176/A Saturday of Flowers

A Saturday of Flowers
Date of Scene:	29 July 2023
Location:	Botanical Gardens
Synopsis:	Ikiko, Tori, and Norie meet, and it is discovered that dark energy is spikier than roses, and ghosts can be more visible than expected...
Cast of Characters:	Ikiko Hisakata, Tori Morte, Norie Okana

---

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
It is a beautiful Saturday, and what better way to enjoy it than by looking at lovely plants? Ikiko had spent the morning visiting some local stray dogs, and now she's meandering the gardens, enjoying the summer blooms on some of the plants and reading the informational blurbs for some of the more interesting ones.

Tori Morte has posed:
    It is indeed a beautiful day, and Victoria 'Tori' Morte is enjoying the botanical garden! "Huh, some of these are wildflowers from home, but I guess they don't grow wild here..?" she muses to... herself? Or maybe the white-haired ghost girl standing next to her, wearing an outdated version of the Radiant Heart Academy uniform.

    Tori herself is dressed in a light grey jacket, a pink t-shirt with a white heart-shaped skull on it, and a light grey skirt.

    "...You wanna smell the roses?" she asks her companion, quietly. She glances left and right. "Well... I guess there's no one around, so if we're quick..." She holds out her hand, and digs under her t-shirt to bring out the Memory Stone she wears on a chain around her neck.

Norie Okana has posed:
>> Somewhere else

"I'm sorry." says Norie behind the cook taking out trash behind the restaurant she's chosen to wait behind for someone to come out, before jumping the man and draining him of energy, right to the ground. He'll be tired when he wakes up, but he'll be alive and that's what's important to the girl right now as she flexes her hands...

"T..that's better." she says with a worried tone before she hears the door creak open again and she disappears into black smoke...

>> Now, here.

She arrives in a puff of dark energy at the wall's edge somewhere behind the roses and sneaks out carefully, brushing herself off as she sighs and looks at the roses behind herself. She kind of wilts a little. She's positive roses used to make her feel good feelings. But they just aren't coming right now.

"M..maybe if I smell one.." she mutters to herself as she looks left, and right before trying to sniff one. Sniff Sniff!

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
'Saving the best for last' is often a good idea, so you can get all of the necessary stuff done first and then reward yourself -- hence why dessert is after dinner, for example. And for the Botanical Garden, the roses are very much the dessert of the plants!

So, having perused the other plants, Ikiko starts meandering into the rose section, enjoying the sights and the scents. Off towards the back, there's a dark-haired girl in a red skirt sniffing at the roses, and around the corner as Ikiko walks along the path--

    --a familiar face, and a familiar presence!

"Oh! Hi, Tori-chan!" Ikiko blinks and waves -- then, after a quick glance around to make sure there's no-one else in the immediate vicinity, softly adds "Hi, Sayo-chan!"

Tori Morte has posed:
    Halfway through retrieving the heart-shaped stone from under her shirt, Tori jumps in surprise as her name is called. She looks over at Ikikiko, pauses for a moment, and then drops the stone back under her shirt. "Oh, hi Ikiko-chan! F-fancy meeting you here, eheh."

    She takes a deep breath. "...Sayo says hello." Sayo is also looking a little annoyed but is doing her best not to let it leak out. "How, um," she starts, glancing over in Norie's direction despite not being able to see her from this vantage point. "How are you doing?" she asks, turning back toward Ikiko.

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana leans up, closes her eyes and... nothing. She knows she should be feeling something but she isn't. This makes her angry, and she almost wants to uproot the plant and she comes close to, but she stops short of grabbing anything and starts moving along the path. Oh she's in...the Botanical Gardens. The girl starts moving until she comes across a group of three. She blinks and waves.

"Hi." she says, blandly. Neutral is as most as she can manage at the moment.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko blinks and headtilts slightly at the odd stone, but doesn't say anything about it. "Having a pretty decent day so far!" she smiles. "Was visiting some stray dogs in the area, then stopped by the gardens to relax. How about you two?"

The sound of approaching footsteps catches her attention, and she looks over in time to see the dark-haired girl approach. "Hi~!" Ikiko waves, in a good mood from the combo of lovely roses and chatting with a friend.

Tori Morte has posed:
    "Oh we just wanted to... well, Sayo wanted to come here to see the gardens, she hasn't been able to come in a while. She wanted to smell the roses, but... it turns out she can't smell anything."

    Tori flinches a little bit for some reason even before she sees Norie rounding the corner. "Oh, um, hello!" she says, putting on one of her radiant smiles. "Is something the matter?" she asks, seeming out of genuine concern.

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana sort of rests. "So uh. What are you three up to?" she asks quietly. She doesn't know either of these people personally, but... seem familiar from around school maybe? She blinks a little. "Huh?"

"W..what?" she asks, a flare up of anxiety. "No. Nothing's wrong, why would you ask that?" she wonders aloud!

Not even a hint of a good emotion in here.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"Hanging out with friends and enjoying the flowers," Ikiko replies to the newcomer with a relaxed smile. "Hi, I'm Ikiko Hisakata, grade 5 at Radiant Heart Academy, and this is Tori Morte, grade 4 at Radiant Heart Academy. Nice to meet you!"

True, she didn't introduce Sayo, but it's not like ordinary people can really sense her, much less see her -- right?

Tori Morte has posed:
    Sayo steps to one side to see if Norie notices the movement. She's a little suspicious. If Norie notices, she gives a polite bow.

    Tori bows to Norie and smiles. "Ah, pleased to meet you! Sorry to pry, I just thought... um, you just looked kinda bored, is all," she lies, and rubs the back of her head. "I can be kinda nosey, sorry..."

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie blinks and seems to notice the movement, or at least she tracks something with her eyes where Sayo is for a moment. So she apparently sees her. She bows back to...the nothing and to the group in general. "I am. N-Norie Okana." she says, apparently coming down from an anxiety high. She tries to calm down. But it's hard. Now she's still freaking out internally.

"Y-yeah. Sorry." she says. "I don't uh. Show much emotion." she tries to explain.

"So here just to smell roses?" she asks. "I came here to do that too, but uhm. hrm. Yeah!" she says, rather nervously.

"So uh. Summer's here. How's that. Working out...for the three of you...?" she asks. Yes. I am human and can feel human things, too!

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
There's a slight raised eyebrow at Norie seemingly being able to track Sayo, but Ikiko doesn't verbally comment about that; it'd be up to Sayo (and, thus, Tori) to do the additional introduction -- especially after Norie's comment about 'the three of you' all but confirming it!

"That sounds rough," Ikiko notes. "The not being able to show much emotion, I mean. As for summer... glad school's out, and that I can spend more time with my various friends." Human, canine, ghostly, magical, mundane, mysterious; the specifics of the various friends is somewhat irrelevant, right?

Tori Morte has posed:
    Sayo whispers something in Tori's ear. Tori's eyes widen a bit, then she giggles. "This is Sayo Hasegawa. She was in Grade 4 at Radiant Heart Academy, too, although that was back in 2017," she explains, before giving a giggle. "I think that makes more people here who can tell she's there than could've back home..."

    "I kinna wish school was still in session. I live in the dorms and it's weird going back to them and the school being empty and half the rooms being empty too. My roommate went back to visit her family for the summer."

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana does some math on her fingers. It's a welcome distraction and seems to reset her mental state back to 'neutral' albeit slowly. six to seven years ago? She blinks a little. "Then what's she still doing in the 4th grade, that's a long holdback..." she trails off.

Then the bit about telling that she's there seems to confuse her more. The confusion at least feels like normal confusion. "Huh. Why wouldn't people be able to tell she's there or not?"

She shifts a bit uncomfortably. "I live at home." she says. "It's okay. It's nice not to be on campus for a bit." she says. Less rumors she has to hear about herself.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko glances towards Tori and Sayo with a slightly amused expression. "Do you want to tell her, or should I?" she murmurs towards the younger girl.

Turning back towards Norie, Ikiko nods. "My house is a bit crowded, so the dorms are a nice change of pace," she notes. "My would-be roommate wound up deciding to stay at home at the last minute, so I currently have the room to myself... but yeah, I can see where being able to relax firmly off-campus would be nice."

Tori Morte has posed:
    Tori blinks.

    She looks at Sayo, then looks at Norie. "You... can't tell? Oh, that must cause some problems sometimes," she says with a giggle. Sayo, with an amused expression, walks over to one of the flower beds, and waves her hand right through the roses.

    "Sayo-chan is a ghost. She died in 2017," Tori explains. "I've always been able to see ghosts too but... I could always tell they were ghosts. I didn't know people were so good at seeing ghosts they can't tell at all!"

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana blinks, and head tilts as she watches... Sayo move her hand through one of the flower beds. Then she's told she's a ghost and then there's a fear. It isn't normal feeling fear. It's almost fear and animalistic in feel. Like it might manifest and jump out of her and for a moment it almost does perhaps, but she tries to calm herself, which she does by turning around and closing her eyes.

It's helping a little bit. That fear is still there. But it's stopped...'crawling', for lack of a better word. She just keeps her eyes shut and then finally speaks.

"T..that's great!" she says, the dripping happiness of the statement is mocking. The fear hasn't left.

So she can see ghosts!? How many people have she met has been ghosts? Hahahaaha... bad feelings for sure.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko steps forward, clearing her throat before giving Norie a hug. "If it makes you feel any better, I can't actually see Sayo-chan, but I can sense her Presence," she explains. "Most of the time, people can't even do that, and simply get nervous from the presence of ghosts. The fact that you didn't, at least not at first..."

Well, it definitely means that Norie is even more mysterious than Tori is, but best not to mention that right now. "I think it just shows that ghosts are people, too," she finishes.

Tori Morte has posed:
    Tori winces visibly. "There's no reason to be scared! Ghosts can't hurt you! Sayo wouldn't, even if she could!" Tori insists. She crosses her arms. "Ghosts are just... people and the universe remembering that someone lived. The fact that Sayo is here is proof that she mattered to someone, so she can't be a bad person."

    That's a slightly naive view point Tori has, there.

Norie Okana has posed:
Now, Norie Okana maybe could had continued talking for a bit, maybe could had been made to calm down enough to not say, run away or act normally, but Ikiko makes a mistake. She initiates physical contact and Norie opens her eyes. Blue eyes are purple now, but no one should be able to see that right now, as Ikiko is hugging from behind and Tori is behind her.

"Let. Go...." and then there's a crackle of black energy as Ikiko is drawn into an energy drain, unless she breaks contact quickly. "...of me!" Norie commands!

"LET GO LET GO LET GO!" she almost pleads as she keeps up the energy drain, like it's involuntary Which it may partly be right now!

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Being a magical girl means learning what it feels like when dark energy washes over an area, with the draining feeling that follows in its wake. The pull of this one, though, catches her a bit off balance, but the drain is informative enough to make her back off, albeit with ungraceful footwork.

"Oof," she winces. "I've heard of people allergic to hugs, but usually it's the hugged and not the hugger who gets the bad reaction." That last is said with a weak chuckle, as Ikiko tries to lighten the mood while catching her breath.

Taking a moment to steady herself, Ikiko puts a hand on Tori's shoulder, then looks at Norie. "Are you okay, though?" she asks, concern in her voice. Touching an energy drain is rough enough; being the epicenter of one definitely can't be comfortable.

Tori Morte has posed:
    Tori reaches down the neck of her shirt to pull out her Memory Stone. It's a heart-shaped, dark grey stone, with Greek lettering on it and a heart-shaped black gemstone set in it. She holds out her hand, and Sayo grasps it tightly. "Memen-" she begins.

    And then Ikiko manages to let go. Tori freezes in place, then drops the Memory Stone - although it ends up outside of her shirt, rather than hidden within it. She either doesn't notice, or doesn't care.

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana is let go off and there's a few lingering crackles that don't connect to anything as she closes her eyes and keeps them closed. She takes a deep breath. Counts to ten, releases and doesn't feel much better about the whole ... whatever happened as she manages to not do more than what just happened...

"D...do not touch me." she says filled with frustration. "Do not touch me ever again!" she says as she holds her arms around herself protectively, keeping her eyes closed, before she peeks an eye open and looks around in front of her. She then recloses her eyes and mutters.

At least the concept of ghosts is out of her head. Now she's frustrated' and angry.

She still stays turned away. "No! No I'm not!" she finally answers Ikiko question. Okay is a word that doesn't describe anything about her.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko glances over at the Memory Stone, but doesn't say anything about it. The Lycan Locket around her own neck definitely feels a bit more present to herself, though, and the hints of a hunch are slowly coalescing.

But on to more pressing matters.

"Sorry," Ikiko says to Norie. "I should've asked before giving you a hug, even if it was meant to be comforting. The energy thing was, uh, unexpected, though."

She pauses, scratching her head sheepishly. "Um... do you want to talk about it?" she inquires, a verbal shrug in her voice. She suspects what the answer will be, but there's no harm in offering to listen, right?

Tori Morte has posed:
    "It's okay to not like being touched," Tori says quietly. "Probably a good thing if that's what happens, really..." she trails off. She brings her arms up and sort of hugs herself, shifting a little awkwardly.

    "And it's okay if you don't want to talk about it. We're, uh, worried about you? But you can just tell us to screw off if you want."

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana... is quiet for a few long moments, before she stands up and keeps her eyes closed, until she peeks one open again. She then opens the other one and turns around with blue eyes again, softly she frowns. "....Screw off then." she says quietly. She turns around and starts to walk away.

"Don't follow me." she says, not turning back as she attempts to leave without incident, the normal way, through the front exit. For now.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko just watches Norie leave, waiting until the unusual girl is firmly out of sight. "Well, that was unexpected," she exhales, the energy drain making itself known again as the tense adrenaline ebbs out.

Glancing over to Tori, Ikiko gives her younger friend a reassuring smile. "To answer the likely question before you ask it, I'm okay," she nods. "Well, okay-ish. Nothing that a hearty meal and a good night's sleep can't fix."

Glancing around for a moment to make sure nobody else is around, she adds, "Also, that's a pretty neat necklace you have, Tori-chan."

Tori Morte has posed:
    Tori watches Norie go. She sighs slightly. "That could've gone worse, I guess. <Could've gone better too...>" she mumbles to herself, switching to English for a moment.

    She stoops down and rummages through her satchel that she carries everywhere - she dropped it at some point. "I keep a candy bar in my first aid kit," she says, holding it up to Ikiko. "Chocolate helps a lot with dark energy. Unless you're allergic, eheh." She goes back to rummaging. "I've also got a sports drink in here if you need to rehydrate but I don't think the contact was long enough..."

    She looks up. "Mmh. It was a gift," she responds.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko's eyes widen as she accepts the candy bar. "If I do technically have an allergy to chocolate, it's dilute enough to not bother me," she notes as she unwraps the chocolate and takes a bite. Well, chocolate is poisonous to canines, and her soul is a tiny part canine...

But this all but certainly confirms the earlier hunch. Now, how to tactfully approach this and spill the beans without utterly stunning Tori...?

    (well, for one, don't be as blunt as Usagi.)

"Nice to know I'm not the only one here who recognizes what dark energy is, and what it can do," Ikiko remarks conversationally as she takes another bite of candy bar. Not a blatant call-out, but the implications should still be clear enough.

Tori Morte has posed:
    Tori stands up, putting her satchel back over her shoulder as she does. "Mmh..." she makes an agreeing sound... and then pauses. Her eyes go wide, and she turns to look at Ikiko.

    "Wait. You know about dark energy? Are... are you a..." she starts, before trailing off, starting to blush. "Do you have... magic powers, or s-something like that?"

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"Yup!" Ikiko nods, tapping the locket around her neck -- and now that it's pointed out, Tori and Sayo might actually be able to notice it instead of their eyes treating it as background. "And if I'm not mistaken, you do as well. Probably not the same type of powers as I do, but there's lots of variety among magical girls."

Well, this is certainly going smoother than she had hoped! Of course, it helps that there's not a world-upending assumption correction involved here, but still: one less secret to keep from each other.

Tori Morte has posed:
    "Mneme said I wasn't supposed to tell anyone, because... it might put them in danger. I haven't even told my parents! But, I... I guess if you have magic, it's okay?"

    There's a pause, then she asks in a small voice. "Did you really just say you're a magical girl?"

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"Being a magical girl tends to involve going into danger to help keep others out of danger," Ikiko agrees. "Including, sometimes, protecting them from needless worry." Or would-be hostage-takers, or other hazards best left undisturbed, especially in a good mood.

"But yes, I'm magical, and I'm a girl, so I guess that means I'm a magical girl, right?" she giggles. "Like, I can talk to animals -- mostly dogs, but I can manage to communicate with other animals... even if it's not as fluently as I am in Canine. And I think the nature of my magic is part of the reason I can tell where Sayo-chan is, even if I can't actually see her."

Tori Morte has posed:
    Tori hugs herself a bit. "Well... if we're sharing, I can sense emotions and... this sort of imprint that events have? The memories people form in places tends to leave something behind... And, you know, I can see ghosts. Any ghost. I can touch them, too, and talk to them even if we don't share a language? Sayo-chan is how I learned Japanese so quickly, heh."

    "Oh, and... since there's no one around, and Sayo really wants to smell the flowers..." she reaches one hand out to take Sayo's hand, and holds her Memory Stone with her other.

*****

    "Memento Mori."

    Sayo Hasegawa and Victoria Morte look at each other, and nod. Tori pulls Sayo close, and the two of them intersect and overlap, adopting the same stance.

    A flash of dark violet light erupts from the girls, while salmon-pink ribbons wrap around them. A salmon pink undershirt replaces her t-shirt, to be covered a moment later by a black, white-laced corset, then a short black jacket. Her skirt shifts and transforms into a black pleated skirt and salmon pink petticoats, and her socks becoming long black stockings.

    A salmon pink bow ties up her hair, and her normally blue eyes turn red.

*****

    Memoriatrix Tourmalline bobs a curtsey. "Isn't it weird how having magical powers always results in frilly costumes?" she asks, giving a warm smile that reaches her bright red eyes. She then bends over to smell a flower - and for a split second, the image of a white-haired girl in an outdated Radiant Heart Academy uniform interposes itself over her, the girl smiling brightly as she smells a flower for the first time in six years.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"Pretty~!" Ikiko breathes, both at the henshin and at the brief sight of Sayo.

The comment about frilly costumes draws a giggle, though. "Mine's kinda odd in that regard," Ikiko admits. "It's... oh, heck, it's easier to show you."

*****

She touches the locket around her neck, saying "Lycan Locket!" There's a silvery glow, her ponytail retracting and wolf-like ears and tail emerging; gloves, shoes, and a vest appear in their respective places, and cute little fanglies appear in the corner of her mouth.

As the rest of the glow shatters away, it's clear that her eyes have changed color from medium-brown to turquoise, and her hair is now the light brown of a 'toasted marshmallow' brown husky, as is the color and pattern of her outfit.

And as a final detail, the Lycan Locket now looks like a heart-shaped outline with a wolf paw-print in the middle of it, hanging from a simple collar.

*****

"Like I said, I haven't noticed any allergies to chocolate yet, because the wolf part is dilute," Cute Wolf Tsukiko grins sheepishly, her tail wagging.

Tori Morte has posed:
    Tori stares as Ikiko transforms, eyes as wide as can be as she gazes in awe. She... might be a fan of magical girls.

    She claps her hands together, practically bouncing. "You powers turn you into a puppy girl?! Oh my gosh you are so cute! she gushes. She valiantly resists the urge to hug the adorable wolf girl.

    She then coughs, blushing hotly. "I, um, suppose proper introductions are in order!" She puffs herself up a little. "I am Memoriatrix Tourmalline, Guardian of Memories!" she announces. "...Oh my gosh it feels weird doing that when there isn't a bad guy around..."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"And I'm Cute Wolf Tsukiko!" the wolfgirl grins. "One part wolf, about ten or twenty parts human. So, I'm a werewolf, but a really dilute one. Makes for a much less crowded soul than standard lycanthropy."

Tourmalline's enthusiastic vibrating draws a bigger grin from Tsukiko, and she gives the Memoriatrix a big hug! "You've mentioned that most animals tend to be nervous around Sayo-chan, because they can sense her; I think it's that small bit of wolf soul that helps me tell where she is," the wolfgirl explains.

Tori Morte has posed:
    Tori practically squeals as she's hugged. "That's only one character away from being your name!" she accuses with a laugh, returning the hug. "Just replace 'tsu' with 'i', and..." Hm. "Makes sense a werewolf's name would have 'moon' in it though!"

    She nods her head. "That makes sense, yeah. Although some people can just see ghosts anyway? And more than that can sort of tell when they're around, so it wasn't a huge surprise you could."

    She rubs the back of her head. "Although I might have a skewed perception of how common it is."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"...good point!" Tsukiko giggles, realizing the truth Tourmalline pointed out. "The kanji makes it seem more different... although it's still the same 'ko', but that one is really common, so that's less of an issue."

The wolfgirl then glances around in a slightly melodramatic conspirational manner, then leans over and stagewhispers, "To be honest, my family name is an archaic word for the moon, too!"

The observations about ghosts are nodded at. "I wouldn't be surprised if those with spiritual strength are more capable of it than most, even if they're not outright magical people," she muses, thinking of the ofuda-wielding girl at the fight with the two-headed bear youma. "But yeah, being able to see ghosts probably makes you more aware of others who can see them, even if it's just because you notice them noticing the same ghosts you are."

Tori Morte has posed:
    Tori nods her head, giggling a bit at the conspiratorial whisper. "I mean, my family name literally means 'death'... And my dad is a surgeon. So that's something~"

    She breaks away from the hug. "Mum jokes she only married him to take the name 'Morte' because she's a mortician," she says with a giggle. "...Did you know hospitals are really haunted?"

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"Can't say that I knew that, but now that you mention it, it's less than surprising," Tsukiko admits. "And that's pretty cool about your family!"

Her stomach doesn't quite rumble, but it definitely lets the wolfgirl know that, between the time and the energy drain, lunch would be a very good idea. And soon.

"I should probably get going," Ikiko admits after de-henshining in another glow of silver. "But we should definitely trade phone numbers, both to hang out more often and to have a way to get in touch in case of trouble."

Tori Morte has posed:
    Tori nods her head, returning to her normal form as well - Sayo seems to just step out of her, and with a flash of violet light she's back in her civilian clothes. She gives Ikiko her phone number - having to dig out her phone to check because she hasn't memorised her new Japanese number yet. "I should probably get something to eat too, and Sayo gets kind of overwhelmed by the stuff I like to eat so probably shouldn't eat while we're fused~" she explains with a giggle.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko nods as she pulls out her phone to make the entry, then does a slight double-take. "Oh, wow," she says, looking right at Sayo. "I... think I can see Sayo-chan now. Sort of. Like, not the level of detail as when she was smelling the roses, but..."

She shrugs. "A luminous outline is still better than only sensing a presence," she remarks, then chuckles. "That's new, and unexpected -- even if it's in a good way. Huh."

Tori Morte has posed:
Tori stares a little. Sayo raises one hand and gives a little wave. "That's... all it takes? Just fuse with her in front of someone and then they can see her?" Tori frowns. "...Not that I'm gonna go around doing that, but... I guess it sort of makes sense... or it's because you're magic..." She chews on her lip. "Well, um, anyway, I really should get going. I'll talk to you later, okay?" she says, turning to leave and raising a hand to wave. Sayo copies the gesture.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"It might be the magic and the fusing," Ikiko muses thoughtfully, waving back at Sayo. "Might not be as effective if the other person isn't as aware of Sayo-chan, for instance -- but yeah, it might only come up when transforming around a friend who is also a magical girl." Which might wind up eventually becoming more relevant, as social circles carefully expand.

Still, there's places to go and food to eat. "Take care, you two!" Ikiko smiles, waving at her two friends.