1047/Forgotten Places: Catch a Kitty By the Tail

Forgotten Places: Catch a Kitty By the Tail
Date of Scene:	16 February 2016
Location:	Mitakihara/Pikarigaoka - King Penguin Park
Synopsis:	Amu's plan to free Ikuto from Easter goes into motion. Step 1: Kidnap Yoru. ...What?!
Thanks to:	Amu for helping my plan it, Reiko for being part of the kickoff scene
Cast of Characters:	Ikuto Tsukiyomi, Reiko Touyama, Amu Hinamori
Tinyplot:	Forgotten Places

---

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
It's another day for Ikuto. Just out of school, now he has to go do his job. Three eggs a day-- that's what he promised Kazuomi, wasn't it? And that was more important than his schoolwork. Kazuomi would just buy someone off at the school for his grades to be better. So he and Yoru went to the park, where there was usually a bunch of people gathered, particularly after school.

Today there's a young boy who can't be any ore than six, with straw-colored hair and amber eyes, petting a kitten. the kitten is a little grubby, so it's obviously a stray. But it seems to be fine with pettings from hoomans. A few of his peers though, view the cat with contempt. There's a brown-haired boy with black eyes and a black-haired boy with green eyes, both are about his age. "Ew," Black-Eyes says, curling his lip. "That cat's all dirty, you don't know where he's been."

Green-Eyes concurs, "Yeah. He might have that 'toksey-plastic-itis'."

The boy petting the kitten replies, "Then I just don't let him bite or scratch me." A look to Black-Eyes. "And it's 'toxoplasmosis'. Besides, all animals have bacteria in them. It's natural for them."

Green-Eyes considers a moment. "You wanted to be a animal trainer, didn't you?"

Straw-Hair nods happily. "Not just for cats and dogs. All animals. Cats, dogs, birds, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils-- everything! So people can understand animals better. Like that guy on TV who makes dogs behave. He's not just makin' the dogs behave, he's teachin' the people how to speak dog."

Black-Eyes looks impressed. "Really? You mean they have a language?"

Straw-Hair nods once more. "Yeah! All animals do. Want me to show you a little?"

High above this, in a tree, a blue-haired boy dressed all in black, with cat ears and a tail, stands upon the branch of a tree, violin in hand. He pauses as his tiny companion points out the boy. "...Are you sure, Yoru?"

"Yup! That's the one-nya!" the Chara confirms.

Ikuto's cat ears lower a little, always indicators of his mood. He really doesn't want to do this. Not just this in particular-- even if that kitten looks mighty happy with the pets. All of this. Easter. Stealing X-Eggs. Seeking the Embryo. He doesn't know how to get out of this. But he doesn't want to get anyone else involved. Even if he never gets out of this, as long as no one else gets involved, it's OK. He's going to keep trying. There has to be a way out. But for now...

Ikuto's brows draw down into a scowl, and he raises the violin. He puts the bow to the strings... and then intense sadness leaps forth from the strings, in the form of a melody. The boy petting the kitten suddenly goes still. The kitten pauses, and then lifts its ears to where the melody's coming from. It's a moment... and the kitten flees suddenly. Black-Eyes blinks. "H-hey! Wait!" He and Green-Eyes go chasing after the kitten, leaving their straw-haired companion where he is.

Sat on the ground, Straw-Hair's eyes go abruptly flat. Inside him, darkness and doubt roils. "...But... there are a lot of animals in the world... I'd have to learn a lot of languages... and I probably wouldn't have the time..." His voice is dull. If one could see the heart's egg inside him, the white surface would be seen to slowly be covered with black. "...I'd never be able to do that..." The next words that are spoken are the boy's and someone else's, an unseen voice that echoes from within the boy's heart.

"It's impossible..."

And as he says this, Straw-Hair goes abruptly still. The air before his chest ripples, and from it a black egg exits. The egg is a smooth, glossy black, like a ball of oil made solid, with a white X standing out on it in stark contrast. As it comes out, Yoru zips down to grab the egg and bring it up to Ikuto. If there are any heroes here, he isn't aware of it. Or, he doesn't seem to be.

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Reiko Touyama 's day earlier was ruined by a grove of nearby trees turning into a horrible monster and crashing and stomping around. She's looking off at that grove now as she sighs a bit. It's all peaceful again and green and brown and orange and brown and yellow. She turns back to the un-iced pond and walks back to it's edge...

"Can't wait for you to come back fishies...~" she sings out.

She looks to the right and sees a commotion. Something is going on there. Some kids arguing, one has a stray cat. She awwwwws. She wonders if Ikiko is about. She goes to grab her phone-- because Ikiko knows about animals, right?

-- but then there's that haunting violin music.

And he Chroma Crystal reacts to Corruption.

She frowns and ducks behind a bench. "Chroma Prism Orange, Transform!" she calls out.

Her Henshin sequence is bright orange, with adorable fish that tie bows in her hair, tug down the skirt of her pretty almost princess-like dress, and form those butterfly-like fairy wings.

She pops back up and throws her hand out- her Chroma Wand forming with that Chroma Prism in the tip now. She watches Yoru zip down and she frowns and looks back up.

"CAT!" she calls out.

"YOU PUT THAT DREAM EGG BACK RIGHT NOW!" she calls out demandingly!

Oh yeah, Reiko's here.

Amu Hinamori has posed:
Amu Hinamori should be meeting with the Guardians after school. She should be talking to Tadase and Nagihiko about a rather uncomfortable topic. She's avoiding all of that. Still dressed in her Seiyou Public School uniform, Amu strolls along idly, one hand shoved hook-thumb in her belt, the other holdling onto a leather bookbag slung over one shoulder. For all the world she looks way too cool for school, today.

As ever, Amu Hinamori is not alone. A multi-coloured riot dances around her as she walks: green and blue and pink. Ran and Miki are busy arguing over who should get a piece of candy, and Su is very contentedly humming in Amu's ear as she floats along nearby.

It's, therefore, Su who first notices something's amiss. "Shush, be quieth!" she says, turning to glare at the other two. "Don't you sense it?"

Amu turns to peer at Su confusedly. "Sense what?" she asks. Miki and Ran also stop, and their little eyes widen.

"Dark energy," Su says to Amu, exasperated. "Someone's in twouble, Amu-chi!"

"Amu, I sense Yoru," Miki chimes in, darting forward concernedly.

"Right," Amu says worriedly. "Su, let's go. Atashi no kokoro: Unlock!"

A brilliant light engulfs Amu and Su, and then Su dips back into her egg with a twirl and a wink before Amu merges with her.

"Chara Nari, Amulet Clover!" Amulet Clover bounds forward, charging towards the disturbance. "Ran, Miki, find Yoru," Clover calls over her shoulder to the pair. Ran and Miki begin flying detemrinedly towards where they sense Yoru, while Amulet Clover slides to a stop at Oragne's side. "I knew it was him again," she says to Orange. "Orange, hey, I've got a plan to put a stop to this once and for all. Will you help me?"

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
The reaction to Reiko's shout is instantaneous. It's an instinctual, primal reaction; Yoru immediately stiffens, his tail bristling as she shouts 'CAT!'. In response, he lets out a surprised "Nya!", and begins to fly around in a circle, flailing a little. It's a moment before he can think properly again.

But instead of running away, he zips for the egg and grabs it, shooting back towards Ikuto. In the meantime, Ikuto's put his violin away. Yoru hands off the egg and grabs the violin strap, Ikuto hands off the violin strap and grabs the egg. Clearly they've done this before. Which is kind of disturbing.

Ikuto glances at Orange while Yoru guards his violin in the tree. He has possession of the egg, and he leaps to another tree, to draw the focus to himself. Of course, the boy in question has fainted. He notices Amulet Clover appear, and his eyes narrow a little. "...Yo," he offers, as if nothing was wrong.

He smirks. "What? You want this?" He rolls the egg between the fingers of one hand, like it was an acrylic ball. "Too bad, I got it first." He brings the egg up to his face, and licks the surface lightly. "Finders keepers, y'know," he drawls.

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Prism Keeper Orange nrgs.. she looks to Amulet Clover. She smiles. "Oh! Um-- sure! If you have an idea..." she says quietly to her. "I'm just tired of him stealing dreams. That's horrible!" she says wide-eyed. She looks back to Ikuto and frowns.

She keeps her Chroma Wand pointed at him and she follows along.

"What are you gonna do with that one!? Transform with it and become some sort of-- of Giga Cat!?" she huffs. Indeed, she saw that one get stolen.

"STOP TURNING INTO CATS!" she calls out.

A koi appears in front of Reiko. It's smiling with wide eyes. It has /cat ears/. Reiko sort of stares in disbelif. "Ohhh come onnnnnnnnn." she rolls her eyes, the koi turns around and 'NYAAS!' and pops out of existence. "YOU CAN'T BE CATS AND KOI AT THE SAME TIME!" she calls out. It pops back into existence just to Akanbe at Reiko.

She huffs and fires of a single, vibrant orange koi from the tip of her wand.

Amu Hinamori has posed:
Clover actually has to work not to laugh at the antics of the koifish. It's odd, she should be angry and determined, but just knowing what she has in mind is somehow freeing her to simply enjoy this fight. This moment.

So she smiles and winks at it, then murmurs to Reiko, "Keep Ikuto busy. Try to purify him and the egg. Whatever happens, keep his attention. There's something I need to do."

But then she bounds forward herself, and a 3-circle bubble blower pops into her hand. "I'm giving you one chance to put it back where it belongs," Amulet Clover informs Ikuto. "Fail to do so, and I will make you regret it."

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Reiko's shouted question gets a curious look. "I don't know," he admits. Then the cat ears and tail disappear. "Let's find out, ne?" Though as he's about to move, Amu speaks up, bringing her bubble-wand into existence. "Regret it? Funny notion." And yes, there's a bitter smirk on his lips. He already does. But does he have a choice? "So. I suppose you're not going to just let me go. You wouldn't have both gone to all the trouble to transform if you had. So I guess I'd better return the favor."

The black, X-marked egg in his hand, emitting a steady stream of high pitched "Impossible... impossible....", begins to glow darkly. He releases it to float over his hand, aiming a dark look full of malice at Reiko and Amu. Looking as if he were enjoying the very taste of the words in his mouth, he murmurs,

"Ore no kokoro: UNLOCK!"

His body glows, and the egg sinks into his chest. His expression changes, seeming surprised at something! His hair fluffs out, becoming thicker, and feline whiskers sprout in place on his face. A black bodysuit appears on his body, fitting like a second skin. It leaves his chest exposed, but covers his arms, shoulders, and lower body. An orange-and-black striped fur ruff appears, like the fur of a tiger, on his shoulders and around the back of his neck.

Around his waist a fur-and-cloth loincloth appears over the bodysuit, secured in place by a chain belt with a roaring animal of some kind at the center. Thick mental bracers appear around his wrists and ankles; his boots suddenly seem to have patterns like sharp claws on them, and his hands, covered by the bodysuit, also seem to have sharp, black, bestial claws on them.

CHARA NARI: BEAST KING

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Prism Keeper Orange frowns as she moves to try to blast another bolt of Color Energy in between the transformation but she's too slow and by the time Ikuto's finished his transformation- he has a bolt of orange energy up in his face. Hopefully he'll avoid it. Well. Hipefully for him. HOPEFULY for Reiko it smacks him in the face with the hope of ORANGE.

She frowns. "Impossible, Impossible, Impossible!" she calls out sarcastically. "IT'S ALWAYS THE SAME ISN'T IT!?" she calls out.

Yeah she's getting kind of angry, maybe adorably so.

She moves to get more airborne, to keep mobile.

She's making herself a distraction- she's bright and orange and her attacks feel full of hope and nice and orange- each hit a little purifiying in it's own way- though not the strength of a mass concentrated attack. It just may be unpleasent.

"I don't understand how you can be so nice, but /still a tremendous jerk/ at the same time!" she snaps out.

Amu Hinamori has posed:
As Ikuto starts his transformation, Amulet Clover zips past him. "Honey Bubbles!" she declares, sending the attack not for Ikuto, but towards the tree. The bubbles swiftly rise up to entrap Yoru, and she leaves Ran and Miki to the rest. They know the plan.

Then she whirls back around and with another little pop, Amulet Clover draws forth a cookie sheet which she bears like a shield, ready for an attack from Beast King. "He's not nice," she says as she covers herself. "He just pretends to be to garner your sympathy. It's part of his plan!" Amulet Clover lies to Orange. Oh yes, she knows it's a lie, but she's through with playing Ikuto's game.

Miki and Ran, meanwhile, collect the bubble Yoru is in and start to fly away with him. Catnapping in progress!

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto's actually a little surprised himself. So no, he doesn't avoid Reiko's orange burst. He does, however, raise his clawed hands to block it from hitting him in his face. The orange burst pushes him back somewhat, and the claws on his boots dig into the earth to arrest his backwards momentum. He has a tail in this form too, but it's thicker, like a big cat's, and striped like the fur on his shoulders.

"She's got the right of it," Ikuto replies as Amu declares he's not nice at all. There's an abnormal growl to his voice. "Can never trust a cat, ne?" He's convinced Amu just aimed badly with her attack, and smirks in her direction. "I'm not even over there."

And then he hears the fearful "NYA!" from Yoru as he's trapped in a bubble. The violin falls somewhere in the tall grass. It would take some time to find it. "IKUTO!" he shrills, pounding at the inside of the bubble with his hand-paws. "GET ME OUTTA HERE-NYA!"

Ikuto pauses, turns in the direction of the cry. His catlike eyes go wide. "Yoru!" he calls out, showing the first real bit of emotion that he's shown through this whole thing. Disregarding Prism Keeper Orange, he turns to leap after the Charas attempting to take off with Yoru's bubble.

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Prism Keeper Orange scowls. She doesn't belive that. Ikuto's advice really helped her... even if he was a total lewd jerk with deliving it. Huff!

She keeps up her press. She huffs. "That doesn't change the fact your advice helped me Ikuto!" she huffs.

She arcs her wand in the air and a band of orange appear--- she hooks the end with her wand and then she throws the 'blade'-- aiming to throw it against Ikuto--- aiming to try to catch and bind him with the curved 'ribbon' of energy. Orange rarely uses her utility powers because they're so weak.

But right now, she's been asked to keep Ikuto busy and try to purify him!

She can do that easier if she can pin down the naughty cat!

Amu Hinamori has posed:
The attack she was expecting doesn't come, and Clover is caught off guard. She expected Ikuto to go after Yoru, but not so fast. She didn't think he'd realise he was being taken right away! Crap.

The bubble wand vanishes, to be replaced by a big shaker of pepper. She flings it towards Ikuto and calls out, "Pepper Splash!" It's a good thing there's no gourmet food around to ruin, because she's getting pepper everywhere.

Ran and Miki both squeak in terror as Ikuto starts towards them, and they pick up the pace, hastily rushing away with Yoru. They gain altitude and distance both, using their flight and speed as much they can. "I'm sorry, Yoru," Ran says, "but this is the only way to help Ikuto! Amu-chan wants him to stop hurting people, but she doesn't want to hurt him. I promise we'll give you back to him once he's free of Easter."

Amulet Clover doesn't just spread her pepper trap, she also chases after Ikuto, trying to get right up into his space to pin him down. "Stop running, your perverted cat! I'm done with you hurting people with your evil. It's time for you to get a taste of what it's like to have your dream stolen!"

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
He's not looking at Reiko, he doesn't hear her. Right now all he's aware of is Yoru. All he sees is the feline Chara, trapped in the bubble and scared. Reiko is able to grab him around the middle with the ribbon, his arms pinned down to his sides. "Let go!" he growls, the feline ears poking out of the fluffier hair laying flat in anger.

He's about to shred the hell out of the ribbon when there's suddenly pepper everywhere. "Agh--!" he yelps, biting off the sound ruthlessly, trying to lift his hands to his face to shield it. Suddenly his eyes glow, and he snarls.

"Murder."

The word echoes abnormally. But rather than turn on anyone and tear them apart with his claws... suddenly a flock of birds descends from above. All of them have glowing eyes, and they're glowing the same color as Ikuto's. The birds split into two groups and start dive-bombing the girls.

"She can't fix it this way-nya!" Yoru declares, scrabbling at the bubble inside it. "I gotta be there! I gotta take care of him! He doesn't have anybody else to do it-nya!"

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Prism Keeper Orange watches as Ikuto gets caught! And the pepper helps keeps him down! Good! Her eyes go wide, she gets smary, She raises her wand... "Prism Aegis Power!---O------"

'Murder'.

"W-w-wha!?" she calls out. MURDER!? Surely Ikuto isn't THAT upset? Could Ikuto really kill them? It makes her pause. Is this really a good idea?

Oh. Crows come down. And start dive bombing her. A small group of them. She grows a wry expression, tired-- a little relived. He summoned a /group of crows/ not... 'Murder' like kill them.. whew!

She summons up some koi and she flings them against the crows. She'll need a moment to fight off the crows.

"I need an opening..." she mutters.

"Keep away!" she says. "Stupid birds...."

Somewhere Roy wears a :I expression on his face like someone just said 'Stupid Bird'.

Amu Hinamori has posed:
"Your way isn't working!" Miki tells Yoru frustratedly as the pair of charas continue to drag him off into the distance. Soon they'll be well beyond Ikuto's range. Well beyond any hope of saving Yoru from being catnapped.

Amulet Clover tackles Ikuto as the by covers his eyes from the pepper. She's very close when he snarls that word, and its abnormal echo startles her into letting go. She rolls away and looks up just in time to see a trio of birds dive-bombing her. With a yelp, Clover raises her cookie sheet shield. One of the crows slams straight into the shield and bounces off, but the other two manage to make it past, pecking at Clover's hair and pulling out her hairpin. She shrikes in pain and bats at the crows with her hand, then runs to try and get some distance.

She expected him to be mad, but this is a whole new level of mad. What has she done?! Oh, right, the right thing. Determined, Amulet Clover tries to counter-attack, but the crows are relentless in their attack, and she just doesn't have room to work.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
No, there's no real murder going on. But these are just normal birds. Which becomes clear when Reiko's koi impact with some of them. They're knocked out of the swarm and to the ground, where they stumble around a little. The glowing light fades from their eyes, they right themselves, and they fly away. They seem to be all right. Just a little confused. Caw?

Same thing happens with the birds that bounce off of Amu's cookie sheet shield-- they bounce off, fall to the ground, the light fades from their eyes, and they fly away. No harm done to them, it seems.

But it's another story with Ikuto. Seeing Yoru get taken away into the sky by the Charas, he bares fangs and starts shredding at the ribbon with those claws. Shouldn't take too long to shred it. And then he bounds after the Charas. It's too late, though-- they're too high in the sky. He can hear Yoru's frantic cry of, "IKUTOOOOOOO!" fade off as they disappear.

Crouched in a tree, he bristles angrily as he realizes he's missed his chance to get Yoru back. "...Kuso." Odd for Ikuto, he doesn't curse. Not that strongly, anyway. Maybe the odd 'crap' or 'dammit'. But never that.

The birds start to leave off as his control relaxes. However, the two aren't out of danger yet. Ikuto turns on the two, fangs bared, and leaps out of the tree at them both. "BEAST CLAW!" he snarls. As he does, he swings both hands diagonally downwards, in an X shape. A large, crimson red energy in the shape of an X leaps forward at the two girls.

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Prism Keeper Orange is continually assaulted by crows and she can avoid them, but they're stopping her from doing what Amu asked her to do! Amu has a plan to 'end this' and she's failing on her part! Ugh! How can she help!? WHAT CAN SHE DO!?

She's hit by the blast of red energy as she gets flung through the air and spins head over heels. She sort of pauses and stops mid air as her wings flutter madly. She's upset. /She's/ angry and feels weak.. unhelpful.

No wonder about...

About...

Nrrrrrg she just can't deal with it anymore, she just screams out.

Pop. Pop.

Pop pop pop pop pop...

Pop. Pop.

That sound is pretty much just a mass of koi appearing around Reiko. This is channeling a LOT of chromatic energy but Reiko just doesn't care right now. The entire area in front of her suddenly turns into a near danmaku stage as koi begin launching erratically at Ikuto- in unpredciatable patterns- pretty much a mirror image of Orange's current upset state of mind.

This'll go on for a small bit.

"JERK JERK JERK JERK YOU JERK SHE'S TRYING TO HELP AND YOU'RE JUST.......!" she yells out.

Amu Hinamori has posed:
The koi buy time and space for Amulet Clover to recover. She bounces away and then shields herself from the Beast Claw behind her shield once again. "You'll have to do better than that, Ikuto," she mutters, then glances past the fight towards where her Charas have escaped, by now, with Yoru. Poor Yoru.

But now, secure in her victory, Amulet Clover takes a deep breath. Forming a heart with her fingers, she closes her eyes and finds that center of purity within her. "That's enough out of you," she murmurs.

"Negative Heart, Lock On!" The space between her fingers begins to glow and pulse with brilliant energy. Clover pushes outward with her hands, sending the heart steraight towards Ikuto, "OPEN HEART!" The contained brilliance shoots outward like a laser, blindingly bright purification that washes over Ikuto where he stands.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Suddenly koi. Everywhere. They're coming in faster than Ikuto can defend against them, even with his arms raised. He'll try to deflect some, to attack some, but ultimately there's just too many. He's forced on the defensive to avoid getting completely blown away by the killer koi cavalcade. Unfortunately there's not enough time to move as Amu's purification attack locks onto him.

And the wave of positive emotions envelopes him. He wants to let go. To let himself be made hapy by the wave of positive emotions. The last time this had happened it had wrecked him pretty bad. Because he had very little positive emotions of his own, and feeling them from an outside source was too much to bear. Now though? He has plenty of them, thanks to Mikoto. So he's not going to be damaged as bad by it this time.

But there's one thing that's going to happen, something he can't stop. That egg inside of his heart, that stolen dream, is being reached by the positive emotions that permeate every corner of him. And as it is purified, Ikuto loses the control over it that he had. His head goes back with a roar, one that gradually changes to a choked yelp in Ikuto's voice. The egg exits his chest and the appearance of the fearsome Beast King seems to shatter into shards.

The egg rises into the air, the blackness flaking off, and returns to its white sheen. It returns to the fainted straw-haired boy, and he wakes, blinking as if he doesn't know what just happened. He looks around curiously. A few moments later, his friends call him over-- they've found the kitten!

And then Ikuto collapses to his hands and knees on the ground, drawing heavy breaths. He doesn't speak for a long time. Then, he musters what energy he can, to breathe something under his breath.

"...I'll kill you..."

Oh he has no intention of hurting Amu, or Reiko. But he's playing into the whole 'I'm evil' thing more. Amu seems ot have upped her game, so he's doing the same.

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Prism Keeper Orange has to stop and sort of floats down to the ground and has to sort of look down and she looks... ragged and tired. Woozy. Yeah, that storm of koi took a lot outta her. She probably COULD launch a purification attack- but she'd be knocked out until tommrow at that rate. Luckily, Amu has it covered and she breathes the sigh of release as the darkness is blown away.

Oh, then Ikuto says he'll kill 'em.

She looks hesitantly at Ikuto. He is kind of unstable. But...

Ikuto hasn't killed anyone yet. Right? He just... steals dreams. That isn't.. /killing/ anyone. Right?

Is he actually capable of that?

She crosses her arms. Her legs shake. She's tired and exhausted.

"I don't belive that!" she says. Her tone suggests she /thinks/ she's right, but it's missing some confidence.

Amu Hinamori has posed:
With her attack complete, Amulet Clover separates with a *pop* into Amu and Su. Su whirls around excitedly, pleased at having been both useful and successful. Amu rushes to Orange's side and smiles at the girl, wrapping her in a sudden hug. "Good job," she says, then glances past her otwards Ikuto.

"You," she says to the catboy, "are powerless. You can't kill me, Ikuto Tsukuyomi; you're just a dreamless teenaged boy. You can have Yoru back when you're free of Eater. Until then, I have done what was necessary to keep you from hurting anyone else. Without your Chara, you can't transform, or use your magic."

"I'll take good care of him," Amu promises Ikuto. "But if I catch you trying anything like this again, it's Yoru who will suffer. Take this opportunity to get free, Ikuto. Don't let them own you any more."

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto remains silent. What can he say? Nothing. He merely gets to his feet and heads for the grass where his violin fell, without a word to either of the girls. Without Yoru, the violin is really all he has.

Amu's statement draws him, though, and he half-turns to look at her. "...I'll let you know if there's anything left of me to reclaim him," he says non-chalantly. He doesn't doubt she'd take good care of him. That's not the issue. And he knows she's right-- this is the only way Easter will let him go. If they think he's lost usefulness to them, they'll throw him away. He's picked himself up out of a trashcan before.

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Prism Keeper Orange is hugged. She blushes and huffs! "W--well thanks." she says quietly, and tiredly. She feels bad about her thoughts earlier. The ones that made her a mess now of course. She sighs and brushes herself off as her transformation pops away. She looks to Amu.

Oh! So that was idea.. Kidnap Yoru! THE PERFECT PLAN!

Wait what!?

"D--did you kidnap Yoru!?" she says suddenly and wide eyes, she looks between Ikuto and Amu and frowns--- she rubs the back of her head, Reiko sighing. "I guess that makes sense..." she mutters.

She feels kinda bad now. She wishes she could give Yoru a koipal. But koipals don't live forever. Instead she frowns.

"S-sorry! But--- Amy has your best intrests at heart!" she insists heasitantly.

Amu Hinamori has posed:
"I did," Amu confirms to Reiko with a nod. "It's the only way I could think of to neuter the perv," she says, glaring at Ikuto. She doesn't move to stop him from retreating to get his violin. She has no reason to get in his way, now. After all, a cat without its claws can't defend itself.

"Good luck, Ikuto," Amu calls to him. She knows what he's about to face won't be easy, and she does care. Even if she's taking such desperate measures as charanapping.

With a sigh she looks back to Reiko. "He'll be okay," she promises. "I think this is over. Finally."

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Reiko's statement gets a look from Ikuto as well. "Not just mine, I hope," he states. "She's more conerned with kids like that one." He jerks his head in the direction of Straw-Hair. His voice is calm, and there's no trace of anger on his face. Yeah, he's not aggressive at all. With the sentiment being disregarded anyway, he'd dropped the act pretty quickly.

Amu's statement gets a smirk. The expression has a bitter edge to it, but it's not aimed at her. "...I'll try to do what damage control I can," he says, standing up as he finds the strap of his violin. "Only the lab techs can see Charas anyway, so you should be all right."

He pauses then, and retrieves something from his coat. It crinkles as he holds it out to Amu. It's... a bag of niboshi, the dried sardines that Yoru likes. "...Here. He likes chocolate taiyaki, too. Get him one on the way back. I'll pay you back later."

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Reiko Touyama looks at koi. It has it's fins crossed in front of itself. It looks like this: :I.

She sighs, yeah she feels guilty about helping Kidnapping Yoru and now her koi is trying to make her feel MORE GUILTY. She looks up. "I'll get him the Taiyaki, don't worry about that!" she says to Amu and Ikuto and crosses her arms.

The koi dissapears. Okay that helped a little, saying that!

She sighs and looks down, and glances at Amu guiltily a little.

"I feel really bad about this." she says quietly.

Amu Hinamori has posed:
Amu takes the baggie from Ikuto and nods her head. "I'm sorry this was necessary," she tells him quietly. Because she, also, feels very guilty. And she admits it to Reiko a moment later. "Me too," she says, then points towards the flaxen-haired kid, "But little boys like that are losing worse than an active Chara," she says. "They're losing their dreams, permanently, because of him. Condemned to a tragic life. All because someone wants to make a wish."

Amu turns to look at Ikuto. "It's not fair to them. It's not fair to you, either, but it's not fair to them. I had to do it. I'm sorry. But it had to be done."

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto's smile that he aims at Reiko is gentler than expected, even though it's still lopsided. He's not capable of a straight smile, he's just that kind of person. But it's a gentle smile, no malice in it. "Needs of the many and all. I know what she's doing. She's safe."

Then he looks to Amu. "I'll try to convince Director-san I lost Yoru permanently. Not to you. Shouldn't be too hard." Given what Yoru represents for him, if Easter had crushed his desire to be free, he would have obviously lost Yoru.

Another look to Reiko; this one's a little more severe. "Keep this between the three of us. It might get back to Easter if one of you hero-types blabs about it." Despite the words, his tone isn't severe or angry when he talks about 'hero-types'.

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Reiko Touyama sighs and taps her chin and nods. "I can keep a secret." she says softly. Indeed, Reiko's kept her secrets! She looks to Amu and Ikuto. "So--mum's the word." she says contently.

Something from Earlier hits her though. Wait. What. Easter? Was that brought up?

"Wait.. Easter? The record label n' stuff!? They're behind all this!?" she says with wide eyes.

"How, why!?" she asks.

Amu Hinamori has posed:
Amu looks between Reiko and Ikuto, then arches her brow at Ikuto. She nods her head, then says, "I already know this story, so ... I'm going to go and see to Yoru. That bubble won't last much longer, and I don't want him getting scared and lost," she explains.

She gives him a worried look, then sighs and hugs Reiko again. "Good luck," she reiterates to Ikuto, then turns and runs after her charas, with Su in tow.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
"Easter has its fingers in a lot more pies than that," Ikuto replies to Reiko's incredulous exclamation. He pauses then, as Amu speaks up. A nod. "Good idea. Try to be patient with him. He's probably going to be upset for a while. Until he understands why."

And then he looks back to Reiko. "Easter... is a big corporation," he notes. "They own recording labels, office buildings, and anything else they think will server their purpose."