2150/A Secret Between Friends

A Secret Between Friends
Date of Scene:	07 December 2024
Location:	Dorms #1
Synopsis:	After getting advice for Christmas gifts, Seiko learns an important secret from Amy.
Cast of Characters:	Seiko Akai, Amanda Faust

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Seiko Akai has posed:
"Oh! You should totally give her a dolphin plushie!" Hoshi exclaims as she flies a basket over to Seiko. That basket is filled with a bunch of ribbon in a plethora of colors. Seiko has a small empty box that she is using for shape. She quickly pulls out some red and green ribbon and begins working on a ribbon basket for a christmas gift. "Do you think she will like these colors?"

"I hope so." Seiko states as she begins weaving ribbon together to start the form of a very cute basket. "We just need to find a place that sells Dolphin plushies. Maybe Amy will know? I don't wanna ask Laura since this one is for her. That would be really a sad way to give a gift ya know?" She chuckles a little before getting out her phone and making the call. "Hey Amy, its Seiko, would you mind coming over to my dorm for a few minutes. I need some help with a thing." She comments as she leaves a message.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Saturday evening! Classes are blessedly short on Saturday, so Saturday evening is a time of rest or play, or hobbies.

    Like catching up on manga! Or 'manga'.

    Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki is one of those... weirdly-prescient-about-the-direction-her-life-has-taken webcomics that she remembers reading as a teenage boy and then losing track of and never finding out how it ended.

    Fortunately... A few years ago, she found someone had blessedly uploaded the entire thing to the internet archive! So she downloaded it and then promptly got distracted and didn't get back to it.

    Until today, when it crossed her mind, and she had some hours free, so she found where she saved the archive and binged. It will be interesting to see how it ends!

    Though admittedly, perhaps she finds herself mostly wondering if Yuuki will turn out to be a girl like her who took time to realize it, or is a boy in a very unfortunate situation...

    And now, five hundred and seventy pages in, it just ends. Like so many webcomics, it was never finished and has since disappeared from the internet, and bless whoever archived what there was so it didn't share the fate of City of Reality...

    But, like, dang. No conclusion, Amanda is just left in 'absorb-a-story' gear and needs a bit to like. Put her brain in another gear and find something else to do. What will she do tonight?

    Her phone rings!

    ...So it is that a few minutes later, there's a knock on Seiko's door. "Hey, it's me." When the door opens, there's Amy in casual dorm clothes -- an oversized sleep shirt that says APERTURE LABORATORIES on it, pajama pants, and fuzzy slippers. She smiles, "So, what did you need help with?"

Seiko Akai has posed:
"Come in!" Seiko announces in a sing-song tone as she continues weaving the basket she's working on. "Hiya Amy! Good to see you. I am working on a gift for Laura." She smiles happily as she continues working. "Have a seat! Have you ever done this? My grandma taught me how to make baskets like this out of ribbons. Its fun!"

Hoshi flies over to Amy and waves to her. "Do you know where to find Dolphin plushies?" She asks curiously getting right to the point."

"Hoshi! You should let her get comfortable before getting to the point like that. If we were going to do that we could have just asked on the phone!" She giggles a little bit. She turns her attention to Amy and gives her a smile. "Well there is another reason I wanted you to come over. I know we haven't had a chance to hang out much lately. I wanted to see how you were doing." She smiles and makes a pretty bow. Carefully she affixes the bow and then runs the ends of the bow across her desk to make them curl.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy walks in with a smile, and takes a seat. "Basket-weaving? No," Amy shakes her head, "I've never had cause to learn."

    Dolphin plushies? She blinks at Hoshi, but Seiko interrupts, and Amy smiles back. "You... just wanted to hang out? With me??" She looks pleasantly shocked!

    "That's... sure! What do you want to do! I'm doing OK! Just, y'know, school, hobbies, fighting monsters, the usual. What about you?"

    "As for dolphin plushies..." She holds a finger to her chin. "Uhhh... online? As for a store near here... I have no idea. Toy stores? Maybe that uh, what's that one that's some kind of mixed sweets-makeup-clothes-does-everything store, maybe they'd have plushies too... why?"

Seiko Akai has posed:
Seiko blushes, "Well, you see. I am making these baskets as a means to give gifts this year. I am going to give this one to Laura and Hoshi thought a Dolphin plushie would be up her alley. I figured that would be a good way to go."

She cants her head and smiles to Amy, "Of course I'd wanna hang out with you. Why wouldn't I?! I just haven't seen you in a while. Sorry about that." She scrunches her face up a little, feeling bad for not being around so much.

Hoshi rolls her eyes and pokes her tongue out at Seiko, "In other words Seiko has been too busy for everyone and she's trying to make amends."

Seiko looks at Hoshi and gives the stink eye to her. "You know I could make a basket with a lid on it. I could make one just your size, Hoshi. You are in a rude state today and you should stop." She then turns her attention to Amy and smiles. "School Hobbies, Fighting Monsters and the usual... I can relate to most of those things." She sighs, "There is a secret I wanna share with you. Not many people know about it. I've been doing my best to keep quiet about it.

She looks at Hoshi and the chara nods to her. "I guess the best way is to show you." She takes a deep breath. "My Heart: UNLOCK!" Immediately Hoshi's egg appears and closes around her before it floats into Seiko's heart. Then she begins going through a transformation sequence. Her clothing transforms, becoming much more like that of Hoshi's. She takes on more of an appearance like that of a pop idol. After a little light show, she is left standing there as Star Shine. "What do you think? You like it?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy blinks at Seiko, with difficulty comprehending that this is somehow a matter of 'of course'.

    And then Seiko transforms, and her eyes and smile widen with excitement. "That's amazing! Congrats! You---" She gives a little gasp. "You were at Walpurgisnacht! And helped with that witch that tried to steal Mamoru!"

    She stares for a moment.

    "I... I... S-since I've started here... I mean, before no one... no one ever..." She looks away, "And since I started here, sometimes I've been invited to come along on some group activity, but... Almost no one just... just wants to spend time with me. H-Hannah is special and I never understood what she saw in me. How she saw it in me. And Taro... we got... there's a reason I can't say."

    She looks at Seiko, her voice choking up a little. "But why you? Why would you want to... to spend time with just me???"

    She looks up at Seiko -- or rather, Star Shine.

Seiko Akai has posed:
Star Shine smiles, "Because you're a friend. You were there when I first got here and you helped me out when Hoshi hatched. That is still really weird to say." She pauses and sits down. "Its just nice to have a good friend. I think you're a good friend."

"I didn't do much at Walpurgisnacht. I just sang and tried to encourage people to be strong. I wasn't even transformed there. That was just me singing. Yeah that was me though, I was trying to work on baskets on the beach but when that crazy witch started being shooting pew pew guns, I took cover and smashed my work. That was really annoying!"

"We're friends. I remember you showing me your transformation. So I wanted to show you mine. I've actually purified some X-eggs and even an X-chara. Also I kinda met one of my pop idols." She frowns. "I wish it would have been like I imagined it. But she was really mean and threatened to make a bunch of X-eggs."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy just sort of stares. When was the last time, in her past life, that anyone wanted to just spend time with her, for such a simple reason?

    If only she could stay a teenager forever.

    "X-eggs, X-chara... how does that even work?" She nods a little, it must suck to find out an idol you were a fan of is actually an evil dream-dtealer. "I saw who you mean the other day I think, devil-girl costume with a red dress, stealing people's dreams? What is the point of stealing dreams?!"

Seiko Akai has posed:
The transformed Chara Bearer smiles. She is just thrilled to have a friend to hang out with. Quietly her transformation breaks leaving her as Seiko again.

" X-eggs happen when a kid punishes their dream so much that it turns dark. they become hopeless. Its terrible that people can cause that to happen. An X-Chara happens when an X-egg hatches or when a Chara gets turned dark. Both situations are terrible. I would hate if anything like that happened to Hoshi."

Hoshi reappears as the transformation breaks. She flies over and lands on Seiko's shoulder. "Me too! It is scary! Those X-charas are dangerous!"

Seiko pauses and listens. "I... I hope not. Utau-san has the potential to be a good person but she is just so mean to actually do that sort of thing. I hope it isn't her."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy is so moved she has to stand up and hug Seiko for a long moment. To be wanted is so nice.

    Eventually she steps back. "You hope what isn't her? And what do you mean, punishes their dream? What does that mean?"

Seiko Akai has posed:
Seiko blinks and hugs Amy. She hugs her good and tight with a warm smile on her face. "Its okay. I'm happy you're here."

When Amy steps back Seiko looks at Hoshi to explain. Hoshi frowns, "Imagine looking at your dream and believing it is a complete waste of time. That it is so impossible that you could never achieve it. Imagine hurting your own heart because you don't believe you can ever get your dream. That is punishing your heart's egg."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Squeezy hugs are the best hugs! And... after learning this only at last summer's dance, Amy realizes that right now she can't immediately count how many such hugs she's received! This life truly is wonderful...

    And that people are happy she's here... she keeps smiling. "Thanks! I'm happy you're here, too."

    It's a bit of a mood change, for Hoshi to then explain that. And winces. "Oh. In my defense, this kinda was impossible, and nobody explained how I could come close when I was younger." She scratches her head awkwardly with an apologetic smile on her face, as if she just said 'oops, my bad' about forgetting to bring snacks or something.

    Amy looks between the two of them with interest. "So how do you find a dream, anyway?"

Seiko Akai has posed:
Seiko blushes. "Its more than a dream. Its who you long to be. For instance, I dreamed of being a Pop Idol for a long time. But it wasn't until I actually dared to to be someone who wasn't always afraid that Hoshi's egg appeared. I think it takes the desire to actually be your dream. I mean I could have a thousand dreams of being a pop star but That single desire to take a step forward toward that dream is what made the difference."

Hoshi looks at Amy and frowns. "It happens. A lot of people never realize their dreams. They punish their dreams and let them go and go on to do whatever they do. It takes a lot of punishment for a heart's egg to turn into an X-egg. I bet yours didn't turn into an X-egg. You just let it go and your hearts egg faded away. Unless its still there. Maybe you still have your desire to actually do what you wanted to do as a kid?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy listens and blinks. "I'd have stepped forward in a heartbeat if I ever saw a way! As far as I knew, I needed magic, and magic wasn't real!"

    She calms slightly. "What I wanted to do as a kid? I dunno, I kinda wanted to make videogames or something, but... it's not like I haven't tried that. I never get very far and just end up fighting my tools, so I guess that's not, like. Really my dream dream. That's why I'm asking how you find one!"

Seiko Akai has posed:
"A dream is sorta there in your heart. Its not really found. Its hard to explain. For me, I saw an idol one day and I wanted to be like them. Thats how my dream was found. I dunno how else to explain it." Seiko frowns as she tries to explain through her own experiences.

"It sounds like you still have your dream you are just having trouble achieving it. It also sounds like you haven't really given up on it. Maybe you just need to take steps towards it. Like programming classes and stuff. Take pointers from other game developers and stuff." Hoshi comments trying to encourage Amy.

"Amy, you can do it. How often have you had people in your corner cheering you on when you were trying to make games and stuff?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy cocks her head to one side a bit. "...I did all that, but I never had someone cheering..." She holds out a hand in a 'stop' gesture. "But before you go on about that..."

    Amy straightens up in the chair she sat back down in at some point. "When you have a dream... it's... it's something you think about every day, right? Even if it's impossible. Even if you can never have it. You... can't really imagine some other future the same way, and work towards it as hard, right? Or am I... confused?"

Seiko Akai has posed:
"It is for me. I don't know if it is for everyone. I mean I want to be a pop star more than anything." The pinkette explains with a smile. "Its worth the fight." She smiles. "A dream worth dreaming is worth believing in. Its worth the fight to make it real."

Hoshi giggles, "You should write that down Seiko-chan." She then just flat out laughs. "You could write your own songs that way."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy nods. Then things are as she thought. "I see. Then my only dream was granted," she clasps her hands together in her lap, "and I don't know how to find the next one. For what comes next. Or is that... now hot it works?" She cocks her head to the side slightly. "Do you just get one dream you feel that way about, and once it's achieved, finding your way from there is just... there will never be anything like that again, so it's sort of just... do whatever?"

Seiko Akai has posed:
"People can have multiple dreams! Heck! There are some people out there who have multiple Charas. One for each dream they want to attain! I heard the one girl has three of them. I've heard of another with a bunch of them... Its really cool." Seiko pauses and looks at Hoshi. "How would you feel about a sister?" She giggles!

"HA HA! You'd have to get your eyes off your own rising star to actually have another chara floating around." SHe giggles and flies over to hug Seiko.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy blinks. And smiles. "Kaname-san is a nice girl who's gone through a lot. I can't imagine what it's like to have so many dreams and get caught up in... everything... with the Puella Magi too. I have no idea where we'd be now if not for her... She probably deserves some sort of thanks, come to think of it..."

    Amy smiles at Seiko, still intent and curious. "But first: How do you find another dream? Another thing you feel that way about, that you could envision it every day and... and fight to achieve it, as long as you can see a way?"

Seiko Akai has posed:
Seiko smiles and nods. "Yes She is really nice." She doesn't know Madoka very well but she has met her in the past and knows that she's nice.

"Well... I think finding a new dream is as simple as trying new things. Like imagine being in front of a crowd and hearing them cheer your name? Or maybe its something simple like making things. You never know what could be the next big dream. Sometimes I think the simple life could be a dream of mine but that is so opposite of my dream to be an idol! Its really weird I know. But I love to garden and make plants grow. Its fun! Plus you never know what might spark that interest."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy bows her head in thought, resting her chin on her hands and elbows on her legs. "Hmmmm. Maybe that could be the next dream: Finding a dream."

    She sits up and takes a breath. "Sorry for being so cryptic. I... wanted to get your answer before distracting you with anything else, and honestly..." She smiles sadly. "It's kind of nice, to be seen as normal, you know? I guess I never really... told you about me, besides being a magical girl, huh?"

Seiko Akai has posed:
"Not a whole lot, No. But I get it. Being a Magical girl is a huge part of who you are. Just like its a huge part of who I am now. Still there are other parts that are important. Like what do you do to chill out? I mean we can't always done the magical outfits and glow sticks... well glow sticks in my case anyway." She chuckles a little at the thought of her glow stick batons.

"Hey what made you want to use a rocket launcher as your weapon when you transform?" Seiko asks curiously. "Maybe that could be a lead to your next big dream?" She suggests. "I wanna try racing. Not like running but like car racing! I think it could be a lot of fun!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy looks at Seiko, and for a moment, can feel how her inside and outside don't match. Not the body -- it's perfect -- but it does mislead people from the impossible truth of decades of memories of another life; And for a moment that makes Amanda feel like she's looking out from behind a mask.

    "I didn't pick it." She states plainly. "It just sort of happened. But when I imagined having power before... That's how I thought I'd use it:"

    The red Puella Magi states, with the echo of what she once thought was heroic determination: "If evil stands in your way -- or even misguided fools who refuse to listen -- you hit them with overwhelming force so that good will prevail. And in this world, overwhelming force is not within the realm of muscle and bone, no matter how well-trained you are. It's in steel, and circuits, and hot lead and RDX, it's in electromagnetic rails and objects accelerated to several times the speed of sound -- it's in rocks flying through space at mind-boggling speed... and so on."

    "...Or so I thought until I learned magic was real. ...So I suppose that's the form I subconsciously expected a powerful weapon to take?" Amy shrugs, and sits up. "A gatling gun, or a railgun, would have suited as well, I suppose, but portable artillery makes sense."

    Amy blinks. "That's not..." she looks a bit awkward, "That's not exactly a dream in itself, though, you know? It's just part of how I thought I'd be a hero... and ironically, now I kind of... like, I would prefer to solve things with love and friendship like an ideal magical girl if I could, but that's not really how things work, it turns out, you know? Eh-hehhh..."

Seiko Akai has posed:
Seiko listens with a smile on her face. She nods and just continues to listen and its clear she is interested in what she is being told. "I understand." She smiles again as she considers what she is about to say. "So your thought of power came out as a rocket launcher. Thats cool! I guess as far as weapons go, you can't get much more intense than that!" She laughs, "If I had something like that, I'm sure X-eggs would scramble themselves!" The thought gives her a visual and she just laughs all the more. "Imagine explaining that to the egg's holder! " She changes her voice a little before saying, "Sorry about that. Your egg kinda fried itself when I whipped out a rocket launcher!"

"More seriously though. I never even thought about what kind of weapon I'd use to save the day. I was always too afraid that people wouldn't like me and stuff. I guess thats why I got stuck with glow sticks!"

"HEY! There is nothing wrong with glow sticks! They are pretty cool if I say so myself." Hoshi comments taking offense to the comment.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy listens, although when Seiko says the X-Eggs would scramble themselves, she observes: "I mean, it's magic, and that's what matters. Had I thought more in fantastic terms and dreamed of being a heroic swordsman or something, I doubt I'd be less effective."

    She looks between the two of them, smiling at the discussion of glow sticks. "I'm sure they work fine! How do you fight with them though? Are they connected by a string and you do like, magic glowing nunchuks?"

Seiko Akai has posed:
Seiko smiles a little bit. "Oh I dunno. I'm sure there are swordsman magical girls out there. Ones who do fairly well too. Also I wasn't making fun of your rocket launchers. I was just thinking about if I had something like that instead of the glow sticks." She snickers. "You are awesome with your rocket Launchers. Thats something cool in my opinion. I'll bet witches wet themselves when they see rockets come flying at them!" She laughs at the thought of big bad witches losing it over rockets.

"They are like batons. At least thats the way I was using them. I haven't really gotten to use them much as that was the first time I ever summoned them, during the fight over the heart crystal thingy." She blushes not really knowing much about the other magical types. "Sorry. I don't know a lot about the other magical girls."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy blinks. "Huh? Yeah, I've seen magical girls with swords. I was saying, they're just as effective! It doesn't matter what weapon you have, it's the magic and that you can use it well."

    She does laugh -- not her usual cackle at a knee-slapper, but light yet earnestly joyful laughter -- at the suggestion that the Witches would wet themselves in terror at the sight of her rockets.

    She smiles. "Unfortunately I don't think Witches are capable of understanding what is happening, and may not even be able to feel fear."

    Amy cocks her head to the side. "You fought over a piece of the crystal heart? Although, I guess I did too, a couple of times."

    Amy shrugs. "Well, you'll just have to meet more of us and get to know eachother better! Hey, do you know about the Shed yet?"

Seiko Akai has posed:
"Oh! I understand. That makes sense. You are right. Magic does make the difference doesn't it." She smiles happily. "I guess you could go in with a magic blowgun and you'd still have a pretty effective weapon against the bad guys huh?" She smiles again just enjoying the conversation.

"That is a shame. I guess witches don't have anything of humanity in them do they? No joy, no sorry, no nothing. That would be such an awful fate."

"That was that witch woman who wrecked her car and was shooting at the guy! I heard them mention the heart crystal thing. I don't really know what it is but it seemed really important."

She nods, "Yes I do! I really need to meet more magical people. Though I don't think many of them like me much." She looks down. The more shy side of her rearing its head for a moment. "Whats the Shed?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy imagines that. Magic blowgun? "Maybe someone who's like... a magical ninja and has stealth weapons and other ninja tricks...?"

    At the statement that Witches have nothing of humanity in them, Amy hangs her head. She opens her mouth to mutter something, but Seiko has moved on.

    She looks up at Seiko. "Huh? Oh, different kind of Witch. And the crystal was him. She took him out of his body and tried to kill him. Fortunately we killed her and got him back into his body." She's going to keep insisting on explaining that! Getting people clear on the idea might save someone's life one day.

    She blinks. "Why would they not like you? People seem to like me well enough, and..."

    She takes a breath, and stretches, and stands up, "Did people not like you at your old school? Everyone here is great. and the Shed is this meeting place we've got set up for magical folk -- heroes and heroines anyway, I guess the baddies probably meet at Obsidian or something -- that looks like an old toolshed on the outside, but if you open the door the right way it's a variable-size classroom on the inside, bigger than the outside, where we can meet and hang out and stuff, or even just, like, study if we want to chat about magic at the same time and not be overheard. A lot of magical girls already know about it can show you, if I don't end up showing you first!"

Seiko Akai has posed:
"I just... I don't know. I am still shy sometimes you know?" Seiko pulls on the the ribbons, Taking the edge of a blade across the ribbon forcing it to twirl. It definitely gives the blue and teal basket a very complete look. "So the Shed is a hangout for Magical types. Thats really cool actually."

Her mind switches tracks and goes back to the events of the fight with the weird witch. "I thought only Puellas had the rock crystal, soul, thing going on?" She shrugs. "Well I guess its a lot stronger than dealing with an egg right?"

Hoshi looks at Seiko and makes a little face at her. "Hey I didn't get scrambled or anything! Besides! We are tougher than we look!"

The girl shakes her head. "Sorry Hoshi. There is a reason we are chara bearers. You have a lot of power but you are like a glass cannon. You can get hurt really easy."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Seiko is shy and thinks people won't like her. Amy stares. "It's so hard to believe nice people like you and Rashmi used to have so few friends."

    Soul gems and heart crystals. "Normally. And my insisting on people remembering that is more likely to save a Puella Magi's life than anyone else's, but... Obsidian has some kind of magical rifle thing that like. Shoots the souls out of people. I mean like, shoots people and knocks their soul out in that form. Obviously there's some differences; they aren't able to puppet their body from a heart crystal. Nor use its senses. But in situations like that, it's important to remember the importance of that 'rock', you know?"

    Amy looks at Hoshi, and remembers how much Taro was hurt, and hangs her head, cringing at herself and the thoughtlessness she showed then.

    "I don't think I've seen chara hurt, but I haven't really seen someone try, either. I think... I think many of the villains still have some morals. Like now that they know about soul gems they're not trying to take them, or drain too much of our energy. Perhaps they have similar feelings about like. Physically hurting chara."

Seiko Akai has posed:
"Well a lot of em, All it took was them finding a weakness. In my case, That weakness was finding out my Mom left my dad and I. I guess the whole idea that someone's mom didn't want to be that was enough." She frowns and shakes her head.

She shakes her head. "Why would anyone make a weapon like that? That is insane?! It kills a person without killing them? Thats just sick." She shakes her head. The pinkette just sighs and smiles to Amy. "I am glad I got in with you guys before I wound up falling in with people like Obsidian. I would hate if I wound up like Utau." She shakes her head.

Hoshi smiles, "We can be hurt but usually we are staying close by our bearers. Not all of us can chara-transform either. We are a lot stronger when we are chara-transformed! Plus we are a joy to have around! See?" She flies around twirling and showing off.

"Yeah Yeah, Show off!" Seiko smiles to Hoshi before putting the finishing touches on a brown and tan basket. "I am just enjoying making these baskets. You should try it sometime!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    All it took was finding a weakness. Amy winces and stands up again to rush over and hug her.

    "It doesn't mean your Mom didn't want you. Relationships are complicated... there could have been all sorts of reasons. You don't know exactly what happened. And if that were why... it says more about her than it does about you. Adults are just people too. Parents are... just people, producing children doesn't elevate them or prove anything save that they passed the lowest bar for propogation of the species set by nature."

    Why would anyone make a weapon like that? Amy lets out a breath. "People invent all kinds of terrible things." She moves back to her chair and sits again. "I would hazard a guess that a heart crystal has some magical use, or at least is more convenient for magical use than a whole human, body and all."

    She looks at Hoshi showing off and smiles. "It must be frustrating and scary at times, being in a world designed for people so much bigger than you, surrounded by giants most of whom can't even see you. I guess you kind of have to stay near your bearers, unless you're especially powerful."

Seiko Akai has posed:
Seiko hugs Amy. It really hurts to think about it. Still she has had a lot of time to process the emotions of her mother leaving. "I know she didn't want me. She just didn't want the simple life that my Father wanted for us. I think thats why I focused on being an Idol. I just wanted to be a big star, you know?" She smiles about the simple things. "I like the simple things too though. I guess I am just a bit more like my mom than my dad." She smiles a little smile before turning her attention back to the Hoshi.

Hoshi is shrugs, "Oh its fun cause I can steal all the french fries I want and no on can see me do it unless they are magical. Even then, Who can say no to a cute little Chara eating a french fry!?" She laughs a full belly laugh. "Its use together with our Bearers that make us strong."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy takes a breath and thinks about this. "You can want to sing, and still want simple things. It..." She rubs her head. "Ugh, people are complicated, though. I don't know if I have wise words."

    She has to smile at Hoshi's view of the charas' situation!

    But then she looks... troubled. Thinking of things and whether she should talk about them. "I'm sorry for being... indirect and cagey and beating around bushes, today. I'm normally a very straightforward and honest person. I just... Have you ever felt like..." Amy tries to organize words in her head.

    "So like... as those bullies demonstrated... People can hear about your mom, and jump to conclusions. Not because you said anything untrue, but... somehow they... get to the wrong answer, kind of?"

Seiko Akai has posed:
"I know. I just am much more focused on my singing." Seiko finishes off the ribboned bows on the baskets and smiles over her work. "Who knows maybe things will change? Maybe Hoshi will wind up wearing bib overalls and covered in dirt!" She laughs with a big grin.

Hoshi shakes her head, "ME? In the Dirt?! GROSS! I don't wanna be in the dirt!"

While Hoshi continues to lament about getting in touch with the grass, Seiko looks at Amy. "Hey, Its okay. You don't need to worry about anything." She smiles. "Just catch your breath okay?" She cans her head. "People jump to conclusions all the time. Its not a good thing that it does for them but all we can do is explain how things actually are and just go about our business right?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy giggles a bit at the mental image. "I think you'd get a seperate, farmer chara or something."

    On more serious matters, though... she looks at Seiko sadly. "And how did explaining go with the bullies?" She looks away. "Well, I guess people here are nicer than that."

Seiko Akai has posed:
Seiko laughs at the thought. "I could just see the fights between Hoshi and a farmer Chara. Hoshi trying to dress up the new Chara while the farmer one slings mud pies and stuff." She laughs at the though.

Then the more serious thought of the matter. "They just wanted to be mean. They didn't care that my mom had her reasons for leaving. I was just a joke. Mom didn't love me enough to stay was the joke." She shakes her head.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Chara mental images continue to amuse!

    The topic of discussion, though... Amy sighs. "Is it really that simple? That some people just... want to be mean?"

    Amy looks down at the floor. "...But when I was little, adults always acted like they were the normal ones. Said that if I was getting picked on, I was the one doing something wrong, and I should be getting along with those people better."

Seiko Akai has posed:
Seiko moves to the edge of her bed and sits in front of Amy. She frowns and looks right into Amy's eyes. "We are all NPCs and Main characters. In one person's life we might be A secondary character. In another we are just a random NPC that no one notices. Yet in another we are impacting the main character more than we know. No one knows what every main character is going through. Maybe the main character has had something really traumatic happen in their life that causes them to act out against some of the NPCs in their lives. To them, they are not hurting anyone. In reality they are hurting another player in this great big world. They might not want to be mean. They might just want to be released of something that they never wanted to experience."

Seiko smiles to Amy and reaches out to hug her. "No. You didn't do anything wrong and no one deserves to be someone's whipping boy or girl. You didn't ask to be hurt. You certainly weren't the one doing something wrong and you most definitely don't need to get along with people like that."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy lifts her head and widens her eyes in slight surprise at Seiko moving closer, and listens intently.

    And wow, Seiko's suddenly spouting words wiser and more perceptive than Amy has heard from almost anyone, adult or otherwise. And at the reassurances after the hug she feels her throat tighten a bit and she hugs back, resting her chin against Seiko's shoulder. "I... I wish anyone had told me that, all those years ago."

    Beat.

    "I try to remember that other people are never NPCs. I guess the human mind is structured that way -- we'll always do it some, but I try not to."

    She opens her eyes. "...Who said all this to you?"

Seiko Akai has posed:
Seiko's eyes are a little wet. She was thinking about the people that bullied her. They she thought she had to give the time of day to. She could see their faces. "I kinda figured it out and one of my school councilors from back in the states said a lot of it to me. When my dad didn't want me singing and I was stuck dealing with a lot of this all by myself. The Counselor at my old school used video games to help me see things from a different perspective. I never really got into gaming too much but it helped a lot. It wasn't until I moved to Tokyo that I found a hobby that helped me to clear my head. That was basket weaving. I get to work with my hands and make something pretty for either myself or someone else."

"Think about it this way Amy. For as important as everyone is, You gotta remember you are important too!" She smiles again and stands up. "I need to go shopping. Hopefully this time without any youmas attacking. I dunno about you but I could really use a break from the attacks." She smiles and collects the baskets.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy listens, and lets out a sad little laugh at 'you are important too.' "Maybe... if people keep saying that... it'll eventually get through to me. Thank you."

    She smiles up at Seiko, but then the other girl says she's leaving.

    Amy can kind of feel the quick-time event indicator counting down. To let the conversation end here, or to... say something, about what's on her mind.

   Say something?                                        

    But it will be awkward.

   Say something?                            

    She might be misunderstanding something socially.

   Say something?                

    She might inconvenience Seiko

   Say something?    

    She might look foolish

   Say something?

    "What do you think my dream was?"

    Amy blurts out the words, reaching a hand out towards Seiko in a 'wait' gesture, and then looking extremely self-conscious.

Seiko Akai has posed:
Seiko pauses. She turns and looks at Amy with a smile. "I was curious about that but I never wanted to press. I don't think it was to be firing rockets at youma but it could be a fun dream no less." She turns and sits back on her bed and faces Amy. "What was your dream Amy?" She asks point blank, not even trying to cover up her curiosity.

Hoshi is interested in this as well. She quickly flies over and lands on Seiko's shoulder and looks at Amy with a bright smile. "We should get a tea kettle for in here. It would be good for conversations like this!"

Seiko looks at Hoshi and giggles. "We will see if we can find one while we are out today."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy relaxes as Seiko remains friendly, rather than seeming in an impatient hurry to get somewhere. Phew.

    "Well," Amy smiles awkwardly, "I mean, I never really thought about being a magical girl," she looks away, "but I suppose I did envy their... Like, the idea that my belief in the power of love and friendship could be backed up by some higher power, and empowered to, to work change in the world. Heh, ironic that I ended up getting that power from something that couldn't care less about such ideals."

    Amy takes a breath.

    "Magical... girl..."

    She looks at Seiko again, watching her face. "How do you feel about being a girl? Is it, like... important? Or, not a big deal, or something you never thought about, or...?"

Seiko Akai has posed:
Seiko smiles, "Oh I always loved the ideals of Magical girls. Its always been a lot of fun to think about. To fight for truth and love! For friendship and all of that. Its always been a bit of a fantasy. I mean to be more than just a hero but a symbol for other girls. A Magical girl!" She smiles happily.

Then she listens to what Amy says. It takes her a few moments to take it all in. "Well I didn't really think a lot about it. If just felt normal to me. So I guess being a girl is just not that big of a deal for me. Would I be a boy if I could be one? Nah. I don't think I would like it... Wait are you saying..." Her eyes go wide and she smiles really big. "That is one heck of a wish if that is what you are saying!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy smiles at Seiko's earnest enthusiasm and idealization of magical girls. "Not a symbol to everyone?" she wonders.

    And then...Amy listens intently. Although she starts to look nervous at 'wait are you saying...' and then she's not sure what to make of the huge smile!

    Amy holds up her hands in a 'slow down' gesture. "It's, uh... I didn't exactly wish for that... consciously... But it turns out that making me more myself, was a necessity for the efficiency of the whole energy-harvesting thing. And that I hadn't experienced it before."

    She glances away, then awkwardly at Seiko. "Sorry for being roundabout. I uh.... The last new magical girl I told like. Started asking me for dating advice because I've had a guy's perspective but like. All I know is what media written for guys says guys think about girls, I got no personal experience with it obviously..."

    She looks away. "An'... like I said... or maybe I just thought it... it was nice just... bein' seen as normal and talked to like any other girl... but at the same time" she looks back to Seiko, "it means bein' all weird and cagey when talking about important stuff like dreams, you know?"

Seiko Akai has posed:
Seiko sits there for a long moment. A big smile forms on her lips as she looks to Amy. "Considering everything we know about magic, About the way wishes and dreams work. I gotta say this is just flat out amazing." She smiles and gives her a hug. "Amy. You're my friend. You're a girl. You were a boy. You are who you are now. You don't have to worry about me asking for dating tips as I am not sure I even really like boys all that much." She blushes.

She smiles to her friend. "Amy you are a friend no matter what. Don't worry. You're cool. I'm not going to treat you any different. You have my word." She smiles and stretches. "Still it is a cool wish the way it panned out. You got a big reset. I mean, you get to see how both halves live now. Thats pretty cool." She smiles again. "Wanna Come along with me? We can grab something to eat while I deliver these baskets!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy quirks an eyebrow. "This is amazing?" She grins, "I mean, okay, it is, but it hardly seems out there when random objects are turned into monsters like every day."

    She blinks at the hug, and then smiles and hugs back. "I'm glad to get to be so many peoples' friends, and to make so many friends here!"

    She gives a short chuckle at the mention of not liking boys. "It's wild how many of the girls here are gay. My old school in America... would not have been so accepting." Amy blinks. "Of course, maybe you mean you're ace or demi. That's cool too! I think I understand that better..."

    A reset. Amy smiles. "Yeah, kinda. I mean, I don't have the memories or experience of being a little girl leading up to all this, and I was never really a guy inside, but..." Cool? She nods. "I'm glad you see it that way! Hey, if you ever wanna talk about it some, I'm happy to!"

    "And yeah I'd be happy to come along, let's go!" She stands, and is reminded to stretch after having seen Seiko do it.

    "There's... a little bit more... I guess I can tell you another time? Short version is I used to be older but uh. How do I put this... until I can explain more nuance, it's better to think of it like memories I inherited or something. That's not quite right, but it's more accurate than thinking of me as an adult in a kid's body."

    Beat.

    "...What do you wanna go out to eat?" Amy smiles, just... happy at the outpouring of friendship from Seiko today.