1517/Heroic Advice

Heroic Advice
Date of Scene:	11 May 2024
Location:	Dorms #1
Synopsis:	Yuki and Ikuto have questions and in the catboy's case, a secret conflict to reveal. Madoka has answers???
Cast of Characters:	Ikuto Tsukiyomi, Yuki Hoshino, Madoka Kaname

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Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto was in a box. A cardboard box in Yuki Hoshino's dorm room, to be precise. The catboy was sitting inside and reading manga that he'd brought over from his own dorm, while Yoru snoozed in his own, smaller cardboard box. Why were they here, one might ask. The answer to that was in Ikuto's own words "complicated". He liked being around Yuki. He was at ease when she was around, and felt safer. She hadn't told him to leave, and had even set out boxes for the catboy and Chara at some point. So there they were, relaxing.

"Yuki-chan, I suppose we haven't really had a chance to talk about what happened a few days ago. I actually wanted to talk about that with another friend as well...do you mind if I invite Madoka-chan over? I need to come clean to her about trying to keep her out of that trouble as well."

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
Yuki had been taking the opportunity of a few quiet moments to get some homework done when the Black Cat and his MiniMe showed up. She'd let them in, of course, and after the pleasantries were out of the way and canned soda had been extracted from her dorm fridge for each of them, she'd settled back into working on some programming code for her Device.

"Mmm," she muses, more focused on the laptop screen than on her guests. The name rings a bell. "I suppose I've a few questions of my own I've been wondering about."

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto nods. "Sounds good. Let's see...M...Madoka..." Yoru was in his face now, waving around the stylus Amy had given him. "Ikutooooooo! Let me text Madoka-chan nya!" The catboy shrugged. "Fine. Just ask her to come over to Yuki Hoshino's dorm because I need to talk to her, okay?" The Chara grinned, nodding and getting to work using the rubber-tipped stylus. "Oooh, this is really easy to work with! Okay, here goes nya..."

Text to Madoka: "MEDUKA CHAN CAN YOU COME TO YUKI HOSHINOS DORM IKUTO WANST TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT STUFFS I GUESS NYA"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Elsewhere, Madoka receives the text and, after figuring out that it's probably written by a Chara she smiles. "I guess Yoru is enjoying what Amy-chan gave her." A few moments later she responds.

> Okay! I'll be right over. ^_^

    In a bit, Yoru might be able to sense Madoka's Chara coming, and from their pace it's probably clear that they're following their human. Brai and Gretchen, if he recognizes them. Once Madoka reaches the dorm room, she knocks on the door. "Ikuto-kun, Yuki-san, it's me!" she calls out.

    Brai crosses her arms. "What do you think it's about?"

    Gretchen shrugs. "I don't know, but I guess we'll find out."

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
Yuki can't see the screen, of course, so she has no idea what Yoru is typing. But company is coming, which means she has to be a good host. She saves her current code project and pushes her chair back from the desk. "Oh... is she in the dorms here, or...?" she asks, clearly unsure how long they can expect to wait for Kaname-san.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Yoru's ears perk up and he pokes Ikuto, who says, "She must have been nearby. They're on their way now, pretty close since Yoru was able to pick up on two Charas approaching. Relax, Yuki-chan."

When Madoka knocks on the door, he looks to Yuki with a smirk. "It's your dorm; the door's yours to get."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Brai and Gretchen have their ears against the door. Brai speaks first. "I'm pretty sure Yoru's in there."

    Gretchen hms. "Should I portal through and check?"

    Madoka crosses her arms and gives them both a stern look. "You two... we don't know Yuki well enough to just do that! Settle down."

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
Yuki looks over at Ikuto and Yoru, then shrugs, and pads over to the door. She doesn't hesitate, throwing the door open, generating a brief gust of wind that might send small things like charas leaning too close to the door flying. And behind it, as promised, she sees ... the pink-white. "Welcome to my humble abode, Kaname-san," she says, stepping aside to let her in.

She beckons Madoka inside, closing the door behind her. The room is a fairly typical dorm single, with the bed set by the window and a workdesk with her laptop on it. There's a bookshelf hosting a collection of textbooks, light novels, and pieces of electronics in various stages of disassembly.

"Can I offer you a soda? Tea? Water?"

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto waves to Madoka and her Charas from the box he's relaxing in. "Madoka-chan, Brai-chan, Gretchen-chan. Nice to see you." Yoru nods and waves as well. "Hiii nya!" Ikuto looks surprisingly comfortable, sitting in a cardboard box like this. Certainly more relaxed than he usually seems.

"Madoka-chan, a few days ago Yuki-chan and another girl named Zephyr um...rescued me. I got cornered while exhausted from, well. You know how I've mentioned before that Easter Company has been trying to get ahold of me? I..may not have been entirely upfront about how persistent they've been. The past two months or so have involved me doing a whole lot of running and picking off youma pursuers when possible. Last week Easter started to escalate things a bit, to the point that I had to get registered for a dorm here just so I could have a moment to relax sometimes."

The catboy continues. "But with all those youma out looking for me, I didn't want to just hide away in the academy. If they couldn't reach me directly, Easter might have tried to use Utau to draw me out, or gone after my other friends. Like you two, or Hotori-kun. So I kept going out, keeping their attention on me. I suppose I did too good of a job of getting Easter's attention, because they started putting a lot more pressure on me and it eventually reached a point where Yoru and I were just...too tired to fight."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka and her two fairies smile and wave at Yuki. Well, actually, Brai and Madoka smile. Gretchen wears more of a neutral expression. "Thank you, Hoshino-san," says the pinkette as she steps inside, followed by the two Chara. When offered a drink, Madoka waves her hand dismissively and says, "Oh, no thank you! We'll be fine. Hi, Ikuto-kun! Yoru-kun!"

    The three of them glance around the room. "You like electronics?" she asks, seeing the various gadgets disassembled on the bookshelf.

    Gretchen, meanwhile, is looking at Yoru. "Did the stylus work out for you?" asks the Witch Chara.

    When Ikuto starts talking, the pink trio listen and watch him. The news that actual youma have been chasing him makes Madoka a bit wide-eyed. Brai flips her hair before saying, "Sounds like you've had it rough. All those people chasing after you."

    Gretchen crosses her arms. "Well, I'm glad that they didn't start going after the rest of us. Still though, it sounds like you're pulling too much aggro."

    Madoka frowns. She's clearly a bit concerned. "You know, you don't have to fight that battle all by yourself. I don't know what it would take to get Easter off your back, but there are plenty of places for you to hide around here."

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
Yuki nods and settles back in her seat by the desk, nodding. "It's a hobby," she answers to the question about electronics, "And helps a bit with this." She taps a finger to the octagonal brooch attached to her uniform blouse.

She sips at her soda while Ikuto explains the situation, and Madoka replies. Then she nods. "It's taken him this long to admit it. Stubborn cat." With a sigh, she puts her feet up on an upturned milk crate, crossing her ankles. "I have the opposite problem, myself. I know I need help, but I barely know anybody to ask."

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Yoru grins. "Yeah, the stylus Amy-chan gave me is great! I can use Ikuto's phone almost like I have fingers now, nya!" Ikuto smiles a bit. "I didn't mean to worry you, Madoka-chan. I just...didn't want Easter to start trying to hurt any of my friends. Both of you have families, as does Hotori-kun. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if they attacked you at home. Keeping them busy myself seemed like a good idea until they sent around 20 of those youma goons after me at once."

"Knowing him, this is that weirdo Nikaidou-san's twisted idea of a 'field test' for those youma, and a test of my capabilities at the same time."

"That...reminds me. Madoka-chan, I uh. How do you do it? Be a hero, I mean. You seem to never have any trouble doing the right thing. For a long time I was just doing what Easter told me to do...now that I'm off their leash, I don't really know how to do this."

The catboy also looks to Yuki, curious. "As soon as I've gotten Easter to back off a bit, I'd be happy to help with anything you need, Yuki-chan. I think I'd be more of a hindrance than help with them trying to chase me around though."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    To Yuki, Madoka smiles brightly. "Oh, there's a lot of people around who can help! You probably should check out the Shed first. That's where most of the magicals tend to handle our mahou business. I know there are a few other Device users running around, but I don't really know them that well. Sorry."

    She fidgets for a moment and then says, "Also, you can find people fighting youma. I actually met a lot of my friends that way. A lot of people get tired at the end of a fight, but sometimes they'll hang around and chat."

    When Ikuto goes into the meat of why he asked them over, Madoka tilts her head. "Geeze... they really aren't letting up are they?"

    Brai scoffs and turns her nose up. "If they dare come after Doka-chan's house they'll regret it."

    Gretchen's face is a bit more serious. "Nikaidou?" she asks. "Who is that? He another Easter guy?" She has a bit of a grudge against them, after all.

    Madoka looks a bit uneasy, especially at how both of her fairies seem a bit angry. She can't blame them, but... she'd rather things didn't escalate against normies. Not that she has much choice in the matter. It can get really bad if Easter chooses the dumb route. It can get even worse if they're smart about it.

    "How to be a hero?" she asks. When told that she 'never seems to have trouble doing the right thing', she looks a bit flustered. "Honestly... there's a lot to that question. I guess it comes down to... what do you want out of it? Are you just trying to do the right thing? Live a life without regrets? Or are you hoping to be someone respectable, that others can look up to?"

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
Yuki doesn't recognize most of the names Ikuto mentions, but she's heard about Easter from him, at least, and she knows to scowl at the right points.

She nods as she listens to Madoka, taking mental notes. "Tired like I was when we first met?" she asks, almost teasing. "You'll have to show me where this 'Shed' is."

It's nice, at least, to see that even Madoka doesn't recognize all the names either. "You'll have to fill us in as to who's who over there, Ikuto-kun... but if you want the quick and dirty vrsion of it, anytime you're not sure what to do, think of what Easter would do... then do the opposite."

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto nods. "Director Hoshina is the big cheese of Easter. He's also a home-wrecker who married my mother after my father disappeared." The venom in his voice is barely-contained, and Yoru looks a little uneasy. He doesn't like when Ikuto mentions the Director, because the boy has a grudge against the man that the Chara worries is making him reckless.

"Nikaidou-san...he's a scientist, and a brilliant one. Only instead of doing something useful for the world he seems to be obsessed with making crazy robots and researching Heart Eggs, Charas, X-Eggs, and everything linked to them. When I heard some of his assistants talking about Nikaidou-san looking into what turned out to be the creatures known as Witches, it was one of the final straws for me to cut ties. Oh, he's also a teacher at the academy. He does his job well enough, but that clueless sensei act he puts on will drop pretty quick if you get him mad."

He nods to Madoka and Yuki, smiling a bit. "I want to set a good example for my sister Utau, and for everyone in this whole monsters and magic thing who's younger than me. I'm one of the older ones involved here, so...it's only right that I try and do better, especially since I used to work for the 'bad guys' in all of this. I also want to make my father proud when I find him. I want to be able to look him in the eyes and know that I didn't take the easy way out."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Gretchen squints as Ikuto describes this Nikaidou guy. Someone at the academy? Someone pretending to be a teacher? Could it be...?

    Honestly... for being a company with so many unpowered employees, Easter certainly liked to stick their noses where it really doesn't belong.

    Madoka shakes her head. "I don't blame you for wanting to back out. Witches are no joke, and not something they should really be getting involved with. I bet they have a pretty hard time getting an actual Witch to cooperate though."

    Gretchen chimes in, "Yeah, but... imagine what would happen if they managed to get powers like mine. They wouldn't need Utau's song anymore. They could just spread Witch Stickers over a bunch of kids and turn their dreams into X-Eggs. No one would even see it coming."

    Madoka gasps. Could... that really happen? Gretchen wouldn't, of course, but... "Oh geeze. I didn't even think about that. They would in a heartbeat, wouldn't they?"

    As for being a hero, Madoka has to think about it a bit further. "I think... honestly, it's good that you want to set an example, but it can be hard to do that when you don't really know what's up." She considers for a moment, and reflects upon her own heroes, the ones who first inspired her. "I think, for me personally, being brave, honest and kind are only the start. They make a good foundation, but there's a difference between a well meaning newbie and a hardened veteran. Namely: respectability and competence."

    Madoka lifts up her index finger, as if giving a lecture. "You need to know, not only what you're doing, but what you're dealing with. Know yourself and know your enemy, and that kind of thing. More than that, you need to always be willing to grow. As long as you constantly try to improve yourself, you'll always be further ahead today then you were yesterday."

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
Yuki continues listening, nodding along. Evil Company scheming Evil Plots isn't a big surprise, although it's still disturbing. "So we should come up with some sort of way to discourage them from trying it," she suggests, "I don't know anything about 'Witches', but that sounds like you two do...?"

She likes hte idea of setting an example - after all, she's one of those newer, if not necessarily all that younger - mahou, who has a lot to learn about the business. "You've got your first student right here, Ikuto-kun," she adds. "But, this Nikaidou guy is a teacher... here? At RHA? Well... at least it gives us a chance to keep an eye on him."

And Madoka, of course, has excellent advice. Yuki listens, nodding along once more. "So we need a good catalogue of gribblies. Youma, Witches, X-eggs... what else is out there?"

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto frowns. "Gretchen-chan...that's the sort of thing that worries me most about Easter. They're already responsible for so many children being hurt, and poking around Witches makes me think they're trying to come up with ways to create X-Eggs on an even larger scale. I just don't understand it...why do all this for the Embryo? Is a wish-granting boondoggle that no one has even seen before really worth causing so much misery for the Director? It's not right."

To Yuki he says, "Witches are...you don't want to run into one. If you ever see a little magic portal tucked away in a place where it seems kinda hidden..get away, fast and tell Madoka-chan, or if I'm closer let me know so I can get ahold of her." He shivers, not wanting to experience being in a Witch's Labyrinth again any time soon.

"Wait...student? You, ah...you look up to me, Yuki-chan? I mean I suppose you literally do because I'm taller, but...if anything I'm the one who should be looking up to you. Without you I might not be here right now."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka clasps her hands behind her back and starts rocking back and forth on her feet. "Well... I mean, there's a lot. Probably more than I can really list in one setting. Youma is a general catch-all for all sorts of monster types. Generally they have no real sapience and they aren't 'real people' the same way that you and I are. Sometimes they aren't even intelligent. X-Eggs and X-Chara are kindof like Gretchen-chan here..." Madoka gestures to her Witch fairy.

    Gretchen crosses her arms. "I'm not just like any other X-Chara, though! I'm different. Most X-Chara go crazy and start causing all kinds of trouble. I don't run around doing dumb things."

    Madoka giggles and adds, "Yeah... as far as threats go, X-Eggs and X-Chara are probably the least actually dangerous. That doesn't mean they're easy to handle, just... probably no one is going to die if things go wrong."

    Brai's blank gaze goes from Ikuto to Yuki before she speaks. "Witches are on the opposite side of that scale. They will kill. In order to feed, and also sometimes just for fun. They're dangerous to fight, and you shouldn't try to deal with them on your own. Not unless you really know what you're doing."

    Madoka nods at Brai and then turns to Yuki. "Basically, if you see anyone wearing magical tattoos and acting strangely, they might be under the mental influence of a Witch. In that case, calling me or someone else who knows how to deal with them is probably the best option."

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
"Ikuto-kun... you saved me, at the museum. From your own sister... your *family*." Such an important thing, family.

"So... witches, portals, run away, got it. X-charas... like at the museum? The little rocket-boy?" She smiles lightly. "He didn't seem harmful. Just ... exuberant. But then, I was kind of focused on the singer."

She continues making personal notes as the pair go on, then asks, "These witch tattoos... is there any sort of thing they might look like in particular? Any style, or common location, to look for?"

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto blushes, but only slightly. Yuki had a point there. He had faced down his own sister for her. That was pretty heroic, right? He had a lot of work to do, but he -was- trying. "I did, yeah. Utau might be a bit harsh at times, but I wasn't going to let her attack you while you were backed against a wall like that. I can't let her think she's gone too far to come back from, and that means stopping her when she might cross that line."

Yoru's eyes widen. "Witches can -mind control- people? Uuuu...I hope they don't try that on us. -Somebody- doesn't know how to pull his punches and sent a bunch of Easter's security to the hospital when they were sent after him, nya." He looks at Ikuto with disapproval and the catboy shrugs. "What? A bunch of grown men thought beating up a high schooler would be an easy job. Not my fault they didn't run away after I told them to get lost. Besides, I'm not going to do that to a bunch of people who don't even know what they're doing!"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Gretchen nods emphatically at Yuki's question. "That's right! Most X-Chara are like him. He was honestly just really excited about space, which isn't bad in of itself, but he kept running into things. That's just how it is."

    When asked about Witch tattoos, Madoka looks at Gretchen, and then holds out her hand. A sticker drops into it, a strange thing filled with symbolism that's never fully explained. "They look kinda like this. Not always this exact same shape, but generally in this art style. The design can be anything from butterflies to hourglasses or whatever. Also, they aren't always directly on the skin, but they can be. Sometimes on the back of the neck, or the upper arm, or something like that."

    Madoka reaches over to pet her dark fairy. "Gretchen's not a real Witch, so her stickers don't work exactly the same way. Even the fact that it's a sticker instead of a tattoo is different, because it's supposed to be a lot easier to remove by design."

    Madoka shrugs as Yoru talks about Ikuto's fight history. "No one's gonna be mad at you for beating a few of them up. They started it, and they can stop it whenever they want to. I'm more worried about you biting off more than you can chew. However, generally us magicals are immune to the mind control. Only those without magic powers, especially those who are blinded by the Veil, can really get affected by them."

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
Yuki lifts her phone to snap a few pictures of the 'witch sticker', the hiss-click sound of the digital shutter loud in the quiet room. "They're always that fancy, then?" She muses. "It's actually... kind of pretty." She leans forward a bit, then shakes her head and settles back in her seat.

"I have to agree with her," she concludes. "Grown men attacking a high-school student... they knew what they were doing, they deserved what they got."

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto nods. "Easter started sending only youma after that, at least. Probably couldn't get any of their security to agree to it anymore. X-Charas...yeah. They may be incited to cause mayhem by the Heart Egg being corrupted, but in the end they're still a Chara and rather child-like in their thinking. Hm. So that's a Witch's mark. Bit of a weird question, but if you were to carefully slice through the tattoo, say with a metal claw like the one Black Lynx has...would it free someone from a Witch's control? A bit ick, I know. But it could be useful to know if there's no other option in a dangerous situation."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    When told that the sticker is pretty, Gretchen beams. "Thanks! Mines a little more fancy than most, but not by much."

    When asked about slicing through a Witch's mark, Madoka's eyes get a little wide. She has to think about it for a moment, but then she shakes her head. "No, that wouldn't work. I've seen someone with a Witch Mark survive a terrible explosion before. It burnt their skin, but it didn't get rid of the mark. Best way to really clear one out is to defeat the Witch."

    Gretchen holds up her sticker and says, "One thing that does work, and this is only sometimes, but one thing that works is using one of my stickers! They're designed as a counter measure. Another thing you can do is just knock the person out. Sometimes I see the bad guys drain the target instead."

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
"It would be nice to have a simple way to disable these things... maybe if - Gretchen, was it? - could share a few of those with each of us, to apply to any victims we find?" She figures it's a long shot, but it's worth asking. "I guess I need to start working on a better stun spell." Her current danmaku darts are calibrated for anti-youma work, after all.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto grins. "You know, the three of us here like this...we sound like a real team of heroes. Trying to figure out how best to help people and so on...it's nice. Though...it -is- getting a bit late in the evening. It may be best if I walk you home now Madoka-chan. I shouldn't er, be seen hanging around the girls' dorm too late at night, both for my own reputation and yours, Yuki-chan."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Gretchen considers for a moment. "I mean, I could. You have to be careful with these things because once their magic is used up they tend to vanish, but you can probably use them if you need to. Let's see... how would I even..."

    Madoka holds up a finger to make a suggestion. "What if you used a sticker sheet?"

    The Witch Chara snaps her fingers. "That can work! I don't think I can really make a whole lot of these, but I can conjure some for you."

    The sticker that Madoka showed around vanishes for a moment, but a new set of six appear in its stead. A sticker sheet, for magical Witch Stickers. Probably all invisible to the non-magical eye, but Yuki and Ikuto could possibly keep track of it.

    Madoka hands it to Yuki, and then turns to Ikuto. "Oh, true. I should probably be going. Thanks for having me over, Hoshino-san."

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
Yuki nods. "It was good to see you again," she says, "And to meet your little friends." She takes the sticker sheet and tucks it into her phone case, to keep it safe. Maybe you can show me the Shed later, introduce me around?" She smiles lightly and gets up to get the door for her guests.