[Date: April 7th, 2004] [RDMGryphon] Text from Taki to Kyon I've messed up, Katie is angry at me and shouted until she couldn't talk. --- [Capfox] From Kyon to Taki: ?! From Kyon to Katie: You need me? --- [Ardweden] Katie to Kyon: why? And then: if you're not busy. --- [Capfox] Kyon to Katie: Where are you now? --- [Ardweden] Katie to Kyon: shinjuku central park --- [Capfox] Kyon to Katie: So meet me at the Kumano shrine entrance in 30? --- [Ardweden] Katie to Kyon: ok. --- [Capfox] Kyon shows up a couple of minutes early on his motorcycle, wearing his helmet, his leather jacket, dark blue jeans, and black and orange sneakers. He pops the helmet off, his hair messy, and looks around for Katie. --- [Ardweden] A minute or two passes before Katie comes creeping out from behind the shrine. She looks spooked. Kyon knew that morning that she was trying to be relatively put together - dressed nicely (especially for her), in black and green and a nice scarf and bag, not even sneakers - but that whole effect is ruined by the expression she's wearing and the fact that she's practically dodging around people. Oh, and the fact that the scarf is wound around one wrist while she tugs at it with her opposite hand. She saw him, though, because she's coming his way. --- [Capfox] Kyon cocks his head, hiking his leg off the bike and holding it steady with a hand behind him, watching her as she comes closer. He holds a hand out for her to take when she gets closer. "Here or home?" --- [Ardweden] Katie takes Kyon's hand without hesitation and uses it to tug herself in, and almost before he knows it her forehead is resting against his chest. Well, against his jacket, but still. --- [Capfox] Kyon lets the bike lean more against him, and lightly wraps his other arm around her back, looking out over towards the shrine and the park quietly. --- [Ardweden] It's a bright day with a cool breeze: pretty nice for walking around this area. It's too late for the lunch crowd, but there's a number of tourists and older people about, as well as a couple of clusters of students who aren't in classes for the time being. For the most part, people seem to be politely ignoring the fact that a baseball star is hugging a girl by a motorcycle. (Or maybe they just don't recognize him. Either way.) Katie doesn't move, in any case - she doesn't shrug Kyon off, for sure, but she also isn't hugging him back. Her eyes are open and she's working on breathing. --- [Capfox] Kyon lightly rubs a hand up and down her back, and lets her rest there for a few more beats, looking down at the top of her head. "Katie. You good to head home?" He asks quietly. "Or you want to find somewhere to talk here? We shouldn't just stand out by the bike for too long." --- [Ardweden] Katie shakes her head, swallowing, and tries to say something, but it comes out as too quiet and too raspy and she gives up. She pulls away, just enough to get at her bag, and takes out a notepad and pencil, flips to a blank page, and writes, _Can we drink something?_ before holding it up to Kyon. --- [RDMGryphon] Text from Taki to Kyon: I utterly failed at being comforting when Katie and Yamagata-san started to bring things up. --- [Capfox] Kyon looks down at the pad, and nods curtly. "Should be vending machines here somewhere. Or we could go to a cafe. Know a few places in Shinjuku." --- [Ardweden] Katie nods back and writes, _Either ok. My throat hurts._ She shows it to him. --- [Capfox] Kyon reads it, and nods curtly. "Right. So we'll do both. Get you a can of something here. And then more when we get home." He cocks his head. "You want to stay with the bike while I get it? Or you want to come with me?" --- [Ardweden] Katie looks around, quickly assessing... something, anyway, then tucks the end of her scarf through the rest so it won't unravel from her arm, takes Kyon's hand again, and looks up at him. --- [Capfox] Kyon looks down at her quietly, and then goes about locking up the bike. Doesn't take long before he's ready to go over towards the vending machines, conveniently located by every shrine in the country. --- [Ardweden] And also possibly almost anywhere else in the country! Katie tags along, taking Kyon's hand if it's available. --- [Capfox] Kyon does indeed offer her a hand as they walk. She seems like she needs the support, even if it isn't far to get to the bank of vending machines. No point trying to talk now, if she can't talk yet, so he keeps it quiet. --- [Ardweden] The walk there is short and uneventful. Once they get to the vending machines, Katie breaks contact with Kyon long enough to pull some coins out of her bag and drop them in the machine for a bottle of milk tea. She opens it without hesitation and drinks maybe a third of it before she rasps, barely audible, "Thanks." --- [Capfox] Kyon nods curtly, and he fishes in his pocket for a second to find a 500 yen coin, plunking it in and selecting a strong Iemon green tea. "Drink the rest, get stable. We don't have to rush, if I'm just looking at a machine." He takes out his phone, and flips it open to look at it, reading Taki's message quickly. --- [Ardweden] Katie nods, drinking her tea at a more normal pace now. She glances at Kyon's phone, then back up to his face. --- [Capfox] Kyon frowns, and then uncaps his tea, tucking his phone away. He blows out a breath, and stays quiet another beat before saying, "Really has a way with words." --- [Ardweden] Katie tilts her head. --- [Capfox] Kyon glances down at her sidewise. "The Knight." He takes a long sip of his tea. "Told me something'd happened. So at least that instinct works." --- [Ardweden] Katie rolls her eyes and drinks more tea before she whisper-rasps, "You think?" Another swallow of tea. "She's why you're here." --- [Capfox] Kyon snorts a small laugh. "In both senses." He looks down at her again, more direct now. "Don't push your voice if you don't need to. Just write if you're not up to talking." --- [Ardweden] Katie smiles a little. She screws the cap on her tea and takes Kyon's hand, tugging him along with her to the closest bench. --- [Capfox] Kyon lets himself be tugged, but indicates a slightly farther bench with better cover as a better choice. Mostly for avoiding potential random people recognizing him reasons. --- [Ardweden] Makes sense to her. Katie goes to that bench, then, and settles in, putting her bag and tea down on the end closest to her. The notepad is already out again, and she writes, _What do you mean by both senses?_ followed by _I think I might hate her._ --- [Capfox] Kyon reads the first one, and then smirks. "Wouldn't have known to come if she hadn't told me, but also probably wouldn't have needed to come if it weren't for her. Just betting on that second one, but from how it was supposed to go down, and her texts? Yeah." He leans back on the bench. "She really broke something this time, huh?" --- [Ardweden] Katie snorts, softly, and writes underneath, Not this time. I didn't want her to touch me. She shows it to Kyon, frowning, and then goes back to writing, _It was before I even yelled. She touched me. I *hated* her right then. She was saying things, how it's okay and how they aren't here anymore and----_ She looks at the extra long dash and stops, going for the tea. --- [Capfox] Kyon watches her write, sitting back on the bench, right next to her if not quite touching. He takes a couple slugs of his tea while she scrawls it out, and gradually scowls more. "Listening's not her strong point. Touching people who don't want to be touched's a bad strategy." --- [Ardweden] Katie shakes her head. She sets down her tea, flips the page, and writes, _I didn't say anything the first time. Kazuko Yamagata. I didn't want her to know. that meant not saying anything._ _I had to show her we were the same. She went through a lot of stuff that's a lot like what I did. Show her that and she'd talk to us. Simple right? I was trying to prove a point. then Taki was going to *touch me* again and I couldn't twice_ Katie blinks, hard, then continues: _+ Kazuko was being blind and I was remembering everything. All I could think was that it was Taki's *fault*._ --- [Capfox] Kyon reads over the pad, and then when it's clear that she's stopped for the moment, he comments, "So she screwed up your strategy for the conversation, without even meaning to." He drinks more tea, and relaxes a bit more on the bench. "And she probably made it worse trying to help after that. Just guessing." --- [Ardweden] Katie shrugs, looking down at the pad herself. --- [Capfox] Kyon shifts a bit, and stretches his hand by the edge of the pad, palm up, not quite touching it or her. "So where are you now?" he asks, his voice low. --- [Ardweden] Katie shakes her head and puts the pencil in Kyon's open palm before having another swallow of tea. Assuming he doesn't drop it (and why would he?) she takes it back so she can write, _Better._ She taps the pad with the pencil's eraser for a few moments before she continues, _But my throat hurts. I'm still angry at Taki. I don't think I like her, even--- I haven't forgiven her for what she did._ And then, crammed at the bottom, _It's not about her screwing with my strategy._ Katie pushes the pad into Kyon's hand and looks at him. --- [Capfox] Kyon looks down, scanning over the pad, then resting a finger at the bottom corner of it. "Don't have to keep working with her. She's moving soon. And if we need her in the meantime, we can send other people." --- [Ardweden] Katie looks at it, and something her expression seems to close off. She nods, taking the pad fully and flipping to the next page before she writes: _Haruko is best. I don't want her to know though. Only trouble._ --- [Capfox] Kyon nods curtly at that text. "Shouldn't be hard to do. You're busy. We can make it work." He glances down at her sidewise. "Not like this hasn't been a long time coming." --- [Ardweden] Katie's eyes dart back up to Kyon's as he talks, and she opens her mouth. "Yeah, it," she rasps, with difficulty, before she stops herself and goes for her tea. It's another few moments before she picks up her pencil again, writing, _If I really understood *anything* that was happening I wouldn't_ She stops there, gripping the pencil hard, then strikes what she just wrote through, but just once. It doesn't especially matter. Kyon already saw it. Katie continues with, _I don't remember clearly but then sometimes I do. And I hate her. So Haruko is mostly best._ Her mouth twists into a small frown. _But I am glad I went to meet with Yamagata. I was best for that._ --- [Capfox] Kyon watches still, sipping at his own tea, and says quietly, "Right. So whatever happened with the Knight, you did learn a lot. Can wait for you to tell me about all that once we're home, and you have your voice back." --- [Ardweden] Katie nods, the frown smoothing over, and she squeezes Kyon's forearm briefly before picking up her tea again. There's maybe a quarter of the bottle left, but she's totally going to drink it. --- [Grysar] [During the drive home. Kyon gets a text with from Sato Hiroto with an attached screencap, easily recognizable as being from one of the Lion's unofficial fan sites. The caption notes, "Dang, there go my future dreams with Sorata-sama." Sato's text is simple, "'Not looking for a girl right now, boss? Cool that you already found one. Would love for four of us to get together some time." A few minutes later he follows with "No pressure, Not sure when I want to be out to the team either."] [The screencap has Kyon and Katie holding hands in the park. It's from enough of a distance that you can't really make out her face, though her somewhat distinctive western features are evident.] --- [Capfox] Kyon checks his phone after they get out to the apartment, before he unlocks the door, and lets out a low grunt. He tugs his keys out of his pocket with his other hand, and opens up the door. --- [Ardweden] Katie heard that, and she saw him glance at his phone. "Taki?" she rasps - her voice still not fully recovered - as she pushes her way in to remove her shoes and coat. --- [Capfox] "Nah." He holds the phone out to her as he steps in and starts getting his own shoes off. "One of the fan blogs spotted us holding hands back at the park." --- [Ardweden] Katie takes the phone once her jacket and scarf are in the closet and looks at the picture, caption, and message. She rolls her eyes. "Teammate?" --- [Capfox] Kyon nods curtly, and hangs up his jacket, as well. "Not that big a deal. I'll talk with him about it. The fan thing, we'll just deflect." --- [Ardweden] Katie shrugs. "Should understand," she agrees before walking into the kitchen, Kumaguro trying to trip her by weaving through her legs as he heads for Kyon. He fails. --- * Kyon crouches to take his shoes off and pet the cat as he comes closer. "Right. He already gets it. Shouldn't be too hard to sell." * Katie just sort of nods, how having gotten into the kitchen. She deposits her bag nearby before she reaches for the kettle. Time to make tea, she doesn't say, because saying things is unfun at the moment. * Kyon stays to pet the cat for a few more seconds, and then unfolds himself and makes his way down the hall, heading for the table. "Good to start talking now? Could wait for the tea." * Katie nods and gets the cups while waiting for the water to heat up. "Tea." * Kyon nods back curtly, and says, "Right." He gets up from the table and heads over to the cupboard, getting out relevant soothing tea and various tea things. * Katie makes tea, with Kyon's help, and eventually they find themselves sitting at the table with Katie steadily sipping tea out of her favorite cup. She also removed her ear helpers at some point during all of this. Why wear those if you don't have to. * Kyon looks at her over his teacup. "So even with everything, you still got enough info for it to be worth it?" * Katie nods. "Found out some." She looks at her cup, then sips more tea. "Yamagata and Aka Uehara, the books, Shuffle, Council." * Kyon nods quickly, and leans forwards a bit more, clearly inviting followup. * Katie lets out a breath through her nose. "She said the books aren't about us. Me," she corrects, then has more tea. "But it is about our 'shared experiences' as Arcana, reaching out to girls who might be scared or alone. I think... they make her feel better. She's close to Uehara." * Kyon frowns. "Something to bring up with him. So she was involved, but we didn't see her? Or she just connects to the story?" It's about her, as much as anyone else. She was... controlled, kidnapped. We saved her in Osaka. * Kyon scowls. "Right. So she can definitely connect." He sets his cup down. "So she doesn't know that the story tracks us better than the rest of it?" * Katie shakes her head. "I think she's close to the author. Probably dating." She sips her tea. "Probably didn't look too close." Might talk to him about it. I objected... strongly. To her talking with him about it? No. To using my experiences. * Kyon smirks at that. "Wouldn't expect any different." * Katie grins back, then picks up her tea. "So the Council..." She drains the rest of her cup and keeps talking as she pours a new one. "Arcana government. Started by 'unaligned'." Kyon can feel the air quotes. * Kyon cuts right back to scowling, and wraps his hands around the cup of tea. "Because there were so many of those who would suddenly care now." * Katie laughs a little, also holding but not yet picking up her cup. "Yeah." She thinks, tilting her head. "Elections through Shuffle. Picked four for the Council for mediators. Then sent Shuffle invites to rival gangs." She lifts her cup, eyes still amused. "She asked if we got invites yet." * Kyon shakes his head quickly. "She seems like she was really expecting us to?" * Katie nods. "At least that we should have them. She gave Taki six invite codes. We already have others. Everyone who joins gets five." * Kyon snorts. "So she's a special user with bonus codes to hand out?" * Katie nods. "Maybe. She's involved with the books. They're connected to Shuffle. Why not?" And then she sips her tea. "Everyone Haruko talked to... they didn't know about it. Or had an invite and didn't know what it meant. They invited Wataru differently." * Kyon drums his fingers on the table, thinking. "But she's probably not on the council herself. Or she'd know more. And probably not talk to us like that." * Katie nods. "She's not. She wants to run for the second Wand seat." * Kyon snorts, and smirks. "She thinks she's better than me?" * Katie grins and sips her tea. "Don't think she knows you're competition." Her eyebrows go up. "Are you?" * Kyon cocks his head slightly. "Should think about it. If it's open to anyone. Probably I'd stand a good chance. Got a good rep, and I'm well known. And it could be a way in, get more information that way." * Katie nods, looking at her cup. "I was thinking, too. About what to do." * Kyon nods quietly, and takes a sip of his tea. * Katie swallows, then drinks her tea. "They wanted us out for a reason. Makes me want us to join." Another sip. "Make sure everyone else joins, too. Matthias, Sumire, Ryuji, Kyoko. Akemi, whoever. We know people. Tell them what's going on." She tightens her fingers around her cup. "They'll like having been left in the dark as much as us. Helps make things even." * Kyon nods curtly. "When's the deadline for this election thing? When's it supposed to happen?" Don't know. That's something to ask about, or find out if we join. I... * Katie drinks more tea, then tries again. "Want to know about the election process. How you vote. Who or what counts them. Make it fair." She smiles, bitterly. "Maybe I can run, too." * Kyon smirks. "Coordinated electioneering. Not my family's business, but we know people." * Katie rolls her eyes but doesn't say anything. She seems to think that's funny, though. She polishes off that cup, then pours some more. * Kyon nods quickly. "We're going to get on the network anyway. That should get us more info. And then we can decide how to get the word out to other people." Yeah. * Katie sighs. "Just want some say." * Kyon smirks. "Usually do pretty well with taking some say. It's a good strategy." * Katie laughs a little. "Has been." * Kyon nods quickly. "So we start getting signed up under the pseudonyms and monitoring, and we use that to get more info about the elections and who's around before the meeting with the author." * Katie tilts her head slightly. "Kaede's already doing that." I could ask Yamagata directly. * Kyon frowns. "Why not just let Takeuchi control the accounts we have around already and get more info about the elections first? Probably if she's close to the author, she'll pass along what we ask to him. Even if not on purpose." * Katie blinks, then nods. "He'll be in America for a week. But yeah. I don't..." More tea! "Don't want them to know what we know. How suspicious we actually are and why." Wataru got a personal invite, too. Could ask him to look into it that way. * Kyon frowns a bit more deeply, but then nods. "Right. And he's not connected with us yet. Not generally. Could be good to have someone real looking, too." They *want* him. As Arcana. He'll get different treatment. * Kyon nods quickly. "Sure. So we'll move that, too." * Katie nods in agreement, drinking her tea. * Kyon pours more tea for everyone! <@Grysar> [Tea for everyone! End!]