[Day: Tuesday, February 11th. Time: 2:50 p.m.] [Weather: It was nice the past two days, but it decided to rain this time. It's cold again, too!] [Sunday, the crew went to Disney Tokyo to goof off. Monday, people goofed off individually. Today? Back to school. X.x Fortunately, the long day came to and end, and we find everyone converging on the lockers, as usual.] [Session Start!] * Katie is sitting at her usual spot, but not drawing. She has a textbook in her lap (which some may recognize as that philosophy text she bought), and is scribbling notes in the margin (in English) and highlighting various things. * Kaede rests his back against the wall, seeming in an awkward position just outside the locker area. He has his laptop out and is trying his best to keep it steady as he clacks away at it. * Satoshi wanders over. "Heya, Katie." * Katie doesn't look up from her notes. "Hi Satoshi." What're you studying? It's not studying so much as trying to get my money's worth. * Katie grumbles. "" She turns the page. * Satoshi grimaces. "The philosophy book? Gah." * Haruko strolls up to the group. "Hey Kaede and Satoshi. And nice to see that you're still here Katie! So much for the tower and prophetic powers of the less than hygenic." * Kaede grumbles slightly as he looks over the screen and takes out his notebook to make a few scribblings in it..he seems to look like some kind of solo twister game. * Taki comes skipping-nearly dancing down the hall and singing to herself, o/~ It's done! Done! Done! Done! Free! No more make up work for me! o/~ Oh yes. And hi Haruko. Actually, I saw some interesting stuff there. * Katie grins. "And here comes Taki." The what? * Haruko glances up to Taki. "I see that you've come fresh from homework slaying." * Taki distributes huge smiles as she makes her way up to the crowed. * Satoshi grins at Taki. "Great! Now you'll have more time for practice!" * Katie snickers and gives up. She closes the evil text and leans back against the lockers. They would send the wrong stuff..great, this is going to take weeks to fix.. * Kaede tries to put away his notebook and close his laptop at the same time..one of them has to give and his computer goes clattering onto the floor as he winces. Yes, it was a long and grim fight, but I finaly vanquished it and now I'm free to...pratice hockey actualy, but that's more fun. Yeah, yesterday was a lot of fun. * Haruko had been resting her eyes for a moment on the laptop and shared Kaede's wince at it fell. She then looks back at Katie, "So what did you see?" Mmm. Maybe we should wait for Kyon to show up first. I don't want to repeat myself. Oh no, anything but that..it's just not my day at all.. ( If this were MC, Katie would've seen Kirby! ) * Kaede checks over it carefully to make sure nothing's disconnected or damaged. (Yes, Brett. ;P) * Haruko nods, slightly disappointed, but quickly grabs for a new conversation topic. "So, ummm, you practiced hockey Taki? I hear it involves moving on ice and hitting things with sticks." * Kyon turns and starts walking slowly down the corridor. He's got his old dark ash jacket back on, and he's carrying his sports bag in one hand, and a small stack of papers in the other. He's reading the paper on the top of the stack as he walks. ( It's just like... Ice Kendo! ) We actually haven't gotten to the hitting things with sticks part yet. Or, in Taki's case, the stopping things with sticks. * Taki sweatdrops. "Ehh.he. But we will soon!" * Katie tilts her head as Kyon approaches. "Here we go. Afternoon Kyon." * Kaede slowly walks over to the rest of them, looking a bit crestfallen. * Haruko nods. "Neat, sounds like you guys are having fun." That reminds me. Taki, pick a number between 30 and 39. * Haruko shots a sympathetic look to Kaede. "Laptop giving you problems?" Uhm...32? Not..the laptop itself. Just some bad e-mail... Okay. Congratulations. You're now number 32 on the Sakuragaoka hockey team! It seems to be alright though... * Katie grins. "Congrats, Taki." * Kyon looks up from the papers as he arrives at the locker. He's wearing a slight scowl. "Hey." As Chikako would say . Something wrong? ["Yeah, cool!"] Heya, Kyon. * Katie waves at Chikako. * Chikako is there! Bet you didn't notice! See! (Sure, because the GM didn't give us a chance to. ^_~) * Haruko frowns slightly then grins at Kaede's mroe positive comment. "Good, bad email is one of those things without a hardware solution. Oh, hi Kyon, Chikako." Heh. Heya, Chikako. I'm betting that's going to make it into tomorrow's paper now. * Kyon drops his bag, and nods to Chikako. "Hey." * Chikako nods at Satoshi. "It's so cool!" (No no, it's in Todays paper, Chikako's that good.) * Satoshi chuckles. (Remind me to make the Sakuragaoka roster someday. ;p) * Kaede almost drops his laptop again at Chikako's sudden appearance but catches it an inch from the ground. * Chikako holds up copies of today's paper. You know you were looking forwards to it. * Kyon knows he was. He nods quickly, and reaches for one. Then he starts reading it. * Haruko smiles at Chikako and nabs a paper then skims it. * Taki takes a paper from Cikako and opens it. * Satoshi politely takes a paper from Chikako. See, he's learning! * Chikako doesn't even have to hand them out this time @_@ * Katie holds her hand out. "Can I have one?" * Kaede pushes his glasses up while keeping a firm grip on his laptop, looks at the paper, and decides it best to put the computer away before accepting one. * Chikako nods and happily hands Katie a paper, and anyone else who wants one. * Katie grins. "Thanks." She starts skimming. [The paper sez: "Guess what Friday is, girls! Do you know who YOU'RE going to give yummy chocolate to?"] [On another page is a review of Disney Tokyo!] * Kaede looks for a moment at Chikako. "May I have one of those too please?" * Katie snickers at the headline, then looks at the review. "Hey, I didn't know this would make it to the paper." [Nothing on Taki being on the hockey team yet, though.] * Chikako hands one to Kaede. "Why? It's cool!" I just didn't think it would happen. It is cool, though. * Taki reads and looks over at Satoshi, "Hmmm." * Satoshi is deep in reading and doesn't notice Taki's look. Rest assured, if he had, he'd be blushing now. ^_~ * Kaede opens the paper and blinks at the first article, before looking over the top of it. "What's so special about this Friday?" * Haruko sighs slightly at the headline and then reads the Tokyo Disney review. It's a cool, cool day! * Katie looks over at Kaede and grins a bit. "Valentine's Day." What..? * Kyon rolls his eyes at Kaede. "You don't even know?" It's St. Valintines day! Girls give chocolate to people they like because of ...uh...Katie...You're an American...why do we give chocolate?" Well, we've never really had the occassion to celebrate anything like that.. * Satoshi blinks. "Valentine's Day? Already?" * Katie blinks at Taki, then laughs. Actually, in America, the girls don't give chocolate on Valentine's Day. We receive it. * Chikako grins. "Uh-huh!" Really? So do you give it to guys on White Day, then? I didn't know that. No, we don't have a White Day. Aren't there usually those little disgustingly sugary heart things too? * Satoshi looks puzzled. "No? That seems somehow unfair." * Chikako pouts. "Hey, those heart-things are cool!" Whyever not? Yes. With cutsey messages on them. You can buy them by the sackful the day after Valentine's. One of my friends... well, anyway. * Kaede blinks at Chikako for a moment then smiles. "Well, I'm sure you need all the sugar you can get.." * Katie shrugs at Satoshi. "Sure it's unfair." * Haruko continues to read her paper, apparently oblivious to the on going conversation. * Kyon finishes reading, and looks at Katie with a raised eyebrow. "Your friends?" What?" Oh, well. * Chikako nodnods at Kaede. It completely went over her head. * Satoshi goes back to reading. * Kaede flips through the paper, looking for anything more relevant. [Nothin' else in the paper of note.] * Katie goes back to reading, but keeps talking idly. "He bought three bagfuls of the stuff. I mean, five pound bags. The guy was on a sugar high for the rest of the week. Crashed later, though." * Taki looks distractedly at the ceiling as she tries to remember recepies. * Satoshi laughs. "Yikes." Mmm. The stuff has more... er... than you'd believe, too. Kind of like twinkies. Or spam. Spam? * Kaede pushes up his glasses and looks at Katie oddly. "What are those?" Twinkies are so cool! Sure, Spam. Favorite food of Hawaii. Huh. Didn't know that. Hmm, what sort of things would you use it in? * Kyon shakes his head disinterestedly, then nods sharply and bends down to look through his bag. He pulls out an envelope with Chikako's name on it, and hands it to her. * Katie snickers. "Twinkies are yellow spongecake type things with creme filling in them. Really sweet. Spam's a replacement for ham, and... I think there's ham in it. Maybe. It's hard to tell, really, *what* is in the stuff." Ham is cool, too... * Kaede thinks a little. "Ham replacement? We don't each much pork..I wonder what spam katsu would taste like though.." * Chikako scratches her head. "Why have spam if you already have ham?" * Haruko finishes her paper and returns it to Chikako. "Thanks! I liked the review." * Chikako beams at Haruko. "Yeah, it was cool, huh?" Because it keeps forever. The stuff is so packed with that you could sit it in the sun for a hundred years, and it would still probably be good. Wow... * Chikako blinks. "Hey, that sounds kinda cool!" I don't think I'd eat it after all that, but wow. * Satoshi blinks. "Hundred-year-old food?" * Katie shrugs. "I don't like it. Most people I know don't. It's got this taste to it." * Katie pauses. "Well, knew." * Kaede thinks for a moment. "I don't think hundred year old food and good can be used together...edible might be more suitable." Edible. That's what I was going for. * Haruko looks rather puzzled. "Why are you people eating hundred year old food?" * Taki shrugs, "Can't be worse than some of the things my dad's made." We aren't. Unless Katie somehow manages to come up with some spam for us. In which case, I think I'd politely decline. * Kyon leans back against the lockers and holds the envelope against his jacket, Chikako's name facing outwards. He just listens, smirking. Uh. No, Haruko. I meant that you *could* eat it after a hundred years, not that you would. * Katie makes a face. "Fresh spam is disgusting. I don't want to try old spam." It *might* be good. Or not. * Haruko looks less confused. "Oh, Okay." * Chikako peers at Kyon. "What's that?" Why cook artificial food anyway? Just a touch of seasoning maybe..I'd much prefer okonomiyaki or tempura. * Katie shrugs. * Satoshi lives on instant ramen. The thought of real food makes him quite hungry. And now you know why he likes going out to eat so much. ;p * Kyon straightens against the locker. "Kensuke Sorazawa's new story for you." He holds out the envelope again. * Chikako blinks twice. "Really? Cool!" * Chikako takes the envelope. * Kyon nods tersely, and leans back against the locker. "Let me know if you want me to get him to write more." * Chikako nodnodnods. "Cool!" * Kaede rubs his chin for a while and looks down. "Say Katie..what was that you were reading a while ago?" Well, I better go. Hmm? Oh, that philosophy text. Later, Chikako! Thanks for the papers! * Katie nods. "Okay, bye Chikako. Thanks." She smiles. Bye Chikako! * Kaede makes a rather nasty looking face. "THAT text?" * Kyon waves quickly at her. * Chikako waves. "It's cool. See ya!" She zooms down the hall at a Chikako-ish speed. Yep, bye Chikako. Yes, that text. You can think of it as endurance training. See, I figure that if I can not only withstand it, but go in depth and force myself to think about it, then I can put up with anything that happens to me. * Katie smiles faintly. "Or maybe I'm just trying to get my money's worth." * Kaede closes his eyes and leans against the locker. "I'd feel much better knowing I'd never have to deal with him again.." Wouldn't you be better off using it to keep large pieces of funiture from floa....Ahh. Oh, that probably won't happen. At least, we'll probably have to deal with his son again. * Satoshi frowns. * Haruko smiles. "Let me know if it actually turns out to be successful endurance training." * Katie glances around. Hallways empty? * Taki shivers a bit, "Blech." * Kyon shrugs. "We handled him once. Can do it again." [The hallways are NOT empty. But the nearest people are out of earshot. It's the same poorly drawn people as last time, 'cuase the animators want to save money :P] Sure. Anyway, I've got some stuff to talk about, so. * Kaede looks up slowly at Kyon. "Must you be so blaze about it?" * Haruko bounces slighty. "Yeah, what did you see?" * Katie hmms and considers where to start. "In the order it came up," she decides. Ahh. Stuff. * Kaede turns back to Katie and looks around to. "One of those fields would certainly be handy right now.." Well, first, when I went to visit Taro. Kyoko also works there. She still hasn't found Reiji. She's worried. * Kyon shrugs again. "Why not? It's true." Who's Kyoko? * Satoshi sighs. "I don't make 'em, I just sense 'em." * Haruko glances over to Kaede briefly. "It's merited in this case, but we'd use just enough, umm, force, to get him back in jail." Haruko then settles down to listen to Katie. * Kyon looks down at Katie, and nods tersely. "Yeah. I haven't heard from him either. Figured if she had, she's call." Think what Remi would have been like about 3 years ago. Kyoko is the Three of Wands. She tried to kill me, Taki, and... fake- Shingo before. I've... well, I've forgiven her since then. * Satoshi blinks. "Wow, this must've been pretty early on." I don't think I've met her, and I've been with you guys for a while now. Well..my point is that I don't WANT to think about dealing with him again..once is enough..and it doesn't guarentee a second time..does it? * Taki nods, "It was." * Katie chuckles. "The first time something really odd happened to me." * Kaede sighs and closes his eyes. "All I had was a classroom sealed on me...I guess I should consider myself lucky." I got caught in a field and attacked by Saki. * Katie closes her eyes, as if she's looking at a mental checklist. "Second thing. I also saw Eriko there. She said thanks, and she brought up the point that Katsuchiyo can escape whenever he wants." What? He has that field, Satoshi. Just wait for them to open the cell, then walk out. Aww, shit. That was my reaction. That's soo not right. There has to be a way to keep him out of trouble. * Kaede nods slightly. "And a drug dealer would be devious enough to try that as well." * Satoshi sighs. "Yet another thing to watch out for." * Haruko looks concerned. "Maybe we could convince the police he needs to be kept in isolation in a sealed cell. If he ever escapes it wouldn't be a hard case to make." * Kyon shrugs. "Yeah. But we can still take care of him when he gets out." He looks thoughtful. "But the gang girl being thankful is good." Yes, it is. Third thing. * Kaede listens intently, closing his eyes and folding his arms over his chest. Some of you already know this, but the rest of you should. I got a phone call that night. I didn't recognize the voice, and it was very faint anyway. Lots of static. But I did pick out the words 'black', 'cards', what could be 'coming', and 'Judgement'. Black cards? What, like the anti-Arcana or something? Or is there some deck somewhere with all of us in it, and when Judgement gets someone, their card goes black? * Katie shrugs. * Satoshi shudders. That's... really not good to think about. Sorry. (I think we're being warned about explusion inducing sporting incidents ) (That's red cards. ;p) ...black cards..? * Kyon slouches a bit against the lockers. He looks like he's thinking hard. That's creepy... ( That's cool! *marks it down* ) My first guess is that it's Reiji, and he's trying to tell us something. I'm probably wrong, though. * Kaede frowns a little. "That either means certain cards are deemed "black"..or maybe there's a sort of mirror card..which would be even worse.." * Katie smiles faintly. "Besides, he would call Kyoko. Or Kyon." ( Hockey sucks!) (Anti-Taki ::appears:: Hey get in line!) Well..someone I think doesn't want us to know about it..if there was that static, they were either being held where the reception wasn't good..or someone was trying to ruin the phone connection. ( Smirk ) * Kyon nods definitively. "Yeah. Think he would. Don't think you would be his first choice." (Damn it...Anti-Kaede would actually be fun and interesting :P) * Katie nods at Kaede. "Actually, I wonder about that. If there's a Tower Reversed, does that mean every one of the Arcana has a Reversed counterpart?" (And Anti-Kyon would be sweet and nice. ;p) Probably... The inverted cards...I read about that once.. (Anti-Kyon: I baked you all cookies! And I invited Ayumi Hamasaki to school for a special concert. She's so cool!) Wow...another another me. So there's another me out there? (Anti-Katie would be power hungry. Anti-Taki would be a mad schemer. ;P) Well, inversion changes the temperment of the card though doesn't it? So I don't think they'd be much like us.. No, they'd probably be the opposite. * Haruko thinks. "Not necessarily, an inverted card is not an upside down duplicate, its a normal card turned upside down. There may not be duplicates, they may just be an alternate state." ...Like say Saki? * Katie blinks. "Maybe like Saki. Hm." * Haruko nods. "Do we have any books on what Tarot cards mean? They could better explain what it means for something to be reversed." That makes sense. But just..how much does the card determine the personality though..? Speculation is fine, but magic doesn't necessarily follow logical rules, that's why its magic. I mean..what does a 2 of pentacles mean? ..I've been meaning to ask that since you told me. I suppose we'll have to go hit a bookstore and look all this up. * Kaede looks at everyone else. "Do any of you know what your cards actually mean?" * Haruko then grins at Kaede. "Oh it follows completely, I looked mine up and I'm certainly an artsy type with no other skills." * Kyon shrugs. "Mine fits me." * Kaede chuckles slightly and looks down as he adjusts his glasses. "I'd expect no less from you, Haruko." I kept meaning to go look it up, but...well one thing happened after another. * Katie starts digging in her satchel, then ahs triumphantly and pulls out a book on the tarot. In English, natch. * Katie starts flipping through it. * Kaede kneels down and mutters under his breath. "Who would have ever thought I'd actually have to be interested in mystical nonsense like this?" Doesn't seem so silly now... Kaede, your card basically means balance during change. * Kaede rubs his head. * Taki tries to look over Katie's shoulder as she page flips. * Kaede looks down at the book, scooting down closer. "Balance during change?" I..guess that sort of fits. * Katie chuckles. "Sure. Things keep changing, and the two of pentacles is all about keeping everything in balance." * Satoshi nods. "I can definitely see it." Kind of like a... * Katie frowns a little. "Juggling act?" * Kaede blinks and his jaw drops a bit. * Katie blinks at Kaede's reaction. I..well, I'd thought it was kind of pit upon me like that..but.. Yes, I guess I can see that. * Kaede looks suddenly MUCH more interested. "What's the inversion say?" * Kaede chuckles a bit at Katie. "I used to describe my life just like that..a juggling act. Well, I would if I'd had anyone to talk to.." Umm. Ah, okay. * Haruko smiles at Kaede's interest. "Funny how important this mystical stuff can be, eh? " But what does it say about inverting the card? * Taki waits for Kaede to get finished. * Katie flips some more and frowns a little. "Not much about the reversed meaning. But it talks about forcing and simulating happiness." Forcing and stimulating happiness? What does that mean? * Satoshi blinks. "That sounds odd." Like... forcing yourself to be happy, or other people to be happy. Or just pretending. * Katie shrugs. Pretending to be...what she said. * Kyon smirks. "It means you lose your balance, and push too hard. Force out what else you're doing for that one goal." * Katie nods at Kyon. About the inversion..? * Kaede stands back up again and leans against the lockers for support, hmming. So, I'm curious now, what is the Queen of Cups inverted? I didn't see that when I looked myself up. * Katie flipflips. "Okay, Queen of Cups upright is secrecy, intuition, and insight." * Haruko shrugs, "I remember it being kinda accurate." * Katie nods. "Reversed... um." * Kyon shakes his head. "Queen of Cups reversed is plodding. Forthright. Unimaginative, but blunt. And has an ugly mind." An ugly mind? You've got all of these memorized Kyon? * Katie nods. "Dishonest and perverse, Satoshi." * Kyon smirks, and looks sidewise at Taki. "Been doing this a long time." Okay, now I'm curious. What's Ace of Wands inverted? * Katie whistles. * Kaede thinks for a moment. "They don't all seem like direct opposites though..." Ahh, should have guessed that one. * Haruko snickers. "I can take her, this inverted me." Ace of Wands upright is the spark of creativity and action. * Kyon smirks at Kaede. "They're not. That's the point. Inverted isn't opposing. It's a twist." * Haruko takes in Kyon's comment and then leans against the locker, pondering something. * Kyon turns and looks sidewise at Satoshi, in turn. "Ace of Wands inverted is dull. And frustrated. Usually has missed a chance at something important." * Kaede nods slightly and goes back to thinking. 'Inaction...unimaginative.." Almost stalling.. * Satoshi ponders. "Until recently, I'd say that could have been me, too." But... I don't think so. Not anymore. Weird. And mine? * Kyon grimaces a bit. "Still creative. But in worse ways, the Ace reversed." Frustrated and plotting revenge, maybe? But you said dull. Doesn't mean he succeeds. Maybe they're not good ideas. * Katie smiles a bit. "As for mine, well. The Page of Swords is perception, spying, and seeing the truth through deception and garbage. Though I'm not sure how good I've been at that." * Kyon smirks at Kaede. "Uninteresting and creative can still go together. The results aren't as pretty." So..maybe seeing false information, paranoia.. ( Nah. The Page of Swords is funky wind powa's ) (You know it, maaan.) I'm new at this... * Kaede sighs. I'd say you're pretty good at seeing through people. And now...What does it say about mine? Please? * Katie shrugs and sighs at her book. "Kyon can give a better description of me reversed than this thing." Yours? Um... * Katie snickers. "Knight of Cups. Messanger, intuition, idealism, romance." * Taki laughs. But being a romantic isn't always a good thing..there's a difference between being an idealist and not having realistic perceptions.. * Kyon looks down at Katie, and smirks. "Page reversed is deceptive, crafty, and single-minded. Usually bent on one goal to the exclusion of others. And uses experience to their advantage." I'll stick with what I've got thanks, it's better than what I had. ( He's just saying that 'cause he can't get a date :P ) Probably a romantic almost to the point of being..what's the word? That knight..the one who attacked windmills? * Katie nods at Kyon. "Sounds right." (*bonks Kirby* You hush :P) Don Quixote. * Haruko pipes in. "I saw Jiro for the second time the other day. He looked rather different and not in a good way. What would his card be inverted?" And I can't see Taki going after windmills. Jiro? You saw him? I was thinking possibly about the reverse. * Katie blinks at Haruko. "You know, I got the same impression from when I saw him on the Sakuragaoka roof from Tokyo Tower." Why would I attack a windmill? Hmm? * Haruko nods hesitatnly. "Well, maybe, it was weird, he may have been in a passing subway train. It felt like he was staring straight at me. But it could be my amazing Queen of Cups imagination." No, I got the same impression. * Kaede thinks of asking who Jiro is but feels that he's done more than enough catch up. ^_^; I was looking through the binoculars at Tokyo Tower, and I saw Jiro talking to Saki. And he looked up at me - *straight* at me - and even from there I knew that something was wrong. * Haruko frowns. "Weird." ...Wow.. Come to think of it, I haven't seen Jiro since the whole Meimi thing. Really weird. So unless the Queen of Cups intuition and the Page of Swords perception are both wrong, we- I thought he was just taking it really hard. I was gonna go look for him at some point, but... * Katie blinks, then nods at Satoshi. "Ryo mentioned him." Ryo... Ryo... who was he again? Sho's little brother. * Kaede frowns slightly at the name. "Ryo Shinjo.." That's right. *frowns* No wonder I forgot him. Generally I try to avoid thinking about anything having to do with Sho. * Kyon scowls at the mention of Ryo, then shakes his head. "Any way to contact him?" Ryo, or Jiro? I'm surprised he hasn't talked to us lately..he sounded like he was..well recruiting. * Taki wonders what is wrong with that family. So Jiro's gone to the dark side? Or possibly the inverted side? * Katie tilts her head, then frowns slightly. "Off track, but... hey, Kaede. You might want to watch Nanami." * Kyon waves a hand. "Sho's brother." * Kaede jerks up slightly, eyes wide. "You think they'd go after her?" Not because she's your sister, but because she might be Arcana. Think about it. Kyoko and Reiji are siblings, and they're both Arcana. Same with Sho and Ryo. * Kaede laughs. "Nanami Arcana? Oh please...sure she's a little crazy at times but..." Huh. Interesting theory. Are the rest of us all only children? Hey, if *we're* Arcana... * Katie shrugs. "I am." I am. * Kaede quiets down slowly as he considers it. But..damn it, Nanami can't get involved in all this! * Kyon turns and looks at Taki full on for the first time in ages. "Knight of Cups reversed is solitary to the point of misanthropy. Imaginative, but puts it quickly to the projects he works on." * Katie speaks quietly, her voice softening in tone. "Sure she can." * Kaede slams his fist against the locker, much harder than he intends and pulls back his hand seething through his teeth. "Aaah.." * Kaede holds his hand up and looks at it, the knuckles trickling a bit of blood. * Taki blinks at Kyon and then pails a but and absentmindedly tries to rub the last bits of the dye out of her hair. * Kyon shrugs. "I'm an only child. And anyone can get involved." He jams a hand in his pocket. "Could test her." * Satoshi winces. * Haruko gently reaches for Kaede's hand. "I'm an only too. Don't worry Kaede, if she is, we'll protect her." * Kyon looks coolly at Kaede. "If she is, then there's nothing you can do about it. Just tell her, and move on. Sibling teams can work well." He gives Kaede a hard smile. "Been working with one for a long time." * Kaede doesn't seem to be listening, just looking at his hand and looking quite frustrated. * Taki nods, "Don't worry, you've got all of us to help." * Kaede jerks his head icily up at Kyon. "Just because you're an only child, you don't know how the hell to worry about anyone else..." * Katie sighs and digs in her satchel with one hand, unlatching the first aid kit in there. She pulls out some gauze and hands it to Kaede. * Haruko waves of Katie and hestitantly touches Kaede's hand. I don't care how "effective" you think it could be...not everything is about practicality. Only children can care too. She'll be alright, trust us. * Kaede winces slightly at the touching and tries to calm down, taking a deep breath. "Sorry..." * Katie nods at Haruko and puts the gauze back. * Haruko removes her hand, revealing Kaede's no longer bleeding fist. * Kyon scowls slightly, then shakes his head bemusedly. "No. I'm capable of it. But you deal with the situation you have. If she's one, then better she knows before someone else tells her more harshly. Like, say, Sho." * Kaede slumps back against the locker, his head hanging completely down, being completely silent and inexpressible. Kyon's right, Kaede. And I had to tell you what I thought, because it's best for everyone if she knows as early as she can. Pitty we don't have anyone who can make thoes fields, that'd be the fastest way to find out. * Kaede says quietly..almost inaudibly. "It doesn't matter..." What have we done anyway...? We're getting nowhere in this..and these black cards..I don't think they just sit around lockers all the time.. * Kyon shrugs. "I do. The Shunyo girl. Kyoko. Reiji's sister." * Katie frowns, and her eyes harden. She glares at Kaede. "It *does* matter. I know you want to protect her. She wants to protect you, too. But in this case - in *this* case - protecting her in that way would be one of the worse things you could do." I...I can't do anything.. I keep forgetting about her. * Kaede slumps heavily, turning his back, shoulders completely slackened and scuffles his feet away. You can, you just don't know what it is yet. I'm not talking about powers. I'm talking about information. The more truth a person knows, the more they can correctly act. And if you screw up, you may be dead. But we have no information..we're no further than when we started... * Kaede seems to be shaking. * Haruko looks down at Kaede. "Your sister is strong, if she is Arcana, she can handle it, particularly with our help." Then we'll look. Then we go and get information. And any time we might get somewhere...there's a crazed woman in the hospital that might have made it just all illusionary.. * Kaede puts his hand out to lean against the locker, looking like he's about to fall over. * Satoshi sighs. * Haruko kneels down in front of Kaede, putting herself at his eye level. "We solved a murder, that was real, we can help people." Well, what's worse? Just standing around here and worrying, or at least *trying* to do something, to find something out? * Katie sighs and closes her eyes. "" she murmurs under her breath. * Kaede laughs nervously. 'Are you sure? Maybe that Meimi character just wants to give us hope..maybe she orchestrated the whole thing.." * Kyon shrugs. "I'm a hell of a lot further than where I started. And you deal with what you have. The Moon does what she does. You plan, and you react to what's there. Otherwise, you don't get anywhere near your goals." Even if it turns out to be wrong, we'll at least have tried. But... Look, I'm not going to stand around and let things happen to me. Not if I can help it. I...I have a normal life..I, I want it back.. Don't you think that's what we all want? * Katie laughs, sounding surprisingly bitter as she does so. If Meime is behind everything, then she's behind everything. It doesn't matter to me, I'll keep on going the way I want to go. * Kyon shrugs. "You can't get it. If you try, it only gets worse." God knows, some days I wish my biggest worry was how many goals I'm going to score in my next game. * Kaede sighs at Kyon's comments. "And he doesn't help at all.." * Haruko looks at Kaede. "Get up. If you're right and nothing matters than trying can't do any harm. If you're wrong, then we can protect your sister." * Kaede clenches the fist he used to hit the lockers with and looks down at it. * Katie stops laughing, and gives Kaede a hard look. "But at least he's trying." I don't have anything..I'm just a card..I'm not even sure if I can DO anything.. * Haruko laughs. "Look at Katie, she's been at this a lot longer than you, and she didn't think she had any powers for quite some time." * Kaede closes his eyes and whispers under his breath. "A card does not run my life, a card does not run my life.." Kaede: You're more than just a card, You're you. You are Kaede, and you owe it to your self to be Kaede. I spent YEARS pretending I was somebody else...and it got me nothing. Absolutly nothing. * Kaede gets up slowly, using the locker for support, smiling nervously. "You're right.." But...we still don't know where to look for these black cards... * Haruko smiles and leaps to her feet. "Good, show that a card doesn't run your life, much more satisfying than just saying it." * Kaede frowns. "Or even if we SHOULD look for them." [About this time, Saki comes along! She's looking sour as usual.] We don't even really know what they are. But I'm curious. * Katie stands, nodding at Kaede, the look softening into a slight smile. She looks over at Saki and urks. Ahh...good afternoon? * Kaede actually manages to smile back. * Satoshi notices Saki and blinks. * Taki looks around to see if the badly drawn background people are still there. * Kaede whispers to Haruko since she's closest. "Who's this..?" * Kyon leans back against the locker and nods quickly to Saki. * Haruko whispers back. "Saki, she hates drugs and..." * Haruko stops whispering, not wanting to send Kaede back to the ground. * Saki walks by, almost ignoring you, but then she stops and turns to regard you. * Taki takes a deep breath. * Haruko looks back at Saki, and is too inexperienced or foolhearty to show fear. You used to hang out with that tall guy. Where did he go? * Kaede regards her back, with more an air of curiousity than anything else. Jiro? I don't know. We haven't seen him in a while. I haven't seen him since before I got back. * Saki scowls and heads out of the school. * Kaede blinks and pushes his glasses back up. "Not much for conversation.." * Kyon watches her leave, and looks at Katie. "You said you saw them together?" Didn't you say she was talking to him, Katie? * Katie picks up the satchel and slings it on one shoulder. "Yes. I was wondering if she could tell me, but she didn't want to talk." * Haruko finishes her comment to Kaede. "She also has been known to eat people on occassion, but that may be her inverted form." When does she ever? Sound like things didn't turn out very well. * Taki shivers. * Katie goes a bit pale at that. "Thanks for reminding me, Haruko." Oh, at some point we should probably check out this possibly perverted computer guy. If Meimi pretended to be him, he may well be an Arcana. Best to get to him first. I've been thinking about that though..why would she bother pretending to be someone we'd never seen before? * Satoshi considers himself very lucky that the Saki-cannibalism thing was before he showed up. Could be anything ranging from her wanting to point us in some direction to just being bored. * Haruko frowns and looks at Katie. "Sorry, but at least now you have the power to defend yourself." If he's important at least..it just.. * Kaede scowls and rubs his head. "I've got to quit trying to make sense of the insane.." * Katie closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "More or less. I guess." * Haruko grins a bit. "And if you can't handle it, there's always us." * Katie chuckles. "There is that." She leans against the locker. "Anyway, other things..." * Haruko then glances over to Kaede still grinning. "I dunno, I enjoy trying, Meimi's like a puzzle, and if we can figure her out, maybe we can help her." More? I saw Ryuji and Shingo have a confrontation. Or a talk. In any case, Ryuji disarmed Shingo in one motion. Huh. We thought Shingo might have been looking for Ryuji, didn't we? * Haruko pretends she knows who those people are. After all, if they wanted to be memorable, they should have eaten someone. * Katie nods, opening one gray eye to look at Satoshi. "That's one of the reasons I'm joining the kendo club." And here I thought you were doing it to hang out with Taro. * Satoshi grins. No, seriously. That's cool. * Katie smiles slightly. "Well, that's another reason. And the third would be that I need to learn to defend myself somehow. Nobody else is going to do it for me." There's nothing that says it can't be both. * Kyon pushes off the locker. "Yeah. Good to know. The Knight and the kendo captain... really want to know what he's up to." * Haruko smiles. "I found some nice guys who hang out at my shrine who taught me, but that took a few years." I've been wondering about taking kendo..of course, I know a few tricks.. * Kyon smirks at Katie. "I'd be willing. Fencing club has openings, too. But I don't offer the side benefits." * Satoshi shrugs. "I just punch people." Most of the time I remember to run away. We tended to get a lot of gangs hanging around the shop at times.. * Kaede sighs deeply. Mmm, yes. What else. Well... Haruko and I ran into a homeless person at the subway who talked about disaster. And devouring. Or something. * Katie chuckles at Kyon. "" And smelled bad. We need to have municiple baths or something. * Katie snerks. * Kaede looks off to the side. "I don't know whether to feel left out or relieved that all this happens when I'm not around.." Disaster and devouring. Think he's met Saki? Not taking baths could be his defense against her. You are not going to try that. I think...well that message sounds a little larger than just one high school girl.. Well, he was talking about 'they'. * Haruko giggles. "I don't think it's worth it." Maybe...that cannibalistic tendency is a contagion... * Satoshi blinks. "Who, me? Nah." * Kaede frowns deeply. "I don't want to think of that.." * Katie snerks. "Night of the Living Dead." * Kaede blinks at Katie. "Night of the living what? I really hope that's unique to Saki. Or Saki Reversed, as the case may be. * Taki nods, "It's scary enough with just one, I don't want to think about lots." * Kyon gives Katie a cold smile. "" He shrugs. "Problem with prophecy is that you can't know what it's about until it's on you." * Kaede frowns slightly. "Don't...zombies in some of those films turn others into zombies when they bite them..?" Prophecy's annoying that way. * Haruko nods. "Particularly vague prophecy about impending doom." Exactly, Kaede. They want to eat your braaaains. * Kaede mock jumps back at the response. "But I like my brains where they are!" (My god. Did Kaede just show signs of a sense of humor? ;p) * Katie looks over at Kyon and smiles warmly. "" Really, I don't see why we can't have cheese eating zombies or something. It wouldn't make for a good movie. Because that would be just silly, Katie. Maybe that's why they eat brains...they're out of cheese and are angry about it. * Katie folds her arms and mock-pouts. "I'd watch it." Yeah, but in that case they'd go "Cheeeesseee." And all this time, I'd never considered that. * Kyon cocks his head, and nods quickly to Katie. "So I'll keep what the homeless guy said in mind. Fine." If you wanted ham, and only had spam to eat, you'd go "Haaammm" not "Spaaammm" Brains are obviously their prefered cuisine. Well that shoots that idea down. * Haruko giggles. "Well, develop it more. You can make a movie for Katie." * Kaede looks slightly at where Saki walked off to, pondering something. When does...Sho show up? * Katie deadpans, "In elevators." I'm serious. I am, too. To an extent. He likes showing up in elevators. When you least want him to. Which, come to think of it, is really about any time. Yes..but..when. I've just...I don't know. * Taki nods. "You'll just be going along and call an elevator...and there he'll be." * Haruko smiles. * Katie looks at Kaede, and her eyes show just a small amount of fear. "He shows up when he thinks you can't avoid him or just walk away. That's why he likes elevators." Elevators... that's a potential weakness. Say, that book doesn't say anything about cards and elevators does it? No. Drat. I'd doubt that...but perhaps someone who confronts people when they're confined? * Haruko gazes off into the distance, with a slightly scary grin on her face. Maybe, but then you would have to think about Ryo, too. In which case, we need to look out for him in alleyways, in small rooms, and other places like that. He makes the confines. Family trait? Could be.. * Katie shudders, looking a bit more spooked than when Saki's cannibalism was mentioned. "Yeah, maybe." * Haruko tilts her head at the discussion of confined spaces and glances at Katie for a moment. * Katie breathes out a long sigh, opening her eyes again. "Anyway, Nanami should probably be checked on. Hirokazu, too." I want to go see Meimi, myself. * Katie smiles a little. "And Remi, while I'm at it. Got to check on her." * Kaede nods slightly. "I need to get a deck then..." * Kaede lets out a startled sound. "I forgot! The flowers!" Ah, who's Hirokazu? * Katie blinks at Kaede. "Flowers?" Hmm? * Kyon nods tersely. "I went and saw her. Doesn't look different." He shrugs and looks sidewwise at Kaede. "I can check your sister for you." We were going to get flowers for Remi weren't we? Oh, Hirokazu? Um... he's the mechanic, remember? Oh, yeah, the creepy guy. Chess club president. * Katie nods. Ohh. Would be mechanic. He has yet to prove himself. * Kyon straightens, and smirks. "Went by and dropped them off yesterday." * Kaede goes silent for a minute, then almost coughs. "...You?" * Taki stares at Kyon. * Katie doesn't seem overly surprised. "Well, that's good. No need for Kaede to worry, then." * Haruko smiles at Kyon. "You've been pretty nice to her lately." * Kyon takes it in, and smirks right at Kaede. "Because I never worry about people." * Katie laughs lightly. She shakes her head and grins. * Kyon turns to Haruko, and shrugs disinterestedly. "She's good. When she's better, it'd be good to keep her on my side." * Kaede mutters a bit. "Nothing wrong with worrying..." Ahh. I'm going to go do the hospital visit thing now. I'll go with you. * Haruko nods at Kyon, still smiling. * Kaede sideglances a little at Kyon then shakes his head. "I'll check on Nanami myself..I might as well get used to this whole tarot mess.." * Katie grins. "Sure, Satoshi." She nods at Kaede and reaches into her satchel, pulling out a tarot deck. It'll be nice to see them again, and I don't have any more extra homwork to do! * Katie tosses it to Kaede. * Kaede catches the deck, fumbling with it for a bit and smiling, then turning towards Kyon, losing it and walking past. * Kaede stops next to him and puts his hand on Kyon's shoulder, out of the corner of his mouth. "...Thank you.." and keeps walking. [Session End]