View source for 627/Once Upon a Time in Flavortown

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2023/10/22
|Location=Mitakihara Ward
|Synopsis=Puella Magi Mami and Riventon both dive into a Labyrinth tucked away in an alleyway to defeat a witch. One thing leads to another and Mami Tomoe and Takashi Agera end up leaving the alley with each other's personal numbers and a budding romantic-professional relationship?
|Cast of Characters=110,40
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:110|Mami Tomoe (110)}} has posed:'''<br>Tokyo is all abuzz about the masquerade ball being hosted at the D Kingdom's embassy. It's the event of the season, and was all the talk at school. Mami spent plenty of time daydreaming about what she'd wear to such a fancy celebration. She'd meet someone who'd sweep her off her feet and they'd dance the night away, and then part ways with fond memories and not a clue who each other were. If only her life allowed her those kinds of luxuries.<br><br>Instead of enjoying a wonder-filled night of pageantry and politics, Mami's out hunting. It's what she does every night. Mitakihara isn't going to rid itself of all the witches that crop up, and she made a Contract. It's another day she gets to be alive, and so it's another day she's fulfilling her duty as a Puella Magi.<br><br>She walks down the street, her Soul Gem in her palm, pulsing with a bright yellow light. She rounds a corner coming up on a row of eateries--sushi, curry, barbecue, and McDonald's--when she spots the barrier. She can see it shimmering along the entrance to an alleyway that runs between the curry and barbecue restaurants. Her fingers wrap around her Soul Gem and it returns itself to her finger as a ring. She walks up to the barrier and inspects it for a moment. This one feels strong. That means this is going to be ''fun''. She glances to either side and then steps through the barrier and into the Labyrinth. To anybody who happens to see, it just looks like she's stepping into the alley, of course.<br><br>It's always weird in a Labyrinth, and this one was no exception. A loud bass reverberates through the space thumping out a thumping rhythm. Little familiars run around with loud shirts on and spiky hair and what appear to be meat cleavers in their hands. When they spot Mami, they all stop what they're doing, turn toward her, and they all shout, "FRESH MEAT!" and start to run toward her.<br><br>Her soul gem flashes back into her hand, and she holds it out as her magic flares and she henshins. Her boots sliding up her feet and her hat settling perfectly on her head. She does a quick twirl on the spot, ribbons swirling into rifles stuck into the ground right around her, and ending with two more in her hand. She takes aim and grins, saying, "That's right, come to Mami."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:40|Riventon (40)}} has posed:'''<br>Riventon was, admittedly, out looking for magical items or trouble to cause. With all of Tokyo (and Radiant Heart Academy too) talking so much about the D Kingdom's little event, Riventon figured that most of the eyes would either be on it or nearby. Annoyingly for him, what he senses isn't some neat magical artifact or unafilliated youma, but something far more sinister, less fun - and something that requires his attention all the same. It's a labrynth. It's a labrynth with a witch within strong enough he's able to detect it, and Devices aren't particularly great at that, meaning that this one must be stout. Can't just leave it alone or let someone else deal with it.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Maybe strong enough he should ask for some help. At some point Obsidian will need to get a Puella Magi on payroll to pre-emptively deal with this kind of crap. But... it would be a good opprotunity to test himself, to test the power of his new upgrades. "Well. What do you think Axion?" Riventon asks, the device muffled a bit when it replies from within his cloak. &lt;&lt;NO PROBLEM.&gt;&gt; "That settles that."<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Riventon has to fumble a little bit more to find the entrance than Mami does - walking around, flying around. Eventually his device picks up the entrance.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;This results in him stepping through into the alley - and thus, into... the world's strangest rave meatshop? He's there just in time to hear Mami say her line which earns a snicker, and that snicker probably alerts her to someone else's presence. He pokes a hand out of his armored cloak and unleashes a light Dark Energy blast - not at Mami, of course, but searing its way through the air and into one of the little meat-cleaver wielding spiked-hair goblin-familiar things. "Just here to kill the Witch." Riventon says, his way of saying 'not to get in a fight with you, gun ballet lady'. "These things get wierder every time."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:110|Mami Tomoe (110)}} has posed:'''<br>Mami fires off the two muskets in her hand, taking out a little butcher gremlin with each, and then she grabs two more, spinning around with one rifle to point it right at the sound of that snicker. Right in Riventon's face. She pulls the trigger on the other rifle, a shot firing right between the eyes of a third gremlin running toward her.<br><br>That dark energy blast, the long white hair, that voice. She recognizes this guy. He was there when she took Madoka out hunting. She does _not_ lower her rifle. She really needs to deal with this, though, because there are still more of those ridiculous gremlins running at them. "Fine. The grief seed is ''mine'', though," she says before turning to shoot another gremlin.<br><br>She spins again, grabbing the last two rifles, and shooting off one of them at the last remaining gremlin. She's got a spare because she didn't plan on him showing up. She tips it back over her shoulder and looks to him. "I like this look better on you," she says, and then turns to walk down the path that somehow looks like a highway.<br><br>This one was strong. She was not going to mind the help.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:40|Riventon (40)}} has posed:'''<br>Riventon shrugs. "Sure. I don't want to deal with any more of the things. I've got enough problems on my plate. They're all... weird magic. Even for magic. And they hatch when left alone. I'll get to them later. Once I get everything else off my plate." Riventon says. "'till then I'm just trying to keep them out of our town." he notes. "They're dangerous. And not even the fun kind of danger."<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He blinks momentarily when she says she likes the look better, and keeps walking. "I never really get used to these places, either. Usually I can't teleport out, but sometimes I can. And they're all so odd." he isn't so much complaining as observing. "Even for another sort of space. Everything's wonky. Do you spend a lot of time in them?" he asks. One thing Riventon has over Mami is that he's not a Puella, and he's got a new toy to test, so he's pre-emptively blasting at familiars with a lot less care than Mami would - whether they're actively a threat or not. Like it's a game to him. But he's really using it as an excuse to test his upgraded Device. "...do you often try to take these on alone? I don't sense anybody else here, besides us."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:110|Mami Tomoe (110)}} has posed:'''<br>Mami is more than happy to let Riventon blast away at all the little familiars that rush up at them as they follow the road toward wherever the witch is. Space is wonky, and it feels like they've walked several blocks when they come to a sign that says "This way to Flavortown!" Just ahead the road deadends into a wall and there's a huge saloon-style door there.<br><br>"I'd rather have a team," Mami admits as they walk along, her gun still resting up on her shoulder. No sense in wasting her magic if he's got them covered. She can pull out the big gun when they get to the witch that's surely right thru those saloon doors. "But it's hard to keep a team of Puella Magi together. I've been on my own for a while," she finishes.<br><br>The trouble with magical girls is they're all teenagers. It's worse than herding cats. She's already made one enemy amongst the local Puella, but on balance, she also made a friend. Either way, they're not here right now. Just this ''boy''. At least she knows he's good in a fight.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:40|Riventon (40)}} has posed:'''<br>Riventon continues walking alongside Mami. Occasionally, he stops blasting things to turn and look at her. ''Huh.'' he thinks to himself. He doesn't act on the thought running through his head in that immediate moment, but it does start to live up front of his mind.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"What the hell is a flavortown?" He asks as they can see the sign in the distance. He doesn't wait for an answer - he doesn't even expect one. "Well, you're all competing over the same resources, right?" Riventon asks. "The problem is trying to keep a team of ''Puella Magi'' specifically together." he muses. "You should make friends with people who ''don't'' want grief seeds but ''do'' want to help you kick witches out of Tokyo." he offers. "Competent friends." That's when he pauses and the thought from before creeps back up to the forefront of his brain.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I mean, I certainly wouldn't mind seeing more of you..." Oh. did that come out as bad as he thought it did? Too late, it was out there. Best to just give a smile and look towards the doors where the big energy signature lies. Play it cool.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:110|Mami Tomoe (110)}} has posed:'''<br>The truth of it is, for a supply of grief seeds to continue to exist, the Puella have to become witches, so teams of them are always doomed. But Mami doesn't know that. She just knows she's never been able to keep partners for very long. "We all use less magic when we're in it as a team, and we can take on more Witches. It makes the grief seeds last longer, and makes them easier to get. It's the ''winning'' strategy," she says as she walks up to the doorway. Then she presses her free hand against one side of the swinging saloon doors and looks back at Riventon. "But you try getting a bunch of teenagers to work as a team. I'm only fifteen, I haven't figured out how yet. I'm a ''terrible'' senpai."<br><br>On that note, she pushes the door open and steps into a literal frying pan. Well, not quite. It's a huge iron griddle, and looming over them is the creepiest looking teppanyaki chef ever, with a big looming chefs hat and entirely too many tentacle-like hands wielding knives. The surface is cool just as they step in, but a moment later a hand slaps down a huge slab of what looks like steak on the surface and it heats up underneath it. The meat starts to sizzle and as it cooks it transforms into a huge, raging bull with big, sharp horns, that starts to charge right at the spot where they entered.<br><br>Of course the space inside the doors is totally not at all anything resembling normal or even Euclidean, really. Mami doesn't say anything, she just leaps up and rockets away. He can handle the bull no problem. Her ribbons shoot out to try and wrap around those tentacled arms and bind them in place, but there are so many and the knives cut at her ribbons. Another two slabs of meat get thrown down on the griddle and start to sizzle.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:40|Riventon (40)}} has posed:'''<br>Riventon at least survives the faux pas. Either Mami's too noble to remark on it or it snuck by. "People don't always like taking the smart strategy. If they did, I'd have more allies than enemies, after all." he says, bluntly. "I'm sixteen - only a year older than you - but I have a small team, at least. I know a little something about keeping people on task." Money helps. As does mostly making your team up of psychologically wounded people in need of an anchor personality. And having that big personality.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I do not like this." Riventon admits when he steps into the room. It starts to sizzle and... he likes it less. He at least doesn't have to worry about the feet as he just denies gravity with the annoying casual levitation so common to Dark Energy. That levitation doesn't -move- particularly fast, though, which is about to be a problem.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;&lt;<span style="color:#00CCFA">SCHATTENWEG!</span>&gt;&gt; Riventon's device calls and suddenly the boy is turning into multiple points of Dark Energy, litttle lasers that lance through the air - punching holes through the bull - and reform as Riventon on the other side of it. It's not clear if this is an extremely flashy mix of teleport with blasting, or if Riventon -literally- turned into Dark Energy and shunted himself through his enemy, but either way he's moved a great distance and blasted holes through the bull, so overall a success.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Neat." he muses. "Alright, I guess the others are gonna turn into bulls too, probably want some mobility. Axion?"<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;&lt;<span style="color:#FA7D00">OFFENSIVE SHIFT.</span>&gt;&gt; it calls, and with no small amount of loud metallic shifting, the cloak folds backwards a few times, ending up forming a gauntlet on his right arm that extends to his elbow, while the rest of it ends up a much more traditional labcoat with the same patterns swooping over it.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I'm gonna try to hurt you, so don't like, accidentally dodge into my blasts thinking you need to dodge." he calls out before another runic circle erupts underneath him. &lt;&lt;<span style="color:#00CCFA">SCHATTENSCHLAG!</span>&gt;&gt; the device calls as a focused but still large blast of Dark Energy rips through the air, aimed at some of the arms to give Mami some support. Though he expects he'll be ''meating'' more of those protien-beasts soon, he wants to give her support. And he's totally not trying to look cool and helpful. Nahhhhh.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:110|Mami Tomoe (110)}} has posed:'''<br>Up in the air, well above the heated surface of the iron griddle, Mami lifts her hat up off her head and does a pirouette and guns fly out of her hat to array themselves around her pointed toward the chef. They fire, and her ribbons shoot out from her hands, one to each knife-wielding tentacle arm. As the ribbons wrap around the arms they turn to razor-sharp, steel wire and cut through the arms.<br><br>The witch does not like that at all. The chef screams, it's voice a high-pitched shriek. Fire flares up around the edges of the griddle surface and the slabs of meat finish cooking, the bulls starting to charge toward Riventon, as expected. But then ''four more'' are slapped down on the ever hotter surface. With all of its hands free now, they all shout out straight for Mami.<br><br>"How does that saying go? Out of the frying pan and into the fire?" She calls out. She doesn't even sound stressed. Empty hands rushing toward her are not concerning at all! She's totally got this. She's definitely not reckless. She shoots ribbons out toward the hands, meaning to tangle them all up and bind them. But there's too many, and several of them slip through her ribbons, and grab hold of her. She screams.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:40|Riventon (40)}} has posed:'''<br>Riventon is not super happy about the continued production of bulls - or the fact that the hot griddle means that he's playing 'the floor is lava' even if he's capable of cheating. He's much more mobile without the heavy cloak around him weighing him down, but he wants to get hit even less. "I hate witches." he says.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And then he smirks for just a moment. "Such Bull!" he shouts, and then he fires a few more blasts at the newly arriving meat monsters. At least Witches and their minions aren't natively resistant to Dark Energy or something. But he's becoming aware from the amount of energy he's feeling in the room, from the readings Axion is giving off - this one is more dangerous than the one they faced down in the larger group of magical girls. And it's at that point his brain dredges up a different thought - this is the girl who clubbed him in his ankle. For a brief moment that engenders some hostility, but right now she's his ally, and he's about to turn and blast the witch again while the next pack of steaks cooks - and then she screams.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And Riventon is not in the slower, bulkier mode, so he is headed towards her a little bit before he's fully processed what has happened. Part of that is having a second 'intelligence' along with him - he knows he can count on his Device to cover his back. But part of that is just instinctual - a teammate needs his help. Riventon is a lot of things (and most of those are jerks) but he's never had any of his teammates hurt on his watch and that won't start today, and he's determined of that.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Not only that, the fact that the witch is trying actually kind of makes him mad - and he can direct anger. &lt;&lt;<span style="color:#00CCFA">PEITSCHENKABEL FORM.</span>&gt;&gt; Axion reports, and Riventon's hand emits a series of bright purple threads that wrap together into one larger line and he brings it down, but instead of trying to wrap up the hands, the cable flares with Dark Energy and instead works to cut through them. &lt;&lt;<span style="color:#00CCFA">DUSTERNIS MAUER.</span>&gt;&gt; comes the second spell and a large wall of Dark Energy erupts between Riventon and the Witch, keeping them away from himself, and Mami - for a few moments. He doesn't have any reason to assume, even if the attack works, the hands won't regrow. He'll try to catch her with his non-casting hand - or grab her hand if that fails - or if she sorts herself out on her own, not look like he clearly just missed catching her.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:110|Mami Tomoe (110)}} has posed:'''<br>Riventon's energy whip slices through the arms, and then gravity does what it does. They fall down onto the grill surface beneath them, and Mami starts falling with it. It's such a jumble, there's no way Riventon could catch her, and even if it ''did'' look like he was trying, she wouldn't have noticed. She's too busy scrambling to get her footing back.<br><br>She lands on top of one of the arms as it hits the cooktop and starts to zizzle. She takes just a moment to breathe and take in the situation. This is not going to be sustainable much longer. It's surely going to escalate somehow if they don't kill it soon. The arms will grow back, probably. She needs to take it out. She looks up to Riventon, and calls out, "Thanks for that! Now drop your barrier so I can finish this."<br><br>Then, trusting that he'll follow directions, she leaps back up, her ribbons swirling around her. Then even more ribbons swirl around her and form into this absolutely massive cannon which she points right at the witch chef's head. She calls out "<span style="color:#cdcd00">Tiro Finale!</span>" and pulls the trigger. A massive shot firing out and ripping the witch's head clear off a moment later.<br><br>The fires die down, and the meat on the griddletop stops sizzling as the witch dissipates and the grief seed just floats there in the air. Then Flavortown shimmers around them and disappears, and they're both just standing in a dark Mitakihara alleyway.<br><br>Mami immediately makes to take the grief seed.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:40|Riventon (40)}} has posed:'''<br>Riventon is not, traditionally, super great at following directions, but maybe he's just happy he's managed to make two different mistakes on being smooth and not get called out for either of them, really. So he does drop his barrier - what he doees in addition to that is turn the latent energy into one last blast so he's also making sure the damned thing stays down. It's not that he doesn't trust Mami... it's just that he just had to save her. So maybe it's less trusting.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Or maybe he just really wants to make sure nobody is going to get gored by sentient dinner, or cut with meat cleavers, or that he has to spend anymore time in 'flavortown' than is strictly necessary?<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And so when the Tiro Finale impacts the head, Riventon's blasting along with it - not at nearly the same intensity, in fact if his energy was a soul gem it'd be nearly black - but at least enough that it's there.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He doesn't go after the grief seed. For several reasons. Primarily, he said she could have it. Secondarily, the afforementioned being burned out of energy made him not confident in any potential fight (and he did run through the possibilities on that one). So while Mami goes for the seed, Riventon just returns to the ground, and starts digging around in his lab coat for something. The damned pockets are in different spots now, how did the Device get that mixed up?!<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Eventually he draws out a different Grief Seed. "You want a second one?" he asks, balancing it needle-down on his left index finger.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:110|Mami Tomoe (110)}} has posed:'''<br>Mami snatches up the grief seed from the spot where it settled on the ground, balanced perfectly on the tip of it's needle pointed down. Just like Riventon's. Her fingers wrap around it and she stands back up and turns around, asking, "What?"<br><br>And then she sees it. Another grief seed. Why on earth does he have a grief seed? She sets her jaw to one side, then walks right up to him and snatches it. "Yes. It belongs to us Puella. Why do you even have it?" She sounds just a little snippy about it. "Thanks, though. You were a big help in there. I really _needed_ the backup this time."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:40|Riventon (40)}} has posed:'''<br>Riventon doesn't -admit- to finding it on his desk from an employee. That doesn't sound as -cool-. "I mean, Puella Magi aren't the only ones who can kill witches. And it's not like you can just leave it there. The thing hatches over and over. Trust me, I've killed that one like. A lot." he says. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"We run into them from time to time. I really don't like those things cropping up near my school or my work or my home or pretty much anywhere really. But we don't have any Puella Magi in our department, and maybe not any in the whole organization. There's a couple traders who take them for various things, I think." he says, shrugging. "But I figured..." don't say something stupid don't say something stupid. "... that you could make better use of it." Success!<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"And maybe this helps make my point about making an ally or two that doesn't want the exact same things you do. You come across anything that isn't a grief seed that radiates wierd magic, you should give it to me."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:110|Mami Tomoe (110)}} has posed:'''<br>Mami tucks away both grief seeds in a small pocket inside her corset, safe as can be. She takes a step back, putting just a little distance between her and Riventon, and then listens to what he has to say. She really takes a look at him while he talks. He's pretty easy to look at, really. Rather handsome. It's really too bad he's a villain.<br><br>But what's this? His department? His ''organization''? "Wait, do you get ''paid'' to do this, Riventon?"<br><br>She fights witches because she's alive. That was her wish, and she's more than happy to do it. But a paycheck and backup would not be a bad thing.<br><br>So, she asks, "Who do you work for?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:40|Riventon (40)}} has posed:'''<br>"I get paid in multiple ways, yes. Including yen." Riventon says. "But, who I work for really doesn't give you the whole picture. If I say I work for a large group of people who are interested in the applications of Dark Energy, that would be accurate, but I don't necessarily find myself in agreement with all of their plans and methods." he says. "So part of what I do is... call it harm reduction. Or I suppose you could call it 'pulling the plug on some very stupid plans from the inside'." he admits.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"So the fact that I work for the big zaibatsu in the huge tower in downtown Mitakihara, doesn't mean I'm involved in everything they do. My role, specifically, is research. But it's complicated." he says. "For various... health-related reasons, I can't just choose to not use Dark Energy, or live in a world where we had none - I'd die." This doesn't seem to be said overdramatically, but seriously. "But I also don't want anything bad to happen to this world - all of my stuff, my friends, everything's over ''here''. So I... walk a bit of a tightrope." He notes.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Really - I'm not asking you to sign on, I know that's a hard proposition for some people. It would be nice, of course. But having a Puella Magi I could call up for witch hunts, passing off grief seeds to, that wouldn't immediately stab me... that would be pretty nice. Especially you." He doesn't elaborate on the last bit. Totally a nod to her combat capabilities. Yep.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:110|Mami Tomoe (110)}} has posed:'''<br>Mami just looks at Riventon as he explains how yes he's a villain, but no, really he's a _good_ villain. He's only a couple sentences in when she comes to her senses. He's a ''villain'' and she is not. But he's still yammering on, and she really doesn't mind it at all. He's rather handsome, actually. She could just watch him and tune out the words. His mouth is moving and his voice is making sounds, but she's really not paying close attention to them. At least not beyond just seeing how his mouth moves.<br><br>But then he says 'grief seeds' and she accesses the last few moments of her recall so that she can remember what sentence lead up to it, and he has her full attention again. She narrows her eyes, and takes a step forward, stabbing her finger into Riventon's chest. "Riventon, did you just ask me for my number?"<br><br>If she gives him her number, he'll know who she is. Not that she really tries to hide it, but it's really surprising how just...changing clothes fools people. ''Magic''.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:40|Riventon (40)}} has posed:'''<br>Riventon looks down at her, tilting his head, and then his eyes follow a line from her face to the finger currently jabbed into his chest.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Do you not... have two numbers?" he asks, curious. "A lot of the people I know have two. One for their civilian stuff, one for their henshin stuff." he adds, by way of explanation. "...I don't think that's just an us thing, but maybe it is." he notes.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And then he processes it, that the question isn't just about the nature of phone numbers but about exactly what he's asking for, and maybe his brain is a little bit slow maybe from being low on energy. That's totally it. "But... maybe a little, yeah?" he asks. He brings his left hand up and rubs the back of his neck. "I mean, It seemed more efficent than just hunting witches solo till we bump into each other again." Which he was absolutely also prepared to do. Maybe even preplanned a little. Worst case, grief seeds. Best case... pretty blonde girls, right? Everybody was always on him to stop being in the lab and go do normal people stuff. This counted, right?<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:110|Mami Tomoe (110)}} has posed:'''<br>Two phone numbers. As soon as he says it, the idea is an obviously good one. Mami is a little embarrassed she didn't think of it. But that's the thing about being an orphan magical girl attending a prestigious academy. She's doing so many things she doesn't have time to have smart ideas, regardless of how obvious they are in retrospect.<br><br>"Uh, no," she says, sounding a little sheepish. Her finger falls away and she glances down for a moment. Honestly, even if he turns out to be a jerk, he was a help tonight, and he doubled her haul. Orphan magical girls have to be pragmatic. Her decision has nothing to do with how cute he is. Okay maybe a little.<br><br>"If ''that'' is what you want," she says, tapping his chest again, "Then let's introduce ourselves properly. I'll go first."<br><br>She takes a half-step back and de-henshins on the spot. Her soul gem reforming around her finger as a ring. She holds out her hand, as if offering to shake. "I'm Mami Tomoe, I'm in grade 9 at Radiant Heart Academy."<br><br>It's not reckless if she wasn't actually ''trying'' to hide her identity, right? It's not like she has any family to protect.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:40|Riventon (40)}} has posed:'''<br>Well, now things had escalated quickly. Or descalated quickly. Or Dehenshined? Not that she didn't have a second phone. That was an easy problem to fix or something. It was that she dehenshined. One: It wasn't the henshin that made her cute. Two: Riventon actually guarded his henshin identity pretty aggressively, since he liked not walking through school being stabbed. (Being stabbed was a constant and very real concern.) So he takes a big breath.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I don't... normally share my identity to anybody outside of the company. And to a lot of people inside it. It's the whole... working for the people most call the bad guys thing. I like being able to make friends and talk without getting blamed for every dumb idea they have." Or, every dumb idea he has. But he doesn't say that part. "Or be harassed to give other people's IDs up. It could be really, really, a headache."<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And it probably sounds like he's trying to worm his way out of doing what she just did. "So like... Don't tell anyone. You'll get harassed, too. But it'll probably -no joke- fuck up my whole life." He'd have to like. Get another henshin. To go to school. Like Catra. Wow. This is incredibly stupid, Takashi. And yet... Hematite already knew him, and was bound to end up on the other side of the fence eventually, even if he didn't usually accept that fact. How long could he keep Takashi Agera and Riventon seperate?<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I'm gonna put a lot of trust in you right now." he says. And then with one more deep breath he dehenshins too - which is hardly dramatic. His henshin just -pops- and there's a boy in - just the Radiant Heart Academy boy's uniform, the only evidence of magic being a bulky and advanced looking smartwatch he shoves back under a sleeve reflexively. "Takashi Agera, Grade 10, also Radiant Heart Academy." And the moment he does it he feels like he made a big mistake, but now all that was left was to wait nervously.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:110|Mami Tomoe (110)}} has posed:'''<br>Mami's not in her uniform. She'd stopped by her apartment to change and eat dinner before going out on her hunt tonight. But she's still in a blouse and a skirt. It's just a yellow blouse and a plaid skirt. The hat is gone, and so are the boots. But really it's all just accessories. It's practically the same outfit as before.<br><br>She just smiles as he gives her the short lecture about operational security. As soon as he said 'I don't... normally," she knew she had him. Then he de-henshins. He's still cute, that's good. And he goes to Radiant Heart. Even better. And if he's tight-lipped about what he does for work, then it probably wouldn't cause problems.<br><br>Get it together, Mami. He's a villain. A useful villain. A cute villain. She sighs. This is a terrible idea. She's doing it anyway.<br><br>All of that uncertainty is boiling underneath a tranquil, confident facade. Mami's grinning like the cat that got the canary, really. She's clearly pleased with this outcome. "It will be our little secret, Agera-san," she says, with a wink. Then she looks back toward the end of the alley, then back to him. She tells him her number, and then adds, "I should probably get going. Morning comes entirely too early." Though really, she seems like the sort of person who is probably actually a morning person.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:40|Riventon (40)}} has posed:'''<br>Shame. He liked the hat. It looked good on her. She gets to see him visibly shake that thought out of his mind. He's not doing as good a job of being externally zen as she is. But he's gotten a lot of practice at being evil, at the laughter and the malicious exterior and the threats. Interacting with a cute girl and crushing on her (he was at least mentally admitting he was doing that now, but it was hard not to after he just dumped a huge secret on her) was not in his ballpark. Mami was probably far more used to acting cool and collected in positive situations.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;This is also why he look, for just a brief moment, a little unhappy with being called Agera-san. But it's brief. Fleeting. And then he realizes something. "I... can't call you Tomoe-san." he says. He knows Hotaru doesn't have a sister at least. That would make this a bunch more awkward than just a last name. "I know a Tomoe-san. That isn't you." he rubs the back of his head. "It's a little forward, but, can I call you Mami-san?" he asks. "Since we're already exchanging numbers and all." The last part was honestly more of a reach - it was gonna get really complicated with two Tomoes in his life at drastically different interaction levels. "A middle name is fine too, if you have one." he offers by way of recovery. Whatever way the question is answered though, he'll be on his way after as well, since his phone is buzzing - his work phone.<br> <br>
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