[Day: Sunday, February 16th. Time: 6:30 p.m.] [Weather: The sun has already set; it's been dark out for a while. The sky is cloudy, with anticipated snow overnight. And it's cold.] [Satoshi spent much of the day practicing for the upcoming game. In fact, he's still there when Katie comes by at 6:30 to (presumeably) tell him everything he missed. And Taki left some time ago, 'cause eight hours was more than enough practice for her.] [Mini start] * Katie walks on in, looking around. * Satoshi is still out on the ice, clad in his plain black practice jersey and the rest of his uniform (all black). He's standing a good distance away from the net, stick in hand and a pile of pucks in front of him. * Satoshi pulls his stick back and shoots the puck. The stick breaks, and the puck actually goes *through* the net and bounces off the side of the rink. Dammit! Not again! * Katie leans against the railing. "Do that much?" * Satoshi whirls around at the sound of her voice. "Katie?" The one and only. * Katie points at the broken stick and grins. "Do that much?" * Satoshi seems to slump a little. "Yeah. I have been doing it a lot... lately. It's like... well, I'm having trouble controlling my strength." * Katie scratches her cheek. "Trouble with your strength. Hrm." You just got stronger, or what? * Satoshi sighs. "I'm getting stronger. And it's not natural. I think... I think it's an Arcana thing." Well, test it. * Satoshi blinks. "Test it? How? Like go in the weight room and lift stuff until I can't lift any more?" Pretty much, yeah. Or test it here, since this place is empty. * Katie shifts her weight a little, but keeps leaning on the railing. "Uncontrolled power's dangerous." * Satoshi nods. "The weight room's empty, too, and I have to get a new net. Mind coming with me?" * Katie grins. It's what I'm here for. Yeah. That was my next question, actually. * Satoshi skates over to the side of the ice where she is. * Katie just laughs as Satoshi skates over. "Just about everything's a business meeting, right?" Sadly, yes. One of these days we're going to have to do something fun just for the heck of it. ( That's what Chikako's for :P ) * Satoshi steps off the ice and to a nearby bench, where he slips his skates off and puts on a pair of shoes. "Gotta head to the equipment room, and then I'll be right back." * Satoshi does so, returning with a new net. * Katie watches Satoshi wander back in. "Well, yeah. It is a business meeting. And maybe some other things." * Satoshi fixes the net. Gosh, this is interesting. ;p (Err, scratch that previous action.) * Satoshi sits down and switches footwear again. "Other things?" Yeah. What to do about Taro, really. * Satoshi stands up and gets back on the ice. "I could beat him up for you." But I don't think that's a terribly good solution. * Katie chuckles a little. "Not really, no." * Satoshi skates back over to the net and proceeds to fix it, then gathers net, pucks, and stick bits. "I have to go dump this off somewhere, and then change out of my practice gear. I'll meet you in the weight room." He gives Katie directions. * Katie nods. "Sure." She wanders off, hands in pockets. She is, incidentally, carrying that blasted satchel of hers. [And a few minutes later, they're in the weight room. Where Katie is weighting... uh, waiting for Satoshi.] (Heh.) * Katie is sitting and drawing. She seems awfully intent on it. * Satoshi walks in, clad in a gray t-shirt, black sweatpants, and sneakers. This is probably the first time he's shown up wearing something that wasn't long- sleeved, so you can see that his arms are fairly muscular. Yes, marvel at his impressive physique. ;p ( Bah. Why settle for him when the school's packed with bishonen? :P ) (They're all insane.) (Except Ryuji, I suppose.) ( Quentin's not insane ;_; ) ( Not this time around :P ) (He's too old!) (Satoshi isn't terribly attractive, but a really nice guy, and, more importantly, not insane. Yet.) Sorry to keep you waiting, Katie. ( It's only about a 10 year difference ;_; ) ( When you're 70 and he's 80, you won't even notice :P ) Oh, it's no problem. * Katie doesn't look up. "Just give me a second." ( /me ponders having plot interrupt, but promised he wouldn't :P ) (Hee.) * Satoshi walks over to one of the weight machines. * Katie finishes whatever it is and shuts the sketchbook, then looks up to watch Satoshi. * Satoshi sets it for something fairly high, then goes to it. [Satoshi lifts the weight, with some effort.] * Katie peeks at the weight setting. "No wonder you snapped a hockey stick." * Satoshi does a few more lifts. "I don't think I used to be able to do it this easily." If you did, I don't think you'd be breaking sticks. You'd know how hard to hit something. ( Unless you're like me and you hit everything as hard as you can all the time :P ) I don't always break my stick... I did it once today in practice, but the rest of the time I held back. Did you always hold back? * Satoshi gets up and puts the machine on its highest level. A little. I mean, I don't shoot as hard as I can outside of a game, but I'd never break sticks in practice before, either. * Satoshi sits back down and tries lifting again. (Another roll?) That's not exactly what I meant. When you didn't hold back, did you break anything? [Satoshi lifts it.] * Katie looks at the setting and taps it. "It's an Arcana thing." * Satoshi shook his head. "Maybe... once." * Satoshi looks at Katie. "Yeah?" Since you don't spend six hours a day in here? Yeah. Wait, what did I end up setting it to? [500 lbs :P] Five hundred pounds. * Satoshi blinks. "And I lifted it almost without thinking." Mmm hmm. You could lift me like I'm nothing. * Satoshi looks at her and smiles. "Well, it explains why I had no trouble keeping Taki upright when we were practicing skating." * Katie grins. "It would, wouldn't it?" You'd better learn how to control it, though. Ignoring something like this... Yes. I haven't really had any problems outside of practice, though. Just that one thing on the roller coaster, and even then I managed to hold myself back at least unconsciously. * Satoshi eyes the machine. "I wonder..." ( The machine tries not to sweatdrop ) (Hee.) If you can pick it up? Give it a try. * Katie snerks. "If you strain your back, though, it's not my fault." * Satoshi looks at her. "You read my mind." He crouches down next to it, in classic weightlifter fashion. "No, it'll be my fault, but you're the one who's going to have to call the ambulance." ( It's mine :P ) * Katie folds her hands behind her back. "Sure, just point me to your cell." * Satoshi braces himself and grabs the machine. Slowly, but steadily, he lifts it off the ground. "It's... in... my... sports... bag." * Katie watches. * Satoshi lifts the machine a bit higher, then puts it back down. Now he's breathing fairly heavily. * Katie claps. Now *that* was impressive. * Satoshi wipes his forehead and breathes out. "Wow. That thing must weigh about half a ton." (Literally.) All of that? Sounds right. * Satoshi sits down on it. "Man, I... didn't expect that." It's... kinda scary, isn't it? ( Suddenly Satoshi sees Saki walk by, chewing on a foot. :P ) * Katie chuckles. "Sure, and I didn't expect a small tornado to show up around me." ( Okay, not *that* scary.) * Satoshi grins. "Point." I still need to figure out how to do that again, really. * Katie has a seat next to Satoshi. So... about Taro... I don't really need to beat him up. I just need to rip some lockers out of the wall. * Katie chuckles. "It's a nice thought, but I don't think that's such a good idea." Probably not. The school would not be too keen on the property damage. That, and it'd reveal our existance to the world at large. Mmm, yes. One of the things I needed to talk to you about, really. * Katie shakes her head. "Come to think of it, there's a lot." Yeah. Oh, and, by the way... what happened to Jin? Kyon took him in for the night. * Satoshi looks rather embarassed. "Oh, great, now I owe Kyon bigtime. I totally forgot about Jin until I was halfway home." Kumaguro must not have hurt him, since he showed up just fine today, field and everything, and led me and Haruko to another Arcana. Kaede, too, later. * Katie nods. Well, at least the cat didn't get him... and *another* Arcana? Yeah. I'm not sure which one she is, but she goes to junior high with Nanami and tells fortunes. Great. A junior Meimi. * Katie shrugs. "No illusions, as far as I know, but... the card trick didn't work on her." She doesn't know about the whole Arcana thing. I showed her my powers, but she's still in denial. * Katie smiles a little. "Kind of like Kaede was. Looks like it takes a life and death situation." That it does. I just happened to get mine right after I met you guys, else maybe I would've been in denial for a while, too. How's Kaede doing, by the way? * Katie sighs. "Same as before when he showed up. He was just going to walk away. Haruko went after him, though, and I don't know what she said, but... he's a little better now, I think. * Satoshi sighs as well. "Honestly, sometimes I want to smack him - and we know now that would be a *very* bad idea - but, yeah, I worry about him. A little." * Katie chuckles a little. "So do I. Nanami got to him first, though." Heh. Yeah, she'll keep him in line. So, what else have I missed? Ryuji's story, I guess, and probably some other things. Ryuji's story, Saki's story. I need to tell you about the reading Saori - that's the girl we met - did, too. Start wherever you think is best. * Katie considers, then shrugs. "In order, then." * Satoshi nods. Ryuji told us that we weren't the first Arcana, which really isn't surprising. It turns out there was a previous set, during World War 2, that he has memories of. We're linked to our past selves - or our card's past avatars, anyway. I'd always suspected there were previous Arcana... I wonder how far back we go. And I wonder if I'll start remembering things, now that I seem to be manifesting more of my powers. Who knows. And probably. * Katie muses over this, then continues. "Anyway, all of the Arcana weren't always so close in age. They probably never were, before." You can probably guess why we are now. They... we... all died in the war? * Katie nods. "Most of us were killed when the bomb dropped on Hiroshima." She frowns. Oh. * Satoshi looks down at the floor. You'd think people who could predict the future should've seen that coming... * Katie chuckles. "Who wants to know how they die?" * Satoshi looks up. "True." Anyway, this is about where Saki's story picks up. She never died. * Satoshi blinks. "She wasn't there?" No, she was there. Her card was Death, and she was rogue. Death... so she can't die? So much, really, that all the other Arcana wanted her dead. * Katie shakes her head. "I don't know. But they sent The Devil after her." * Satoshi frowns again. "Sounds like sending a lion out to kill a tiger. Or vice versa. Either way, not a good combination." No. That Saki was a cannibal, by the way. Anyway, they didn't get to fight, but they were close together when the bomb dropped. And... Saki, she didn't die. She says she changed after it happened, kind of like being reborn. So... what is she now? Now, she doesn't age, and she has both Death and The Devil's powers. So she's The Devil, and probably Death Reversed. * Katie smiles faintly. "Which means that, somewhere out there, I bet there's Death and The Devil Reversed. An Angel of Death, Saki called it." The opposite of the Devil and... Life, I guess. Is that the Saki who eats people? I don't know. I asked her about it, actually, and she was pretty disgusted. If it is her, she's got no control over it and doesn't know she's doing it. I'm not sure if that makes things better or worse. Neither am I. * Katie reaches up and grabs one of the bars. "Anyway, the last thing is the reading Saori did for me." Yeah? It... um. Okay, first, the identification. She wasn't sure if I'm represented by Judgement or the Page of Swords. She said either I'm the Page doing something with Judgement, or I'm Judgement, with the Page backing me. She... didn't know? But you've always been just the Page before. In the reading, she didn't know. What else did she see? Well, there are a few options. One is that the Page - I - am pushing Judgement towards Death. And that the Emperor, whoever that is, will be killed or changed by Judgement. * Katie looks directly at Satoshi. "The Ace of Wands and Knight of Cups were in the reading, too." * Satoshi blinks. "Me and Taki? What about us?" As things - Judgement, I guess - moves towards Death, you guys are either helping push it, or being pushed away. So you're either getting closer to me, and all of this, or... you could be pushed away by it. And pushed away from each other. Did anybody else show up in the reading? Kyon or Haruko or Kaede or... anybody else we know? * Katie closes her eyes. "Page of Swords, far left. Judgement to the right. Knight of Cups above, Ace of Wands below. Death to the right of Judgement, and The Emperor to the right of that." (The scary part is, I knew that. I worked so hard to put a picture in my head when Saori was doing the reading that I haven't forgotten it. ^^;) (Heh.) ( 's like a cross ) (Yup.) * Satoshi shakes his head and frowns. "That's... not gonna happen. The pushing away part, I mean. I'm not gonna just leave you or Taki." * Katie opens one eye. "Who said anything about leaving us?" Anyway, that wasn't the only interpretation. There's another one. I hope that one's better. Can't say it is. It involves The Emperor controlling Judgement in order to kill or change the Ace of Wands, Knight of Cups, and the Page of Swords. Okay, that's definitely worse. "Kill" is bad. "Change" is probably not good, either. And why the three of us? * Katie shrugs, shifting position so she can pull her feet onto the cushioned seat. "I don't know. You and Taki go hand in hand, now, but..." But, what? I'll suddenly start hating her? She could let in twenty goals in our game, but that's not going to make me hate her. 'Cause I... I really do like her. A lot. * Satoshi blushes a little. ( Ouch. There go your chances, Katie ;_; ) * Katie smiles a little. "I never said you'd start hating her," she says gently. "Just that I don't know where I fit into this." (Yeah. ;_;) And since it was a reading for me, it's pretty obvious that I do. What, like you'd come between us or something? That's stupid. You'd never do something like that. You're our friend. (Satoshi is a guy. He's oblivious to this sort of thing. ;p) * Katie shakes her head and comments, in a half-challenging tone, "If I did, would it make me any less of a friend?" * Satoshi takes a few minutes to think about this, then looks at Katie. "Well, honestly... if *you* did... you'd probably have a very good reason for it. But you're probably the only person I'd ever say that about." * Katie laughs. Thanks. But you have to remember that maybe I'm going to be bringing you together. Or, maybe, if I do come between you, I don't mean to. I will remember... I'll keep this all in mind. Honest. * Katie hugs her knees and smiles humorlessly. "Besides, it could always be the last one. Then we're all doomed." * Satoshi shrugs. "I'm not goin' down that easily." He stands up. "Let's think of something more cheerful for a while. You had dinner yet?" * Katie shakes her head and stands. "Nope." She grins suddenly. "You paying?" * Satoshi grins back. "Sure, why not? But I think I should probably take a quick shower first, if you don't mind waiting. You can use the time to think of excuses to make when Taki comes bursting into the restaurant in a jealous rage." * Katie snickers. Well, *that* would make part of the fortune come true, wouldn't it? Yes. But considering how these things tend to work out in TV shows... in the end, you guys would still be friends, and I'd be that no-good jerk who led you both on. And I'd probably end up with food in my hair or something. * Satoshi chuckles. * Katie pats Satoshi on the shoulder and says, seriously, "It's okay. I'll try to make sure you don't get food in your hair." * Satoshi grins at her. "Thank you. I try so hard to keep it nice." * Satoshi cracks up after that. * Katie 's eyes twinkle, but she still manages to keep a straight face. "I know. That just got out of bed look? Girls love it." * Satoshi blinks. "It looks that bad?" * Katie grins at Satoshi's reaction. Nope. Well, I *did* just finish working out and all... okay. I will shut up and go wash off now, so as to not keep holding you up from dinner. * Katie sticks her tongue out at Satoshi. "Fine, be that way." Okay, I will. Meet me near the entrance in a few minutes? Sure. * Satoshi heads off to the showers! [End!]