Session Start: Sat Jan 31 16:22:14 2004 Last time, on Hunters: Sakura called the team in after a long break. Both she and the secretary were somewhat scary and intense, and they had a problematic mission on tap. Lady Handcuff is targeted for assassination, but nobody in the hierarchy knows anything about her. Sakura sent the team off to one of the MG trading card companies to run down information, which they did, despite being repeatedly mistaken for cosplayers and braving the rabid fangirl attentions slathered upon Darkmoon. Afterwards, the went to get some food before handing the dossier off to Sakura on the way home. [Tuesday, December 2, 2003. 825 local time] [Takeuchi Memorial High School for Girls - Mrs. Sakamura's home room] [start session] * Taki sits in the back corner of the room, quiet and looking like she's paying attention. * Leena does her usual 'be really small and avoid notice' act at her seat. This time with some manga that she's reading. * Kyouko slumps in her chair and is absorbed in her superspecial pre-release copy of L'arc~en~ciel's new single Ready Steady Go. Home room is the usual cacophonous start to the day - more so than usual since the announcements are being delayed for some reason. Hy~~de....so good... * Maya looks upbeat, for the most part, busy scribbling random notes onto a notepad. "And... no, too dark..." * MrsSakamura bustles in, several minutes late. Quiet down, girls, quiet down please! * Leena glances up momentarily as the teacher enters, then starts paying half- attention to her. * Maya looks up, blinks, then goes back to scribbling. Yaa? Chika pipes up from the back row: "Do we have to?" * Kyouko turns her CD player off and stores it in her bag. Sanako starts to put her cards back into the binder, taking her time about it. * Taki looks out the window, bored. * MrsSakamura waits a second for the class to settle, then starts again. * Maya idly wonders just what's got the teacher to worked up, stowing her stuff for the time being. Taki, Minami, Leena, Kyouko... and Maya. Are you all here? * Minami shifts in her seat a little, twisting a section of hair around her fingers. * Minami looks up. "Yes? * Leena flips to the next page, and glances up... then groans. Yes, ma'am? .... Yes. * Maya raises an eyebrow. * MrsSakamura looks around the room and spots all the girls. * Taki idly looks up. * Leena shrinks away, trying to be smaller than she already is. ..Yeah. * Kyouko fiddles with her fingernails. Right. I got shanghaied by the office assistant on the way here - you're supposed to report into the office first thing this morning. And to... *checks notes* take your bags and your coats. ... guh. Right, right. * Minami blinks and frowns a bit. Okay... * Leena facepalms. * Taki grabs her stuff and disappears out the door. Eh. * Maya hops up and gets to grabbing/going. "I wonder..." Now, I need volunteers to take notes for all these girls, since they'll be out all day, and maybe tomorrow as well. * Leena sighs, and gathers up her stuff, then heads out. * Minami scoops up her satchel and heads out. * Kyouko grabs her stuff and follows after the others, taking the time to reinstate her headphones. * Minami stops right before the door, looking back. "Tomorrow as well?" There's a smart-alleck comment from the back - "Maybe they're suspended!" * Maya catches that on the way out and groans oh-so-softly. * Taki heads off to the office. * Leena takes a moment to snag a piece of chalk from the board and chuck it at the smart-aleck on her way out. * Minami ignores the smartass and shrugs, heading off to the office. Sanako has a different opinion. "Maybe they're all Magical Girls and are going on a mission to save the world!" She then ducks a rain of thrown pencils and balled up paper. o/~ Ready steady neva look back o/~ * Kyouko hums the song she's listening to. * Maya wishes she'd brought her trick rings with her so she could keep her hands and her head busy... The din of homeroom fades behind the group as they trek off to the office. * Taki totally beats everyone to the office. Ohman, this can't be good... * Leena glances at Maya. "You're catching on." * Maya gives Leena a dry stare. Whee~~~. Hyde's voice is so pretty.... Was hoping for a break, honestly. * Taki pokes into the office. * Leena eyes Taki. "You're awfully eager to show up... I wonder why?" Does it really make a difference? Well I do get to miss class. The secretary waves everyone straight into the Principal's office. * Taki heads into his office then. * Maya hustles... but stays towards the back so Oldman doesn't exactly notice her. * Leena blinks. "That works." Not quite so cynical/sarcastic, this time. "But we still have to make it up." Good morning, girls! * Minami gives the secretary a small wave as she heads into the office. Hello. Yo. * Kyouko takes off the headphones again. Hi? * Leena doesn't acknowledge Oldman. Not a single sign that she heard him. * LordOldman nods at Maya. Hello, sir. * Maya smiles nervously at the nod. Sakura said she needed you right away, so I won't take up too much of your time. Did she say anything about why we're gonna be gone for so long? Yeah, I was wondering that myself... Not really - just that it's more on what you were doing yesterday. ...ah. * Leena isn't paying attention. Nope, nuh-uh. Sakura does keep her secrets pretty well. * Taki silently listens from the back. * Minami half-shrugs. "So where are we meeting her? Train station?" She's quite good at that. And... yes, the sooner we get to her the better. In any case, you girls need to remember that you are responsible for keeping up with the classes you'll miss. * Taki rolls her eyes at that. ..Uh-huh * Minami nods. I will... arrange so that you do not have to do all of your classwork, but you will be tested with the rest and be scored on the same scale. Yes, sir. ...right. * Leena grumbles. While not paying attention to him. Really. * LordOldman smiles, then stands up and opens the closet. We did get the final candidate samples for next year in. Maya, here's one in your size - if you'd care to take it with you and try it on? * Maya pauses, then looks down at her shoes. "O-of course." Eeh... * LordOldman holds out a jacket in the style Maya had recommended, with the somewhat darker solid tie. * Taki mumbles something about how it should be black, * Maya accepts and (neatly) tucks it away for later. Note that her eyes are still shoe-locked. Is that all? So...train station then? And... I think that's it. You're supposed to report to Sakura's place. Wherever that is. She doesn't want to tell me. ;_; Ah, okay then. * Taki nods and head out. ... of course! Well, better be going. Take care, sir. * Minami heads out, waving at Lord Oldman on the way. Okay. See you later, Maya. * Maya skedaddles, probably almost-beating Taki out. * Kyouko heads after Taki. To Sakura's. * Taki bahs. No one beats Taki. * Leena quietly walks out. Like she wasn't even there in the first place! * Minami heads to Sakura's, not really caring who beats who as long as they all get there. * Leena starts racing Taki once they clear out of the school. :9 Taki easily outdistances Leena. * Maya is still trying to shake off the Oldman-related heebie-jeebies, from the looks of things. "Why meeeeee?" It's a cold, wet, rainy day. The sprinkles you saw on your way into school have started to turn into freezing rain. Because he's..creepy? * Taki slinks off and finds a bathhouse or something with a dressing area to quick change into normal (for Taki) clothes. Still, why me? I'm not that terribly pretty or anything. ^^;; It's because you don't fight back enough! Yeesh. If he tried to get me to be his model, I'd.. um. I dunno. *blink* * Maya rolls her eyes. "I dunno... I just a real nice person, sometimes." It's not too far to the Blossom Agency. Everyone piles in the front door, just in time to see Darkmoon shaking the rain out of his coat. * Taki pops back out behind the group in her long coat and a black beanie to cover her from the rain. She trails them to Sakura's. * Minami nods and waves to Darkmoon. "Hello." Hi Rinada... Heya, Darkmoon! ^^ Good morning, everyone. Yo. * Maya waves, glad to replace one guy in her head with another. Oh, and she waves to the Secretary, too. Hi, Dorkmoon! *wave* * Secretary is just getting in as well. She's barely visible under a huge yellow raincoat. * Lord_Darkmoon nods to everyone, sparing a smile as he hangs his coat on a wall-peg. * Minami nods and waves to the secretary as well. "'Morning." Hiii. * Secretary climbs out of the coat, leaving it in a dripping pile by the door. She's got a pistol holstered on her belt again today. * Lord_Darkmoon is in the black school uniform, and has his ponytail stuffed down the back of the jacket today. The tessen, is, as always, at his left hip. So... uh, any idea if anything in particular's going down? * Leena glances at the Secretary... more specifically, at the gun. "... what's going on?" * Maya eyes the Secretary's gun and pales, just a wee bit. * Secretary pounds on the door into the back. "Sakura, open up already. The heat's not on out here." ..Ah. Gun... * Taki wraps herself in her coat to keep warm. * Secretary looks back at the group. "Sakura's just a little more paranoid right now." For obvious reasons. * Lord_Darkmoon is standing very still, obviously trying not to shiver. Fortunately, he at least is dry. ...mm. ... oh. ... yeah, that's understandable... * Leena blinkblinks. There's a buzzing from the door and from the desk, then the latch clicks open. * Taki heads in. * Minami heads in, holding the door for who all's after her. Ahhh...hello Sakura? * Leena almost-walks in. It'll take more than being cold to keep her from bouncing. * Maya follows, giving the gun one last look. Sakura is dressed in a business suit/skirt combo, looking a bit older and much more professional than usual. * Leena waves at Sakura. ^_^ 'Morning, Sakura. Hi. You invited us over so we could skip school and hang out at the arcade while we discussed strategy over ice cream, right? ^_^ * Taki gives Sakura a short wave. Heya, Sakura... er... nice look, by the way. ^_^ * Secretary ducks into the living quarters as well, shutting the door to keep the cold air out as well. She heads directly to the thermostat console. Sorry, Leena. * Leena lightly shrugs. "One can only hope." * Lord_Darkmoon enters after the ladies. "Good morning. I assume we are to start trailing Lady Handcuff today?" Nothing nearly so enjoyable. Sit down and I'll explain. * Minami takes a seat. * Taki slouches in her favorite corner. * Leena takes a seat, slinging her backpack off, and setting it against a wall. * Lord_Darkmoon took the door from Minami when he entered, before letting the Secretary close it when he forgot. Can't let a lady hold a door for a gentleman, after all. * Lord_Darkmoon finds a seat, at Sakura's invitation. * Maya helps herself to a seat, idly looking at her 'new' outfit in her satchel. Thanks for, uh, extracting that information yesterday. I trust you didn't give away the store to get it. * Taki suppresses a yawn. No..just...lots of photos. Naw, it's okay. It was fun, and they finally got some good pictures of me. ^__^ Lots and *lots* of photos... Mmm. I take it there'll be an article in an upcoming issue. Yes... and that's going to be fun to deal with. * Lord_Darkmoon looks positively green at the memory of the photo shoot and surrounding events. * Leena blinks for a moment. "Yeah, just ignore the article. There's no way I'll ever be Dorkmoon's girlfriend." * Maya rolls her eyes. "I can't believe that got on my case for not having the standard skirt..." The Queen will not be very happy, but I can deal with that. Especially if we can rescue Handcuff. * Lord_Darkmoon chuckles. "They didn't seem to have a problem with Kyouko's wetsuit, Maya." 'least I missed that... Yeah... And I'm sure her Royal Majesty can deal with it. -She- didn't have to pose for rabid fangirls. *shudder* I dunno, maybe it was the stockings... * Maya purses her lips, wondering if they look too... street-walky. They had a really big picture of her though...in a brown outfit. * Kyouko giggles. Brown. ... yeah! Very brown. ^^ ...the Queen? It looked like her... And I'm sure if we mention it to her in person, we'll get vaporized. So, are we going to head over to where she usually works, or did we get more information based on the data we got or anything? * Taki pulls out a pocket knife and idly flips the blade out and back in. Well, back in the very beginning, Lady Earth wore a brown fuku. Wow, it's been forever since I thought about that. I wonder if she... never mind. ....? ... eh? * Leena blinkblinks. "Don't just make me curious and drop it. That's cruel." Yes. Well. The info you brought back is a big help... but it only narrows things down. Nothing on her mundane identity. Now we know where she's based - Soka. and that she's really really strong. But the only pictures we have are of her transformed. So tracking down her normal ID is going to be tricky. * Minami nods. This is where the "don't contact the protectees" rule gets annoying. :/ * Maya nods as well. "What options do we have, then?" Sure, but even if we wanted to, how could we? Well, what we have is her pic. And a general idea of where she comes from. So we need to put those together and search. Looks like we're waiting just like our targets for her to transform. * Leena *beams* "We're not affected my the anonymosity! We can look through school pictures!" She probably goes to school there or something. ^_^ Very good, Leena. * Minami bites her lip to stop from correcting Leena, but nods. So...yearbooks from Soka-area. Since I can't use any of my normal contacts to compare the pictures, we're going to have to do all the legwork this time. * Minami makes a face. "Well...I guess we should get started then." Which is why I pulled you out of school this morning - we need all the time we can get. Off to the Soka library, then? ...why would they have yearbooks in the library? Why wouldn't they? I guess. Perhaps in the individual school libraries... * Leena blinks. I mean, local semi-history... ours were always in the local library. It can't be that hard to get a hold of yearbooks. How many schools are in that area? Well then let's head out. No sense in wasting time here. * Taki move toward the door. * Leena bounces in place. "Yeah, let's go!" Wait, Taki. Minami had a good question. We'll start with the community libraries. If we have to go into the schools, that can be done, but it would raise too many eyebrows. ...very well. And we can find out about the local schools there as well. Okay then. * Minami heads toward the door. I'm not sure. It's large enough that there should be at least four or five... * Sakura goes over to the secretary and exchanges some quiet word with her before joining the rest of the team on the way out. Right. Will do. * Lord_Darkmoon exits with the group, putting his raincoat back on before leaving the building. * Minami waves to the secretary on the way out. "Four or five...hmmm." * Maya scoots along, having been more on the listening side for once. * Leena waits for Sakura to catch up... "What's up with the secretary?" Just coordinating some stuff. She's going to take a different, longshot angle. * Taki heads out the door moving towards the train station. Her coat is buttoned up. How often does this sort of thing happen, Sakura? The wind is starting to pick up. It's going to be a REALLY lousy day. What with the relative unknowns and all? * Leena almost-walks along with Taki... then feels the wind, and shivers. What, that we have a protection mission, or that a mission is this fraught? * Lord_Darkmoon pulls up a hood that suddenly is on the raincoat. * Leena buttons up the coat that's easily 2-3 sizes too big for her. * Minami just pulls her long jacket around her, not bothering with the zip. * Kyouko pulls on her hoodie and an extra jacket she was wearing before. * Taki seems almost oblivious to the rain in her movement. The expression on her face looks rather annoyed though. The protection part, mostly. It's just weirder having to do it for someone you know so little about... and this weather isn't helping either. It's been about ten a year, since I started. But things have been picking up in the last six months or so. * Taki sorta tries to block most of the wind from Leena. More people... more trouble? Or maybe something big's on the horizon... wish I knew what the reason was. * Maya stuffs her hands in her coat and resumes looking at her feet. more magical girls..just what we need... I don't know. I think there may be another group backing the assassins. Or bringing their own. There's gotta be someone behind them. They know too much. Ours is not the reason why... * Sakura steps into a train, and out of the weather. * Taki doesn't really say that to anyone in particular. We really should set up a trap for a group. * Taki follows Sakura onto the train. * Minami follows Sakura, turning to Darkmoon. "That would be pretty difficult." * Kyouko pulls her hoodie up and heads after Sakura. * Leena blinkblinks at Darkmoon. I mean, we have no idea how they choose their..."targets." It would be nice to find out more about what's behind the attacks. And with more people on the team, maybe we can. That'd be harder than my idea. * Leena looks around. "If it's just one person, at least -try- to keep one of them alive so we can question them?" I want all of you to get a little more experience before we try to get fancy, though. Alright. It's risky enough as it is... that would be the way to go. * Taki sits on the train away from the group. So..uh...has anyone else heard the new Laruku? * Maya plops down into her seat and sighs, staring at the ceiling. * Lord_Darkmoon nods. And boards the train, waiting for the ladies to precede him. ... nuh-uh. * Minami blinks at Kyouko. "The new what?" So... standing orders are still to kill. But if it looks like there's just one, and you can manage an incapacitation... be careful, but maybe try it. ...L'arc~en~ciel? * Kyouko stares at Minami like she grew tentacles. * Leena hops on, after gratefully nodding at Taki for the windshield. ...oh. That band, right? The train rumbles north out of the station. Yes. With Hyde. Sorry. I don't listen to music much. * Maya just listens for the time being, humming something to herself. * Sakura looks around. Amazing how the team manages to find mostly-empty traincars all the time. * Leena blinks at Kyouko. "I'm not sure about the music... but. Um. Have you found any ... Lord stuff?" *blushes* Ah... * Taki yawns again and leans on her hand by the window. * Kyouko whispers to Leena. "Just a little. They can be kind of hard to find." * Minami kind of shrugs at Kyouko. "Don't really get the chance is all." * Maya looks Leena's way, pauses, then shrugs and resumes humming. "... ah, Taki." * Leena whispers back, "Let me borrow it sometime." ^_^ * Lord_Darkmoon fortunately doesn't understand what Leen's asking Kyouko. Even if he hears it. * Sakura appears to doze a little as the low-pitched noises of the train and the rattle of the rain on the metal roof make for glorious white noise. * Taki shifts her position so she's still propping her head on her arm but faces Maya. "Hmm?" * Taki idly rubs sleepy stuff from her eyes. You still thinking about... uh, fixing your outfit some? I dunno what good I can do, but I'll see if I can help... or something. Kyouko's probably a better choice, but... uh... * Maya shrugs at the end. Fixing my what? * Leena glances at Sakura. "Hey, Sakura. We're gonna catch one of them, this time. If it's just me... I can take it. So if it's just me who's hurt, still try to just incapacitate them, okay?" It was sorta...hard..but I might be able to help someone do it... * Leena blinks. "... she's asleep." Yeah. Mine kinda... well, I didn't really think about it. The skirt just went away over time, so I dunno if I can explain how or anything. This is a bad one to plan on it, Leena. Maybe next time, okay? * Leena jumps. "Ack! Thought you were asleep!" * Sakura straightens and turns around. But.. um. I'd rather do it now. If we can start on this even one mission sooner, it'll be worth it, I think. Mine only got worse the more I wanted it to change. No, Leena. * Sakura eyes Mallet dangerously. I just ignore it and change out of it. Doesn't really matter. Still... well, if you ever decide to try again, we're here. Well, more or less. * Lord_Darkmoon blinks and looks at Taki. "You mean your transformation became more...pronounced...over time?" ... Yeah, don't worry about it. Not your guys' problem. * Leena sighs. Hey, there was one other thing I should mention. * Taki turns back to looking out the window. Hm? * Minami looks at Sakura inquisitively. * Maya doesn't looks directly at Sakura, but her attention's gotten. * Lord_Darkmoon 's eyes narrow, as he considers something, and then he turns to listen to Sakura. I gave Princess Pie a call last night - she's in charge of that region. ...Pie? * Kyouko gapes. ... Pie? Princess....Pie. * Maya blinks. "Pie." Did she say anything? * Sakura keeps her face very, very straight. "Pie." Don't say anything about it in front of her. Just... don't. * Minami shrugs. "Okay." * Leena grins like a FOX. "Why, what happens?" Well, she is a Princess, so she's gotta be a tough customer... and she'd pull rank anyway if we did make a joke. Anyway, she said that she'd never heard of a Lady Handcuff, though she was aware that a couple of Ningyo kills had happened in her region that she couldn't account for. * Taki yawns big and scrunches her eyes, rubbing them. * Lord_Darkmoon tessenthwaps Leena. "No teasing the Princess about her name. Unless you want her calling your toy a hammer." But...what does she DO? * Leena "wahs!", and holds her head. * Minami nods. Meanie. Can she narrow our search area down any? Like, where those kills happened or anything/ Only that they were in the downtown area. But we knew that from the photos of the fights. So she hangs around the shops? I imagine she throws... pies. Right. Very deadly pies. * Maya nods sagely. Evil killer pies? like that Wasabi girl? "The pie is also evil." *private-joke-type smile* It's about a half-hour ride north to Soka. * Taki almost drifts off but forces herself to stay awake during the trip. The time passes slowly, despite the amusing speculation about the Pie. Sakura refuses to confirm or deny anything about the Princess. * Maya is *still* rolling around 'Princess Pie' in her brain, judging by the big grin she's wearing. * Minami turns to Maya. "Hey, how's Performance Club going? " * Kyouko goes back into the realm of Hyde and L'arc. * Lord_Darkmoon stares out the window, looking worried. Pretty good! Cool. ... although I think I scared a few people permanently with the Hammer, Hat and Egg trick. ^^; Oh, is that the one where you smash it and it comes out whole? or when you turn it into a rabbit? * Sakura eventually stands. "Here's our stop." * Leena hops to her feet, with a bounce. * Taki slides out of her seat and follows everyone out the door. * Kyouko pulls herself to her feet, humming along and swaying. No, I smash the egg and pour out ten eggs-worth. * Minami stands up to go. "Ooooh." * Maya pops up and stretches. "I enjoy using the hammer a bit too much." Heh. Fun stuff. * Leena grins. * Lord_Darkmoon rises smoothly to his feet, and waits by the door for the others to precede him off the train. This one doesn't leave holes in concrete, Leena. * Maya sticks her tongue out in bouncy-girl's general direction. The train shudders to a slow stop at the station. Soka looks to be a wide, sprawling suburb. It's quite large, but not built up very much, and the most prominent structures are the large water towers standing out of the industrial buildings and medium apartments. Yeah, that's because it's a hammer, and not a mallet. ^_^ * Sakura checks some notes, and strides off the train platform like she knows what she's doing. * Leena almost-walks, following Sakura. Which way? * Minami gets up and leaves with the rest. * Maya tags along, hands in her pockets. "Follow the leader, I guess." If anything, the wind is worse up here. * Taki trails the group. The rain is beginning to turn into sleet. Nobody in their right mind would be outdoors. * Leena does up the 3-sizes-too-large-for-her coat again. * Lord_Darkmoon wears what is practically a full cloak, now. Looks like it keeps the wind and rain rather well, though. * Minami doesn't do anything other than pull her long "trenchjacket" even closer. This weather is...bad. Could be worse. Understatement of the decade. * Leena notes that Taki provides better cover, and ditches following Sakura for Taki. She's still bouncing with each step. * Sakura tries to stay under awnings and balconies as she leads the team into the downtown section. Eventually you come to a brick building that takes up almost half a block. It's marked "Soka Library Main Branch". * Taki tries her best to ignore the weather. * Taki heads into the building. Well, only the insane and magical girls would be in the weather... * Maya follows, natch. * Sakura ducks inside, and discovers that she's shaking from the cold. * Lord_Darkmoon holds the door for the girls. * Leena nods. Which is hard to tell she did through the coat. * Kenji sniffles a little and wipes his nose with a cuff of his raincoat, looks around a bit and decides to follow Taki up the steps. This coat isn't as warm as it looks. At least we get to be inside... ...and this was a shitty day to wear a skirt. * Minami heads in. "No kidding." Old habits die hard? Huh? No, it's for a purpose. * Sakura looks windblown, but still quite professional. .... * Leena blinkblinks. Hm? * Maya raises an eyebrow as well, but doesn't inquire. We Okay. Now where are the yearbooks? 'd probably be better off if we transformed. Too late now. Be able to adapt to the cold and stuff. Ah well. But we'd be wearing less. And I never thought it helped with that at all. * Lord_Darkmoon takes off the cloak once he's inside, draping it over his arm. He looks despicably dry and only slightly red-nosed. Yeah, you're probably right... * Sakura walks up to the front desk and consults with a mousy-looking librarian. * Taki drifts off and pokes around the library. The woman looks a little surprised, but points back into the stacks. Waaay back into the stacks. ... wow, that's far. * Leena unbuttons her coat, and takes a breath. Thanks. * Maya follows the lady's pointing, sticking with Sakura. "Going about it the really long, boring way?" To the depths of the library... Why, what's the short, exciting way? Better than people shooting at us... SSHHHH! * Lord_Darkmoon trails the group, still lost in his own, apparently not-so- thrilling, thoughts. * Leena winces. Ack! Sorry! * Minami follows, speaking quietly. "How old did she look to you guys?" * Taki finds the city maps and stuff. ... eh-heh. ^^; * Kenji wipes off what water was left on his coat and trails behind the group, not saying anything. * Maya keeps her voice down. "I don't think there is one, really..." It only makes sense to look at the last year or two. I can help if you'd like. * Leena glares at the Librarian, and sticks her tongue out at her. Quietly, of course. Then hurries to catch up with the others. Uh...she was...15? 16? I thought 14ish. She looked kinda young...but...developed. Yeah. Maybe 15 at the most. I'm just wondering if she's even high school age.... * Taki pokes through the maps trying to find the schools' locations. We can check middle school books, if they have them. * Leena blinks. * Minami nods. "True." No reason to try anything but the last couple of years worth. It's really hard to tell nowadays anyway... eh, here. * Kenji nods. You find yourselves in the local-interest section. There's a bookshelf with yearbooks tucked in one corner. * Maya pokes about in the direction of the books, then grabs a few that would fit in the proper timeframe and gets to paging. Mostly they seem to be high-school, but there are a few middle-school books as well. * Leena glances around. * Kenji motions at one of Maya's books. "--Could I help?" * Minami takes a few and starts flipping through them. The local schools are rather unimaginatively named HS 1, HS 2, HS 3, HS 4, HS 5, and HS 6. Everyone look. And take your time. * Minami took 1 and 2 then. Last year's editions. * Lord_Darkmoon takes HS 2, the first one he sees, and starts paging through it slowly, studying each face on each page. * Leena picks one, and starts looking through it. * Kyouko grabs HS 5 and starts looking. ...9th graders... * Lord_Darkmoon smiles apologetically to Minami when he and she go for the same book, and takes a different one. Knock yourself out, Kenji. ^^ * Minami hehs a little as she and Darkmoon get confused. "Sorry 'bout that." * Maya offers Lord Confused a book or two. * Kenji lightly takes one of the books and starts to page through its sections at a nearby table. My fault, m' lady. *studies book 3* * Sakura looks at the shelf, looks at the books you've picked up, and puzzles. ...did anyone get this year's HS 4? * Kyouko sits on the ground and hunches over the yearbook. * Leena holds up #6 in response. * Kenji checks his volume. Ummm...not me? ...I guess not. I've got..uh..5. I'll go check on it. Not here... * Sakura walks over to a catalog terminal. It doesn't look like she's in here... Hey, what if she's a guy untransformed? Should we check the guys, too? *blinkblink* * Kenji studies each page, sniffling sporadically. * Sakura comes back after a few minutes. "It's not checked out. ...so it must be stolen." ... huh? *blink* ... I- uh.. er... *sigh* * Minami just pauses and blinks at Leena, then turns to Sakura, glad for the distraction. "...well, this probably wasn't the most original of ideas." ... okay, that's weird. They told me that a lot of yearbooks get pilfered. ... * Kenji flips his book closed and starts over from the beginning, this time studying the male faces as well. ...odd. So...she's in that one... Oh. Maybe. Maybe our targets took it to find her? * Sakura pulls out the MS 4b book. ...could Sea magic get around the anonymity, Sakura? *whispered* They couldn't. Not unless they were... * Leena blinks. ...that's a bad thought, Leena. I don't think Sea Magic can. I've never seen it before. * Kenji perks up at the mention of Sea Magic. I don't think Sea magic could... but I don't know. I mean... then the Ningyo would be after the more famous magical girls before the transformed. Too many unknowns. ... but she has a point. If they could... that's not good. At all. It's just...our opponents have had Sea magic in the past... * Leena shakes her head. "No, no, no... it can't be." They had that sword. Which is entirely different from embodying Sea magic like we do Earth magic. * Minami bites her lip and doesn't say anything. They've got some other way of finding out, that doesn't include getting by the mundanity. * Taki brings the city maps thingy over to where everyone else is and sits at the end of the table. ... I'd hate to suggest something like this, but a traitor, maybe? Yes, but none of us has ever been attacked in the normal form. * Kyouko twitches. This is just a coincidence that the book is missing. We're just being paranoid. *This is said with a tone that's more to convince herself, apparently* You'd think, if they really could track us that way... * Minami nods. "I think...if a traitor were involved, we'd probably see a hell of a lot more, uh, incidents." ...traitor? Now -that-'s a bad thought. We'd probably be shot... a while ago. Probably. Still... Yeah. A traitor... would make them a lot more effective than they are. * Librarian walks by, somewhat disturbed by the intense conversation. SSHHHHH! * Minami looks up at the librarian. "Sorry." * Taki flips off the librarian as she turns around. * Lord_Darkmoon rises and bows to the Librarian, quietly saying, "I am terribly sorry, ma'am. We shall be more quiet." * Librarian looks really annoyed. * Leena jumps up, surprised, and knocking her chair over. "SORRY!" What are you all doing here? You should be in school. Gah. * Kenji sniffles and looks back down at the yearbook he'd been going through. * Minami frowns at Leena. "Leena...." Ah, special assignment, ma'am. * Maya bows as well. Research. School paper. Really big. Statistics-type stuff. * Minami makes a face. * Leena blinkblinks, and goes about picking the chair up. "So don't bother us!" * Taki ignores the librarian and goes back to failing to learn anything constructive from the maps. Now, now, ladies, let's be polite. The librarian is just doing her job. *smiles at the librarian, apologetically* Yeah. * Sakura stands up and looks as adult as she can. * Leena sticks her tongue out at the Librarian again, and goes back to poring over the book. I'm sorry, I'm their teacher. We're doing a special research project. With yearbooks? * Taki mumbles something about minding her own business. * Lord_Darkmoon sits down again, continuing from where he left off, since Sakura can probably handle this. We're trying to trace someone. It's complex. You sure you're a teacher? You're awfully young. She is. She gets that a lot. ^_^ We're her students. * Minami just goes back to looking. Give Takeuchi Memorial HS a call. They'll confirm these girls are excused from normal classes. *turns a page* * Kenji picks up his yearbook and points to a picture, speaking for the first time in the conversation. "Sakura Sensei, how about this one?" * Librarian shrugs, and decides to go away and harass someone else. * Sakura looks over Kenji's shoulder. "No, the nose is wrong. ... this is a lesson in eye-strain. * Kenji nods, slightly red-faced. "ah- sorry." *goes back down to studying the book. "...." * Sakura pulls out another middle school book. Oh. Hey. * Minami looks over. "Got her?" Take a look here. Uh? * Maya cranes her head up and goes to have a looksee. * Leena looks up from her book, and looks over at what Sakura's mentioning. * Lord_Darkmoon moves to look over Sakura's shoulder. * Kyouko looks over at the book. * Kenji perks up and walks over to see. * Sakura has it open to page in the back. Under a picture of a smiling twelve- year-old is the caption, "Most likely to become a magical girl" ... ........ Huh! Hmm... Uh. * Maya suppressed a snicker. How odd. What a coincidence. Yeah. It does look like Lady Handcuff would have a couple of years ago. .. uh- did any of you win something like.. that? * Kenji looks around. No. I sure didn't. ;) I was voted most likely not to drown. * Minami shrugs. "Not me." She looks at the name. * Leena bounces. "I did!" ^__^ * Kenji almost snerks but ends up sniffling a lot instead. ... * Leena leans forward, and looks at it closer for the name. So, looks like we have ourselves a likely candidate. As for who she is... "Anzu Akahara" Hm. * Sakura flips the cover over so the rest can see. Its from MS 4b, 2001-2002 I presume that means she went on to HS 4. I guess. so she's really young. So do we know the address of the high school? ...ack. Taki, did you figure anything out from those maps? * Kenji nods and puts his yearbook away. ... Not yet. ... why couldn't I develop like her? * Leena glances up at Minami briefly, then back down at the picture. "And that's the one that's missing." This looks like the downtown area. *pulls out a downtown area map* * Maya looks mildly grumpy, if only for a moment. "Hmph, some people..." * Kyouko looks down at her chest. * Taki doesn't mention her nice set of boobies. * Lord_Darkmoon doesn't look at anyone, but comments, "Voluptuousness is not everything. A lot more goes into feminine beauty." * Kenji doesn't catch himself comparing and contrasting between everyone's chests. * Minami ignores the whole comment thing and leans over Taki's shoulder to see if HS 4 is labeled. She has both. * Maya just mildly pouts, folding her arms. "Anyway, she'll owe us when we keep her in one piece, so that'll be revenge enough for me when we do it." Several people quickly spot HS 4, and MS 4b, only two blocks apart. This looks promising... * Leena looks up at Darkmoon. "Dork." Then starts checking the shelves for 4- anything. * Minami taps HS 4. "Well, here's her school..." We think. We're going to have to check. That shouldn't be too much of a problem... are there any MG contacts there? ...that would take most of the afternoon to find out. None that I know of, though. ...right. Well, let's get lunch and talk it over. * Minami shrugs. "Okay." * Leena nodsnods enthusiastically. "Lunch is good." ^__^ * Lord_Darkmoon nods, and begins collecting the yearbooks that they're not using anymore to put them away. Lunch always works. Hopefully it's not Cold, Wet Hell outside now. * Sakura shrugs her coat back on. I'm sure it is. * Leena puts her Oversized Coat back on, not buttoning it yet. Food would be good. Dammit. * Leena nodnods again. "Food would be VERY good." ^__^ * Lord_Darkmoon offers Sakura his heavy cloak, and Minami his tessen. * Maya re-coats and steels herself for the bad weather. You want me to sneak through the school and find her? * Taki looks at Sakura. * Minami looks at the tessen. "Huh?" That... well... yes. * Kenji 's eyes wander over everyone as he rebuttons his own coat. You can make your coat heavier with it. Oh. No, you can keep it. Thanks though. * Leena glances Kenji looking at everyone, then her... and looks right back at him. * Minami pulls the jacket tight around her and takes a deep breath. That would be the simplest way. Actually, if you could go in and steal the yearbook, that would be even simpler. * Kyouko never took off her jacket and hoodie, so is all set * Leena smiles, and adopts a Cute Pose for a moment. ^__^ Are you sure? I'll just use it after you're done. ... Leena, I just developed a cavity. * Kenji awkwardly starts staring at the floor like he used to. *nods* I can do that too. Yeah, it's okay. Then it's working. ^__^ * Lord_Darkmoon turns to the rest. "Anyone else, then?" No thanks. Should I go now? I'm fine, but thanks. * Maya flashes Rinada a big, friendly smile. ^_^ Well, why don't we head in that general direction and find a restaurant, then you go get it and come back to warm up and eat while we look over it. That works. * Lord_Darkmoon looks at everyone, and waves it himself, suddenly enveloped in another heavy, weather-proof cloak. He returns the friendly smile to Maya. "You're welcome." And when you get outside a few minutes later, it you wish you hadn't left the library. It's definitely sleet now. And the wind is blowing harder. Leena nearly is picked up and blown away by it. * Kenji sniffles. "I never get used to that." * Taki puts an arm around Leena to hold her down. o_O @_@ * Kyouko struggles against the wind. * Leena grabs onto Taki. @_@ DOES ANYONE SEE A GOOD PLACE TO EAT? ... ghn! * Minami peers around, hair whipping against her face. ...Can anyone SEE? * Kenji can't hardly keep his eyes open in the wind. * Maya just fights to retain her vision. "... not REALLY!" * Minami squints and points. "Looks like a noodle shop over there!" WORKS FOR ME! JUST GO ALREADY! * Minami struggles towards it. * Sakura fights upwind to the wonderful wonderful noodle shop. * Kenji sneezes loudly into the wind. * Kyouko hurries towards the shop. USE YOUR LEGS WOMAN. * Maya chugs along, grumbling about stupid perverted principals and stupid killers and stupid bad weather. * Taki looks for something she can transform in. At the corner in front of the noodle joint is a man, trenchcoated, looking really cold. He's just standing there. * Kyouko eyes him suspiciously and heads into the delicious noodley warmth of the shop. * Taki sizes up the man. * Leena doesn't care about him. She cares about the door. * Minami blinks at the man, then hurries to get to Sakura. "I need to talk to you!" Um... Sakura... * Maya eyes the man, but is too upset to pay him much mind anyway. * Sakura has just gone straight inside. * Minami heads inside after her, tugging at a sleeve. * Leena wahs. She's still holding onto Taki, and Taki's stopped. ;_; * Kenji followed in closely after Sakura and Minami. * Minami looks around to see who all else is in there. Hurry uuuup! * Lord_Darkmoon notices the man, but merely interposes his own presence between the man and the ladies as he holds the door for the others. * Maya has gone right the hell in as well. "Rrrrr..." * Taki ushers Leena inside. "S--Sorry, Leena." Sakura... * Kyouko orders udon. Mmm... The noodle place has big bowls of hot steaming noodles in the back. * Taki moves up to Sakura. Hmm? That man had a radio. Like the ones we use. * Minami whispers in Sakura's ear, if she can reach. "That guy out there...I don't know how common our radios are, but, uh....he's got one too." * Minami nods. ... eh? * Sakura looks somewhat disturbed. * Leena ZIPS right to the warmest spot, shivering. Yeah. And this is the right territory... Should I get changed? That's very interesting. But the info was that nothing was supposed to happen until tomorrow. Doesn't mean they can't be getting set up... Yeah. Taki, are you going to be able to make it okay? Yeah, even that sorta type has to prepare... Don't worry about me, I'm fine. Then go for it. Maybe someone should follow that man if he moves though... We're not going to be able to tail worth crap in this. * Leena warms up enough to actually pay attention. "What's going on?" ...oh, really? Sakura, do you have any of the radios on you now? Could we tune them around and try to listen in? They're all encoded, Rin. We don't have their code. Code? *blinkblink* Uh-- he's just standing there? * Taki nods and makes her way to the back of the shop where the restroom is. I suppose it was worth a try. ...let me try something. *leans back in his seat, and closes his eyes* * Kenji wipes off his face and looks from face to face. ... he's one of the guys? ...possibly. Exactly. That's... nuts, especially in this weather. Unless he's waiting for someone real important... Sure, but when he moves, there's no one else on the streets and he'd notice if we tailed him. This is bad. * Leena hops once. "Please, please, PLEASE say we can go first without waiting for him to try anything?" * Minami looks for a table by a window. * Leena lowers her voice. "Transform, go out, knock him out, and drag him somewhere and search him? Please? If he is..." seems like- if he was trying to hide he wouldn't be just standing there... ...and what if he's not? * Taki checks and makes sure the bathroom is empty before locking the door and transforming. *quietly* No, Leena, that goes against our orders. Then we apologize profusely, and run like hell. ^_^ We'd have to be sure first. who knows who else is out there... * Leena mutters. * Lord_Darkmoon opens his eyes just in time for it to look like they go from purple to their normal near-black. He shakes his head. * Kenji meekly raises his hand to about shoulder height. "Hey?" * Minami looks at Kenji. "What is it?" Yeah, nothing preemptive... * Lord_Darkmoon just looks at Kenji, letting others speak to him. * Taki changes out of her clothes, transforms then changes back into them. * Kenji sniffles. "seriously- it's like he wants to be noticed." * Maya is trying to keep her voice down. "Aaa, Kenji?" I dunno. * Sakura goes over to the counter and orders some noodles. * LadyNightshade steps out of the bathroom. I mean, it's not like the stuff he does is common enough for anyone except us to take notice. And...if we're lucky he doesn't know about us. The guy at the corner nods at something, then abruptly heads north. * Minami has been whispering all this time, by the way. Ano... * LadyNightshade whispers to Sakura. "You want me to see if he has anything on him or anything or just ignore him for now?" And--uh oh. Just get the book. Keep an eye out for others, though. * LadyNightshade nods again and quickly heads out, disappearing into the night. Come on, girls, order. It's all on me. * LadyNightshade looks to where the man heads. You too, Rinada. I already ordered my udon... The man has disappeared into the weather already. Oh! Thanks... * Kyouko goes and gets the steaming bowl of noodles from the counter. * Leena glances at the leaving man... then back at the ordering-place. "Poor Taki. * Minami orders something hot and yummy. * Kenji just asks for something hot to drink. * Maya sighs, then goes about ordering something veggie-friendly. * LadyNightshade grumbles and heads towards the school as quickly as she can. * Lord_Darkmoon orders some green tea and pork ramen. * Leena goes up, and orders some beef ramen, and something hot to drink with it. The weather eases up infinitesimally as she gets closer, but it is colder than it was this morning. * LadyNightshade looks cautiously around for anyone who's still on the street. As she gets to the school, she notices two men, also in trenchcoats, though one is black and one is red, standing across from the building. * LadyNightshade invisibly sneaks close to the men and sees what they're up to. They're just standing there. One is attempting to smoke, though the cigs are soggy. Both of them do have earpieces and throat mikes. * LadyNightshade tests the mike away from the men's earshot. "Sakura, can you hear me?" You're br------ a little, but yes. * LadyNightshade talks slowly and tries to enunciate. "There're two men also with headsets outside the school. One in black and one in red." * LadyNightshade also gives a rough physical description of them. Don't ----em see you. They won't. * LadyNightshade keeps an eye on them as she makes her way toward the school. The school is cookie-cutter Tokyo fare. A gate, a clock tower, a courtyard, a couple of wings... * LadyNightshade hops the fence and heads towards a back entrance. The school is quiet. It's just after lunch. Taki drips all over the floor, and finds the bright lights are making it hard to stay invisible. * LadyNightshade tries to stick to shadows and cleans off most of the water as best she can. Like most schools, there is an utter lack of signs pointing to anything except the office. * LadyNightshade decides to head to the office to see if they have maps or something there. * LadyNightshade takes it slow, trying not to make much sound as she moves. The lobby is even brighter, and Taki can tell she'll become visible if she crosses it to the office. * LadyNightshade grumbles silently to herself. * LadyNightshade looks around for some sort of direction to the library. Nope - just hallways with doors. A bell rings, and most of the classrooms open up. * LadyNightshade ducks into a nearby bathroom/closet! The hallways quickly fill with students, impeding Nightshade's progress. Someone bumps into her from behind, and she pops into full visibility. Yikes! Where did you come from? Sorry. I'm new here, can you tell me where the library is? ^^; Oh. Uh, it's in the next section that way *points* on the ground floor. ...I'm really sorry. I didn't see you at all. Thanks a ton. Sorry about that. * LadyNightshade dashes off! * Student scratches he head, confused. Nobody seems to think very much of a girl pushing through the hall out of school uni. * LadyNightshade finds a place to hide out until everyone gets back into their classes. ...the boys and girls somehow sort out their traffic jam, and everyone gets to their class on time. Almost. Nightshade pokes her head out of the girls bathroom as the bell rings. Let's try this again... *steps out of her hiding place and makes her way to the library, keeping emergency ducking into places in mind. The library is easy enough to find, now that she knows where she's going. The double doors are wide open, revealing a room with many books and lots of bright light. * LadyNightshade looks to see who all is in there. Only a couple of desks are visible from the entrance. A couple of students are reading intently. * LadyNightshade stays by the door as she looks around and tries to figure out the best way to sneak in there. There's only the one way in. She can see an emergency exit in one corner, though it appears there's an alarm on it. Some students come down the hall and go into the library, passing Taki. * LadyNightshade heads into a nearby closet and takes off her coat and beanie and smoothes down her hair trying to look somewhat normal for a person without a uniform. * LadyNightshade steps out of the closet, makes sure no one is looking and drops her invisibility. * LadyNightshade casually slinks into the library trying not to draw anyone's attention and wait for people to be looking the other way before she moves and other sneaky like things as well. * LadyNightshade hides amongst the stacks looking for where the yearbooks are. Nightshade is generally ignored. The students are busy studying, and the librarian is nowhere to be seen. Yearbooks, not being filed normally under whatever numbering system the library uses, are in a non-intuitive place. Nightshade doesn't find them, in any case. * LadyNightshade grumbles. "I hate schools..." *under her breath* Nightshade turns a corner in the stacks, and stops just millimeters from bumping into a girl. ...whoa. Sorry... * Student steps takes a step back... and Nightshade sees that it's Handcuff. * LadyNightshade tries not to react to her surprise at finding her so easy. * Student is even cuter in her non-transformed state. The hair is longer, and her expression is much softer. She wears a cuff-like leather bracelet-thing on her right wrist. * LadyNightshade looks uncomfortable at the girls appearance. Can I help you find something? Um... * Anzu is carrying a big stack of books. Uh... I... Are you new here? Yeah. Sorry. * LadyNightshade bows apologetically. I'm the student assistant in here - if there's something you're looking for, I can probably find it. Um... I'm looking for the... uh... I'm sorry, I don't mean to bother you... * Anzu waits politely for it. It's no trouble at all. Please, let me help you. Um... the... principal told me that... I should get a yearbook to look at to help learn peoples names... Since I'm new. And stuff. Oh, of course! I'm sorry, that's sounds silly. * LadyNightshade looks embarrassed. *No way she bought that...* * Anzu sets her stack of books down, and graciously escorts Taki to the far end of the stacks. The yearbooks are sitting by their lonesome on an otherwise empty rack. There you go. Oh. Thank you very much. * LadyNightshade sounds very polite and formal. * Anzu does the clasp-hands-below-waist-and-bow thing. I am glad I could help you. Is there anything else? Um... no. That's all I was sent for... * Anzu smiles sweetly. "let me know if there is. It was good to meet you, uh..." Um... Tak-- aki... Takaki? I'll see you around then. * Anzu bows again, and goes back to retrieve her pile of books. Yeah... Thank you. * LadyNightshade bows politely. * LadyNightshade looks over at the yearbooks for the one she wants. The most recent yearbook - five copies of it, really - are at the right end of the shelf. * LadyNightshade takes one and quietly makes her way out of the library. ...hey! You! Where are you going with that book? Dad would be so-- What? I... Um... * Librarian has returned to the main desk, and is looking crossly at Taki. The-the-the Principal told me to get this book? -_-;; Even if he did, you need to check it out, girl. Oh. Uh. Right. A number of students are looking up from their studies, distracted by this disturbance. * LadyNightshade walks over to the desk and looks embarrassed at all the attention she's probably drawn. New student, huh? You could have a little more respect for the rules. I'm sure that's why you're here - got kicked out of the last school you went to. * Librarian shoves a pen into Taki's hands, and lets her sign for the book. I... didn't get kicked out. * LadyNightshade looks sheepish. * Librarian frowns, but doesn't argue further. * LadyNightshade signs it Takaki. Now, that's due back by the beginning of school next Tuesday. Takaki, huh? I'll keep my eye on you. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be a bother... Get going, girl. * LadyNightshade realizes she was just standing there and heads back out the door. * LadyNightshade finds the closet with her coat and hat in it and quickly puts them back on, goes invisible and gets the f' out of this place. It's handy being invisible, ain't it. Taki has no trouble. * LadyNightshade looks around for the guys once she's outside. Taki? Ta----- are you doing? Did you get -------- Sakura! I'm really really sorry, I didn't mean to talk to her but she ran into me and and... The sleet has turned into blowing heavy snow now. Taki is only able to spot the men because the one's coat is red. They've moved down the block a little, but they're still there. * LadyNightshade eyes the men suspiciously. You're -----------ny sense. Calm down. * LadyNightshade makes her way back to the noodle shop. I'm sorry. I have the book. I'm heading back. [end session] Session Close: Sat Jan 31 20:20:33 2004