119/Coffee Doesn't Help (For Once)

Coffee Doesn't Help (For Once)
Date of Scene:	19 July 2023
Location:	Radiant Heart Academy
Synopsis:	Kyouka runs into Naru post-mirroring.
Cast of Characters:	Kyouka Inai, Naru Osaka

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Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Mid-morning at RHA, and Kyouka Inai is making her way to her office. No, she isn't late. She just had a morning appointment somewhere else, and now is returning. Judging by the steaming cup of coffee in her hand, her appointment may have been with the cafe down the street, but it would be rude to question a faculty member in that way.

    Her jacket is not in evidence, and she has the sleeves of her white dress shirt unbuttoned and rolled up to the elbows, a concession to the summer weather. The hand not holding the coffee is in her pocket, and she's wearing those narrow rectangular sunglasses she seems to think make her look cool.

Naru Osaka has posed:
It is not like Naru to be running late, and thank goodness she has morning study hall first period, which is a little.. free form today. Espeically as one Naru Osaka seems to have had the same appointment that Kyouka Inai had this morning. Different cafe, based on the name on the side of the cup, but the same appointment.

Naru yawns before taking another sip of the life giving beverage. Her movements are slower than usual, but at least she's upright and awake. Progress from yesterday!

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka notices the somewhat lagging student on the path ahead of her, and she smiles as she walks up behind Naru and claps her non-coffee hand on the girl's shoulder in a friendly, if perhaps just a little too firm way. "Naru-chan!" Apparently in the office its 'Osaka-san', out in the world it's 'Naru-chan'. Well if the girl is offended, she should probably speak up about it!

    "You look like you got run over by a yatai." She says cheerfully, with the sort of energy that people who are tired find even more tiresome before lunchtime. "Is everything alright? How's your roomate?" Oho, so she's really just looking for info on the Usagi situation. That would explain the initial approach, at least.

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru startles as someone who is not a student calls her name. Busted. She turns and tries to plaster on a bright smile for Kyouka. She even mostly succeeds. "Sensei!" She greets Kyouka, pausing in her steps and then taking a few closer to the woman.

"I am just tired this morning." Which is an understatement, but it covers many sins. Naru is usually one of those people, and she lifts her coffee in salute to the cheer. "Usagi is well, she even passed an algebra test, thanks to Darien. He's very patient." And brings bribes. Bribes help.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Mmmm. Tired. Aren't we all." Says Kyouka, while appearing no such thing, coffee in her other hand notwithstanding. She makes a bit of an odd expression at the mention of Usagi passing 'thanks to Darien', something of a twist to her mouth, but she does not give any further indication of why this might be. "Well, that's good. Glad to hear." She says, ostensibly about the algebra test.

    She draws in a breath through her nose... for all the world like she's scenting the air, giving Naru a bit more of a focused look. "You feelin' alright, Naru-chan? You look a bit under the weather."

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru sighs as she's further busted on her 'tired' assertion. "It's getting better." She notes by way of reply on how she's feeling. "I wasn't feeling great last night and just could not wake up. I even slept through my alarm this morning." She looks a little bit apologetic at admitting that to a teacher figure. "It's definitely weird. My dreams were super weird too."

More coffee, because that will fix everything. The faint notes of dark energy still linger upon her, no matter how much she tried to scrub the remaining memories away in the shower. Steaming hot water and satsuna body wash only go so far, apparently.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka considers this response. She has extra reason to consider it too- one Darien Shields had mentioned Naru's name to her as someone who 'seems to remember more than she should'. Someone to watch. Now, she isn't likely to trust Mr. Shields farther than she can throw him, not with the way he reeks of Dark Energy, but she can't see any reason he would lie about this. Nothing for him to gain from it.

    "Yes, that can happen." Kyouka agrees, a little more serious this time. "Seems to be going around, that sort of thing. I'm glad you're feeling better now. I wonder, perhaps, if you had any unusual encounters recently?" That friendly, lopsided smile again. "You know.. all sorts of rumors going around. They interest me. Profesionally."

Naru Osaka has posed:
There's a moment of 'hunh' as Naru considers the question. Presented oh so cheerfully, and casually. How much /does/ Naru want to share with a teacher, even one who is clearly pretty sympathetic to the student side of things. Coffee is an excellent excuse for the pause, and she takes another sip.

Her mind made up, she gives an almost imperceptable nod and then a question of her own first. "Its going around? There's others who are just utterly faceplant levels of tired?" The concerns her more, truthfully. "I mean, there's more weird than usual. Tokyo is an odd place at the best of times, but it feels like the level of weird is getting high even for Tokyo." She is thoughtful a moment or two longer, gathering up her thoughts.

"I was at the market, getting a snack and just sitting outside, doing not much of anything beyond enjoying an iced latte." She pauses again, a little frown on her face as she attempts to force her brain into filling in more of the pieces. Not enough for her tastes, most certainly. "And then everything got very weird and I couldn't move." She isn't sure quite how to phrase it and looks a little helplessly at Kyouka, hoping she understands, or at least gets the gist. "I don't really know what happened next."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka listens to this report in silence, nodding her head a few times. "And when you woke up, you were at home?" She asks curiously. "But very tired. Yeah, that makes sense." To her, obviously. Clearly not to Naru, and it seems as though an exact explanation of the circumstances is not forthcoming, because Kyouka does not go on to elaborate.

    "Naru-chan, I think you might be caught in something unfortunate, due to a set of circumstances beyond your control." She says after a moment, her voice full of sympathy. "And I think you need to be careful. I won't say it's because of who you hang around with, because it's not really their fault either. But there are people who attract trouble of the... weird sort. And I fear you've been standing a bit too close to several of them."

Naru Osaka has posed:
"No.. not quite. I woke up at the market, but I wasn't very coherent. Tadase had to help me home, I'm glad he was there." Naru looks a little rueful and sad. "I spilled my latte, it was most tragic." Because getting drained almost to the end isn't the true tragedy here.

Naru is thoughful as Kyouka indicates that she's 'fallen in with the wrong crowd', although not like that. She quirks her head, trying to think through some of the details of what Kyouka is saying and more importantly, what she's not saying. "Things are weird." She repeats with a little nod. "Things around me, things around others. Things around my mother. I don't understand, but I also don't think I'm supposed to understand." She smirks a little. "Which is irritating as anything. I dislike not understanding."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka makes a mental note of the name 'Tadase', which is not one she is yet familiar with but perhaps is worth looking into. Then she shrugs her shoulders, with a bit of a sympathetic smile. "I know the feeling." She says, in response to the dislike of not understanding a situation. "I suppose my saying 'you're probably happier not knowing' isn't going to dissuade someone like you, so instead I'll just say 'look before you leap'. The only thing worse than being caught unawares is realizing that you put yourself in that situation."

    She reaches into her pocket, and pulls out one of her business cards. "Here. Take this. If you need my help, feel free to call me. And look, on the back." She's written the time and date of the (mundane) self-defense class. "I teach a class about how to look after yourself. Maybe consider giving it a shot one of these weeks, huh?" A bit of a wink, as if the invitation is not such a serious matter.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"I'll try and keep my curiosity in check." Naru comments dryly. Which is about as likely as enouraging the sun to stop rising in the east. "At least so far, I haven't gone out /looking/ to flatten myself." She pauses and then asks. "So if this isn't an unknown thing.. any advice for faster recovery? Sleep helps, coffee doesn't really, which is irritating. I woke up /starving/, which is odd for me, and I put it down to having slept through supper and breakfast."

Naru reaches for the card, looking at the front and then the back. "Thank you." She laughs softly. "I had it suggested I might wish to ask you about them, now it feels like an even better plan. Although I didn't have time to do much this time." She isn't even really aware that her subconscious is pointing out that it's not her first time thorugh this rodeo.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Curiosity is a great thing... right up until it isn't." Kyouka quips, with another smile. The whole time they have been talking, she and Naru have continued walking down the path, albeit perhaps at a slightly slower rate, and the buildings of the school are now growing close. "But the best advice I can give you is just to repeat what I just said. Keep your eyes open. Look before you leap. And call for help if you need it." Not necessarily from her. But that is an option Naru now has.

    "As for recovery... anything you would normally do to regain energy. Sleep is best, as you noted." A brief nod of her head. "Food, too. But the best recovery option is just not to get got in the first place. My self-defense classes can help you with that." A bit of shameless self-promotion there. And there's only so much she can teach a mundane to defend against magical attack. But surely it's better than nothing.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Curiosity and the cat and all of that." Naru quips with a lift of her coffee cup as they get nearer to school. "My eyes are certainly open. I will try to look before I leap." She gives a shrug. "Hopefully in future, I have time to call for help. That would be nice."

Naru nods. "Not getting got in the first place is a better choice, but that one was taken away from me this time. So I'll make sure to have breakfast. And lunch. Perhaps I'll get to test some theories on recovery." She pauses, realizing that she assumes this is going to happen again and shakes her head a little. "Hopefully not though." She bows a little over the small card. "Thank you Sensei. Self defense classes are a wise choice, even without the weird. It's just even more important with. I am grateful that you are trying to keep the school safer."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka shrugs her shoulders at the admittedly rare show of appreciation. "Hey, just doing my job." She says, perhaps even a little bashfully. "Things are changing around these parts Naru-chan. I'm not entirely sure anybody knows exactly what's going on. But it never hurts to be careful. Especially when-" she was about to say 'especially when your roomate is a magical girl' but she restrains herself and just says '-you keep running into this sort of trouble."

    She turns herself towards the administration building, where her office is located. "I'm sure we'll be seeing more of each other, Naru-chan. Just keep yourself healthy in the meantime, alright?" Well, that doesn't sound ominous at all!