542/Guns, apples and orphan girls.

Guns, apples and orphan girls.
Date of Scene:	02 October 2023
Location:	Sports Pavilion
Synopsis:	Adora, Naru and Kyouka chat about the soul stealer gun, then Yayaka joins to prod Adora's buttons.
Cast of Characters:	Naru Osaka, Adora Rainbowfist, Kyouka Inai, Yayaka

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Naru Osaka has posed:
Classes are doing for the day, and while it's not self-defense class night, there's still students doing some level of training out in the sports pavillion. It is, after all, still lovely weather and a darn good time to spend time outside before winter sends everyone indoors.

Naru is in her gym clothes, and has a practice quarterstaff as she goes through the movements of her training routine. The whole purpose is to make each one of those movements into something that is pure muscle memory and doens't require her to actually /think/ about what she's doing next, and there's only one way to do that.

Practice. Practice. Practice.

She does look a little tired today, and her movements aren't perhaps quite a crisp as other days, but she's here and making an effort.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
Normally, Adora would be here working out with others. She's been busy since last night, though. She's managed to hear about Naru's research through tyhe grapevine, and she's been searching for the girl all afternoon. And...here she is.

Adora is in her school uniform, opting in for the slacks instead of the skirt. The tall blonde crosses the pavilion towards the girl and flashes a tired looking smile.

"Um, hey there. I'm Adora Rainbowfist. Grade 8." Big eigth grader! "I heard from someone that...well...you're really into crystal...ology?" She sucks at subtelty. "I stumbled onto some stuff about the...field...of crystal-ology last night..."

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru pauses the swinging of her staff as someone approaches and then blinks as that someone is actually looking for her. She leans on her staff and smiles a greeting. "Nice to meet you Adora.. I'm Naru Osaka, as you clearly have figured out."

She has to look up at Adora, but that isn't so unusual for the rather petite grade nine. Her head quirks thoughtfully. "Would this field of crystal-ology also involve reminders I've been giving to people advising them to not get shot?" She hazards a guess.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
She grins a bit and nods. "That'd be the one."

Adora glances about and steps in closer to speak softly to her so randoms don't overhear. "A girl got shot with a rifle last night. A Pureheart Crystal was formed. I...got ahold of both the girl and the crystal through...um. Ways. I managed to put the Crystal on the girl and fix her..."

She clears her throat and stuffs her hands into the pockets of her uniform slacks.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Good." Naru nods firmly at the notion of the girl and her soul having been reunited. Her smile is sympathetic. "I dont know about you, but I had to wash my hands about a hundred times afterwards, cause the feeling of weird and wrong after holding someone else's soul just would not go away."

"Do you know who.." Naru starts and then shakes her head. "No.. do you know if the person doing the shooting was Riventon? I dont want you to betray your sources."

Naru adds after a moment. "Thank you, by the by, for coming to find me. I'm trying to keep on top of how much we know about the gun, and the crystals."

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"I don't know who Riventon is, but the...shooter...mentioned the name Takashi. But I didn't hear if they were connected. Like, she could have been talking aloud about something else entirely when I, kinda, interrupted her."

She clears her throat, and nods in thanks when she isn't forced to give Catra up.

"All I'll say is that my kinda girlfriend did it. But...I'm working on bringing her to the good side, if that makes sense."

Adora nods, then. "Anything I can do to help...let me know. I can...well, I'm guessing you're also Special. I get Big when I need to, not that I can't hold my own normally..."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    It's at about this time that Kyouka makes her way past where the two girls are talking. She is not, it should be noted, currently in her workout gear, instead wearing her normal 'at school' outfit of button-down white woman's dress shirt and black slacks although she is, as almost always, wearing her sunglasses. And chewing bubble gum.

    She doesn't recognize Adora, but she knows Naru fairly well, so as she saunters past with one hand in a pocket, she calls out "Lookin' good, Osaka-san! Glad to see you here practicing." She does sound genuinely pleased- you know someone is serious about a skill when they practice when they aren't told to. And any teacher can feel pleased when her student is doing so.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"So.. that's potentially at least three of them." Naru mmms softly, thinking on things when Kyouka approaches.

Rather than pretend that they were talking about something innocumous in the presence of a school authority figure, Naru instead sends that thoughtful frown at Kyouka. "Have you met Adora Rainbowfist, Inai-sensei?" Introductions first, get the politeness overwith.

"It sounds like there's probably at least three guns out there, and not just Riventon using them." She notes to Kyouka. "Which is worrisome." Her attention goes back to Adora a moment and there's another of those gentle smiles. "Bringing one's SO to the good side makes total sense. You are not alone in that one." She pauses a moment. "Er.. not me, but others. And um.. I'm sort of an exception to all the rules, but I'm fully in the know, yes."

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
The blonde glances at the approaching counselor and smiles softly at her. She offers an awkward bow. "Hello! It's nice to meet you, Inai-sensei." She then turns back towards Naru.

"Yeah, my...um...contact used one. She was sent out to use it as an experiment." She nods slowly, trying to take that information in. She reaches up to adjust her ponytail.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka glances at Adora as Naru introduces her, quirking a brow. "I haven't. Rainbowfist, huh? I like it." She grins a lopsided grin, not seeming phased by the fact that Adora is also quite a bit taller than she is- at 5'2", the counselor is only a few inches taller than Naru.

    When Naru switches straight to business, her grin drops into a thoughtful frown. She doesn't seem to have any compunction over speaking about these matters in front of Adora- likely, her magic sense has already told her that Adora is, as the girl puts it, 'special'. And if Naru was already talking to her about it, then she's probably trustworthy.

    "Don't leap to conclusions," She cautions Naru. "It could just be one gun with multiple people using it, unless the incidents you're hearing about overlapped in terms of timing." She shifts her grey-eyed gaze, shielded by her sunglasses, to Adora. "If it's an experiment, that probably means they aren't mass producing the things yet, at least."

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru starts to say something and then pauses at Kyouka's comments and nods. "Yes, you're exactly right, and thank you for that. We've more than enough to worry about without jumping to extra horrifying conclusions."

"Do you know if the girl it was used on was a mundane as well?" Naru asks of Adora. "I mean, best guess, of course. It's not like most of us can tell at a glance, but at least not someone we know at school or anything? That too would keep it in line with the ongoing prototyping and experimentation and not yet mass production."

There's another pause and then Naru looks to Adora. "You jumped in rather in the middle of it all. If you are completely confused, just ask and we'll try and explain more fully."

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"Thanks. Didn't have a last or middle name when I was found, so my friend gave it to me. Adora Happysmile Rainbowfist. And I named her Catra Applesauce Meowmeow. I own it." She grins softly.

"Nah, she seemed really protective of it. Pretty obvious the gun was super unique." She turns towards Naru and nods. "A random girl she found and shot, from what I got. She...felt bad and left her in a ramen shop and told the people there to call the police for her. Later on she pointed me out to her when she gave me the crystal so I could save her..."

"That'd be great, honestly. I know she's working for some group called Obsidian, but that's about it. Oh, and they want world domination. That's what she told me." Oh, Catra.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Well ain't that just swell," Kyouka says to Adora, and while its possible to say that in a sarcastic way she seems like she actually means it. Perhaps owning one's quirks is something she respects.

    She pops her bubblegum, which she really shouldn't be chewing because it's against school rules but perhaps considering it keeps her from smoking on campus the headmistress looks the other way. "I wouldn't read too much into the fact that the targets are random, at this stage." She tells Naru. "It's pretty clear this is testing. Just because they haven't shot any mahous yet doesn't mean they don't intend to, it may just mean they aren't willing to tip their hand until they know the device works the way they intend it to work."

    To Adora, she adds, "Obsidian is a big corporation. Like a business. They have thousands of employees, most of which are just normal people, but secretly yeah, they're up to no good. Don't trust 'em."

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru smiles at the name offerings and giggles softly. "I love it. Totally something to just wear wih pride and own it."

The jovility fades from Naru's tone "I'm glad you found her in time." Naru comments. "Too long without one's soul is generally fatal, and I'm gratful neither of you had to have that on your conscience." She nods to Kyouka. "That's exactly what I read into it, that they are still in testing. Mostly reassuring for the timeline, I feared they were further into testing than I thought."

Naru nods at the basic description of the evil megacorp. "Evil mega-corporation, world domination. If you've read about an evil mega corp in manga, Obsidian has probably tried it, or it's currently in committee to consider."

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"What's a corporation?," the girl asks. "Is that like a regime? I know about regimes."

She smiles at Naru and nods at the comment on her name.

"Yeah, she was worried the girl would die, and she'd...I guess...not exactly been told that. So she was kind of freaking out."

She shakes her head at Naru. "I don't know what a manga is."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "It's like a big business, on the surface they make products and sell them to people in order to make money, but that's basically just a front for.. whatever the other stuff they do is. Which is mostly evil stuff. Naru got it right."

    "Having one's soul removed from one's body is generally fatal regardless of the method or means." Kyouka adds. "It seems like an odd way to kill someone though, since just.. y'know, shooting them with a regular gun would accomplish the same thing but much faster and less reversibly, which means they must have some reason for wanting the crystallized souls. The fact that they haven't seem concerned with actually keeping the ones they've created so far is further indication that these are just tests to make sure the weapon works."

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru nods slowly as Kyouka explains what a corporation is and she considers Adora anew, with a slow little nod. "It was a legit freak out." She confirms with a little wrinkle of her nose.

"Mmm. So manga are illustrated stories in a book. The bulk of the storytelling is done in the art, rather than being like books or literature that we read in school. If you think you'd be interested in some, I can totally ask Usagi which she recommends to start with." She adds after just a moment. "Usagi is my best friend, and my roommmate."

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
Adora nods slowly. "Evil merchant group with secret plots. Got it."

She considers a bit, glancing between them. "She called it a Pureheart Crystal. Could that have something to do with the targets? Only the pure of heart? I dunno..." She scuffs a toe and looks over to Naru.

"Oh, sure. That sounds fun. Niji-san is teaching me about sports, too. I'm really into baseball already, thanks to her. Started watching American games. Went into the city and picked myself up a Padres hoody. Go running it in and stuff..."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka shrugs her shoulders at the mention of 'Pureheart Crystal'. "It could mean something, or it could just be a buzzword. Magic is full of buzzwords. I mean, look how many words there are just for 'soul' in the first place. Pureheart Crystal might just be another word like that. Or it could have some kind of significance.. I'm not sure we can really know until we do some more digging to find out what they're actually after them for."

    She sighs as the talk turns to more mundane things like manga and sports- not a bored sigh, just a 'teenagers' sigh. "Anyway, please keep me informed of anything new you come up with, Naru-chan. That goes for you too, Ms. Adora." She reaches into a pocket and pulls out a business card, handing it to the tall girl. It has her name, phone number and position inscribed over the RHA logo on the front. "If you find out anything else from this contact of yours, gimme a call, huh?"

Yayaka has posed:
    The crunching sound of someone biting into a crisp, ripe apple precedes her entrance, giving people time to become aware of the stranger heading into the interior portion of the Sports Pavilion. Well, 'interior'. It's still outside. Ish. Pavilions are confusing okay. Anyway, a schoolgirl comes in wearing a student's attire, though it appears to be from a different school. She has blonde hair with pink streaks, in a bob, with her bangs pulled up and back with a hair ribbon.

    She is also, as previously indicated, eating an apple. So the apple is also there. In her hand. With at least one bite taken out of it.

    She stops just inside upon seeing and hearing there are others present and stares with hazel brown eyes and a neutral expression.

    Seconds pass.

    Suspense!?

Naru Osaka has posed:
"I never got into baseball." Naru smiles to Adora as the conversation naturally transitions to less fraught topics. "I mean.. I was not into any physical activity before I transfered to this school and now look at me."

Naru gestures to her gym clothes and the staff she's leaning on. Her attention flickers over to Kyouka and she gestures a little. "Some of it is entirely Inai-sensei's fault. Some of it is certainly Takuto's fault. I can spread the blame around a lot. The running, that I brought in myself. There is nothing like a morning run to clear one's thoughts and actually get a few things clear."

Naru nods to Kyouka at the request to keep her in the loop. "Of course. I'll likely stop by sometime this week to go over a couple things, if that's alright."

Naru turns at the sound of deliberate apple crunching not far away and nods politely to Yayaka. "Hi there."

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
The blonde reaches out to take the card, and she tucks it away. "Thanks. Sounds good..."

She turns to Naru and grins. "I've always enjoyed working out and...I'm good at fighting. Sports are a safe outlet and I'm really loving them. Well, from what I've seen. I founded a boxing club and it's getting off the ground. I was gonna join kendo but my style is...uh...not the same,."

The foreigner looks to Yayaka and smiles warmly and waves.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka laughs warmly. "Naru-chan here is turning out to be one of my more dedicated students, it is true. Although I'm not sure I can take nearly as much credit as the circumstances she's found herself in, which are absolutely not my fault, I hasten to add."

    To Adora, she says, "If you're interested in Self-Defense Classes, I run them here every wednesday. It's an excuse to work out and pick up some useful skills, but it also gets you a PE credit, if you're a student. You're welcome to sign up."

    The other two notice Yakaka, so she can't help but glance that way as well, attention drawn. She quirks a brow in query, but lets Naru make the official greeting.

Yayaka has posed:
    After a few moments of awkward silence from the new arrival, she leans to the side with her right arm propped up against the entrance, partially-eaten apple in hand, and other hand planted on her hip. She finishes chewing and then swallows, taking another look at the trio in front of her. Finally, she returns the greeting. "Yo."

    Her eyes scan upwards, seeing how far up the pavilion goes. "Nan-da?" she asks in mock disappointment. "I thought this would be more like the Colisseum. Isn't Radiant Heart supposed to be a rich kid school?" She closes her eyes and shakes her head in dismay, gesturing limply with the apple above her head. "I have to say, I'm kind of disillusioned." Then she looks up and smirks. "Great apples though. Just what a growing body needs."

    Finally, she lets her arm slide down so that she can fold both of them across her midsection while still leaning. "Do you at least do fancy sports like fencing or that one with the poetry cards?"

Naru Osaka has posed:
"We're actually a pretty diverse school." Naru comments upon the lack of suitably impressive premises for Yayaka's tastes. "Not just rich kids, not just everyone else. A real mixture."

Naru laughs softly. "As we have people interested in fencing, yes.. there's a fencing club. And a kendo club, and a boxing club." She nods to Adora for that one. It's her club after all!

"I'm not sure what you mean about sports with pottery." Even Naru has to shake her head on that one. "I mean.. we do .. or we can.. do pottery on Art Club, but I wouldnt exactly call it a sport." She looks to Adora and Kyouka to see if they might have more insight.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"Learning more about self-defense is always good. I'm kinda teaching this other girl, Mio, how to do that, too. But boning up myself sounds like a great plan. We meet here weekly."

She looks to Yayaka and blinks a few times before glancing up. "...My last school had us sleeping in barracks, and we ate ration bars. This school is an absolute -palace- if you ask me."

"Yeah, like me. Orphan raised in a military school who ended up here, not a penny to my name. Heck, I was sleeping in an abandoned gym before I was brought in! All kindsa kids."

"Don't look at me. I only know baseball, volleyball and boxing. Like...I literally don't know any others..."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "She said Poetry, Naru-chan, not Pottery." Kyouka corrects, chuckling. "She's maybe referring to Hyakunin Isshu? I'm sure we have a club for that too, although I think you're more likely to find it in the art building than here. Fencing, definitely here."

    To Adora, she adds, "Feel free to invite this Mio friend of yours to the official classes too, if you want. Although I'm never going to discourage extra-curricular self-improvement." She nods to Naru and her staff as proof.

    She shakes her head a bit, then says, "Listen, I got stuff to do." Big important teacher and everything. "You girls have fun, and hopefully I'll see you at self-defense class in the future, Ms. Adora." She smiles, then adds, "And remember to keep me informed of anything new." She nods to them, and to Yayaka, before turning to head off the way she was originally going.

Yayaka has posed:
    Yayaka frowns a little bit at Naru. "Haa?" she replies with one eyebrow raised. Thankfully, that conflict is nipped in the bud by Kyouka. Even so, Yayaka enunciates the words silently at Naru. POH-EH-TOREE she mouths.

    Then she takes a big bite out of her apple in annoyance as Kyouka leaves. "Leaving already?" When the teacher is gone, Yayaka affects looking clueless as she shrugs and says, "Was it something I said?"

    Now that it's just students again, Yayaka speaks more freely. She closes her eyes and holds out her hands a 'what can you do?' gesture. "Soo, soo. The orphan girl there knows how it is. 'G u e s s w h a t? We got you dead parents! M e r r y C h r i s t m a s, be glad you were born at all'." she probably isn't quoting actual words someone said, but maybe she's emulating the sentiment some jerks expressed.

    Chewing with her mouth closed for a change, Yayaka continues looking over the two girls. Finally, she moves away from the entrance, and starts walking towards Naru and Adora. "Yayaka. Nice to meetcha'." she finally introduces herself. Then she grins. "So you fight then, orphan girl?"

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru laughs at her own mistake, taking the mis-hearing in stride. "What can I say.. I'm an art nerd rather than a language nerd. I'm all for pottery over poetry, personally."

Naru looks to Adora. "That sounds like something Chrono would say about his last school. What can I say, I'm a softie city kid. This is my first boarding school."

Naru shakes her head at Yayaka's question. "She's a guidance counsellor, she rarely loiters for all that long. Generally she has stuff he's stupposed to be doing."

"I have found that most students here have at least been to the self defense classes, and that both the kendo and fencing clubs are pretty well attended." Naru gives a little shrug. "A surprising number of folks are at least comfortable with holding their own in a fight on some level."

"Pleasure to meet you, Yayaka. I'm Naru Osaka. Usagi's roommate if that helps at all." She lets Adora introduce herself.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
She nods and smiles to the departing counselor before turning back to the others. She blinks at Yayaka, absolutely missing the reference. To her it sounds like Yayaka is just straight-up mocking her. She opens and closes her mouth, and one of those meaty fists clenches a bit.

"...Excuse me?," she asks her, a hint of danger in her normally friendly voice. She's 5'7" and chorded with muscle in a way very, very few girls (OR BOYS!) this age are. Hell, few ADULTS are. "Care to repeat that?"

She nods slowly, then. "I fight. And my name is Adora. Do -not- call me Orphan Girl."

Yayaka has posed:
    Yayaka shrugs at Naru. If the latter likes bowls, then more power to her. It's not like Yayaka is into poetry either. She just knows there's one where there are cards on the floor and you have to flip them and match up the lines of a poem that are written on them.

    Adora's reaction is of greater interest, it seems. Even if she is now affecting disinterest. "Well, what was I supposed to call you, if not 'orphan girl'. You said you were an orphan, but you didn't say your name before now. That makes you an orphan girl. I gave my name so you wouldn't have to call me 'orphan girl'. If you don't want to be called that, then introduce yourself promptly next time. O k a y, orpha--I mean, A-dor-a-kun~?" She grins cheekily as she stops advancing only a couple meters away, and raises her hand with half-eaten apple in hand, towards her waiting mouth, ready to bite into it again.

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru stops leaning on her quarterstaff quite so casually as Adora's hackles get raised by the barbs that Yayaka are throwing. Probably on purpose. While she's literally the smallest one here, she also seems comfortable in just holding steady to watch quite how this plays out.

"I'm going to assume that you also go to this school, Yayaka? Which grade?" Naru asks, in an effort to change the topic, just a smidge.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"Adora Rainbowfist," the blonde replies, as if it were the most normal name in the world. The cheekiness makes her fume a bit, but the big blonde takes a deep breath to calm down. She steps back and clears her throat, reaching up to adjust her ponytail. It's clearly so she has something to do with her hand other then punching.

"Also, doesn't kun mean boyfriend or girlfriend or something?,m" she asks, still figuring this out. "I have a girlfriend," she replies adamantly, crossing her arms over her chest. Well, she kind of does. She glances to Yayaka. "Actually I've been here a few months now. Regular classes, plus a few clubs. I even started a boxing and equestrian club. There's just...so much to learn, is all. Japan is -nothing- like home. That's why I didn't know what manga was. Or sports. ...Or a phone. I should be watching my first movie pretty soon."

Yayaka has posed:
    Yayaka is definitely not close to Adora's size or physical development, at a mere 144 cm. She has to look up to make eye contact. But she still seems confident. It's doubtful she could take a punch from someone as strong as the foreign girl, so maybe she's just bluffing. She bites into her apple as she listens to Naru and Adora.

    "So you have a pet rabbit in your room, Naru-san? Hm." So does Cocona. As Adora calms herself down, Yayaka actually backs up. Seems the gaijin has more self-control than anticipated. That's good. "Eh... 'kun' is a familiar, friendly honorific. It's also gender-neutral!" Yayaka looks at what's left of her apple. She has been taking out huge chunks with each bite, so there's only a sixth of it left. One bite remaining.

    "I attend here, yeah. I don't stand out much, unlike Adora-kun here, and I'm pretty sickly, so you probably just haven't seen me. I'm in Grade Nine. Same classroom as Cocona Cocomine if that means anything." Ah, reusing Naru's line about her pet rabbit. Unlike Naru, her friend is actually human.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"We actually have quite a lot of .. exchange students who are pretty unfamiliar with Japanese culture." Naru comments to Adora. "I'll give you my phone number, text me .. have you worked out texting yet? .. anyhow.. text me if you have questions." She goes digging for her phone, to be able to share the number with Adora.

"No pet rabbit, but we do have a pet cat." Naru flashes a smile. She's been fielding quips about Usagi's name for most of her life, it's just not a thing anymore.

"We're probably in some of the same classes." Naru comments to Yayaka. "But there are a lot of grade nine students, I'm not surprised that we dont' know everyone." No matter how hard Naru keeps trying to meet everyone.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"Oh. Friend. That makes a lot more sense." She has calmed down by now, but she's watching th tiny girl with a little bit more wariness that she does Naru. "Oh, I'm Grade 8," the behemoth states. "Was far behind so it just worked out that way. I don't mind. Helps when you don't know how old you are, I guess." She shrugs a shoulder. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Yayaka-kun," she finally adds.

She glances to Naru and nods a bit. "Sure, Niji is taking me to the mall this week to get me a phone and teach me how to use it. Sounds good."

She chews her lip a bit at the mention of a pet cat, but doesn't say anything.

Yayaka has posed:
    Yayaka give sher lop-sided grin towards Adora when she reciprocates with a 'Yayaka-kun'. Or maybe it's because she can tell she's worthy of being wary of, and that satisfies some condition or need for her. "I know how that is. Not knowing when you were born, where, or from whom? I don't have a family registry, so I can't even get a passport to leave the country." She shrugs, not seeming all too bothered about that limitation.

    Naru's defense of her pet rabbit by claiming she and the rabbit jointly have a pet cat isn't argued against. She just shrugs and says, "Sure, sure. Animals are great. They can feel almost like people sometimes." Yayaka always has time to stop and give attention to a stray cat. She feels a kinship with them after all.

    They're both unwanted and don't have a place to belong.

    Her smile fades a bit as she continues backing up, then bites into her apple one last time, leaving only a sliver of apple core remaining. After crunching up the remainder, she says, "Well, maybe we'll see each other around sometime soon then. Don't worry. Keep working at it and I'm sure you'll catch up in no time, orphan girl." She turns around, and chucks her apple core over her head one-handed. It sails across the pavilion and lands perfectly in a wastebasket. She pauses briefly to turn her head and grin back at Adora. "It works for an orphan girl like me, after all." Then she faces away again as she resumes walking sedately.