211/Maximum Mahou Mall Mayhem(

Maximum Mahou Mall Mayhem(
Date of Scene:	06 August 2023
Location:	Four Clover Mall
Synopsis:	A chance encounte in a mall, has Hinote getting more answers than he bargained for. What will he do with this information going forward?
Cast of Characters:	Zephyr Windstar, Hinote Kagari, Coco Kiumi

---

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    It's a day. It's in a mall. People are milling about, getting their shop on. It's through this crowd of people that a tall woman strides. She sticks out like a sore thumb, being a good head and shoulders taller than most others except for perhaps the mall security, and some of the men with their families. The mis-matched eyes, the pale skintone and the general air of 'Foreigner' make her stand out far more than she may wish to.

    That said, the mall is a big place, what are the chances of running into people she's met briefly for an indeterminate amount of time?

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari, who is tall for his age and currently sporting a tailored suit, today in light navy blue, and with a red tie, fixes his tie as he returns to the mall, which has seen it's fair share of trouble in recent days. He's come to the food court today to look around and survey the recent rebuilding. He shifts a bit as he remembers...transforming girls and a princess? Surely that can't be right.

Maybe he dreamed it.

Still, he's here and walking backwards a bit and passes by Zephyr. His eyes blink a little, as the girl stands out a little. Which means soon he's walking forward again, catching up to her.

"Hey uh."

"Have you. Seen anything weird lately? Like. At all? Weird question, I know!" he asks as he brushes a hand through the back of his hair.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Coco is at Four Clover Mall, buying various odds and ends, mostly snacks, to keep in the dorm room.

In particular, she is buying bread chips and lots of peaches, the latter in case Cho wants to make some more of her tasty peach snacks (Coco feels she is never going to say no to how her roommate prepares them).

'It makes up for having to deal with Wuwu', she jokes with herself. Of course, Cho's peach snacks didn't actually have much bearing on her positive opinion of her dorm room's situation.

Going around in that fashion, she recognises among the crowd Zephyr.

Wanting to meet her properly, she goes over at the tall girl with a smile, waving at her with the free arm. "Hello! Zephyr, right? It's nice to meet you again."

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    Zephyr is accosted by a guy in a suit. She blinks owlishly, adjusting her position as she half-stumbles at being addressed so suddenly. "Wah, uh... huh?" she asks articulately. "Weird? Like, some guy walking up and asking me something like that so suddenly?" she replies. Even her accent is odd, like she's speaking the language, through a translator.

    Coco approaches and the tall teen blinks at her, before recognizing her. "Oh... Coco-san?" she asks, hoping she got the right name... that was a very uncomfortable time with lots of new people.

    >C'mon Zeph, you work in customer service!< she tells herself.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari erks! like his hand was caught in the cookie jar and looks upwards a bit, not removing his hand from the back of his head. He looks back down a moment. "N-no. Sorry. It's just that... nrg... I guess I can't ask without sounding weirder." he says with a shrug. "So you got me there. S-sorry?" he says.

He notes the odd manner of speech and tries to place the accent wordly. In the meantime, he looks over to Coco. "Oh. Hello, maybe um."

"Have you noticed anything strange going on recently around here?" he asks curiously. "Like. A-anything at all?" he finally places one of his hands into his suit's pocket, and away from his head.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"Yes, that's right", Coco replies as Zephyr tentatively says her name. "How have you been doing recently?" she asks, eyeing with worry the slightly tense expression of the brunette. She couldn't know having both her and Hinote around was unsettling Zephyr.

Which is perhaps a good thing for the brunette when the guy's attention moves onto Coco. "Anything strange?" she repeats, surprised at the unexpected question.

A better question would have been which day hadn't been weird for her, but she wasn't going to reveal her identity at random, especially not her marine one, given the grave consequences that awaited her if she revealed that to humans herself.

"Uhm... Not much at all... I am new to the city and nothing weird has been happening. The mall is fine too...?" she says, recalling the battle that happened right where they were currently standing, shifting her eyes away from her new interlocutor.

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    Zephyr seems to relax a little bit... the shift of focus from her means she can maybe just slip away... though she hangs around long enough to listen. Weird stuff... huh?

    She glances down at the bracelet on her wrist, sharing a silent moment with her Device before looking back between the other two.

    She's not responding to Coco, just yet.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari shifts a bit. "So uh... nothing about... a princess? or... uh. D...d--" he shakes his head. "Nevermind. It. Isn't important. I guess. Just. Stuff. I guess." he says as, tensing his hand in his pocket a little. He looks away again and rubs the back of his head again in confusion.

He stares at Coco a little. Besides the whole incident with... whatever was on the news.

He wonders if that's related. He doesn't know. Maybe--maybe he should dig deeper somehow.

"I dunno. S-sorry. My name... um. Hinote Kagari." he says, with a bow. "My apologies for acting a little weird." he says. "Radiant Heart Academy, Drama Club!" he says.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
The mention of a princess almost makes Coco jump out of her skin. 'What's going on here? Is this guy onto me? Is he a demon sent by Gaito looking for the mermaid princesses?'

Hinote mentioning he is from the Drama Club does nothing to assuage her worries.

'So they have already infiltrated the school? What kind of water demon are you?' she asks in her thoughts, looking at Hinote with badly concealed apprehension.

'I can't transform here, not with so many people. How do I throw this guy off me?'

After the long pause while lost in her thoughts, Coco finally remembers she should answer. "I don't know what you mean, Hinote. There is no princess here..." she replies, looking around nervously.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari hrmmms a little at Coco. "So.. no one in Red. Speaking in a um. Strange manner?" he asks. "She called the vending machines a 'television'..." he finally crosses his arms in front of him and hrmmms a little curiously. If he directly notices Zephyr getting between him and Coco purposefully, he doesn't seem to read too much into it.

He 'huhs' a little as takes one of the cards and 'ohs!'. He reads it, bows, and offers it back. "Windstar-san." he says. "I'll remember that." he says.

He fixes his tie, his hemming and hawing skewing it a bit. "I'm trying to place your accent, but I'm having a hard time." he admits. "Where about are you from?" he asks with kind curiosity.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
'Someone in red speaking in a strange manner? Calling vending machines televisions? The only ones who could be wearing something red on the regular are Sara and Lucia, and Sara is obviously out of the question...' she thinks, pondering what Hinote has just said with much of the previous apprehension.

'I don't know why they are targeting Lucia specifically, but she is enough of a airhead to call vending machines televisions if she hasn't gotten accostumed to the land yet. What's happening to her?', she says, shifting her worries to the mermaid princess of the North Pacific Ocean.

"No", she denies, a lot more decisive than before. "There is nobody like that here, and that search is a waste of your time."

Thankfully Zephyr steps in to take the focus away from her before Hinote presses more questions.

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    Erk.
    Well, that's what she gets for sticking herself back into the limelight. "Uh... north... far up north." she replies lamely. It's that cliche way of someone trying to be vague about something, but being too obvious about it.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari raises a brow. "North?" he asks. Okay, he didn't buy that excuse. But he doesn't press it pass that explanation. He shrugs a little. "I guess, maybe." he says as he rubs the back of his head a bit. He at least knows Windstar-san isn't the person he's looking. He does look to Coco and he blinks a little.

"I don't think it's a waste of my time. I mean I saw..." he shakes his head. "No, it doesn't matter what I saw, but I know I saw it already!" he says with a little bit of a blither.

Saying 'the entire foodcourt was cake and also there was a princess and a knight fighting a 'demon', and a woman with a laser shooting parasol' seems to be insane enough he isn't going to say it.

"--Look. Just. I know I'm not insane." he says.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"Why would you say..." begins replying Coco, before stopping herself. 'Is this guy not a water demon after all?' He was starting to sound more like a normal person that saw impossible magic happen rather than a bounty hunter from the depths of the sea.

'The strength of the obsession he is displaying isn't really healthy though. He would be looking like a madman to me if I didn't know what I know', she reflects. "Uhm, listen, I think there has been a misunderstanding here. Would you mind telling me what you saw? I promise I won't judge."

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    Zephyr is looking at the guy strangely... >Chief, I don't think he's lying about having seen something.< echos Tenraikaze in her telepathic space. >>Yeah, I'm getting the same vibe.<< is the mage's response.

    "Yeah... why don't we, go somewhere a little quieter, we'll get coffee or something, sit down, have a discussion."

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari blinks. "Uh fine. Food court it is then." he says as he walks with the group, presumably to the food court. "--and you're sure you're not going to call me insane?" he asks. "Okay.." he says as he walks along to the coffee place in the food court and orders himself something frufru-ey with whipped cream and stands back to let the others orders. This appears to be his treat.

For now he takes a seat in a booth and sits back a little as he settles with his ice cold frufru iced coffee drink with extra whipped cream and relaxes a little. "Alright. So."

"Like. The world was cake? Like there was just cake. Here. And some big monster. and a lady with a parasol that shot lasers, right?" he says. "And then some girls came along and they. like. Have you ever seen an anime where like the girls transform up? Like that." he says.

"Like if you walk away right now I understand." he says.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Coco follows Zephyr and Hinote to the food court. She isn't feeling hungry, though, so she orders nothing.

She sits down at the table with Hinote, listen intently to the guy's story. 'How do I deal with this?' she wonders, tossing a glance at Zephyr.

It sure would be lucky if the tall girl was another magical girl, but as things stood, Coco wasn't sure how to proceed.

"I am not going to walk away or call you crazy", she begins by reassuring him. "Did you happen to hear names when that happened? Like Hosshiwa?" she opts to ask for the time being.

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    Zephyr ducks under the little frame surrounding the coffee place's seating area. One of those artsy things that doesn't stop views, but partitions off the location. She orders a caramel latte, keeping it simple enough as she joins the others in the booth.

    Something she does that might seem odd, is... she unclips the medal on her bracelet and sets it on the table beside her mug. The gemstone glinting oddly in the light.

    "Mhmm... did you hear them talking at all?" she asks, sipping her drink after puffing breath over it to cool it down.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari blinks. "Oh. I got to. Speak to both of them. The two girls after. For a little bit." he says. "Because I had to carry one away from the fight?" he asks. "It was.."

"She said her name was Princess Runealy and the other girl was...Edel---ease? I'm sorry. These names are weird. I was told the monster was...was a 'youma'?" he scratches the side of his head. "Anyways I've been peeking around here and things feel more off than usual. I dunno. Like. In general?" he shifts. "...Pretty sure it's the world being insane and not me. But." he says.

"I can't go around just asking random people 'hey, seen a princess around here and also monsters?' so. Just. Asking people if they've seen anything weird."

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Coco isn't sure how to proceed. She really wants to reassure Hinote of what is going on, but at the same time she doesn't know what he is going to say or do. 'I don't even know him. How can I tell what is going to happen if I reveal him the truth?'

She looks at the agitated guy, clearly waiting for an answer from either of them.

The distraught state he is showing however stops her from denying his request. 'I can't turn him away knowing he is going to keep tormenting himself like this. Nevermind the fact he is easy prey for people like Sunbreaker even if everyone else wouldn't believe him.'

Her mouth is still shut however, stopped by the thought that if she revealed everything, he could be even more determined in his search for Runealy, only this time with her secret at risk too.

While Hinote is waiting for an answer, Coco is sitting there, reasoning herself into a labyrinth of contradicting choices.

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    'Youma' seems to get a reaction out of Zephyr, it might be missed, but a quick glance down at the medal, a flicker of internal light from the gemstone, then a look over at Coco, before those mismatched eyes return to Hinote.

    She waits for Coco to say something, sipping from her mug to cover the frown forming on her lips.

    Coco freezes, or gets caught in a cognitive loop. Hinote is waiting for an answer, so with a firm clink of her mug on the table, Zephyr speaks.

    "Everything you saw? Is real." she begins. "But, you have to realize one thing, and I want you to really take this in... if you reveal the identities of those girls to anyone, you're putting their lives at risk." She looks directly into Hinote's eyes. "Not just theirs, but their friends, families, everyone around them."

    She then sighs softly. "This goes for both of you, if you ever encounter something like that again, try to get away as fast as possible. If there's any chance of collateral damage, you'll be making it harder for those girls to do their duties... because their duty is to protect you."

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari blinks a little, and then takes a sip of his frufru coffee drink (With extra whipped cream, and maybe chocolate sprinkles on top of that.) and considers this.

"It was...." he pauses that thought. "She, The Princess, told me to take cover? So I did. But. That lady with the parasol kind of shot her with a laser beam, and she landed near me unconscious and the other told me to get her to safety. So. I did?" he asks.

"I wasn't... trying to get in the way?"

He taps the side of his coffee drink. "Sorry this is a little much. I mean. It's great I'm not insane but still it's..." he says. "It's a little much."

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Zephyr's revelation unlocks Coco from the stasis she has worked herself into.

'How much do you know?', she asks Zephyr with her eyes, not really wanting to ask the question aloud.

She is not sure that's the right decision, but the other girl had certainly made much more progress than her.

"She is well", Coco starts speaking, deciding staying silent wasn't worth it anymore now, and besides, maybe telling him that injury isn't a problem will be enough.

"Runealy, I mean. I met her recently and she was healthy."

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    "Yeah, tell me about it." replies Zephyr morosely, taking a sip from her mug, and looking back at Coco. The unspoken question earns a simple glance down at the medal on the tabletop, but nothing more... if Coco's seen other Device Users, she might twig on that the medal is more than just a piece of jewelery.

    "Look... Kagari-san. This world has a lot of dangerous things in it... and because you can experience some of them, you might be in even more danger than others. Don't let too many people know that you can see these things." she shakes her head. "Maybe, try playacting falling unconscious in an out of the way place if you start seeing others falling asleep randomly in the middle of things."

    Zephyr takes a breath. "That's a good indication that... things are about to go down."

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari takes another sip of his frufru coffee, with ice and coffee, extra whipped cream, chocolate sprinkles and the chocolate drizzle is starting to melt along the insides of the glass and flavor the rest of the coffee now.

"Okay." he says. "I mean. There was a lot of unconscious people around yeah...." he says.

He relaxes. "Oh..Oh good! So she's okay? That's good!" he says as he smiles some. "That's partly why I was. Looking around." he says. "Another is because I was curious and had questions for her but... I guess it isn't important now."

He stirs his drink a little. It lightens as the whipped cream gets mixed in a little.

"Just. So there's nothing I can do to help?" he asks, sheepishly. "Besides...not helping and running away?"

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Coco has already met some device mages, so she does recognise the medal for what it is, and gives Zephyr a nod.

Turning back to Hinote, she shakes her head after he finishes speaking. "I don't know all that much myself about a lot of it works, but I don't believe the power to help on that scale is something you can come across easily", she replies, looking at him with a bit of understanding.

"I guess that if the questions aren't specific to Runealy, I can see to answer some of them myself, but I don't really intend on exposing myself, so I won't answer if I don't want to."

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    Zephyr sets her mug down again. "I'll echo Coco-san's words here. Ask, and I'll answer if it won't put me, or others at risk." she adds, looking from Coco, to her Device to Hinote, folding her hands on the table.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hintoe Kagari shifts a bit, he sips his ridiculous drink some more. He shifts. "No." he says softly. "They're specific questions." he says. "I do wonder what happened though like. Why was the world cake!?" he scratches his head.

"I just..." he says. "How common are these things?" he asks. "Do people ALWAYS like, fall asleep?" he wonders. "I felt...prickly during the whole thing." he admits.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"Hosshiwa, the woman with the umbrella, likes to make the world cake to have her perfect tea party or something", replies Coco, still perplexed by whatever the Phantom Empire's general has going on upstairs. "Her logic is weirder than most."

She looks at Hinote with curiosity. "Not all people fall asleep. Some get trapped in mirror and others get threatened." She smiles at him. "You know, you must have something special if you have been able to resist it."

Coco quickly adds, realising how that might be misinterpreted. "Not special enough to get yourself into danger though. Zephyr's suggestions still apply."

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    "You are the anomaly here. There /is/ something about you, but like I said before. That will likely just paint a target on your back if the wrong groups find out about it." She does take mental note of Coco's words, her Device flickering as it records the information for later.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari blinks and sips his frufru coffee drink again as he taps the side of the glass. "That's... how do you even turn the world into cake anyways!?" he sputters.

'Magic', but he doesn't figure that. "Me? Special?" he asks curiously. "Like what. I'm not special." he says, rubbing the back of his head a bit. "Wait. I'm the weird one?" he asks. "Just because.. why!?" he asks, leaning forward a little. "How common is this stuff!?" he asks with a blither as he relaxes some and sits back.

"Sorry." he says.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"Common enough that regular interventions are needed", Coco replies, not really sure where the conversation is going now. "And you don't have to apologise. I can get how this stuff is confusing."

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    "Magic." is the simple explanation. The most direct way of saying it. "And you're an anomaly, in the normality of the world... those girls, the cake lady, you. We're anomalies in this world, but that means that we need to keep everyone else safe from those ones who want to hurt them... like the cake lady."

    She sighs, shaking her head. "Look, you know now, what you do with this information is up to you." she leans on the table, getting a bit closer to emphasize her next words. "Just remember that there will be consequences if you start telling people. Not just being thought of as 'crazy' or 'delusional'... if the wrong people find out, you could get badly hurt, or worse."

    She takes a final gulp of her drink, wincing as the still hot liquid burns her throat. She then picks up the medal, clicks it back into her bracelet and makes to leave. "I gotta go."

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari taps the side of his glass some more. "Yeah. Yeah. Look. Sorry... Anyways. See you around then, Windstar-san." he says as Zephyr says she needs to go, not wanting to stop her leaving, nor having any need to. "I should. Go too. I have some things to think about now." he says as he adjusts his tie.

"Thanks for the chat." he says to Coco. "I guess..." he trails off.

"Nevermind. I'll. Keep my mouth shut further." he says as he places his hands into the pockets of his suit and says. "See you around, too." he says to Coco starting to leave, himself as he leaves his empty frufru drink into the trash.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Before he could, Coco quickly scribbles her phone number on a piece of paper. "If you need help, I am always willing to give it", she says, giving the piece of paper to him. "Bye", she says, getting up and going away too.