<@Ardweden> [Tuesday, February 17. 4:00 pm.] <@Ardweden> [It's time for TRAINING on the DANGER ROOF. Only, uh, nobody calls it the Danger Roof. Yet, at least.] <@Ardweden> [Anyway, Haruko and Wataru have agreed that now is the time to meet up for such Arcana powers training. Hopefully they'll both arrive more or less on time, seeing as they both have busy schedules. Well. Haruko's is more busy than Wataru's, that's for sure, but Wataru's also been starting to feel the unusual pinch of multiple people pulling on his time. Maybe they can train on that, too?] <@Ardweden> [The location is outside, in front of the tallest office tower in the general area. At 4:00 on a Tuesday, well. There are still probably people inside. It's true that the top offices have closed down, but... How do they plan on getting up? Surely Haruko has a plan!] <@Ardweden> [It's still cold, being February, but less so than it has been the previous weeks.] <@Ardweden> [Start!] * @Haruko had parked her bike down the street slightly and is walking up now. She's wearing her red and white cloth coat with down stuff between the hand stiched out and inner layers. * Wataru blows on his fingers, squinting at the cloudy sky. It's only 4, but the day's not as bright as it could be. He's been outside the building for a scant few minutes, but he already wishes he had picked the "cozy interior room of a shrine with no windchill" option. Oh well. He looks around for Haruko. * @Haruko is distractedly checking at her phone for a moment and so doesn't see Wataru even as she arrives. * Wataru sees her, though! He has a bit of a smile, and wonders if he should wave. * @Haruko mutters to herself, "He has to have seen my message." But she then looks up with a smile. "Good afternoon." Her tone is quiet but her tone warm. "Hey," Wataru smiles, going up to her. <@Haruko> So, we can try to get to the service elevator from the front door and there's a parking elevator off the alley to the side. I've seen that model before and they don't bother too much with security on the nearby access door because unless you've got a access remote you couldn't get a car in or out anyways. "Sure? Whatever works for you. I mean, I don't know this at all." * @Haruko nods. "I don't think late night training should really be an issue, but you never know. May as well try the side." * @Haruko leads Wataru down an alley, carefully noting her surroundings as she goes. * Wataru is also observant as they walk. He's in blue jeans, a brown hoodie, and his usual trenchcoat. He's also carrying his bag. * @Haruko walks up to the elevator, slipping on her leather driving gloves. She checks the door to see if it's even locked, rechecking that she didn't miss a camera earlier. <@Ardweden> [There's no camera, that Haruko can see. The door's locked.] <@Haruko> Out of curosity, do you need line of sight for your ability? "Me? What do you mean?" * @Haruko removes two metal pins from her hair, letting down her bun. "Like, could you turn a knob on the inside of the door? It's close, but you can't see it. I can do some things with a continous chain of water, but it's not really prehensile." * Wataru blinks a few times. "I've... never wondered that before. I have no idea." * @Haruko goes to work on the lock with her hairpins. "Kindly stand between me in the street. If we get a little compromised, I'm on vacation but I left my pills in the office. Wanted to sneak up without getting any new assignments." * Wataru chuckles. "Okay." He does this! <@Ardweden> [Haruko works on the lock, and nobody comes to bother the two of them. After a minute or two, she feels it give way.] * @Haruko smiles. "If we get really compromised, I've got a different excuse." * @Haruko opens the door slightly, glancing in through the crack. <@Ardweden> [Looks quiet. Haruko can hear the distant beeping of a car being locked.] * Wataru breathes quietly. He wonders idly why he's not scared of her. * @Haruko frowns for a moment. "Well, good thing it was unlocked. I think I heard a car, let's get up to my office before anyone notices." She steps in and looks around for a service elevator or staircase. "Your office?" He looks at her, and follows her in if she leads. "You really work here?" * @Haruko glances back at Wataru with slightly exasperated smile. She does lead him in. "Yes, and I need my pills, remember?" "Oh right. Wouldn't want to go on vacation without those." * @Haruko gives Wataru a confident nod and keeps up the search. * Wataru follows! <@Ardweden> [Haruko heads through the garage! She sees a man, in his late twenties, walking towards them, looking at a sheaf of papers in one hand and carrying a briefcase in the other. He's heading away from what looks like the elevator, which is closing in the distance.] * Wataru tries not to look like a weirdo. With his hands shoved into the pockets of his trenchcoat and his hood sticking out over the back of his collar, it's not easy. * @Haruko sighs. "Shoot, it's about to close, it takes forever if we miss it." She then scurries by giving a quick excuse me and giving some leeway as she goes. <@Ardweden> [She nearly bumps into the man, who steps aside without much of a glance to her and Wataru, and continues on his way.] <@Ardweden> [And she makes it to the elevator, getting her hand in the door before it closes all the way!] * Wataru is right at her heels! * @Haruko slips in, holds the door open for a second, and then clicks the top floor button and door close once Wataru is in. * Wataru grins at her! <@Ardweden> [The elevator goes up, obediently!] * @Haruko grins back. She does double check that there's no cameras in the elevator as they ride. * Wataru is quiet if she's quiet! <@Ardweden> [Nope, no cameras! The security here is crap. Maybe that's why she picked it?] * @Haruko grins with more satisfaction. "Still got it." <@Haruko> We should probably try the stairs on the way back down. "Nice," he says! "You, ah, do this a lot?" * @Haruko lets out a breath. "Not anymore. And this is an easy case. My first lookover was right, our friend who doesn't need to worry about such things picked well." * Wataru eyes her. "Our friend who....?" * @Haruko considers whether she should try being all spy talk but just quietly says "Taki." She then adds in a louder voice. "When she's with us, this is all real simple. But don't want to rely on that." "Oh.... right," Wataru looks away, almost flushing a bit. "She can do that thing." * @Haruko nods. "Yeah, I guess you haven't talked with her as much." "I," he flushes a hint darker, "we chatted a bit the other day. She seems nice." * @Haruko looks over at Wataru with a hint of surprise and amusement. "She does get that a lot." "Yeah?" He glances back at Haruko with a bit of a smile. "It was kind of fun getting to know her a bit. I don't think I'd seen her at all since the New Year." He thinks for a moment. * @Haruko smiles back. "Yeah, she's a really great cook. She gave me this mixed chocolate glass that she says will be a liqueur in future years." <@Ardweden> [The elevator jerks to a halt, and there's a soft ping as its doors open with the slightest hitch to them. Must be the top floor.] * @Haruko confidentally steps out and then takes a moment to process where the stairs should be based on her last trip to the roof. <@Haruko> Or maybe chocolate with liquor. Either is exciting really. * Wataru seemed to be about to say something, but instead he just follows her out! * @Haruko looks over to Wataru. "We can talk here, these floors are vacant." "How do you know all this?" he asks, intrigued. * @Haruko walks over to one heavy door with an exit sign nearby. "How do you mean?" "Like, that the upper floors are vacant and stuff? I mean, it's cool, I'm just, like, I wouldn't have had any idea." * @Haruko grins. "That was Taki's scouting. But I did verify it by checking the commercial leasing listings." * @Haruko walks out of the stairway spreading her arms. "It's quite humble. But nobody nearby to look over us." She spins around and looks behind Wataru at the small shack at the top of the stairs. "Oh good, the water jugs are still there. I've got some measuring tape and I brought a hand towel this time." She looks around the place appraisingly. "Should probably get started on a leave-behind rainproof box. Not for anything valuable, but it'd save space in my purse." * Wataru looks around him. What is it with these people and roofs? "At least it's pretty spacious," he says. * @Haruko nods. "It's good for broader power displays. Subtle is good too, but you can practice that anywhere." * Wataru nods. He puts his hands in his pockets. * @Haruko walks over and unscrews the lid to the water bottles. "Also, if the Pentacle pushes back against when we try to help Ozora-san, I suspect it will come in the form of a field or the World Reversed. Either way, subtlty doesn't matter then." * Wataru listens carefully, like to someone speaking a strange dialect of a language you thought you knew. "Okay... So if.. that thing happens, what do we do?" * @Haruko lets out a breath. "There's no real template. Most of the enemies we've faced, aside from the battle you saw, were against people of one sort or another." <@Haruko> But, based on the reading you did, I think if we give you the chance to gain more mastery of your powers, we'll be better prepared for whatever we face. "Okay..." Wataru rolls his shoulders. "I mean, I'm down. So there are enemies who aren't people?" * Wataru looks down at the gravel... * @Haruko grins for half a second at the gesture before resuming a serious expression. "So there's a few variants of Arcana. Although they all seem to be human to one extent or the other." <@Haruko> The big exceptions were the Oni, these edifices that appeared in a pentagram around the city. They manifested with a form of possession. * @Haruko purses her lips, taking a moment to organize her thoughts and memories. * Wataru continues to listen, not interrupting, but he allows his senses - or rather his sense, that one sense of the space around him that never quite leaves him - to take in his environment while she talks. Feeling out his space, getting familiar with it. <@Haruko> But we did defeat them. The artifacts weren't really a physical threat. But when I used the Cup, it felt like I was pouring all of myself out. It felt like I could save everyone if I just let go of my self really. It never felt malevolent, but instead like something beyond our ken that we aren't entirely worthy to approach. "Like something threatening to consume you," he says, quiet but sudden. "But - but neutral, like the ocean, or being at the edge of a cliff. Was it like that?" * @Haruko nods. "I wouldn't quite say 'consume' and I think both the oceans and the cliffside winds have a spirit of their own, but I think you're on the right track metaphorically." * Wataru nods... * @Haruko slowly raises a hand and water snakes out of the jug, hanging middair. "So, while we talk, do you have a way you'd like to start drilling?" * Wataru bites the inside of his lip. But the more he tries not to think about what he's trying not to think about, the more the laughter threatens. * Wataru is however distracted by the water, briefly. Wow. * @Haruko extends a hand, her expression serious and a ball of water floats towards him. It moves at about the speed of a underhanded ball, but hovers in the area, throwing off the affects of gravity. * Wataru is startled! He tries to dodge it, ducking to the side! * @Haruko steps out. "Good instinct. For now, let's pretend the ball is the threat and there isn't an Arcana behind it." She stops it mid air and then sends it back at him again, a bit faster and this time as it gets closer it curves suddenly towards whatever direction he moves. * Wataru acks! He ends up ducking and weaving a little clumsily, trenchcoat flapping behind him, as the water ball chases him around the rooftop Benny Hill style. * @Haruko spreads her fingers and the ball splits into five smaller golf ball sized spheres. "Right then, dodge this." "The hell are you doing!" he says, but there's no real anger there, mostly confusion. "Conversation over, I guess?" He doesn't know what to do against splash balls! He half-reflexively launches an arc of gravel in her direction! It's not moving fast enough to do any notable damage, but might still hurt. * @Haruko reflexively pulls a gallon of water out of the other jug and forms a shimmering circle between herself and Wataru. The gravel bounces harmlessly off it, leaving ripples on the surface. "Oh, sorry, we can still talk. I'll ease up a bit." * Wataru catches his breath, coming to a halt (and probably being splashed). "Yeah. I mean, I wanted to talk, and I wanted to train, and ask you questions, but I didn't realize we were going to be doing everything at the same time." He lets out a soft chuckle. <@Ciara> [Before Haruko can answer, her phone rings!] * @Haruko laughs in response. "Well, I'm a busy girl, I try to fit in..." She rolls her eyes and checks the phone. "Curse it Hibiki, now you reply? Please excuse me, try to pierce the shield while I'm distracted. Ideally not at an angle that hits me." * @Haruko leaves her shimmering circle, about a meter in diameter, up as she answers the phone. "Moshi moshi." <@Ciara> ["Kinsha? Where are you?"] * Wataru looks at the disk of water. Hm. He levitates a single piece of gravel, and gently pushes at it. * @Haruko sighs. "Downtown, got together with a friend who was only free Tuesday. Didn't you get my email?" Wataru produces soothing ripples but little more. <@Ciara> [Ken snorts. "You sent me a thing full of gibberish. I thought it was a glitch or something."] * @Haruko tilts her head and thinks for a second. "Huh, oh drat. That's my mistake, I must have sent you an encrypted message." * @Haruko blushes a little as she says it, but she keeps her tone steady. * Wataru frowns. He pushes it a bit harder, but already feels useless. <@Ciara> ["Encryption? Geez, paranoid much? Anyhow, where're you at? I can stop by and pick you up once you're done your thing with your friend."] * @Haruko doesn't seem to be paying much attention although the circle shook a little when she realized her mistake. The circles are getting a little larger now, but the thin wall of water still resists him. * @Haruko names the neighborhood and a landmark. "Although I've got my bike here and I do have to do some work on a final paper. Do we just want to bag it for today and try again next week?" * Wataru looks around, trying to think of something else. Gravel is useless against water.... He can't help overhear her conversation, though, so when she says "bag it" he has an idea. He reaches his thoughts into her bag as politely as possible, and is rewarded with what he thinks is probably that hand towel she mentioned. He tries to lift it out of her bag! <@Ciara> ["Next week's no good. C'mon, I can drop you off back at that place afterwards."] * @Haruko grits her teeth for a moment and thinks. "I.. I mean, what's up? Do you want to just hang out together or did you have a place in mind?" * Wataru hoists the towel and tosses it at the disk, thinking to absorb the water instead of pushing through it... He feels it get heavier when it touches, and that almost throws him, but it quickly sponges up enough that it just splodges through to the other side! * Wataru grins. At her. Grin! <@Ciara> ["Well, I had something planned... but if you really don't wanna..." He sounds a bit disappointed. Oh, Haruko, doesn't it make you feel a bit... guilty?] * @Haruko eeps and looks over. "Wow, nice one Wataru-san." <@Ciara> ["Wataru? Who's Wataru? Kinsha, are you putting me off for another guy?"] * @Haruko then speaks back into the phone. "You planned something? That's..." She then blushes more. * Wataru grins more! He stands up straighter, and takes a quieting breath. Nice one. Yeah. * Wataru explores the weight of the sodden towel, without moving it. He would like to figure out which part of that is water and which is cotton, but he can't seem to be able to at all. It's all just splop. * @Haruko stammers slightly, caught off guard. "No, I'm just training him. He's really not." She looks to Wataru and cuts herself off. "Look what do you have planned, maybe I can just stay up to work afterwards." * @Haruko focuses for a moment as she speaks, reforming a smaller circle. The towel flops around a little as she does that and some of the loose water flies off. * Wataru looks out over the edge of the city. They've got some kind of point, it's kind of neat up here above everything. <@Ciara> [Ken sighs. "What kind of training? This a race? I could come help out."] <@Ciara> ["Bet I could show your friend a thing or two."] <@Haruko> Not exactly. Just a sec. * @Haruko cups over the handpiece. "I am deeply sorry to ask this, but since we're doing initiation anyways, could Hibiki join us? It's a talk I need to have sometime and he might have an easier time working through things if there were two people that could demonstrate things." * Wataru frowns intensely, but again, more confusion than anger. "Hibiki? Initiation?" * @Haruko cups the phone hard. "He's one of us, but we haven't really talk about it yet. I don't know how much he knows." * Wataru has a breath. "And you want me there? What if he freaks out? How do we know we can trust him? What do I have to do with any of this - did you plan this?" He takes a step back. "I -- I had questions for you, I - I can't ask those around him." * @Haruko holds up a hand. She uncups the phone. "Call you back in five. Either you can join us or you'll have my *entire* attention for tonight, promise. Alright?" <@Ciara> ["Fine. Five minutes, Kinsha." Ken hangs up.] * @Haruko puts the phone down. "I'm sorry. I certainly didn't plan this. I managed to encrypt my reschedule email and messed everything up. If it's okay, I'll explain for a minute and then you can decide what you want." Explain. <@Haruko> Hibiki is the Four of Pentacles. He was kind of a bully at times in high school but he also came through for us a few times when it was really important. He's now in the motor club with me at Tokyo Tech... * Wataru crosses his arms. Lightly. <@Haruko> He's the first guy I've dated since high school that I feel like might actually know me. Aside from Satoshi and Kyon, but they get dear friend chocolates, not flowers. With everyone else, I don't know... * Wataru raises his eyebrows. <@Haruko> I feel like I'm lying to them or sometimes like they haven't really been tested. Which is stupidly judgmental of me but they won't wait for me to get my head around it. "Yeah, looks like dating's a challenge for all of us." He seems a bit more sympathetic, maybe... * @Haruko nods. "It would help if I knew what I wanted. Aside from apparently atheletes in their respective field, but really who doesn't want that." She shakes her head. "I just feel like I have a chance to be honest here. But I don't want to be unfair to you." * Wataru blushes darkly. He focuses on trying to answer! "I - uh -" * Wataru tries and fails, apparently. * @Haruko opens her eyes and looks back at him. "I know you have questions. I can answer whatever I can before he gets here and I will answer you as helpfully and honestly as I can. And if you want to talk later by phone we can do that to. Or you can say no, that's alright. This wasn't your mistake. I just don't want to do to this relationship what I did to my last two." * Wataru sighs. He lets his arms fall to his side. "Haruko-san, I don't want to monopolize your time. Especially if romance is on the line." He tries a little smile, as his blush begins to fade. "You like this guy, then he deserves some honesty. But you really want me here for that...? I mean..." Whoops, here comes the blush again. "He might think things. You know. About us being here alone and all. And, I mean..." Wataru looks away, back over the city. "Honestly....? I... I'm really not sure I'm comfortable meeting more people." * @Haruko looks over the city and chuckles. "If he can't handle my being on a rooftop with you, he's going to have even bigger problems with my reading Kyon's book collection in his bedroom." She sighs and turns. "That's totally fair though. Takeuchi-san is probably right there. I pull people in too fast because I want them in, not because it's what's necessarily best for them." * @Haruko She picks up the phone. <@Ciara> [As Haruko picks up the phone, it rings! It's Ken again.] "So what do we do," he glances at her. "I mean I can--" and there is the phone! * @Haruko gives one last look to Wataru as she answers. "We talked. Not everyone's super outgoing like we are sometimes, it'll be easier if I just spend the evening with you." <@Ciara> ["Whoa, and here I thought I was gonna have to argue." Ken sounds surprised. "Okay. I'll be over to meet you in fifteen, yeah?"] * Wataru sighs. He runs a hand through his hair. <@Haruko> Twenty? <@Ciara> ["Sure, Kinsha. Twenty. See you there."] <@Haruko> Yeah... Talk to you soon. <@Ciara> [Ken hangs up.] * @Haruko hangs up. "He would be fifteen minutes away. Why do I fall for fast boys? So inconvenient sometimes." * Wataru is looking over the city again. * @Haruko kneels down on the concrete, adopting a meditative pose. The towel flops over to Wataru and she reforms her circle of water. "Ask what you like and try to do that again. As long as I'm not moving around I should be able to manage the answers." * Wataru looks over his shoulder at her, and then sighs, and nods. He collects his focus, on the towel, and lifts it into the air. When it's about even with the middle of the circle, he gives it a swing towards her, accompanied by a question that's not the one he had intended to start with, but is honestly the foremost in his mind. "Who's the Ace of Swords?" * @Haruko's shield bends for a second at the question bouncing back and knocking away the handtowel. <@Haruko> Well I guess we're on the topic anyways... Ryuji Hazuki. Bishonen swordsman. Honorable gentleman..." * Wataru catches his breath. He seems surprised, maybe delighted. <@Haruko> He was part of Saki Morikawa's crew and is a longtime companion of Eriko Miyashita, but she's, Eriko that is, is not an Arcana. * Wataru lets out his held breath as that delight falls. * @Haruko holds up a hand. "Companion isn't quite the right word. Her attentions are, were, elsewhere." * Wataru looks at Haruko. "Okay. I mean. Those are all new names for me," he admits. "But thanks. I didn't even know he was alive." He thinks. "Are you friends?" * @Haruko chuckles darkly for the second time this afternoon. "--I mean..." He narrows his eyes. Of all the reactions he might have been expecting, that was not one of them. "I mean, I've ... You were friends in my dream, I mean. I've been having a lot of dreams lately." * @Haruko tilts her head. "I very much wanted to be his friend. I think he felt the same way. But I crossed a line and let him down, hard. And they lost Saki to the final battle. She stayed on the other side, she's nigh immortal but... <@Haruko> I still keep them in the loop, but we never really talk you know. We haven't since he dumped me that night. "... * @Haruko glances at the hand towel. "Keep trying, unless you want a different exercise." * Wataru lets out a breath. "Man, I'm so sorry. I put my foot in it hardcore." And yeah... I don't know, water is hard to fight against. And I'm not used to training - like, all my reactions are either puzzle-solving or self-defense... * @Haruko shrugs. "I'm a big girl, don't worry." She then thinks. "That isn't a bad thing. But probably means I need to go on the offensive for you to stay engaged." "But I don't want to hurt you," He says. It's almost wincing. * @Haruko stands up and giggles slightly. "Wataru-san. In the next couple weeks, we're going to try to be foolish heroes, rushing in to save Ozora-san from a supernatural affliction requiring the full breadth of our power. Also, I hang out with Katie for fun. Don't worry about hurting me, worry about preparing." * Wataru seems unsure, but he smiles a bit. "Okay. Well. When you put it that way." Heroes...! He thinks about his other questions. "You don't think all my dreams might have to do with that, do you? I mean..." He pushes his glasses up a bit. "Sorry again for that weird email I sent you. I was kind of neither here nor there." He smiles. * @Haruko nods. "We were friends. We did go out on a date, so you might have seen that. And your past self sounds very sweet. I hope she got along with Isao-sama, I think they might have. He was part of the Council and was a worthy bearer of the Queen of Cups title." "Yeah, I have no idea what the Council is," he flat-out says. "Just, like, putting that out there." * Wataru hears the word *date* ring in his ears. That was a *date*? But..... * @Haruko laughs. "We're not too clear either. The Tower is notionally their meeting area, although it was constructed after the war, so that's confusing. It was disrupted when almost all of the prior incarnations died around Hiroshima, either by the hands of a murderous Arcana or by the bomb. It doesn't really exist anymore although a few members are still around." * Wataru nods slowly... "Any relation to those books?" * @Haruko nods. "Yeah. Except in the books it's actually up and running again. A few years back it sure didn't seem to be. I tried sometimes to get it going again, but really the big power players just did what they thought was necessary and didn't coordinate much." "What did it *do*? Govern Arcana?" He ponders. He's trying to recall something that's not quite catching. * @Haruko thinks. "Well, they tried. We're just piecing things together from a lot of different dreams. And we just see our part of it, you're the first one I've heard of to have dreams of other people." She then blushes slightly as she thinks that through. * Wataru blinks. "Really?" He seems quite surprised! * @Haruko nods. "Yeah. Satoshi has found out some about his predecessor because of our dreams in interaction with him, but only what others saw. I only recently had dreams of Isao-sama, but he's a special case. A part of him remained in the World Reversed to guard the Cup." "I mean..." He thinks. "I mean, I'm always me, in the dream. I mean her. I mean, I see a lot of people though." He frowns. "No, wait you're right, I totally did dream of you - Isao-sama, maybe? - and the Ace of Swords in a restaurant, and of Kyon's old-lady predecessor pushing Hideo Watanabe on a swing..." I wasn't in those. I was just watching. They didn't interact with me at all. * @Haruko ponders this. "Swing pushing? That's an amazing dream! Huh. Chinese restaurant? Ryuji being about my age, wearing a suit, and breathtakingly hot? Wait, that's not useful." She takes a moment to describe both the restuarant and the boy in more detail that both ring true to Wataru's dream. * Wataru manages not to blush more than might be apprporiate for a shy kind of fella. "Yeah, that sounds about right." He smiles a bit. "Wait - you dreamt that too?" * @Haruko shakes her head. "That was my date." "Your... - wait, *your* date?" CONFUSION. Why am I dreaming about *your* dates?? <@Haruko> I have no idea. I mean maybe Isao-sama dated the Ace of Swords of his time, but... Well. And Hideo, I can't really see him riding a swing. Although he did deal with Kyon's predecessor sometimes I think. I don't know. "That's so weird. I'm sorry," he says. * @Haruko is perhaps as confused as Wataru now. She also fairly forcefully switched threads a few times in that last comment. She's starting to recover. "Well, I guess just be discreet with anything you hear." She stands up. "I suspect we're running out of time and we are getting into territory where I'm as confused as you are. Is there anything else you want to ask?" * Wataru nods quickly, thinking. "Izumi wants me to join the book club," he rolls his eyes. "Opinion? I mean, now that I know what you're reading, I..." * @Haruko smiles slightly. "I really enjoy it, I think you'd be welcome, but it's also a bunch of new people, so you wouldn't enjoy that part. But you'd have the two of us there to help." * Wataru shrugs. Is it you who picked that book? * @Haruko then takes a moment to frown over at the water. It picks itself up and puts itself back in the jugs, although some is lost to the gravel or can't be squeezed out of the towel. * Wataru lifts up the towel, and manages to get is sort of vertically flat in midair. * @Haruko looks back to Wataru. "Sort of, I ran into them when I was infiltrating the book reading. That's before we really knew." She smiles at the levitation. "What was up. My ticket ended up winning the second book. I'm still not sure if that was luck, or if he spotted me on the way in." <@Haruko> Tsubame-chan's a huge fan. She probably picked the book. "He knew you," Wataru frowns, remembering the others' discussion. "He recognized you as one of us. Are you really sure he's not?" <@Haruko> No, but if he did his research and kept his memories, he could have found out a lot just by talking to a few people. * @Haruko then frowns. "But he did give her a fear of fire. That.. that isn't as broadly known." * Wataru looks at her curiously. "Katie?" * @Haruko shakes her head. "Mine. The character takes some from both of us. The kidnapping is more like one of hers though. There were other kidnappings he might also be drawing from, so that's one of the scary parts. We don't know what he's extrapolating there or if he knows stuff that he couldn't have gotten second hand. * Wataru nods..... * @Haruko thinks and looks to Wataru. She walks over and reaches for his hand. "You should join us. You could help me figure out what is a few key details expanded upon and what might be genuinely supernatural knowledge." * Wataru looks at her, at the hand. He pulls his hand back, but without harshness. Then, if her hand remains there, he gives it a bit of a pat. "We should talk again, soon, and somewhere..." he looks around. "I was gonna say 'more private', but I do kind of mean that. The surprise visit I got has made me antsy." He puts his hands deep in the pockets of his coat. "Something's going on, Haruko-san. Something's not right, and until we figure out what it is..." * @Haruko nods. "We'll work things through. Being an Arcana means dealing with a lot of weirdness and uncertainty that never really goes away. But we will figure out more." She then gets a distant contented look for a moment as she works something through. <@Ciara> [Haruko's contentment may be disturbed by her phone ringing again!] * @Haruko picks up the phone again. * Wataru smirks. "That's probably my cue to vanish. Sad I'm not as flashy at it as Taki-chan," he chuckles! <@Ciara> ["Kinsha? Where are you at? I've been driving all over the place and I haven't found you."] * @Haruko grins slightly at Taki-chan and then gathers up her bag. "Where are you now?" She cups the phone briefly. "Thanks for wanting not to hurt me, I'm gonna rush down, but leaving's the easy part." * @Haruko then heads over to the door, gathering up possessions as she goes. She leaves the water tanks unscrewed, that might means some evaporation but whatever, she'll live. "Okay. Raincheck, right? We should do this again." Wataru waves. "And good luck with Hibiki-san," he adds! <@Ciara> [Session End!]