[X] With Kishi:
-[X] Name your Harpoons: Witch Stopper
-[X] Cleansing maybe? Elsbeth's seed
[X] With Tamiko:
-[X] Talk with your aunt while you eat dinner.
--[X] Your talk with Hana
--[X] Your Gaming Honor
---[X] Accuse him of being jelly of our Fluff and our Honor
--[X] Your Training
---[X] Your worries about Mariko and Evelyn
-[X] Read your books?
--[X] Sword Manuals
-[X] Don't be lazy, and do your homework.
-[X] Go to sleep, you need to get ready for tomorrow.
"Oh, seems that I hit the mark with that one," your aunt continues with an almost condescending smirk on her face and eyes twinkling from amusement. "Really, why try to hide it from me? I'll always find it out in the end." As if to drive the point home, the woman prods you in the forehead with her right hand.
You pout and huff with indignation at the gesture, your cheeks puffing from the annoyance. It may not help too much with the creeping fluster or the heat drawing to the surface of your cheeks, but that should tell your unc- aunt how evil she is. You do not date your friends, period! Thus, Fluffy can't be a date gift. In fact, you have just the perfect rebuttal for this evening's slander!
"Y-you're just jelly of my fluff and honor!" you claim and protectively bring Fluffy closer to your side for a tighter hug. "No dating happened! Ever!"
A simple raising of an eyebrow follows from your aunt, as she gives you another amused smile. "Well, why not tell me how your day went then? It's not like you should have anything to hide?" A small pause for thought. "Also the dinner will get cold if you don't eat."
...Curses, she has a point! You got cheated! You give Fluffy a quick dejected hug for reassurance, before gently laying him on the floor. You'd be back to snuggles soon! But now, it's dinner talk time!
With that done, you turn back to your aunt and shoot her an annoyed glare… You doubt it looked much like that to her, but that's beside the point. Not to mention, now that you think about it, there were some things you needed and wanted to talk with your uncle. "Well, uh, it was an interesting day at least?"
Your aunt simply motions for you to continue, happy to finally have you lift your attention from your dino.
"I mean, remember how you asked me to talk more with my classmates?" you ask, drawing an almost pleased nod. "Well, I actually went and, um…" You frown unsurely at the memories of what came after returning to you. "I did talk to our class representative, Kotone Hana!"
"Mhmm, did something happen then? You don't look too thrilled about it."
"No, it's just that… well, it's not the most memorable thing about today." You throw a quick look at Fluffy. It's honestly speaking mostly about having to reveal 'the curse' to some of your friends, and the ensuing stress about it... But you don't want to go over that again. Your dino is plenty memorable too!
You take a look at your rather worried-looking aunt, and shake your head before continuing. "The talk itself went well, and I think I'll be hearing about her later too!" you exclaim. "She seems very busy, what with working in the student council and the school newspaper, but she was very nice to me!" Though still a bit alien. "I mean, she even greeted me when I left the school!"
"Oh, sounds like someone's making new friends?" the woman notes to you, sounding pleased.
"Well, maybe in the future!" you admit. It's not like you know her that well yet, after all, even if new classmates to talk with isn't that bad of a prospect. "But after school, we all went to the arcade! And I reclaimed my Gaming Honor!"
You turn to your side again and bring Fluffy back to the table, giving him a quick squeeze along the way. "Meet Fluffy the Dinosaur, our new mascot, and fluffiest of fluffies!"
You give him a tight hug to blare out the loud squeak from the toy. Just hearing the sound brings a happy smile to your face. Your dino is the best!
Your aunt's reaction on the other hand is one of perplexment. At the same time she seems amused by your constant hugging of the toy, glad to see you so happy about something, and a bit disturbed at your obsession over Fluffy. "Oh, did you win the plush as a prize?"
You nod sharply, pride swelling up in your chest. "Yes! With this, and my sweeping victory at DDR, I've officially reclaimed my Gaming Honor!" Well, with the exception of pretty much every other game in the arcade… But that's again beside the point, and you stick your tongue out at your aunt while laying Fluffy down. "Feeling jelly yet?"
"Not particularly," your aunt notes, casually brushing away your totally stinging accusation. "But I'm happy to hear you girls had fun today."
You nod again with great enthusiasm despite your stinger failing to do anything meaningful. "Yeah, it was awesome! And after that, we went over to practice our magic in the abandoned amusement park."
"Ah, did you learn a lot?" your aunt asks with clear curiosity in her voice. "And I hope you remembered to cleanse afterwards. No risks with Soul Gems, alright?"
"Um, sorry, I kind of forgot," you offer lamely with a low chuckle and rub your neck in embarrassment. "But I'll do that later! I promise!"
The woman cocks her eyebrow. "Right, I trust you'll see to that. Now, how did it go?"
"Oh, let's see… First of all, I finally figured out to make new swords!" you gush out, having gotten to your element. "And I made my first one better too, while we were at it!"
"Hmm, so you enchanted it, or-?"
"Well, maybe?" you try unsurely. "I mean, I'm not entirely sure what it it, but I managed to make my sabre better and more ornate, all the same. I also learned the coolest trick ever!"
You jump off your chair in excitement, and tap your shield arm furiously, as if to accentuate your point. "See, when I pour energy into my shield's star map, it summons this awesome bubble around me with the star sky on it! It's so beautiful, and I could stare at it forever…" You take a moment's pause. "Oh, and it turns me invisible too, I guess, but still… Star Veil!"
"Hmm, that does sound quite incredible," your aunt notes with a shake of her head, amused by your enthusiasm. "But don't underestimate the utility of invisibility, Tamiko. I'm not kidding when I say that it's one of the most terrifying basic powers when on someone who wants to ki- beat you up."
You nod again at the explanation. "Yeah, I'll try remembering that…" Come to think of it, there was another thing about the practice you needed to talk about. You start to frown at the thought. "Also, we actually ran into some problems there that I wanted to talk about, if it's okay?"
Your aunt simply motions for you to continue. She's all ears.
"It's about Evelyn and Mariko," you explain and look down on the table. "Evelyn is still feeling left out when we practice, and I can't really blame her. But I don't know what do about it either! I don't want her to make a contract just so she could participate the practice sessions, but it feels like it's needed to keep her there."
You pick up your for and push your steak around a bit. "And then with Mariko, she's still averse to doing nearly anything with us. She avoids competing, and is terrified of accidentally hurting someone. I know she has that damage reflection thing, but getting a bit bruised when sparring is not that bad."
You look up. "So uh? Any advice on the issues?"
"Well, regarding miss Mariko, I suppose you should just push for her to socialize more with you at the very least," your aunt answers almost right off the bat. "The awkwardness will eventually vanish as she gets used to you and everyone else. Although, it might not be a bad idea to find a way for her to control it. I'll bring it up the next time Cathy and I will be helping you."
You nod gratefully at her. "Thank you! But what about Evelyn?"
"Hmm, well that's a bit more difficult," your aunt admits. "I can't really think of any magic solution at the drop of a hat… But I think avoiding Magical Girl issues and practice when with her would make it a bit more easier short-term. Long-term it might backfire, though…"
That would get awkward very quickly.
"Honestly, the way I see it is that you're best off simply by keeping her involved with everyone and not making her feel useless. Just don't let her get the idea that she's in the way, given how she is. Being a Magical Girl is not a good way of life."
You nod again, feeling a bit glum after all that. Why are you and your friends such messes?
"Heh, still, cheer up kiddo! Just remain a true friend to them, and you can't go wrong," your aunt says. "Now, what about that dinner?"
With that said and done, you pick up the pace with your dinner, eating through your meal while chatting more with your aunt about your day and things you did. After you're done, you give her a quick hug, before jogging to your room to do your homework and get ready for the night.
While onerous, your weekend homework is ultimately not very difficult, and you're left with plenty of time to do stuff as the lights go out in your home. You decide to take the chance to pick up the pace with your sword manuals, having thought about sword clubs this day quite a bit.
The second European book is comparatively shorter than the first one, but offers some new advice the other one didn't have. You manage to make it about halfway through, before you decide it's time to crash and get some sleep.
You lay the book on your table and grab Fluffy from next to you.. You let out a quiet squee at the softness of the plush, before wrapping your arms around him into a hug and bring him under your blanket for the night. With him there, you're sure to have good dreams!
You're right about that one too, considering how your dreams that night are pleasant. Riding around on a plushed dinosaur, Fluffy the Dino, you're the plush knight Tamiko of the Stars, protecting the Fluffland from forces of evil! Though the final battle is fierce and you're left bleeding out some yarn, you emerge victorious, just in-
...just in time to snap awake from the loud ringing of your phone's alarm. You force yourself to sit up on your bed, rub your eyes, and wipe off the drool from your mouth. The phone is quickly turned off. You have maybe about 45 minutes before your friends are supposed to arrive.
You grab Fluffy, who seems to have gotten somewhat moist from you drooling during the night, and give him a quick hug, while letting out a huff at having to wake up during a weekend. Outside your room's door, you can hear your aunt hustling around in the kitchen.
What do you do?
[] Go eat breakfast and talk with your aunt.
[] Telepathy your friends!
[] Cleanse your gem.
[] Write-in.
===
And it's the long awaited trip to Mitakihara!
rofl:
