[Day: Friday, April 2nd. Time: 4:45 p.m.] [Weather: Sunny and warm, but a little humid.] [Haruko and Taki are off to see Saori. Since they're riding Kyon's motorcycle rather than teleporting, it'll take a bit to get there. They enter the rundown section she normally hangs out in.] [Mini Start!] * Taki clings to Haruko's back like her life depended on it despite the fact that she's the one with the helmet. * Haruko rides with a fairly restrained grin, what with the need to save Katie and all. * Taki fortunatly can't see Haruko's grin or much of anything else. * Haruko is going a bit faster than she did in the joy riding car, but still at quite a safe speed for the city streets. * Haruko calls out to Taki, whose helmet isn't so thick as to prevent speech and certainly allows for hearing. "Are you going to be able to hold it together?" * Taki shifts around slightly and does her best to speak over Kyon's bike's engine, "Y-y...Maybe? If anything...." * Taki squeezes the older girl tighter for a moment and then relaxes to her previous deathgrip. * Haruko nods, and takes in a breath once Taki eases up. Haruko's hair continues to stay in its bun, so Taki's helmet isn't buffetted by it. "It's hard when a person you love is in danger and you feel helpless." (What kind of faceplate does the helmet have?) (Clear visor, slight forward tilt, somewhat streamlined.) * Taki starts to nod, and Haruko can feel it against her back, but then Taki freezes up. If Kyon's mirrors are good enough Haruko might be able to catch the mother of all blushes as it takes over Taki's face. * Haruko glances forward after briefly checking her mirror. "It happens, but before you figure out how to deal with the fact that it's obvious, you need to find a way to get through today." * Taki swallows and starts to shiver again. * Haruko keeps driving for about ten seconds, making a lane change or two to speed up the journey a litte. She checks her mirrors pretty often. [You finally get to the spot (finally) where Saori is normally, only to see... she's there.] * Saori is here, offering fortune tells for an outrageous price. * Haruko slows the bike with some care, nothing too fancy, don't know what's in a back alley. She locks it and passes her hand over the front of the bike as dismounts it. "Thanks." She then looks back to Taki with a mix of concern and curiosity. * Taki manages to get herself off the bike and out of the helemet, she's still blushing, but she seems to be getting the shivering at least partialy under controll, "Th...this the place?" * Haruko nods. She relieves Taki of the helmet and hangs it from the bike, she then gives Taki a quick hug. She says rather softly as she does so, "I don't know if you can get what you want, but either way we aren't going to abandon you." * Taki hugs Haruko back and gives her a heartfelt, "thankyou." * Haruko holds the hug for a few seconds before letting go. She then quickly checks her phone for any word from Satoshi or Kaede and then looks to Taki. "C'mon, let's get that second opinion." She walks over to Saori. * Saori grins as you come over. "Ah, come back for more, eh?" * Taki brushes her hair back over her face as she follows Haruko to Saori's table. * Haruko returns a smile but swiftly loses it. "We need an odd sort of reading. Our friend Katie is in danger, you've met her, half-gai-- half western girl, grey eyes, tends to draw the Page of Swords." Hmmm.... That is odd. I'll have to charge an extra 5000 yen! * Taki boggles. * Haruko grits her teeth for a moment before releasing them. "1500 upfront, 2500 once she's safe. No extra fees, no haggling, we don't have time." 5000. I...I don't have... 1500 up front, 3500 once she's safe. 4000 up front, 1000 once she's safe. Deal. We've received been told that she is in grave danger and has been kidnapped. To save her we had to gather three people. One of them corresponds to four of cups, another the devil, we don't know the third. A person corresponding to the heirophant told us this." K... I need to know if all the person who told us this is the heirophant, if that's accurate, I need to know as much as I can about Katie state, and I need to know if the heirophants right and that we should stay out of this. It's a lot of questions, but that's why I'm paying the odd rate. No, the odd rate is 'cause she's in danger! You asked three questions. 5000 each! * Saori beams. * Taki takes a few steps forward, "You... How cou..." * Haruko folds her arms. "Do you intend to make a habit of going back on your word and breaking deals?" I didn't break any deal. * Haruko then takes a hand and holds Taki back. I said I'd have to charge an EXTRA 5000 yen. * Taki stops again and glares at Saori. * Haruko grits her teeth. "I said, no haggling, no extra fees." * Haruko also emphasizes extra. * Saori smiles. "I didn't." * Haruko goes through her wallet, digging through her change purse as well. "How much you have on you Taki?" * Taki pulls off her backpack and kneals to search through it, she comes up with a little over a thousand yen, which she holds out to Haruko, "Not enough..." (Gah, I've been reading your writing too much Greg! Those poor commas ;_;) * Haruko puts down the three thousand or so Yen she's gotten from her wallet on the table and the money from Taki, Haruko throws in a few coins as well, as she does this the sunny day clouds over rather quickly and a fairly nasty heavy rain begins coming down. Although al lot of the droplets in a column around Haruko, Saoir, and Taki stays dry. * Haruko glares at the girl. "That's all we got, we need to know if we should stay out, if that's the best for Katie and everyone else, in that order." * Saori snatches it up and counts it. * Saori smiles. "Ok! Deal." * Haruko does smile at all. "Go ahead then." * Saori takes out her cards and shuffles. * Taki nods and watches Saori. * Haruko continues to be surrounded by the storm, the water is likely forming puddles which may soon turn into small springs in the ground, the only other point in the immediate vincinity that's rather unaffected is Kyon's bike, which just gets a cleansing dusting. (...Do you know what happens to cars in a light rain? @_@) (Yeah, it's worse driving wise, that's when the debris first kicks up.) (That's why she's going to walk the motorcycle about a block away before getting it started.) (No, I ment the little circles of dirt that form after the few droplets that land on it evaporate) * Saori draws a card and lays it down. Page of Swords. "Well, there's one." (water spots bad...or is she just looking for an excuse to hand wash the thing? :P) ( No comment.) * Taki nods twice. * Haruko just watches, she folds her arms again now that she trusts Taki not to attack. * Saori draws another card. She puts it at the one o'clock position. It's the Tower. "Mmm hmm..." * Taki takes her eyes off of Katie's card to look in the direction she's pretty sure downtown is in for a moment. * Haruko looks quite unsurprised. * Saori draws a third card, putting it at the four o'clock position. The Heirophant. * Haruko nods at that, and the rain slackens slightly, as she pays more attention to the cards the motorcycle loses its protective column. * Taki goes back to looking at The Page. * Saori puts down another one. The Five of Cups. In the Seven o'clock position. ( Five, as in Remi and not Hirokazu?) (That's what the list says) (Maybe she's the third) (Unlikely. Hinako said "he". ;P) (Or maybe it's just the meaning of her card) (Remi knows a lot about the crying game. :P) (*snickers) * Saori puts down another card, Death, in the eleven o'clock position. * Haruko seems rather surprised by the last two cards. (Death, that means change, right? * Saori shakes her head. ) * Saori puts down a final card, Chariot reversed, in the twelve o'clock position, some distance removed. ( They just say that so as to get your hopes up :P ) Hmmmmmmm... Interesting. * Taki blinks at that last one. * Haruko looks puzzled and pensive at the last one. * Saori spreads her arms wide and beams. "You're doomed!" (it means we brought the wrong Saki) * Haruko looks to Saori as the rain picks up. She waves her hand in a manner to encourage continuing. Why...how? I dunno! That's alright, tell us what you do know. Wellllll.... It looks like no matter whatcha do, someone's gonna suffer. * Haruko sighs and nods. She looks quite unsurprised at that. * Taki closes her eyes and looks down, the last remnents of her blush fadeing. (*looks through her tarot deck* These cards are so much nicer in person than from a scan.) Sooo.... There ya go. * Haruko shakes her head. "That's not enough to answer the question you agreed to. We can't decide whether we should intervene off of that." * Taki looks up again at Saori, she forces her voice to at least seem slow and steady, "What? What is it that makes you say that?" * Saori shrugs. "I guess it depends on whether ya decide to trust the crazy lady that toldja in the first place. * Haruko waves her hand again, she lets her other fall to her side. All I can say is somethin' bad's gonna happen to someone. What does each position in the spread mean? * Taki starts to shiver again, but doesn't say anything yet. Ah, you're asking trade secrets. That'll be 100 yen. * Haruko shakes her head. "You haven't fulfilled your part of the deal yet. You haven't given us any more information than we know coming in. Someone always suffers and it was already based on whether we could trust the 'crazy lady'" Ok fine, someone's gonna suffer a lot more than usual. And it ain't gonna be the same person if you go or not. * Taki curls her hands into fists, "...which people?" I dunno! Might not even be one person. ...If I....If I get the money for another reading.... * Haruko nods at that. "Then explain the positions as part of the deal, because you haven't told us enough to decide yet." For 100 yen. (Hmm, Food < Katie... bad choice) * Haruko looks at Saori as the rain picks up. "So, you aren't fulfilling your part of the deal then?" I am too. You wanna know what's best? Fine, don't go. That way you can be sure that the person who suffers isn't gonna be you. Uh, probably. * Haruko shakes her head. "We ask whether we should intervene, I can accept that you can't give us a solid answer, but you not only aren't giving us an answer, you aren't telling us all you know. We didn't ask about us, we asked about Katie." * Taki nods again. You asked about Katie and everyone else. And I told you. In that order. * Saori shrugs. "Maybe she'll get hurt bad, maybe she won't. I dunno." * Haruko nods. "So tell us what you do know, tell us what the positions mean, if you can't give us a solid answer give as much as you can so we can decide." There's nothing TO decide. Eitehr you go or you don't. All you're gonna change is who gets hurt. And that's a decision. * Taki swallows, "How much to...How much to find out who?" * Haruko sighs and looks to Taki. "She's not going to fulfill her part of the deal. Go see if you can find any money on the street or something. This alley doesn't have any but check around the corner." * Haruko emphasizes around the corner. There should be a 100 yen there, if not much more. * Taki nods rapidly and runs off. Oh, I get it. You're just looking for an excuse not to pay the rest of what you owe. * Haruko shakes her head. "I fulfill my part of a bargain. I need to know whether we can trust you for the future." (And around the corner, and if there aren't any strange people lurking there to steal Haru^h^h^h Kyon's bike she goes home.) I'm not sure I can trust you. I gave you what you paid for, and you keep asking for more. * Haruko shakes her head. "We've always paid what we've promised. You've told us little to help us make a decision, just the nature of the decision." And despite the fact that you aren't giving us a solid answer, you're further holding back what you do know to get more money than you agreed to. Ok, fine. What you should do is give me an additional 50 yen for being so helpful, then go out to wherever it is and have a beer or whatever kids your age do. * Haruko folds her arms and waits for Taki to return. (Taki taking longer than expected?) (Well, raiding her house for money and then remaking the Katie > eating decision again...) * Haruko keeps waiting, up to a minute or so. * Taki comes running back from the same alley she went down, and slaps a 100 yen coin down in front of Saori, "There!" * Saori snatches it up. * Saori bites it to make sure it's real, then says, "Ok, this one..." She points at the Page, "Is the person you asked about." * Haruko nods. Yes. * Saori points to the Tower. "This is the situation." * Haruko winces slightly but nods. * Taki nods slowly. * Saori points at the Heirophant. "And this one told you not to do anything." * Haruko nods again. * Taki waits for her to continue. * Saori points at the Five. "Something bad will happen..." She points at Death, "And you can change who it happens to..." And at Chariot Reversed, "But you lose either way." * Haruko nods. "And of course you've done the best reading you could on this topic?" Of course! Thank you then. * Haruko turns over to Taki. "Let's meet up with the other two and get going." * Taki closes her eyes and brings the hand she didn't have the coin in up enough for Saori to see the pair of 2000 yen notes in it. She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. Can you tell us...Who gets hurt? * Saori stares. "Uhhh." She eyes the money. "I can try." * Taki speaks slowy, and with a waivery voice, "If we go, and if we don't. For this." * Haruko nods. * Saori bits her lip. "Ummmm.... Ok!" * Taki 's hand shakes as she lowers it to the table and slowly lets go of the money. * Haruko lets the rain up. She doesn't quite smile but in a less harsh tone adds. "Remember, you may end up saving a customer." * Taki lifts her hand again. * Saori takes it. "Do you trust this person who's telling you your friend is in danger?" * Taki opens her eyes, "I don't have a choice." * Haruko nods. So... that's a yes? Yes. * Taki nods. * Saori draws a card part way out of the deck. She peers at it, then says to Taki. "Don't go." * Taki looks at Saori, "I need to know. I have to know." * Haruko gulps. "Can you draw the other choice?" * Saori shakes her head. She stuffs the card back in, then draws another. "Go." It's going to vary with each card, is it? Who? Who is it? * Saori sighs. "I already told you. Something's gonna happen either way. If all ya need is for me to make up your mind for ya, I don't need no cards for that." * Haruko nods. "Alright, lets meet the others, we have what we need." * Taki shakes her head from side to side while she speaks, "That's not what I asked for." Yes it is. You don't know what to decide, so I'm doing it for you. * Haruko looks to Saori. "I'll pay you when she's safe, you going to be here later or should I come back tomorrow?" * Saori holds up a finger. "What if she's not safe?" * Taki glares at Saori, "I asked you who would get hurt. Tell me." * Haruko pauses for a second before responding, "I keep my bargains, later or tomorrow?" I. Don't. KNOW. Right then, let's go, when should I come back? * Taki grits her teeth, "Then why did I pay you?" Because you can't make up your mind! Tell me who I'm deciding between and I WILL! * Saori turns to Haruko and takes a deep breath. "Tomorrow. Tomorrow's fine." * Saori waves her hands. "It could be anybody!" * Haruko nods. "Alright, we can make up our mind without your help. You don't actually know this one so pay back Taki, I'm sure you'll be able to weasel the money out of us later." That can't be right! * Taki points at the Hierophant, "She knew." * Saori sighs. "Fine." She puts the money back on the box. "Take it and go, lady. Jeez." Well, I ain't her an' I DON'T know. * Haruko nods. "I'll be back tomorrow." * Haruko heads back to the cycle. "Let's meet up with the rest." * Taki swipes back her money and storms back twords the motercycle. 'Kay. * Haruko gets to the bike. "Probably at Satoshi's, I'll drop them a text message to let them know we're coming." * Taki crams the money into her backpack, and doesn't reply to Haruko. * Haruko gets onboard and after an appreciative pat on its side she starts up the bike and gets headed to Satoshi's. * Haruko also hands the helmet back to Taki and makes sure she's on before leaving. [Yes, z bike no startz.] [Z text message no startz two.] * Haruko dismounts the bike and turns around to look at Taki. "Field's up." * Taki lets out a pent up scream and vanishes. * Haruko blinks and checks her phone now. "Taki, where'd you go?" [Phone works!] * Haruko sends that text message while looking around. "Taki?" (The Taki you are searching for is in another castle) Talked to Saori. Bad things either way. Someone gets hurt. Doesn't know who. Hinako seems real. No word on trust. But if she wanted Katie dead, she could have left us in that field. Coming over once I find Taki. * Taki fails to respond to Haruko. * Haruko starts looking around, including looking up. * Taki isn't anywhere to be seen. * Haruko looks over to see if Saori is still around. [She is!] * Haruko walks over to Saori. She takes the time to dig through her bad a while on the way there. She looks up as she gets there. "What you said wasn't just what you thought Taki needed to hear, right?" Hm? Look, lady, I told ya like a hundred jillion times, I don't know who's gonna get hurt. * Haruko then dumps her bag at the edge of the table. "Right, Taki just wandered off I'd like to know where she is to save time, here's all the change I've got in the nooks and crannies of my bag, that enough?" * Haruko does seem slightly relieved at what Saori said. Ok. * Haruko finishes putting things in her bag, she keeps it somewhat organized. * Haruko then takes the time to send a few text messages with the cards and what each position meant. * Haruko glances around for Taki fairly regularly while she's at all this. * Saori draws a card. Three of Pentacles. "She went somewhere that's stable. Or where she can be stable. Or something." Wonder if she's better off with or without me. For 100 yen, I'll make up your mind for you. * Haruko grins slightly. "You got all my money kid." Oh. * Haruko then sends one last message. " Taki ran somewhere stable or safe for her, seeing if I can find her. I vote we trust Hinako. You want me or want to discuss, call me." * Haruko then walk away to the motorcycle. [Mini End!]