2229/Mid Loop: Niji

Mid Loop: Niji
Date of Scene:	13 January 2025
Location:	Game Crown Arcade
Synopsis:	During the time loops, Hinoiri met with Niji a few times... and played in the arcade a LOT! So. So much. Unfortunately, it made many of Niji's lessons incredibly tense. Fortunately, Niji wouldn't remember any of them.
Cast of Characters:	Hinoiri Kirara, Niji Dasshu
Tinyplot:	Hinoiri's Endless Loop

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Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Mid Loops:

Hinoiri had a LOT of time on her hands. A lot. And she was repeating... a lot of things. and, for a while? all of those things has been so cool, so exciting! She got to do new things, over and over. Play games, have fun. Spent a few days just... binging. Went wild. Made herself sick. It was... wild.

It had lost all appeal. It turned out a full day at the arcade was cool... but... well... eventually?

Eventually ALL of the games lost their appeal. Spending all her money at the arcade meant almost nothing, because it refreshed in the morning. And she had skipped class and been here almost all day.

Which was why, across almost all of the machines? Her name was in the top position. How many days had she spent in this arcade now? how many weeks, perfecting each one? Months, even? Niji would be here soon, then she'd get this meaningless lesson out of the way. She knew Kirakirafantastica magic was at the heart of it, somehow, so maybe Niji was a way out...

So while she waited, now? She was just wracking up a high score in the Sailor V game...

... Buck, how many months had she spent in this arcade today? Would this ever end?

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Originally, Niji had planned to just kill some time by playing some simple arcade games. Bop-a-gator wasn't the most challenging game in the universe, but she'd long held the high score on the reaction-speed focused game. Just take the foam mallet and smack the gators when they popped up, till you missed three. She'd had the high score on it ever since she'd come from Aomori. But today, when she picked up the mallet and looked up, the high score was held by someone else... HIN.

    Hinoiri Kirara? The once-Sunset of Sora still-probably-a-unicorn was competitve, but to take Niji's high score on such a silly game was... well, one it was silly, but two it would have taken a lot of time.

    And then her eyes wandered to another game's high score, a more traditional arcade game - and sure enough, HIN was at the top there as well.

    And confused by this situation, she hadn't yet put the mallet back at the game's station while she walked around and saw the same thing on every. single. game.

    And then eventually she saw the firey-haired girl - plugging away at Sailor V like a madwoman possessed but possessed by the spirit of someone who knew everything that was happening down to the moment. This finally caused Niji to go from confused to just shocked, and her hand flailed with it.

    "What the hell, Kirara-san?!" Niji exclaimed as she threw her hands up in raw confusion and the paddle smacked Hinoiri from behind due to it. "Oh, hang on I need to put this back..." she said, moving to do that. "Also sorry for whackin' you with it."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara sighed as she dodged around the boss, one, two, shoot, one two shoot, hit hit killed and--

What the hell! And she growled, eye twitched. "Will you pay attention when you swing your arms around, NIJI?! EVERY DAY! You always say sorry but you NEVER! LEARN! You just do it EVERY! BUCKING! TIME!" she yelled, slamming both palms down with so much force the arcade box rattled. "You just keep doing it! EVERY! DAY!" she yelled, turning to look a her, eye twitching. "If it's not the mallet, it's the sign! If it's not the sign, it's a smoothy, if it's not a smoothy, it's the bucking PIZZA BOX! WHERE DID THE PIZZA BOX COME FROM, NIJI?! WHERE?! WHO CARRIES AROUND A BOX OF PIZZA?! WHO?!" she yelled, almsot running her over in her fury.

She was a... tiny... bit tense. Eye twitching. Inches from her face. Teeth slightly barred. A little... worrying.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Niji stood there and took a step back when Hinoiri went... off... and went on and on... and was... clearly having a hell of a time.

    "Uhhhh. Hinoiri-san?" she asked, a sweatdrop appearing over her head as she did so. "I think... it's possible you've been playing enough games for today?" the rainbownette asked. "I only just got here and I don't have any idea what you're talking about." she says, looking back at the mallet, now secure in its holder. "I couldn't have hit you -that- hard, it's foam. But do we need to take you back to the Academy and maybe the nurse's office?" she asks.

    "I don't know what's going on but like... how many hours have you been playing these games exactly? Because I haven't brought any pizza anywhere today. Or the last week even."

    "...oh but pizza does sound good though... you wanna get some with me?"

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara stared at her, before takinga long, slow, deep breath. Pinching the bridge of her nose. Slowly. Breathe in. Breathe out.

"... No. I do not. I want you to henshin into Geode Girl Loyalty so we can get these lessons over with. I have a few tests I want to run. If I'm lucky, maybe today will be the day we finally figure out what to do about.... what to do. So I want you to just come with me," she said, grabbing her wrist and dragging her off.

She'd been trying to get Niji to understand some of the time magic she'd learned in Kirakirafantastica... but well...

Niji remembered nothing between loops, the magic wasn't even useable AS Loyalty, and just... it was a fruitless endeavor. But Hinoiri was going mad, she'd had yet to have found what could be causing this and she was going, just a little, mad.

Eventually? She'd just give up on Niji entirely... But today? Today she was going to subject poor Niji to many, many more tests and lessons... And something definitely had her... frazzled and upset.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    And because Niji was a good friend to the mess-in-human-girl-form that was Hinoiri Kirara, she'd go along with the tests and the practice - groaning a bit - atr least up to a point. Eventually, though.

    "Hinoiri-san, I don't think any of what you're trying to teach me makes sense." Niji said, frustrated. "And all of the poking and prodding while I try to do this is driving me crazy. Which I think means I'm just gonna end up wherever you are!" She said. "Now, I'm going to dehenshin and get some pizza. You can come with me or not; but I'm not staying here and Loyalty is going BACK IN THE GEODE for a little bit." But then looking at her friend she sighed. "Maybe we can get back to it after pizza. I don't know what's going on... but I can tell... I know it's important to you but I need a break." she said. "And you probably do too." She had no idea.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Final Loop:

Hinoiri... thought she'd done it. Finally done it. Maybe. At the very least... Marinette would never be in danger again. But she'd been, after that, taking a lot of the day off. Relaxing.

Which led to now. Where she sent Niji a small text.

'Hey, Niji? I know it's a few hours early, but I think I need to take today off. Its been a pretty rough day and a good friend said I need a break. I think I'm going to take it. That cool?'

Oh nooooo... no studying... or tests... Alas...

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Looking up from her phone and already heading towards a pile of sports practice gear with a big smile on her face, Niji texted back.

    "Oh no! I was looking forward to it. But I'll find something to do with myself, don't worry. You take a break, you need one." Maybe Niji should take a break too - maybe just chill out for a bit. Yeah, that sounds good.