[x] Accept.
[x] Pink hair?
[x] What should I tell Kishi and Ariane tomorrow?
[x] Hugs.
[x] De-transform.
-[x] So... You should be able to turn your soul gem into a ring right? That's pretty convenient.
[x] Do your home work.
Hmm, that does sound like a good offer to your ears. But maybe you should try haggling about this? Surely she has a lot of stories to share with you, and it's not like one badly slept night will destroy you or anything. On the other hand, this is hardly the only chance you have to hear any stories, and a good deal is still a good one.
You smile in delight and nod. A single story still counts as a victory for you. "Deal! S-so, um…" you trail off, trying to think of something to ask while you are still at it.
You have been pretty thorough so far, so you can't immediately think of anything good or important to ask her. However… While finding out your uncle was a woman in disguise was pretty shocking on its own, there is one particular thing that keeps bugging you.
"Um, why the pink hair?" you ask and immediately mentally slap your forehead. You are looking really sharp there, Tamiko…
The woman blinks in surprise and looks completely dumbfounded for a second, making you feel even more embarrassed about your sudden question. Honestly, of all things you could have gone… She seems to gather herself soon enough though, as she grabs the ponytail behind her back with some hesitation and brings it under the scrutiny of her gaze.
"I don't really see a problem with the color, it looks quite good in my opinion..." she jokingly says first, before letting go of her hair and swishing the ponytail back with a frown, "But really, it came with the package. I'm honestly not sure of the particular reasons the pink color was chosen myself. But it sure beats that rainbow disco I once saw…"
You nod quickly to get the topic done with while you remain unteased, but stop to think about the last part for a second before you can think of anything else. An image of a Magical Girl clad in pink dress and a rainbow-hued afro on her head flashing with its colors like a disco ball enters your mind, and you giggle out loud.
"I can guarantee you, it was way worse than anything you can possibly hope to imagine," the woman deadpans.
As if anything could be worse than this! But this is probably not the time to think of rainbows. You force yourself to focus on the matter at hand and leave the flashing colors to the dark corners of your mind. However, the problem remains though, you can't think of anything to ask. Maybe Kishi, or even Ariane could cover for you if they were here.
Wait a minute...
"W-what am I going to tell Kishi and Ariane tomorrow?" you ask, feeling very uncertain all of sudden. You are not sure how well it would go over with your friends if you told them that your uncle would be helping all of you, a trio of Magical Girls, to get better at magic. A ew hours ago you would have laughed at the idea yourself.
Well, you probably still do once your uncle has gone to bed herself.
"Hmm, that's a pretty good question…" she admits, "Just say that I know of your Magical adventures, and can actually help due to having a lot of knowledge myself. I can't really force them to come to train, but they could probably benefit from some tips and pointers."
So just tell them that your uncle found out, something you probably would have told them anyways, and then improvise something to get them warm up to the idea of training. Right, that sounds like a good and totally not a hastily thrown together first draft of an actual plan.
But that is pretty much it. You don't have anything else to ask, and you also remember that you still haven't done your homework… Maybe it is time to call it quits for the evening? It has been very eventful anyways, and you have given you a lot to think about. Then there's also the fact that you could finally let this secret out of your chest...
You nod at your uncle in agreement, before proceeding to glomp her without any other warning. She doesn't say anything to you, but gently wraps her arms around you, and returns the tight hug. It feels relaxing to be like that and hug her without reservations, not having to hide your injuries, not having to fear how she might react if she found out about your double life…
"Thank you…" you mumble out and shudder, "Thank you for listening to me, for not hating me, for not leaving me alone…"
You can feel her gently slide her hand over your hair, "You don't need to fear that, Tamiko… I have promised I wouldn't leave you alone again, and I will keep that promise, no matter what happens," she calmly tells you as the smooth caress turns into ruffling of your hair, "So cheer up, kiddo!"
You nod quietly and hesitantly ease the hug on the woman. You wipe your eyes and smile at her a toothy grin, a gesture she returns gladly before rising up from the bed. "Well, I guess I'll finish those dishes now. You should probably prepare for the night too, it's only a single story and then it's time for you to go to sleep."
You pout at her but don't protest as she stretches and heads out of the room, leaving you behind to gather your thoughts. First things first, you close your eyes and de-transform in a flash of white light, letting your Soul Gem rest on the palm of your hand. You give the jewel and inquisitive look.
You're pretty clean at the moment, so there's no worrying about that… But it occurs to you that your uncle mentioned something about ring-formed Soul Gems. So that is not an ability exclusive to Ariane then?
You frown and try to concentrate on the egg-shaped Gem on your hand. Sure enough it shrinks down in a flash of light, forming a long silver ring with a small light grey gem embedded in it on your left ring finger. You smile happily at your success, this is very convenient for carrying your Gem around!
But the elation is short-lived as you turn your attention to your school back lying on the floor. You grimace as you realize you still have to do your homework for tomorrow… Well, there wasn't too much if you recall correctly, so you should manage to get everything done on time. You steel yourself mentally, roll up your sleeves and set yourself to work.
You read through the books in near-complete silence, with only the muffled sounds of your uncle's dishwashing operation breaking it. Still, you finish all of your homework and manage to change into your pajamas before your uncle comes back through the door, still without the illusion but with the jacket replaced by the familiar pink apron.
You blink as she sits on the chair next to your working table. Cathy was right, pink looks really good on her!
"Hmm, so… about that story…" she begins slowly and crosses her legs as she leans on the back of the chair, "I think the first time I met Cathy might be a good starting point. You're old enough to hear that, I think..."
You blink in confusion as you hop to sit on your bed. Why would your age matter? Surely she isn't saying that… Your eyes widen as she chuckles at your confused expression.
"Don't worry, it's not that bad," she claims, but you swear you can see a hint of pink enter her cheeks, "Anyways, the first time we met was in Paris when the department's manager had finally decided to introduce me to everyone else. Neither one of us was really on Big Boss Verrier's personal lists yet back then…
She trails off for a moment but shakes it off and amused smile on her face. You guess that is one of those other stories… "Anyhow, the thing you need to know for this is that Cathy can see through illusions without any problems. So she was already pretty confused when the chief started to introduce the very-much-monsieur new guy from Japan in front of everyone."
She coughs pointedly to her fist and the faint hint of red on her face turns real, even it is still difficult to see, "It didn't take me long to catch on. The first thought I had when I saw her confused expression was actually 'is there something on my face?' But it didn't take me too long to realize that she was in some form Magical, and likely immune to my little illusion. So given this one-of-a-time chance, I decided to mess with her for a bit!"
Your mouth drops open and your eyes widen. If this is going where you think it is going… "So um… I also want you to understand that I hadn't slept at all for two nights before that… So I wasn't really thinking perfectly straight there." she tells you very carefully, "So with that cleared… You'd be surprised how some innocuous, even if carefully chosen and perhaps a bit eccentric, gestures from a short-haired man come off like... when you only see pink-haired young woman doing those and often looking at you with a friendly smile."
Your face starts heating up and you decisively avert your gaze from the woman. That… that is just… oh no...
"Soooo… Yeah… While the rest of the board saw a rather expressive and friendly dude telling about himself, Cathy… well… She had to excuse herself to the bathroom in the middle my introduction. She looked mighty crimson back then," your uncle tells you and sighs in amusement.
"Needless to say, she angrily cornered me afterwards, demanding to know what my whole deal was," the woman says to you in a fond tone, "It was a bit difficult for me to take her seriously with the remnants of the blush still present on her face… But how that went is another story entirely… It is incidentally also the one where we ended up catching the attention of the Big Boss!"
She looks at you with a tired smile, "So, now that you know about that story… You are forbidden to spread it forward. Ever. And I think it is time for little kiddos like you to go to sleep!"
What do you do?
[] Protest.
-[] That is lewd!
-[] Ask for more stories, that is not enough!
[] Ask some more questions.
[] Agree to sleep.
-[] Last hugs for the evening!
-[] Contact Kishi and/or Ariane when your auntcle leaves your room.
[] Write-in.
===If you go to sleep===
[] When you wake up.
-[] Contact Kishi/Ariane.
-[] Call Evelyn.
-[] Go check if this was all just a dream.
-[] Get ready for school.
[] Write-in.
===
Sorry for the late update, but exams are exams. Anyhow, try to decide for the rest of the evening and hopefully the morning in this vote.