1557/Early Morning Conversation

Early Morning Conversation
Date of Scene:	19 May 2024
Location:	Sugata's House
Synopsis:	Up with the dawn, Wako and Chiyo kill some time in the back garden of Sugata's house, catching one another up on recent concerns.
Cast of Characters:	Wako Agemaki, Chiyo Sakai

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Wako Agemaki has posed:
The sun is still struggling to clear the Tokyo skyline when Wako and Chiyo arrive at the house - if "house" is the right word for the sprawling traditional-style mansion with its gated drive and carefully landscaped grounds screening it from view of the average passer-by on the street. "I used to do this pretty much every day back home," Wako's telling Chiyo as she uses her key to unlock the front door; "come over to Sugata-kun's house to catch breakfast after I finished morning purification. I don't have to do the rituals any more, but it's hard to break the habit of waking up early, huh?"

When she opens the door, there's a girl in a maid uniform and a bunny ear headband standing in the entryway like she's been waiting for them. "Good morning, Wako-sama," says Jaguar with a polite bow. "The young master isn't up yet."

Wako turns a look sidelong to Chiyo, somewhere between wryly amused and chagrined. An 'I should have expected this' kind of look. "That's fine," she says. "We can go around to the back garden... unless you want to see inside the house first, Chiyo-chan? There's a lot of it."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
The early morning wasn't something that really bothered Chiyo. It was akwward to keep laying in bed, pretending to sleep, in the hopes she didn't wake Rashmi or anyone else. The fact that Wako was already up had been a great relief as well for the early morning riser. She stops to stare at the large gated home with a bit of confusion for the fact that it's right smack dab in the center of the area. How had she never noticed this place before?

"Oh, I understand completely. I'm usually up at this time preparing the mochi for the shop to use for the day. Ojiisan's training the other staff at it now. It's still so odd not to get up though." As she explains she pauses to stare with a little jolt of surprise as the door opens only to reveal a bunny eared maid.

"You're the one that bought out all the chocolate from our shop!" Of *course* she's going to recognize that woman anywhere. As soon as she says it she looks a bit embarassed though, tipping her head toward Wako.

"Ah, I don't want to risk waking him if he's asleep. The gardens sound fine."

Wako Agemaki has posed:
The maid bows again, smiling. "It's good to see you again, Sakai-san. We'll add another for breakfast."

"Thanks, Jaguar," says Wako, still looking a little rueful as Jaguar turns to disappear into the depths of the house.

"We could probably fight a youma inside and not wake Sugata-kun up, honestly," she adds as she shuts the door and begins leading the way onward, "as long as we did it on the other side of the house from his room. There's way too much house to worry about things like that. But the back garden is my favorite anyhow."

It's not hard to see why, once they've wended their way along the footpath around the side of the mansion - in back of the house lies a natural hot spring, carefully arranged into an outdoor onsen and surrounded by more traditional-style garden landscaping, with trees and shrubs adding privacy. Even if one's not going for a soak, it's a lovely, peaceful place to spend time.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
"Thank you, I appreciate it," Chiyo responds in turn giving a quick half-bow herself out of habit. Usually she was on the serving end when working at the shop! Running into a customer while they were doing their job was not something she'd had the chance to come across before.

Wide-eyed she looks to Wako. "So it was Sugata-kun who bought it all. He didn't do something awful he needs to apologize for, did he?" Though while she had seen Wako with chocolate lately it was no where near the quantity that had been purchased.

Curious, she glances at the house as they pass through. "Really? How big *is* this place anyway? It's very lovely, and has a lot of traditional elements..." And then they're outside.

The sight has her grinding to a halt in surprise as she just gapes at the 'garden' with awe. "Wako! I knew Sugata came from money but this is almost a palace! How on Earth did he get this in the middle of the city?!"

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Wako lets out a little laugh at Chiyo's question about the chocolate - a touch awkwardly, like maybe there's some truth to the guess. "That's a long story," she says, "but the short, short version is he wanted to compensate Mamoru-san for healing people, and Mamoru-san asked for chocolate. So Sugata-kun got some of it for Mamoru-san, and some of it for me and Takuto-kun too." Even split three ways, it was a lot of chocolate, but Wako seems unconcerned about that part.

"We fought a youma here, actually!" Wandering over to sit on one of the stone benches overlooking the onsen garden, Wako grins. "Well, Takuto-kun and I and some others did. It wasn't a house then, but the property was empty after... so the Shindo family bought it and had the house built. I was surprised, too, how fast they got it all done."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai follows after Wako without really paying much attention to where they were going. Only because she's looking around at everything that catches her gaze. Flowers, bushes, statuettes. The water itself. When they reach the bench she actually does need to sit, and does so with a quick flop down and habitual sweep of her hands over her sides so her skirt doesn't do that flippy thing.

"Oh, a youma. That makes more sense that it was built here then. I mean... It's stil impressive." Her head shakes a bit as her gaze returns to Wako with a grin.

"I'm not surpposed Mamoru-kun would ask for chocolate. He has a huge sweet tooth and is one of my regular customers, too. I'm glad it's for that then, and not because he did something bad." Well. It was Sugata. He probably still had somewhere along the line from what she's heard of him.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
"It's very good chocolate too - though that's no surprise, since it came from your shop. I hope we didn't cause you or your grandfather too much trouble, doing that."

The heels of Wako's hands rest on the edge of the bench and she leans back a little, tipping her face upward to the morning sky. "Anyway, though, have you been okay?" she asks. "I mean - I see you every day, and all, but it feels like things move so fast in Tokyo I can blink and miss all kinds of happenings." A beat. "Aside from the guy you had to toss out the window. Which, honestly, good for you."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
"Yes and no. We've been working extra to refill our shelves, but it certainly didn't hurt us financially at all." Quite the contrary on that. She's not about to say how much was made, though, or the fact that it seemed like they'd hit a few shops before hers too. That was a lot of chocolate they decided to get for Mamoru.

The question causes her to blanche a bit, moreso when she follows up with the yeeting. "Yeah, that was Ikuto from prom. I was already ticked at him for ditching me for another girl. I mean I kind of told him it was okay when he first apologized, but I was still hurt. It was really sweet when he played the violin for me." Then he ditched her. "Then he shows up, tells me things didn't work out with the other girl, and that he's fallen for me?" Her eyes roll in clear exasperation.

"Honestly I wanted to punch him but knowing my strength it would have broken furniture. Tossing him seemed best. I just... had to get him away from me at that point."

She's dawdling a bit. Avoiding the actual question of if she's okay while picking at a string at the edge of her skirt.

"... Actually... I don't know if I am okay or not. My powers have been randomly not working right lately."

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Wako nods along, lips pursing. "Yeah, he definitely deserved that. Geez, why are guys, even?"

The rest of what Chiyo has to say, though, has Wako straightening up, half-turning to face Chiyo more fully with a look of concern coming over her face. "That doesn't sound okay to me," she says. "What's been happening? And... how long is 'lately'?"

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai sits with shoulders slumped, and her arms resting on her knees. Fingers lace together as she contemplates a spot on the ground quietly. "Shortly after some of the other Culinary Guardians started showing up." How long had that been now? It takes a moment for her to count back over it, and her expresion falters as she realizes. "A couple of months now. It's not often," she hastens to add looking over toward Wako.

"But I don't know when it happens either. It's like my power goes haywire for a bit. I've been drained before and it kind of feels like that, but then it's also like I'm being ... drowned at the same time? With too much power." It was such a strange feeling and difficult to explain.

"I ah, I spoke to Sunbreaker the other day. She saw it happen to me in a fight not long ago and came to ask me what was wrong. I know she's not really on our side but she *is* more familiar with magic. Said it sounds like my power source 'cup' was cracked, or something."

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Wako listens, a frown tugging slowly at the corners of her mouth as she considers what Chiyo is describing. "I suppose she would know, maybe, as long as you think she's telling you the truth. What's that mean, though - 'cracked'?"

Her fingers drum distractedly against the stone surface of the bench. "I can't remember if we've talked about it... and maybe it's something you can't talk about? But, where does your power come from, anyway?"

Pulling herself out of her abstracted mood, she focuses on Chiyo's face. "For me and Takuto-kun and Sugata-kun, it's our Cybodies, and the marks that link us. But I don't know very much about how other forms of magic work - I never even knew there were so many, until I came here."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai shakes her head a bit at that. "I'm not entirely sure, and she even admitted she'd have to do an actual scan of my powers to know for certain. She described it as wizards using cups filled with power to fill up a bowl for a communal spell. But if one person's cup is cracked, the flow isn't right? Or she suggested someone could be siphoning off my cup."

"It really wasn't a very good analogy but it was better than anything I know so far."

One hand lifts from her lap to tuck a curl of hair behind her ear. "Sanbo-Kojin. My power comes from Sanbo-Kojin. He's the God of the Hearth Fire. And God of Punishment, and God of Defense. He apparently looks on humanity fondly because he likes that we found creative ways to use fire instead of just destructive means. So he made these Senbei crackers cooked by his own hand at his own Hearth Fire and sent some fire spirits out to distribute them. Once you eat it, you can access the power." Her lips quirk in a faint grin. "I guess it's like, 'you are what you eat'?"

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Wako's eyes widen, and she blinks once. "Wow." She has to take a moment or two to digest this. "That's... pretty far out of my area of expertise. But, since your power was given to you by a god... you could try asking at a shrine, maybe?"

She bites her lower lip, thinking again. "It could be that something's interfering with your connection to Sanbo-Kojin, somehow. It might not be much help, but I could try a purification ritual, if you want. At the least, it wouldn't harm anything."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
It's immediately obvious that Wako's suggestion wasn't something that Chiyo had even considered. Her hands push against her knees to sit up properly again with a more determined, thoughtful expression. "That's a great idea. I asked Bonito but he doesn't seem to know. I hadn't thought of visiting a shrine." WAS there a shrine to Sanbo-kojin around? Or were they just generic?

"For as much as Ojiisan likes to keep to traditional things, I admit we never really went to shrines much. He was always more concerned with keeping the shop open."

"I'd appreciate that, Wako, thanks. I'll try seeing if I can get any answers, and we can try a ritual, too. You're right. At the least it can't hurt."

Pausing she regards the water. "Unless I'm secretly a youma and unaware of it." It's clearly a joke. Really.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
"I don't think we need to worry about that," Wako says with a smile. "All right, then - we missed sunrise, so I think tomorrow morning would be best, unless you want to sleep in. Or we could do it at sunset instead, but I kind of feel like for a god of the hearth, sunrise is best?" Her expression goes questioning, a little apologetic, like she thinks Chiyo would know better than she does.

"...not that it has to be sunrise or sunset, really," she adds, "but since we already don't know if it'll help at all, I want to give it the best chance."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
"I think tomorrow would be best just so we have more time to prepare," Chiyo points out with a grin. "We still have school after all. Also, what would I need to do for this? If anything." Wako was a shrine maiden of some sort, wasn't she? Surely a ritual would need more than her in-combat purification she imagines.

"I would offer you some treats from the shop, but I think maybe Sugata has you covered on that for awhile."

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Wako shakes her head, smiling again. "You won't need to do anything in particular," she says. "Maybe bring some homework or something else you want to work on for a bit - it'll probably be pretty boring. The good news is, Sugata-kun made sure everything I need is right here. And then we can catch breakfast afterwards."

There's a momentary pause before she laughs. "--yeah, no, I think even I'm good on sweets for a while. Thanks, though."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
"Oh, you'd be surprised how much I can manage through 'boring' situations. Making mochi is really kind of meditation in a way and it takes awhile! I'll make us some nice flower arrangements for the room then, at least." Her other hobby! Skill? Really she hadn't done it in awhile since becoming a magical girl.

"You're really lucky you have such reliable and cute boyfriends. Er. Fiance and boyfriend," she corrects with a laugh. "I ought to run any boy I meet by you since my judgement is so bad lately."

Wako Agemaki has posed:
"I am lucky, aren't I?" It's not smug, really, or at least not trying to be. If anything, there's a certain sense of wonder in it that things have turned out this way. But then she grins. "You should! We'll make sure any guys you meet are worthy of you before you bother too much with them. Although honestly, Window-kun was hardly your fault."

She does, at least peripherally, know Ikuto's name. But too bad, he's Window-kun now.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai shakes her head slightly. "No he wasn't my fault. Though... I did start to feel a bit... I mean, the violin part was really nice. It's probably a good thing he screwed up right afterwards instead of letting me get any feelings for him." Window-kun. That earns a grin and a laugh in response.

"Enough about me though. How are *you* doing lately, Wako? I know you've been out a lot."

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Wako giggles a little, pleased with herself and with Chiyo's reaction to the joke. "Oh, I've been all right. Since the prom, I've been working more on my singing... the guys set me up a ViewTube channel and everything. I even got a job over Golden Week!"

Her genuine pleasure over this doesn't seem to linger long, though, before her mouth twists wryly. "Even though I had a party crasher on the last number. We turned it into a good show, but it still annoys me."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
"That's great news, Wako! Congratulations! I didn't know you had a Viewtube channel. You'll have to show me later!" Chiyo really did sound excited over it all. How could she not be? Her friend was making great headway on becoming an idol and she really *was* a good singer. "Just be careful, okay? There's some really shady people in the Idol industry." For just a moment her expression looks conflicted... Thankfully the topic changes slightly.

Chiyo's eyebrows draw together in a stern frown. "Someone crashed your show? It's not that Utau girl I hope? Do you need any help with it?"

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Wako shakes her head quickly. "No, not her. Have you heard of Bass-chan? Or maybe you've seen her, out and about - she's around the mall and such a lot, busking or selling singles on flash drives." She makes a face. "She summoned a youma once as a publicity stunt. It was a crappy youma, but still. Really annoying."

She draws in a breath and then lets it back out again in a sigh. "Anyway... her music really isn't my style, but Sugata-kun likes it, which makes it awkward. Although," she admits, "that's my own fault for sending him the single in the first place. But don't worry - I don't plan on signing anything without letting Sugata-kun have his family's lawyers check it out. I'm okay with staying small and independent for now."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai shakes her head a little at the mention of this Bass-chan. It didn't sound very familiar to her. "I'm probably way behind on music to be fair. Ojiisan usually has the radio playing baseball games or local news in the shop. Or... An older idol." Fingers tap lightly against the stone bench.

"Good, yeah, make sure they look over anything. Just..." She rocks her head back to peer up at the rising sun with a sigh. "I don't tell many this, but my mom was an idol. She's an actress now. My dad was someone in her company that took advantage of her."

"Not that I think that would happen to you. It's just the kind of thing you should be careful of."

Wako Agemaki has posed:
"...oh." Wako looks suddenly stricken, and her voice quiets, faintly abashed. "I had no idea... that's awful, Chiyo-chan." Her head lowers, gaze dropping to the gravel under her feet. "I promise I'll be careful. I know the industry can be ugly... to be honest, that's been on my mind lately, more and more. If it comes to it, I might need to think about what it is I really want to do, if it turns out becoming an idol would mean sacrifices I don't want to make."

After a moment, she gives herself a little shake and looks up again. "But... that'll be a problem for the future, I think. Between school and all this magic stuff, who has time to start a whole music career too?"

A beat. "I'm kind of thinking of crashing one of Bass-chan's gigs sometime, though. Just to return the favor."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai reaches out to rest a hand lightly on Wako's shoulder. It lingers a moment, trying to show she wasn't upset at Wako at all. "It's... what I'm used to. I don't think you'd have the same issue, like I said. I'm just worried."

"If anything though I think Sugata's family could open their own studio and just promote you. If this is something *easy* for them to do in barely any time at all," she points out with a glance around the gardens again. "I'm kidding though. About getting a studio."

"But yeah, just, don't buy any BS they give you. You're better than that." Not better than crashing someone else's show though. Grinning she adds, "If you want some help to crash, I'd be up for it."

Wako Agemaki has posed:
The smile Wako offers is a little abashed, for a moment, but genuine. Then it turns very chagrined. "They probably could," she admits. "Or at least pay for a lot of promoting - but I don't want to buy my way there. If I'm going to make it as a singer, I want to earn it."

Her eyebrows lift a little and she grins. "Which means, right now, Viewtube. And maybe giving Bass-chan a taste of her own medicine. She plays sometimes at this club - the Untidy Squid, if you can believe the name. I'd just have to make sure she's not playing with any other acts that night. I don't want to mess with anyone else."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
"I get that. I think you'll do fine on your own as it is. Besides, it doesn't take a big budget to advertise locally. We can all help with that." Chiyo's about to suggest making up some flyers for her next show, when the name of the venue for this Bass-chan causes her to face to scrunch.

"Ew. It doesn't sound like the sort of place I'd normally visit. I could for this though," she adds with a laugh. "Should we see if Sugata's awake yet?"

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Wako laughs, eyes sparkling with restored good humor. "It's not so bad. All-ages before ten pm. Sugata-kun and I went to a show there not too long ago. It was kind of fun even if it was Bass-chan."

With a cheerful, decisive nod, she hops to her feet. "Sure," she agrees. "If he's not up yet by now, I'll eat his breakfast."