remember the blood, I remember the look on Katie's face. ... That's the second most afraid of her I've ever been, and I'm still..." She shakes her head. * Haruko nods and asks quietly. "And the first?" * Taki swallows, "...Was the fake Katie when I met her in The Tower." * Haruko stays quiet for a moment and then starts carefully. "The tower was a wicked lie, but..." She pauses again for a half a second steeling herself to continue. * Taki looks across the room at Haruko, "That wasn't her, and wasn't just the tower." * Haruko nods. "And we will have to face that wretch. But... killing Yushiro was her. It will always be a part of her, but it doesn't have to be all of her." * Taki blinks at Haruko, "...it... isn't all of her." * Haruko nods again. "You're right. And she doesn't want it to be all of her, she just wants to survive." ...Yes? I mean... no... I mean that... What do I me... Somebody has to do something, and she's done more than enough? Yes. But not somebody, all of us. ::Haruko looks down:: I don't know if I'll be wise or strong enough ::she looks up again:: But I'm doing my best. * Taki nods, "Thankyou... I... know that I haven't for a while now... But I'm trying to make up for it now." * Haruko nods. "Just remember, you aren't alone. We've all made ample mistakes and I don't think any of us could do enough alone." She smiles slightly "But we aren't alone." * Taki uncurls a bit, "All of us are in this... Wh...what did we do after we got back from from ..from the house?" We went to Satoshi's; it wasn't pretty. * Taki rubs her head, "Satoshi's... Satoshi's...We talked and ... you and Katie argued?" Did we? That's not surprising. ::Haruko thinks for a moment:: * Taki says quitly, "It might have been a different time." I think we did, something about what Arcana are for. It wasn't important. She'd early had a fight with Kyon because he called Soichirou Sou- kun. That never got worked out, because he left the next day. Oh, and I think you'd put a field again, that along with everything else is probably why you'd passed out there. Ohh. * Taki holds the page against her leg and makes another mark, "...Didn't they used to be friends? Kyon and Soichirou I mean." * Haruko nods. "Yeah. But Katie understandably objects to him being refered to with affection. He'd actually talked to Kyon and tried to make a deal about the artifacts. Kyon turned him down and went to China to find the sword with Kyoko's help." * Taki nods, "Uhm... do you know how they're doing?" * Haruko nods. "I've been keeping him updated, but haven't heard back yet. He expected that might happen though." ...Text messages? Good guess, but e-mail actually. There's a lot to tell after all. * Taki sighs, "Too bad I don't have a computer, you could just send copies to me." Well, I could start ccing you and you could check at the labs if you like. ::she snickers:: You're probably the only other gang member that would read them for content. * Taki blinks at Haruko, "Uhm... how far are you from when we turned into a gang?" That depends on your point of view. ::Haruko shifts position, putting her back against a wall:: So, the next day we found out that Katie was kidnapped. (Again.) (Haruko thought that snark wouldn't be appropriate at this juncture. :P) (For the second of four times so far. ^^;) * Taki takes a couple of deep breaths and then lets them out slowly, "Keep going." We started the usual looking when we ran into the Hierophant. She told us to gather Saki and Hirokazu, which we did, but that we should take no further action. * Taki curls back up a bit, "Didn't listen." * Haruko nods. "There was also supposed to be a third person that Hierophant wouldn't tell us about. Go figure. Well, we were cautious. You and I went to Saori and Satoshi and Kaede checked out Katie's house." * Taki blinks, "But... I kinda remember being in both places?" * Haruko nods. "It went badly with Saori. She confirmed that the Heirophant could be right, but little more. She upped her prices because I mentioned the emergency and then kept trying to add on fees." Haruko frowns. "I tried tougher negotiations, but apparently that was a big mistake." She sighs. * Taki asks quitly, "... I uhm... didn't actualy hit her did I?" * Haruko shakes her head. "You were tempted I think, and actually got a refund. You ran off after that, the fact that we'd talked about your feelings about Katie probably didn't help, and accidentally met up with Satoshi and Kaede." * Taki 's eyes widen at Haruko, "W... We did?" * Haruko nods "You had really been on edge with the kidnapping and everything that had been happening to Katie. That and some of the way you acted towards her in the past made me guess. I think everyone knows now." * Taki rests her head on her knees and sighs, "... That's just... wonderful." I'm sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you with that. Need to take a break, want anything to eat or drink? * Taki doesn't lift her head, "Some more juice, and something light to eat?" * Haruko nods and goes downstairs for a bit. * Taki sighs again and streaches out full length on Haruko's floor to wait. * Haruko returns after a few minutes with a tray. There's a two glasses and bottle of juice, rice crackers, some heated up insta-noodles, and a few other assorted lying around the house snacks. (Mhm, instant Ramen.) * Haruko puts down the tray by Taki. "If you like, I do a good hard apple cider. The buzz only lasts a few minutes, but sometimes that's enough." * Taki sits up, "Nuh uh, Dad still teases me about the time I didn't simmer all the wine out of the sauce I was making." * Haruko nods. "Katie teases me about..." She then frowns. "No, she doesn't. Okay, well, ready for me to start again?" She then pours juice into both glasses. * Haruko manages to mostly hide any disappoint about not having an excuse to drink. * Taki blinks at Haruko and then reaches for the nearest glass and a rice cracker, "....Yeah, go on." So, next we check out some of the tower locations, I forget why, might just be we didn't have any better ideas. Satoshi was taking some time with you to talk things out I think. * Taki nods, "... I thi... yeah a couple of times." * Haruko nods. "So we get a call from Yorihisa. It turns out Hirokazu found the hot or not site with Katie on it and that Saki went out to investigate the source of the postings." * Taki sips juice, "I remember that." * Haruko then looks down for a moment before looking back at Taki and continuing with a guilty expression. "So we debated what to do. Kaede and I were worried about your state of mind; I was worried the reading meant that if we went it might turn out you'd needlessly sacrifice yourself for Katie or something." * Taki shudders and then puts the juice glass down on the tray too hard spilling some, "Sorry, I just... sorry." * Taki looks around for something besides her sleaves to mop it up with. * Haruko shakes her head and moves a few snacks to show some napkins. "Don't worry, we all did our part to make a total botch of that rescue." * Taki graps a few of the napkins and cleans up the juice, "y...yeah.... We got Katie back." * Haruko nods and takes the noodles. "So we voted, Satoshi and I against going, you and Kaede for. Since it was a tie we went. I found a nice sports car to get us there and we called up Akemi for advice." * Taki shakes her head, "Kaede and I agreed? And Satoshi didn't? That's backwords..." * Haruko chuckles at that for a moment and eats some noodles. "So, confident in my levelheadedness, unworried even though I'd guessed Tenjirou might be there, I go in to scout." * Taki nods slightly and nibbles at the neglected cracker in her other hand. * Haruko scowls. "And fall in love with him. Saki's already there and I just get in the way. I actually manage to pull her off of him." Haruko sounds slightly puzzled at how she managed that. "And he shot her." How'd... no, never mind. * Taki starts to reach for the glass again and then draws her hand back. * Haruko looks over to Taki. "What is it?" I... I just can't imagine any of us managing to do anything to Saki. * Haruko nods. "I think it was the surprise. But she was really hurt by the shots. Thank the Kami I had enough free will left to protect her body some." * Taki nods, "Y...yeah." So, you guys come in to reinforce and it turns out Ryo was there too. Ryo puts up a good fight and my protecting Tenjirou made things hard. * Taki blinks, "He was? But the fake...I ... he.... " * Haruko nods. "You told us about that. Ryo had blinded you and things looked pretty bad until Katie had her powersurpressing headband knocked off by a flying gaijin sword of some kind." * Taki holds her empty hand up as high as she can without getting up off the floor, "About twice this long?" Something like that. * Taki blinks again, "... I told you about him didn't I? Tall guy in a green tuxedo and cape?... He shoots them with a bow." * Haruko nods. "I don't think we actually saw him though." She gets an odd slightly bemused expression. "I should thank him for saving my life though. So, Katie gets free, but Chariot shows up." * Taki closes her eyes, "Keep ... going." * Haruko speaks with increasing detachment. "So, the fight keeps going, it's pretty chaotic. Tenjirou holds his gun to my head and threatens to kill me. And somewhere along the line Ryo decides to run away and is chased by Satoshi." ... I ... I took Katie. I had finaly found her again. I, you were still... I'm sorry Haruko. * Haruko shakes her head whistfully. "You did mess that up some, but only after I was safer. I think you were still blind while I was a hostage. Fortunately our sword shooting friend saved me and then Kaede found a way to break control." * Taki sighs, "Thankyou... that... that was very good to hear." * Haruko smiles slightly. "It's ironic, the.. but I'm getting ahead of myself. So it's a mess. Katie is completely focused on killing Tenjirou, you pull Saki to safety and eventually get her to go with you. There's arguing about that, none of us really coordinated. * Taki nods, "Didn't exactly plan... it out..." * Haruko shakes her head. "We also found out Katie's wind powers are stronger, she could even hold back Chariot. Kaede also has some new electrical attack, but that didn't really phase him." (That was a horrible pun.) (Unintentional. :P) * Taki blinks, "Wow." * Haruko nods and resumes the detached tone. "So, you and Katie leave, Kaede goes unconscious, Satoshi comes back. I drag Kaede's body off to the car, I get hurt some." She winces. "I doubt I could have stayed conscious if Chariot at hit me again, but Satoshi manages to take down Tenjirou and then briefly hold back Chariot." * Taki 's eyes widen, "All... all by himself?" ( Wait, when did our group get so badass?) ( Just after we turned into a gang. ) * Haruko allows herself a brief fairly dark grin. "Tenjirou's body helped, Satoshi used him as a weapon." She then loses it. "But it couldn't last. He held off Chariot long enough for me to get Kaede's body into the car." ... I... I ...part of me wishes I could have seen that, and part of me is glad I didn't. * Haruko nods and her detached voice starts to breakdown. "So, Satoshi takes a bad hit, it doesn't look like he can take another one. And then you return to save us. Except you fall unconscious in front of the car." * Taki swallows, "...That's not... I ... you're sure?" * Haruko nods. "So, I get to pick whether to save you or to Satoshi." She pauses for a moment. "And I choked, I put up a shield in front of Satoshi hoping Chariot wouldn't think to run around it. I was wrong." * Haruko wraps her arms around herself as she says this. * Taki sounds distant, "We... we're all still here Haruko... and I... I guess I couldn't do anything then." * Haruko nods. "You'd spent yourself, you were trying so hard, we all were. But we're all still here because he just took Tenjirou and walked away. I still don't know why." * Haruko intently examines the floor. We... we're going to have to deal with both of them arn't we... at the same time I mean. * Haruko nods. "We could have then, but we made mistake after mistake. That's when I started calling us a gang, because..." He voice drops off in the last sentence, she still looks down. * Taki shakes her head, "I... that... wouldn't have changed." * Haruko looks up and looks curiously at Taki. I... it's all blurry... but I don't think ... that being part of a gang would have changed anything we did... I ... I had to find Katie. That was all that mattered. * Haruko gives Taki a slight smile. "You might be right, but even in a gang people have their dark and desperate hours. But it might have changed one of the rest of us. That would have been enough." * Taki shakes her head again, "I don't... it won't work." Why not? ...Because somebody would have to be in charge... everybody else would have to listen to that one person, and we... well. We usualy just split up when when we don't agree. * Haruko nods and lies down on the bed and closes her eyes. "And if that person was Katie?" * Taki picks up her juice, "Would you and Kyon follow her?" * Haruko stays lying down. "Kyon's not here." * Taki blinks, "But he's coming back with the sword right?" Yes, but that may be some time yet. After Tenjirou certainly. * Taki takes a sip of the juice, "Still have to think about him... and... well, there's Kaede." ... You still haven't gotten to the reason he isn't talking to us anymore... but we'd have never found Katie without his computer. I do think about Kyon. He told me to keep us all alive and that's what I'm doing. Kaede will have to make his own decision. He can use his computer without coming for the fights, and he will if Katie asks him. * Taki nods slightly, "But if you ask?" * Haruko lets out a breath. "Well, there's always Hirokazu. And if I asked for Katie's sake. Damn... I thought I could actually pull it off." * Haruko turns to the side to face the wall. Maybe for realy important things or short ones... but we just arn't gang people. I'm sorry Haruko. * Haruko says rather quietly. "We will be after the first one of us dies." (Man, this is the perfect opportunity for Kaede snark and he's not here to provide it.) (What's the comment?) (Wait, we're going to die if we don't become a gang with Haruko as the leader? Unfortunately I'm not good enough at snarking to go beyond that leap of logic on Haruko's part.) (Ah, she never said she'd have to be the leader.) * Taki sips her juice and eats one of the crackers in silence, "All... every one of us has nearly died, and we... we've all changed, but not like that." * Haruko sighs and sits up. "So, we all get back to Katie's house." * Taki nods and takes another cracker. And we all regroup, and Katie starts acting like she is now. Next day we split up and get a range of things done. Playing pranks? What else did she do? * Haruko tilts her head. "Oh, that was just now. I mean that she hasn't been publicly panicking anymore. Her hard edge has come back enough for that." Oh. So, there's more fights between Saki and Toshiki, turns out she likes them. Soliel shows up because Fuyuko went missing and we find out Yorihisa knows something about that. And we've been hunting for information on Tenjirou. ... So... that's everything up untill yesterday right? * Haruko nods. "Want details on any of them?" ...What happened to Fuyuko? Well, Soliel had come back the day of the fight and saw the ambulences and put two and two together. So when Fuyuko disappeared from the hospital Soliel thought we were behind it. She's got telekinetic powers, she still doesn't quite trust us but she believed Katie's description of what happened. Ahh... okay... so what does Yorihisa know? We don't know. Kaede tracked him from the hospital to a bridge. Yorihisa talked to some goons apparently at a bridge. I don't think we know much more. Oh! I remember this now... yeah... Uhm.... how's Kyon's bike? * Haruko smiles. "Quite alright. Thank you for asking." And the bridge was the time you put up a field when I wasn't there. You're welcome... and uh... I guess the only thing left to ask is... what do we know about Tenjirou and Chariot? * Taki points at the paper, "I wrote that down the first time you mentioned it." * Haruko grins. "Good work. Well, presumably Katie and Kaede got a reading, but I haven't heard it yet. We know the Jackals seem to be investigating the drugs too. And we've figured out that the web page seems to just be a trophy room." * Taki nods, "That... makes sense... I guess I'll have to ask them tomarrow." * Haruko nods. "And that the power surpressing headband works by chemicals. Probably Chariot's group has a chemist of sort. Also he was looking to have one of us as prisoners." * Taki blinks, "The drugs?" * Haruko nods. "The surpressing and the control drugs seem different, but since they seem to be the only ones to have both of them it seems like they may have the same source." ...Who else has either one? * Haruko blinks. "Sorry, I don't think I was clear. It's just them as far as I know. I was thinking the same person may make both drugs." Ahh, okay, that makes more sense. ... So... wasserface who drugged Kyoko is mixed up with Tenjirou and Chariot? * Haruko nods. "It seems like there's one main group, Chariot's, behind the drug supply. They just use a whole lot of distributors." * Taki nods back, "Ahh, so much for that idea." * Haruko nods. "That reading may be our best bet." * Haruko drinks more of the juice she poured for herself. * Taki also drinks juice, "So uhm... I guess that's everything you were there for." Yeah. Oh, and Kaede's mad about my giving him an order and being too flippant about Saori. ::she sighs:: Stupid of me really. (*checks local rain data, "Yay 2.7 inches of rain.") * Taki blinks and sounds confused, "... But that was today wasn't it? So... why didn't he..." That was yesterday. Before we split up. * Taki scribbles one more thing on the paper, "oh." * Haruko nods. "And I think that's everything." She drinks more juice and finishes her noodles. * Taki puts her still mostly full glass back on the tray, "Thanks Haruko, things make a lot more sense now." * Haruko smiles. "Welcome." * Ciara is now known as Chie * Taki grabs her shoes and stands up, "I'll see you tomarrow afternoon... Hopefully." * Haruko nods. "Until then. And thanks for coming with me today." * Taki aint there no more. [End!]