2797/A (Twi)Light Social

A (Twi)Light Social
Date of Scene:	18 October 2025
Location:	Dorms #1
Synopsis:	A chance encounter and (several) slips of verbal and physical kinds mark Yuyami's introduction to several of the Radiant Heart students.
Cast of Characters:	Yuyami Kagayaki, Hinote Kagari, Sugata Shindo, Amanda Faust, Catra, Coco Kiumi, Mamoru Chiba

---

Yuyami Kagayaki has posed:
    Yuyami maybe did not learn her full lesson on her first day in the library with Hinoiri. The young girl at least is carrying slightly fewer books so her purple eyes can just see over the stack of them. Her uniform indicates her 'probably a recent transfer maybe' though it isn't always the case. And the uniform she is wearing isn't from any of the other, usual schools around here - it's a white blouse with a red vest over the top of it, and a purple checkered skirt. She has long black hair with a purple and pink stripe that runs from the front all the way to the back.

    And she's got a truly prodigious pile of books she's carrying. She wishes she had access to her telekinesis here like she does in Obsidian, but alas, she must struggle. And...

    Wedge her foot on a tree root that's snarled up from the ground beneath, causing her to fall forward and into the cruel grip of normal gravity, books flying everwhere as she hits the dirt. "Ayhaaooowie..." she says as her rectangular glasses also go skidding away from her. "Maybe I should... have checked out a few less..." she whines softly to herself as she lies there for a moment, more out of shame and frustration than injury.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
"It was a dark and stormy night...." says Tracy. "It is a brisk fall day..." says Hinote. "...and we we're on the trail of the cat burglar, a thief of the night, who fancies felines..." Tracy says as he strokes his chin under his hat, hiding his eyes. Tracy, the tiny chara fairy. Hinote Kagari sighed and looked up from the 'Missing Cat' poster a child had posted just outside the school as he looked around. "Maybe someone on the grounds saw a calico cat. Maybe Mamoru might had seen one and took it to safety." he adds.

"Maybe. I do have my suspicions he's.... The Cat Burglar!. just look at the felines he has at that cafe!" Tracy says. Hinote facepalms and then looks up directly in front of himself up from the paper in time for Yuyami Kagayaki to smack dirt and books fly around everywhere. He frowns and calls out. "Oh! Hey, you okay!?" he calls out as he starts to jog lightly forward. It was just a tumble, no need to worry right?

Tracy's following behind. "The mystery of the root from nowhere....!" he says. "No. We're not doing that." says Hinote quietly. "Oh. Ugh. Fine, you're no fun." says Tracy frustratingly so!

Sugata Shindo has posed:
There's a difference between blindly careless and overestimating ones own abilities, and when Sugata catches sight of an underclassman carrying a stack of books reaching all the way up to her chin go down in a sprawl, he finds himself wondering which end of the spectrum she belongs on. That was absolutely a preventable accident.

Still, there's no reason to watch the poor girl muddle along - as Hinote rushes into console the girl, Sugata, a tall, blue-haired CLAMP noodle of an upperclassmen in the school's own hideous uniform of orange, blue, and black, walks over, crouches to scoop up her glasses, and offers them to her.

"Here, you should have these back before someone steps on them."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy does stop and look at the sight of someone actually carrying a stack of books like that. It's more something you see in anime than real life, right? Rarely does someone actually need a stack of books right now.

    Oh shit she's headed right for that tree. "Look--!" but it's too late, by the time Amy realizes and calls out, Yuyami is already going down. Amy rushes over. "Are you alright?!"

    She kneels by the girl, glancing over her for any obvious injury. And muttering to Tracy, "The tree is right there..."

    She holds out a hand. "Can you stand alright?" The girl could've hurt her ankle, after all, but they won't really know 'till she tries.

    Also, Amy does glance over the books. "Ooh, programming? Nice to see new folks rejecting this 'vibe coding' bullshit. And organic chem? Wow."

Catra has posed:
The dorms are a lot like living in Obsidian Tower, as it turns out; just a few things are different. It's not nearly so lavish, more of a basic existence, there's a lot less privacy, the dorm room is literally a room and not a small apartment, there's technically no food allowed or something but who cares, and they're not paying you to be here.

So actually it's basically just nothing alike except that it's a place to sleep.

Oh, and it's noisy at all hours of the day.

Right now Catra is in her room with the door shut and a towel wadded up on the floor in a vain attempt tp block out some noise, with her earbuds in with music playing full blast while she sits at the window, watching the world go by outside (it's a cat thing) while enjoying a take-out box of noodles with double chicken. Or at least trying to enjoy it.

Which is now hard because there are people blabbering about something just outside her window.

Fine, whatever, the feline shovels in the rest of her noodles before lobbing the box into the waste paper bin, yanking her earbuds out and tossing them wherever, and then she just... opens the window and jumps out, parkouring her way down the side of the building and a tree and back to the building to get to the ground, all without breaking her illusory disguise.

"What is going on?" she inquires.

Yuyami Kagayaki has posed:
    People show up, and Yuyami's first response to them is to sigh and prepare for the barrage of teasing and insults and laughter. It's certainly what she would have gotten at Kessho Private. But instead... they're there, and instead of being mean, they're helping. A tall cute boy brings her glasses over to her, and others start helping her by bringing the books back - a girl with very red hair and eyes asks her a question about her books instead of insulting her for carrying them? "Wow." she says. "This place really is different..." she admits as she slowly gets off the floor. "...or maybe it's like sempai said." she muses.

    After all, Riventon told her things would be different when she accepted her magic. People would be able to sense something different about her.

    "I... uh... thank you all." she says, getting to her feet and bowing politely. "I apologize for causing a scene." she continues.

    She turns to Amy. "Yeah, I'm just trying to pick up some basic knowledge in a little bit of everything." she tries. None of the books here would qualify as basic knowledge.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"... "You'd rather keep away from the Pearl Pier for a few hours? What did you do exactly?" Coco questions, walking past the open doors of the school, her arm outstretched to keep it open, lingering in place with her gaze turned downwards.

At her side, Hippo crosses his flippers with her shifting away from her. "Nothing really. I feel it's not a good time", he open his beak to reply. Coco stares down at the penguin with light creases appearing on her forehead. "Nikora is a call away, you know?", she points out, letting the door go.

"I just don't feel it's safe around Madame Taki's niece", he says, putting a flipper on his hat when the wind starts blowing. "I thought you wanted to supervise her", Coco comments, clicking her tongue. "I hope you warned Nikora."

Then the crash happen and girl and penguin both turn around with a snap. "Don't talk around others", Coco warns him, walking over with fast strides, and the penguin huffs behind her, trying to keep up.

"Are you hurt anywhere?", Coco asks the overachieving girl, already getting to action with the retrieval of the books. She stops a second when her eyes fall on a particularly thick one. Is this girl trying to cram for some entrance exams? Do they have that here?

She passes one book to Hippo when the penguin finally reaches her. "Is your room close by? Do you mind if we go with you?" She isn't sure this won't happen again if they let her be.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
"Oh good, you're okay." says Hinote. Tracy hovers next to his head as others help her up. "That sure was a tumble." he says as he picks up one of the books and examines it. That.. sure is a thick and hard to read book. This girl must either A: Be smart or B: Trying to get smart. or maybe a mix of both.

He hands the book over to Coco, who seems to be gathering books to help her back to her dorm room.

"I'm Hinote Kagari." he says, with a nod. He doesn't introduce Tracy, because you don't introduce the possibly invisible-to-them detective fairy to random people. When Yuyami explains she's trying to pick up a little of everything as basic knowledge he tries to keep a straight face. Because sure. 'Organic Chemistry' that's something everyone knows about ever. He most certain does (not).

He then ohs and unfurls the missing cat poster. "Has anyone seen a white, tank and black-ish calico cat on the grounds?" he asks.

"Yeah the cat burglar stole the cat, WE KNOW IT'S MAMORU WHERE ELSE DID HE GET ALL THOSE CAFE C----" Hinote yanks Tracy out of the air. "No. We're not doing that." he says.

"But the evidence is all there!" says Tracy.

"NO IT'S N---" Hinote says in raised voice, he then realize he might be talking screaming to mid air.

"Don't mind me. Practicing for a play." he says, cough. cough.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy winces in sympathy at the look on Yuyami's face. She smiles. "It really is different, yes." Once Yuyami is standing, Amy crouches back down to help pick up the books. "S'not your fault. No need to apologize. ...So, you planning to go into engineering, or just that curious?"

    She shakes her head at the question about the cat, and then stares at Tracy, hissing a whisper, 'Are you crazy? He'd never--' Before cutting herself off and looking back to Yuyami.

Sugata Shindo has posed:
"The only way to know your limits is to test them," Sugata shrugs it off, standing once she's accepted the glasses and gotten to her feet. Surely now that she's tripped once while carrying too many books to see clearly, she won't do it again. "Try to watch your step next time."

'This place is different', she says, and the school uniform is different as well, which adds up to a new transfer. There's enough students starting at all points of the year that he doesn't immediately suspect magic, but given that there's a penguin and a chara around, he's curious to see if she'll start acknowledging them-

Oh, and then they make it exceptionally clear that there's something afoot, and Sugata starts laughing, without even trying to cover it up. Just snickering as he looks from Tracy to Hinote to Amy.

Yuyami Kagayaki has posed:
    Oh, and there's another girl coming up too. "I'm sorry I didn't intend for this to be a huge scene." she says. And then rubs her neck. "Or intend this at all." she adds, smoothing out her skirt nervously. It feels like there's a lot of attention on her and she's shirking back slightly in the face of i all.

    And she's about to introduce herself fully, but then Tracy starts talking. And. It's a tiny. person. And her eyes go wide and are absolutely locked on the magical chibi. Even if she tried to pretend she couldn't see it, it's unlikely anyone would see her. "No, please... let me see that..." she says, and she has a notebook in her hand. And it's up for debate if the notebook was in her stack of books or just materialized in her hand by pure force of will... okay, she did just pick it up off the floor, but it's incredibly fast. "I can see him." she says. "I'm not supposed to talk about magic on School Grounds but... I've never seen anything like that, even with everything they've already shown me..." the fire of curiosity and knowledge seeking clearly in her eyes. "I can tell it's not mechanical, I can sense it, don't pretend it is..." she adds preemptively. "Just. Tell. Me. Everything." It's almost manic.

    She pauses for just a moment to regard the others. "A little curious, yeah..." she says to Amy but she's still trying to get a look at Tracy.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Hippo stares from Tracy to Hinote to Amy back to the Chara, and speaks up. "You guys aren't doing a good job at keeping the cover." Coco immediately feels a bead of sweat travel down her forehead and lightly bumps the book Hinote gave her on the penguin's forehead, eyes stretched wide in his direction.

"So what have you been doing recently?", Coco asks, a smile stretched slightly too wide, her leg pushing Hippo behind her. So many new faces. Maybe this girl won't think too deeply about who is saying what.

And then the girl start taking notes with a speed Coco would think she'd be in henshin if not for her completely casual getup. How many times has she done this before?

"You know, it's just... Not something you can see much of", she starts hesitating, eyes turning to Hinote. "Are you sure to don't want to rest a bit? You had a nasty fall."

Catra has posed:
Oh, so nobody is going to bother answering her. Okay fine, this is absolutely nothing new. The disguised feline crosses her arms and leans against the wall behind her, abruptly regretting the fact that her earbuds are up in the dorm room above her and not down here.

At least it's not hard to figure out what happened. Not that she does anything to help out of course, that's for other people. Cats do not pick things up off the floor, they are responsible for making there be things on the floor in the first place. You might argue that she's a more sentient sort of cat but there is a trump card to her argument: She isn't going to be picking the nerd stuff up off the floor.

NEvermind the fact that she might at some point get tested on it.

She knows about tests. She just doesn't care yet.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari suddenly looks between Amy. and Sugata and hw goes blank. If this was an American cartoon he might have the word sucker on his head right now. He looks to Tracy and releases him and whispers "Beha---"

'I can see him'.

He facepalms and holds back a snort as he uhns. "Good, so I don't look crazy like I'm yelling at someone good." he says. Tracy finally introduces himself as he floats a little forward, but not within grabbing range. "Heya, dollface!" he says, shooting fingerguns. "I'm Tracy. Master detective." he says. Hinote Kagari sighs. "He's an OK detective, still." he says. "Anyways. Hi! Again!" he says. "This.. is.. uhm. Hrm. How'd Tadase-kun explain it again.... right." he says.

"Everyone has an egg in their heart. A dream about who they want to be." he says. "As you grow up, your heart egg closes tight, and vanishes because you become presumably, who you want to be. Not a dream anymore. Got it?" he says.

"Inside that heart egg is your Guardian Chara. This. Little guy here. Tracy. Is my Guardian Chara. Special people sometimes can... get their heart egg, and hatch it. Called a chara bearer, right? In my case. I uh. I kinda wanna be a detective. You know. Ever read or seen 'The Maltese Falcon'?" he asks. "About Detective Sam Spade, and a life and death struggle for a valuable missing artifact? S.. Stuff like that." he says, rubbing the back of his head.

He looks to Catra and blinks. "OH! Uh, sorry, someone fell, we're helping her right now and uh. Answering... questions..." he then considers.

"Are you a scholar of some type?" he finally asks.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy's eyes widen as she looks between Yuyami and Tracy. "You can see--- wait, what do you mean not supposed to-- you know about magic?! How?" Amy glances at her ring, then back to the new girl. "Which kind are you? Or did you know a magical girl at your old school?"

    "Charas... I'm not an expert on them..." Fortunately, Hinote is on the case of Explain The Tiny Person To The New Girl.

    After the explanation, Amy facepalms. "Right. Of course. New exchange student... from some far-off school... you got invited because you're a magical girl..."

Yuyami Kagayaki has posed:
    "I can rest later." Yuyami protests. "The infirmary will take care of me if I'm hurt, but I can't really notice anything." She means the Obsidian one, but the school has one too. She takes a moment and looks over. "Wait, your toy talked too." she says to Coco. "It's not a toy, is it? Are you all magic? can I ask that? Is that why that girl talked about other worlds?" she asks, quickly. Like the questions and thoughts are rushing her mind far faster than she can get them out as formed words.

    Hinote explains and she nods intensely, scribbling so fast. She is probably writing every word he says along with her own observations in the margins. "Wow, magic is just wilder the more I learn about it." she says. She fishes around in her vest pockets a bit spastically before pulling out a golden monocole and putting it between her glasses and her eye. "Oh wow, such different patterns and..." she scribbles some more before she turns to Amy. "I didn't get invited, I was picked to join." she says, after a moment. "Recruited? By someone and they got me in. It wasn't hard, I mean my grades did all the work." she says with a big smile.

    "...so are you guys employees too? Because at first I couldn't figure out how you got youma on school grounds but they're not youma at all, are they." she says, putting the monocole back up breifly as she looks at Hippo, or tries to get a straight line look at him.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
'Employees'. And 'youma'. In the same sentence.

"Yes," comes Mamoru's voice cheerfully from behind Yuyami, as he walks up on the group with his hands in his pockets, his glasses clean, his uniform neat, and his hair fluffy. "Of course. What else would we be?"

Sugata Shindo has posed:
It's funny whether the girl can see magic or not, but her knowing at least means that Sugata can introduce himself without breaking her brain - though he waits for Hinote's explanation to be done, first.

"So that's how that works," he muses, before saying, decisively, "Yes, we are. I'm Sugata Shindo, also known as Ginga Kingu. You can ask, but most people aren't interested in admitting it for some reason."

Obviously he's not one of them. He might have said more, but the situation quickly takes a turn: recruited. employees. youma.

Oh, how precious. Obsidian really doesn't do anything for their staff, do they? Well, never let it be said he can't pivot on a dime, because he shakes his head and laughs, low.

"Your senpai could have at least made you aware of the relevant parties on campus, instead of leaving you to stumble in the dark."

He inclines his head towards Mamoru as he joins them.

Amanda Faust has posed:
> You're all magic? Can I ask that?
    Amy nods to the first, "Yes, you can." to the second. "Who talked about other worlds?" But, questions from each of them just keep prompting more questions from the other.

> Wow, magic is wilder the more I hear about it...
    "Right?!" Amy agrees with a grin.

    She's considering the odd wording of Yuyami's explanation of how she got here when--

    "What no I am not an employee how couild I be an employee of the school I am way too young that would be weird." Amy answers, speaking overly quickly. Then she looks confused again. "...What do you mean too. Were you older-- why would we have youma?"

    And then she looks at Mamoru even more confused. She holds out a hand he can take or not, and looks back to Yuyami.

Catra has posed:
Oh, there's those words. Employees. Youmas. That takes Catra all of four miliseconds to do the two plus two and she didn't even need to be that good at math.

"I used to be an employee but I outgrew my role, so the board and I decided it was in the best interests of both parties if I moved on to other opportunies," she states, flatly. "It was a good talk. They might even be sending some of their employees my way for extra training at some point. I'm sure we'll all find it very educational."

Every word of that was true.

The disguised feline tilts her gaze to Hinote, and interupts him mid-explaination, "It's okay I figured it out, turns out a feline brain is faster than a human's ability to give an explanation. But thanks anyway. Also, I haven't seen your missing cat but since it's not a pink monkey you're looking for, I will keep my eyes open."

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari watches as Yuyami does... like an examination. Okay. She can examine. Tracy doesn't seem to mind, he's making cool poses for the monocle too like he's a giant piece of ham. Hinote Kagari listens a bit when he looks between Amy and Yuyami a bit. Recruited. Employee. Magic. Roll them all together, right. Mind palace time.

Recruited could mean many things. Maybe she was invited? But by who? Mystery added!

Employee? Could mean. Something. But in conjunction with the word youma....

Where'd she get the strange monocle. Mystery added!

Yeah he doesn't have enough info to make a positive deduction. But. He can make an assumption and he does not like it.

At least he hasn't told them Obsidian doesn't know by now. Cause of the whole dating fricken Utau Hoshina for those few days, ugh.

He wilts at the thought.

Oh look, Mamoru is here.....

"CAT BUGULAR!" yells Tracy with a point. "GET HIM HINOTE-KUN."

Hinote just facepalms instead. "SORRY MAMORU." he says. "I know you're not the guy who stole a cat, but did you find a white, tan and black calico cat roaming the grounds, lost?" he asks.

Tracy whispers in Hinotes ear 'I bet her took him to his Cafe of Cats it even has a villains name, see!'. Hinote looks unamused at the whispering.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Coco stops hiding Hippo behind her when it turns out they are starting to drop everything on her. Partly because Hippo was making things difficult, trying to dodge her attempts.

"Ah, well..." she vaguely comments, and then she sighs once she is addressed directly, instead half-turning around as if to protect Yuyami.

"A toy? Who are you calling a toy?!", the penguin lifts a flipper, tapping the chest of his sailor uniform with it. "I am not one! I have been specially appointed to guard the princesses, not to be dismissed as a toy", he boastfully reprimands Yuyami.

"Hippo, enough", Coco furrows her brow, stopping the penguin's antics before he goes too far. "You can ask about magic", she addresses the fired up girl. She is a lot less like Noel than she would have expected at first glance.

"I am Coco, and this is Hippo. You can just think of him as a sea fairy." The details are more complicated than that, but she is not actually about to go into everything, despite Yuyami's zeal. "He is our a guardian."

She glance at Hippo by the corner of her eye. "He is actually competent if he doesn't run off elsewhere, and you can sometimes see him at work as a waiter if you pass by the Yumegahama Ward", she explains to Yuyami with a smile.

Coco tilts her head at the word employee, and bites her lip at the word youma. "Why do you think we are employees?" She might not be fully involved with Obsidian's operations if she doesn't know.

Yuyami Kagayaki has posed:
    Yuyami is brilliant, and yet sadly quite bereft of social skills. Those two things mix in interesting ways in this situation, in the responses to her questions. First she turns around to regard Mamoru. He's tall. But he's also clean and neat and seemingly polite.

    But Sugata leaves a comment about her sempai and her whole demeanor changes. "Don't talk about what you don't know - he saved me - and he was the one that warned me about not letting people here know... so why are you all so open..." she says, growing more defensive clearly by just that offhanded comment.

    She takes a step back. Balls uip her fists. Takes another step back. Hits the same root from before and stumbles back. "Whaaaa" before landing on her behind and then rapidly scrambling awkwardly to her feet. Her face is so red. "I've screwed it up, haven't I..." she says, looking somewhere between embarassed, scared, and worried. "I let my excitement get the better of me..." she says lowly to herself.

    Amy's responses only confuse her further, but she's sure it's not the right kind of employee. She fumbles for her monocle, dropping it for a moment before picking it up and using it look at the PEOPLE rather than the phenomena. It's not giving her any truly useful information since none of them are actively using magic, but at this point it makes her feel better. If only she could bring her compact on campus!

    "And t-those books are s-school property so you can just... return them... I don't need them, I already finished them!" she says, disregarding the obvious fact she was heading towards the dorms. My, there are a LOT of them now suddenly, and she didn't believe ANY of them were employees. "I-I'm just... playing a silly g-game." she says, looking to Catra. She's talking like an EX-EMPLOYEE WHICH CAN'T BE GOOD. SHE'S NOT SUPPOSED TO TALK TO EX-EMPLOYEES EVEN MORE. She's putting her monocle back in her pocket, and fishing for her cellphone, hands shaking.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru inclines his head in turn to Sugata, then turns his attention to Amy, and briefly takes out his hand from its pocket to touch a fingertip to her hand-- he says 'bzzt' out loud, playing-- then lets his hand fall back and sticks it back in his pocket. (He's baldface lying to get what information he can before she realizes she's surrounded by non-Obsidian mahoujin.)

Then his hand goes right back up, this time dramatically to his chest as he takes a half-step back and looks SURPRISED. "Me? Never! And I'm sorry, you two, my cat's also calico. Anko-chan... she's usually either prowling or at the cat cafe. You can ask her if she can help you look. She'll do it for salmon, and she knows most of the cats in Juuban."

He looks a little more kindly at Yuyami. "I'm also a former employee. No one will bite you, though." He bows. "Mamoru Chiba, one of the school's healers. I'm also Riventon's brother. We're in a fight right now, for the record, but I'm still Mahou MSF, if you get hurt really bad. Guys, give her space. I think she's really new."

Sugata Shindo has posed:
"And yet he didn't tell you about the fact that this school is crawling with magical people, half of whom are as blatantly obvious as us?" Sugata doesn't even bat an eye at Yuyami raising her fists. "Interesting."

It is a choice to take an antagonistic tact, and he doesn't regret it at all.

"In addition to myself, there are three other Star Drivers here, my teammates Ginga Bishounen, Ginga Otome, and Ginga Hanma. If we gathered all the various magical sorts crowded into the middle school and high school years alone, you'd have at least thirty. If anything, it's fortunate you found a group so willing to offer explanation."

Of course only after saying all of that does he actually heed Mamoru's expressed desire for them to back off, and while he doesn't step away, he also doesn't try to help the girl up, respectfully stepping back and away. She is a small thing, and he both tall and leanly muscled, a formidable fighter. "If you'd rather be left alone, the lot of us can wander off rather than answer your questions about our different types of magic."

Catra has posed:
Yes, Catra is an ex-employee. Obviously that means she was fired. Well, depending on how you look at it, she helped kill a much higher-ranked employee, which really kind of serves as a letter of resignation, doesn't it? Yeah, it does.

Catra watches Yuyami's antics result in her stumble and fall, and just thrusts her hands in her pockets. And hey, might as well just lay everything on the table, because why not? Who cares, actually. So she drops the illusion and reveals herself, and the fact that instead of some silly school uniform with a SKIRT (uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh) she's actually wearing a white tuxedo.

And she makes it look damn good.

"Also I'm a cat," she adds, flatly.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    (OH SHE THINKS WE'RE OBSIDIAN!) Mamoru gets back from the brief contact.

    And from that, Amy can work out that this girl had contact with Obsidian... and why would they hire a student, unless she had dark energy, or had magic potential that hadn't manifested yet.

    At least Riventon will keep Kyubey away from her.

    "Wait--" Amy starts to protest, holding out a hand as the girl backs away, wincing as she goes down again. "It's fine! I've screwed up too! And it's okay, here! They know that people make mistakes... It's fine! They're books! You can read them! Knowledge should be free!"

    Not just socially awkward, but she's learning out of curiousity and she's smart enough to be studying organic chemistry in high school. For fun.

    Amy can imagine the impossible expectations the world outside the Academy has placed on this girl.

    And she looks.

    So scared.

    How can Amanda not have the impulse to help her?

    Amy looks more serious. "But a lot of times people tell you you've screwed up, they're lying. They've screwed up, by not trying to understand. Or by setting you up to fail to make themselves feel better."

    What can she say, though? Amy couldn't believe it, either.

    "If anyone trying to make you feel like a screw-up says 'You have so much potential', I'll punch them. Or tell them off, at least. ...Actually, that goes for anyone trying to make you feel like a screw-up at all. ...That goes for anyone trying to make anyone feel like a screw-up."

    Red eyes look into purple. "No one is a screw-up, miss."

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Looks like her hunch about the incident repeating was more correct that Coco wanted it to be. She must have gotten far too used to Lucia. If she knew she would have met someone like her, she would have brought some ice.

Coco's heart squeezes when the girl starts acting all panicked. "Hey, it's ok. We aren't going to hurt you, really. Can you please tell us your name?" She smiles gently at her, and offering her a hand to take, balancing the books she picked up on the other one. Should be enough to avoid any further incident if the dark bluenette accepts it.

"We are open because I know, my friends know, you know. Isn't it a lot better, not having to suspect or distrust?", Coco appeals to her softly. "I still intend to help you bring these books at your room, if you are ok with it", she insists.

She didn't expect Catra to go all the way with showing herself. But if nothing else, it drives the point home. "Would you like a place like that, where only magical people are around, and you don't have to pretend?"

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari winces when he watches Yuyami throw a fit and fall backwards. He sighs and leans down. "You know." he says, offering a hand up to Yuyami. "My dad says screw ups just need a screwdriver to make them screw downs." he says. "What I mean is. Screw ups can be fixed. You're fine. We'll back off now if you want." he says, moving backwards a bit as Tracy turns around. "Uh, Hinote...?" says Tracy. "Look, Mamoru isn't the cat bugular okay!?" he says. "No, not that." says Tracy. "Watch out for the tr---"

And then Hinote backs into the tree and smacks his head on a branch by accident. "Ow." he says with a stink eye at Tracy.

"Tried to warn ya, bub." Tracy says with arms folded over his tiny yellow trenchcoat.

Yuyami Kagayaki has posed:
    Yuyami's brain is firing a million times a minute, trying to keep up. She can see Sugata's athletic, and really so is everyone around her to some degree, and if they aren't they can probably access magic, so they can outrun her, so running isn't an option even though she wants to, even though her heart was pounding in her chest like a rabbit hiding from predators. It's so much that she responds, poorly, even as she tries to figure things out. She can't duskport here, it's too... sticky. She can't use her powers here - not to major effect - and here they are, summoning functional youma that haven't even dissolved yet! She was in over her head.

    "D-director Riventon said he didn't have any family..." she starts, looking at him. A liar! A lying liar who lies! But.. .what was in that book he told her to read? 'all warfare is based on deception'. Well, two can play at that game. And Yuyami is PLAYER TWO. "A-and be careful. I can't summon youma, but I can fight! I can fight here! I'll win if you fight me! And I've got help coming too, I texted them. SO MUCH HELP." Takashi hadn't replied yet. "You'll be outnumbered!"

    And Sugata offers knowledge and it's clear that almost overwhelms her nervousness. "Well, next time... when I see you... off school grounds and without so many... I'll ask! And you'll tell me!" she says. Firmly. Somewhat firmly. Firmly like a well cooked spaghetti noodle.

    Catra actually makes her a little nervous, so she falls back to her other discussion. "W-well Wolfrun's coming to help me! And dogs chase cats so you better go!"

    "I do have potential!" she snaps, turning to Amy. "But they didn't make me feel like a screw up... they helped me see that everyone ELSE was a screw up, in how they treated me - that I deserved better! And I do!" she says. And then to Coco she softens. "I already have a place like that. The Tower is like that. This is just school, because he said it wouldn't be right if I stayed in the tower all day and never talked to people... but now look!" she says. "I'm not good at talking to people!" she adds.

    "I..I... thank you for your offer but I already called for so much help you should all probably go!" 'Excellent deception worthy of a master of War, Yuyami!', she thinks.

Catra has posed:
Catra's ear twitches. This person is loud and squeaky.

And she claims she hasw help coming -- so much help. Loads of help.

"No you're not," she counters, flatly. "Look, I used to..." she sighs, and shakes her head, "Nevermind. look, the point is, you're lousy at lieing. It's you, just you, and only you, and if we'd wanted to fight you we would have already, so stand up and dust yourself off 'cause you're getting dirty."

Catra's ear twitches again, and she gets a look on her face like she'd just eaten a piece of fish only to discover that it had been marinating in lemon juice since the dawn of time. "Wolfrun...? Okay come on, cats do not run away from dogs, that's ridiculous. Dogs are made to be loyal. Cats are tailer made for murder. As if I'd run away from him, even if I can't really wield Powersend anymore... But..." Catra glances off to the side, "I suppose I don't really need it now," she muses, mostly to herself.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru rolls his eyes. "Oooh, Wolfrun. Wolfrun's an idiot," he says, fishing around in his pocket. He takes out a card.

Literally a business card.

He flicks it through the air in such a way that it does a barrel roll on its way to landing in the most absurdly perfect most convenient place-- like literally her hand--

"Of course he said that. We're in a really big fight. Either way, that's my contact information, if you get hurt and need it fixed no questions asked. Nice to meet you! I'm off to go hang out with my wife who is much cooler than Riv and you can tell him that. Bye."

The ludicrously tall upperclassman slopes off with a nod to everyone else.

Sugata Shindo has posed:
Director.

Interesting. A promotion, or a lie to an underling pathetically underinformed and underpowered? He could tell her that she can't fight on campus, but why inform the enemy when it isn't helpful?

"You really aren't a great liar," he informs her, agreeing with Catra, and then pulls out his own business card. "Here, call me off-campus sometime. Wako and Takuto would be willing to come too, if you want to hear about all three types of Star Driver."

He flicks the card too, and it does land generally in her direction. Unlike Mamoru's business card, which is relevant and meaningful because he's Mahou MSF, his literally just says, Sugata Shindo and then Ginga Kingu, underneath.

Is he actually going to give an enemy information about Star Drivers, the King, the Maidens, the Warriors? ...honestly, he just might. It's not like it's especially secret on Southern Cross Island.

Sugata Shindo has posed:
A beat.

"Ah, right, that one doesn't actually have my number."

He flicks a second business card her way, this one identical to the first, except it has his phone number printed on the other side.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari woahs and raises his hands, splaying them open. "Take a deep breath, there's lots of magical people here, yes, but also as far as I can tell? A lot of innocent normal people. Don't bring this down on them. Okay?" he says with a deep breath.

"If I have to fight, I will, but I'd rather not. Because if I'm fighting, I'm not solving mysteries." he says softly. "And that stinks." he says. "Let's talk, okay?"

Does he believe a fight will come? Maybe. She texted 'someone' and 'someone' is going to eventually respond and they might not like it.

Bussiness cards! Aha! He should...get... those.

Wince. Tracy winces.

Tracy puts up his dukes and makes a 'pow' punch in the air complete with saying "Pow! Let's have a brawl! I had this fight in a bar once, this surly guy stepped up to me and he knocked my hat off so I socked him one!"

"That never happened." sighs Hinote.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy quirks an eyebrow. Riventon denied having a brother? ...Oh this was probably right after the fight.

    Amy watches and listens as the new girl tries to puff up and intimidate. Not having been told about the crystal heart's wards. And maybe there's a small chance she knows martial arts, but if she does, Catra will absolutely know how to catch her off-guard and the rest might. Amy winces a little at having missed something obvious: Obsidian learned from them, and has already played the we're-the-nice-place-unlike-anywhere-else card, and actually been at least somewhat nice.

    And back to the bluff. An Obsidian posse is so going to fight them here. Amy blinks. "Huh. Guess it's not just guys trained to act like that."

    The look on Amy's face is still sympathetic. "Is that how I sound when I lie? At least when I do the whole 'I'm a bio-magical monster-hunter-killer machine that will turn into a monster if you kill me' thing, it's true, but if I sound like that everyone can tell I'm bluffing about being sure I can spend enough magic, huh... and if they can kill me, they can probably kill the monster too."

    She takes a breath. "I don't know how to convince you. I'm bad at talking to people, too. And you've been told not to believe us when we say this place is safe. Well, it's true that if you use Dark Energy, you're weaker here."

    "Um..." Amy looks awkward, and rubs her arm. "I dunno how to defuse this. Like, someone else could probably have played along and let you save face and at the same time said just the right thing to make you think we're worth talking to when you think about it later, but I'm no good at that. So, sorry for not being tactful about your bluff."

    She looks at Tracy. "Yes, I'm sure you once made six robbers run, too." NO ONE WILL GET THAT REFERENCE, AMY.




    After a moment, another thought gets through Amy's brain and she looks at Sugata in utter confusion. "Why would you have business cards without your contact information on them??"

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Coco has to hold herself back from rolling her eyes how obvious this girl was being to anyone but herself. Where did Riventon find her, really? "Even if they sent people here, dark energy doesn't really work", she points out hoping that would be enough to breach through the defenses she is erecting.

Taking a deep breath, she lowers a hand to stop Hippo from objecting and starts humming, and then singing.

The rainbow wind blows at a far off coast
Before dawn, there was a melody I heard
It's a very nostalgic song

The birds that fly towards the eastern sky
now escape to the treasure island using this shortcut.

Where the paradise of the seven seas lies
After the stormy night, to tell my love I will be born again
Even if there comes a day where everyone...
Is to journey away from here, as long as we sing the melody of the seven countries
I'll never forget.

Nowhere near as potent as it is when transformed, her voice still carries a trace of that peace and relaxation it would nudge people towards, but it is ultimately just a pretty song. Sadly, she doesn't have it as easy as Catra on that front. Her real form isn't... really practical here.

"I enjoy singing a lot", she explains once she interrupts the melody. "I am not really here to fight. I would prefer helping you than seeing you run off." Coco still keeps up the smile at her.

Yuyami Kagayaki has posed:
    Yuyami shakes her head, her mane of hair following it. "No, we don't need to fight. That's what I'm saying. Nobody should fight." she says as she is flicked no less than three business cards. She catches each of them (and only drops one, probably maybe not the one with the actual Sugata phone number on it to get mud on). Her eyes continue to be pulled to Tracy even as she seems to be consciously telling herself not to go over there.

    "Look, I uh... I don't wanna fight either, but I know sometimes you have to so if this is sometimes I'm ready!" she says, as she looks about as unready as anyone could. "Don't underestimate me. I've been trained. Training. Both." she says.

    "Why don't we just... walk away and pretend this never happened? That seems like... a good idea for everyone." she offers. "We're all just normal students." she tries.

    Coco's song is strangely both alluring and a little bit - a tiny bit unwanted, like the peace and relaxation is fighting with something within her. "We just. All keep going. And then maybe... you can help... but I do have some help coming." And at about that moment her phone buzzes turning her lie into truth.

    And yet somehow after all of this she manages to call out "it was nice to meet you too!" to those leaving now. Maybe it was in some 'make friends and influence people' book she read.

Sugata Shindo has posed:
"The first reason is because, as Wako would say, I'm terrible." This is delivered in a complete deadpan, as he turns his head to look at Amy. "The second is because there are plenty of people I meet who I don't actually want to call me, but a vague sense of embedded politeness and honor keeps me from publicly mocking them."

As he's saying this, he casually pulls out his phone and starts texting. Not his fellow Star Drivers, just yet, but someone else who will be interested in news regarding Riventon.

At her decisive, if anxious, refusal, Sugata inclines his head.

"Very well. You now have a way to contact some of us, and we'll leave you be. Any of the rest of you willing to leave her be are welcome to a meal on me. You can pick the location."

Bribery, and very blatant, but in the unknown girl's favor.

Catra has posed:
"You have not been trained," Catra replies flatly. "I have been trained. To fight. Since I was old enough to crawl. You just got defeated by a tree -- twice."

Great pep talk, Catra.

"Luckily for you, nobody here wants to fight you. Including me. Though if you're going to be around the school you should probably be careful not to mention my name around Obsidian, not to anyone, because if they find out that you know me, they might send you to see me while you're on the clock." Her eyes narrow. "For training. And I am not a very patient teacher."

Right then. With that out of the way, the feline's expression softens, and she leans back against the wall behind her. "Oh, and one other piece of advice: Stay away from Joker. Trust me on this one. Seriously, that thing is messed up -- ask Riventon if you don't believe me, he'll tell you the same thing."

A couple of people have gone as far as giving the newcomer business cards. She perks an eyebrow upwards at that -- nobody ever gave her business cards, not that she's jealous, it's just that this is a new thing to do when you meet a villain -- and hunhs. "Never thought of calling cards. I used to just destroy things and assume that I'd get credit."

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari eyes Yuyami and Tracy does also. "Yeah let's just. Do that for now. Later, gator." says Hinote. Tracy tips his fedora. "Seeyalater, Dollface." he says, shooting a finger gun again, going 'click' with his tongue before following after Hinote quickly to leave with him.

"Ughhhhhhh." he laments quietly as he looks to Suguta. "Okay. Meal on you, and if I ask nicely, can you tell me who prints your business cards in the meantime, please?" he asks all nice like.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy nods at 'ready for sometimes.' Well... This could've gone a lot worse! They seem to be ending on neutral-ish terms, at least. "I don't wanna pretend this never happened. I wanna meet you and talk to you and maybe make a friend... wow I really am a magical girl. Um..."

    She starts to call out, "I'm--!" but hesitates, briefly. Is it a good idea to let someone with Obsidian know? But then she remembers: Thanks to the veil, this girl can know that Amy Faust is a Puella Magi and still be unable to recognize the Puella Magi that looks just like her is her. "I'm Amy Faust!" She waves, "I hope we can talk! Enjoy your books! I'm happy to answer any programming questions!"




    After a long moment she looks back at Sugata. "Oh that's actually kinda brilliant. The business card thing."

Yuyami Kagayaki has posed:
    With a couple slow blinks she debates whether she should give them her name or not - but it's not going to be hard to find it. Just ask a classmate. Politeness seemed to outweigh secrecy, here.

    "Yuyami Kagayaki. Grade Nine. Pleased to meet you." And she even still did the polite bow.

Sugata Shindo has posed:
"I can order you some, if you like." This, to Hinote, and then, after a moment, he glances at the others who have followed. "That goes for the rest of you as well. The fact that I use them chiefly for trolling doesn't change the fact that they can come in handy."

When Yuyami introduces herself, Sugata inclines his head, and returns the polite bow, exactly to the degree expected of an upperclassmen greeting a junior.

"It was good to meet you, Kagayaki-san. I'll inform my teammates that you may wish to speak with us."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Oh. The new girl -- Kagayaki-san -- is either very polite, or maybe they've begun to make a connection. Amy curtseys back with a smile. "Grade 11. Pleased to meet you!" Wait that could've been left as a bow oops whatever she is an eccentric American.

    As for the free meal, Amy turns to Sugata, still smiling, "I'm down! You know what I like, seafood, but I'm not actually picky. Your reccomendation's probably better than anyplace I know."