1894/First Frost

First Frost
Date of Scene:	26 August 2024
Location:	Plot Room 2
Synopsis:	Trying to get back to the dorms, Miho and two other students run into a being with Dark Energy. Onihime and Pulp Noir notice the presence of Dark Energy and rush to the scene, only to find one of the students knocked out, about to become a snack for the Dark Energy being. Onihime and Pulp Noir fight the spider youma off. Onihime finds another Magatama in the presence of Miho, but it leaves more questions then answers.
Cast of Characters:	Miho Inada, Kureha Senkenzan, Hinote Kagari

---

Miho Inada has posed:
    Its starting to get dark when three RHA students are getting off the subway, and heading back to the Academy. One of these students is Miho Inada, a recent transfer. The other two are classmates of hers, and helping her get used to Tokyo. The trio is just relaxing, and laughing about things while talking about different things about class. That is until the conversations start taking a small turn. "So, Miho, you did give that boy at the music store your info, riiight?", she asks with a giggle.

    Miho deadeyes for a second. "No, I didn't! He was trying to take the last CD of that band! No, mine!", she says, holding onto her bag of pillage! The other girl just laughs a bit, looking at Miho a bit as she runs in front of her.

    "Oh, your face was beet red when he grabbed your hand! And he was cute! You should have given him your info! He might of asked you out on a date.", she teases. Miho just gives this glare.

    "Oh, she blushing while getting mad! She thought he was cute too!", the other says before looking at her watch. "Oh crap! We got to hurry! We got to get back before curfew! We'll take the alley to get to the back gate before they lock it!", she says, running ahead!

    Miho and the other girl chase after her, before Miho stops at the enterence of the alley! She grabs her head as one of her headaches just seems to explode suddenly. She reaches for her medicine, but its so bad. Unbeknowest to her though, is the wave of primal energy that comes from her magatama. Its clashing with a wave of dark energy thats hiding in the alley, waiting for prey to run through the alley.

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    It's fortunate for Kureha that today's attendant is Chisa, the only one she can trust completely. None of the others would humor a random whimsy like the one that hits the young scion of the Chikafuji family. She's not sure she can put words to it - a scent that's not quite a scent, a feeling that's not quite a feeling. Something nudges at her instincts, so much so that even completely untransformed, she's feeling... something. After a few paces, Kureha's steps come to a stop, a frown on her face. The woman walking alongside her notices immediately, and stops as well, offering a simple, "My lady...?"

    The faint frown probably says it all before Kureha even speaks. "...I am not certain. Potentially trouble. We... should perhaps meet back up at the car." Though Chisa looks concerned, the woman nods. "Be safe, Lady Kureha."

    And Kureha herself turns, following her metaphorical nose, towards a faint sensation of something dark, and something... Else.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari is on the investigative trail again as he's following another lead about The Meaniedokas...! Whenn it turns out it was a dead end. Floating over his shoulder was Tracy who was urging Hinote to follow one more lead.

"I feel something strange, Hinote!" says Tracy- the tiny detective-dressed fairy Chara said.

Hinote Kagari comes along the stopped girl, holding her head where Tracy is pointing. Miho Inada may or may not be able to see Tracy, depending how magically awake she is.

"Miss, Are you alright?" asks Hinote Kagari to Miho. Tracy looks down the alleyway hesitantly a moment.

Miho Inada has posed:
    Something's not right. There's something around here thats not sopposed to be here. This notion fills Miho as she starts to look around. The other girl stops, and comes back to Miho. "You alright? Having another one of those headaches?", she asks. The other girl is a little bit away, turns around.

    "Y-yeah. I'm alright. I just don't think we should go this way. Just...doesn't feel right.", Miho says. She doesn't know how to explain it, but there's something around here. Something she can feel, taste...smell. Something wrong. Her body shivers as if she's cold. "I think we need to leave. Somebody is in the alleyway. They...don't feel right.", she says, looking at Hinote. She doesn't seem to notice Tracy, but something seems a little off about Miho at the moment.

    The girl deeper in the alley blinks a little bit. "Hey, we'll get you to the nurse's office when we get back. We need to hur...URK!", she starts to say. A figure leaps out, and grabs the lead girl, slamming her into the wall of the alley before breathing in. The girl fights for about a second before her body goes limp, and the figure drops her to the ground. The figure turns towards the group at the enterence of the alley. It looks like an office worker, but the clothes are deshelved, and the eyes are red. He walks awkwardly towards the group.

    "G-get gonna. I'll go help her. He's...probably just a drunk, and she might of hit her head on the wall.", Miho says. The girl looks at Miho a moment. "I have training, get to the school!", she says. The woman looks at Hinote a moment. "Can you make sure she gets to RHA, in case this guy...gets past me?", she asks. Miho winces a bit more as another throb rattles her. Curse these headaches. Miho wants to curl up, but for now, she has to get her friend, and make sure the other is safe...

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    As Kureha is coming into sight, a lot of things happen at once. A girl further down the alleyway is assaulted. Kureha can just about feel the creeping icy sensation of Dark Energy at this point, and the situation has just gotten dire. If someone doesn't act fast, more people are going to get hurt, and she doesn't recognize anyone else here - though the small floating creature marks one of them as potentially magical. She can't be sure of anything but the fact that she, herself, is built for frontline fighting. So she might as well put herself out there.

    "Sigh. I truly have gotten poor at concealing my identity."

    A girl in a kimono breezes past Hinote, Miho, and the two normies. "All of you, please stand back. I am... skilled in self-defense. Though I would not spurn any other self-defense experts at hand." Her crimson eyes briefly dart to Hinote and Tracy, then back around to the alleyway. "Please do not put yourself in harm's way otherwise." More than a little, she's banking on peoples' tendency to forget and rationalize, to conceal what she's about to do. There's a little 'snap' as Kureha pulls a necklace from her neck, and then holds it out to her side-

    (-and Miho gets to see what looks like a very familiar magatama bead-)

    -before being engulfed in a torrent of flames that seems to erupt from the palm of her hand. The flames wash over her, whirl around her, as if burning away her yukata - except that what's left behind is a thicker kimono, fire-patterned. The flames draw a set of claws on her right hand out of nothing, they rise up off her forehead to leave behind a pair of horns. The now-red magatama is brought up to the girl's left temple, where it forms a clip all on its own; and then, at last, the horned girl reaches up to give her hair a casual flip, which sets a brief curtain of flame alight underneath her hair, leaving behind a layer of red under the black.

    "Rekka Saisei!"

    Her transformation complete, the horned young lady steps to the fore, planting herself in a defensive position. "Youkai Musume... Onihime. You shall not move a step past me."

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari is asked to make sure someone gets to the school. He nods as things get dicey. He gets them to the correct bus. But that's the best he can do because he slips into the adjacent alleyway, and he looks over to Tracy.

Tracy slips into his heart egg as Hinote merges with it, "My Heart: Unlock!" calls Hinote as there's a flash of light, Pulp Noir coming out the other side of the transformation. Jumping from wall to wall, his trenchcoat flaps in the breeze of these motions as he runs across the rooftop and lands down on the otherside of the alleway Kureha transforms in, just after, to cover the other side.

"So what are you supposed to be?" he asks into the alleyway.

Miho Inada has posed:
    Its taking everything Miho has to just stay on her feet. As Onihime and Pulp Noir show up, the headaches really pound. Especially at Onihime's transformation. Miho notices the magatama, and subconciously touches hers. They're...the same, save her's is blue, and Oni's is red. Miho takes in a deep breath, and breathes out. A small fog seems to come out her mouth, and the area around Miho seems to get a layer of ice. "Youkai...?", she breathes out, that blue fog coming out. Her eyes seem to go from normal to pale blue, and back again. The headache is much much worse. She wants her meds...now!

    The figure looks at the two...'heros'. There's only a small grunt. The dark energy while not very strong is more then enough to deal with normies, but...these two 'heroes' seem to be...stronger then it expected. It growls a little bit as it looks. Now its looking for a way to escape, before looking at the collapsed girl there.

    Miho takes a few shakey steps towards Onihime. "Experienced or not, you...don't need to protect me. I'm an Inada, and can fight like one.", she says, taking up a fighter's stance. Its clear that Miho's putting up a front, and can barely stand. The young lady isn't about to back down there. Inada? From Kyoto? That Magatama is pulsing a bit, each wave rattling the girl. The air around her is getting colder, wanting to be released. "Just...get my friend while I distract him...", she says to Onihime.

    The figure makes its move towards the unconcious girl, intending to use her as a shield or a distraction to make its own escape...It just ferally growls. Can't be much more then a lower level though. More instinct then plotting to be honest.

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    The creature's move towards the unconscious girl is met with a brief plume of fire. Onihime waves her hand and conjures a short-range burst of flames, a warning more than anything else. "I would strongly recommend against taking your focus off me, brute." She cants her head slightly, looking over her shoulder to Miho. "I assure you I am far better-suited to restraining that thing. I..."

    Her words trail off. Her fiery yellow-orange eyes track down to the magatama in Miho's hand, and then go wide. The coin finally drops on that vague, instinct-level 'familiar feeling'.

    Kureha's attention turns back around to the creature. "That magatama bead. Was it passed down in your family? Perhaps for a very long time? If that is the case, then whatever you're feeling from it... do not resist. Welcome it. Embrace... no, demand it. You must desire the power with all your heart. Wish for the power to protect, and you shall have it. If I am not mistaken, it is already in you."

    She leaves that declaration with Miho, and simply lunges into combat - attempting to put herself firmly between the creature and its intended prey.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Pulp Noir doesn't get an answer. Either the thing won't, or most likely can't, answer. This makes Pulp Noir frown a little hard as he raises into his coat and produces his Colt .45 pistol, which instead shooting a bullet, shoots a high powered, jet blast of water from it's tip, as it looks towards the fallen girl.

"I don't think so, you lummox." he says as he looks past the creature towards Onihime. She's unfamiliar, but she seems to be giving advice to that girl from earlier.

"Hey, listen to her. Something doesn't feel right here." he says.

Miho Inada has posed:
    The figure growls as its blasted with the water. The water knocks it away from the girl, and right towards Onihime, whose charging into the figure. It raises its arm, and tries to swipe at Onihime, pretty much putting nothing but strength into the swing. It howls a bit, wildly swiping at her instead of Pulp before bending backwards, and spidercrawling towards him, to go after him with pretty much the same attack. This Dark Energy creature really doesn't stand much of a chance, now that its prey has protection.

    Miho blinks a little bit as Onihime speaks to her. She looks at Pulp a little bit, confused as he's telling her to listen. Something isn't right, but Miho doesn't know what it is. The headache finally forces her to drop to a knee, before she falls flat on her face. The young woman just isn't ready yet. Miho does try to reach out towards her friend, before the lights decide to go on vacation in her head.

    The figure looks at Miho who just fell, and tries to dodge past Onihime, doing something akin to a zombie side step. It realizes it doesn't really stand any chance. He growls at Onihime and Pulp Noir, before just wildly swinging its arms in huge swiping motions at both of them, switching between the two.

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    Rather than dodge, the Youkai Musume of Flames simply meets strength with strength. Her hand whips up, blocking the blow outright, and then when it lurges with inhuman movements towards Pulp Noir, she's right behind it. "Be cautious, it's quite physically powerful." However, when Miho falls and it tries to lunge past her, her reaction shows that she is, if anything, far stronger than the creature she's warning about. A simple lift of her geta-clad foot, a sharp stomp, and the ground buckles outward, shredding the ground on which the youma is trying to move. She steps in right after, bending down to grab the youma and physically throw it back down the alleyway.

    She glances briefly over her shoulder at Miho again, frowning. 'Was I mistaken? Or is something wrong with her?' But she has no time to do anything but focus on her enemy. "I certainly hope that you can be punched out of whatever has possessed you. I have no purification powers. Only fists and flame."

Miho Inada has posed:
    The Figure is blocked, before getting thrown down the alley. Its about this point, when the figure seems to bow forward. It coughs a few times before a puppy size spider comes out its mouth, and the figure falls to the alley floor. The spider hisses violently. It starts trying to climb the walls to get away now. Since its host can't beat the heroes, its just gonna try to find a new host, thats stronger. Maybe.

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    Prepared as she is for another attack, Onihime tenses a little when the figure doubles over. But what comes after prompts her to relax... if only a little. "...I see. An unusually wise choice for a creature of darkness."

    Needless to say, she's not going to leave it at that.

    Heat ripples through the alleyway, the air around Kureha's clawed right hand beginning to ripple. Flames flicker and dance, the very air itself catching fire in brief wisps. In a closed space like this, she can't afford to just cut loose with one of her full-strength finishers. Not when she could catch the buildings around them on fire. She's already chunked up the concrete as it is. But no, she's got an idea. A simple, effective finishing move, even held back. As long as she points it away from the buildings, it should be fine. "HAA-!"

    Up the Ogre Princess leaps, soaring up the side of the building to slam into the wall right where the spider creature is heading. Right in the perfect spot to laugh out with her superheated hand, grab hold of the creature, sink her claws in - and then if she can get hold of it, pull it away from the wall and leap upward. "Rekka Kaihou-!"

    Under ordinary circumstance, Onihime would use this move by burying her claws in the opponent, and unleashing the full power of her flames inside them. She can't go full power here, and she's not sure the spider could contain all that. But at the least, the Youkai Musume can unleash some of that flame, and as long as she points the attack straight upward, the column of fire shouldn't burn either building. She hopes.

    "Partial release... DOUJI CLAW!"

Miho Inada has posed:
    And that does it for the spider. The flames shoot upwards, leaving very...minor scorch marks. More like soot from spider ash then actual burns. The spider just gives one last hiss before burning up. But the fun part is the clean up coming up! A lot of the ice has melted thanks to that last attack, and the girl and Miho are safe.

    Next to Miho's unconcious body is a bottle of pills. Her medicine. Its a semi high grade medicine used to treat headaches and migranes. Especially those triggered by stress. If one looks at the date on the bottle, its listed as late July. And Miho was invited to the school in early August. There's something there with the timing of things. The Magatama that Miho has is the real thing as is the set of prayer beads on her wrist. They give off a small amount of power, but nothing compared to the Magatama.

    The odd familiar feeling might be fading, as the magatama seems to be settling down. The dark energy having been destroyed, there's no longer a threat. However, Miho isn't waking up just yet. Just what is sealed in that magatama that controls ice? And whats holding Miho back from accepting it? Either way, somebody is gonna have to carry two girls back to the School...And its past curfew...

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    With everything settled, Kureha turns around and jogs over - first to the unconscious girl, and then to Miho. Each is checked for health in turn; it's Miho whom she gives the most attention to, frowning faintly. The pills, the magatama, the lingering chill... she's not sure what's going on, but at the very least, she knows that magatama has to be the same as her own. She can feel it.

    Kureha lets her transformation release, and reaches up to catch her own pendant as it drops from its clipped spot. The color fades from red back to a more neutral jade-ish color, and she puts it around her neck. Then, moving quickly, she pulls out a business card - 'SENKENZAN KUREHA', with a phone number and email address on it. On the back, she quickly draws a simple magatama shape, then tucks it into one of Miho's pockets.

    Shortly thereafter, a call will go in to emergency services. A gas leak in an alleyway. There was a plume of flames, and there's two girls who might have passed out from the fumes.

    It's the best way Kureha can think of to get them medical attention and sidestep any curfew issues.