1451/Risks

Risks
Date of Scene:	06 May 2016
Location:	Hisakata Residences
Synopsis:	Ayana asks Sora for tutoring. Shadow Witch Shiniko's price is ... high.
Cast of Characters:	Ayana, Sora Hisakata

---

Ayana has posed:
Saturday evening, after dinner, is a relaxed time of day. There's no school tomorrow, no work tonight, and most of the Hisakata house is calm and quiet.

That doesn't, however, mean the residents don't interract! Unfortunately for some of those residents, interractions tend to be volatile, but Ayana has become desperate, and there's only one person in the household who can really help her with her problem.

Figuring out how to approach Sora is an art in and of itself. Ayana has opted for not appearing like a slovenly, lazy foxgirl. She's hidden her ears and her tails both, put on a grey summer dress and stripey grey and white stockings, and even tied her hair up in a bow with a pretty blue ribbon.

She almost looks like a normal girl when she knocks at Sora's door, but that little fang is still visible, and her eyes don't quite look human.

Sora Hisakata has posed:
Sora opens the door, she's wearing a black shirt with dark blue jeans, hair tied up into a ponytail. She stares flatly at Ayana, "Go away." The hostility in that tone is clear; it's obvious that whatever chance Sora had promised to give Ayana, that something -- probably that stunt with Kukai -- led to Sora concluding she was right to begin with. She tries to close the door again.

Ayana has posed:
"Nonowait!" Ayana says, putting her foot in the door. She isn't wearing shoes at the moment, which means her poor foot gets a little crushed between the door and the frame. The kitsune lets out a yelp, and her ears flash visible, folded down on either side in unhappiness.

"Hear me out, please?" she begs, a whining tone in her voice. "I need your help. No one's seen the video but you and Iki-chan. I promise. I didn't share it with anyone."

Sora Hisakata has posed:
"You need my help?" Sora opens the door a little wider, and there's something sinister about the look on her face as she asks the followup question. "Tell me, how badly do you need my help?" She smirks, and those eyes are looking at Ayana in a way to suggest that Sora is already thinking about ways to get back at Ayana with the fox girl's own assistance.

Ayana has posed:
Ayana's ears lay back against her head--readily alerted to the threat Sora presents. Especially with her foot already hurting, she has a strong desire to just limp away with her tail between her legs and beg someone else--anyone else--for help.

But who else would help her? No one at school really likes her, except the younger students, and none of the Hisakata parents have quite figured out how her brain works; nor do they have time, really, to tutor her on topics they didn't study as students, themselves.

Which makes Sora the only hope for Ayana to actually pass an impossible class.

"Chemistry," she begs quietly. "I need help with basic chemistry. I can't ... electrains and newtrains and protans. I don't understand them. I failed the class last year," she failed every class last year, except Math and PE, "and now that I'm taking it again ... Sora-senpai," yeah, she said senpai, "I can't fail again. Iki-chan's said if I get good grades she'll give me rewards, and I can't ... I can't let her down. Please. I'll do anything."

Sora Hisakata has posed:
"I could help with Chemistry, if I wanted to." The girl seems to consider it, especially at that last point. "Anything, you say?" Sora raises an eyebrow and holds out her hand, waiting just a moment to allow Ayana to wonder what it is Sora wants. "Well, prove it. Give me your Hoshi no Tama. I promise you'll get it back right away, I just want to confirm your dedication." The look on her face suggests Sora both doubts it'll happen and hopes it will.

Ayana has posed:
Ayana's ears perk right up with that request, and she takes a hesitant step back. The girl's hand goes right up to her throat, where her star ball is suspended from the choker around her throat. "But ..." she trails off quietly, then whimpers softly, ears slowly folding down.

What choice does she have?

And Ikiko says that Sora's not as bad as she seems. Maybe she can be trusted not to do bad things with Ayana's soul. Maybe it won't be nearly so bad as she imagines.

Nervous, worried, scared, Ayana grips the little marble tightly. "W..what if I delete the video entirely. Would that be enough?" she asks. But she's already unclipping the ball from her choker. She already knows Sora's going to push this issue.

Sora Hisakata has posed:
To be fair, Sora wasn't always as bad. Even a month ago, Sora wasn't this bad. There's an inpatient foot tapping right now, as Sora keeps holding up her hand. "How could I know you haven't made a copy?" She points out why such a response would be insufficient to satisfy her. "So if you can't come up with a better alternative, you know what I want."

Ayana has posed:
Another soft whimper escapes the kitsune's throat as she studies Sora's impatient expression. "Please don't make me do anything bad," she begs quietly. "I don't wanna get kicked out. I don't wanna have to go back to living like a fox."

And then she she opens her hand and lowers her eyes, revealing the swirling marble to Sora. Resting in her palm, it's very evident that this is no ordinary charm. Whole galaxies seem to live within that tiny little bit of glass; forming, reforming, destroying and imploding. It's like the starball contains a universe all its own, with a timescale much faster than this one.

Sora Hisakata has posed:
There seems to be a brief flicker of uncertainty on Sora's face before she utters her next words, hand clasped around Ayana's soul stone. "You will not remember what happens between when you gave me those stone and when I give you your Hoshi no Tama back." Ominous words, and then Sora calls upon the shadows, murmuring an incantation in ancient Sumerian.

Soon after, it's not Sora in front of Ayana, it's Shiniko. And thus, it's Shiniko holding Ayana's most precious possession. The Shadow Witch has no shadow, but of more immediate concern, she attempts to push some of that shadow under her control into those swirling galaxies, trying to insert that clouding and obscuring magic. It's no more Dark Energy than any of her other magics, but this is a transgression far beyond what Shiniko has done before.

And then, that done, Shiniko adds, "You will not notice anything different about it~" That done, the henshin drops, and Sora hands the starball back to Ayana like it's nothing special at all. "Fair enough; I'll have to think about what I want from you. What exactly did you need help with?"

Ayana has posed:
Ayana's blue eyes whirl lifelessly as Sora takes the ball from her hand. Like some mindless creature, she stares at Sora, unblinking, unseeing, unknowing. "I won't remember," she mumbles quietly in response to Sora's words, then smiles stupidly as she turns into Shiniko.

"Hey, you're a magical girl," she mumbles--perhaps it will alarm Sora to know that even like this, Ayana still has some control of her faculties. Instinctive control.

As Shiniko begins to shove darkness into Ayana's soul, however, the Fox's eyes begin to widen. The tiny little flecks of white in her hair begin to darken until they are flecks of black. The orange in her hair and ears dulls to a burnt colour. And her expression darkens, too. There's a sneer on Ayana's face by the time Shiniko replaces the ball in her hand.

It doesn't vanish when Sora takes her fingers off the ball.

"See?" Ayana says as she replaces the ball on her throat. "I told you I'd do anything. Anyways, what I need is for you to teach me chemistry. I'm just a stupid fox, but I have to pass the class anyways. And I can cheat to do it if I have to, and I will cheat to do it if I have to. But you're supposed to be a good tutor. If you're as good as everyone says, even I should be able to pass Chemistry, right? And if I don't pass, I'll just send the video to the whole school."

Sora Hisakata has posed:
"I'll give it my best." Sora promises that much, she looks a little worried now. Just a little. It's easy to assume it's because of that last threat. "Did you bring your chemistry books? If so, come on in and we'll get started." The girl herself heads inside, leaving the door open for Ayana to follow; sitting down in her family's living room.

Ayana has posed:
Ayana's ears perk up, but she shakes her head. "Nuh uh, but it's only like ten meters back to our apartment," she says. "Be right back!" The kitsune bounds away towards her home, to retrieve her Chemistry books and then bring them back. Study time is important. She will get her way, one way or another.