[X] Enetious
It's nobody's fault that Mikuni Oriko lives so far away; her father's fault perhaps; but there's no way he could have known what would become of his daughter or the fact that two-thirds of the team live in Mitakihara. Formerly one-half, but Archer is working on getting Kirika's grades back up, so hopefully that situation resolves itself and you're all able to find a better way of getting Nagatsuki Miyuki out of her house arrest, freeing up the entire team once again to be hosted at any location.
"I apologise for having us all meet here," Mikuni Oriko says, gesturing to the dilapidated building that looms behind her and Tomoe-san. So dilapidated, in fact, that the five of you had to cross a barrier of police tape just to get onto the surrounding grounds. Maybe a Bounded Field wasn't even necessary. "But out of all the places in Shirome where we could practice, this was the only one I could think of where nobody would disturb us."
Kyouko raises her hand, and without waiting for either Tomoe-san or Mikuni Oriko to call on her she says "This place looks like the kinda place we'd find a witch. Izzat the plan? Just throw witches at Four-Eyes until she knows what she's doing?"
Tomoe-san shakes her head, and beside you, you can see Nagatsuki Miyuki breathe a sigh of relief. "We will be having Nagatsuki-san fight witches, but they won't be real ones."
This time, it's Nagatsuki Miyuki's turn to raise her hand, though this time she waits before being called on to ask "What do you mean, 'they won't be real witches'?"
"It's quite simple," Tomoe-san says, turning to Mikuni Oriko to ask "Has Lancer finished setting up a Bounded Field around the area?"
Mikuni Oriko nods, saying "Lancer informs me that she'll be done in a minute. You can go ahead with your demonstration now, if it's not likely to draw too much attention." Mikuni Oriko, noticing the 'not following this at all' look on Nagatsuki Miyuki's face, adds "A Bounded Field is a barrier created through rune magic, that uses magical suggestion to make outsiders disinterested in what's going on inside. We often use them to make sure people aren't able to pay attention when we're running a training exercise." She smiles, adding "That's why, even though there's a fairly large hole in my fence that I have yet to fix, no passersby have ever stopped to take notice of it; because I have a Bounded Field surrounding the mansion."
"Is that... Something any puella magi can do?" Nagatsuki Miyuki asks.
"Technically yes, but it's not a base part of the puella magi kit," Mikuni Oriko explains. "I had to learn to use the ancient runes from my servant, Lancer, before I was able to set Bounded Field; and even then, Lancer is just better than I am at it, so since we're covering a larger area today I decided to let her do it. Why do you ask; are you interested in learning the runes?"
"I... I don't know. You all can do some pretty crazy stuff; and I'm sure I haven't even seen the full extent of it. Meanwhile, I'm still just trying to figure out what I can do to keep up."
"You'll get it eventually, Nagatsuki-san," Tomoe-san says. "That's why we're here doing this training exercise. Now, allow me to answer your earlier question about how we can pit you against 'fake' witches." She brings out her Soul Gem, and in a flash of light, a number of black ribbons emerge from the jewel. They flatten themselves out on the ground as they snake towards Nagatsuki Miyuki, their form taking on the appearance of Elsa Maria's serpentine familiars as they close in, nipping at her feet. Nagatsuki Miyuki understandably takes a few steps back, and with a backwards grasping motion, Tomoe-san recalls the ribbon dummies. "I can use my ribbons to make duplicates of any witch or familiar that I've fought, and with a bit of help from Caster I can even mimic some of their stronger abilities."
"That's..." Nagatsuki Miyuki stares at the serpentine ribbons under Tomoe-san's control, struggling to find her words. Eventually, she settles on "Really creepy."
Tomoe-san purses her lips, and you say "Those are the familiars of the witch Elsa Maria; the one we fought last Friday. Those familiars have the annoying property of being completely intangible if the right conditions are met; and that's what we'll be pitting you against tonight."
"You... Want me to fight something I can't actually hit?"
"It won't just be those familiars, Nagatsuki-san," Tomoe-san says. "Caster and I will start you and Saber off small; just a few... Normal, witches, if you can call them that. Once we have a better feel of how you perform in combat, we'll move you up into the stronger ones as the night goes on. You'll have partners helping you out as well, as this is a team exercise, and we want to get you used to working with us just as much as we want to get used to working with you."
"We all had ta do it, Four-Eyes," Kyouko says. "Yer not getting off so easy just 'cuz yer the newbie."
"We'll start you and Saber off with just one floor of the building each," Mikuni Oriko says. "Once we're comfortable that we know what you and your servant are capable of, we'll give each of you more of the building to use, meaning you'll also have to get used to minding your surroundings while you fight."
"Now, are you ready?" Nagatsuki Miyuki nods her head, and you say "Good. Then bring out your servant, and show us what the two of you are capable of doing in a fight."
Once Mikuni Oriko gives the signal that Lancer's Bounded Field is set up, Nagatsuki Miyuki calls her servant to her. Saber appears at her side, and appears surprised to see everyone else staring at her, as she hastily tries to hide the carton of yakitori skewers she had been eating from. "What?" she asks, as everyone else stares back at her. "I was hungry."
One by one, the other servants who will be in attendance for tonight's exercise make themselves known; though at just Caster, Lancer, and Rider, it's not too many potential partners for Saber to learn to fight alongside. Nagatsuki Miyuki pays extra attention to the other servants as they appear, trying desperately to put her mind on something that isn't the intense look of jealousy which Kyouko is directing towards her hungry servant. "Hey," she says to you. "Isn't Archer supposed to be here as well? I mean, I get Berserker not being here, but you're here, so how come Archer isn't?"
"Archer is currently helping Kirika with her homework."
"Oh." At first, you think that's the end of that, but Nagatsuki Miyuki's next question makes you really wish it had been." So... Those two have a thing for each other, right? Archer and Kure's mom? So... How does that work? He's a servant and I'm assuming she's just a normal person, so... Do they, like... You know... How do they do it?"
"And then the man-" You really didn't need Kirika to provide a demonstration, but she felt the need to do so anyway. She's made a hole by curling the fingers of her left hand, and with the pointer finger of her right repeatedly inserts it into the hole, saying "-does this, over and over again. Mom says it feels really good, but I just don't see it. It looks like it would chafe before it felt any good."
You shudder as you recall the talk Kirika gave you the other day. "Nagatsuki-san, I'm sure Akemi-san is uncomfortable talking about her father's, er, intimate relationships," Tomoe-san says. You'll have to thank her for covering for you. You don't think you could have answered Nagatsuki Miyuki's question without fainting from embarrassment. "Now, Akemi-san, I believe you're the only one out of us who hasn't had the chance to give Nagatsuki-san an idea of what you're capable of; so before we get started why don't you do that for her?"
"Right." You spend a few minutes getting Nagatsuki Miyuki and Saber up to speed on your abilities; timestop, your Isa arrows and Finitora Freccia, and your skill with firearms and explosives. Nagatsuki Miyuki doesn't look all that comfortable as you speak about your earlier necessity of using firearms, but "If there had been another way at the time, then I would have taken it," you say. "Unfortunately, I didn't meet Lancer and have a chance to learn the runes until well after I had already mastered conventional firearms."
"I see..."
While you've been speaking, Tomoe-san has been working on something with her ribbons; it looks like the numbered discs she uses to determine who goes in what order, and "Alright, Akemi-san, Sakura-san, Mikuni-san, take one" you were one-hundred per cent correct. "Nagatsuki-san, we'll be partnering with you in just a moment."
The three of you, along with Tomoe-san herself, each take one of the discs. "Alright Four-Eyes, looks like ya got me first," Kyouko says, showing off the"1" on the back of her disc. You've drawn to go second, Tomoe-san third, and Mikuni Oriko fourth. Kyouko passes you, wrapping her arm around the bespectacled girl's shoulder. "So come on, show me what you've got."
With Nagatsuki Miyuki looking visibly uncomfortable at the touch of the overly-informal redhead, Kyouko leads her inside the abandoned building; and behind them, Tomoe-san's ribbons snake their way inside as well.
You'll be up next after those two are done. So, [ ] What's the plan?
