01<@Ardweden> [January 15-30, 2002.] 01<@Ardweden> [After the extremely fucking weird Tarot-related events at the construction site with Reiji and Sephiroth-lite, Wataru went home and did a more elaborate reading on Reiji. It was not especially comforting: the Eight of Cups, the Two of Swords, the Eight of Swords, Death, the Hanged Man. The Eight of Cups is who he's reading in this case: someone who's stagnated, emotionally, and is trying to start a new life. After that, the other cards show further stagnation of a dangerous sort, entrapment by Reiji's own means and blindness to the ability to escape, inevitable and complete change, and the Hanged Man - a promise that not only will he gain knowledge should he come through this, sacrificing what he must, but Wataru will have fulfilled his role, too, which is: stay put.] 01<@Ardweden> [Wataru's second reading is haphazard, but he discovers that yes, Reiji knows he's unusual. And no, he will not tell anyone as things stand.] 01<@Ardweden> [After that, Wataru's kept his head down and been a good student. He's still getting the occasional disturbing dream, sure, but that's sort of expected. What's important is he's gotten to class on time, did his homework, and kept his head above water. The construction site's still along the shortest walk to school, but he hasn't entered since then.] 01<@Ardweden> [True to his word, Reiji hasn't approached Wataru or even talked to him since then, but Wataru has kept an eye on him - quietly and without being noticed. Wataru's pretty good at not being noticed. He learns a lot more about Reiji this way: how his uniform is always neat, how he sticks by his younger sister, also in high school, before and after classes and talks to her in a hushed voice, and how she just as often looks pissed as she does worried. How he comes to school late with a steelier look than normal. How, during lunch, he often sits in back and flips tarot cards to himself in something like the readings Wataru does. Few students pay him any mind.] 01<@Ardweden> [On January 30, at lunch, Wataru sees Reiji do a reading to himself (this is pretty normal; Wataru's probably convinced Reiji is *actually* the weirdest kid at this school). He frowns severely, stuffs his cards hastily into his pocket, grabs his bag, and gets to his feet. He starts walking quickly out of the room, leaving a number of things at his desk. What does Wataru do?] 06* Wataru remains uncomfortable around Reiji, but he's comfortable with his role, at least - the cards were clear, telling him to keep his head down, and damned if that isn't exactly what he wanted to do in the first place. So life goes on, and Wataru keeps himself out of other people's business, even starting to go to cram school in the evenings to catch up on the Japanese curriculum and prevent 06* Wataru the powers-that-be from finding work for his idle hands. His grades have started going up, and although he's not really making friends much, he also gets the feeling that maybe not the entire school thinks of him as a huge weirdo. Reiji on the other hand... Definitely a huge weirdo. And that sudden departure... The temptation is there to follow, to see what's what, but he knows better than that. Since he started keeping his head down, he hasn't really run into trouble. And that's how it should be. That's what the cards want. Don't get involved... His eyes glance at the abandoned desk, and his hands itch to investigate what was left there, to get a clue of why Reiji left. But he doesn't want to be noticed... He works on his lunch, taking slow bites of melonpan alternating with his canned coffee, and deliberately does not go over to see. But... if, you know, there happened to be a natural-like moment to get up and pass by... 01<@Ardweden> [While he watches, he can hear students gossiping about what's been going on around Tokyo. Oh yeah, that's the other thing. Gossip. There's been a lot of gossip. Gossip about disappearing students at the schools near Shunyo, especially Sakuragaoka. Gossip about some sort of drug hitting the streets and questions if so-and-so who's missing is involved. Gossip gossip gossip.] 01<@Ardweden> [And in the middle of the gossip, right when Wataru's resolve is breaking concerning Reiji's possessions, a girl sits right next to him. "Hey, Wataru!" He recognizes her: Izumi Motobuchi, a girl with a short stature and even shorter hair, but enough liveliness to make up for both of those things. She's probably been the friendliest person to him since he came to this school. Or, at least, the most likely to talk to him. Not that he's weird or anything. "What've you been up to?"] 06* Wataru is startled. A person! A talking person! "Uh," he says, ever the charmer. "Cram school and stuff," he manages after a while. 01<@Ardweden> [Izumi makes a face. "*Cram* school. Are you serious?"] 06* Wataru nods, coloring very slightly. He tucks his shoulders in. 01<@Ardweden> ["Every night? Not that there's anything wrong with cram school. I mean, you're *way* smarter than me." Wataru's seen Izumi's scores posted; he certainly does test higher. "But you can't do that every night. It's not good for your health."] "W-well, I mean, uh," his tone might reveal that he agrees, though. "I have a lot to learn, the curriculum's different here and I grew up in English mostly," he adds, slightly defensive, but also tired of repeating the same reason over and over. 01<@Ardweden> [Izumi raises her hand. "Say no more! I, Izumi Motobuchi, have taken it upon myself to liven up your social life."] 06* Wataru just straight-up cocks a brow at that. 01<@Ardweden> [Izumi smiles at Wataru's skeptical look. "We're going to a concert! On February 15. *Arcana* is playing. They're a local band; you'll love them. Everyone likes music!"] Wataru's eye twitches. "Uhhhhh cool...? who are they?" 01<@Ardweden> ["... You don't like music?" Izumi asks in response.] 06* Wataru wonders what is wrong with this school. Did everyone have some weird Junior High teacher who was really into the occult or something? "No, no, music is fine," he says. 01<@Ardweden> ["OKAY well Arcana's been playing in clubs like a year now. I heard that they might even be signing a major record deal soon. They're all in high school or have only been out for one or two years, so like us! I'm telling you, they're *really* good, kind of jazzy but not too much. You'll like it, I promise!" She smiles. "And if you don't, you can tell me how much they suck. That's okay, too."] "Mm..." Wataru looks over at Reiji's desk, almost reflexively. "Well..." 01<@Ardweden> [Izumi looks at Reiji's desk, too. "Do you want to ask Reiji to come with?"] 06* Wataru almost jumps at that. "Oh! Uh, no, it's fine. When was this show again?" 01<@Ardweden> ["February 15, at ten o' clock! That's a Thursday. So the day after Valentine's Day."] "O-okay." Wataru exhales. It's important to not be too weird. If everyone's going, he should go too. "--Isn't that late for a schoolnight, though?" 01<@Ardweden> ["With your grades?" Izumi grins and pokes Wataru in the shoulder. "You worry too much."] PHYSICAL CONTACT OMG. Wataru shies away from it a bit, but can't help but have a half-smile. "Ah... All right. Okay! I'll come." AH TERRIFYING. But his aunt probably feels exactly like Izumi-chan does. It might not be hard at all to get permission to go out and be a teenager for once in his life. BUT THAT DOES NOT MAKE IT ANY LESS TERRIFYING. 01<@Ardweden> [Izumi's grin turns into a smile, and she pulls her hand away. "Great." And then she spots someone across the way: a kind of bulky guy who's making his way to start lunch late. "Oh, that's my brother. Talk to you later! Remember, the 15th - no cram school!" She bounces to her feet and rushes over to him, starting an animated conversation right off the bat.] 06* Wataru sighs, slow and heavy. So that's a thing that happened. He gets up to throw away his wrapper and empty can, conveniently passing by Reiji's desk. 01<@Ardweden> [It sure is. Reiji's desk still sits empty; he hasn't come back yet.] 06* Wataru glances down at it, itchy fingers ready to swipe without pausing in his stride! 01<@Ardweden> [The remains of his boxed lunch is there - it's only half- eaten - as are the rubber bands for his tarot deck and one of his notebooks for class.] Oh man, he grabs one of those rubber bands. They've seen some action! 01<@Ardweden> [They sure have. Wataru pockets the rubber band with no one, at least apparently, the wiser.] 01<@Ardweden> [Lunch continued, and Reiji Ozora didn't make it back. Nor does he the next school day, nor the next. It's like he just vanished. Kyoko Ozora has continued to go to school, pacing the grounds with increased worry and anger; Wataru even hears of her starting fights with other students, and then students in other *schools*, but Reiji doesn't show up.] 01<@Ardweden> [Izumi talks to him about it sometimes; her theory is this is something for the police. She seems sorry for Kyoko, but that's no reason to beat people up.] 06* Wataru gets worried. After two full days, his worry is such that he has no appetite for dinner, and shuts himself up in his room without explaining why to his aunt. His hands are trembling a bit when he lights the candles to help him concentrate. Carefully, he sits on the floor, crossing his legs, candles around him. The room is dim, and quiet, and a little cold. He places Reiji's rubber band in front of him. It's almost like it catches all the light of the candles. Slowly, everything except the rubber band ceases to hold importance, ceases to hold his gaze. Wataru feels his consciousness swaying, falling into it - he reaches out, hands hovering above the rubber band - a perfect circle, so easy to get lost in - all he can hear is the hiss of blood in his ears, his hands tingle, the candle flames dance and flicker in the periphery of his vision, and he feels himself falling, falling, falling.... and is gone. Fallen into a deep trance, fast asleep, consciousness spiraling and plummeting towards the owner of the rubber band. 01<@Ardweden> [Wataru finds himself walking down the streets in a relatively run down area of... well, it's not Tokyo. A different city. It's night, though, and the signs are in Japanese. He's alternating between looking ahead and looking down at the tarot cards he's shuffling in his hands, which are a bit more calloused than he's used to.] 01<@Ardweden> [He comes to an intersection and stops, looking around, then flips a card from the top of his deck. The Ace of Pentacles flies up and then flutters down, exactly parallel to a right turn in the road. He turns right, picks the card up off the ground, and keeps walking. And shuffling.] 06* Wataru tries to get an idea of where Reiji might be. 01<@Ardweden> [Reiji doesn't seem interested in checking maps or bus signs, but after maybe fifteen minutes, he does catch a glance in his peripheral vision of a city name off of an overhang for a laundromat. Osaka. This doesn't give Reiji pause, of course. He's just walking. Shuffling, flipping cards, more walking.] 01<@Ardweden> [It seems he's wearing his Shunyo school uniform, too. While it's normally quite neat and clean, it's somewhat rumpled at this point.] 01<@Ardweden> [Eventually, Reiji flips a card other than the Ace of Pentacles: The Nine of Swords. He picks it up, stares at it for what must be a solid fifteen minutes, and lets out a long, slow breath. "Very well," he says softly to himself. "I'll see what you have to show me."] Wataru feels a creeping cold, inside his soul. Something makes him not want to keep watching... But he's compelled, now, invested in this, invested in understanding what's going on. Reiji's in Osaka, and something about all this is very much not right. 01<@Ardweden> [He looks around, eventually spotting a cheap hotel, and heads in. It's... exactly what one would expect from a cheap hotel, but this close to the city center, it's not *actually* cheap. Reiji finds out the price, checks his wallet, and realizes he doesn't have the money. He leaves without argument, the receptionist eyeing him with a mild amount of suspicion (shouldn't a student be at home?) and wanders around some more, this time flipping other cards until he comes up with the Eight of Cups.] 01<@Ardweden> [Reiji laughs (Wataru's never heard the guy laugh before). The sound's a little bitter, a little defeated, and a little amused. He looks ahead: a bench in a bus station. Wataru can feel himself shrug- well, Reiji's shrug - and he goes to lie down, using his schoolbag as a pillow. Within ten minutes, despite the uncomfortable surface and the fact that it's frankly fucking cold, he falls asleep.] 01<@Ardweden> [And Wataru - for real, now - wakes up. He's chilled to the bone, his legs are cramped and aching from what feels like hours or days of walking, and his hands have clenched into fists so tightly that his nails have actually made wounds in his palms.] 01<@Ardweden> [Also, Aunt Midori's knocking on the door. "Wataru! Are you okay in there?"] Fuck.........! ".....Yeah...." Fuck. Tingles and aches wrack his body, and his hands are *bleeding*. He tries to stand up, fails, and instead decides just to do something about these damned candles... 01<@Ardweden> [They burn spitefully. "What have you been doing in there?" his aunt asks. She wriggles his doorknob. "You've been locked up all evening."] "Uh... Homework." He licks his fingers and pinches out the candles, knowing full well how to minimize the smell of wicks put out. He gathers them up, staggering painfully around the room. 01<@Ardweden> ["Isn't it a little dark for that? It looks like your lights are off." Pause. "You haven't been sleeping, have you?"] 06* Wataru sighs. Sleeping's not a terrible excuse, really. Candles dealt with, he throws himself into bed, wadding tissues to keep his bloody hands from staining anything and kicking a bit at his sheets, for maximum rumple factor. 01<@Ardweden> ["Wataru?" GOD, why did his aunt have to pick now to be nosy? And she sounds all concerned!] "I..." He tries for contriteness. "I'm just tired..." 01<@Ardweden> [She knocks on the door. "You shouldn't be locking yourself in even if you are. Open up, please."] 06* Wataru rubs at his forehead, then worries about blood - he wasn't bleeding *that* much, was he? - and clicks on his bedside light. He slips out of bed, messes up his hair, tries to look exhausted - not too hard, really - and gives himself a quick check-over in the mirror to make sure there's no blood anywhere, and that his palms are well hidden inside his long sweater sleeves. Then he opens the door, partway, squinting at the light and looking sleepy. Hopefully. 01<@Ardweden> [His aunt pushes the door open the rest of the way. Shit, the hallway light is bright. She looks around, then down to Wataru, and she gasps upon seeing his hands. "What happened to you?" He must be bleeding more than he thought.] 06* Wataru is good at lying, but his head hurts, and his legs hurt, and his hands hurt like hell. "I... they got cut on some broken glass earlier. After cram school. I was stupid. And I felt stupid about it, so I didn't want you to know." He looks at his shoes. "I thought they'd stopped bleeding. It's... it's really not that bad. It's like scratches." 01<@Ardweden> [Aunt Midori grabs Wataru's hands and looks at them, worried. "These look bad. Come on, let's get them cleaned out and bandaged up. Where did you find broken glass? You shouldn't be going to cram school if it's so late that you're too tired to watch what you're doing. Your health is more important than grades..." She continues tutting and mothering him as she ushers him into the bathroom and starts helping him clean out his cuts and bandage them properly.] 01<@Ardweden> [She hesitates a bit when she gets a better look at the cuts under light, and she looks at Wataru's face for a moment, but she doesn't comment, instead appearing to continue to take his story at face value.] 06* Wataru feels somehow incredibly relieved that all she cares about is the cuts. He lets her take care of them - probably a good idea, anyway - and placates her with mild, consistent lies. And if he knows that she knows that his own fingernails are what dug into his hands... Well, it's a secret they can both keep to themselves. 01<@Ardweden> [Midori helps out Wataru, tells him to keep his door unlocked next time he falls asleep, please (with more worry in her voice than usual), and eventually Wataru actually does his homework and actually does fall asleep. That night, he dreams about wandering the streets of Osaka, freezing, looking both desperately and methodically for something but being unable to find it.] 01<@Ardweden> [Thursday, February 15, 10:00 pm.] 01<@Ardweden> [It's snowing, but fortunately Wataru's indoors! He's with Izumi and another girl who she brought with - a transfer student a year younger than them named Fuyuko Kageri - in Shibuya Nest. It's a rather large club, and it's packed, mostly with high school and college aged students. Music is happening, people are dancing, and Arcana is about to play!] 01<@Ardweden> [The crowd starts chanting "AR-CA-NA" as four people head on stage! One is above average height and muscular, with spiky hair bleached so blond it's practically white. He's dressed punkishly: choker, vest with the sleeves town. A shorter boy follows him; he's wearing a leather jacket and black jeans, but no shirt. He's also wearing a silver mask, and he's carrying a saxophone. While Izumi had said that everyone in the band was in high school or had graduated, this kid looks younger than that - he seems he belongs in junior high.] 01<@Ardweden> [Then there's two women. The first one wears leather pants with a studded belt, and a green halter, and long, striped blue gloves. She's got short, messy red hair. The second one has purple hair done in twin pigtails, and she's wearing a leather skirt and a black, sleeveless top. She's got a spiked collar around her neck, and knee-high black boots.] 01<@Ardweden> [They begin playing their opening song immediately, which is exactly as Izumi had described: jazzy, but updated. The girl with the red hair is singing.] 06* Wataru has been in Japan long enough that he feels awkward in not a school uniform! He's in baggy black jeans and a black-and-grey hoodie with horizontal stripes. He stares at the band's outfits, and especially that one guy with the blond hair... 01<@Ardweden> [The crowd goes nuts, and Izumi half-yells, "Isn't this great?!" Fuyuko, who's been standing there quietly (and occasionally shoved into Izumi; it's kind of crowded) makes a small noise of maybe- assent? It's hard to tell. Also it's loud. She looks at the floor, and Izumi nudges her, smiling. "Hey, cheer up! It's okay to have fun!" Fuyuko just turns her attention away. It seems Wataru may not be the most socially awkward person at school, either.] 06* Wataru feels like he should be nice to Fuyuko, especially in view of this... He asks if she wants something to drink! 01<@Ardweden> ["Um." Fuyuko nods once or twice. Three times. She nods three times. And keeps her eyes on the floor.] "Anything in particular?" It's almost too loud to talk. 01<@Ardweden> [She shakes her head. Izumi frowns a little. "Hey," she says, giving Fuyuko a half-hug. The girl shrinks into herself. "It's okay. He's not here." Fuyuko just stares at the ground, and Izumi looks at Wataru. "Just... get her a water or tea or something, okay? Please?"] 06* Wataru nods. He heads off to the bar. It's not like money's much of anan issue...... an He orders a CC Lemon for each of them. Three CC Lemons! 01<@Ardweden> [Wataru goes to the bar and orders non-alcoholic drinks with the ridiculous amount of money left over from his aunt paying for lunches. As he does so, he hears a couple of girls chatting it up next to him, "And this isn't even all of them! Where's Zein!" "I know, he's cute. Or that other singer, omg. *Tenjirou*." "Right? So hot." "Oh my god THERE HE IS." Point point.] 06* Wataru looks in that direction. 01<@Ardweden> [Wataru turns to see, across the floor, a young man with white hair that's dyed black at the tips. He wears white pants and a sleeveless fish-net shirt, as well as a necklace with a key. That must be Tenjirou. He looks around, meets Wataru's eyes, and Wataru feels his heart just... melt. This is the most handsome man he's ever met. He flashes a smile that Wataru's sure is just for him, then breaks his gaze and goes about navigating the floor, weaving his way through the crowd.] 06* Wataru stands completely transfixed as the sounds of the club dim, and the most handsome man he's ever met crash-lands into his heart. It's almost like being in a trance...... His body feels hot, and the drinks are temporarily forgotten as his eyes linger on the gorgeous rock star. 01<@Ardweden> [Wataru finds himself drawn across the floor to him, drinks forgotten... and then stops, in his tracks, as he realizes that the rock star is talking to a girl - maybe thirteen years old and cute in a pageboy sort of way, she has chin-length, light brown hair and a cute little hat on her head. Goodness knows how she got into the club, but Tenjirou - *his* Tenjirou - is talking to her with a soft smile. She smiles in return, saying something, and lets him wrap his arm around her, leading her towards the back rooms. Wait! She gets to go to the back? That's not fair! Tenjirou was going to invite him... but... if that's what he wants, then he can't deny Tenjirou this. He loves him, after all...] 01<@Ardweden> [When Wataru comes to, he finds himself standing in the middle of the dance floor. Arcana has finished their set, and someone else is playing now. Maybe a third of the crowd has left, too. And he can't see Izumi or Fuyuko anywhere.] 06* Wataru blinks, confused. What the hell.....? Right - drinks, he was getting.... Where is everyone? He starts looking for the girls. 01<@Ardweden> [Neither of them is in the club, at least not the club proper that he has easy access to. He could try to check the women's bathroom, the back rooms (but well, there are people stationed there, hmm) or outside.] He checks outside! 01<@Ardweden> [Outside, half a block down, Wataru spots Izumi. She's sitting against a wall, just at the very edge of an alley, and holding her head in her hands.] 06* Wataru runs up to her! "Izumi-chan! There you are!" 01<@Ardweden> [She doesn't respond.] 06* Wataru actually crouches down, trying to get her to look at him. "Izumi-chan! What happened? Are you okay?" 01<@Ardweden> ["Wa- Wataru?" Izumi shifts, looking up at him, and Wataru can see why she was in that position. Her right eye is practically swollen shut, and there's a large cut along her forehead.] "HOLY SHIT! What - We need to get you to a hospital!" Japaneseness forgotten, Wataru holds on to her shoulders. "What the hell happened in there? I just - I think I blacked out for - were we drugged, or...!?" 01<@Ardweden> [Izumi just looks dazed. "I... I don't remember."] "Shit. Shit." Wataru looks around. "Fuyuko?" 01<@Ardweden> [She shakes her head. "I saw her leave. I followed her. I think... she was going to her asshole brother? He tracked her down. But- I don't remember what happened after that."] 01<@Ardweden> [Izumi tries to get to her feet and stumbles a bit. "'m dizzy."] "...Let's get you to the hospital. Come on." 01<@Ardweden> ["Thanks." Izumi smiles, and it's not nearly as manic as her smiles usually are. "You're a good friend."] 01<@Ardweden> [Wataru gets Izumi to the hospital. She doesn't remember what happened, even after getting patched up, and Wataru still doesn't know. Time passes. Reiji's still missing. Kyoko's missing now, too. The school's buzzing about how Shunyo apparently isn't immune to whatever's going on. Izumi's back at school the next day, now with a set of stitches that she hides under her bangs. Despite likely being assaulted, she's returned to her typical, cheerful self within a few days.] 01<@Ardweden> [Say what you will about Izumi; getting her ass handed to her isn't going to keep her down. At least, not so obviously. When Wataru catches her more or less alone, she tends to have a troubled look on her face, but upon noticing him she lights right up. And he thought *he* was a good liar.] 06* Wataru won't pry, but he'll make sure he's there if she wants to talk. Something happened, something bad, and he wants to make sure they both make it through this okay. All three of them... is Fuyuko all right? 01<@Ardweden> [Fuyuko seems... fine. She's as withdrawn as ever. Izumi keeps trying to hang out with her anyway, and Wataru sometimes finds himself tagging along. The girl is just as reluctant to talk to them as ever. When Fuyuko's out of hearing range, Izumi tends to rant about her brother - Yushiro Kageri - claiming he's a controlling asshole and he got transferred to Sakuragaoka where all of the assholes fucking BELONG. She points him out once or twice, too, lurking at the edges of Shunyo's grounds: Sakuragaoka uniform, black hair falling over his eyes, a slouch to his walk.] 01<@Ardweden> [Wataru caught a look at his eyes once. There's something seriously wrong there. Not dangerous power like the Sephiroth guy, or intense thoughtfulness like Reiji, but something crazed and angry and ready to let loose at any moment. Izumi's noticed, too, but this hasn't stopped her from trying to hang out with Fuyuko one bit.] 06* Wataru realizes after a while that in spite of himself, he's sort of made friends. Whatever happened that night connected them, for better or worse. He's been putting off doing a reading - something inside him makes him think he might be better of not knowing, almost. And then, one holiday afternoon which he has blissfully off from cram school, he goes into his room with a PB&J and a carton of grape- flavored milk, and reads the cards. 01<@Ardweden> [Wataru does the reading he's been dreading all this time. He flips the Nine of Cups. Okay, guy sitting in the middle of a pile of cups. He as plenty and his needs are fulfilled, but he desires more. He flips the next card. Seven of Cups. Good options, but deception. Okay. Five of Cups. Loss. Okay. The next one: Knight of Cups. Then Five of Pentacles. Wataru knows his reading should be over, but he feels compelled to continue. And so he does. Queen of Cups. Page of Swords. Chariot. The Magician. Justice. King of Cups. Page of Pentacles.] 01<@Ardweden> [At this point, he's where he was in the reading, and he's flipped *so many* cards, but for some reason they all feel important somehow. But he doesn't know how. It makes no sense.] 01<@Ardweden> [Wataru kind of feels he has a headache coming on, and he has a hockey game to go to with Izumi tomorrow night. Apparently Shunyo's playing Sakuragaoka.] Some of these are familiar, cards that have come up much more frequently since he's been in Japan. There's something going on, something in the water here, in the air, something interconnected and very troubling, but about as easy to catch as the coattails of a dream. Wataru packs away his cards, not feeling any better for it, and gets a glass of water before lying down for a nap. Hopefully he dream of hockey, and not of blood. 01<@Ardweden> [He actually does, as for once his dreams are kind to him. And the next day, HOCKEY. Shunyo vs. Sakuragaoka! Izumi is very excited, though she tends to translate this into "LET HIROKI PLAY" - that'd be her brother, who's a benchwarmer for the Shunyo team. Still! It's a really fun time, and nothing weird happens, and Wataru finds himself quite taken with the Sakuragaoka center - Watanabe - and when Izumi scampers off to talk to her brother during a break Wataru manages to sneak his way to the visiting team's locker room and, ahem, find a souvenir for the occasion.] Taken is an understatement - Wataru's feeling pretty good at the game, better than he has in a long time, and with Izumi's great seats they're right in the middle of the action. The Shunyo players are good, but damn, the Sakuragaoka players are better, so much so that watching them is a joy to behold, and Wataru doesn't even care they're not his team. One especially combines power and finesse with this *grace* that just makes it impossible not to watch him... And then the helmet comes off, after the first period, and out tumbles long hair and a radiant grin and sparkles and angels singing. And Wataru's day just went from good to *great*. He needs to know more about this vision of wholesome athletic elegance, and how better than to nick some of his stuff? 01<@Ardweden> [And so, Wataru finds himself in the visiting team locker room during a brief break in the game. He looked through the center-and- captain's things - that'd be Watanabe, with the long hair and the *amazing* playing, seriously, what is he doing playing hockey in Japan, forget that he's in high school - and found the perfect item: a black and silver water bottle with a LA Kings decal.] Luckily, he has his schoolbag, so pocketing it should be a cinch. He might not even notice it's missing! Things go missing all the time at things like these, right...? 06* Taki is Sakuragaoka's diminutive goalie, seriously she's like 2/3 Satoshi height, and has red and blue hair, the red hanging over the left side of her face and the blue's in a ponytail, she's also just coming running around the corner from a row of lockers that Wataru would have sworn was empty. "Where'd he... Ack!" And that's when Wataru realizes that their goalie is... a GIRL. "WHOA." Seriously cool! Ah, hey sorry. I didn't realize anybody was still in here. "No worries! Ah, you're the goalie, right?" He grins! 01<@Ardweden> [Taki realizes that, uh, Wataru definitely is not on her team.] Ah, yeah. Uhm, are you on the Shunyo team? cause this kinda isn't your lockerroom. "Oh! My bad. Good luck on the game, you guys are great!" LA LA TIME TO LEAVE Thanks. 06* Taki notices the dufflebag. "Augh, he didn't even remember to zip it up. It's a good thing I came back for it." Wataru smiles. "Yep! See ya!" SCOOTLE 01<@Ardweden> [And Wataru returns to his and Izumi's awesome seats before the third period starts. Sweet! "Great game, right?" Izumi says. "We're gonna lose, but I'm feeling pretty good that we scored one point."] 06* Taki lets out a sigh of relief as soon as he gets out of sight, so lucky that she picked the wrong row of lockers. "Yeah! Thanks for taking me out here, Izumi." ^_^ 01<@Ardweden> [Tuesday next week, Fuyuko comes to school with a scraped up face and bruises on her wrist. Izumi expresses concern, but she just mutters something about how she fell and is fine. Izumi gives Wataru a worried look.] 06* Wataru understands how Japan works now, maybe, and he discreetly mentions his concern somewhere within earshot of his homeroom teacher, hoping for the right sort of interventions to eventually trickle down to the right place.... 01<@Ardweden> [Izumi's much more vocal about it - she's so *bad* about being Japanese, despite being born there - but Fuyuko just retreats inward more.] 01<@Ardweden> [The evening of March 9 - a Friday - Wataru's walking home alone late, from watching hockey practice with Izumi (she said it's to support her supporting her brother, because man, sometimes watching practice is boring but *really*...) and he passes by that construction site again. He's had quite a bit of practice feeling more comfortable with it around, but this time, his skin prickles.] 01<@Ardweden> [And there's *laughing*, and a figure staggers out towards him.] 06* Wataru pauses, but backs up slightly when the staggering form comes! 01<@Ardweden> [As the figure staggers, light catches its form, and Wataru can see... it's Reiji Ozora.] "Oh, my god, *Reiji*!" Wataru rushes up to meet him, suddenly rather unconcerned for his own wellbeing. "Shit, I thought you were dead- --" He reaches out to grip his upper arms. 01<@Ardweden> [Reiji jerks back quickly, stumbling away and into the construction yard fence. His uniform is crumpled and torn, and he looks like hell, and the light in his eyes isn't the same as before. But. He focuses on Wataru. "Which one!" he yells. "Which one are you?!"] "Wataru! I'm Wataru, man, I - I'm in your class, I'm with you at Shunyo." Shit... What happened to him? " ....Geography quiz, remember?" 01<@Ardweden> [Reiji shakes his head. "Which one!" He squints at Wataru. "I know you're one. I *know*. But the cards are a lie, they lied to me, they..." He giggles, laughther bubbling up from deep inside him. "But I won. I *won*. I figured it out, all of it, and I got it from them." Wataru gets the feeling that 'them' isn't the cards. "I took it and I won."] It dawns on him, horribly, that Reiji is... not quite right in the head. Not just confused, but delusional.... "Okay, man. Come on. You won, so now it's over and we can get you some help, huh?" 01<@Ardweden> ["Yes. Help. I have to get... need to find... but have to..." Reiji looks at Wataru, and for an instant, he's sure sanity's back in his eyes. "The Hanged Man." And then it's gone, and Reiji starts to stumble away.] 06* Wataru tries to gently keep a hand on Reiji's elbow or something, leading him towards the nearest emergency place - a koban (police box) or a hospital or the school.... 01<@Ardweden> [As soon as Wataru puts a hand on Reiji's shoulder, he yells, "NO!" and fucking BOLTS. The whole area plunges into darkness as every light in the block goes out.] 06* Wataru foolishly tries to follow. "Reiji, wait! I'm sorry! I won't do it again - Come on!" 01<@Ardweden> [Wataru tries to follow, but it's really fucking dark, and before long, Reiji's gone.] 01<@Ardweden> [A minute later, all of the lights turn on again.] 06* Wataru stands alone, out of breath, in the empty crossing. Well... At least there's some kind of closure, there. He just hopes Reiji'll be all right. And that he found what he was looking for. 01<@Ardweden> [He certainly found something. And likely traded something more precious for it.] 01<@Ardweden> [End]