>>35090203
>Ask Kaori, she can divine the future from her cards, right? Just do that!
Obviously!

>>35090203
>Ask Kaori, she can divine the future from her cards, right? Just do that!

>>35090203
>Interview each one privately, see if they will admit anything when alone

>>35090203
>>Ask Kaori, she can divine the future from her cards, right? Just do that!
Sounds foolproof.

>Ask Kaori! She'll know what to do!

Writing!

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"Kaori! You can tell things from your cards, right?"

She seems surprised by me calling her by name directly. I haven't had a chance to get to know her since coming here.
"Your cards told my fortune before, can they tell the fortune of someone else?"

She sighs and puts down her teacup, folding her hands neatly on the table.
"..I could but that's a huge invasion of privacy, and also-"
Her eyes slowly track over to Ryouta, and he only stares back at her. Both of them nod to each other, and she redirects her attention back to me.

"Masami.. There was something I've been meaning to talk to you about."
The entire table goes silent, Maeda stops playing with her phone, Aiko quits rummaging throug her bookbag. Everyone's eyes are now intently staring at me.

I really don't like this kind of attention. I can feel the nervousness starting to creep its way into my head.

Kaori reaches into her backpack and shuffles around in it, before pulling out her signature deck of cards. She takes them out and starts gradually shuffling at them.

"We have been having weekly card readings for the student council." she begins, "Ever since you arrived, there has been something, strange happening with our card readings."

"'Strange'? They're just cards, right?"

"It's more what the cards were telling us, about the student council, and about you."

She lightly taps the top of the deck, gently flipping the top card off onto the table.
It's the three of spades.

"Do you know what this card means?"
I shake my head.

She does the same thing again, this time, it's the five of Diamonds.

"How about this one?"
I'm really not sure where she's going with this, I shake my head again.

Again, she takes the top card off, and flicks it onto the table,
It's the five of hearts.

"Kaori, I don't know how to read the cards like you do."
"I know that, which is why I wanted you to know that ever since you showed up, I have predicted this same chain of events time and time again."

(1/2)

>>35090978
How mysterious!

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>>35090978
"Chain of events?" I ask, I'm not really sure how a series of cards translates to a series of events.

She nods, "The cards I just showed you have shown up time and time again since your arrival. I've done this same reading dozens of times, with multiple card decks. Every time, it's the same events. The only thing that has happened recently to cause this is you joining our school."

I'm not sure what to think about that, "So, it means something is destined to happen, right? What does it mean?"

She points to the first card, the three of spades.
"This one, represents a betrayal in life."

We're not off to a great start, she points to the five of diamonds,
"This card, represents difficult times, or a feeling of rejection."

I'm not sure I want to hear the last one! She puts the other two back and points to the last card, the five of hearts.
"And this one, is about loss, particularly in the sense of regret."

She shuffles that last card back into the deck before giving it a few cuts. She stifles back a yawn as she looks back toward me.

"Masami, you say you have questions for us, right? Well, I think some of us have some questions for you."

>"Hold on! You don't think I have anything to do with those readings, do you?"
>"M-Maybe it's referring to someone else who transferred in?"
>"How do you know it's talking about me!? You can't prove anything!"
>"C-can I talk to you in private about this?"
>"That's not important! What's important now is the masked girl running around!"
>Other?

>>35091234
>"Hold on! You don't think I have anything to do with those readings, do you?"
RUDE

>>35091234
>>"C-can I talk to you in private about this?"
I am worried, worried about cards.

>>35091234

>"Hold on! You don't think I have anything to do with those readings, do you?"
>"C-can I talk to you in private about this?"
>Be on the verge of tears.

>>35091234
>"Hold on! You don't think I have anything to do with those readings, do you?"

>>35091234
>>"How do you know it's talking about me!?
Those things can apply to anyone and are rather vague.

>>35091234
>"How do you know it's talking about me!?
>"M-Maybe it's referring to someone else who transferred in?"

>>35091234
>"C-can I talk to you in private about this?"

Counting

So

>Hold on! You don't think I have anything to do with those readings, do you?
>How do you know it's talking about me?!

>C-can I talk to you in private about this?
>Maybe cry

If that's good, Writing.

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I notice everyone has their eyes trained on me. Maybe it's because they're expecting me to talk, or because they're not sure what I'm going to do. Or maybe it's because they didn't expect me to start kneading my uniform and sweating.

"Wait! Hold on! You don't think that has anything to do with me, do you?"
"Mmm, Masami, I'm sorry, but nothing else happened recently that would make those readings." Kaori's already tired face shows her sadness at telling me that.

"..But.. How do you even know it's about me?! I mean, What about that masked girl!? She's just as suspicious as anyone!"

Ryouta speaks up, "I'm sorry if it seems like we're putting you on the spot, but- this is about betrayal, and we don't trust her at all."

The pitch in my voice raises by a few notes, "W-Wait! That doesn't mean anything still, she could still be someone you know and trust! That's why you have to help me find her."

Kaori finishes sipping her tea, and sets it down with a deafening clack.
"Masami, about the masked girl. I was talking with Ryouta, and we can't find anyone else who saw her except for you. And you know-"

She takes another sip from her teacup, and pushes it away, giving me her full attention.

"And you know, I heard from a little bird that you got a card recently that let you split into two people. Can you tell us more about that?"

W-What? how did she-
Wait!
"AIKO!" I yell, voice nearly cracking as I do so.

She's already buried her face into her hands,
"I'M SORRY MASAMI! I sort of blabbed about it at lunch because I thought it was a cool power to have and I asked everyone what they would do with that power. And- I'm sorry.."

Now my face is flush red, everyone's eyes has gone from worried concern for a friend to the judging gaze of my executors.

I can feel the tears pressuring the edges of my eyelids, begging me to let them flow free. My teeth chatter lightly as I ask my last request:
"C-can I talk to you in private? Please?"

(1/2)

>>35092358

>"Masami, about the masked girl. I was talking with Ryouta, and we can't find anyone else who saw her except for you. And you know-"

How the shit? Wasn't Maeda in the same place at some point?

>>35092411
She was knocked out when the monster attacked, and as a light correction: Ryouta was also there and saw the masked girl. Ryouta's testimony is that Kaori was talking about.

>>35092445

Just making sure. This way, it can still only be Aiko as opposed to "surprise, the twist is that it was Maeda!"

>>35092358
Well, our mom saw her too, and you'd think she'd be the one person who could tell if the masked girl was just us using a card.

>>35092724
I don't think our friends trust our mom more then us. Considering her workplace maybe even less.

Sorry, had a delay, continuing to write

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>>35092358
Kaori walks with me a little ways from the pavilion where the student council meets. I can tell that she's hesitant to walk too far away, or outside the eyesight range of the other student council members. Ryouta has walked outside of the pavilion and is leaning on the side of it, while watching both of us.

Oh, where did it go so wrong?

"Masami.." Kaori says, tapping my shoulder, "Masami, please stop crying, we just wanted to talk."

Am I crying!?
I rub my face against my sleeve and try to compose myself. I can feel that my voice is still shakey and uneasy.
"W-well, Kaori, why? Why are you doing this to me?"

"Masami, I'm not doing anything to you. This is how we've always felt. I'm just telling you what we've been thinking since you got here. None of us hate you, we just don't know what is going to happen when you're around. The future is very unclear for us."

I...think I need a hug.
"P-please.. d-don't."
"Oh, Masami."

She grabs me by the shoulder and pulls me into a hug. She's very gentle and warm, even when she's being serious.

"Please just come back and talk to us about this, you don't have to do it now, but we want to hear your side of this. If there's anything you need to tell us, we're here for you."

"...Before when you were talking about the masked girl, do you still think I could be her?"
"Not really, I suspected you were, but I don't think you would come to us to ask about the masked girl if you were the masked girl."

"S-So, if I can find her, that will prove me innocent, right?"
"Masami.. That's not what I was trying to say."

Both of us stand there for an uncomfortably long time. Neither of us sure what to say to all of this.
"Come back to the meeting with me, we still do have some questions to ask."

>"No! I need to find that girl!"
>"N-No, not now, please."
>"O-Okay.."
>"Fine.. but you'll let me go when I answer you, right?"
>Other?
>Maybe use a card power to do something?

>>35093040
>>"O-Okay.."

>>35093040
>"O-Okay.."
>"Fine.. but you'll let me go when I answer you, right?"

>>35093040
>>"O-Okay.."

>>35093040
>"O-Okay..."
And since they all know about it, show them what the card does exactly? To prove for sure that the masked girl can't be us.

>>35093040
>"No! I need to find that girl!"

>>35093040
>"O-Okay.."
>"Fine.. but you'll let me go when I answer you, right?"

>>35093040
>"O-Okay.."

You know, we have enough evidence to expose the masked girl, why haven't we done so yet?

Given the information, abilities she's demonstrated without even using a card (super speed, Aiko's special magical ability), masked girl's only around when Aiko isn't, she works on information nobody else should know (we went to Fortune, only Aiko knew. Masked Girl knew CEO was "dad", only females that knew were Maeda and Aiko, etc.), her appearances don't fit with the time frame of acquiring the card for it to be us, and so on.

There's an incredibly giant pile of evidence due to her being sloppy about it, how come we haven't said it yet now that they're putting us on the spot like this and apparently being fine with it? Or at least fine enough to let us take the heat for her?

>>35093211
She only used super speed after using a card, so, the evidence isn't really that conclusive.

>>35093277

I thought she did so during earlier chase sequences as well. That said, the other evidence is still pretty damning.

>>35093211
We want to befriend her.

>>35093311

There's a difference between befriending and letting her use us as scapegoat to get out scott free, though.

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Company showed up unexpectedly, I'll resume within the next hour.

In the meantime, here's a survey:

>Given the information you have right now, who is the masked girl?

>>35093277
Have we seen her using any other cards? Because for all we know, she could have just used a fake card to cover up that she has super speed as a natural ability.

>>35093211
For reference
>
That is, until she turns around and notices me following her. She reaches into her pocket,
takes out a card
and does a swiping motion across her wrist.

As if someone flipped a switch in her legs, she darts away at twice the speed that she was once running at. I lose her as she rounds one of the corners of the indoor court building.

So, while it might be Aiko. There is no real evidence it has to be her. Since the superpowers her and the others use aren't card based.
Now she might have always used cards, but we don't know that, hence why we must collect information.
And we don't really want to expose her, so we would be taking the heat for her anyway, otherwise we could have just taken her mask off. I think the current idea is to find out who she is, to aproach her better.

So it the indication is very strong, but I personally, wouldn't want to risk it on that. If the Masked gril tracks us somehow, she could have still known these things.

>>35093327
Well, most of the signs point towards Aiko, but that seems too easy to be true.

>>35093327
Someone new.

>>35093328
I'm fairly sure we did ? I have to look it up though, but she still has those telekinese abilities in addition.

>>35093327

Aiko. Between the mountain of evidence, process of elimination, responses to suspicion, alibi, Aiko coincidentally letting slip that we have a doppelganger card just when suspicions are being cast on us to affirm it, and so on, we could confirm the true identity of the masked girl really easily.

During the mask thing, Aiko's excuse for not bringing Ryouta was that she ran into him and they parted ways for one reason or another with Ryouta heading for school. If she did what she said she did and things happened that way, Ryouta should remember this and be able to confirm or deny, thus securing or denying her an alibi when the masked girl was fighting.

>>35093327
Most likely Aiko. A prototype us would be cool too.

>>35093327
I also suspect someone else. I would assume on of the characters we met during the club tour.
I don't think its Aiko, even if I might very well be wrong. Largely because I think the others would have noticed if her superspeeds were card based, and I had the impression the telekinesis is the masked girls natural ability.

Okay, I'm back, sorry for the delay.

>O-okay. But you'll let me go when I answer you, right?

Writing!

>>35094313
I gotta head to sleep, but thanks for running!

>>35094339
Thanks for reading!

>still writing

>>35094313
I still think we should demo the card for them just so we can make it clear that the masked girl isn't us.

>>35094572
Let me get this update up and you can discuss it.

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"I'll... come back.. but promise me something, okay?"
"mm?"
"Whatever happens, please let me leave when I'm done. I want to go home."

She hugs me again, "Of course Masami, we're not going to kidnap you. We just want to hear your side of all this. Okay?"

She's very warm, and soft. I don't want to admit it, but it's very hard to be scared when I'm with her. Which is good, because right now I need to be composed and serious about all of this.

I take her hand as she leads me back to the Pavilion. Ryouta sees us coming and steps back inside, motioning to everyone. I look over at Kaori just as she lets go of my hand to return to her seat.

"Okay." She says, putting on a comforting smile, "Let's clear all of this up."

>Show her the duplicate card
>Show her some other cards you have (a selection of them?)
>Show her everything

And

>Tell her about these things, too?
>What should you tell her?

>Do you accuse anyone? Or ask to cross-examine anybody?

>>35094747
>Show her the duplicate card

>What should you tell her?
>Tell them you hunted the girl yourself and she seems to be mostly interested in fighting those monster.
>Ask them if they have any particular questions. Answer all of them, unless they are about how your cards work

>>35094747
I like >>35094814, I'll back it.

>>35094747
well this sounds perfect: >>35094814

>>35094747
>>Show her everything
>>Tell her about these things, too?
These are the cards I have. If it is even possible to use more than one at a time we have yet to try it. As for the masked girl she has a device to use the cards.
Accuse no one yet.

Okay

>Show her the duplicate card
>Tell them you tracked the girl down yourself and she's interested in fighting the monsters.
>Answer anything they may ask, except if it's about how the cards work

Optional: Do we want to show them the other cards you have?

>>35095027
I would say no at this point.

>>35095027
meh, no need

>>35095027
I'm not too keen on that.

>>35095037
>>35095047
Okay

>writing!

>>35095027
No.

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I break the awkward silence, "Um, you talked earlier about me splitting into two? It doesn't work the way you think it does."

"Oh?"
Aiko perks up slightly, "Oh yeah, it did look kind of weird, like it was your shadow or something."
Ryouta chuckles, "That really sounds like something, so how does it work?"

Reaching into the pocket of my blazer, I grab the card and take it out. On the surface, it seems like an ordinary card.
"..Please don't freak out, it really scared me the other night when I did this."

That just makes everyone MORE interested, slowly, I slip the card on and let my shadow take its true form next to me.

I turn to where it should be standing, just in time to watch it take full form next to me. It mimics my actions almost exactly, I put one arm up, it does too. I adjust my skirt, it tries to do the same with it's pitch-black ethereal skirt.

"Now, does th-"

I look back just in time to notice that half of the student council, exception of Maeda and Aiko, have scrunched to one side of the table and seem to be hiding behind it very poorly.

Well, serves them right, I guess.

(1/2)

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>>35095448
"H-Hey, it's fine."

"WHAT IS THAT THING?!" Wow, Ryouta can sure sound girly when he wants to.

"N-no, it's nothing! Really!" I put out my hand to them, but I notice at the edge of my vision that my shadow has done the same.
"It's just a card that makes another me, it can't hurt anyone. I don't even know if it can touch anything."

As I test, I try making it grab a pencil off the tabletop.
To my surprise, it picks it up rather easily, controlling it that way doesn't actually seem that hard at all.

"..But you see now, I couldn't have been that masked girl, the card just doesn't work that way. I don't even know if it can leave my shadow."
"T-that's nice Masami, can you please put that away now?"

What's their problem? Is it really that terrifying?
Maybe I shouldn't answer that.

Slowly, I let it slip off of me as the shadow melts back into my own. Everyone around me breathes a collective sigh of relief.

"Okay, so you couldn't be the masked girl." Kaori says, slowly returning to her seat.
"I have one question I want to ask, Ryouta and Aiko told me you were going over to Fortune every day to do something for them. Can you explain to me what that is? Because they don't really know what it is either."

>Tell them about drafting
>Tell them only something about the cards
>Don't tell them anything
>Other?

>>35095900
>Tell them about drafting
vaguely.
like, tell them you can make cards and you have to if you don't want them to exhaust your mom or start sacrificing babies or something
(and slip a note about trying not to be too helpful for them)

>>35095900
>Tell them about drafting
don't go too much into the technical details, just say we are making cards, though we are trying to make sure the cards are super girly and can't harm anyone.

>>35095900
>>Tell them only something about the cards

Espionage and cake. They really don't explain their company goals very well.

>>35096122
>>35096061
>>35096034
Okay

>Tell them about it, don't get into the technical details, say it's primarily espionage and for your mom

Writing!

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I can feel a sigh leave my lungs, this isn't going to be easy to explain at all.

"The other day, I got a letter from someone-"
"Yes, the 'kidnapping', apparently it was a hoax or something?"

"That's right, they did that to get me down to the building. When I got there, I found out that Mom-"

"I haven't met her," Kaori says, taking another sip of tea, "That's the woman named 'Izumi', right?"
"-Right, anyway, she was making magic cards for them."

That makes everyone at the table stop,
"..Why?"
"I don't know! I think they're sacrificing babies or something if she doesn't do it. But long story short, making magic cards really hurts her. Last time, I was worried that she was going to die."

"..So what are you doing about it?"
"I'm, going over there and making cards for them?"

Every is staring at me like I'm insane.
I defend myself, "Not serious magic cards! Stuff like magic cards that summon cake and fancy dresses, they didn't tell me what kind of magic cards they wanted. It's not like they're going to make cake and dress monsters."

Right?
(1/2)

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>>35096952
Ryouta thinks this over some, "So that's what he was talking about the other day, I had no idea that's what that guy in Fortune meant. Is it hard work?"
"No, it's actually pretty easy to me, it was just killing Mom. I couldn't let them keep doing that to her."

They talk amongst themselves for a minute, they seem satisfied with that answer at least.

Kaori speaks up, "Masami, I am so sorry we went and accused you of all this. You have to understand that we're as uncertain of the future as you are."

"No, no, it's fine. I understand that you want to be safe rather than sorry." I say, slowly beginning to lose the nervous tone in my voice.

"We want to talk about this some more, so you're free to go. Do you need Aiko to walk you home?"

"I think I'll be okay for today. Thank you anyway."

I say my goodbyes as I leave the pavilion and head in the direction of home. Though, I'm not sure my mission is even remotely accomplished here. I still don't know who the masked girl is and what she wants.

>Stay around and try to investigate
>Try to spy on the meeting (How?)
>Check your cards, see which ones do what and maybe use a power
>Maybe visit someone else before heading home
>Just go home, I'm tired.

>>35097039
>>Check your cards, see which ones do what and maybe use a power
Play with the cards.

>>35097039
>Try to spy on the meeting (How?)
good old fashioned way, ear on the door?

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I think we're winding down for the night, and I know that I'm having problems staying awake. So maybe I'll open next thread with the results of this vote and call it a night.

Sound fair?

>>35097039
>Check your cards, see which ones do what and maybe use a power
I'm hoping the masked girl put some serious thought to that offer Mom gave her.

>>35097320
Sounds good.

I'll write one last update to finish this vote and that will be it.
>Check your cards, see which ones do what and maybe use a power.

>Writing!

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Hold on, I'm not really about to go home after that, right?
For all I know, the masked girl is still sitting in that pavilion, maybe saying lies to the other student council members.

This is really going to bother me the rest of the day, isn't it?

Maybe I have a card that can help with that.

Let's see, there's the jumping card, I could try jumping over and landing on top of the pavilion. No, that might be a little too obvious. Well, I'll keep it as a maybe.
There's the shadow card, but they would probably notice if my shadow walked up and started listening in.
All my other cards are only good at hurting things, I should really do something about that.

And- I haven't tried this card I got from the monster yesterday. The one that doesn't seem to have any writing on it. The others at least have some kind of marking on the front, this one is completely blank.

With a flick of my wrist, I can feel the card wash over me.

Something definitely takes the place of my regular clothes. A black, frilly dress that's very poofy. Feeling on top of my head, I notice a pair of cat-like ears pressed against my scalp with a headband. Can't they make a dress that's at least somewhat normal like-

WHAM, suddenly, someone runs face-first into me.

"Hey!" I yell, rubbing my pained face.

The guy who just rammed into me, some guy who looks to be from the track team, is looking around in a dazed state. He leaps back to his feet and keeps walking as if nothing ever happened.
"HEY!" I yell even louder, "I'M TALKING TO YOU!"

He doesn't hear me, and just keeps walking. I jump up to my feet and start to chase after him when, looking to my side, I notice another guy coming straight for me. I'm barely able to dodge out of his path in time as he walks straight down the center of the walkway.

"What is with those jerks, they're acting as if I'm not even here." I say, just in time to notice another person nearly run me over. This is a bad trend for this outfit.

Thread End.

>>35097929
Near-perfect stealth card? Huh, that could have some uses.
Thanks for running HotC.

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Thanks for the thread everyone! Sorry for the unexpected break in the middle.

How is it? Liking this story arc so far?

Also, how about names for this outfit?

For anyone curious, this was almost the outfit for this card.
It still could be if anyone thinks it looks better.

>>35097984
I like that one better

>>35098083
That's what I was thinking, that it fits the whole 'stealth' look better. Plus it has a pair of cat-ears already, so it would fit Masami's description just as well as the cat dress.

>>35097984
For a name how about "Heidi"?

please dont hit me....

>>35098170
that's a terrible name. How about Eleanor?

As far as black cats the first female names i think of are Rin and Luna. I do like the second dress better.

>>35097984
>>35098083
Yeah I like the second dress better, too.

So I think I'll do a mild retcon and say that the second dress was the one you put on. Just replace "Poofy" with "Tight" and we're set.

I'll find another use for the cat dress.

>>35095448

Also, we didn't come to a consensus on this dress, the shadow one. Last two names for it were Melissa and Amber.

>>35098486
Melissa

>>35098527
Melissa it is

I'll update the pastebin with all this info next session

Until then, thanks for playing everyone