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>>5073106
This strange blue portal isn't going to do anything unless you do something.

You meekly place your hand on what used be the closet wall and push it forward into the portal. The blue swirling door to another world resists a bit but then swallows your hand wholly.

That freaks you out a little, you hurriedly pull back your hand in panic.

A quick glance tells you everything is fine. Nothing has bitten you, it's neither hot nor cold, and isn't showing evidence of alteration. You are overreacting and over-thinking things, it is only causing you needless anxiety.

You get up and do a brisk walk around your room. A single slow revolution around the bedroom calms you down a bit. Your penguin partner has been using the portal since he entered your life. There is no reason to think it lead to somewhere dangerous. But logic doesn't necessarily pummel irrational fear.

Just in case, you grab your knife. The flimsy blade is useless as a weapon but it's all you got. In addition, you take that strange map you got earlier. You haven't forgotten about that creepy treasure chest experiment. That chest was somewhere beyond the portal leading to Azul's 'Penguin Domain'.

You crouch down and begin to crawl forward to the blue portal slowly. The first thing that enters is your hands, followed by your face. You close your eyes, you can't bring yourself to see the strange blue energy splash over you as you journey forward.

When you do open your eyes, you are in a tunnel of some sort. The sound of wind and the steady scuffing of knees and hands on hard packed dirt greets your ears. It isn't very long or dark, a steady light is just ahead. You press onwards until you reach the end and exit.

You are not sure what the place is. It looks like a brick lined hideout of some sort, completely empty of furnishing. In one corner, 'Bound and Tortured' magazines, a briefcase and leather satchel are neatly piled on a ledge. So Azul must have decided to use this room as some sort of storage. The ceiling is about 6 feet, you jump up to touch the rough brick above your head. It was solid and sure, the place wasn't about to fall apart from what you can see.

The air is fresh and clean, it reminds you of summers at your paternal grandparents' farm in Chiba. The smell of grass, bamboo forests, dry leaves and salty air is very comforting. You wipe the dirt off your knees and hands, crumbly dry earth flutters down to the floor.

"Hey Azul! Where are you?" You call out verbally and mentally.

The response was not the usual strange sensation of sound going off in your mind. Usually you feel like you hear a chirp or squawk as an answer. Here in the Penguin Domain, you simply know that he is happy you are here and he is outside with his siblings about to eat an apple.

.... He has siblings?

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>>5073107
You walk out from the storage room and come upon a truly bucolic vista past the entrance. Tall green grasses sway in the wind, rolling like waves. Above a bright midday sun reigned to warm the earth below with nary a cloud in the sky. Further ahead was a wide river emptying itself into a placid sea.

A wonderful home for your strange companion.

You happily dash off in the direction you know where Azul is. Soon enough, you come upon three penguins sitting on the ground in a semi circle, admiring a large bright red apple placed before them that looked quite familiar.

You recognize it, it is the same apple Azul showed you through the weird mental link in Shinjuku.

"Hey buddy, wow, where did you get that Apple?" You take the opportunity to join the penguins and sit down on the ground too.

Azul's answer is another flash of an image. It was that weird pink haired 'Conductor' guy handing over the Apple while accepting money from Azul's flipper.

Well, you now know what Azul spent his money on. You were worried he had bought more questionable items to enjoy. You look at the two other penguins closely, they are identical to Azul in color and size. In fact, if Azul didn't have a small bandage on his cheek, you're pretty sure you couldn't tell them apart physically. Identical triplets.

"So, er, your brothers..."

You don't get to finish your sentence. One of the penguins immediately slaps on a red ribbon on the left side of its head. You boggle a bit, where the heck did that ribbon come from? Also, was that supposed to mean that that particular penguin is a girl? Well, you better correct yourself then.

"Brother and sister live here Azul?" You finish your question; it's always awkward to meet the family of other people... or in this case, of penguins. You rub the back of your neck in embarrassment as you try to make small talk. It reminds you of that time you first met Tomio's parents in elementary school. The weird social dance as you try to show your appreciation of being invited in to the home of a friend to play.

All three nod vigorously and begin pointing out particular features of the Penguin Domain for your viewing pleasure. The brother of Azul gets up and dives into the river to show how deep it is while the the sister points out other buildings, ruined and otherwise, close by. Azul excitedly waddles to what looks like an abandoned field of some sort, in it grows a profusion of flowers and a riot of abandoned crops.

There seems to be many things in this place. It's too bad you only have a limited amount of time to spare.

You have some time before going to bed, what will you do?

>Divide the Apple up with your knife and give it to the Penguins...
>Ask Azul to take you to the cursed treasure chest, time to experiment...
>Let the penguins guide you and explore the Penguin Domain, you don't wanna work...
>Go back to your bedroom, you want to go to bed early...
>write in

>>5073108
>Divide the Apple up with your knife and give it to the Penguins...
Gotta grind those social links up.

>>5073108
>>Divide the Apple up with your knife and give it to the Penguins...

>>5073108
>>Divide the Apple up with your knife and give it to the Penguins...

>>5073108
>>Let the penguins guide you and explore the Penguin Domain, you don't wanna work...
maybe they don't want to do anything with the apple! Ruka shouldn't presume. better figure out what's up around here first

>>5073125
>>5073223
>>5073405
>>5073696
Time to eat an apple!

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You return your gaze upon the bright red Apple that the Penguins had been contemplating. It's size is impressive, you've seen similar large luxury apples for sale in the Mitsukoshi department store. You can't imagine how expensive a real apple that size would be. The last time you had seen an apple similar in size was when your father bought a luxurious Aomori apple for your mother's birthday and the price was around 2000 yen.

How exactly did the Penguins plan to eat the thing?

You reach down and pick the Apple up. It is hefty, the weight is greater than you expected. As it rests in your hand, you turn it over to look at every angle of it. The red luscious fruit is perfect with no blemishes, the flesh is firm, and the scent beguiling...

You can do the Penguins here a good turn. That Apple wasn't going to divide itself, three penguins equals three portions. You unsheathe your knife and the Penguins gather around you with excitement. Perhaps they had been contemplating on how to divide it fairly amongst themselves earlier. It's a good thing that you arrived.

The problem was division in three parts is going to be difficult; it would be easier to quarter the thing. Then take that extra slice of Apple and divide it up into thirds, that way the Penguins all get an equal share.

When you have that thought though, you get a message from Azul. It is a mental image of the Apple divided into four quarters.

"Oh, so I can have a bite of it too?" You ask the Penguins just to make sure. The three blue birds nod enthusiastically to confirm.

You go to the river and wash the Apple in the clean fresh water. To dry it off, you use your powers to remove the water beading on the skin. Then you take your knife and prepare to cut the Apple. The blade just touches the skin, and in that instant it falls apart in perfect quarters in your hands. It was startling and completely unnatural; you had been expecting to force the short blade of the knife into the dense fruit. You juggle a bit to make sure that the Apple slices don't fall to the ground.

The Penguins are all eagerly awaiting their shares. It reminds you of how real penguins at the aquarium would line up and look expectantly upwards when it was time for feeding. You kneel down and each Penguins take their share of the Apple out of your hand. They greedily swallow it in a flash, you don't think they even tasted it.

Well, you aren't going to do that. This thing must be super delicious, the sticky juice of the Apple smells wonderfully sweet in your hand. You want to savor it as much as you possible.

"Thanks for sharing. Itadakimasu." You wave your slice at Azul to show you are about to bite it.

You start munching into your slice. It was a mistake to eat slowly, the thing despite looking like the most delicious and sweetest Apple you had ever seen was utterly tasteless. You stare at the Apple slice in disbelief.

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>>5074180
You feel so incredibly disappointed, but it was rude to throw it away. Azul bought this with his money after all.

You close your eyes, take large bites until you cram all of it into your mouth, and swallow it down.

"Thanks for the treat," you politely end your snacking and open your eyes.

You're alone, the Penguins are nowhere in the sight. In fact, the surrounding area has changed completely. You are standing in a field of flowers surrounding a white fountain gushing with water. The field of flowers is immense, a riot of color and varieties. In the distance, you see more greenery and promenades leading to who knows where.

The moon is rising in the sky... No, it isn't the moon, that blue marble looming on the horizon is too large and is completely the wrong color.

It is the Earth itself filling the sky with its presence.

Where are you?!

You close your eyes to block the sight of the Earth and when you open them, you discover you are laying flat on your back with three concerned Penguins looking down on you.

"Uh, was the Apple supposed to do something weird to me?" You ask.

The Penguins look at each other and then shrug.

What was that supposed to mean?

You try to get up and feel incredibly dizzy when you get back on your feet. It seems you're going to have to cut your visit short and go to bed. Azul guides you back to the storage house where the portal is.

"Ugh, I'll see you tomorrow morning buddy, good night," you are swaying on your feet.

Azul nods and waves good bye as you start crawling back to your bedroom. You remain crawling until you reach your bed and drag yourself under the covers to sleep.

Next time, you'll decline eating weird things that Azul buys from sketchy men.

Sleep overtakes you.

Something is happening...

>You hear music...
>You are having that Memory again...
>You're back on stage...
>You're back in the field of flowers...

>>5074181
ruka using her powers for mundane purposes is cute
hm...not sure what scene to vote for though.
>You are having that Memory again...
Closure! Hopefully! Maybe it'll go further this time too!

>>5074181
>You are having that Memory again...

>>5074181
>You are having that Memory again...
>You're back on stage...

>>5074238
>>5074244
>>5074985
Seems we're going for the Memory

You are having the Memory again... Except it feels different. Rather than feeling burnt out from its banal endless repetition, it feels completely fresh and new.

You know more.

The long ornate hall you're walking down at a steady pace is in the west wing of the Palace.

You're in a Palace?

Behind the wide double doors at the end of this hallway is four Knights. They've been waiting for their drinks to toast loyalty and honor to their Prince and Kingdom... and for your report.

Prince? Report? Who are these four Knights?

Appearances are deceptive though. Outwardly, you project the very image of purpose and pride for a job well done but as you stride down the hallway, you feel trepidation. The orders you received recently have been odd and out of character for your Master.

Trepidation about what? Why is it odd? Master?

Boots click on the polished stone floor. In two steps, you pass by a vase of gorgeous bright red roses and pause a moment to take in their scent. And to double check that the servants and guards are kept well away from this wing. It took a lot of rearranging tasks, deceptive orders and scheduling to achieve this without it looking too suspicious. Still, there was no guarantee that it is fool proof and time is very short. The guards will be taking their posts just before evening; you must finish your report before then and receive your new orders.

Am I spy? This sounds like I'm a spy.

A second latter, you look down at the tray with 4 crystal tumblers filled with fragrant yellowish liquor. Except not really, one of the crystal tumblers is non-alcoholic because your Master dislikes wine. You made sure of it by volunteering to fetch the drinks and secretly acquiring fruit juice made to look like the yellow wine in the other three tumblers. You abused your ability slightly to ensure the color matched the wine.

Ooooh, well, that's interesting to know.

This isn't the first time you've done this. The other Knights have never realized that your Master still retains his preference for sweetened water with squeezed citron juice. Hopefully they never will, your Master seems rather embarrassed to admit his dislike of wine to his fellow Knights.

... Lemonade? That totally describes lemonade.

Soon enough you are before the doors, you're nervous. You stall for time by making sure you know exactly what tumbler is destined to your Master. It is the tumbler located on the lower right of the tray. You release a soft sigh of relief that all is in order. Squaring your shoulders and straightening your back, you knock on the door to announce yourself.

Your gloved hands is curled into a half-formed fist to rap the doors smartly. The prearranged code to confirm that no one is in this wing of the Palace and discussions can be held without fear of being overheard.

>>5075434
knock knock

You feel the sensation of the hard wood on your knuckles and the pause afterward...

The Memory is ending.

You open your eyes, the sun is shining through the bedroom window. It's Sunday, 7 a.m. and the headache from yesterday evening is gone.

You don't feel frustrated at all. The Memory has so much more explained to you.

Maybe eating strange Apples from sketchy men is necessary to unlock more of your Memory.

You get up and stretch. Azul is already in your bedroom, sitting in your desk chair and waiting.

"Good morning Azul," you wave happily to your partner.

"Krrrrp." He chirps and waves back.

You start dancing around your bedroom happy. The Memory you had last night was a massive breakthrough! You have a better idea of what the heck you were doing! You twirl around your bedroom excited as you mentally communicate with your partner about your new discovery.

The blue penguin listens politely but doesn't offer any commentary to your babbling. He instead raises his flipper up in the air so that you can give him a high five. You accept this generous offer and give him a high five, then a fist bump as a bonus.

Breakfast will be a cup of coffee and some croissants at Cafe Leblanc, so there's no need to start making breakfast.

More importantly, your father will be sleeping in so you have time to start updating your journal. Azul jumps off your chair to get out of the way. You start scribbling down recent events and information you've received in your journal. It's important, you can't just leave it for latter!

You updated your journal.

Hm, you should probably start asking Azul a question just clarify a few things. He seems to be able to communicate with you a bit better lately. You don't have much time though before your dad wakes up.

What will you ask?

>Who or what is that pink haired Conductor?
>Does he have any money left after buying that Apple?
>How did he find the Coalsack Bar?
>Why didn't the Puppet see him yesterday?
>Why did it feel like Azul's location was constantly changing yesterday?
>What did the Apple do to Azul and his siblings?
>Write in

>>5075435
>What did the Apple do to Azul and his siblings?

>>5075435
>>How did he find the Coalsack Bar?

>>5075482
>>5075807
Hm, I'll leave it open, if there's no other vote, I shall roll the die

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>5076187
whoa let time run away from me, post will be tomorrow
1 Apple
2 Coalsack

Hm, well you had your Memory clarified by the weird Apple quite a bit.

But what did it do to Azul and his siblings? Did it give him stronger, penguinier powers? Could he grow bigger to become Mega-Penguin and stomp on Nightmares?

"So... did anything awesome happen to you after eating the Apple?" You shoot the question to your buddy who looks at you thoughtfully.

You don't see any strange flashes of images running in your head or hear any chirping from him.

Instead he walks to the middle of your bedroom as though he wanted to you watch him. You give him your full attention as he comes to a stop. He starts concentrating, his beady eyes are narrow and beak tightly shut.

Then something happens...

The blue penguin vanishes from your sight. One second he was standing right in front of you, the very next second the place where your partner was standing is empty. Neither feather nor beak remains.

Your jaw drops, and you are too stunned to say anything.

The seconds tick by and you start looking around your room to see where he went. Did he teleport? Go back to the Penguin Domain? Where did he go?

"Krrrup." Azul chirps to catch your attention back to the center of your bedroom. You focus your gaze once more and find that Azul is standing where you had last seen him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Do that again, I'll time you."

Azul nods, he looks pretty tired as though he had just ran a marathon. It is clear that demonstrating his power again so soon is straining his endurance.

He vanishes, you slowly count the seconds until he pops back into view. You hear the waddling of his feet on your floor, he is deliberately dragging them to make noise as he walks. You easily follow the sound of his passage.

It is at the 10 second mark that Azul reappears again but this time he is by the closet door. So it appears he can move while invisible. The poor bird looks truly exhausted, and slumps on the bedroom floor. His beak is wide open as he sucks in air with huge gulps. The strain on him must be like your Burst of Speed ability, he can't use it back to back.

"Wow, that'll be useful if Usagi accidentally sees you again or if cats start chasing after you. I'm just assuming that it makes you invisible to them," you say this as you pick up your partner and put him on your bed to rest. It was a much more comfortable place than the floor.

Vanishing Act: Azul can make himself invisible from supernatural sight for 10 seconds and move.

You hear the tell tale sound of your father waking up to use the washroom. It was time to get ready and go out to Cafe Leblanc for your usual breakfast.

Your dad is in a somber mood during the walk, he is after all going to be visiting a co-worker at the hospital after your appointment. But he lightens up a little when you arrive at Cafe Leblanc.

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>>5077359
The usual morning crowd is in, and a fresh pour over coffee is served with a ham and cheese croissant sandwich. The TV is playing a Lupin anime movie, the familiar theme song draws your attention for a moment but you move on to the message board in the cafe.

There's something written on it, you take the opportunity to slip away from your dad as he talks to Master Leblanc to read it.

'Uncle to Missy: By aiming carefully. Gold Day and Earth Day.'

Kin'youbi and douyoubi, in other words, Uncle will be here on Friday and Saturday evening.

You can visit Cafe Leblanc Friday and/or Saturday to improve your skills with him.

Better scrounge up some cash, you have your allowance but will it be enough for lessons?

You muse about this as you sip your black coffee and pass the remaining half of your croissant sandwich to Azul. The fruity and mild taste of coffee is delicious, the beans from Kenya are great. Next time, you'll try the Jamaican beans with your dad.

"Ruka, it's almost time to go. Finish up and we'll walk over to the hospital." Your father calls out to you.

That was the signal to drink up the coffee in big gulps. Now with empty cup in hand, you grab a piece of chalk to write your message back.

'Missy to Uncle: Hope to see you again.'

The visit to the hospital is a bureaucratic pain in the butt. So many forms for the Japan National Health Insurance and waiting around.

The waiting was killing you with boredom. Azul enjoys sitting around and waiting because everything about going to the hospital is super interesting to him. The rolling carts with strange instruments and medications, the doctors and nurses milling about, the patients waiting to be seen are new and entertaining. Your father has been talking with the nurse about something and finishing up even more paperwork.

'Krrrup?' You get a message from your partner in the form of a chirp. Looking over, you clearly see that he clearly wants to get up and wander around the hospital. You're a bit reluctant, there are plenty of places in the hospital where he could get lost and you won't be able to go and get him. There's a lot of restricted places for nurses and doctors only.

'Sorry buddy, you'll have to sit tight and stick close to my dad.' You message your partner back, he looks a bit deflated. Your father is finished with his paperwork finally.

"Wow, I thought the office was bad when it came to signing documents. They say you'll be next to see Doctor Mizuno," your father relieved that the wait will be over. It really is no fun hanging around hospital waiting rooms. After this, you'll be visiting his unfortunate co-worker Ms. Tatemichi.

Your name gets called and you leave your dad and penguin partner behind to see the doctor.

>>5077363
The doctor seeing you for your appointment is a beautiful woman. You see on her nametag that she's Doctor Mizuno. Was it just her looks? Her status as a doctor? Or the fact she was more intelligent than you'll ever be? The walls of her office has a lot of certificates and awards. You feel oddly intimidated sitting before her to review the status of your completely healed injury.

"Good afternoon Houseki-san, do you mind if I call you Ruka-san instead?" Her gentle voice nudges you out from your reverie.

"Of course Doctor Mizuno!" You answer quickly. You can't help but feel eager to please the older woman.

The usual questions are asked about your health and even had questions about your school. Doctor Mizuno's eyes lights up when you mention that you are attending Juuban Middle School.

"My daughter is attending Juuban Middle School, perhaps you've met her? Oh, I need to look at your ribs Ruka-san."

You wonder if you have met Dr. Mizuno's daughter. You can't recall any student by the name Mizuno though but the school was a big place.

"Can't say I have, I'm class 1 for the 2nd year." You lift your shirt to show your ribs. The bruise had long since faded on the right side of your body. The skin is completely unmarked, it was a miracle that it healed so quickly.

"I'm very surprised, the bruising was so severe we expected a long recovery time. What did you do with the pain prescription?" Dr. Mizuno touches your ribs with her warm slender fingers to check your body. You blush, embarrassed from the physical contact.

"Oh, um, I left it in the bathroom. I stopped taking it within days. Pain went away real quick. I felt so much better that I could walk around with my dad to go to places," you try to keep a squeak out of your voice.

"If you have the time, please return the medication to a pharmacy or the hospital for proper disposal," the blue haired woman elegantly writes down notes on your condition.

Wait a second... Something is gnawing at the edge of your mind.

>Oh god... Is this what they call a girl crush?!
>Is Azul... wandering away?!
>Mizuno?... Wait, isn't that the genius girl in class 5?!
>You feel... uncomfortable?!

>>5077383
hope anons are up to get trounced by Uncle some more, he was lots of fun
>>Mizuno?... Wait, isn't that the genius girl in class 5?!
Mercury. people with water powers unite!

>>5077383

>Is Azul... wandering away?!
>Mizuno?... Wait, isn't that the genius girl in class 5?!

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>5077409
>>5078017
1 Mizuno
2 Mizuno + wandering penguin

I assume that most voters are super busy with the holiday season to actually join in the quest. it's quiet.

>>5078531
Holidays plus work plus new game releases. I’ve been trying to max out my free time and multitask, but that just leads to me forgetting about things.

Whoa things went sideways today. Will have to post tomorrow.

>>5078997
thanks for letting us know qm, hope everything's good!

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Mizuno?... Wait, isn't that the genius girl in class 5?

Umino talked your ear off on the first day of school about a new student who ranked number one on the national practice exam. He excitedly pointed out a slight blue haired girl with glasses paying attention to the school opening ceremony a few weeks ago.

She is an odd one, she transferred to the school in her second year rather than stay at Keio Middle School. Juuban Middle School had a reputation for being a place where entertainment and artistic types come from. So why did the genius girl decide to leave her famous and prestigious private middle school?

As for Mizuno herself, you remember a pretty but solemn face and stylish glasses; but she wasn't what you would call a friendly looking gal. If the girl is a bonafide genius, then everyone else must be mental midgets in her point of view. The sheer amount of work she must put into studying must be a whole other level too. The only way she could be so good at acing exams is because she lives and breathes studying.

Since the school opening ceremony though, you haven't heard much about her at all. You could ask the nerd Umino for more info, the guy is a super gossiper and collected all sorts of random information from the student body. In fact, you think he knows more than Naru and Aya when it comes to school gossip...

What sort of information has that nerd gathered on you? Now you feel sort of paranoid.

"Actually, I think I do remember your daughter being at my school. She ranked number one on the national practice exam, and I've seen her before." You chase away your suspicions about Umino to focus on talking with Doctor Mizuno.

"I'm proud to hear that she's known for doing so well. I hope she has the opportunity to talk with other students like you." The older lady smiles, it reminds you of the weird parent thing where they encourage other kids to pay attention to their child.

Uh-oh. Oh man, what do you say to Doctor Mizuno? It would be super awkward to admit that you don't know anything about her daughter beyond her academics, she looks good in glasses and you're sort of intimidated by her intelligence.

You dig yourself out of the situation immediately and start with an embarrassed laugh.

"Sad to say but my club activities keep me pretty focused on a small circle of students. If I get to meet her, I'll tell her that her mom is the best doctor in Juuban." You give the older woman an enthusiastic thumbs up and smile. In this, you're imitating Tomio a little, the guy had big wholesome big brother energy when he was enthusiastic. Observing your childhood friend in action has taught you some pointers in confidently selling reassurance to other people.

It utterly disarms the doctor and you can relax a bit as her attention shifts away from you.

It is time to walk over to get an X-ray done on your completely healed ribs. But you are distracted as Doctor Mizuno chaperones you there.

>>5080079
The blue invisible penguin is on the move for some reason.

'Come on dude, don't do it!' You mentally beg your partner to stay put but the response you get back is a snarky chirp.

If it could be put into human words, it might be something like, 'you're not the boss of me!'.

GAH! An independent bird is a good thing most of the time, you've witnessed that when Azul got off the bus a stop early to prevent Mamoru from realizing that you were partnered to him. But his willful independence means he goes off and does foolhardy things too.

You need to get out of here and grab Azul before he wanders too far off. However, the good doctor is taking her time with the technician. You tap your fingers on your leg impatiently while lying down as the machine is prepped. The minutes waiting are an agony and Azul is completely ignoring your messages. You know he is still within the hospital and sense him going up very quickly. He is very excited riding his very first elevator...

"Oh my, not enjoying that cold table? We'll be done soon, please hang on," the technician encourages you as she makes the last adjustment on the machine. When they finally place the cassette over your ribs and snap an image, you receive a message from Azul who feels distressed.

He's stuck in a room that has dogs in it.... Dogs? You think he sent you an image of a bunch of sitting dogs, he can't get away from them. His 'Vanishing Act' power is limited in a situation where 10 seconds isn't enough time to escape or find a hiding spot. It seems only the animals see him and not any humans.

'Dude, I told you stay with my dad! You're going to have to endure it longer or find a way to escape yourself. I'm going to be here until my appointment is over and then visit my dad's coworker. After that, I'll try to see if I can get you if you're still stuck.' You send your message back to him in exasperation.

His response back is a deflated squawk through your link.

The images on the black vinyl lead sheet show the white whole bones of your ribs. Neither a crack nor dent is seen in the image; the doctor and technician clear you as recovered from your injury.

Before you leave, you decide to ask a question to Doctor Mizuno.

"Hey, why are there lots of dogs here at the hospital?" You know it's an odd question, but Azul apparently ran into a bunch of them in the upper floors somehow.

"Oh did you see them earlier? Many thought they were cute pets but they're all well trained service dogs. A number of patients with mobility, sight and hearing impairments came in for a consultation meeting as a group. There's no regulations, laws or standardized certification on service animals right now, so the hospital is trying to work with them to suggest improvements and regulations." Doctor Mizuno guides you back adroitly as she explains what potentially Azul is facing upstairs.

Service dogs... Azul's exploration habit has backfired a bit.

>>5080083
Next is your visit to Ms. Tatemichi, your father's co-worker. You've never met her before and going to her hospital room was heartbreaking.

In a small room shared by at least 5 other patients, Ms. Tatemichi lays in her hospital bed as though peacefully sleeping. Utterly insensate to the world with her parents hovering by the bedside hoping and praying that she would awaken. It is depressing; the other 5 patients are in a similar state of unconsciousness with their own parents or nurses monitoring them. It was like they were only asleep but nothing was waking them up.

The introductions are done quickly, and the exhaustion of the parents is audible in their voices. The last few days have been utterly sleepless as no one can explain why the young accountant had collapsed into a coma.

You step aside to give your father and the two tired parents some space to speak in low voices about the situation. The snatches of conversation that you hear is terrible.

"No, no I don't think it was overwork... mandatory overtime...Standard 10 p.m. end time."
"... Power harassment?... Bad relation..."
"... Our daughter worked so hard... so little time... only daughter."

You decide that it was best to slip out of the room right now. You've introduced yourself and don't have anything to add to the situation at all. It takes a bit of politeness judo to excuse yourself.

The heartbreaking words from Mrs. Tatemichi is hard to take, she is so exhausted and sad.

"Remember to take care of yourself Ruka-chan, you're the only daughter of your parents and you never know what will happen in the future... like my poor Erina..." The poor woman couldn't even finish what she wanted to say.

You leave and close the door to the room quietly, leaving six comatose women with their carers and your father behind.

... You have to find Azul.

roll 3d6+1, DC ????

Rolled 3, 4, 5 + 1 = 13 (3d6 + 1)

>>5080087

Rolled 1, 2, 1 + 2 = 6 (3d6 + 2)

>>5080276
hm, well I'll leave the vote open for alittle.

Due to circumstances, from now on the posting will be once every 2 days rather than everyday.

Once again folks, I'll repeat my public service announcement.

Don't do drugs...

Rolled 1, 4, 1 + 1 = 7 (3d6 + 1)

>>5080087

Rolled 1, 3, 2 + 1 = 7 (3d6 + 1)

>>5080087

>>5080276
>>5081107
>>5081298
all righty, I'll start writing. Hopefully I can post in a few hours.

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Upstairs.

You know that somewhere Azul is above you. The question was... what floor he might be on? A quick look at the map of the hospital tells you absolutely nothing other than the place was huge. The only clue available to you is that a bunch of service dogs is there, so if you find the dogs then you are on the right floor.

Azul can't move around, his stream of chirps lamenting his situation is quite clear from your link to him. You feel brief flash of an image showing that the owners with the dogs are completely unaware of the blue penguin.

Your partner is safe for now, but for how long is another matter entirely.

As you scrutinize the map for a bit, before noticing that walking down the hallway is a girl walking with her guide dog. She had a cane in hand and walked perfectly upright towards the elevators

It seems you are getting a lucky break.

The girl has a black labrador service dog to guide her. You barely restrain yourself from petting the crap out of the cute dog, however the service harness has large bold writing asking that no one touch him as he works. The calmness and intelligence of the animal is amazing to see as it patiently sits beside his master for the elevator doors to open. It only acts only when the door of the elevator open. You slip in to join them on their ride up.

You assume that she must be heading to that consultation meeting and had gotten on the wrong floor before being told the correct floor. You just need to wait for her to select a floor.

You glance at the elevator's buttons and notice how badly arranged they are. They don't have any logical order, the girl is touching each of the buttons slowly and is startled she can't read the floor she wants to go easily. She feels the braille numbers on the buttons and discover it jump from 2 to 5 for no reason. This goes on for a few minutes, you keep quiet as it was obvious that the blind girl is hell-bent on doing it all on her own rather than ask for help. There is a stubborn quality in the way she sets her mouth and grits her teeth.

Soon enough, she finds the 10th floor button and stabs it with her finger viciously.

"I'm sorry I took so long, I just wanted to get on the 10th floor. I am offended by the terrible layout of these elevator buttons." Her soft voice is brimming with embarrassment and frustration for taking so long to select where she needed to go.

"It's okay, I think my friend is on the same floor. He seems to be surrounded by dogs last time I heard from him." You smile at her but realize that a blind person has no way to seeing it. But the amusement in your voice about Azul's predicament causes her to smile back.

"Is he part of the disability consultation group? I'm heading to room 1005 for the discussion," she does not turn to you like a sighted person as she addresses you.

>>5081542
You note that when another person speaks to someone they turn to face them automatically... but that only applies if a person is sighted. For someone who is blind, it wasn't really necessary to turn and 'see' who they are talking to.

It was interesting, you'll have to that keep in mind.

"Nah, but he's afraid of dogs. I'll be dragging him away." The best part of this? You're not even lying.

Your wonderful blind guide and her service dog leads you to exactly where you need to go. You don't even need to use your link overly to locate the blue penguin.

Room 1005 is larger than expected; it had many people sitting about. As you enter, you immediately realize that the dogs are all very alert and looking upwards on a cabinet. You follow the animals gaze and see a very frightened Azul who is relieved to see you. You can only guess as to how he managed to scramble up there.

'Let's head back down buddy, you clearly had enough.'

Azul gives an embarrassed nod. He jumps down to ride your shoulders from the cabinet shelf he had climbed up on to avoid the service dogs. The people in the room are oblivious of Azul's existence, they noticed that their service dogs were acting a bit weirdly, but they could not see the cause. From their point of view, you guided someone who was looking for the meeting and now is leaving because your task is done.

They had no idea that the situation was the reverse. The blind girl was guiding you to the right place to get your partner. And he's riding your shoulders, perched precariously because Azul can't bring himself to get back on the ground. You walk out with him on your shoulders, his weight is heavy but it was only for a short while. The moment you reach the elevator and the doors shut, he jumps down relieved.

You arrive back just in time to see that your father's discussion with the Tatemichi family is at an end. The father and mother look just as defeated and despairing as you had left them a few moments ago.

Nothing has changed.

The machines beep, you hear the slow exhalation and inhalation of air, the muted conversation in the room...

Azul stares at the 6 occupied beds with singular intensity.

"Ah, Ruka. We'll leaving in a few moments, I just want to say a few words to Ms. Tatemichi here.... even if she can't hear me." Your dad says this as he leans over to his unfortunate co-worker to say a few words.

Azul walks closer to observe one of the comatose women in the room who isn't attended by anyone at the moment. He actually climbs up on the bed to look at her even closer. You almost tell Azul to stop but you are curious as to what he is trying to do.

'Hey man, what's wrong?' You try to see what he is trying to look at. You don't see anything particularly strange about the patient sleeping in the bed. It looked like she was sleeping, like the unfortunate Ms. Tatemichi.

>>5081544
You wander over to the bed and note there's a chart hanging at the foot of the bed. It had information on the lady, She arrived on Wednesday... You can't see enough information on the chart, you'll need to flip a few pages to get details on her.

Everyone is distracted and not paying to you. It is child's play to secretly sneak a peek at the information, the perks of being observant and sneaky. You rapidly riffle through the pages and read quickly the basic information.

Tomino Kayako, age 20... University student... Collapsed Wednesday at Kishio Groceries...

.... Wait a second, was this the lady who caused the Kishio Groceries to close early when you went shopping? You talked to the cashier to know what was going on and she mentioned a co-worker had collapsed. You immediately return the chart to its proper place; no one noticed you had been reading it. Everyone is too absorbed in their business and feelings to notice you.

Azul sends a worried chirp through your mental link. It sounded bad; he could clearly see something that you could not.

You try to see what was worrying him. But you can't see anything, she looks as though she is sleeping. True, she did look a bit gray in the face but otherwise healthy.

You dad calls out to you, breaking your attention on the unfortunate grocery store worker. It seems the visit is over and it was time to go home.

Azul gives a distressed chirp and sends baffling mental images of a black dusty fog and strange smoke rising up in the air. It makes no sense to you at all.

'Sorry buddy, I don't get what you're trying to tell me. We can't hang out here, we can discuss things at home.' You apologetically message back your partner, you can't hang about in this room any longer.

The return trip back your apartment is sombre. Your dad doesn't talk much, and Azul often looks back at the hospital receding in the distance with distress.

You cook a late lunch and eat it with your dad.

Sunday afternoon is still rather young. You have time to do some things...

Choose 3 things

>Study, got to keep up with school
>Call a friend and hang out! Who do want to hang out with?
>Exercise a bit and secretly practice your powers
>Head to the Penguin Domain to explore
>Head to the Penguin Domain to experiment with the cursed tansu chest
>Try to figure out what upset Azul so much
>Talk with your dad and hang out with him
>Read the newspaper and watch TV
>Practice your locking picking skills
>Check out a highway map, try to find where highway #139 is
>Call up Kakutani and discuss the recent Sailor V sighting
>write in

>>5081545
>Try to figure out what upset Azul so much
>Exercise a bit and secretly practice your powers
>Call up Kakutani and discuss the recent Sailor V sighting

>>5081545
>>Try to figure out what upset Azul so much
>>Check out a highway map, try to find where highway #139 is
>>Study, got to keep up with school

>>5081545
>Study, got to keep up with school
>Try to figure out what upset Azul so much
>Exercise a bit and secretly practice your powers

>>5081580
>>5081654
>>5081712
Let's see if I can get something done tonight!!

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As you wash up the dishes with your father, you more or less make up your mind that the first order of business is to figure out what Azul was trying to tell you at the hospital.

It was going to be one heck of a challenge. Your penguin partner has mastered the art of sending mysterious images to your brain through some sort of telepathic link but not words.

"Ruka, it's Sunday and I got some free time before we go back at it Monday. Is there anything you particularly want to do today?" Your dad suddenly asks as he dries the last dish you washed and puts it away in the cupboards.

... Okay, you need to revise the first order of business. You have to decline your father's invitation to do things with him somehow.

"Gee Dad, I don't really have anything in mind. I'll be studying up in my room and doing some exercise outside today," you smile apologetically to him and rub the back of your neck nervously.

"Exercise? Oh, we can some of that together! Let's do the NHK radio exercises, I still have those old cassette tapes," at this your dad rushes into the living room to find them.

You are about to protest but shut your mouth. You decide that doing radio exercises with your dad wasn't going to do any harm, you'll be doing harder exercises outside later on. And besides, the two of you are so busy with your lives, it is hard to make time to do things together. It would be pointlessly cruel to deny him some father daughter time.

An ancient tape player and scuffed up cassette is produced from the depths of the living room. After a bit of work moving the tables and chairs, there is enough room to do the radio calisthenics in the apartment. You stand by your dad and listen to the scratchy audio. Then familiar piano music sounds, the official NHK radio exercise theme.

It felt odd to do these exercises in the afternoon; typically, radio exercises take place outside at a park from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. It was part of your elementary school summer homework assignment to attend at least 20 sessions to instill 'a healthy routine'.

You weren't a lazy kid when you were in elementary school. You like exercise and working out but you hated the idea it had to be homework. So you put some effort into skipping radio exercise by 'borrowing' the official attendance stamp and forging your attendance card to show 20 odd sessions as done. You managed to get away with it... because your father and mother were having marital difficulties to notice.

The exercises are light and the stretches gentle. The long familiar set of exercises is done without pause, each flowing into the other as the instructions are announced by the tape.

"It's been awhile since I've done these," your dad comments, he is tiring slightly which goes to show his physical fitness has been declining.

"At least you aren't insisting we do this at 6 a.m. in the morning," you joke lightly.

Both of you wince internally at the thought of getting up so early and have a chuckle at the shared pain.

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>>5083528
With the radio exercises done, you take the opportunity to tell your dad you'll be going out for a run at the local park. Hopefully the park isn't too busy at this moment, you could try to talk with Azul and practice your powers too. It is a good thing that your dad decided he had enough exercise and wasn't going to join you.

The run to the park is hard on your penguin, you try to go at a very slow jogging pace but discover it is near impossible for Azul to keep up with you for any extended length of time. The bird didn't have long legs and had to waddle everywhere. Occasionally he would try to do quick speedy dashes to catch up to you but it never lasted long. Eventually, you slow down to a walk because it was too hard for your partner to keep up with you.

When you arrive at the park, you place Azul on a bench to let him rest. You set out to do a number of challenging body weight exercises and trying to summon your watery powers discretely.

The physical and mental strain of the two leaves you tired.

Concentrating your powers on your hands is easier than having to manifest the power at a discrete distance away. The difference in speed is noticeable too. It takes a few seconds to cover your hands in water, ready to do your Distant Hands power. You launch them to pick up objects or strike things before dismissing them.

It was too obvious of a power, what happens if someone saw you using it? You want more discretion. You try again and again to summon the power without having it so obviously originate from you. Eventually, there's a shaky success where the watery hands are formed some 2 meters away from you. It was very slow to form but now you don't have to always have the powers manifest on your hands.

Distant Hands: A watery floating hand, can originate from your hands quickly or at a distance more slowly. Lasts for a duration or until dismissed. You can control the hand to manipulate an object, open a door or container, retrieve an item, etc. with some accuracy.

You'll have to figure out how to do the same with Water Wall next time. Right now, if there isn't a source of water to draw from, the power has to shoot out from your hands.

You take this opportunity to sit by your partner Azul and start conversing with him. The salty sweat causes your clothing to stick to your skin, you've been hard at work all this time.

"Well buddy, I figure you've recovered by now. So... What were you trying to tell me at the hospital?"

Roll 3d6+1, DC ???

Rolled 2, 6, 6 + 1 = 15 (3d6 + 1)

>>5083530

Rolled 3, 3, 4 + 1 = 11 (3d6 + 1)

>>5083530

Rolled 4, 1, 1 + 1 = 7 (3d6 + 1)

>>5083599
>>5083778
all right, let's see if I can get a post tonight!! I might have time.

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What you witness next is something akin to a Shadow Players play but as acted by a big penguin. You are certain you understand some of what he's trying to convey.

Your partner has jumped off the bench and started waving his flippers about. He points at you and then to himself, then in the direction of Juuban hospital. His next act was to start walking in place without traversing any distance.

A game of charades.

"So me, you, walk to Juuban hospital? You want us to go back to the hospital?" You actually are having a little bit of fun with this. The vigorous nods the penguin confirm you guess.

He then flops onto the ground and lays still, pretending to sleep.

"Okay, so that lady you were staring at in the hospital." This was a pretty easy but the next bit was not.

Azul makes a strange karate chop, then a pulling and throwing away action and then lifts his webbed feet to run in place.

"...." Dead silence is the only answer to you can give. You have no idea what he's trying to describe. He wants you to fight an unconscious woman, toss her out of bed and run away? That can't be right.

There is a frustrated squawk from your avian friend, he ponders seriously on a way to convey his message.

He hits on a solution to the communication problem.

Azul sends you a brief flash of an image through the strange telepathic link you have with him. Once again though you have no idea what you are seeing.

A black dusty fog and strange smoke rising up in the air.
Spikey looking black balls flying quickly through the air and out the hospital window.
The woman in the hospital bed becoming greyer and greyer in the face.
A swirling orb of energy, similar to what you saw in the House of Fortune.

The constant stream of images must have strained something in your brain and Azul's. After the first few images back to back, there is a dull ache in your head. This turned out to be a warning sign, the proverbial calm before the storm.

Azul presses on with more images, faster and faster. Then the images suddenly stop because of an explosion of pain bursting in your brain, sending sharp throbbing pulses of agony to ricochet within your skull. You aren't alone in the agony, it seems that Azul overstrained himself while sending the images to you.

Both you and Azul fall to the ground. Gripping your head in pain, you roll around on the dusty earth hoping it would ease the pain. It does no such thing, you get grass stains and mud on your clothing instead.

It was a new and utterly unwelcomed discovery that there is a limit to psychic communication with images. The pain eventually subsides but you lay on the ground stunned with your partner.

It must be an odd sight to anyone passing by, for on the dirty ground lays a girl starring up into the sky. It's a bit embarrassing, and you envy Azul's invisibility powers protecting him from the sight of mundane people. He lays stretched on the ground by you, dazed by the psychic backlash.

>>5085850
Overall though, you got the message.

Azul wants to go back to the hospital with you, specifically he wants to go back to that room you visited with your father because something was wrong.

"Got it buddy, but I still don't get what you see that I don't." You slowly crawl back up to the bench and sit down on it heavily as you talk with your partner.

The blue penguin is still determined to explain. He picks up a small stick and begins drawing something on the ground. It is remarkably crude because the penguin is holding the stick awkwardly but he draws what you assume is...

You with a knife and something in your other hand... and then he draws himself.... then an arrow... and then some sort of gigantic spiky blob with crude writing under it saying 'cut'.

You stare at the picture.

"You want me to cut some sort of monster?" You question your buddy but the penguin drops his stick and shakes his head.

Well, it seems the only way to know is to go back to the hospital.

You stand up to stretch your stiff body. By chance, you catch a sight of a familiar classmate and her cat coming your way.

Oh shit, it's Usagi and Luna, and they are heading your way. Usagi is enthusiastically waving to you and is jogging get to you faster. It's a good thing that you caught sight of them in time and that the bench you were sitting on is blocking their line of sight, otherwise they would see Azul.

'We got company buddy,' you mentally message your friend.

Azul swiftly erases his picture on the ground with his webbed feet and then uses his new power Vanishing Act to scamper off and hide elsewhere. He was barely in time.

"Ruka-chan!" Usagi exuberantly calls out to you and is about to give you a hug. But she immediately stops herself, your sweat and dirt stained visage deters her.

"Yeah, you probably don't want to hug me right now. I'm pretty dirty and smelly," you admit and give Usagi a wave instead.

"Oh wow Ruka, you're so hard working! Exercising even though it's a Sunday." Usagi says this while making a face, the girl was pretty lazy and the idea of physical activity on a day off sounds like pure torture to her ears. The black cat Luna seems to heave a sigh of disappointment at Usagi's reaction and jumps out of the girl's arms to the ground. It was almost as if the cat wanted to investigate something on the ground. Faint traces of Azul's drawing can still be seen...

Uh-oh... but also...

The cat is not being held by her owner.

THAT MEANS YOU CAN HOLD HER!

You swiftly bend down and scoop up the black cat into your arms, she is not happy at all that a sweaty smelly girl is cuddling her. You dance a little in excitement and trample over Azul's obliterated picture a bit more to make sure it is wiped.

"LUNA!" You can't even feel bad that the cat is squirming a little to get out of your grip.

>>5085853
Usagi looks almost maliciously amused by the cat's predicament.

"You should hug her closer Ruka-chan, she loves that." Usagi is a terrible liar but you take her at face value because it's permission to hug the pretty black cat.

"Don't mind if I do!" You squeal.

Can cats make faces? You can't help but be observant. You swear that you could hear the cat say almost something startlingly similar to human words.

"Usa-nyaa!" Luna meows as though catching herself from saying Usagi's name.

"Whoa, this is one smart cat. She almost sounded like she could say your name Usagi-chan. Usa-nyaa of all things, ahahah." You don't know why, but your classmate and her cat freeze up at your joke.

It was a pretty bad joke you admit, but still...

Usagi allows you to carry Luna on your walk back home. Luna has resigned herself to the fate of being carried by a sweaty teenage girl with patience.

You pity your partner. Poor Azul will have to walk back home taking an alternative route since Usagi and Luna have the unfortunate ability to pierce his veil of invisibility. You send your partner a reassuring message that you would tell him when the coast was clear to come back into the apartment.

It turns out that Usagi had been wanting to talk to you for a little while and starts asking questions on...

>What's going on in Supernatural Research Club...
>Your exercise routine of all things...
>On rumours about you going to the House of Fortune...
>If anything odd has happened to you recently...
>What you're planning to do later this evening...
>How your friends, Tomio and Aya are doing...
>write in

okay! Things have settled down, I'll be able to once a day post!

>>5085854
>If anything odd has happened to you recently...

>>5085854
>If anything odd has happened to you recently...
>What you're planning to do later this evening…
>How your friends, Tomio and Aya are doing...

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>5085982
>>5086136
Hm... well let's take a roll
1 - only about odd things
2 - so many things!

>>5086824
I can imagine Usagi trying to weave around the subject and trying to be casual about it. I wonder whether Ruka will need a roll to notice whether Usagi is acting off or not? Or perhaps her belief in Usagi being the normalest person ever will trump her natural perception.

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If anything odd has happened to you recently...

Where do you even begin? The month of April isn't over yet, and numerous spooky supernatural shenanigans infest the timeline of your life. You still aren't over the fact that you've given up on the idea of normal and just embraced the weird because... because...

Because you can't stand idea of being completely powerless, letting crazy otherworldly beings screw with people and mess up their lives. Constant paranoid fear pushes you to gather as much power and strength against the unknown spooky bullshit life has decided to throw at you.

Unbidden you remember the Nightmares, the monster from Osaka Jewelry and the strangling fear that chokes you every time you had to face something horrifying like that creepy doll dandy thing...

The despair and sorrow of the Tatemichi family at the hospital, not able to do anything for their only daughter.

You grind your teeth in anger at the thought of it and inadvertently give Luna a painful squeeze.

"NYAAA!" The cat gives a shocked meow of pain which snaps you out of your angry thoughts.

"Oh wow, sorry Luna," you decide that you should put the cat down just in case you get mad again. The black cat looks relieved that you let her walk on her own four paws. Usagi looks at you worriedly, she might not be a very smart girl but she had always been very empathetic one. Even if her question was an odd one.

"Ruka-chan..." The shorter girl sounds worried.

"Where do I even begin on the subject? First that monster at Osaka Jewelry, then Tomio and the boys getting brainwashed by some weird Fortune Teller and that creepy doll guy thing in Shinjuku," you vent a little but then realize you said too much. It was too late to backpeddle, you might be able keep talking and conversationally lead Usagi away from your slip up.

"... Shinjuku?" Usagi caught on and sounds very curious but you don't give her a chance to linger on your slip up.

"And the teachers except for Ms. Haruna think I'm some sort of delinquent simply because I look like one? What the hell, that's bullshit! Did you know that the school isn't going to allow Haunted Houses as an event at our Culture Festival?" You are on a roll and steamroll Usagi to stop her from asking for details, also it feels good to vent a little about the ridiculousness of your life a bit even if you have to be careful not to talk about the supernatural stuff. Your rant continues and only peters out when you arrive at your apartment building.

Usagi looks rather dismayed, you feel bad because you basically used Usagi as an emotional dumpster to toss your thoughts and feelings into.

"Oh jeez, sorry Usagi. I didn't mean to do that to you. I tend to keep it all inside me, it's not as if you can do anything about it. Things have just been so weird at your school," you rub the back of your neck apologetically to your classmate. You don't often go off like that, you don't remember the last time you vented to Tomio or Aya?

>>5087329
"It's okay Ruka-chan, you've been through a lot. Not even scary monsters keep you from running into danger. Why you're almost like a hero when you hear Naru describe how brave you were facing that monster to save her"

"Brave?" The word sounds odd in your ears, given how often you wish you could run away or stay far away from spooky things.

"Naru said you weren't afraid at all when you tried to save her from that monster at Osaka Jewelry by stabbing it in the back." Usagi sounds incredibly impressed; her voice is full of thankfulness. Her eyes shine with an unparallel gratitude for saving her best friend.

You look at Usagi with a disbelieving stare. You had better tell the clumsy girl straight up the truth.

"The truth about that Usagi... is that I was terrified the entire time! Let me tell you, even Sailor Moon thought the entire thing was scary. I can't even blame her, if I had to her job, I'd be pissing my pants with fear."

Usagi looks stunned by your answer.

"... So what would you have done if no one was in danger?" She timidly asks, twiddling her fingers nervously but very interested in what you have to say.

"I'd run away. If I can't run, I'd hide and hope it goes away... maybe cry and whine about why I have to deal with it. If some jerk tells me, I have to be brave and fight while they stay nice and safe, then that jerk is simply an asshole. That monster was scary."

You can't help but remember how mean that Tuxedo Mask was. All he did was throw a rose and leave. What the hell man? Come down and actually fight or something rather than stand in that window. The indignation you felt is fresh, it's easy for people to tell another to be brave when they aren't the ones in danger.

"It was scary, I'm so glad you understand!" Usagi is teary-eyed and throws herself to hug you despite your dirty sweaty state without any hesitation at all. What triggered this outpouring of gratitude from Usagi is a mystery to you but you pat the sobbing girl on the back.

"Whoa, I'm super dirty Usagi," you say that but you're glad to get a hug from your friend any time. But really, what brought this on? You try to recall what could have triggered Usagi's emotional outburst and hug...

Well, she almost lost her best friend Naru. You can't even imagine what would have happened if Sailor Moon hadn't come and defeated that monster. You would probably be dead too...

Usagi lets go and then realizes that she had just hugged you... your sweat stains her shirt because she held you so tightly.

"EW! I need to go home and get changed, waaaaah!" Usagi shakes her hand and sees a few drops of sweaty water flick off from it. You blanch while Usagi goes a bit green in the face, you are a disgusting mess and need a shower straight away.

>>5087330
With that Usagi and her cat Luna depart for home. You wave them good bye and watch them until they are out of sight. Once they were gone, you give the mental signal to Azul that the coast was clear and he could arrive at the apartment. He waddles into view swiftly, he had been waiting around the corner until he received your message.

Today had gone well; you go back to your apartment with your penguin partner to prepare for the night.

A hot shower, a home cooked dinner and finally studying before bed. Azul sends you a mental image through your link, it is Juuban hospital. It was probably a reminder that you need to go there with Azul again. Your partner waves you good night and goes back to the Penguin Domain to rest.

Midterms are less than month away; you aren't very excited by the idea of them. Your Supernatural Research Club meetings will be cancelled a week before to allow you to study for them. It's a good thing to keep up with your studies but it's such a pain the ass. There was too much to do and not enough time.

You stop at 9 pm and throw your textbooks and homework in your school bag. Tomorrow is a Monday, so you'll be having your club meeting. Was it possible to go to the hospital tomorrow after club or would visiting hours be over? Maybe there was another way to get into the hospital without suspicion?

You have some time until bed, what do you want to do?

Ruka is physically exhausted; choose 1

>Go watch some TV with your father and relax...
>Stay up late to listen to Midnight Zero...
>Start reviewing what you remember of the hospital and plan on getting in...
>Update your journal...
>Check the highway map for route #139...
>Go to the Penguin Domain quickly to check on that cursed chest...
>Go to bed, you're tired...

>>5087336
>Start reviewing what you remember of the hospital and plan on getting in...

>>5087336
Start reviewing what you remember of the hospital and plan on getting in...

>>5087436
>>5087513
Time to figure out the ups and downs

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Your partner has laid out the objective of the mission and is leaving you the task of making it work somehow. As though you make it a habit to plan out infiltration missions like a real professional.

The first task is to mentally retrace the path to get to the target. First enter the lobby, head to the elevator and go up to the fourth floor. Go down the hallway to Ward A, head to the room where the six patients are in.

Nothing could be simpler if you were planning a legitimate visit to see a sick friend in Ward A.

Except this visit, you're going in armed with a knife to...to... What Azul wants you to do is a complete mystery, the only way to know is to get in there and let the penguin show you.

Now it was time to list the possible complications from getting to the room and accomplishing your task. There are security cameras in the lobby and in some hallways that are unavoidable if you are heading for the stairs or elevators.

There was a security guard in the lobby when you went in. Surely, there were more wandering around the place.

These main security measures are minor compared to the true issue working against you. The sheer volume of people in the hospital building. There was no chance of walking around unseen. Nurses, doctors, patients, visitors and other staff infest the place and give you no possibility of moving unseen.

The conclusion you reach is that sneaking is pointless, you'll have to blend in and act as though you should be at the hospital by boldly entering the building.

You wish you could consult with Uncle to hear his opinion and practical advice on this Friday but Azul seemed insistent on going to back the hospital quickly. You didn't get to ask the blue penguin but you sense that the answer back from the bird would be 'the sooner, the better'.

Supposing that you do get to the room and get in, what are you going to do with the visitors and nurse milling around the place? The people aren't going to let you run around with a knife to cut something up in there.

In that sort of situation, you need consider the time you go as a factor. If you go during visiting hours, the room will definitely have people in it. If you go after visiting hour, then there shouldn't be anyone there but the hospital might not let you in because Juuban Hospital has operating hours.

You sketch out a few possibilities.

Skip your Club meeting and go directly to the hospital to visit the room despite having people in it. There you'll have to figure out what Azul wants and do it discretely somehow. Even distracting or misdirecting potential witnesses as needed. That would be a massive challenge. You remember how focused Ms. Tatemichi's parents is on their comatose daughter and the regular visits of the nurses to the room during the time you visited with your father.

>>5088473
The other was to go to the hospital after visiting hours and get to the room. There should be no visitors or nurses in the room, but if you get caught on the way to Ward A, you'll be in trouble. Also you'll need to a pretty good excuse to get into the hospital after normal operating hours since Juuban Hospital isn't 24/7. The hospital operating hours are limited to 8 p.m. which happens to be the end of visiting hours too.

Wait.

Your pain medication needs to be disposed of. Could you use that as an excuse to get into the hospital and upstairs? You remember Dr. Mizuno suggesting you return them at the hospital or a pharmacy.

You immediately go the washroom to find the nearly full plastic container of pain pills in the medicine cabinet. The tiny painkillers are a possible excuse to get into the hospital after hours... or they might not, the hospital might tell you to come back the next day.

GAAAAH!

The problems facing you seem infinite as does all the possibilities that might stop you from getting inside the hospital.

It's too tiresome to give it more thought and you decide it was time for bed. Tomorrow morning, you'll discuss the details with your partner and figure out how to go about accomplishing his request to get back into the hospital room.

"Good night Dad, I'm heading to bed!" You call out to your father in the living room. He is using the dining table like a desk to go over some legal documents.

"Oh yes, good night. I'll be heading to bed short myself. Sweet dreams Ruka!" He looks up from his work and gives a tired smile to you.

You go to bed and hope that 'sweet dreams' really will happen tonight.

Sleep overtakes you and you Dream...

>The theatre again.... it looks different?
>A grand ballroom... so many dancers...
>Tomio and Aya playing... poker?
>The Coalsack Bar...

>>5088476
>The Coalsack Bar...

>>5088476
>The theatre again.... it looks different

>>5088476
>The theatre again.... it looks different?

>>5088517
>>5088541
>>5088776
Back to treading the boards

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In the depths of sleep, you sense the subtle shift from having a dream to having a Dream take place. The sensation is hard to put into words and describe.

Imagine a duck floating serenely on the surface of a lake when all of a sudden it gets pulled down into the water by something and starts drowning...

Hm, that was actually a horrifying description of having a Dream but it gives a close enough analogy to the sudden realization that something very strange has happened and you aren't sure why.

You are standing in a very large place of some sort with hanging billowy black curtains to your sides, you look up but only discover the black curtains stretch upwards until they are out of sight. Pushing the black cloth aside only reveals more curtains. You can't go left or right, so maybe going forward was the way to go. The floor is creaky hardwood worn smooth by the passage of many feet over the years, numerous waxing and varnishing cannot hide the age and its well-used nature. As you advance, the space opens up and lets you into a wide area.

It was empty and huge, about 50 feet wide and 60 feet long. A heavy red curtain is to your left, which should open up to show you the stage... But where is the seating? Every time you enter the theatre, there are rows of beaten up red chairs to sit upon.

A chill of realization begins to shiver down your back, this was not the auditorium part of the theatre.

The buzz of the theatre bell sounds in your ears, a play is about to start. And the red curtain sweeps open with a thunderous cacophony of squeaky pulleys having rope forcefully pulled through.

You stand frozen on the stage; lights shine their blinding rays upon you. When your eyes finally adjust to the relentless glare, you are stunned to recognize a sea of familiar red velvet seats stretching into infinity. Your eyes cannot see an end to the seats, rows and rows of them waiting for someone to sit down.

The house was almost completely empty and a deep-seated sense of relief floods your heart. If those thousands upon thousands of seats had something or someone sitting in them to make an audience, you would have screamed in terror at the unrelenting scrutiny of the crowd. As it was, you only see the Shadow Players occupying a private box in the center.

The shadowy girls wield fancy opera glasses and are using them to zoom in on you on the stage.

"I wonder, I wonder, do you know what I wonder?" S-ko and P-ko chime at the same time from their exalted place in the private theatre box. They had gone through some trouble to make those seats particularly ostentatious and grand; they were more like thrones fit for royalty.

"How would our Dreamer react, stepping on to the stage?" P-ko gestures at you with her opera glasses.

"How would our Dreamer act, being tonight's performance?" S-ko flourishes her opera glasses like a sword.

"Whoa, I'm not an actress," you timidly try to protest.

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>>5089611
"Nonsense!" The pigtailed Shadow Player cries out.

"Balderdash!" Agreed the bow haired Shadow Player.

"Didn't you tread the board one night and sang, 'Life is but a fleeting dream, a passing vision, an illusion
Is there anything that lasts forever?' " The two are in perfect accord, even when quoting the last line of Atsumori at you.

It seems that the Shadow Players have decided that they want to be entertained by you this time. You barely watch TV and all the plays you watched as a child were boring old traditional Japanese plays like Atsumori that your maternal grandparents took you to see.

The door to the theatre opens unexpectedly. All eyes both human and shadowy turn to see who has entered. In come, three blue penguins tumbling over each other before getting up to waddle down the aisle. They choose center seats close by the Shadow Players. Azul and his siblings have come.

"Oh thank god Azul, get me out here!" You beg your partner who promptly shakes his head. Instead he settles into his seat as deeply as possible for comfort to watch you on the stage. His siblings join him in settling down in the seats and pulls a popcorn container from under the seat to share. They loudly munch on fresh popcorn from nowhere.

Et tu rara avis?

"On with the show!" P-ko enthusiastically cheers.

"Break a leg!" S-ko roars encouragement.

It seems that the Dream won't end until you act something out.

>Refuse to act, they can't make you...
>Try to remember that play your grandmother took you to see...
>Just make something up and act...
>Sing a song, any song...
>??????PANIC???????????
>The old elementary school play, you still remember your old lines...
>Dance something...
>Jump off the stage and run...
>Retreat back into the wings...

>>5089612
>The old elementary school play, you still remember your old lines...

>>5089612
>Try to remember that play your grandmother took you to see...

>>5089612
>Try to remember that play your grandmother took you to see...

>>5089852
>>5089738
>>5089699
Ruka is a cultured girl

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The audience is demanding a performance, you mind as well give one.

But what?

Wait, what about your old elementary school play? The one you did in your last year of elementary school at Culture Fest. It was about an evil prince ordering his knights to seize a princess and failing because of the good prince and his knights foiling the plot.

You still remember your old lines as one of the evil knights, you were to capture the princess and do a speech on how pleased the evil prince would be. You were originally supposed to be the 'wise woman' giving spooky riddles to both sides of the conflict. However, there weren't enough boys to fill out the knight roles, so the girls in your class voted to change your role to an evil knight.

This play was a grand event for the school and quite the hit at the festival. Parents commented how unusually entertaining it was and the hilarious mishaps that plagued the performance were fondly talked about to this day. Even your old schoolmates from elementary school rib you for your performance as the evil knight.

Unfortunately, you hated the play and your role. The entire play was a ridiculous time sink and you had to work hard memorizing your lines because the evil knight role you had was major. It would have been more enjoyable if you could join Tomio on the good knights' side, at least you would have suffered with a friend.

Just remembering it makes you irritated. That evil knight role also caused you some unintended problems when you entered Juuban Middle school.

Okay, new plan.

A play that you watched with your grandmother, probably a Noh or Kabuki play. You are surprised to realize you remember the story and scenes of a variety of traditional Japanese plays. Grandma really liked going to Kabuki-za and Kanze Noh Theatre in Ginza and sitting in the cheap seats of house. Having a connoisseur sitting by your side at those plays gave you reams of interesting tidbits. She should be a member of the kakegoe guild given that she knows exactly when to shout during a Kabuki performance. The first time she shouted with the old men of the theatre during a performance with Ichikawa Danjuro the twelfth, you thought you were going to die of embarrassment.

You remember the drums striking and the flute playing 'katasagiri' at the start of Kanjincho, Musume Dojoji where the dancer changed costume nine times as he danced and the twill drum hanging uselessly in the tree for the Noh play Aya no Tsuyu.

You know some of the parts of that Noh play; you could act a part of it out. It helped the play was very memorable because the gardener in the Aya no Tsuyu play had one hell of a mask for the performance.

You had seen the Hannya Noh masks in your textbooks but the mask was for jealous female demons solely. The bearded Akujo noh mask worn by the lovelorn gardener was the first time you had realized that men in the Noh plays had their own unique masks when they become vengeful ghosts or demons.

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>>5090975
You don't have the mask but you do remember the lines.

"I was driftwood in the pool, but the waves of bitterness..." You begin to recite the lines you remember from the play and falter straight away. A chorus typically recites the next part but you are alone on stage... You should be alone on stage but something helps your performance along.

"Have washed me back to the shore." A chorus of male voices complete the couplet line in the exact way you remember it being performed for Aya no Tsuyu.

... Where did those voices come from? You pause and start desperately looking around for the source but find nothing and no one on the stage. The pause in your performance was evidently too long and you hear boos from the Shadow Players who aren't amused by your faltering performance.

"Boo, we came here to be entertained!" S-ko calls out your halting recitation.

"Eyes on the prize, the show must go on!" P-ko shouts out instructions.

You never once booed the Shadow Players during their bizarre plays; they could have the courtesy of keeping their opinions to themselves. You continue what you can remember.

"Anger clings to my heart, clings even now when neither wrath nor weeping are aught but folly."

You try to continue your recitation and wonder if the chorus will kick in. It arrives just as you finish your line. The voices are unnatural and deep but perfectly correct for the play. You still have no idea where they are coming from.

"One thought consumes me, the anger of lust denied, cover me like darkness. I am become a demon dwelling in the hell of my dark thoughts, storm-cloud of my desires." The chorus calls out.

"Though the waters parch in the fields,
Though the brooks run dry,
Never shall the place be shown
Of the spring that waters my heart..."

You can't continue on, you don't remember the rest of the lines. But more importantly, something is off kilter, you can feel it. Deep within you, a sudden anger blazes. It screams in rage for the lost Golden Kingdom and of hopes betrayed. The audience is frozen and watching you keenly but not able to react immediately.

Azul's beak opens and closes wordlessly for a few seconds. Then he leaps out of his seat to wildly gesture. He is slapping his face with his flipper and then points at you.

... Your face? Was he telling you to touch your face?

Your hands fly to your face to check what it could be.

Your fingers can feel the smooth rigid wood of a mask over your face. It has bristly hair to mimic eyebrows, a moustache and beard... and has a very long nose. It's a tengu mask... You automatically note on how it is the wrong mask to use for the play, Aya no Tsuyu. You've given up on feeling frightened or confused about suddenly having a mask on your face, the Dream will do what the Dream wants. Apparently, it wants you to wear a tengu mask without allowing you to immediately realize it. You let your shoulders slump with exhaustion from the weirdness of it all.

>>5090977
The theatre begins to fade at the edges, the familiar sign of an imminent awakening to the Waking World.

"Hm, I give your performance a 3 out of 10, forgetting your lines is pretty bad!" S-ko calls out as she gets up from her seat.

"Quite the traditionalist too! Didn't expect that, I figured you would go for something more modern or relevant to your age group." P-ko states as she chucks the opera glasses over her shoulder.

The three penguins wordlessly arise and give quick polite applause. It was nice that some in the audience didn't mind your complete incompetence in acting. It was time to go, the penguins rush to the exit in the auditorium. The way out for you is elsewhere. You exit stage right followed by the swift disintegration of the stage.

One moment you are in the dark wings of the stage. Then the next you open your eyes and see you are back in your bedroom.

It's early in the morning and you have to get ready for school. You rise from your bed and see that Azul is already in your bedroom. He is reading an old novel from your bookshelf but puts it away when you awaken.

"Good morning buddy."

The blue penguin chirps back at your good morning in answer.

You reach up to your face and touch the smooth warm skin on your cheek. It seems the mask isn't on you.

"Well, that Dream didn't mean do much to tell me anything."

You have some time before making breakfast, what would you like to do?

>Get Azul's opinion on how to get into the hospital...
>Update your journal... something is in there?
>Watch some tv, very quietly...
>Go outside for a walk to clear your head...
>Go back to sleep and get some extra sleep in...
>write in

Could someone put this thread into archive for me? I can't get in there myself for some reason. I'm worried this thread will be lost... I have no why idea why it doesn't let me in.

>>5090980
>Get Azul's opinion on how to get into the hospital...
>Update your journal... something is in there?

>>5090981
Just an FYI, the archives moved to a new site. See the following:

https://lws.thisisnotatrueending.com/requestqstinterface.html?

Not a lot of votes, but we'll keep this open for alittle while.

I'm thinking by Dec 21, I'll have the last post up.

oh wow, I left things too late. I'll see if I can post tonight.

Well, given that you just had a strange Dream last night and lots of spooky events before that, it would behoove you to update your journal. The trusty thick book had been abandoned until this fateful month of April. You threw it aside over a year ago, determined to ignore the humble chronicle of your repetitive Memory out of frustration.

You turn to the appropriate page of your journal start a fresh entry...

There is something already written in the journal about your Dream on Friday. You never written it. The writing style and handwriting is clearly not yours.

You flip ahead and see more entries that you had not written. A few pages in, you come upon a strange page half-finished. In it is your caricature of the Shadow Players flitting about and writing things on the page while two penguins rush to finish up a drawing with tiny paintbrushes. It is the stage you stood upon in your Dream, and the avian artists are clearly Azul's sibling. You recognize his sister with her cute bow on her head and the unscarred penguin as the brother. It's a good thing that Azul has a bandage to visually differentiate himself from them, otherwise you would have no idea who was who.

But you have never drawn Azul's siblings before in the journal. You never had the time to. Where did they come from?

Your penguin partner peeks over your shoulder to see what you are doing. He looks unsurprised to see the Shadow Players and his siblings as drawings in your journal. He waves hello to his siblings who in turn wave back to him.

Does that mean you can interact with the drawings?

You review the pictures drawn by the penguins and the text written up by the Shadow Players by going back a few pages.

FRIDAY EVENING HIATUS: RUKA ON STAGE!

Underneath the title, is a short text explaining the strange Dream on Friday you had. The Shadow Players explain that they couldn't put on their performance that night because they wanted to build themselves a theatre box with luxurious seats. That is why you were put on stage and made unable to leave it; they wanted you out of the way as they worked in the seating area.

They also rate your performance of Atsumori as passable but in desperate need of rehearsal to polish.

The penguins drew a picture of you on stage looking very confused.

You turn to the next page.

MEMORY OF THE PALACE : BACK AGAIN!

The penguins have gone all out and drawn a short comic of the hallway.

The Shadow Player write the text declaring it the same old Memory you had last time. Which isn't true, you know more details on it. There's no space for you to put in your commentary and notes though.

You turn the next page.

NEW DREAM: OUR RUKA TAKES THE STAGE!

The penguins have just finished a picture of you standing on stage in your pyjamas. You are also wearing the Tengu mask in it.

>>5092082
The Shadow Players write on what areas of your performance could be improved upon and describe the strange sudden formation of the Tengu mask on your face as you performed Aya no Tsuyu.

The next page after this is empty.

You appreciate the convenience of having your Dream and Memory written up by others to save time but there's a problem...

"I know you want to be helpful but this makes my entries all out of order. I haven't written about the spooky stuff I had to face in Shinjuku for example. Also, I don't have enough room to put in my own thoughts and details on the Memory or Dreams," you talk to the penguins and Shadow Players drawings on the page. At this, the four small drawings nod and begin carting away the pictures and text they've created. The penguins lifts the large picture of the stage they drew and walk off the edge of the page followed by the Shadow Players carrying off the text to make room for your writing.

It is a swift process, they fly across the white paper dragging their work to other pages and space things out. You flip between the pages and see that everything has moved up, leaving your enough room to make your own entries and details on events that have happened to you like the creepy monster and Sailor V on Saturday, and space to write in stuff about your Memory. Heck, if you need more room, then the penguins and Shadow Player drawings are willing to space everything out at your command.

Any new Dream, Nightmare or Memory you have in your sleep will be updated in the journal automatically and the entries can be moved to accommodate your writing and chronological order of events.

This was quite a time saver, and the journal is updated quickly because some of the work is already done for you. You wave good bye to the Shadow Players and penguins in thanks before closing up the journal.

With that over quickly, it leaves you time to talk with Azul about his request to go back to Juuban hospital.

"Hey buddy, I've been puzzling over your request to get back to the hospital. Do we need to go right away?" You hope that you could get a bit more time on this task but it seems there is no time to spare given the way Azul reacts.

The blue bird nods vigorously, you receive emotional feedback from him expressing how urgent it was to get back into the hospital room as soon as possible.

"We got two choices then, go right after school during visiting hours or go late in the evening when visiting hours are over. Which do you think is better?" You ask your partner. At this question the penguin shrugs apologetically.

It seems that you'll have to think it over at school and make a decision.

Your dad is up and moving in the kitchen, you go out and help with breakfast and pack up lunch.

A strong cup of coffee and Spanish ham omelet is a great way to start the day.

Your father does his usual ritual and reads out interesting newspaper headlines that catch his eye as you pack up today's lunch.

>>5092083
"Sailor V seen in Shinjuku? Eyewitness report!"
"Was Ozuki Yutaka murdered? Death of a musician."
"Dreamland Amusement Park project to continue construction."
"Strange sleeping disease reported, 8 victims..."

That last newspaper headline causes your dad to falter. He begins reading the article quietly to himself in full. You finish up packing lunch and set it on the table for your dad to grab.

"So what is the article about?" You ask.

"... It says that recently a number of young women have fallen unconscious and are being treated at Juuban hospital. Reasons unknown but doctors are speculating on a novel neurological disease of some sort," your dad frowns, his rubs his chin in wonderment.

There's no time to dally though, it is time for the two of you to go. One to work, the other to school.

Azul joins you with the trusty satchel hanging off him. He's grown quite fond of it and it seems he stuffed something in it. There's an unusual bulge of something in it.

You don't get a chance to ask because...

>Tomio rushes up to you and slaps your back...
>Aya ambushes at the crosswalk...
>Naru bumps into you as she exits her home...
>Umino is right ahead, you have questions for him...
>Some students ahead are gossiping about someone...
>write in

>>5092084
>Some students ahead are gossiping about someone...

>>5092084
> Naru bumps into you as she exits her home...
> Some students ahead are gossiping about someone...

>>5092084
>>Tomio rushes up to you and slaps your back...

>>5092347
Actually, I’ll change my vote to this:
> Tomio rushes up to you and slaps your back
> Some students ahead are gossiping about someone...

>>5092195
>>5092497
>>5092535
It seems we're going for gossip and pain.

Tis the holidays, I will post tomorrow since I just got back late.

See you tomorrow!

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The street is crowded with students. Some are heading to Juuban Middle school, others to TA Academy, and yet others to Moto-Azabu. It was quite the mix and sometimes interesting to observe.

You overhear snatches of conversation everywhere from many students. Some talk on the latest fashion, complain about terrible homework, worries about club activities, what students planned to do after school and on and on it goes.

None of it is really worth listening in to. Students are much the same everywhere when it comes to conversation with friends on the way to school. It seems this morning is no different, and it's great. You simply love this reminder that while your life is pretty screwed up with spooky shenanigans, overall the world is a chill and normal place.

"She's such a snob!" A girl wearing the TA Academy uniform loudly declares to another friend. Your mother went to that school, you remember seeing her old school uniform somewhere at the old house once. It was a private school founded by Christians, so mostly rich or well-connected kids went to it. So overhearing a girl saying that another girl is a snob sounds ridiculous, a real black kettle calling the pot black.

"Hino-san just has that sort of aura. She really isn't that stand-offish if you talk to her. She's just very serious and hard working, I mean she works at her family shrine..." the more timid friend attempts to push back the loud assertion of the other.

You immediately tune out the moment the word 'shrine' shows up. You and religion don't have a great relationship. You can tolerate your grandparents Shinto and Buddhist beliefs but it's because you're familiar with them and it's not crazy.

The two girls you overhear wander off towards their Academy while you continue your commute. Azul looks a bit tired and has slowed down his pace a bit, it's a good thing he knows his way because he's rather far behind.

Ahead is a gaggle of 3rd year students from your school... In fact, there is one particular third year girl that you avoid as much as possible, Katakura Shimako. It wasn't your fault that Katakura embarrassed herself over you when you first entered Juuban. Ruka is indeed a unisex name and she made some silly assumptions after your elementary school play.

You slow down your pace to extend distance between yourself and the third year students, also you want to let Azul catch up with you. Slowing down so suddenly may have been a mistake though, you bump into someone oblivious to her surroundings because... the other student is trying to read and walk at the same time?!

WHAT?!

It is a quick jostle, and the other girl drops her book. There's a anxious look on her face, as though she could not believe she'd be so clumsy.

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>>5094242
"Whoa, sorry, I didn't see you there," you stoop down to pick up the dropped book. It's a thick textbook on biology or something, there are complicated drawings of organs and text on the internal workings of them. You are stunned to see such a technical looking book belonging to a girl who seems to be from your own school.

"Oh no, it's my fault for not paying attention to where I'm going," the blue haired girl softly says, embarrassed and looking downwards to the ground. She shuffles her feet as she slowly takes her book from your hand. You raise an eyebrow at the timidity of your schoolmate.

Weird girl, maybe you scared her. People have often told you that you look ridiculously intimidating and villainous at odd times. Were you doing it again? Maybe you should be particularly boisterous and cheery to fix the wrong impression you gave her. Actually no, last time you pretended to be super energetic and cute, Tomio and Aya commented it looked like you were enthusiastically plotting to murder someone and bury the body somewhere.

Also, you recognize this girl. The blue hair, the slight body, the solemn face and the extremely attractive glasses... Do you have a thing for people with glasses? You shove that thought away to some forgotten corner in your brain, now wasn't the time to ask that sort of question.

You bumped into Mizuno Ami, the girl genius of your school. It doesn't seem she's interested in talking to you though. She gives a quiet thank you and walks away with her book. It is fully open in her hand and she's reading as she's walking again.

"Hey Mizuno-san! Maybe you shouldn't walk and read at the same time! You might bump into someone again!" You call out to her, which seems to startle her like a bird and trigger some sort of struggle with her between reading her book or listening to your suggestion.

"Um, er," she stutters, looking at her book and then at you in rapid succession. She does that a few times before she rests her eyes on you with a look of bafflement. Man, are you that intimidating as a person? Maybe it was your face? You do have a scar, maybe you should sneak a bit of makeup on to cover it up like Aya suggested?

Mizuno is staring at you for an uncomfortable length of time... You are sharp and observant, her line of sight is too low. She's staring past you and behind you. And behind you, Azul is walking to catch up to you.

'Hey buddy, time to disappear. Mizuno can see you!' You immediately message your partner telepathically.

'KWAK!' A shocked response reaches you and the blue penguin immediately uses his ability to vanish and hide. The sudden disappearance of a large blue penguin causes Mizuno to take her glasses off and rub her eyes. She blinks rapidly, puts on her glasses again and stares trying to find Azul again by sweeping her eyes over the sidewalk.

>>5094243
The entire drama is too silly. More than a few students had been curiously watching the situation. It was sure to become gossip as soon as you arrive at school, you can see Umino Gurio close by watching the exchange.

"Are you okay?" You ask the confused girl to distract her from her search for your supernatural penguin partner.

"Oh, ah, yes, I... I got to get going." The young girl turns bright red in embarrassment and immediately walks away. Many of the students had been staring at her and you openly, there's even some unkind comments you overhear.

"Oh wow, smart people are weird."
"First time I heard Mizuno talk. I didn't know what her voice sounded like."
"Houseki needs to tone down the intimidation factor."
"Why is the nerd always reading?"
"Another victim of bullying by our resident delinquent."
"Mizuno-san always walks to school alone, too good for anyone."

You feel irritation bubble within you from the commentary.

"Yo, peanut gallery! Mind your own business!" You roar out which shuts up your gossipy classmates into silence. A number of students start walking very quickly away from you and your scowl.

Azul pops back into view, he was hiding in an alleyway close by. He sends a brief image of an alternative route to get to your school that he is going to take. It seems from now on, your buddy and you will have to come to school using separate routes. You've run into 3 random people who can pierce your partner's cloak of invisibility. You are going to miss walking with your friend.

Wait, Azul has never touched the other girl before. Does that mean Mizuno Ami is some sort of spooky monster or weirdo? How many people are out there who can see your penguin partner? It bothers you so much, that you are utterly distracted and do not hear the rapid footsteps of a boy charging straight at you from behind.

*WHACK*

A powerful open palm slaps your back, catching you completely off guard. You take a few staggering steps forward from the power of the blow.

"Good morning Ruka! Wow, I managed to nail you for the first time in months. Usually, you do that cool casual side step dodge because you hear me coming," Tomio sounds inordinately proud that he managed to get a hit in.

"Ow, damn. That hurt more than I thought," you mutter as you stretch your shoulders to lessen the stinging pain.

"What happened? I could see a bunch of people stopping to watch from behind." Tomio asks as he takes up position by your side.

You give your childhood friend a brief rundown of the situation as you continue your walk to school. It's odd but Aya doesn't join you this morning.

"I heard Mizuno's having a hard time with her classmates in her homeroom. I mean, she did transfer in at the start of the school year, so she doesn't know anyone. Someone in my band is super into her, he calls her 'the shy genius girl'." Tomio drops some offhand information on the girl you bumped into.

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>>5094244
It's pretty clear that she's well known by virtually everyone but you. You never gossip about other students and don't pay attention to it, even though your social circle has at least 2 gossipmongers to dish out details.

When you arrive at school and start getting your indoor shoes, you are relieved to see that there is no sports club recruiters hovering around. Telling Sasahara-sempai of your inability to join any serious sports club must have done the trick.

You receive a brief message to Azul, he's a block away and will sneak up to your club room to while away the time.

You arrive at your classroom without any hassle. But where was Ms. Haruna? Your homeroom teacher isn't in. Typically she'd be standing at the front of the class, ready to take roll call at precisely 8:30 a.m...

"Whoa, weird. Why isn't the teach here?" Tomio comments as he drops into his seat.

"No idea. I mean, I think this is the first time I've ever heard of her being late at all." You sit down. It seems that Usagi is late too, so it's very lucky that Ms. Haruna is not yet in class.

You have some time before the teacher arrives. What will you do?

>Study a bit before class starts...
>Talk with a classmate, who? Naru, Tomio, Gurio, another student...
>Get out of the classroom and walk around a bit, you have time...
>Start a mental conversation with Azul on the plan and on Mizuno...
>write in

And with this last post folks, we'll continue the thread in January, so vote away!

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

>>5094245
>Start a mental conversation with Azul on the plan and on Mizuno...

>>5094248
happy holidays QM, thanks for running!
>>5094245
>>Get out of the classroom and walk around a bit, you have time...
I'm curious!

>>5094245
>Get out of the classroom and walk around a bit, you have time...

>>5094245
>Get out of the classroom and walk around a bit, you have time...
>Start a mental conversation with Azul on the plan and on Mizuno...

>>5094248
Hope your Christmas and New Years are very happy ones, QM!

>>5094245
>Get out of the classroom and walk around a bit, you have time...
>Start a mental conversation with Azul on the plan and on Mizuno...
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year QM!