TomoFlake: My Best Friend Is A Total Flake And Thinks I'm In Love With Him [ADVICE]
Created
Status
Ongoing
Watchers
93
Recent readers
11
Threadmarks
132
My Best Friend Is A Total Flake And Thinks I'm In Love With Him, or TomoFlake, is an epistolary web serial from the point of view of an unlucky childhood friend.
When Mei, an average college freshman, signs up for her old sport, she's surprised that she gets on the team. But as her best friend since elementary school keeps missing practice, and her new teammates go missing or quit, she has to find out the dark secrets she may already be a part of.
You stared at the computer screen where you keep a log of events up to this point. It's been a long, long time since you started this particular journal-- nearly a year ago now, wasn't it?-- but your memory stretched back in time as you read back in the files.
The first day of college, April 14th. You ended up in a prestigious public university thanks purely to the strength of your entrance exams. Of course, the measly grants for such things didn't leave you open for much except a mountain of debt. When you'd explained this to your guardians, they agreed to give you a full payment and let you go. They even gave you the money for an apartment near the university.
Conveniently, it was the room next to your best friend since elementary school. Next to their real child, as they took pains to say. As usual, since middle school, their gifts came with strings attached, and as usual, it involved Ichigo. The promise they extracted was simple and brutal. You, Mei, 148cm of not much, black hair, black eyes, were somehow supposed to protect and care for Ichigo as they would have.
Two problems.
First, you were not them in the slightest.
Second, Ichigo had some 25 centimeters and 30 kilos on you, and his parents were... Ungentle.
Waking him up didn't even earn a note in your journal. You'd been doing it for so long in his parents' place that it no longer registered, once you knew which key to use.
[] [WAKE] A simple smack of a spare pillow usually sufficed. (HARD)
[] [WAKE] Getting the covers off in a trice is no issue, though it usually left him gasping for air, for reasons you didn't know. (QUICK)
[] [WAKE] Microwaved miso and coffee usually managed to rouse him after a few minutes. You didn't even need to stick around most of the time. (THOUGHTFUL)
[] [WAKE] Putting his cell phone in the bathroom before the alarm went off meant he had to walk to it to get it to stop. (RESOLUTE)
But what did register that day was that, as it was the first day of college, the clubs were out in force. And there were a lot of them. As much as your guardians loved Ichigo and how much of a jock he was, you were no slouch yourself. It was through your actions that you were able to guide your girls' team to nationals in:
[] [SPORT] Judo. Both you and Ichigo had the luxury of a space to practice in, and knowing how to leverage your lower center of gravity made you a terror. (HARD)
[] [SPORT] Soccer. Your nimble moves and ball handling made you an incredible striker. (QUICK)
[] [SPORT] Baseball. Your pitches and reads even managed to get serious respect out of the boys' team. (THOUGHTFUL)
[] [SPORT] Lacrosse. You were a brutal longsticker and made several courageous defensive plays that were vital in getting you to finals. (RESOLUTE)
Ichigo was in the same sport on the boys' side, and much was made of this in rumors, but honestly you weren't sure what the big deal was. So you lived in the same house? What does that have to do with anything? That said, since you were here, and the big clubs were recruiting, you figured you could get on your old team, if you hadn't got too rusty from the year of hell.
Pick one stat from each option, preferably different ones-- the top two will go into Mei's build. Voting ends when we get a clear winner, or in 3 days.
TOIROI MEI, <<Tetsu no Haato>>
"148 cm. Black hair. Black eyes. Unremarkable."
HARD 3 -- (punch things. Be endurant. Take hits.) QUICK 1 -- (Throw things. Be fast. Be coordinated. Be precise.) THOUGHTFUL 2 -- (Be smart. Plan ahead. Use applied knowledge.) RAPPORT 3 -- (Be brave. Understand others. Listen. Love.) RESOLUTE 2 -- (Be resolute. Have conviction. Commit skulduggery. Blend in.) LUCK 0/1 (A strange, rare thing. The spark of life. The ability to go beyond what you are. What form will it take?)
Body 5/5 (How much have you been neglecting yourself?) Stress 4/5 (Even the brave need rest and comfort.) Supplies 4/5 (A hero who goes into a dungeon unprepared is either a fool or dead.) Momentum 10/10 (Knowledge and plans. The right thing at the right time. The current and direct support of others.)
CONDITIONS: None!
MYSTERIES:
[XX] [XX] [XX] [XX] [X] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
8 XP FROM MYSTERIES
BONDS:
[XX] [XX] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
5 XP FROM BONDS
DEEDS:
[XX] [XX] [XX] [X ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
6 XP FROM DEEDS
FAILURES:
[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
3 XP FROM FAILURES
2 XP FROM DISCARDING BRAWLER
DESTINY:
8 XP FROM DESTINY
ADVANCES
0 XP: Demon Knight
2 XP: Tangled Red String 2
2 XP: Tangled Red String 3
3 XP: Party LINE
9 XP: +1 Hard
2 XP: Demon Knight 2
3 XP: Shade
3 XP: Armor-Piercing Blow
3 XP: Pathshaper
5 XP REMAINING
Background Vow: "I will become an adult who my parents would have been proud of."
Difficulty: Epic
TRACK [XX] [XX] [XX] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
"I want to find out the legal situation surrounding my parents and any inheritance they may have left me, monetary or otherwise."
Difficulty: EXTREME
TRACK [XX] [XX] [XX] [XX] [XX] [XX] [XX] [] [] []
MENACE O O . . . . . . . .
"I swear upon the iron in my knife that I will learn the ways of mysticism and allure from you, Gumi, the seven-hundred-year kitsune and freed slave." Rank: Formidable
PROGRESS [XX] [XX] [XX] [XX] [XX] [XX] [] [] [] []
"I will seek the truth at Site 1."
Rank: Troublesome (BLOCKED)
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
"I will determine why my suitors are attracted to me."
Rank: Formidable
[XX] [XX] [XX] [XX] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
"I will determine the whereabouts of my parents."
Rank: Formidable
[XX] [XX] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
"I will find a future for myself. May this arrow cut me if I don't."
Rank: EXTREME
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
ASSETS Brawler This asset has been Discarded, but may be purchased again later if desired.
Pathshaper. You are skilled at finding your way among places both magical and not, occasionally even able to wrest control of your path if you push yourself or have support.
-- When you Rush To the Scene, choose one:
-- Follow the fastest path: Take +2 momentum on a hit.
-- Follow the safest path: Add +1 to your action roll.
On a hit with a match, you charted or forged a new path on your journey; mark one tick on your MYSTERIES track.
Armor-Piercing Blow. A deceptive name. You understand, instinctively and visually, where the weak point is in anything that can be called a "defense". More importantly, your strikes and maneuvers have an uncanny ability to defeat those defenses. This has often manifested before when you've burned Momentum, but now you can control it, use it more carefully. Cursebreaker, infiltrator, assassin, smuggler, Titan— you can be any or all of these things and more, depending on how this power is used.
-- When you are in a risky situation and call upon this broad power, you may add +2 to an upcoming action roll at the cost of 2 Momentum.
Tangled Red String-- You are cursed to be entangled romantically.
– When you make a move with a Connection that leverages their abilities, take an extra +1. On a MISS, you must describe how a misunderstanding emerges between your Connections that you will have to adjudicate.
– When you completely fill a box on the BONDS track, reflect on your friendships and Roll the Action Die:
– On a 1-3, take one additional XP.
– On a 4-6, you realize something important about a Connection or Bondmate. You may Swear an Iron Vow to act on this revelation; if you do, take an automatic strong hit and Develop Your Relationship as normal.
– When you make a move in a crucial moment and score a miss, you may cling to thoughts of your Connections and bond-kin for courage or encouragement. If you do, reroll any dice. On another miss, in addition to the outcome of the move, you must mark shaken or corrupted. If both debilities are already marked, Face Desolation.
Detective-- You see things others cannot, thanks to years of watching for little details.
-- When Mei attempts to Face Danger, Gather Information, or Secure an Advantage relating to solving mysteries, she may roll +1 and take +1 Momentum on a hit.
Demon Knight-- Mei has absorbed the power of another self. Their eyes are as one. Their spirits... Less so.
-- When Mei consults with her other self, she adds +1 and takes +2 momentum on a hit... But takes an extra +1 Stress on a weak hit.
-- Unlocked: at least 3 boxes with Asura-chan: When she Faces Death guided by Asura-chan, Mei adds +1. On a strong hit, envision what you learn from her or about yourself, and mark 2 ticks on your Bonds legacy track.
Party LINE-- You have the social skills and logistical acumen to ask for sudden help.
– When you Undertake an Expedition or have time to prepare before you Enter the Fray, you may Compel a Connection to help you with +Rapport. If you do, you may add +1 and take +1 Momentum on a hit. While on Expeditions or in Combat with you, Connections are vulnerable to the Endure Companion Harm suffer move. Connections have 3 Endurance.
Shade-- You may veil yourself by using your powers.
-- When you veil yourself to evade defenses, and make a move to hide, ambush, or sneak, you may set your action die to 5. If you're in darkness, make it 6. On a miss, in addition to any other cost, you are revealed and cannot veil yourself again until the current situation is resolved.
CONNECTIONS
KANEKO ICHIGO [DRAGON'S FIRE] [Formidable]-- You were fast friends in elementary school, and that hasn't really changed. His parents still won't explain why they took you in, but you suspect it's related more to your parents than to his friendship with you. Despite all you've been through, you're not separated from one another-- and you'll be working more closely with each other from now on... You hope.
By removing his collar and thereby saving his life, Ichigo, at least, considers any possible debt cleared, and any possible position of servitude for yourself ridiculous. Convincing his parents of this, however...
A complication has emerged. It turns out that Ichigo is a draconic superhero, the aptly named Gold Dragon. He's caught in the middle of a struggle between a branch company, Nebuka Logistics, and the as-yet mysterious Ryuuroids, part machine monstrosities powered by the equally enigmatic Dragon's Eyes. Who will emerge victorious, and what does that even mean, here?
[XX] [XX] [XX] [XX] [XX] [XX] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
SAKAKI HANABI [Team Captain] [Dangerous] -- The captain of the sport judo team that you're a part of. Seems to have a close friendship with Yagami Mao, and they're in the same year.
[XX] [XX] [XX] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
FUJII KAZUMA [Demon Fireman] [Dangerous] A contact with the local crow tengu. Seems to have gotten out of their yakuza group.
[XX] [XX] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
YAGAMI-SENPAI [????] [Dangerous] -- You've fought with her, and maybe gotten her to reveal a little bit about herself. Does she really think she's poisonous? Might be able to help you get better at fighting, but you're both undisciplined brutes.
[XX] [XX] [XX] [XX] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
RAIMOTO HARU [A Bolt From The Blue] [Formidable] -- Freshman university student and member of the archery club. A little shy around you. A little weird. You can't help but feel for her, a little bit. When you met her on Monday afternoon, she told you to practice your archery. Maybe that's not such a bad idea.
After several meetings, she revealed that she had been hunting Ichigo as a way to get back at his mother. As it turned out, all of you had a very similar purpose; you desired your own and Ichigo's freedoms, something you knew was going to be impossible without dealing with the elder Kanekos. For now, you're in an uneasy alliance...
[XX] [XX] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
GUMI [Fox's Cunning] [Formidable] -- A seven-tailed kitsune you met on a trip to hell. Is mysterious, beautiful, and is now your teacher, as you swore. You didn't realize that this would also invite her into your apartment. Apparently was once a slave of some kind, herself.
[XX] [XX] [XX] [XX] [XX] [XX] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
YUMENO SAKURA [Star Magic] [Formidable]-- A brunette medicine student with a magical pushbroom, who calls upon the Star of Dreams to enact powerful, versatile magic. Likes quiet places, and seems to have a history with Hell's denizens and the spirit world.
[XX] [XX] [XX] [XX] [XX] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
ASAMIYA YUKI [Miko Detective] [Formidable] -- A former miko with significant herbal knowledge and who claims to still have the ability to banish and harm demons. Has had enough of being quiet, until the end of her days. Rides a motorbike.
Recently you had a distinct revelation due to her and Maru...
[XX] [XX] [XX] [XX] [XX] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
MORISAWA RIN [Magical Idol] [Formidable] -- Formerly the idol "Tenshi Momo", Morisawa Rin is a surprisingly calm presence in a room full of hotbloodedness and grim faces. If being Tenshi Momo was so exhausting, she seems to have recovered well.
[XX] [XX] [XX] [XX] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
KISARAGI REI [Sweet Shine] [Formidable] -- A girl with a slightly closed off nature despite the fact that she's always willing to help someone out. Calls upon the keychain charms that she keeps on her person to change costumes and powers, which she calls "Sweet Shine".
Turns out that, uh, yeah. She's some kinda robot? We don't know what's with that yet.
[XX] [XX] [XX] [XX] [XX] [XX] [XX] [ ] [ ] [ ]PROGRESS HALTED. Release condition: Understand more about Rei's past, understand what she needs, and understand where your future with her would go.
NIWATARI-JIN [THE COMING OF SPRING] [Dangerous]-- Sometimes, it pays to save the life of the local goddess of spring.
[XX] [XX] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
PINOKO-SENSEI [World's Greatest Unlicensed Surgeon] [Dangerous]-- When you went to the Fushio Ryokan recently, you were swept up in a harrowing incident where you saved the lives of everyone involved, almost at the cost of your hands. In this case, there was also a surgeon there, who was able to restore your hands to health. How did she get that cutting-edge technology? How did she know how to use it with a deftness you envy? And who was her father, anyway?
[XX] [XX] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
ASURA-CHAN [special] [Formidable] IRON BOND -- Asura-chan originally depicted herself as a child version of yourself, and this doesn't seem to be very far from the truth. Formerly a nascent Site Heart, you formed an unbreakable bond with her. Suddenly, she became a powerful ally and invaluable Asset. As your bond with her increases, who can say what abilities will spring forth from her?
She is always with you.
All you need to do is ask.
TAKAYAMA KEI [The Ramen Shop Heard 'Round The World] [Dangerous] -- The owner of the Takayama Ramen Shop, and your "Auntie Kei". Mother of your other childhood friend, Takayama Naoki. Available whenever the Night Market is, she is a valuable source of information-- anything that passes the lips of people in her ramen shop, she knows.
[XX] [XX] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
MARU [A Cat Goes Where She Pleases] [Formidable] -- The direct culprit behind the attack on Ichigo, Maru is a calico nekomata who seems to be youkai for hire. You met in the Night Market, and then you saved her life. That seems to happen a lot, come to think. Seems a bit nervous around you.
[XX] [XX] [XX] [XX] [XX] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
ALFONS (Flamekeeper) [Formidable] -- Kisaragi Rei's... Familiar? Pet? Friend? The exact relationship is a little confusing, but it seems to involve someone they both knew named Hino. He holds a compact apparently powered by what he calls a "Heart", though a heart of what is unclear.
[XX] [XX] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
THE IRON DEVIL (Bird-Hunting Echo) [EXTREME] -- As far as you know, a woman hired by the Thunder Devil Dance Hall to fill the role of MC and idol in replacement of your mother. Something about her feels... off.
It would appear that you and her are not so different, after all. Your father's hopes for you apparently lie in her, continuing while you do not have a future of your own. Relieve her pain, would you?
Destiny: [X] (Tragic) Love That Cannot Be: "I will have to marry Ichigo, and can afford no love."
[ ] (Tragic) Shattered Spirit: "The actual pieces of my inheritance are scattered, and do not wish to return."
[ ] (Heroic) Potent Inheritance: "My parents were talented in certain magics, and I carry on their tradition."
[ ] (Heroic) Prominent Suitors: "I will be pursued by suitors my equal in magical power, if not temporal, that I find attractive."
DELVE SITES: UNIVERSITY UNDERSTACKS: (Morphic Archive) A library that's too deep. It draws you further and further in, to stranger and stranger stacks, until it becomes impossible to tell one section from another, or even fiction from non-fiction, or yourself from the not-self. The stacks react to your own mental state.
- KNOWN DENIZENS: Kaneko Kazue, the memories of yourself and others, Bookbirds
- KNOWN DANGERS: Pleasant fantasies easy to get lost in; Memories with awful new twists/context; Bookbirds; Denizen that resembles a Bondmate/ally
OSAKA NIGHT MARKET: (ENCHANTED EMPORIUM) A market that is only organized every FULL and NEW MOON. You won't find it at any other time. There, a strict truce is enforced between all the disparate supernatural elements present in Osaka Prefecture, and the general tone is one of conviviality and conspiracy. You can find anything your heart could desire, here... If you're willing to pay the price.
- KNOWN DENIZENS: Sanekata, Auntie Kei, youkai of all descriptions, merchants, weapons holy and cursed.
- KNOWN DANGERS: Getting conned, pockets picked, letting your anger get away with you, not paying your bill
MOUNTAIN HELL PASS: (SHADOWFELL PASS) A mountainous, rocky region that is the surface of the underworld in Osaka. presumably, reachable from any graveyard or shrine dedicated to the dead.
- KNOWN DENIZENS: the dead, oni, dead children, black fog
- KNOWN DANGERS: getting lost, eating anything, drinking anything, being alive, tunnel collapses, black fog
THUNDER DEVIL DANCE HALL: (MAGITEK REVEL)A former factory that your mother took over. First, it was a hangout for her lowlife and youkai friends. As she gained prominence, she turned it into a dance hall, and then it became a center for the after-work life in the Toshio and Chuo Wards. When she died, it gained an entire Culture... and a Heart.
- KNOWN DENIZENS: The Iron Devil, various youkai revelers, DJ THOR
- KNOWN DANGERS: Pushy pickup artists, handsy dancers, bouncers, tech that's not fully shielded, lightning, hypnotic beats
BACKGROUND CLOCK:
ICHIGO'S TEAM IS BROKEN UP BY HIS PARENTS 2/6
At the time you knew you were going out for Judo. It was your first year, and after the hell that was high school, college was, if anything, a relief.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, aside from Ichigo himself, none of your friends from the judo club were there. Their exam scores were always middling at best, and your best guess from hearing some of them talk was that they were largely traditionalists-- people with heavy parental expectations and even heavier legacies.
The second thing that struck you about the place-- or, at least, the club itself-- is how outlandish everyone but you looked. It's like they got out of high school, decided they were glad that was over, and rinsed the black dye out of their hair and cut it as wildly as they could manage. The gi were similarly in tune with each girl's aesthetic.
One of them stops the both of you, and in a heartbeat, you despair. She's everything you had hoped to grow up to be. Tall, warm, confident. Red hair of a color that is almost certainly dyed to get that way, even if she was a redhead naturally. Her gi was a little careworn, but had seen as much care as it had tough days. She looked down at you, smiled, and looked back at Ichigo. "Boys' team is over there."
You raised your hand when Ichigo walked over to the boys' side and let up a cheer. "I'm here to join."
The woman blinked, then her expression softened. "Mm. We'll be doing tryouts all this week. What did you say your name was?"
"... I didn't. Torioi Mei."
Saying your name made a few of the prospective team members look up, and some of them even seemed to recognize you. "Oh, it is Torioi," one of them said.
"Well, there's a good start. Name's Sakaki Hanabi," she said, and you can just tell she spelled it weird. "I'm the captain of the team this year. Let's see how you work with the team."
With not much else to say from the captain, you were left with a simple enough task to write down in your journal--
Inciting Vow: I swear I will join the judo team. Rank: Troublesome
And remembered how you justified it to yourself at the time. You had your own ambitions, of course, but you made a promise to, among other things, keep Ichigo safe. This was the perfect ambition to see that along.
Of course, all well and good to say. But one thing to hold a goal in your heart, and another to see it writ.
"I'd be glad to," you said, bowing politely, as you had been taught.
The circle was soon drawn between yourself and one of the seniors who was trying out again this year. A streak of green hair matched eyes that were probably contacts, and she had, a bit tastelessly, torn the lower half of the sleeves in her gi. "So you're Torioi? I'm Yagami. I've heard a lot about you from the people who came in after me. It's good to see someone with a little fire."
You weren't sure how to take that, and simply nod. "I'll look forward to your instruction, then."
It quickly became clear that they bring Yagami out when they wanted to crush the dreams of those with ambition, but neither the talent nor the experience to be in a college team. She took a certain delight in not just landing the throw, but landing it in a way that meant you had to roll or shift to avoid injuries. You win as often as you lose, but the fact was, after half an hour of this, you were not only still standing, but found you were enjoying yourself immensely.
After all, it was exactly this kind of moment that made you want to shine the hardest.
Yagami, however, seemed confused by how you kept getting up. "You're pretty good," she said, when the time had come to switch partners.
"I had to learn to fall a lot," you explained. "After all, my main training partner was the friend I came in with."
Yagami paused, and looked over at Ichigo, who at that moment was participating in a group movement exercise. She looks back at you with a slightly more interested appraisal. "Is that so? Interesting."
... Well that was an odd way to put it. "Why so? My parents introduced him to me early on in elementary school."
"Ahhh, so you go that far back?"
You nodded.
"Very interesting."
You got the strangest feeling that there was a half of this conversation you were not privy to. "Well, good luck with the next partner. Don't tear them apart too hard."
She paused, blinked, and then laughed, a big, loud, belly laugh that rang out across the practice floor. "You got it, Torioi!"
You squared up with another freshman and your practice continued.
#
After practice, you and Ichigo met up to head back to the apartments. "What did you think of the place?" he asked, once the group had broken up.
"How do you mean?" you replied. "Did something seem out of place to you?"
"I dunno, I just felt like I was being... watched." Ichigo shrugged his shoulders like he was trying on an ill-fitting coat.
You remember sighing at the time, but this was really where it all began. "I mean, we are trying out for a serious club. Of course we're being watched."
"That's... Not quite what I mean," Ichigo said. Once again you found yourself irritated at the closemouthed nature of everyone around you. "But yeah, that's probably it, isn't it? Are you planning to go for it?"
You nodded. "Yeah. What about you?"
"I don't know," Ichigo said. "I seem to fit in well enough but I can't help but feel... Jumpy. But I guess a year off will do that to you, huh?"
You nodded again. "And if it's not, I'll help."
#
April 19th, Saturday.
You of course kept, and continue to keep, your own apartment immaculately clean as you go. You wish you could say the same for Ichigo, who seems to leave an explosion of mess no matter what he was actually doing. You had long since given up on making his bed properly. He insisted that sleeping on top of the blankets was the right way to sleep, and since he never seemed tired, and his back never hurt, you weren't about to tell him no.
Still, taking out the trash once in a while would be nice. But then, such has been your life since middle school.
This time, however, there was someone to help:
[] Sakaki-senpai, who lived nearby and was jogging her way to the college for a morning workout.
[] Yagami-senpaiYou have not formed a specific bond with Yagami-senpai, and while she would normally greet you, she's not going to be caught dead taking out others' trash for them.
[] Someone from the girls' softball team, looking to scout you out.
[] Someone from the girls' archery team, hoping to scout you out.
[] [WRITE-IN RULE] This character must be from a major sports team in the university. They may be sketched in terms of archetypes and descriptions, but their final details are up to me. I reserve the right to veto a character.
This is an approval vote; vote for as many or as few of these characters as you like. You can even vote for Yagami, but it will change the nature of the scene a little.
Voting will open in 45 minutes and remain open until 9PM Thursday.
Last edited:
How Rolls Work and other considerations for Ironsworn
Hm, before we go any farther, I should explain how rolling is going to work, even though I can't pin it yet...?
When I ask for a "check +<stat>", I will note any adds you have for that move, and then I will need:
-- 1d6 plus the stat and those adds, which are Your Dice,
-- and two 1d10 rolls, called the Fate Dice.
If the d6+ meets or exceeds one d10, it's a weak hit. If the d6+ meets or exceeds both, it's a strong hit. If it's less than both, it's a miss, and we shall have to Pay the Price. Yes, this is softer than Ironsworn. That's intentional.
There is one special case-- Doubles on the Fate Dice indicate a plot twist, for good or for ill. It is, definitionally, always a strong hit or miss, and these represent strokes of fortune. While these are sometimes ignored if the Oracles don't seem relevant, they are always a strong hit or miss, and will be scored accordingly.
At the most extreme, Two Ones is always a Major, beneficient twist of fate. Two Tens is always both a miss AND a Major Plot Twist.
When I say you may "Reroll one die", it means precisely that-- either Your Die or one of the Fate Dice.
When I say you may "Reroll any dice", it means that you get one reroll, Yahtzee rules-- pick any dice you want to keep, and re-roll the others.
General considerations:
-- HARD is the stat of physical strength, directness, and physical endurance. It's for things like lifting boulders, pushing cars, and delivering a hammer blow.
-- QUICK is the stat of manual dexterity, snap aim, fast-talking, and sprinting. It's for things like confusing people, sleight of hand, deception, and picking locks.
-- THOUGHTFUL is the stat of keeping our wits about us, staying cool under pressure, making plans, and understanding information. Chances are, if you have a plan, at least some of its execution comes here. This is also the stat we use when rolling initiative (not that we'll be doing that often.)
-- RAPPORT is the stat of kindness, compassion, charisma, and mental strength. It's the stat you roll when making Iron Vows, calling on bonds, or rallying your sisters in battle. This stat is always important, but in this quest it's essential. As a special note, Testing Bonds is a +RAPPORT roll, and so are certain magics.
-- RESOLUTE is the stat of courage, loyalty, and sheer force of will. It's a special case stat, usually used for Enduring Stress. While RAPPORT seeks to make bonds, RESOLUTE seeks to maintain one's iron in the storm.
-- LUCK is a special stat. You will never roll it directly. Most of the characters you meet don't have it; instead it's replaced by their MAGIC-- be that the more human witchery of SHADOW, or DIVINITY, or some other thing. You, as an entirely normal human, we swear, have LUCK instead. Once per full week, you may reroll any die once, to save you from a horrible twist of fate. Your LUCK is then expended.
-- BODY and STRESS are the trackers you might expect them to be-- physical and mental energy. They may never be above +5.
-- MOMENTUM is also special. It goes up as we get hits, or if there's fan art or fan fiction posted in the thread, that'll get +1 momentum too. It goes down as an option when we Miss. At a player's option, upon seeing the result of the dice, they may instead opt to burn momentum, which changes the result of the d6 to our current Momentum. At the end of burning momentum, the momentum resets to +2, and begins rising and falling as our fates do. Momentum may never rise above +10.
Assets
Assets bend the rules in the character's favor. We start with three and may add more later.
Bonds
Bonds are people you are directly connected to. These are people with whom you have worked together on problems, defended the lives of personally, or undertaken and completed quests for.
Each Bond fills the bond track one tick. As a special consideration for this game only, You may bond with a person more than once, but be warned, Bonds can be Testedand fade if stressed.
Bonds are incredibly important if and when we end this Quest.
DIFFICULTIES
Any form of progress track, from Vows, to Journeys, to Delves, to extended combat, has an associated difficulty. Progress gets filled in boxes, four ticks to a box. You'll note that Bonds are also a track, in this same regard-- every Bond fills the track one tick.
[] empty
[/] one tick
[X] two ticks
[⁎] three ticks
[⁑] full box
Only full boxes count for checking progress directly against Fate.
Troublesome things are things that will inconvenience you, and might do a little harm, but generally aren't that powerful. Think an unarmed tough, or joining the Judo Club when you got to Nationals in high school and had several awards from it. Progress on Troublesome things goes three full boxes at a time.
Dangerous things are on an equal footing with you-- they are risky to take on, and will challenge you if you aren't careful or lucky. Marking progress on dangerous is done two boxes at a time.
Formidable things are a little bit tough. They're longer quests, or a fight against tough opponents, or several on relatively equal footing with you. Formidable tracks fill one box at a time.
Extreme things are not attempted lightly. They're deadly quests, long delves, combat against ancient beasts, or journeys on foot across half the continent. Extreme quests take two ticks every time they make progress.
Epic things are exactly what they sound like-- the stuff of legend and song. Fight gods, shake the heavens, reach enlightenment, satisfy a memory of your parents that will not remember you. Epic undertakings mark one tick per progress, just like the Bond track does. (Truly, the most epic thing is the friends we made along the way.)
Progress and Menace
When you overcome obstacles, secure support, or win out over opposition to completing your goals, you get progress! Progress is good.
Some vows have Menace. Usually, this represents rivals, major opponents, or the time-sensitive nature of the Vow. (You can't be somewhere by the next full moon if it's already passed!)
Menace is another form of clock-- In this case, it was to avoid being caught with a bunch of actual escapees. It is individual to each Vow or Progress track in which it applies.
If the menace track fills, we must immediately roll to fulfill Progress (be it "reach your destination", "Fulfill your vow", etc) or accept that our objective is out of reach ("Forsake Your Vow").
Most importantly, You must have at least as many boxes filled as Menace to Fulfill A Vow.
Failures
As a QM note, I will fail Mei forward, which is to say, I will not cut off any avenue because of a roll of the dice, no matter how costly.
That said, Mei has the option to learn from her mistakes, one tick at a time-- specifically, whenever she scores a miss. When she has a chance to rest and recover properly, and takes it, she will attempt to Learn From Her Failures, a progress check off how many boxes of Failure have been filled.
ETA: The Doubles and the Oracles.
ETA 2: Re-roll rules.
ETA 3: DIFFICULTIES.
ETA 4: How ticks work, and Learn From Your Failures.
TOROI MEI
It's you! You're 148cm, black hair, red-brown eyes, and were a terror in your high school judo club, helping anchor your team in your second year to get your school to nationals. You see yourself as a hired servant to Kaneko Ichigo, your friend since elementary school. You've recently signed up for the university's judo tryouts. Your strongest stat is RAPPORT, the ability to charm, be kind, be brave, and swear oaths. You're terrified of what the Kaneko Matriarch might do to you if you don't fulfill her plans. You spell your name in one of the more common ways, "Bird,chasing" and "Sprout,reliable".
KANEKO ICHIGO
Your childhood friend. 175 cm. He dyes his naturally blonde hair black. The other terror of your high school's judo club while he was on it. Lately, he seems more and more distant from you. Recently stopped dying his hair. Heals unnaturally quickly. Tends to sign his name "Gold Child" "First Child".
SAKAKI HANABI
Yes, she really spells it "god-tree fireworks". You wish you were surprised. At 180 cm and very athletic, it's hardly surprising that she's become the captain of the university's judo club. That fire-engine red hair can't be natural... Can it? She and Yagami are on a given name basis with each other. Seems energetic, but... Can read Yagami so hard that she sent you to Yagami and trolled her in equal measure.
YAGAMI MAO
A somewhat skilled judoka in the university's judo team and vice-captain. Has a slight mean streak. Hair has a slight green streak. Boisterous and kind of fun to be around-- at least, if she's not trying to injure you. She and Sakaki are on a given name basis with each other. Can read Sakaki so hard that she could send you to talk to her and KNOW that she would Get Got. On most of her legal documents, spells it "Eight-gods" "dance-cherry blossom". When she's signing things, tends to spell it "Night-god" "demon-center", because of course she does.
RAIMOTO HARU
A fellow first-year college student, in the archery club. She is striking, with blue eyes and black hair. Might be more of a nadeshiko than you. Definitely knows an awful lot about archery. Turns out, she's been done wrong somehow by the Shirogane Nezuka Group, and set out on a campaign of revenge that started with offing the heir apparent, Ichigo. That didn't go too hot. Spells her name "Lightning From Clear Skies".
IWAI KANNA
A delinquent librarian who you are certain spells her name "cliff-borne bookmarks." Rescued you from the University Understacks after you got lost down there. Knew your parents, but doesn't look a day over 25. Seems to have realized something about you that you don't know about.
KISARAGI REI
A pink-haired delinquent with a lot of kawaii-punk trinkets on her person. Can apparently change her appearance and loadout by calling on the power of these trinkets. Somewhat closemouthed, as to be expected of a GM. Spells her family name typically, but you get the feeling the "Rei" part is important somehow.
YUMENO SAKURA
A tall, slim woman who's a first-year medicine major. Taller even than Hanabi, just absolutely huge, but also much lankier. Has a security push-broom? Wants to learn judo to stop relying on said push-broom, and given what you've seen her do with it, you kind of don't blame her. Has a serious history with the local underworld-- as in, you know, the land of the dead.
ASAMIYA YUKI
A former miko who has a strange pendant and a few other charms hanging around. A talented herbalist. Claims to still be able to banish demons. Like Kisaragi, she knows how to ride a motorbike, and it's on this common ground they occasionally meet. There's some tension between her and Kisaragi, even more than the usual undercurrent for this group.
MORISAWA RIN
A blue-haired girl who seems to be a fan of Tenshi Momo, an idol singer. A little nervous in general. Definitely wants to be your friend and/or learn judo from you.
more to come as we meet them and learn more about them.
Rumors you and Ichigo were dating, or even already married, had already filtered into your ears from others. When you laughed it off, their knowing smirks made your stomach turn and your cheeks burn with embarrassment. You hated what his parents ordered, but their purse strings, their rules.
That was all that was worth noting on Friday. But today was Saturday, and today was also the day to leave out burnables. So here you were, hauling trash bags for two in latex gloves and a mask. You weren't really so delicate to disease, but it was honestly the last thing you wanted to deal with right then, at the end of the first week.
Someone waved at you from below. You paused, and looked down.
You hadn't made friends with anyone with normal hair.
A moment later, you made your way down to her.
She was taller than you, but not by much. Her black hair was so dark it had blue highlights, and her eyes were a foreigner's deep blue. The effect, while wearing an archery haori, was striking.
You retained your composure, but only just, throwing the trash into the collection area, and only then nodding.
"Good morning," she said, carefully bowing.
Behind her you saw a flash of light, and something in you screamed. You were following nothing but pure instinct when you pulled her towards the wall, just in time to see a blazing streak of light, then another, pass by where your heads just were.
This was, you remember thinking at the time, not an ideal situation. You were pressed against each other, at the outside wall of your apartment. You distinctly remember wondering why you were struggling to maintain your composure.
Even less ideal was the fact that you had just tackled yourself into concrete, even if she'd cradled your head to keep from giving yourself a concussion with the impact.
Even less ideal than that was that you had just been handling trash not five seconds ago.
You quickly escaped. "Are you all right?"
… You remember being irritated that she wasn't even looking at you. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish. Well, honestly, that's… Probably for the best. "Let's head up to my apartment, I'll help you get cleaned up," you continued.
Suddenly, she returned her look to you. "Ah-- I-- Of course. Yes, I'm. I'm all right. Uh-- Uh, thank you."
You nod and start leading the way up the steps.
"-- Oh! Uh-- It's. It's Raimoto. Raimoto Haru." You look back and see her looking away from you again.
Weird girl.
A little later, you took off your gloves and haircloth, and washed your hands, and made sure your new guest had some water.
She was entirely silent during all this, sitting in the most proper position she could, apparently listening to the sounds of your work.
Just to break the silence, you said, "Um… I have a shower if you want to clean up."
"Wh-- Oh! Oh, yes, of course. I, uh, please allow me to go do that--"
You pinched the bridge of your nose. Oh good god, what now? And yet, despite the level of shenanigans going on, you couldn't help but smile.
Before any water started, she slid open the bathroom door again, thankfully still fully clothed. "Oh! Oh, right, I, uh, I was supposed to take you to breakfast, is that OK?"
You blinked, but after a moment, you supposed there was nothing wrong with that. You didn't have any club activities until later and had no classes today. "OK?"
[By making a surprising connection to Raimoto Haru, you have avoided a serious obstacle in your quest to join the Judo Club. You mark progress.]
Breakfast was, apparently, in an outdoor cafe, with carefully spaced tables, but she was sitting across from you. You wondered, then as now, what was with the strange atmosphere.
You took a tea, while Raimoto took a coffee. The fact that you wrote down how carefully and primly she stirred a hefty bit of cream and two sugars into it feels indicative of the whole session. Even if you hadn't written it down, the feeling of it would be etched upon you.
Raimoto ordered an omelette, and you had something a bit more traditional-- something you might have had for dinner last night.
"So you wear the haori everywhere?" you asked.
"Ah… No, I was." She looked into her coffee for a moment. "I was going to ask you to join us for a session at the archery club."
You paused. You supposed at the time that the archery club must have heard of your attempt to join back in high school, or maybe even further back, your work in middle school. Fate, and Ichigo's parents, intervened. It didn't help that you were ill-practiced when it came to throwing or aiming anything smaller than a full human being. "Oh, that's surprising. I'm… More than a little out of practice. It's been three years since I last picked up a bow…"
Raimoto nods. "You've tried your hand at many things. And that's one reason why we sought you out."
"Mm. Well, I can't make guarantees. Although you're right, it would help me get some cross-training in…"
"You are committed to judo, then?"
"Well… It's not that I'm committed, so much as I--" You're not sure how to put this. "I see judo as a means to an end, rather than an end in itself."
"Ah, you want self-protection." Raimoto nodded. "Well, that's admirable of you, at least. May I at least ask you to come by the club on Monday?"
"-- let me check my calendar first." You pause and pull out an old-fashioned date book, which makes Raimoto look on with even more interest. "-- Is 1500 all right?"
"Yes, that should do nicely!" That was a lot brighter than you thought you'd hear from Raimoto.
[Raimoto has asked something of you, as part of a weak hit on a "Forge a Bond" roll. If you follow through, and meet her in the Archery Club on Monday afternoon, you will add one tick to your Bonds track.]
#
It was later that day that you learned there might have been more to it. You were in the Judo Club, again, working with the other freshmen to prove you've got what it takes both to help others practice and also that you're a cut above the others, necessarily.
Out of the freshmen so far, you were definitely fulfilling the latter requirement. You take on juniors and seniors with more ostensible experience easily.
The problem comes when you're paired up with Yagami again. Something in you feels… Off.
Maybe it was the fact that Yagami had been trying to injure others trying out again.
Maybe it was just that you were getting tired of having to fight well above your weight class, again and again and again.
Or maybe, it was that something in you, and something in Yagami, were the same, and neither of you liked it. You didn't put it down, and your emotion was running so high at the time that you don't well remember.
Yagami's eyes narrowed, and then she grinned. "Oho?"
All you knew, at that moment, was that you wanted to tear Yagami apart.
The feeling, apparently, was mutual, and over the next several falls, the two of you hit the mats harder and louder than most of the rest of the club combined. As soon as you fell, you were back up. As soon as Yagami fell, it felt like--
It felt like two caged animals. And gods and spirits, if you didn't love every second of it.
You paid for it, dearly, however. When Sakaki spared a moment for the two of you, she called an immediate halt to your sparring. "I can't believe this. Both of you! Yagami, I know you have problems registering pain sometimes, but you, Torioi?"
You paused and finally took a look at Yagami. You saw the bruises forming in her arms and body, places where you'd struck with more weight than strictly needed. It didn't look too serious, but this incident definitely spoke ill of your ability to spar with others safely. You bite back a curse, partly because of that, but partly just out of concern for Yagami.
You knew it could be dangerous, but you didn't think you'd done that much. Growing soreness told you that your injuries might be just as bad.
Yagami, of course, just laughed it off. "Aww, we were just getting to the good part," she said.
"Infirmary, both of you. If either one of you is seriously injured, you're both out of the club."
[You take 1 Stress and 1 Harm on your miss to Secure an Advantage. You do not Mark Progress on your Vow to Join the Judo Club. You lose 1 Momentum due to missing on Endure Stress as a result. The clock is ticking...]
Next update to come. In the meantime:
Please roll:
-- +Rapport, to Forge a Bond with Yagami-senpai.
-- +Thoughtful, to Not Quite Camp.
Thankfully, the trip to the health center wasn't far, and given that you're injured instead of sick, they actually agreed to see you in person.
"Stay here for an hour while we make sure you haven't wrecked anything in your joints," one of the doctors said, brown hair and severe black eyes and freckles from an imagined nisei mother, wrapped in a sterile white coat and a mask. She walked to the front desk, and you and Yagami both watched her.
Yagami smiled behind the mask she'd stolen from the front desk. Or said she'd stolen, anyway. "Ha, don't worry, she knows me."
"Come here often, then?" You asked.
"Used to. The clinic doesn't look it, but this is attached to a research hospital, up that way. She was a student there once upon a time." Yagami paused. "A lifetime ago."
Of a sudden, restrained, clipped orders came through the half-open door. "Inside, now--"
Curious, you got up on sore ankles and knees and protesting hips to see what the issue was.
Yagami put a hand on your shoulder. "What are you doing?"
You looked at Yagami. "Don't you want to see what's more urgent than us?"
For a moment, silence reigns in the room. You saw Yagami's grin growing wilder and wider underneath her mask. "You know what, kid? You're all right."
You looked, and saw first the burns on the skin, the lacerations, deep and pulsing. The bruises and scrapes from falling in the road. The cocky grin. The blue eye contact, and the other eye, a strange, reptilian green, where the other contact had fallen out. A shock of golden roots under brown-black dye.
You knew who it was immediately. "-- Ichigo?"
Yagami raised an eyebrow. "First name basis?"
"His parents took me in at the end of middle school," you explained. "It's a long story."
"I'm sure it is. Maybe we'll get to swap them someday. For now, let's follow your little beau, princess." With that, Yagami exited the room. On the one hand, you needed to heal. On the other hand, you could just imagine the incoming angry calls if you didn't know what happened.
You decided to follow her. Hell, if Yagami liked him enough, maybe you could set them up on a date? That'd be nice. Get him out of your hair, at least, and Yagami was at least as strong as you were, so it'd probably even go well with his parents!
The doctor, sadly, was not so understanding. "What are you two doing here?"
"Ichigo?" You said, looking him dead in the eyes.
All of a sudden, the despair that was on his face shifted to a tired grin. A mask that was all too familiar to you. "Oh, hey! Don't worry, she's a long time friend."
The doctor backed away. "Fine. Talk."
"What happened?" were the first words out of your mouth.
"Oh, you know. The usual," Ichigo said. You didn't buy it then. You don't buy it now. That's one of the reasons you decided to look through your old journal in the first place.
"The usual," you said, with maybe an uncharacteristic edge.
"You know, you get carried away a little in the practice room--"
"With what, a bear!?" That little idiot! No matter what he'd been fighting, he was your meal ticket, dammit. "Really, what happened?"
He and Yagami chuckled at the same time, and Ichigo winced. "It's. It looks worse than it is. Just a bad road spill, honest. I'll be fine in a couple days."
You paused and considered this information. "We'll talk later, Ichigo. Take care of yourself."
Ichigo nodded, and finally leaned back so the doctor could clean up and put in sutures.
You figured this was a good time to drag yourself and Yagami back to the exam room the doctor had left you in.
Of course she read you the riot act, afterwards, but it didn't feel nearly so bad with Yagami grinning at you. Even that aside, though, you found yourself more preoccupied with Ichigo's condition than your own.
Those injuries weren't consistent with much of anything you'd ever heard of. What was worse, usually Ichigo was very forthcoming with what had happened those few times he actually managed to get injured. You remembered the time in your first year of high school where he told everyone about the bruises you gave him during training at his parents' home. The rumors had started flying then, too, but when you mentioned your circumstances, they thankfully died down to a dim roar.
Honestly, not getting confessions from awkward boys that whole year felt more like a relief. You and boys just felt… Immiscible, sometimes, except for Ichigo and his occasional friends. Like there was some wild gulf between you and what girls were supposed to be around boys.
Sometimes you would listen to people talking about love letters or Valentine's day and just… Check out. Like it never really applied to you.
You thought you'd stopped letting it bother you. But now Ichigo was starting to be dishonest about what was going on with him, and you didn't know why.
Was that unleapable canyon coming to him, as well?
"What's on yer mind, princess?" Yagami said, grinning that damn grin again.
… You knew that if you told Yagami exactly what was on your mind, she'd probably use it as leverage later. You couldn't afford that. "Just worried about what happened to Ichigo."
Which was the truth, but it wasn't the whole truth, now was it?
Still, Yagami shrugged, her expression a little darker. "Men, huh? I wouldn't know much about that. I figure, if someone's gonna treat you like poison, you might as well be poison."
You blinked at her odd turn of phrase. Was that what she usually did? Still, you nodded. "I think I get that, a little bit. Sometimes you just get… So… Tired."
Yagami puts a hand on your shoulder again. Her hand is warm, and she nods. "Yeah, that's not wrong. Look, I'm… I'm bad at this stuff, but maybe you should talk more with Hanabi. The-- the captain, I mean."
You raise an eyebrow. "Hanabi."
"Quiet. There's a long story for it, probably just as long as your story with Kaneko over there in the next room getting felt up by the doctor."
Your eyes close in disgust at the thought. "Well, that's one way to put it, I guess. Thanks for listening to me."
"Ha! As if I've got anything better to do, princess."
And yet… Wasn't she vice-captain?
[You feel as if you've made a genuine bond with Yagami-senpai. Only time will tell if you see it grow stronger… or if it fades with stress and neglect. You gain 2 Momentum for a Strong Hit.]
[You mark a Bond, and mark progress on your quest to Join the Judo Club.]
The next day, April 20th, Sunday. You sat up in Ichigo's apartment, seeing to the wound-dressings he had. The smell of boiling water and alcohol fill the air.
You wanted to at least wash these cloth bandages once, if only to make sure he could use them again tomorrow before his classes.
It was worthy of note, mostly because you had never seen Ichigo get this injured before. Not ever. Not even when he was a little kid in elementary school, snot nosed but full of pride, taking on everyone who gave him a nasty look.
Sometimes, having naturally blond hair was not such a great thing. The day he dyed it black was the day he went from purely angry to merely sullen.
Some of that pure anger was back. You could see it in how he looked out the window.
"No, really. What happened, Ichigo? Who do I need to kill?" You asked, mostly out of a sense of wounded pride.
"I can't tell you, precisely because you would try," Ichigo said.
Your hands gripped the bandages tightly. If he didn't have sutures in, he would be up next for an object demonstration on why he did not need to worry about you in the slightest. As it was, you bottled your resentment and made the replacements as he waited in bed. "I understand."
You knew then, as now, that you did not understand. You did not understand at all.
You were going to get to the bottom of this.
[A Strong Hit on Make Camp for both you and Ichigo allows you both to recover 2 Body. You recover 1 Stress.]
Take one of the following Iron Vows. Unlike our inciting Vow, this Vow will take us a long time and will likely require several lesser sub-Vows or side-quests to fulfill. Expect Journeys and Delves from this point forward.
[] [VOW] I will find out what happened to Ichigo. (Formidable. May involve combat, which as we've already seen, can be risky even at its most basic.)
[] [VOW] I will take down who did this to Ichigo. (Formidable. Will involve combat, several times.)
[] [VOW] I will find the beast mauling people at our university. (Formidable. A bit more cerebral. Combat less likely, but also puts you at a remove to Ichigo.)
[] [VOW] [WRITE-IN] Put down something appropriate, but it MUST involve finding out who did it, why, and bringing them to some version of justice, even if it's only Mei's.
During your free time this week, you will: This is an approval vote. The top three aside from the mandatory task will win.
[X] [FREE TIME] Speak with Raimoto Haru on Monday afternoon. (Mandatory. Completing this task will forge your bond with Raimoto Haru.)
[] [FREE TIME] Talk more with Yagami-senpai.
[] [FREE TIME] Meet some of the other members of the Judo Club.
[] [FREE TIME] Try to get more information out of Ichigo.
[] [FREE TIME] Get advice from Sakaki-senpai, like Yagami-senpai asked.
[] [FREE TIME] Study. You can't let all this building mystery get in the way of your classes; if you flunk out, you're likely to never see any of these people again.
[] [FREE TIME] [WRITE-IN] Introduce a new place or new character. Give them a name and a connection either to one of Mei's bonds, or to her directly.
How do you feel about getting in the Judo Club?
[] [JUDO] Empty. This was a hollow victory, at best.
[] [JUDO] Resolute. You're sure that the key to Ichigo's assault is here, somewhere.
[] [JUDO] Calm. This was the expected result. Now you can focus on other, more important things.
[] [JUDO] Resentful. You hate-- so much-- that you have to do this to keep yourself in Ichigo's parents' good graces.
[X] I will find the beast mauling people at our university. (Formidable. A bit more cerebral. Combat less likely, but also puts you at a remove to Ichigo.)
[X] [FREE TIME] Study. You can't let all this building mystery get in the way of your classes; if you flunk out, you're likely to never see any of these people again.
All well and good for you to say that you're going to get to the bottom of this mystery, but, if you were being honest with yourself, you didn't even know where to begin. Other than the evidence left on Ichigo's body, you had no idea what could have left the injuries, where he was injured, or how. Worse, the evidence was already fading, despite requiring multiple sutures.
And so, despite being resolved to find the beast, the first part was a waiting game. You hated waiting games.
You bought a subscription to several newspapers, and combed through the stories as you waited. They, of course, turned up nothing, but you'd long since learned not to expect such a convenient life.
Classes were classes. General education that the college required, but weren't particularly interesting or difficult. Not for the first time, your heart doesn't feel quite in it.
Your fellow students seemed to agree-- more than a few slept through lectures, online or not. And why not? A year of sleep is a lot to catch up on, after all.
And so, at about 1450, you arrive at the archery club's set up butts to discover that no one was there. Already you didn't like this. Had there been another attack?
You picked up a bow, while you waited, and tried to remember the way of it. But your hands weren't as practiced as they once were, and while they could draw a bow, your eye didn't see the way it used to. Your arrows grazed the sides of the butt, or sailed over it, and none of them got near the stick.
Your back went ramrod straight when you felt hands on your shoulders, a leg near your back foot, physically changing your stance. "Like this."
The voice was Raimoto Haru's.
"Uh--" You paused, aimed the point of the arrow. At least, that time, you were able to strike the target, even if it wasn't full on. You winced. "I'm far out of practice."
Raimoto took a moment to look over at the target. "You remember more than you think. Most of your shots are high, and pull away from you. Think about why that might be."
You knotted your brows, a little confused. Raimoto giggled. "Well, it's fine. As long as you're hoping to improve, I'm sure you'll figure out what's happening."
You breathed out, adjusted your stance. "So where is everyone else?"
"It's just us, for now." Raimoto picked up a practice bow and three arrows between her fingers, a fact you remembered being out of place in the usual practice of archery as being as much meditation as accuracy.
She pulled, faster than you'd ever seen someone pull in person, and landed three hits, in a grouping the size of a 500 yen coin, some fifty meters away. Raimoto smiled, then blinked as she realized you'd been watching the entire time.
"It's a very good grouping," you said. "But, why did you learn it?"
She pauses, and sets the bow gently on the ground. "I learned that a long time ago. For hunting."
"Bow hunting, huh?" You said, sitting down across from her. "I've heard about it, but I was too young, and then I was too… Occupied."
Raimoto nodded, and hesitated a little as she sat down. "I'm not surprised. It's not a skill often used today. But I guess I'd hardly be myself if I didn't want to carve my own path, right?"
The words briefly shake you, for reasons you didn't understand. Maybe you really should ask Sakaki for advice. But-- if Raimoto really was someone who had hunted before, her insight was likely invaluable. "-- If you have a moment, then, what would you do to hunt beasts in a city?"
She pauses, then laughs. "Well, it depends on the beast! Why don't you tell me what you're looking for, and I'll see if I can think of something."
"I've… I've never seen it myself, but… I saw what it did to someone. A friend of mine." You briefly describe the injuries you remembered. Deep rends, as if from claws, but straighter, more precise. Burns, at the front and side. Bruises, along the back and shoulder.
"Hm. There's very few beasts that use fire. Are you sure that whatever did this wasn't human, in some way?"
"It's… Possible, but I don't know how they'd get claws that sharp. A weapon? But it wasn't straight enough for that…" Your constant need to pay attention to detail has paid off for once.
Raimoto pauses and then nodded. "Well, then. A beast's features, but human intelligence. A willingness to use fire and the environment. What does that suggest to you?"
"It suggests a starting point." Soon enough you'd have to ask Ichigo if he remembered seeing it, but this was the best lead you had, for now. You started to type into your journal a bit of brainstorming. -- fire? Chemical burns? Accident?
-- Rending cuts, parallel, about 2-4 cm apart, precision, but not as precision as a knife
-- if it was a beast, where were the bites?
-- bruises
You now realize that any explanation of what struck Ichigo has to take into account all of these injuries, one way or another.
And of course, your first suspects, given all of the information, are most likely some manner of human. "Thank you for talking with me. … but where's the rest of the Archery Club? Wasn't I going to meet them?"
"Oh, that? I guess they must have canceled today," Raimoto said, trying to maintain the picture of innocence. "But I'm sure you'd be a good fit, especially if you keep at it. Wanna give it another shot?"
You agreed, and spent the better part of a few hours just learning to draw the bow again. You'd forgotten how calming it could be.
#
Tuesday was the last day before the tryouts were closed, and while you showed up for the early morning run, in the afternoon you had classes to show up to and coursework to do.
Thus, looking for a quiet place to see to your studies, you at last came to the university library. Seeing that the available chairs on the ground floor were full, you went down, among the stacks, until you…
Uh…
Until you got lost. You didn't like writing that down. It wasn't exactly something you could point to with pride. But it was important.
Because in a small, secluded place, in a place set like the tables you remembered from your childhood, you and Ichigo sat across from each other. You'd cut your hair short again. You remembered the day, late in middle school. Come to think, how had your hair gotten so long in those three years? You were no longer sure.
But you were trying to sit up and be patient. Because the wake was the day before, and you had to get all your crying done at the wake. That was just what you did.
And over there, not far from you, were Ichigo's parents, sitting with a lawyer of advanced years and an interesting goatee. He kept his hat on, the entire time, but the underbite of his jaw and the way he kept grinning in a peculiar way reminded you, at the time, of a hannya mask.
Except this time.
This time you see the oni's horn under his hat, the mask of his face has melted away to give the impression of red-hot skin, muscles bulge under a poorly-tailored suit. He was reading the terms. "The minute she turns 18, she's going to inherit all of it. There is no question. It is all very clearly in the terms--"
"I don't care what the terms are," Ichigo's mother said. An immaculately carved nail tapped against the table. Only now do you realize it left a nick.
Whoever Ichigo's parents were, it was enough to make an oni break out in a cold sweat. "You know, you know you know that if you break this contract there will be vast consequences?"
"From who? Hell? Heaven? The gods?" You recognized that wicked smile. The smile she used just before pulling the rug out from under you, so many times.
"Consequences even you can't wash your hands of!" The oni said. "She not only will inherit, she must. It is necessary, it cannot be helped."
"Then make her claim it. Now."
You reached out to grab the last will and testament of your father, but the rictus of horror on the lawyer's demonic face… That, that you will never forget.
The scene vanished with the sound of rustling pages and you tried to catch your breath, get into a semblance of calm, when a storm of bookbirds showed up.
[Being rattled to your core by a memory turned horrific, and then ambushed by flying, animated books, has caused you to Endure Stress. You press on-- ]
Have you ever tried to punch a bird? It's hard! It's hard and no one understands. And yet, you see, flying among them, some subject matter that is necessary to you.
You snatch the book out of the air with a practiced motion, as if you had been doing this all your life. When it tried to flap away, you stepped on it, and snatched another, then another. By this point, the bookbirds swarmed and buffeted you while still others escaped.
You winced. You'd feel those bruises more in the morning, you were sure. But for now? For now all you feel is alive.
[You won this battle, but took 1 Harm at the end in exchange for rescuing target books from the stacks. You burned momentum for a strong hit after Initiative, and reset to 2, so your hit here improves your Momentum to 3.]
It's at this point that a woman wielding a paper cutter sharp and heavy enough to kill a man showed up, having clearly been chasing after the bookbirds for some time. "Get back here, you--"
She skids to a halt. "-- You. You're not supposed to be here. You're a student, right? Undergraduate?"
Bewildered, you nod, the bookbirds starting to struggle less and less now that you have them firmly held and they are before--
Well. 'Bookish' would be one way to define her, with big, round glasses that obscure what must be cosmetic purple contacts. You find yourself surprised that the University lets her get away with such outlandishly teal hair, although you suppose that if the library gets this strange all the time, you have no room to talk. Her dress blouse is rumpled, and she long ago cut and hemmed her pencil skirt so that she could run without ripping it. "How did you get back here in the first place? Oooh, I'm going to give my kouhai such a pinch."
You can't help it-- with the adrenaline still burning through you, and all the other ridiculous things you've seen today, you start laughing like a crow at sunset. "I-- I'm sorry, that was mean. I'm Torioi, Mei."
"-- Torioi…?"
"You know my family?" You asked, entirely honestly.
"Ah-- no, it's just a very old name." She shook her head as if to dismiss a possibility, then continued. "I am Iwai Kanna, and I will be getting you out of here. And if you have any sense, you won't come back here to look for books we already have on reserve. You never know what you'll really find down here in the Understacks."
[You have unlocked a Delve: University Understacks, a Morphic Archive:]
[This place draws you further and further in, until it's hard to separate anything from anything else, even fact from fiction and yourself from others. And yet, you could learn things you once knew from new perspectives, or come across genuine knowledge no one else could know-- if you know where it may be stored...]
[You may now Delve once per week, setting a single goal to achieve given the Theme and Domain of this Delve. This will always take one free time slot, no matter how difficult, and no matter if the expedition is successful or not. Places you've gone into before are somewhat easier to explore again.]
Thus warned, and the air once again of dry books instead of the stifling, oppressive air of memory in the Understacks, Iwai-sensei nodded to you and walked back down into the thick of it. Presumably, the bookbirds were a problem, though one less urgent than a first-year college student in there.
Maybe you should consider yourself lucky you got out with only a few bruises to your name.
#
Wednesday afternoon, you moseyed your way to the club postings for the athletics clubs.
A brief glance at the Archery Club seemed to indicate that Raimoto had allowed you on as a guest, which surprised you, but you supposed was… OK, after all. It was especially heartening to see some of your old friends on the roster, too. Maybe you could visit them? Rebuilding friendships would be hard, but… it might be worth it, after all.
[You may now visit the Archery Club to practice using a bow. If you ever… actually need that, which you obviously don't.]
Your eyes flicked over most of the others-- baseball had a few familiar names, surprisingly, but most of the others were strangers to you-- until at last you saw the women's judo club roster.
And there you were.
Right at the bottom of the second string.
[You have Fulfilled your Vow to join the Judo Club! … sort of… you mark 1 XP.]
EMERGENCY VOTE!!
[] [WRITE-IN] Should we attempt to Delve the Understacks this week? If so, what should we look for?
This vote opens immediately and ends Monday at 1800 PST.
![TomoFlake: My Best Friend Is A Total Flake And Thinks I'm In Love With Him [ADVICE]](/data/threadmark-index-icons/l/58/58288.jpg?1669594149){kind=icon}
