Do ((OOC: This is something that I'd like to call a "grand joint post." It is between Menolly-hime, Zandorf, Anud, LustfulAngel, Raikadashi, Katsucha,Damienthedevil and Rise-chan.))
Hearing Aoi proclaim her desire to kill him made him shudder a bit. He was sure that she was being sarcastic, but by the serious overtone in her voice, he wondered. Is she really being sarcastic? "Thank you very much for accepting me," he said softly and respectfully to both Aoi and Haruka, winking subtly at Haruka as he whispered softly into Menolly's ear, "Don't mind if I ask, but what do you know about Aoi-sama and Haruka-sama?"
Menolly's irritation prickled a bit once more when this Yuki winked at Haruka, but her face flushed red when he came so close to her and whispered into her ear... Not paying any mind to the words, with a flustered squeak, she put her hands on his chest and pushed him away with an unexpected amount of strength. She fixed him with a glare, burning with anger. "You... You..." Menolly clenched her teeth, trying to find words to express her emotions... but could only flail her arms angrily and choke on indistinct words that sounded faintly like insults and questions. After having her episode, she huffed and turned back to the group, pointing at Yuki. "You're very bold to someone you've just met, aren't you?" her voice shook as she spoke accusingly. "I'm perfectly willing to get along with you, but where do you get off getting all touchy feely with me?!"
As Menolly pushed him with surprising strength, he blinked a bit, taken aback in surprise. He thought that whispering in somebody's ear wasn't really a romantic or erotic gesture, but just something when you wanted to ask someone something. But what's with me? Yuki thought. Even though she's supposed to mean nothing to him, seeing her puff her face and fold her arms, she seemed geniunely mad and it looked like he harmed her in some way. No matter the reason, it doesn't give him the right to offend somebody. He stood up slowly - hearing her seething through her teeth, her questions, and her anger really did affect him. "I'm sorry. Menolly-chan's your name, right? Honestly, I haven't had much experience talking with women... or really anyone in general. I thought whispering was just something you do when you wanted to ask someone, specifically, a question. I wasn't aware of what a jerk I was being. I know that's not an excuse, but that's what really happened. Sorry," Yuki said rather honestly and bluntly, sliding his hands into his pockets.
Aoi quickly moved behind Haruka, "You shall be my white knight!" she whispered, "Right... " Haruka replied with an expression of disappointment.
At the boy's honest answer and genuine confusion of the impact of his actions, Menolly felt her anger die down and her face turned red once more. However, the current flushing of her cheeks was from embarrassment instead of anger. She stammered over her next words, "I-It's all right. I'm sorry for exploding on you like that, I'm just... not good with new people, and not good with people I barely know being in such close proximity to me." She offered Yuki an apologetic, bright smile, playing with the wavy ends of her hair absently. "If you'd like to ask me something personally, please just ask to talk to me privately for a moment. Now then... Would it be alright if we started over? I'm Menolly Koizumi, it's nice to meet you." In a rather strange action for her, Menolly held out her shaky hand to Yuki and waited to see if he would take it.
As he listened to her speak to him honestly as well, he was amazed. He didn't relate to people that often.Ever since his parents died, all he's ever known were lies, betrayal, and information. All he's ever known was vengeance. But this young, beautiful woman, Menolly Koizumi-chan, was different. Yuki thought as he stared at her, blushing nervously, wondering if his stare and his blush might just ruin the fresh start she offered him. He then softly took her hand and he held it with a soft, yet firm masucline grip. "It'd be very nice if we could start over. I'm Yuki, Yuki Amano." His voice had a hint of kindness and affection he thought he'd long lost, and he felt humiliated about his former thoughts of ever actually being so vile and cruel to such a sweet and generous person. He'd still try to get information, but he now knew. He could ask Menolly-chan honestly and she'd give him her honest answers. That's all he could ask for, and all he could ever want from a person.
Menolly laughed quietly, shaking Yuki's hand in return then nodding to him. "Great. Thank you. So!" she turned towards the rest of the group again as well. "We never did decide what we were going to do first!"
As she turned to the others and mentioned that they hadn't decided yet on what they were going to do first, he thought about how rudely he acted towards them to begin the festivities and how a meek apology couldn't possibly make up for that. His parents would be disappointed if he acted so rudely and didn't do enough to make up for it. He looked away shyly and said, "If you want, we can go sing karaoke. Don't worry about the costs and everything, I'll pay for it. The least I can do." He wasn't too confident in himself, though; the choice of karaoke was a rather typical one and it would probably show more immaturity on his part, he feared.
Usami sighed as she sat down on a bench she found after leaving the group, "Why did she have to go mention something like that?" Usami thought to herself, trying to get it out of her head. She decided to get a drink to help her calm down and after looking around for a bit she found a vending machine; after which she got herself a drink. "I guess I should head back now," Usami told herself after she finished her drink.
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Haruka and Aoi could suddenly be found behind Usami. "Hey, we're gonna decide on which places we should go to now. You wouldn't want to be left out or get left behind, right? Let's go!" Haruka tried encouraging her. "Most of the groups are gone now, we really need to start moving."
Usami looked at Haruka, surprised. Since she had left without saying a word, she thought they would have just left her behind. Usami stood up and said, "I'm going," though there was really only one place she wanted to go.
Menolly blinked at the sudden, undeclared departure of Aoi and Haruka. She bit her lip but shrugged it off, figuring they just had something to do. "I'm pretty sure we have a list of approved activites and places we can visit, though," she told Yuki. "I'm not sure if karaoke is on it... however, I love to sing!" Menolly's eyes lit up as she mentioned her passion, sighing dreamily. She laughed, embarrassed, then continued, "I think Haruka-san has the list I mentioned."
Haruka and Aoi walked back to the group along with Usami behind them. "Okay, since I was chosen as the leader of this group and got the paper, I'll announce the locations that are listed. I think Yuki has a similar paper for being on Tokyo High's student council," Haruka said, then took a deep breath and continued, "Okay, listen up. I'll read out the areas and their details on this paper now:
Shinjuku
Known to be one of the most trendy and popular nightspots around the year of 2012 in the city, and it surprisingly is almost as popular as it used to be in the past. Shinjuku is located in the west of Tokyo. This area of the city also houses Tokyo’s second largest shopping center, including an underground mall and a number of department stores. One of the best parks in the city, the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden is also found here, which is a great example of Japanese landscaping.
Ginza
Perhaps the most famous shopping, entertainment, and dining district in all of Japan is Ginza. This area is one of the most expensive areas of the city and is often frequented by the wealthy older Japanese crowd. Famous around the world for its exclusive designer shops and bright lights. Also located in Ginza is the Kabukiza Theater where regular Kabuki performances are held (though watching the performances are not recommended in particular).
Meiji Shrine
The Meiji Shrine was built in 1920 in honor of Emperor Meiji and his beloved wife, Empress Shoken. Emperor Meiji is considered to be the first emperor of modern Japan; he played an instrumental role in transforming and westernizing the country, making it one of the world’s major powers. Destroyed during World War II, this shrine was later restored to its former glory, and is one of the most popular Shinto places of worship in the city. Located next to Yoyogi Park, various festivals and events are celebrated here throughout the year. All students MUST visit this place (and should pray for their exams).
Kanda
Kanda is most famous for its bookshops with over 100 secondhand shops. If you prefer to be where all the action is, then Roppongi quarter is for you. This area of the city is where most of Tokyo’s night life takes place. It also houses several foreign missions and embassies. Students should buy rare books that may not be possible to find in their own cities if they can for studying other materials that may help them. It is highly recommended for all students to visit it.
Tokyo Tower
Perhaps one of the most famous sights in Tokyo is the Tokyo Tower. Standing at 333 meters high, this tower is taller than the Eiffel Tower by just 13 meters. As the world's highest self-supporting iron structure, the Tokyo Tower is lit up daily with 164 lights, silver in the summer and orange in the winter. A relay tower for 9 TV channels and 5 radio stations, the Tokyo Tower also houses an earthquake/seismic detection system. It has two main observation galleries, one at150 meters high and the other at 250 meters. Inside the tower, there are also a number of attractions, such as an aquarium containing 50,000 fish; the Mysterious Walking Zone of Hologram Technology; the Wax Works Museum and a Trick Art Gallery. We wouldn't recommend this place for you students (because we don't want anyone falling off of it) but since it's Tokyo, we're inclined to list this wonderful place.
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Haruka ended her speech and sighed. "Is it me? Or is it that most of these locations are for tourists? Like, I remember seeing most of the places here listed on tourist attraction leaflets... But whatever. I say Meiji Shrine, because boring things should be dealt with first. And then we do all the fun things. And I think Karaoke can be done sometime after we go to Shinjuku, Yuki."
Aoi decided to speak, "Well, we have an interesting list of locations, and we have the rendezvous point at 7 pm at a hotel near Shinjuku. It shouldn't be a problem for us to visit other places on our own despite them telling us not to at the end of the paper, assuming that we'll be able to take care of ourselves. I shall agree with Haruka and say that we should go to Meiji Shrine, too."
Menolly listened to the list of places of interest, thinking over each of them carefully. She agreed with Aoi and Haruka, and nodded as she said, "I agree as well. With the mandatory visit to the Shrine out of the way, we're free to do as we wish. I think we're responsible enough, personally, and if any of us are really too worried about visiting areas that are advised against, they can just wish for our safety." She giggled at the end of her statement, already looking forward to the day of activities. Menolly couldn't imagine spending this day alone, even if until recently, things would have ended up that way. She felt even more grateful for the group she was now hopefully becoming a part of.
"Okay, any protesters against my decisions? If any of you don't want to go to Meiji Shrine now, then do tell now," Haruka announced, her voice was stern.
Menolly smiled at Haruka's firm tone, admiring how she could take the lead so easily. "Well, I have no objections." She looked to the rest of their party and waited to see if anyone disagreed with their first destination.
He looked at his list, which was pretty much the same give or take the recommended order of places where to go. As he looked at the list, he sighed and he nodded and he agreed with the others shaking his head. "I agree too, Haruka-san and Aoi-san, let's get this crap over with so we can enjoy ourselves later on!" He caught himself smiling widely, almost as wide as it was back when he was a high schooler in America. Before his parents were killed...
What is this? Is this what it means to have friends? Well, they're not really my friends, but why? Why do I feel lighter than before?
Soju had followed Casa-san to the high school, where they happened to be fashionably late. All Soju could see was a few select groups of students trying to figure out what they were going to do. Amongst one of the groups, Soju spotted someone that looked a lot like Usami-senpai. Soju walked closer to the group, trying to remain silent. Before she took her twelfth step towards the group, Soju recognized that it was indeed Usami-senpai. Elated, Soju ran up to her, saying her name.
"Usami-senpai~!" Soju says full of emotion as she ran up to Usami-senpai.
As Soju ran towards her friend, Casashian walked up to Soju feeling uneasy. "There are so many people... I just hope that the rumor doesn't spread towards the visitors..." Casashian thought.
As she wandered into the crowd aimlessly just so that the time will pass, she meets up with her dorm teacher who was in charge of arranging the groups. Seeing how Casashian wasn't paying any attention at all, he puts a hand on her shoulder and spoke
"Maruisawa-san, yesterday's behavior was unacceptable. But how the events turned out with your class about your gender, I think I could make an exception, but only this once!"
Usami, a bit surprised, took a look at the girl that called her name and saw that it was Soju. It had been a while since she last saw her. "Hello Soju-chan, long time no see," Usami said to her.
For some reason that Soju didn't know, she always felt so relaxed and refreshed around Usami-senpai. She felt... happier, then she was with anyone else. Ran by those feelings, Soju stopped next to Usami-senpai and looked up at her with an innocent look and smile.
"Mhm. It has been a while since we last saw each other. How have you been, Usami-senpai?", Soju asked without regards to anyone else.
Menolly was indeed curious to the two unfamiliar additions to their group. She noticed that one of the girls she heard being called Usami was the same person who had walked away, seemingly upset earlier. She hummed in recognitiion and opened her mouth to introduce herself, but-
Haruka and Aoi turned back to look at Usami, "Is something the matter?" as she said so, all else turned around to look at her, with the unfamiliar girl.
Hearing Haruka and Aoi address Usami first, Menolly decided to observe for now. Despite her decision, she still held concern for her and also wondered who the younger girl - Soju? - was to each of them. She decided that she had been openly sociable and amicable thus far to the point that it seemed strange even to herself. Losing herself in her thoughts slightly, Menolly tried to pay mind to the conversations going on around her to keep her grounded.
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After the groups were settled, Casashian's group-mates were mostly out of Tokyo's high school students, creating a relief to Casashian as she walked normally towards her new group, introducing herself, "Hi there, I'm Maruisawa Casashian, pleased to meet you." she spoke.
"Hello there, Casashian, have you gotten a teacher's permission to be in our group? Or do I need to get permission for you?", Haruka asked, tilting her head slightly.
"Well... actually, he put me in this group unwillingly..." Casashian slowly replied looking into Haruka's eyes. "So yes, that means I have permission," she spoke louder, taking her eyes away from Haruka and taking a look around.
Smiling, Menolly greeted Casashian quietly, wondering why it was that their number kept growing with a slight shyness.
"Hi there." Casashian replied a little bit louder than Menolly. "I just hope that they don't know the rumor..." Casashian thought.
"It's nice to meet you, Casashian-san. I hope we can get along and have a nice time today." Menolly said amicably.
"I really hope that. May I ask you from which highschool are you? Casashian asked normally, looking for any facial response.
"I'm from Osaka! What school are you from, Casashian-san?" Menolly smiled brightly at the girl, feeling like she may be able to make yet another new friend.
"I'm glad," Casashian whispered to herself, "I'm from Tokyo Highschool, pleased to meet you!" Casashian answered the question, smilling.
As more and more friends were gathering together, he slowly walked up to the group, trying to overcome the socially withdrawn barrier he had held for so many years. He tried to maintain a cool tone, voice, and posture, but it was obvious to anyone looking that Yuki was changing very slowly. "Friends? May I be introduced?" Yuki said respectfully to the ladies.
Usami looked at Soju, a bit confused - she never had seen someone look at her with a smile before other than her manager. "I'm okay I suppose. How you been yourself, Soju-chan?"
"I'm doing alright. I've had a wonderful time here so far. So, have you decided where you're going?", Soju says as she continues to smile happily at her senpai.
"Well, I'm just following my group right now. Though I really want to go to the library here." Usami said as her eyes started to shine a bit just thinking of going to the library.
"Huh. Is that so? I haven't been to the library either. In fact, I haven't had the time to enjoy the places around here. Mind if I tag along, Usami-senpai?" Soju asks, still ignoring everyone else.
"I guess it's okay. I wouldn't mind, though I thought we were supposed to stay with our own group?" Usami asked Soju.
"Hmm? I don't have a group; I go to middle school. We have the day off to visit with the High schoolers., so we weren't given set groups. We just have to tell a teacher which group we will be wih."
"I'm not fond of being ignored, especially when someone does that to me. But you can, and should, ask the teachers first if you want to tag along with us," said Haruka in a kind yet stern voice.
"Unfavorable person..." Aoi spoke within Haruka's mind. Everyone except Yuki could hear it, even Menolly could hear within her mind. "Wow... it's been so long since thought relaying took place, the only one who can do that for us is...".
"Kyubey.
"A group of potential humans, how interesting, Kyubey spoke, showing interest in his voice. His red eyes glared from afar.
"And Mahou Shoujo, too?" Aoi responded to Kyubey.
"You may put it that way, Sora-san. However, it wasn't my intention to have it set up this way. It's the work of fate itself."
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Soju finally turns around and pays attention to the other people in the group. "I already got permission. The other day, I told them I would like to go with a certain group that contained someone from my hometown," Soju says as she pulls out the piece of paper with the teacher's permission and hands it to the girl that spoke.
Within the mental relay, "So, you're here as well, Aoi-senpai," with a bit of disdain in her thoughts.
"You may have done that, but I didn't see your name on the list, which should list you as well if permission was really granted. If you want me to, I could call a teacher via my cell phone and ask permission."
"Only realized me now? My, my, a careless Mahou Shoujo, eh?"
Menolly jumped a bit, startled at the sudden prescence of others in her mind. "W... What is this?" she wondered.
Although he didn't know what was going on, for some reason everyone in the group was all intense while he was confused with his own thoughts about Menolly-chan and what was happening with his emotions. He knew that he wanted to keep a keen eye on things, because his main goal in this trip was to find out what happened to his parents. What's going on? Why is everyone so tense and perked up now? Is it possible it has a connection with the strange happenings? No, just a coincidence! Has to be, anyway...
"Go ahead. My teacher just told me to give that paper to someone in the group," Soju says neutrally. "I-I am not careless! I-I just didn't want to pay any attention to you! I don't care about you or anyone else here, just Usami-senpai."
Menolly wondered if the others could hear her thoughts as she could hear theirs. Or was there a special way to do it...?
"Calm down, Menolly-chan. This is Kyubey's wonderful power where he relays our thoughts via his own magical powers... or something," Haruka tried to explain.
"And hence you suck, one must always pay attention to everything, regardless of likes or dislikes, because if you don't, then you ARE careless and can be caught off-guard."
"Hmph. It's not like you were going to do anything with people around; anyways, I don't really care what you think about what I do. I'll do what I want, and you shouldn't concern yourself with what I do. You didn't seem to have such a problem when we first met."
Menolly 'listened' to the banter between Aoi and who she assumed was Soju, a bit confused about what was going on still. She understood the mental relay, but... "Does this mean that Soju-san is also a Mahou Shoujo...?"
"You're right, you should be careless and die. hahaha!"
"Anywaaaaaaay, shouldn't we try to get along instead of creating this intense air around us? And you, the new Mahou Shoujo, I think you should take advices regardless of how they are given to you, this isn't a game, once you die, you die."
"Duly noted. But that doesn't mean I have to like any of you.", Soju relays with a tinge of unconscious immaturity.
Usami sighed and was a bit mad, she didnt expect to hear Kyubey voice again... after what happen before. Though, she was surprised to hear Soju had become a Mahou Shoujo.
"We don't really care about that," Haruka spoke to Soju.
"Wait a moment!" Menolly thought to the others, biting her lip. "Why am I hearing all of this? I'm not a Mahou Shojou. True, I know about them, but I'm not one myself. So why?"
"Kyubey just does it sometimes.... Kyubey, why not answer her?"
"I thought that you'd want your friend to hear the whole conversation, Haruka, so I did it."
"Right... "
"Oh, I see..."
He noted to himself that it was strange, the majority of their group were looking at each other not saying a word but it didn't take rocket scientist to figure out through their stares that they absolutely hated each other at this moment and they wanted to rip out each other's throats. What would happen that would change the basic group's feelings towards each other?
"Hey, you guys what's going on here? Why the gloomy faces?" he figured that by being subtle about his analysis, he could get more information.
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"Ah, nothing at all, Yuki-kun. Anyway, I need to make a call to the teacher," Haruka said while taking her cell phone out, and then calling the teacher. She spoke as normally as she could and informed the teacher about Soju, and the teacher simply noted Haruka's words and replied with an "okay," after which Haruka hung up on her call and put her cell phone back in her pocket.
"Anyway, getting slowed down is in no way a good thing, let's move onto the shrine."
"Yeah, we really need to do that, I bet some students got there already, we should enjoy this field trip while we can guys. It's not every day when Sora and I get together."
Menolly giggled excitedly, bouncing on her heels, "And it's my first time actually doing something with someone who isn't my sister!" After she said this, she covered her mouth quickly, her face turning red at her embarrassing exclamation...
"Maybe that's the reason everyone's uptight, maybe we should all get together more often. That's one of the big benefits of Japan's great public transportation system," Yuki pointed out, secretly hoping someone would take him up on the idea. Not only for information, but for friends... he couldn't believe what he was thinking.
"I-I don't mind..." Menolly stuttered, still embarrassed by her outburst.
"Huh? You mean the subway?"
"But of course, I can get from here to Akiharbara in about 15 minutes to half an hour, and for an otaku like me, that's a huge benefit!" Yuki then gasped, Again....Why do I keep blurting these things about myself as if I'm their friend!? We only just met and yet... Do they even consider me their friend? Why?
"Umm... well, from what I heard, we don't need to take the subway for Meiji Shrine because the stop for it is quite far from us. And besides, walking is the best option for us unless we really start to run out of time, it helps for us to be able to look around properly. Though I'll reconside my decisions if others disagree with me," Haruka replied.
"Hmph. I agree with her, but I won't mind where we go so long as we can have some decent fun." Soju says, acting like a child who got their candy taken away. Soju whispers afterward, "And so long as I can be with Usami-senpai."
"We can hear your whispers Soju-san... Sora and I can, at least."
Soju gasps, and quickly turns back to the girl that spoke. "Th-th-that's none of your concern!" Soju yells as her face becomes scarlet. "Y-You should know when things should be left alone! You... you ..." Soju bites her lip.
"It was just a notification, though. But one thing; they say that girls sometimes likes other girls in that way~" Haruka teased, she then giggled.
"Let's leave Soju-chan alone, she has the right to her own feelings. I know how it feels to be violated and I hate the feeling." Yuki said, knowing that he too liked to put up a barrier up around himself at times.
Soju's face turns completely red as the girl continued speaking. Tears start to well in her eyes as the truth strikes Soju, but she tries to deny it. "You... You don't know what you're talking about.", Soju says as she starts to point at the girl.
Usami was a bit confused on what was going on and didn't know how to really respond to the situation. "You know, just leave Soju-chan alone, she hasn't done anything to you two," Usami said while still wondering what really happen.
"You guys do know that Haruka was only joking, right? Sheesh."
Haruka replies to Soju, "Right, right! But really, I was only joking. You're cute, it's so easy to tease you!"
Menolly once again stayed quiet, smiling softly and enjoying the atmosphere of teasing and friendliness. When Yuki protested to the teasing, she looked over at him in concern. He almost seemed like he felt like the target... or was remembering a time when he was.
"Knock it off you two, it's unbecoming of those of elite statuses. She's only what, 14, 15? A young girl's feelings deserve to be respected. What of when you were Soju-chan's age? And, why am I doing these kinds of things again!?
Soju's face tries to get an even darker shade of red as they continue to speak. "I hope you know, you hit closer to home then you should have. I won't forgive you for this," as malicious intent flowed from Soju's thoughts.
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"Idiot. Don't you even understand what a 'joke' means? Do you even know anything about teasing? What are you, a kid? You have no right to tell us off while you yourself are a guy who doesn't even know how to behave properly with girls. I'm referring to what happened between you and Menolly, of course. Your social knowledge is really limited, it seems," Aoi seemed angered.
"I won't disagree with Sora here. We know up to which extent we make our jokes, unlike you; we're more mature than you think, and we know when to drop what. That said, we should get a move on," Haruka stopped for a moment in speech, "Soju, reacting like this and having a malicious intent all over you is not a good thing, judging that it's purely from the joke. It was done for giggles, not battles. But if you want to fight, it won't end in your favor."
"Eep..." thought Menolly when she heard the threatening tone from Soju in the mental relay, realizing that it may not be carefree teasing as much as it seemed.
"I agree with Haruka-san... Nobody seems to be hurt, s-so maybe w-we should just go now..." Menolly suggested weakly.
Before Haruka could reply to Menolly...
"I understand fully well what a joke is, Aoyama-chan..." Yuki shot back, becoming more of his isolated, rude self. "But making a joke about a person's feelings, especially when you're their senior is uncalled for. But whatever, I won't put in the effort. It seems to go to waste anyway."
I never expected THE Aoyama-sama to be so crude and rude, she lost all of her appeal to me.
"No one might expect me to say this but... oh god, what an excuse of a sore loser. I am truly disappointed."
"She's no senpai to me," Soju says to the guy. "I know a battle with you two won't end in my favour, as I just became a Mahou. I know full well not to tango with you two, but I still despise the both of you regardless."
"You seem to not realize that whatever the joke may be about, you'll speak in Soju's favor anyway. You'll make reasons up to put up a debate, which you can never win. Jokes can be about anything, seniors can and will always tease their juniors, because that's the biggest thing one can tease about. You act as though there was actual harm, so shut it. You don't really know what you're saying anyway. And my response to your last statement; you are far more rude, using 'chan' honorifics to address me, who do you think you are, commoner? You are in no place to say that to me," she was clearly looking down on Yuki at this moment.
Menolly spoke a little louder, "G-guys... We're losing a lot of t-time here... P-please don't fight."
"I may not know whether there was actual harm, but neither do you know. And if you were paying any attention, you'd notice that Soju-chan is flustered right now. And of course, I'd defend her. She's my kouhai in effect, I have that responsibility. As do you, but you don't want to seem to take it. So that's alright." "Haruka-chan's right, this trip is about fun and we seem to be at each other's throats. So let's drop it now."
"Umm... you do know that almost every senior teases their juniors like that sometimes right? How is it your responsibility to defend something so natural that you yourself should know that it's normal? We do it to see that flustered face. Do we even have to you tell that simple fact? This shows volumes of your inexperience, Yuki-kun... But we do have to drop this. But please think ten times before opening your mouth, don't do something that we would have to clarify to you, because then, you're not much of a man anymore to us."
By this point, Menolly had basically given up. She sighed deeply, running her hands through her silvery hair and trying to wish away her oncoming headache.
"I don't need your help, beast, just like the girl says," Soju says as she turns back to Usami-senpai, with her arms crossed. "Though I do respect you some more."
"I understand, Soju-chan. I'll let you have your space. I'm not much of a man, Haruka!?" Yuki exclaimed, more offended by that then by Aoi's teasing of his being a commoner. It was true after all, no matter how much it hurt. "I want to drop it and I will with this, I'm more of a man than you think," he "hmphs" in frustration.
"Soju-chan, don't you think that was a little too harsh?" Usami told Soju.
"No. Not in the slightest. I detest men. They're all beasts," Soju responded to Usami-senpai.
Aoi yawned, as if she got bored. Haruka giggled, as if to show how wrong he went on his tracks. "Come join the ranks of kings and queens in mind, after you do, you'll see how stupid you two really were at this moment. And no, you're not much of a man at all, it's a simple truth you'll have to face and improve from there."
"Hahah, we have really done it this time, huh, Sora? C'mon, enough of this, let's go already."
"Fine."
"I hope we can... all have a good time.." Menolly tried to smile with a heavy sigh.
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Soju tries to grab Usami-senpai's hand as they start to go, to drag her along. "Come on Casa-san, Usami-senpai. You'll be left behind," Soju says as she returns to her previous happiness.
"Don't pull that hard, Soju-chan," Usami told Soju as she started dragging her. Usami never expected this, she thought she would probably just be ignored and no one would bother her.
"We go to the Shrine first, right?" Yuki asked irritatedly. "In that case, I'll be going first." He said as he began to walk
forward. Not paying any mind to the fact that he didn't know where the Shrine was, all he knew is that he wanted to get away from Haruka and Aoi. So much for fellow elites respecting each other.
"Bye~" Haruka said, waving, seeing him go forward almost randomly. Haruka walked forward along with Aoi, but they took a turn distinct to Yuki's road along with the group.
"B-bye, Yuki-kun...?" she called, feeling disappointed with her loss of amicable resolve she'd had earlier. She walked a little ways behind the rest of the group, once more humming to herself to cheer up.
Meanwhile, Yuki, flustered in his anger began to realize that he was lost and that he was walking in the opposite direction. "What a loser I am, I got lost in my own city... " after a while of walking he pouted "Well, if Aoi and Haruka weren't such jerks to me I wouldn't be in this mess!"
But after a while, Yuki began to look saddened. i]"That's wrong... The one who was a jerk was me. I only picked the fight to try and get more popularity with the group and to be more confident with myself. Instead, I only divided myself from my new friends... I am truly an idiot!"[/i]
Haruka and the gang walked and walked and walked, until finally reaching the Meiji Shrine, some of the people in the group seemed slightly unhappy. "And so we're here, finally at the Meiji Shrine. Let us pray shall we?!"
"Listen up guys, you bow twice, then clap twice, and pray to the Gods, then bow again. They might be a bit silly and not all like to follow the customs, but I guess that's just how it is, and we should also donate some of our money to the shrines too," Haruka said just in case any of the people forgot or didn't know. Haruka and Aoi then went towards the shrine, then bowed twice, clapped twice, then prayed. Haruka prayed for more happy times in her high school. And Aoi wished out loud for more fame...
"Wait, what's with that wish?" Haruka asked, "But I love to be known everywhere I go."
"That's new... I wonder what happened to you in the last few years... "
"Miracles happened," Aoi said, smiling confidently after closing her eyes, looking more high and mighty.
Soju runs up to the shrine and pulls out some of her money, a couple hundred yen, and tosses it into the bin. She then claps her hands and closes her eyes in prayer. "Please let me be able to protect Usami-senpai in the future, to pay back my debt.", Soju whispers as she prays.
Arriving at the shrine, Casashian waited for her turn, while thinking about the fact that she is a Mahou Shoujo. "This is strange, why am I hearing voices?"
Haruka gives an explanation to Casashian to have her understand, at the same time, she also realized that she's another new Mahou Shoujo.
Silently, Menolly watched the others pray at the shrine, still trying to decide what she should pray for... Approaching the shrine, she put a few hundred of the yen she brought with her into the offering bin. Menolly nodded to herself, then bowed twice, clapped twice, then began to pray in succession. I wish for all of these wonderful people here to have a happy time; that's all. Thank you for watching over me so well. After finishing her prayer, she bowed once more and smiled happily.
After watching Soju and Menolly pay their money into the offering bin, Haruka smiled. Aoi and Haruka then took an exchange with each other, "Sure," she said, as if she read Haruka's thought before she spoke it out, Haruka giggled. They both took out their wallets. Haruka entered about 3000 yen in the bin. Aoi kept a keen eye on Haruka's hand, smiled, then took out 10,000 yen while having a grin on her face. "Sorry Haruka, but God shall favor me the most!" she said as she put the money in the bin. "W-What the!? I won't lose!", Haruka retorted, pulling out more than 10,000 yen and putting it down the bin, she smiled back, feeling victorious, but slightly sweating at the same time. "Ho~? Challenge accepted!" she announced, pulling more and more yen notes, donating more than 20,000 yen to the shrine! "J-Jeez! We're being childish now!"
Casashian went up to the bin to put about 100 yen in, amidst all the chaos betwen Haruka and Aoi.
------------------
Usami sighed as she put 100 yen into the bin. "Can't believe they would just throw money away like that," Usami thought to herself.
Menolly couldn't help but laugh at the playful competition going on between the two friends; she found it extremely adorable. She watched with a fond smile and called to them, "How long have you two known each other? You act so naturally, it's really admirable."
"Well... 38 years to be exact, Menolly-chan, it's been a while since someone last asked that to us, haha!" Haruka replied, through telepathy. "Naturally, eh?"
"How is that possible?" Menolly relayed in awe, then answered, "Yeah! You're really good friends. It's nice to see."
"Menolly-chan, a Mahou Shoujo or a Shounen does not age any more after making a contract with Kyubey. We don't die until we're killed. "I see," then relayed her thought through Kyubey, "In other words, we're immortal once the contract is made, the thoughts were relayed only in between Aoi, Haruka and Menolly, others didn't hear.
"Immortality... Two wishes at a price of one. This doesn't sound bad after all" Casashian spoke towards the mental conversation. Realizing what she have done, Casashian blushed making a few stepts backwards.
"O-oh... I see... What happens when you reach the end of high school years, though?"
"Huh, what do you mean?
"Well, I mean... By now, you're older than your physical form suggests, right? So you go through the years of school, never aging... what happens when you graduate?"
"Well, what we basically do is, live a life of fighting. So, we only do school and such for being able to work somewhere. We erase our existence later and then reset the process, and again, we later attend school. Of course, we erase our existence with Kyubey's help. When we graduate, our 'life' still continues, or at least, the current life that we live on, it's something that Aoi and I decided to do long ago because or else, we'd get way too bored with only hunting Witches and Wizards and hence even feel lonely. That said, our current families are not real, either."
Menolly frowned, slightly saddened by the new information. "I see... Thank you for explaining."
"Does that mean that we can do almost anything towards normal people without them noticing us? Casashian asked with a huge smile on her face.
[i]"It's not as bad as it may sound, though. You get to witness lots of great things, for starts; you get to see how humanity grows in time," Haruka smiled.
"That's true... but it's also sad, knowing that you'll be around when your friends and family are gone. But... it also has a certain beauty to it. Is that strange to think?"
"Beauty? I'm not sure that about that. And honestly, I never really loved my family. Current family is way better," Haruka gave a somewhat expression to show her dislike for her family. "As for me, I never really hated my family. They were the most royal family I ever had, after all. But I moved on. It's what you really need to do in order to not fall down into despair."
"I say beauty because, like you said, you get to see how humanity grows. I think that, in a way, that's quite a thing to experience. Mmmn... well, I guess that family matters would be different for everyone. I have one more question... do you ever regret making the contract?"
Haruka looked down now, it was obvious that she was sad. She then turned her face towards the sky, "No, not at all. I did it for a very special person, you see. If I hadn't made the contract, I'd be better off dead... "
"Haruka... "
"It's okay, I'm fine, Sora."
Menolly frowned, watching Haruka's demeanor change. [color=#3399CCC]"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, Haruka-san..."[/color]
Haruka replied with an "It's okay," then smiled. Suddenly, Kyubey alerted everyone, "Everyone! A Witch has already started harming one of your friends, shouldn't you be saving him?!" "Trying to be cool on a crowd again, Kyubey?"
"It's not like that! I'm only notifying you guys."
"Anyway, we should go now, Sora."
"Even though I don't like the idea of coming to the rescue of a man, I say we should take care of that Witch. If we save the beast of a man in the process, that's fine too," Soju says over the relay. "Now, if you guys don't mind, Casa-san and I will go ahead. Granted, it's alright with you, Casa-san?"
"Hmm... if that's the case, then there's no need for Sora and I to go, I guess," Haruka annouced. "Indeed. One Mahou Shoujo is supposed to take care of herself against a Witch or a Wizard usually, two makes it so much more easier. There's no need for like... four us to go there, and besides, I bet there are more around this city."
Menolly frowned and fidgeted nervously. "A Witch... is it really alright not to help? I mean, Yuki-kun could be in danger..." With a sigh, she worried, "But you guys are the Mahou Shoujo, and I trust your decision..."
"I guess we should go then, Casa-san," Soju said as she turned to leave.
Casashian weakly nodded, "Okay..." as she proceeded to walk with Soju.
"Please be careful!" Menolly called after the retreating Casashian and Soju.
------------------
Usami had backed away from the group when Kyubey had mention there was a Witch around, from her previous experience she didn't want to be involved with them at all.
"Uhh... goodbye and good riddance!" said Aoi, somewhat happy. "So that leaves it with the three of us, huh?" Haruka asked, excited. "Kyubey is yet to leave," Aoi spoke back. "Well, I was planning to be with you ladies today... " Kyubey spoke, slightly feeling down, feeling the need to go along with Soju and Casashian. "NOPE! You go with those two girls and guide them. They are new to this job, right? Think about persuading Menolly-chan later please!" Haruka requested Kyubey to take his leave. Kyubey left as he uttered to himself, "Yes, yes... "
Persuading me...? thought Menolly, biting her lip. She wanted to know what that meant.
"Is something the matter, Menolly-chan?" Haruka asked, after witnessing a confused expression on Menolly's face.
"Oh, I was just wondering what you meant by persuading me later is all," replied Menolly, scratching the back of her head.
"Basically, Kyubey loves to make contracts with girls who already know about Witches and Wizards and all that. Because that defeats the job of explaining everything to them... or most. This allows him to save time."
"O-oh... I see. Thank you for explaining." Menolly became quiet, absorbed in her thoughts and the idea of becoming a Mahou Shoujo.
Previously being held in detention for fighting on the bus, Tsukasa wasn't able to go out to visit the city. He managed to sneak out of the inn after a while. He didn't have any destination in particular but he headed towards the city anyway. He could only think of the suspects of the one that killed Ryuya.
He had walked for quite a distance and didn't notice until he arrived at the entrance of Meiji Shrine.
"We should definitely pray here, man."
"Why should we go to a shrine during a field trip?"
"So we get the straight A's, man. It's said to be REALLY effective!"
Remembering that Ryuya wanted to visit here made Tsukasa walk up the steps towards the shrine. He saw there were quite a lot of students from his school visiting. As he walked towards the altar, he saw some girls, most likely students from both his school and the school in Tokyo, chatting animatedly. When Tsukasa walked past them to head towards the altar, he knocked into one of the girls, a girl with silvery white hair.
"........ Sorry about that." said Tsukasa as he held out his hand to help her up.
Knocked over by Tsukasa, Menolly fell with a startled squeak to the ground. Her vision was blurry, turqoise eyes trying to focus on the hand in front of her. She looked up at him in embarrassment, and took his hand with gratitude. She studied him for a moment and offered him a smile, "No, it's fine, I fall easily anyway. I'm sorry. Are you alright?"
"...... I'm fine......" Tsukasa replied with a sullen look on his face. He turned to the altar and put his hands together to pray.
"You should watch where you're going you know?!"
Tsukasa looked at the girl briefly and muttered "..... I guess so....." Tsukasa just looked away, trying to ignore her.
"A-ah, Haruka-san, it's fine! It was an accident." Menolly bowed her head to the boy, "Once again, I apologize. I hope you have a nice day."
"............" Tsukasa didn't bother to answer but just ignored them.
"Anyway, should we get going to our next location? In fact... where should we go next?"
Menolly thought about the various locations, shuffling her weight between her feet as she mused. "Maybe to buy our books in Ginza? After getting everything school related done with, we could go enjoy everything else," she suggested.
"We can find books and all that in Ginza, but Kanda specializes in study material department, we can find more than just studying materials there, there are many rare books there too... or so I heard... the guide-paper here highly recommends it too!"
Menolly looked down at her feet, her cheeks red. "O-okay... I admit! I wanted to go to Ginza now to find a cute outfit... My sister was giving me suggestions on style last night..." She hid her face behind her hands and whimpered, flustered.
[color#0000A0]"Ahahahaha!!"[/color] Haruka entered her state of a fit of laughter, once again, "You should be more honest, Menolly-chan~! But anyway, we can start with the shopping once we're done with all the study-related issues, I guess."
Menolly giggled, still embarrassed, and played with the ends of her hair once more. "S-sounds good, hehe."
------------------
"Okay, let's get our scheduling straight right here, right now. We're done with Meiji Shrine here, next we're going to Kanda. Then, I say we head for Ginza, after which we should hit Shinjuku, and end it with Tokyo Tower... though I wonder if we should visit some other places too, while we're at it... " Haruka wondered. "Tokyo Sky Tree! Always wanted to go there... " Aoi suggested.
"Oh yeah! I almost forgot about that... can't believe I saw it already and yet it didn't come to mind that it's a good place to go to... wait, why in the world did the guide paper not list it? What, they afraid of falling students now?"
"Well... there was one suicide case there," Aoi remembered.
"I didn't know... "
Listening to the exchange between the two girls, Menolly became excited at just the name Tokyo Sky Tree; she thought it sounded wonderful without even knowing what it was. However, Menolly shrunk into her thoughts at the mention of a suicide, her thoughts coming to an immediate halt.
"Man... how could I miss it when I can see it even now? I guess my mind was too occupied today," Haruka pondered to herself, "You're just an idiot, hence it's natural. Don't worry! Being dumb lets you avoid many types of depression!"
"How mean... " Haruka said, after crouching on the ground, sulking. "Truth burns, move on~" said Aoi, confidently, as if knowing that Haruka can do it. Haruka's eyes now were totally comparable to that of a crybaby's; ready to burst in tears.
As Tsukasa finished praying, he overheard the group of girls talking about the suicide case. It felt very odd, it was as though they were talking about Ryuya, even though they weren't. He turned around and muttered softly, just enough for someone close by to hear, his voice containing a slight anger, "You shouldn't talk about something like that as though it was funny," Tsukasa walked away slowly from the altar.
Menolly pat Haruka's shoulder gently, "Ahh, don't cry, Haruka-san." Just barely, she heard the strange boy's words muttered under his breath. Though it didn't concern her much, it irritated her. It was hard to control snapping at him, but she had already been angry once today, at Yuki - she did not get angered very often, and twice in one day seemed unlikely. But there it was, the burning, bubbling sensation in her chest and stomach. She opened her mouth without her mind's okay.
"If you feel so strongly about it, maybe you should actually say so instead of mumbling as you walk away."
Tsukasa stopped in his tracks but did not turn to face them. "...... Yeah. Maybe you're right," with a sad expression, Tsukasa said in response. After that he walked away, without another word, feeling stupid for taking it out on someone totally unrelated to it.
"Sora, you meanie!" Haruka exclaims, after which she clings under Menolly's arm like a little child as if taking shelter from an approaching storm as Aoi as glared towards her with utter and pure disappointment. She completely ignored the guy who went off. "Menolly-san, don't let people get on your nerves that easily. Stay cool."
"Guys like that are cowards. They feel righteous but can't stand up for it. It bugs me, I'm sorry," Menolly explained, giggling at Haruka and shooting Aoi a bashful smile. [color=#339CC]"I guess I'm just a little overexcited today."[/color]
"I guess we should move on. Come on, you two," Aoi said, giving a slight smile for only a bit, then walking off. Haruka stops clinging onto Menolly and starts walking too, "Even though this place is a boring one, we still managed to have some fun here. I guess you can have fun anywhere as long as you have your friends with you."
Menolly giggled and walked along with them, "Yeah, you're right. If you were alone on this trip, it might be pretty boring..."
"I'd be bored enough to go out hunting," Haruka replied, still smiling.
Aoi, Haruka, and Menolly started to walk towards Kanda - for educational purposes. Haruka stopped for a moment, "Okay, let's see, the school from where we started venturing from a bit south from the city center of Ginza. Meiji Shrine is to the west from the city center, and Kanda is at the opposite; and after Kanda, a little more walking to the east and we would reach Shinjuku, so... Ginza, the city center would lie terribly far from Shinjuku... oh my. Guess we'll have to just hurry with our studying activities. I'm sorry for not paying attention to the maps earlier, guys," Haruka looked down for a moment after looking through the map on the guide paper.
"Ah... It's alright, Haruka-san," Menolly gave her a reassuring smile as they walked.
"It's not the end of the world just because we'll have to take turns and such, and it's not like we have to walk all the way either, Haruka. Look at the time and age. We have transportation services here, lots of them. I say you two get subway tickets meant for usage here, I have mine. I doubt you have one Haruka. And Menolly-san, you said that you're here for the first time right? I doubt that you have any tickets either. There's a stop in Kanda, so we can reach it directly through the train, then walk to Ginza later. There's another subway stop close to Ginza, and we can take that to go to Shinjuku as the train stops at it's heart. The world is easier to travel in than you think when you know how to get around. Now, let's go! We don't have the time to stand by," Aoi started to walk again. [color=#0000A0"I felt as though I fail as a leader for a bit there. Thank you, Sora!"[/color]
Menolly giggled, following Aoi and grinning. "That's true, Aoyama-san. I'm so used to walking everywhere. Glad we have you to remind us~" she called in a sing song voice. Excitement bubbled up in her stomach even more, her steps feeling light and acquiring a slight skip. She hummed as they walked along, daydreaming of the different places they were going to visit.
"You may repay me now," Aoi replied, high and mighty once again. Haruka's sweat ran down her head again in embarrassment for the acts of her dear friend while giving a weak smile.
Menolly smiled at Aoi's response and continued walking.
------------------
As they made their walk to the subway, they first went down the incredibly long staircase of the shrine. Well, not really very long - it was long for those who don't often visit the shrines. Before they knew it, they went past the road, which felt like an eternity as they took twists and turns along their way. One would feel quite bored, though one didn't feel that way; Aoi. She was listening to music along the way with her earphones, one cunning person she is... One thing to be noted, though, many people were giving her stares. It had gotten to the point that the three were stopped thrice by passing people to take pictures with her brilliant and radiant smile. It was almost 12 pm by the time they finally reached the station. "Time to get your tickets, you two," she said, looking back at Menolly and Haruka, not a sweat could be seen on her from walking, same goes for Haruka. The station was crawling with people, the noises were almost infinite. Aoi could feel the stares again.
The walk had been long, but Menolly was used to having to walk everywhere so it hadn't really bothered her. Seeing Aoi with her music player made her wish she had one herself, but Menolly entertained herself by humming under her breath and daydreaming. When they were stopped by people gawking and asking for pictures with Aoi, she was a bit baffled, but it wasn't hard to see why they'd want photos - even if you didn't know who she was by name, just her appearance and the way she held herself screamed regality. Despite her generally rough exterior towards others, Menolly saw the ease with which she smiled at the people and she couldn't help but be infected by it as well. The day wore on as they continued walking, and she was really enjoying herself despite the quiet walk and lack of activity. As they approached the station, she felt a bit overwhelmed at the amount of people bustling around. All the sound made her head hurt, but she tugged on Haruka's sleeve lightly, inquiring, "S-sorry, Haruka-san, but do you mind if we get our tickets together?"
"I thought it was an unspoken rule that we'd go get it together? Hehe, of course dummy, why'd I mind?!" Haruka replied, joyous. Aoi waved her hand as they spoke, "Wake up before you two get into your daydreams and get a move on, slowpokes," Aoi mocked, but making a slight and delicate smile on her face.
Menolly giggled and linked her arm with Haruka's, an extremely happy smile lighting her face. "Haaai, Aoi-san ~ We'll be right back."
Haruka did walk with Menolly but... how does one get tickets here, anyway? There was a huge machine, apparently it sells tickets like vending machines. One inserts the amount of yen required, which gets scanned inside to see if it's the right amount of money inserted, and it then gives out the desired ticket. But... there are so many slots for entering money and taking tickets... Haruka was confused very much.
Aoi stood behind her and asked, "You don't use trains in Osaka, do you? It's more commonly than this city, though."
"L-Little help please? I walk my way to my destinations usually... " Haruka was completely confused, it seemed. She wasn't an avid train user, people used to always do things for her. Aoi sighed, "Listen up, you two. The slot where you see 'once' written with a green and square background is where you get a ticket for single use. SINGLE. You can use it to ride a train only once. The others are for special trains. You may need SUICA and PASMO for some of these tickets. Which are advanced prepaids IC cards. I have one of those but I don't think you guys would need extravangant items like that right now. They're pretty cheap, so maybe you two should get them in your home town one day."
"Sora... those special tickets may not be so cheap for normal people like Menolly-chan though, most of those are above 700 Yen," Haruka replied after looking at the prices clearly written on the opposite side of the names of the tickets. Haruka then inserts some Yen to buy a one-time ticket.
Originally just as confused as Haruka, Menolly gave a grateful smile to Aoi. "It seems I should get more acquainted with these sorts of things... thank you, Aoi-san!" She inserted her yen to buy a one-time ticket, watching the machine work and listening to the other girls' conversation quietly. She still felt a little crowded in the station, but with her two friends she was starting to feel a bit better. Her head was starting to hurt less...
"I have some money saved up, and I could always ask my sister for help, if I decided to get a special ticket! Using the train could be pretty useful." she smiled and pocketed her ticket.
"You're welcome, and good for you. Though, I myself would prefer using tickets gained from my own money. I guess I'm just like that. I like getting things myself so that I don't feel indebted to others. Anyway, let's get a move, shall we?" Aoi responded, and then gave a walk to the stairs and started to walk, Haruka followed, too, after getting her ticket from the machine.
"Yeah, I know what you mean... I don't want her having to take care of me." she walked with Haruka and Aoi, a slight skip in her step. "Trains are crowded..."
"You'll get used to it, and perhaps you'll come to like it one day," Aoi made a rather strange response. Perhaps everyone doesn't hate crowded places after all. The three then appeared before the rail. Several people waited for the train to appear, they sat on the benches beside the walls or just stood before the railway. The crowdy background noises were as clear as ever. Aoi stood before the rail, "We wait for the train here now, it should arrive in a matter of minutes."
"Hmmn... ~" Menolly stood beside Haruka and Aoi, waiting for the train. She hummed to herself quietly, almost enjoying the ambience of sound around her. The buzzing in her ears had mostly subsided, thankfully. She took a deep breath and watched people for a bit, thinking silly things such as imagining where they were going and why.
"Is that the train? It's bigger and longer than I thought... " Haruka exclaimed, Aoi replied, "Yes, and I don't think it's that big, considering the giagantic locomotives around these days."
The train arrived and everyone started boarding it. It was as if waves of water flew in naturally into it. Aoi, Haruka, along with Menolly somehow got in. It was tight, this must be a very busy hour to have this many passengers on board. They were squished tight to the transparent door of the train.
Menolly squeaked at the slight pushing of the people and found herself pressed against the door of the train anyway. She took a deep, shaky breath, and shut her eyes tightly for a few moments. She felt the presence of Haruka and Aoi nearby, which calmed her slightly.
------------------
It about an hour to reach Kanda and it was now past 1 pm. Haruka, Aoi, and Menolly came out from the train, then found themselves on another station. They looked around, until Aoi reminded them of their destination. Haruka then took a look at the map. Seems like the libraries aren't too far away. The trio walked off to the libraries, they took a swift turn to the left as they headed off. Passing the everyday pedestrians by, the three found themselves standing in awe before their destination. It was huge. Unlike any other library. It was humongous. "That's so big..."
Usami sighed at this point, she didn't care where they went, but didn't like the fact that these girls had seem to have forgotten about her. She didn't want to say anything to them since it seemed like they were in their own little world so she would just keep her distance from them and walked behind them. "I wonder where they could be going now," Usami thought after they got off the train. After spending some time through walking, they seem to have finally stopped, wondering what was there next stop, Usami looked up. Big enjoyment awaited her, it was the library, which she had looked up and wanted to visit. At this point Usami didn't care about keeping her distance anymore and just rushed ahead of the three girls into the library.
As Usami rushed into the library, Aoi and Haruka moved aside in realization of her sudden movement. It's not like they never knew of the one walking behind them. They just never interrupted what she was doing.
"W-woah..." stuttered Menolly, feeling small before the giant library. Her eyes roved over the intricacies of the building, taking in every detail in amazement. In awe, she could only wonder how much knowledge could be found inside such a place. "This is..."
Once inside, Usami just looked in awe. She never had seen so many books before, though right before she went in any further she stopped. "I wonder if I should wait for them," Usami thought to herself. "Well I don't know the city myself so I guess its safer that I do," Usami thought to herself as she waited for the other three to come in.
Haruka and Aoi walk in. The amount of shelves already amazed the two. It's like the shelves went on forever. It's like there's no end to books. To find so many books at this age, it was truly a spectacular feat to view. Haruka then inquired the librarian they found about books that would surely be good study materials. Then asked the two to head for the second floor, then to the sixty-seventh shelf. Apparently there would definitely be useful books there.
Haruka then grabbed Menolly's arm, "Let's go!" and just pulled her to the second floor to their destination with a smile on her face. She then whipped up her graceful smile which she hasn't shown recently and started picking some books. Aoi only took out one book and started reading it, seemed like it spoke of legends. While on the other hand, Haruka's books seemed related to alchemy.
Menolly continued to gaze in awe at the amount of books, the tall, long shelves, the smell of paper and ink... She breathed it all in, feeling light. She peeked around the shelves and took out a book on Calculus, her worst subject. Looking around some more, she also grabbed a book of fairy tales, a book on musical notation, and a general study guide. She sat on the floor, leaning against a bookshelf, and began to read quietly, with a smile on her face.
It's been only five minutes and... "Okay, let's go."
"No! You're staying here and reading. No slacking. Read up, Sora!"
"Gah, but I'm already bored!"
"How could you be bored in a place like this, Aoi-san?" Menolly looked up from the book she was quietly reading, shooting the other girl a curious glance.
"It's because I've read all of this before... " replied Aoi, closing the book and picking another one out from the closest book shelf.
Menolly tilted her head with a curious smile, her brow quirked, "You've read every book in this library?" She giggled, "Don't worry, we'll move onto more exciting ventures soon enough!"
"Hmm? Yes, every single one of them, or at least it seems like the same books from when I visited last time," Aoi's expression was unchanged, as if what she said was purely normal.
"Well, Sora actually read all the books in an ancient library and that was long ago, and I mean all of them. She sometimes comes to libraries these days and reads tons of books up. And this is why she barely has anything to read most of the time."
"I see," replied Menolly, an impressed smile on her face. "That sounds like it would be very interesting."
"More like boring as hell... " another reply, seemingly a normal one came flying to Menolly.
"... Then why even do it...?" she blinked, shaking her head and reading some more. Menolly reluctantly opened the book on math and studied a bit.
"Because I had nothing to do, obviously. I was expected to be a genius, this is what happens when they have very high expectations of you and you try to fulfill it."
Menolly only hummed in response. She listened, but she was trying to work out one of the math problems in her head. After a few moments, she looked up, "I wonder how things are going with the witch..."
"If it were a veteran hunting, then it'd be over by now."
"Well, my Soul Gem is giving a faint glow. This is probably because the Witch is far away from us in comparison to the last time our Soul Gem's reacting to it. Either way, it's none of our business now."
She nodded in response to them, but Menolly couldn't help but worry a bit. She tried to focus instead on her book.
Haruka got back to reading her book. Soon, Haruka picked out more books from the shelf. Aoi seemed to be totally bored while she gave a blank stare to whatever books she tried to read.
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Aoi and Haruka stood before the station now, leaving along with Menolly, Haruka bought some books and had her tiny bag filled with books in her hand, before she took leave of the library, she took out her cell phone and took a picture of the library. "That was a great place to visit," me muttered to herself. "So, in the end, it's just the three of us together, eh?"
"I guess so, it's a bit worrying since I was supposed to be the group leader and now I find the group pretty much dissolved. Oh well, couldn't stop people from dropping out for whatever they wanted to go and do, I guess... "
"We'll just tell the teachers that they left us because you were trying to be a good leader. I bet the teachers will understand, strictness are never respected by horrible students, after all,"
Soju brought her Soul Gem into her palm and was looking at it from time to time to make sure she was heading in the right direction. Thankfully, she watched the news that morning, and remembered that there was a warehouse nearby that had a couple of unexplained disappearences. Soju started heading in that direction, with Casa-san right behind her.
As they walked, Casashian spoke "I'm not sure if I want to do this with you anymore... " she said, looking down at Soju. "You know how it went last time," Casashian sadly added.
"What ARE you talking about, Casa-san?" Soju asked as she turned a corner.
"I'm talking about that night when you had..." Casashian paused for a minute, "Kissed me," she continued, looking frustrated at Soju.
"Are you still going on about that? I told you it was to seal our contract to help each other," Soju said as she continued looking at her Soul Gem while they continued walking.
"Not necesarily about that thing... It's how I've reacted... b-but never mind!" Casashian replied, looking ahead. "How much longer untill we arrive, Soju? And to be frank... I'm kinda nervous about this," she added, showing a small smile.
"We're actually here," Soju said as she stopped outside of an abandoned warehouse. Soju's Soul Gem was glowing brightly. "Are you ready?" Soju asked Casa-san as she started walking into the warehouse.
Casashian nodded towards Soju in response. "I am," she eventually added as she entered into the warehouse.
"Either of you must use magic to make an entrance for entering the barrier itself. For starters, a Mahou Shoujo usually extends her arm in order to have her Soul Gem react to the hidden barrier to create an entrance, while elites and veterans use other tricks or even slice their way through them," Kyubey appeared to explain to Casashian and Soju.
"I see..." Soju said as she raised her Soul Gem towards the entrance to the warehouse.
A marking appeared before Soju and Casashian; it contained what seemed like a nude woman, except that there were men crawling up her feet and hips. Though the whole picture was in white, it seemed quite vague. A white line formed at the middle of the black and white portrait, and the door opened. What lay before Soju and Casashian was the gate to the inside of the barrier.
"What a grotesque view this is," Casashian spoke after seeing the entrance.
As the gate appeared, Soju transformed into her Mahou Shoujo outfit. "I hope you're ready for this, Casa-san." Soju said as she walked through the gate into the barrier.
"W-w-wait... " Casashian tried to stop Soju, but it was too late. "I don't know how to transform... !" she thought as she entered inside.
"Concentrate on your Soul Gem, remember that it's the source of your powers. You usually release your powers from there. Once transformed, magic envelopes your body and it becomes much more easiler to perform magical skills and abilities. You can learn to transform instinctively. Though, without transforming, you have to focus on the Soul Gem to use any type of magic. Other than that, your body's inhuman strength and endurance should always be present regardless of concentration of magic."
"My soul gem?" Casashian asked, she grasped her soul gem firmly. "O-okay," she added, looking frightened, she tried to concentrate, but it wasn't working with her mind being a mess due to the fidgeting and hesitation. Casashian took a deep breath in order to calm her mind. She sat on the cold floor, crying out the suffering that has been building within her heart for long. As the fallen tears washed down the Soul Gem on her hands, a flash of light was triggered, as if the switch was pressed on, resulting in Casashian's body shining with a brilliant bright light, illuminating the environment. When the light subsided, Casashian emerged in her new set of clothes. A more revealing dress, suited to be called "armor" of a kind.
"I'll never forget this," Casashian said with a huge smile on her face as she slowly entered the portal.
When Soju and Casashian looked upon the land they found themselves in, they looked around. It was a disgusting sight to see. Bones and skeletons were piled up on corners, some doors were visible. The doors seemed to have some kinds of markings, similar to the shape of a woman. The sky was black, pure black, nothing could be seen there. It was like the night sky, except that there were no stars. Some streetlights could be seen. Of all things, they seemed to provide some light, though they were quite dim. Some zombie-like figures approached the girls, walking slowly. They all seemed to have red glowing eyes, giving piercing stares towards the two as they approached them. One could notice that the walls had weird inscriptions written on them, only if they view it clearly enough amidst the dimly lit area.
"Tsk. The undead? This might be fun. I know what would make it even better. Casa-san, whoever kills the most familiars gets the Grief Seed. How about it?" Soju asked as she struck the ground with her staff. "Murus Spinas," Soju said, as thorny vines started sprouting out of the ground and took out some of the zombies.
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"I accept your challenge!" Casashian replied, looking at Soju while she casted her spell. Witnessing the effects, Casashian gave a wide smile as she walked towards the middle of the horde, ignoring the injuries, even the presence of the undead. After a few steps, she stops. A familiar lunges towards her, only to have his face ripped apart by Casashian's claws. "Heh..." she exclaimed, making a pause. "Murus..." she whispered, creating an outer circle of thorn vines. Then after a few seconds, she yelled, "Spinas!" making the wide circle suddenly shrink, impaling the undead. After a short period of time, the vines dissapeared, revealing Casashian hugging the remains of the familiars, looking at them with serious squinted eyes.
"What the hell just happened? Did you... did you copy my spell?" Soju said incredulously.
"Yes I did, my dear Soju," Casashian replied as she released the souless corpses, making her way towards her partner.
As if it was a ghost house, the two doors abruptly opened from being tightly shut. One door was black and the other was white. Nothing could be seen from the pathways of the door except for pure darkness.
"Which gate shall we pass through?" Casashian asked, looking towards the completely opposite looking doors.
"I have a feeling that we should go through the black door... since black is the personification of death and all that. But it's up to you," Soju suggested to Casa-san.
"W-well, I think I'll go through the white door..." Casashian replied to Soju. "Hey, I've got an idea... how about first one who arrives at the witch will recieve a bonus?" she added as she moved towards the white door.
"What is the bonus? I hope it will be worth racing through the number of zombies to forego the prize of the Grief Seed. Otherwise, I'll just take my time and beat up as many zombies as I can," Soju said as she waltzed towards the black door, then spun around to face Casa-san.
Kyubey decided to make a suggestion, "Why not just make the Grief Seed the prize. Unfortunately, if the Witch has a Grief Seed, then it's only one, not two."
"Unfortunately Kyubey, that's the prize for killing the most Familiars,", Soju said blatantly.
"Not familiars, Witches or Wizards, and even they don't always drop one. And it may be the usual prize, but you two can still compete for it."
Soju sighs. "Who ever kills the most familiars, gets the Grief Seed from the Witch. The Witch is the target, so it wouldn't be fun to see who killed it first. Numbers count in this game," Soju explained a bit.
"I am aware, but the suggestion goes like this: whoever kills the most familiars, later kills the Witch along with the partner. And when the Witch dies, the Grief Seed goes to the one who killed the most familiars.
"That was the plan all along, Kyubey," Soju said as she jumped into the black doorway.
The black door lead Soju to an odd room. Everything was dark, nothing could be seen. Only sounds could be heard of something approaching Soju. She suddenly heard the door closing behind her.
"I wonder about that... " Kyubey then took a look at Casashian, almost entering the white door. He then decides to stay with Casashian and guide her - she is still a complete beginner.
When Casashian went past the white door, she found herself standing on a black and white checkered floor. The fluorescent bulb above turned on abruptly; illuminating the room with it's dim light. Many pillars and higher plains were visible, all under the same tile of the floor. The sky was filled with black and nothingness other than the light on it's center. Far, far away, a white door could be seen. The same, zombie-like familiars materialized from the floor. As their bodies formed, it was as though it made the sound of muddy objects slowly forming up. The crumbly yet watery sound could be heard. Their red eyes glowed as they looked up with their ghastly eyes to Casashian, hungry to eat and kill. The undead corpses groaned as they slowly and steadily walked forward.
The door behind Casashian shuts tight automatically.
Inside the door, Casashian started moving through the incoming horde of undead corpses towards the white door. As she walked near the familiars, they charged towards Casashian. In response, she mangled the faces of the first two with a wide slash, while taking a few steps back. "Tsk... annoying beings,", she uttered while looking at the horde trying to find a way past them. After a short while, seeing that there is no hope of squeezing her way out, Casashian walked slowly towards the sea of red eyes. She started to mangle the ones in front of her before taking a few steps.
"This will take forever..", Casashian constantly muttered frustratedly as she repeatedly tried to find a way through.
(OOC: Anud: Sorry to say it like this but I'll be offline until the end of the highschool semester due to the upcoming exam...Aproximatelly 10-12 weeks.)
As the insanity of these familiars caused them to relentlessly attack Casashian, she could only mangle them back for coming at her. The zombies kept on coming, but Casashian could see that no more of them materialized.
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Swallowed by the darkness of his thoughts, Yuki's eyes went blank all of a sudden. It seemed... empty, as he wandered into an abandoned warehouse, where he then regained consciousness in a Witch's Labyrinth... "What... what the hell is this?! Where am I?!" Many skulls could be seen sticking out of the grotesque walls; the pitch black and ugly looking walls. It was displeasing. One could feel as though they've just reached the true path to inferno where all humans were exterminated, long, long ago. Stagnant air filled the abhorrent corridors. As he walked through this filfthy labyrinth, looking for a way out... he saw his mother and father in this despicable place. Their bodies seemed zombified in nature, and not even human anymore. The surroundings seemed to have came to life. Red eyes glowed as the faces sticking out from the walls looked up to Yuki, as if telling him to embrace his late parents. Strange, annoying voices could be heard at the same time, laughing, screaming, crying, screeching, all eluding his mind. But admidst of it all, it was them. He wanted to see them for a long time... "Mother, Father! I missed you two!" Yuki called out to them happily and ran towards his parents, even though all logic suggested that it was a trap... As his parents hugged him, his face flushed red happily. Questions could wait for now... for now, just to be embraced like this again...
Then his mother stabbed him in the back with what might have been a short knife or a stake. The Witch of the Living Dead having struck her next victim as pools of blood spilled out of Yuki's back.... "Mother, Father....Why?!" Yuki fell to the floor, unconscious.
In the corridors of Yuki's mind, his body is being bled dry, Yuki began to have dreams. In one of the dreams, he was with the group at the Shrine and they all discussed what they were wishing for and what their hopes were for the future. As Aoi and Haruka began to joke around with Soju-chan once again, this time Soju-chan was laughing along with the group and as Yuki looks on at the unity of the group, he suddenly bursts out "I'm sorry, everyone! For being such a jerk... " Haruka then smiled at him, "We knew you were going to come to your senses, one way or another. Don't worry, Yuki-kun." Menolly-chan then patted him on the back and smiled that friendly smile at him. "See? Everything works out when you're friendly with one another!" After that, they all went to a karaoke bar and had a hell of a time and they took a group picture. Yuki was laughing and smiling; he'd never been so happy... but then the dream began to fade, and he saw nothing but black....
'Damn, what an idiot I am....' Yuki lamented in regret. 'If only I could take it back, if only I could muster the strength to survive. To see my new friends again... I want to live!' Yuki exclaimed his final wish in his mind. 'I'm sorry, Mother. Father... I failed you both.'
As Yuki suffered in pain and anguish from his emotions, the Witch giggled multiple times. It was a quick yet scary laughter, one showing the grim nature and detestable side of the ugly being. Yuki could hear this, and he felt like vomiting from the annoyance he felt of this fit of laughter.
'If that thing would just shut up... if only I could shut it up!' He grimaced. 'It used my mother and father, I won't forgive it!' Yuki clenched his fists, yet he laughed to himself in his mind. 'Amazing... I can still be angry despite facing my own death sentence.'
As Soju landed inside of the room, the only thing that escaped her lips was one word, "Fuck." Soju quickly struck her staff into the ground, whispering the words "Murus Spinas", making a room of thorns around her, and setting some sprawling vines to hinder movement towards her while she thought of a way to move on. She could then hear noises of figures falling and tripping, as well as them getting killed by her spell. It turns out that there were more of the familiars in the darkness; approaching her.
"Damn. It's like there's no end to them. No matter how many fall, more appear.", Soju says as she takes her staff out of the ground after the vines grew to their extent.
"If I could see, this wouldn't be a problem, but I guess I'll have to use the Emerald Wind and dance until all these presences subside..." Soju then took a deep breath and started to dance. As she started the tradition dance, she lightly tapped the vines of the room to have the flowers bloom on them. After she had grown the flowers, she whispered "Ventus Smaragdus", and the chimes on her staff made noises as a wind picked up, scattering the petals of the flowers in all directions, trying to hit everything that was in the room.
As the corpses fell to the floor; sliced apart by the sharp-edged petals. Soju could hear something opening. That's when she realized that a door opened, the white light illuminated the room, now planted with her vines and fallen petals along with the undeads' bodies scattered around. The door seemed quite far away from her, it'd take her a few minutes to walk to it, it was a white door.
"Man. After all of that, I finally get light, just to get blinded by it.", Soju says as she walks over. As she walks, she laughs a bit, to relieve some tension for herself, and counts the bodies. As she approaches the door, she jumps through it again.
When Soju went in through the door and came into the other side; she was in awe. It was a huge maze. Not a metaphor, a real maze. With huge and tall greenbush-walls extending towards the pitch-black sky, it allured an invitation of challenge. Soju could see a road straight up, then two more paths, one to left, other to right.
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"This is charming; three paths leading to unknown destinations." Soju said as she shrugs her shoulders. "I guess there's no choice then... I'll go left." Soju decided on her gut instinct.
But when Soju went left, undead-like familiars came out through the walls to attack her and she realized that behind them, there's only one path to the right.
Soju tried to quickly back away out of the reach of the familiars, as she slammed her staff into the ground, muttering the spell's name to create a temporary barrier between them and herself.
But the familiar managed to use their claws to slash at Soju's right arm as she stabbed her weapon to the ground, but the spell obliterated all of them. Soju could now see only a path to the right.
Soju pants heavily as she stares down the path. The surprise attack had made the slash in her arm feel even more painful than what it was supposed to be. Soju looks down at her arm, "Damn. I should have been expecting that. At least I have added more to the total number of familiars I've killed." Soju laughs a bit as she leans on the staff with her other shoulder.
After Soju went to the path on the right, she now found herself standing before a dead end.
"Man. After all that trouble, I have to go back now? What a waste of time and effort..." Soju complained as she retraced her steps back to where she started. When she got back to where she had started, Soju decided to head down the path that was now directly in front of her, the path that was to her right from when she first got here.
As Soju went down another path, the road seemed clear, no familiars popped up before her and she proceeded safely. However, she now found herself before a stairway to a tower. A most decrepit looking one, the door was pitch black and had the carvings of a nude woman.
"Oh, what's this now, another door?" Soju said as she sat down looking at the door. "I already went through one black door, and was sent to a place without any lights, and I couldn't see anything either... I wonder if I should wait for Casa-san, or if I should just go on ahead. Either way, I think I should take a break and concentrate on healing my wound."
After a while of sitting down, Soju gets up. "The wound's not going to fully heal while I'm here. I better just go through the door, and see what awaits me." Soju said as she walks slowly towards the door and goes through it.
Soju found herself in a dark room. Not lit up in any way, with someone on the verge of dying... it was Yuki, laying on the floor, with zombies seemingly waiting to devour his flesh.
Soju stabs her staff into the ground again, saying the words to bring forth the vines again, and builds a wall between Yuki and her, and the zombies. Soju pulls out her staff when she finishes, and walks over to Yuki and looks down at him.
"How ever did you get yourself in here, beast, I'll never know. But you should be safe for now. Well, safe from being eaten alive, that is. I can't stop the bleeding.", Soju says to no one in particular. Maybe, Soju just said it to hear something concrete amist the sounds of dead flesh and moanings.
Upon seeing Soju, the zombie familiars rushed towards her to lunge at her. For some reason, they held themselves back when only Yuki was here.
"Man, what's up with these familiars? They rush right at the vine wall, only to die in vain." Soju said to herself as the familiars ran at the vine wall, only to get pierced through by the thorns.
As Soju found him and erected a barrier around the two of them, the small talk made him chuckle, happy to be alive and see a friend. Even if Soju did have a thing against males in general, maybe even Soju could be a friend. After all, she did come to save him.
"I just wanted to see my mama and papa one more time..." he paused before continuing, "And I was pissed at myself for getting so antsy with Haruka-senpai and Aoi-senpai and alienating my friends, pushing away Menolly-chan who was so kind and nice to me..." Then he starting shedding tears, "Then mom and dad betrayed me and almost killed me and I've been lying here in regret, anger, and worry until you came here, Soju."
"Never have I been more glad to be called a beast, than I am right now. We're friends, right?" Yuki asked as he closed his eyes and simply fell asleep. Exhausted from using all of his efforts to stay alive.
"At least you had a mother and father and can remember them." Soju said softly to herself. Not long after Yuki's soliloquy, the sound of the zombies rushing at the vine wall died down. Most of the sounds came from those that hadn't had any vital parts pierced through by the thorns, but were still stuck to the vines.
"So, if I found this beast here, that means the Witch should be close by." Soju said placidly as she jumped up to the top of the vine wall, looking around in the darkness.
Black thick vines could be seen before Soju, swarming with zombies around it. Seems like the zombies aren't moving from there.
Soju looks towards the black vines and zombies, and breathes a heavy sigh. The pain in her arm was still there from when she got attacked, even though the bleeding had mainly stopped.
"Why isn't Casa-san here by now? All of this is taking a toll on me." Soju says as she breathes out heavily. "I guess I have no choice. I wanted to save it for the Witch, but I guess I'm forced to use it now," Soju thinks to herself as she gets ready to cast the spell.
Soju looks upon her staff for a brief moment, before she speaks the words to activate the spell. Soju proceeds to recite the 37th Psalm, entirely in Latin. She didn't need to recite the entire Psalm, or any of it for that matter, but since she was given the time to do so by the zombies and Witch, she decided to make the most of it. As she finishes, a green glow emits from Soju's body as her aura takes form in the shape of a giant sword. To finish the spell, Soju mutters three last words in Latin, "Smaragdus carnificis lamina." At those words, the glow around Soju stops, and the blade finally takes form. The blade was made of pure emerald, and was as sharp as any sword that had ever been made. Soju was able to take ahold of the hilt of the sword in both hands, and jumped down from atop the vine wall she was standing on.
"I shall cast you down with this blade, so that righteous will prevail!" Soju screams as she runs at the black vines and zombies. When she gets close enough, Soju swings the giant emerald sword in her hand, hacking away the vines and zombies that were within the range of her swing.
After Soju's grand strike, a nude woman popped out before Soju, smiling, laughing, smirking, grinning, and staring while it's odd shape twitched every second in this world. She stood in an odd manner, the first half of her body layed low, her hair covered most of her grotescque face. Casashian ran into the room, "S-Soju! Is that the Witch?!" Kyubey scurried in with her as he answered the question for Soju, "Yes! That is a Witch, devoid of any good. You two must defeat it."
The Witch gave a screech, causing her dark vines to react and come flying at Soju and Casashian, attacking them. Casashian took up her courage, then charged to use her claws to cut down the vines, but some of them went through her, as they slashed through her sides.
Soju gritted her teeth as the Witch screeched and the vines lashed at her. Some of the vines shallowly cut Soju, while one went right through the left side of her abdomen, throwing her back a few meters. As Soju felt the pain, she started to cough up some blood. Soju grit her teeth again and tried to stand up, so she could swing her sword at the Witch. Her side ached, but she was running on another burst of adrenaline, and she slowly got up. As she got onto her two feet again, Soju's vision wavered a bit, but she pushed that aside. All she needed to do was kill the Witch, or be killed. And Soju didn't want to be the one to die.
Soju gave a loud yell as she charged at the Witch, and swong her large emerald sword at the Witch.
The Witch, launched more of her dark vines at Soju, each going fast, with darkness shadowing them to the point that they seem as though they are moving with blinding speed; vines unseen by speed and shadow, caught Soju and her weapon, wrapping them up, then tossing them back. "That was reckless. You cannot win with a Witch against such recklessness. You need some kind of a plan, observe her moves, act against them, find a way to cut through her defenses... at least that's how a normal-leveled Mahou Shoujo would try to do this, Kyubey adviced, or at least he tried to, reckless people apparently don't listen to others.
The Witch prepared to release it's vines towards Soju again.
Soju looks up at the Witch as she releases her vines towards her again. Laying on the ground, in her own blood, Soju raised her trembling hand towards the Witch.
"Murus Spinas."
The wall of thorns grew out of the ground at amazing speed, driven by Soju's desire to survive. The wall was only half-grown as the Witch's vines descended upon Soju. The thorns on the wall was able to shred up most of the vines that came towards her, but some of them were able to get past, piercing Soju's shoulder and hurtling her against the opposite wall of the cage she was growing.
Soju spits out some blood, coating her already blood stained outfit with a new layer of blood, as the wall finished growing. "I hope this will buy me enough time to heal a bit.", Soju says as her vision starts to fade due of the blood loss.
