1566/A birthday intervention.

A birthday intervention.
Date of Scene:	17 May 2024
Location:	Classroom
Synopsis:	Hinoiri gets a big surprise when Sayaka, Madoka, Double Trouble (as Dianora) and Ikuto throw Hinoiri her a special birthday party. After the first impact that moves her, Hinoiri shows a lot of enthusiasm.
Cast of Characters:	Sayaka Miki, Madoka Kaname, Ikuto Tsukiyomi, Amanda Faust, Double Trouble, Hinoiri Kirara
Tinyplot:	Sunset of Sora

---

Sayaka Miki has posed:
The classroom has been completely changed by the time Hinoiri comes in. For one most of the desks have disappeared, and the room has been cleaned spotless. Even the most fastidious person wouldn't find a single dirty spot in here.

Dangling from the roof there is a single rope with a hook at the end of it, the sun pinata to be hanged there currently safely concealed at the far end of the room together with a bat borrowed by the baseball club.

Everywhere the eye can see decorations are present, birthday hangings of every single colour imaginable, to show the festivity of the occasion. There is also a piano in the room, a respectable stack of music sheets plenty visible. They are those that Hinoiri herself had brought to Sayaka a while back from Kirarafantasica, and a part of home the unicorn still likes.

The remaining desks have been assembled into a single large classroom in the middle of the classroom and on them there are all sorts of food, either vegetarian or sweets, to the preference of the birthday girl, of course. At the center of it all lies a cake hidden in its box still, a sugary bomb made of sponge cake cake, cream and sugar paste with "1 to 14" drawn on it with caramel.

Sayaka is waiting in the classroom with everyone else for Hinoiri's arrival, having just sent her a message.

<PHONE> Sayaka Miki texts Hinoiri Kirara: Hinoiri, can you pass by the classroom ***? There is something important you have to see.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka, Lydian and Gretchen are all here to celebrate Hinoiri's birthday bash. Neither of them has any idea what Sunny's actual birthday is, or even whether or not the calendar of their frenemy's home world even lines up with Earth's to begin with, but that doesn't really matter. What matters is that they are all here and everything's been set up and they're about to throw a birthday to remember!

    Gretchen is here draped over Madoka's shoulder, being as lazy as possible. She has a conical party hat and a blowout noisemaker in her mouth. Lydian is floating over her Chara Bearer's head, spinning around in a circle and feeling hyperactive. Madoka, meanwhile, is just in her school uniform, politely waiting with her hands clasped over her lap.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto is waiting patiently for Hinoiri to show up, though he's made sure he's not visible from the doorway. He and the other girl aren't exactly on friendly terms, but he did want to be here to support her. She wasn't -all- bad as far as he was concerned, and he knew it was bad enough not having anyone to celebrate a birthday with. He couldn't imagine what it was like not knowing when your birthday even was. So he was here and with a gift even, a box wrapped in cat-themed paper.

Yoru was not nearly so subtle, sitting on the desk Ikuto was tucked behind and wearing a little party hat modified to accommodate his cat ears. Ikuto said, "She's going to know I'm here the moment she sees you, Yoru." Yoru replied, "It's fiiine! As long as she doesn't see you first thing when she walks in. Besides, you have a gift! There isn't a person in the world who doesn't like getting gifts on their birthday nya!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy is here too, in her school uniform, waiting. Sunbreaker's latest Eclipse Zone may be... a disappointment from the redemption arc she hopes Sunbreaker was starting, but how the bugbear incident went showed there's still something in there different from other villains.

    She's waiting out of direct line of sight from the hallway, but is ready to shout 'Happy Birthday!' and start singing.

Double Trouble has posed:
    Dianora had had so many ideas for something to bring to make the birthday party special. She had wanted to get doughnuts from Pastry Patty's, but she tried the portal every chance she got, and it was never open. So, instead of something from her old home, she decided to, instead, commemorate something else. She arrived early, wheeling in an entire freezer on a dolly. She was surprisingly strong for a twelve year old. That freezer was full of ice cream. So many flavors.

    Once it was all situated, all that was left was to wait for the birthday girl. Dianora was prepared. She was excellent at surprise parties.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara was, for lack of a better word, not expecting anything like this. Why would she? She sent a quick confirmation text back, but well...

When she pushed open the door, she stepped in and...

She froze. Her first instinct? 'Oh crud it's an ambush!' She looked ready to bolt, considering if she should gather dark energy... That hook dangling in the center of the room? It was a little worrying... As was a... freezer. But hey, Dianora and Sayaka were there. So...

"What... exactly... is this?" she asked, her voice suspicious. She then glanced to Madoka, eyes narrowing a hint. Then Yoru. Her eyes narrowing more than a hint.

Then blinked. Amy. Sayaka.

Then she groaned. "Oh buck it... this is an intervention, isn't it? Listen, I don't care what... stupidity you're all going to try and sell me about what I'm doing, but I have it all under control. Not sure how you managed to drag my roommate into it, but whatever they said? No." She just shook her head and sighed. She didn't have time for something so pointless. She swore she could already feel her ire growing.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    As Hinoiri starts to talk, Amy barrels right ahead with what she was going to do anyway:

    "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

    Unable to keep a smile off her face as she does so, Amanda then goes on to singing "Happy Birthday" in English. She may not be a professional, but she's an amateur with basic skills, accurately hitting notes and projecting her voice with open-mouth vowels.

    After finishing the song, she grins expectantly at Hinoiri to see her reaction.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka's smile gets wider and tighter as she tries to keep a tight reign on the laughter that wants, so desperately to escape her lips. An intervention? Oh wow, if only.

    Instead she throws up her hands and shouts, "Happy Birthday!"

    Gretchen blows on her noisemaker while remaining lazily draped over Madoka's shoulder. Bweee!

    Lydian starts singing, hopefully in time with everyone else, in a version of English that is both melodic and still, somehow wrong.

    Between the three pink hairs, Madoka's terrible crimes against the foreign language are probably the most egregious: "Haapi Birtdae Shu Yuuu! Haapi Birtdae Shu Yuuu! Haapi Birtdae, Hinoiri-san! Haapi Birtdae Shu Yuuu!"

    Gretchen blows on the noisemaker again. Look, she's been waiting days to use that thing and by Godoka she's going to get some milage out of it!

    After the song, Madoka says, "Also none of us have purifying magic, you know. Like... I'm not sure what kind of intervention we could really have here."

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto sighs and stands up when he hears Hinoiri mention an intervention. "Hinoiri-chan this is NOT-"

He's cut off by Amy's singing, and Madoka's...attempt. He remembers some of his English lessons from when he was a child, though hearing Madoka singing makes it impossible to not laugh while singing. The catboy's English isn't -nearly- as bad as Madoka's, though he definitely has a strong accent.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY hahaha HINOIRI-CHAN, HAPPY pfthahaha BIRTHDAY TO YOUUU"

Yoru is rolling around in the air giggling, and then lifts up the box Ikuto had wrapped in the cat paper, carrying it over to Hinoiri. "Ikuto got you a gift, Hinoiri-chan! He -definitely- didn't use money he stole from a bad guy to buy it!"

Whenever the box would be opened, inside would be a somewhat fancy mug in an older, heavier western style. Printed on the side would be "#1 NEMESIS" with a flame pattern going all around the side of the mug. The outside of the mug would also feel slightly textured, like it had some type of coating applied after being made. Fireproofing, perhaps.

Double Trouble has posed:
    At almost the exact same moment as Amy, Dianora also shouts, "Happy Birthday!" But that is not all she does. She unfurls a banner attached to sticks that she holds one in each hand that reads, "Happy Birthday, Onee-chan!"

    She sings along with the song, her English flawless. She sounds like a native speaker. At least as far as singing Happy Birthday. She, of course, says 'Onee-chan' where the name goes.

    And then, when the singing is done, she just drops the banner and runs up to hug her roommate, giggling. "You're right. It's an intervention. We need to intervene and celebrate you, Onee-chan!"

Sayaka Miki has posed:
When Hinoiri comes in, Sayaka throws an arm behind herself as if she is in the showbusiness and she is introducing the event of the year, complete with a pleased expression on her face. Ula has a much more polite and respectful face, but nonetheless she is still part of the group celebrating Hinoiri's birthday. When Hinoiri steps in fearing an intervention, Sayaka's "Happy birthday" freezes on her lips for a moment, replaced by a temporary expression of confusion.

"An intervention? What for?" she asks. "No this is your special day, Hinoiri! Happy birthday!", she tells her, joining in the birthday song together with everyone else, trying to to catch up with everyone else. "Everyone here took part in the planning for how they would like the party to go", she explains to the unicorn, preparing her own birthday present, a leather jacket with a black and red colour scheme that she thought fit her aesthetic.

"This is also a way to catch up on all the ones you have never had, so just come in and have fun!" She is not going to bring out the sun pinata yet. Let her get used to everything first.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara went entirely still when they... when they started saying what it was about. Her mouth fell open.

And even Madoka's torturous abuse of the english language didn't shake her from it. She stared, her mouth open, trying to... well... process it. "You... what?" she asked softly, staring and her gaze bouncing between the people there. "You all... why would you..." she asked. "That's not... it's not my birthday. You... know that, don't you? I don't get a... I'm not supposed to have a... I never earned... I..." and she struggled, and failed, to grasp the words she wanted to say. Because nothing she thought of could... adequately describe this. "Never... I... I've had birthday party before, I-I know what they're like," she said, feebly grasping at straws, practically flailing as she walked into the room. "I..."

... and then she tried to think of any she'd had. Had she ever had a birthday?

... She supposed, in the most technical of senses. But it hadn't really been about her then. It had, as always, been about Sora. Even if Sora had tried to... make it about her. That and frankly, with her having no real friends, the only people who showed up tented to have more.... political goals in mind than celebrating her.

And by the end, as the singing finally stopped? She was...

She'd actually turned away, covering her face with a hand and just shaking her head. "Y-you're all terrible singers at that, you k-know that? Buck... I didn't need a..." Deep, slow breath... trying to clear the tears, not wanting to turn back around and let them see the fact she was crying. But... it was kind of obvious, even with her back to them.

"Ugh, hearing it is like torture... why'd you all w-waste your time on something like t-this?" she asked. "It's not... going to... change anything, you know..." Deep breath. Dang it! Why couldn't the tears stop flowing?!

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto puts on a smile. He has an idea of what Hinoiri feels, and knows better than to say anything. She wouldn't want to hear from him.

Yoru, though...this is the sort of thing a Chara is born from. "Hinoiri-chan...? You deserve to be happy, nya! We're here because we care about you! Even dumb Ikuto over there nya! But all your friends here. Sayaka-chan, Madoka-chan, Amy-chan, Dianora-chan! They're all here because you deserve this! You deserve to be noticed, nya! This is your birthday...If you need to cry, we'll cry with you 'cause that's what friends do! Ikuto isn't really your -friend- but he'll cry with you too if that'll help nya! Riiiiight Ikuto?"

The catboy makes a sound of annoyance, but then nods. "Gah...yeah. Yeah I will. Nobody deserves to feel forgotten."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Why'd she do this? Madoka asks herself. Was it because she wanted to support Sayaka, or was it out of some pity for Hinoiri? She hasn't really interrogated herself on this point before, but the more she thinks about it the more she realizes that it isn't right for someone to not have a birthday. Like some form of blasphemy. Even if they do drain people for fun.

    "It doesn't need to change anything, Hinoiri-san, and you don't have to earn a birthday party."

    Madoka smiles brightly at the birthday girl, placing her hands behind her back and leaning forward. Cheerfully, with a bit of tiredness behind her eyes, Madoka says, "... and it's not a waste of time. It's never a waste to care about someone."

Double Trouble has posed:
    She turned away, so Dianora just went to hug her from behind. "Onee-chan, you are so stupid sometimes. It is not a waste of time to celebrate you. It's a tragedy nobody ever did before," she says. And if anybody knows her tragedies, it's Dianora. She's a thespian.

    "Come on, there's food. I brought ice cream," she says, letting go to reach for a hand to try and tug Hinoiri toward the food, and more importantly, the ice cream.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy's eyes widen at the revelation that birthday parties are a thing in Hinoiri's homeworld and yet she never got a proper one. Her voice only wavers a little, though.

    "I am not a terrible singer." She replies to Hinoiri's attempt to deflect with insults. (Herself deflecting whether the words accurately apply to anyone else here...)

    "Everyone gets a birthday." Amy insists, firmly. "You don't have to earn it, even in America."

    Amy sighs, happy to see Hinoiri moved but sad for the life she must have had. "It's not about changing anything. I said: You don't have to earn them."

    She nods at Madoka's addition about caring people not being a waste.

    Is this how Hannah saw me that day, insisting it was wrong for me to get to be her girlfriend? To think that Hinoiri believes she doesn't deserve a birthday... what did her world do to her? Maybe she really wasn't evil and was banished for bad reasons... It would explain why she's more reasonable than the other 'villains'...

    ...If that's the case, though, no matter how she changes they won't welcome her back. If she completes this plan, she'll never be happy in a world that doesn't want her.

    But, today is about celebrating Hinoiri, not about such dire things. Amy retrieves from her backpack a thin plastic rectangle and a thick plastic rectangle, and walks up to Hinoiri, holding out her hand. "This is a gift card that should cover a free session at an escape room. I'm sure you'll enjoy seeing how fast you can solve it and knowing how many slower idiots you beat. And this," she shows that the large rectangle opens to reveal two little screens and a bunch of buttons, "is an old a portable game console loaded up with everything I've got. If you can make it work on magic you could even play it in Kirakirafantastica, right? If it's not your kinda thing, that's fine, I can give it to someone else and make their day."

    Amy smiles, hoping Hinoiri likes at least one of the gifts.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka doesn't know how to handle Hinoiri starting to cry. Yes, she accounted for the fact that it would probably get her to be more emotional, but not to levels like that. Is this her normal answer to circumstances like these, or is it Hinoiri's pent up emotions after dealing with the circumstances back home?

Pushing back her worries about the latter, she smiles at the unicorn and says "Change anything? Hino, the only thing I want it to change is give you a happy birthday, because you really deserve it." Not sure, how she would manage that, now, but...

"If you really have to think you earned this, you definitely did! Everyone here didn't hesitate at preparing your birthday. Not that you needed to compete for it! The trick is letting people in who care about you, and you really did", she jovially says. Hopefully that would help her actually feel better.

Ula takes one of the mushroom tarts and brings it over to Hinoiri, her expression slightly frowning. It was that bad... "Let it all out, Hinoiri. Have a mushroom tart, if you want. Everything here is to party, and it's your party, so have at anything that might make you feel better."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara was just... was just lost... wiping her eyes, trying to get it to calm. Down. UGH?! "I'm not forgotten... or... I don't..." Ugh. UGH! Why were all the sparkleskirts so... this?! Why was ANYONE like this? With her of all people? She wasn't a... She...

She gulped and shook her head. "F-fine... fine. W-whatever. I... I'll just... I-I get it, t-thank you. I-I guess," she said softly, fiiiiinally managing to turn around, but it was pretty obvious she was crying.

But ohhhh, Dianora's hug. She gave a sigh before chuckling. "Right. Buying you ice cream really was one of my biggest mistakes, wasn't it you little trouble maker?" she asked Dianora in a playful tone.

Amy's gift, however? She was about to say how stupid that was.... until Amy explained it more. And she actually smiled, just a bit. And had to blink a few more times to stop from crying. "Y-yeah. I... I guess I would like that. Sounds pretty fun. And sure. If nothing else, I'll beat all your scores," she said in a playful, amused tone.

She then gave Dianora a little hug... Before scooping the little shrimp up so she could then grab and hug Sayaka, too! It did benefit, sometimes, to have a small roommate. "Thank you," she said, ever so softly. "I mean it. I... thank you. I never.... would have imagined this."

And then, finally, she let Dianora lead her towards the ice cream...

And would even open Ikuto's gift... only to blink, roll her eyes and... "This is a really dumb gift," she said dismissively.

It'd be more believable if she didn't say it with such a smug, self-important smirk on her face.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Gretchen floats off of Madoka's shoulders and summons her X-Egg, already cracked horizontally open. She pulls out a tiny little spherical present and hands it to Madoka. The pink magical girl then takes the gift and presents it to Hinoiri. "I got you something, too. As thanks for the suckers."

    If the birthday unicorn opens it, she'll discover a stress ball that looks like the sun, covered with scientifically accurate sun spots. Should Madoka really be encouraging this kind of behavior? Maybe not, but after hearing about Metallia she's kindof in a '**** the Sun' mood.

    Seeing proof of Hinoiri's tears at least reassures Madoka that the gesture was appreciated, and that this was the right thing to do. It also confirms to her that, regardless of anything else, Hinoiri really hasn't been appreciated enough. The child that the village rejects will burn it down to feel its warmth and all that.

    Lydian, meanwhile, is giggling and happy. "Hey, Hinoiri-san. Did you see the pinata?"

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto grins, seeing the look on Hinoiri's face when she gets a look at the mug. "Hey uh...I've been meaning to ask. Why do you always use words like 'buck'? Is that just how people talk in your country? Like how the people in those American shows sometimes say things like 'you is guys?' or how Texans are like the American version of Osakans?"

Sayaka Miki has posed:
"That's all right, Hinoiri", Sayaka smiles, glad that Hinoiri had started feeling better. Especially with that smug look on her face. She is feeling better all right. Small laugh about that aside, Sayaka goes to recover her gift, but then she is pushed into a hug together with Dianora. It probably helped that she wasn't that tall herself, even if she wasn't Dianora levels of short. Luckily, she might add.

"Don't mention it, I wanted you to enjoy yourself", Sayaka adds, hugging Hinoiri back right away while she ponders the fact that Hinoiri wouldn't have even imagined it happening. If she ever meets Sora, she will certainly have a good number of things to bring up to her, and she doesn't like how that number grows the more Hinoiri speaks.

Once Hinoiri has gotten enough time to hug her, she goes to recover her gift that fell to the ground at the sudden hug and delivers the jacket in the package to her. "Just a small gift fron me and Ula". Hopefully, she likes it, and also it fits her.

"No, I will bring it out right now", Sayaka tells Lydian, running to the corner where she had hidden them with the bat and bringing the two items and a blindfold, hanging the sun pinata. "Just try to smash it while wearing the blindfold so the candy falls. We can try to provide suggestions and cheer you on, she preemptively explains.

Ula in the meantime has started nibbling on the piece of mushroom tart herself since Hinoiri probably doesn't want to mix it with ice cream anyway.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Yessss. There it is. Amy can see the smile of a gamer who has been challenged. "Oh, uh... I didn't load it with my saves. Most games these days aren't the kind where you set a high score... unless you get into speedrunning... if you mean the escape room, I guess I'll have to go try it myself so you can beat me then!" She smiles back.

    Never would have imagined this? Amy looks off into the distance, "A lot of things we never would have imagined could happen to us are happening lately, I guess. It's pretty cool, huh?" She smiles at that sentiment.

    She blinks. "Wait, did you say mushroom tart? How?" She, too, must try one. "Hmm. Did not know these were a thing. Neat!"

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara was just.... so.... so overwhelmed. The little sun stress ball made her snicker. "Funny, I had something like this back home, too. Not really the same thing entirely, but close enough." It was a pillow. Some days she'd utterly beat the CRUD out of it.

Alas, she didn't even notice the mushroom tart directly. Well, she did, but well... Honestly? She felt so out of sorts as it was, it was just...

She was, bit by bit, getting a bit more control under her eyes, though. But they kept leaking, annoying, that...

She glanced to Ikuto when he questioned her, though. "Huh? Uhhhh..." She glanced to Dianora, who she made sure was out of earshot, getting ice cream, before looking back to Ikuto. "No. I'm a unicorn, I come from another place. Besides, I don't like your profanity here sometimes, so I go with what's familiar."

And then... a jacket... and nope, it took a few deep, deep breathes, but she DIDN'T cry this time. "T-thanks, Sayaka. R-really. I love it..." she whispered.

... She loved this world. It really was such a unique, amazing, wonderful place and she never wanted to leave it....

And that idea made her freeze in place, her eyes going wide. A hand moving over her mouth. Not that she'd said those inner thoughts out loud, but... even thinking them had been...

Wow.

"I... guess. Yeah, a lot of... unique things... heh... and good luck beating me. Believe it or not, I'm a tad competitive.... speaking of, you mayyyyy not wanna have me go first on the pinata. I've been known to hit a bit hard." .... Yes. She may have a tiny bit of a reputation of doing that, even. Cough cough.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    The question regarding Hinoiri's profanity gets a curious glance from Madoka. The pinkette is always curious about alien cultures, though her perception of Sunny's home world might be a bit skewed towards the negative. The answer gets an 'eheh' from her. "Yeah, I don't really use profanity that much, either. Partly because people start to get worried when I actually do."

    When Hinoiri says that she shouldn't go first, Lydian's response is an immediate, "Oh no you don't! Birthday girl gets first swing! No one's gonna be mad if you obliterate it."

    Gretchen takes the noisemaker out of her mouth long enough to say, "Yeah, it's birthday privilege, and you don't always 'take turns' like that anyways."

    Madoka smiles and cocks her head to the side. "I mean, the idea was to get it for you, Hinoiri-san. Don't worry about the mess. We'll handle that."

    Madoka glances towards Sayaka. Part of the pinata idea was that it wasn't intrinsically competitive, right?

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto just...stares. Looks at Hinoiri a bit more carefully. Stares more. Yoru floats over and whispers just a bit loudly, "Ikutoooooo you're staring at Hinoiri-chan a bit more than you should stare at anyone."

The catboy shakes his head, confused. "Huh? You mean like..." He makes a prancing motion with his hands and mimics the sound of hooves clopping. "Like...that kind of unicorn? I suppose that explains why you punched like a baby that one time. And the aversion to meat. I get it, though. My father once told me 'profanity doesn't suit the mouth of a man who represents his nation abroad' when I asked why he didn't ever curse like the other adults.

Yoru grins. "You haaaaaave to hit it first Hinoiri-chan! Not hitting it first is like letting someone else blow out the candles on a cake nya!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Hinoiri never wants to go back to how things were? Mood, sister! Amy can't read minds though, so doesn't comment.

    On the subject of profanity, she can comment, however: "I was always a little goody-two shoes... I think the first time I swore, aside from when I was very little and my parents said never to say words like that, was when I dropped a bench on my toe..." She chews on a bite of tart, and swallows. "Then I found out it doesn't really matter and adults just like having something to yell at you for, and I guess I got pretty foul-mouthed after that, heh... I try to rein it in while here at the Academy, though..."

    Upon hearing the words of Ikuto's father though, she shrugs. "Huh! Good thing I'm not a man, then."

    Amy hasn't commented on how much crying Hinoiri's been doing. She must have been holding in a lot... She moves in for a hug, although if Hinoiri looks uncomfortable she'll abort and step back.

    Either way: "Ohhh no. You give it your all, and in return we'll do the same! I was never very good at piñatas, though, so I can't promise I'll be much competition."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara sighed when Ikuto mentioned her punch. "Wanna know another secret?" she asked, before motioning him closer. Once he was...She punched him in the arm. Hard. And oh, wow. She actually knew how to throw a punch now! Wasn't... that... great... "I've been practicing," she said, giving him a smirk after that.

Hinoiri then glanced to Madoka again. There it was again. That.... girl was being nice. Real nice. It was... it felt like it should be a trap... But she couldn't believe it was. Maybe... maybe she'd been too harsh on Madoka all these years... she... really cared. She really seemed to. A.... shame she had to meet her on opposite sides. All of them, really. She glanced to Amy before nodding. "Yeah... lots of people are like that. They like to yell at you because it makes them feel so much better about their pathetic, mundane, simple lives. I guess it just makes them feel special," she said with a shrug. "Fine, you all win. I'll swing. Just remember, I did warn you." And then... there was a hug. She blinked a few times, but... did accept it, even gave the other girl a little squeeze back. "Heh... thanks."

She'd then let Sayaka blindfold her, before taking the bat...

The first swing went wild, missing entirely. The second, closer. The third, almost there... The fourth?

It hit it, and Hinoiri had been getting frustrated. And she'd walloped it. But it hadn't exploded...

But oh, the fact it didn't explode? THAT annoyed the shit out of her. And they could likely *see* the annoyance on her face moments before what, frankly, they all should have seen coming, happened.

*BAM*

The pinata would break free of its ropey prison, to sail free through the air about four or five feet before colliding with the wall with enough force to actually explode a piece of candy inside it against the wall, as pieces of the slain enemy rained down around her.

"... Errrrr... I did... warn you," Hinoiri said sheepishly.

... There might actually be a dent in the wall.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka nods alongside Madoka. Yeah, that was supposed the idea, that Hinori would work on it herself while they cheered or provided suggestions. "Yes, Madoka is right, just focus on trying to smash that sun, it is yours to go to town on." And she is definitely doing the cheering herself, in fact, that is the moment she chooses to play one of the music sheets Hinoiri had given her that she had liked to hear Sayaka play, one with a more energetic tempo, of the Allegro variety.

She stops playing to regard the dent in the wall with surprise. "Uh. We will, fix that somehow. Good swings though, you took care of the pinata quickly." Though admittedly she has no idea about where to start covering anything there. Something with cement?

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto doesn't flinch when Hinoiri goes for the punch, but he does yelp when it connects. "Gack! Yeah that's...definitely not a baby punch. Ow..." Yoru's pupils dilate, and he giggles at Ikuto's reaction. "At least she didn't throw you out the window nya."

By the time Hinoiri is about to swing for the fifth time, Ikuto can tell it's going to be a real good one and watches with anticipation. The pinata goes flying, and catboy and Chara alike dive for cover. Ikuto pokes his head up, cat ears now sticking up from his head. "Wow." Yoru points a paw at the wall, an expression of terror on his face. "T-the wall nya..."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka does actually care, or at the very least her 'bare minimum kindness' is a bit higher than average. There's always an undertone of 'you jerk' when dealing with Hinoiri, but that's no reason to kick the unicorn while she's down or torment her when she's already hurting. Madoka just isn't that vengeful.

    Madoka and Lydian both cheer, earnestly, as HInoiri goes after the Sun. Gretchen's response is less 'cheering' and more... 'encouragement'. "Yeah get that dummy! Stupid sun!"

    Then somehow, the pinata doesn't explode when hit. Which honestly surprises Madoka, knowing how hard the birthday unicorn can swing. When the finishing blow is finally landed, Madoka is actually speechless. The... the wall got dented?

    "Oh geeze... maybe next time we should bring a Barrier or something." She runs up to it, looks at the dent, and then looks to Sayaka. "I'm... I'm sure my dad would know how to fix this if I asked him. Probably spackle or some kind of specialty filler."

    Looking down at the ground, Madoka picks up a handful of the kind of variety candy that pinatas are usually filled with and hands it to Hinoiri. "Don't forget about this, too!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Yes, Amy can't help smirking as she points out the words of Ikuto's father don't apply to her. Although only half the people here know why she finds that so funny...

    When the hug is accepted, she squeezes tightly before stepping back to watch Hinoiri wallop the piñata. Or almost hit it. And then finally hit it. "Yeah!" she starts to cheer at the hit, and then

                                     *BAM*                                      

    She stares. "Wow." And then she cheers, "Yeah! I've never seen someone manage that before! Nice job!" She gives the birthday girl a thumbs-up!

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara slowly peeled the eye protection off and let out a low whistle. "Woo... well... uhhhh... I did warn you all," she said sheepishly. "Dang. Heh... I... uhhhh..."

And they were impressed. Not annoyed. Not anghry. Not... not accusing her of anything. She had to reach up, rubbing her eyes again.

... She loved this world. Maybe.... maybe they were right. Maybe... She looked back to Madoka, to Ikuto, to Dianora, to... Sayaka...

... Maybe it was time she faced what she had been hiding from for so long. Maybe... going home... wasn't something she had to do, after all. She took off a piece of the candy and grinned, popping it open and tossing a strawberry piece into her mouth. "Heh. Thanks."

... This... was fun. Friends were... friends were fun.