2023/Of Cousins and Shadows

Of Cousins and Shadows
Date of Scene:	12 October 2016
Location:	Mitakihara/Pikarigaoka - King Penguin Park
Synopsis:	Ikiko tells Kazuo about what she's learned about Sora and Shiniko over the past few days.
Cast of Characters:	Ikiko Hisakata, Kunzite

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Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
    Ikiko TXT: Need to talk -- got info on Shiniko. Meet @ KPP @ 4pm

Sitting on a park bench, Ikiko Hisakata waits in the sunlight. With the odd pools of shadow lurking around Tokyo, she's doing what she can to not stay around them -- especially when she doesn't want to be overheard by Shiniko.

It had taken a bit of schedule coordinating on her end to plan a time to talk to Kazuo, because the information Ikiko had received from Jiaying was something she wanted to discuss in person. But if she's going to help save her 'cousin, then the sometimes-wolfgirl will need as much help as she can get.

Kunzite has posed:
Visits to King Penguin Park lately, for Kazuo, have generally come with bonus youma. This is, granted, still an improvement over his first visit to King Penguin Park. ... then again, they've repaired the bridge since then.

A couple of followup texts established which part of the Park they'd meet in, avoiding the problem of his searching the zoo while she's by the library. And as the tall young man approaches Ikiko's chosen bench, his shadow is only a shadow, not a lengthening trail behind him.

At least, between his height and the stark white of his hair in the sunlight, it's painfully easy to be certain even at a distance that the one approaching is him. Dressed the same way he was the other night: jeans and a white shirt with rolled-up sleeves. Refusing even to look like a school uniform.

He inclines his head to Ikiko as he approaches. "Mamoru sends his apologies," he says. "Homework."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata nods understandingly. "Same reason why I couldn't meet with you yesterday," she remarks. "No matter; the info came in a more roundabout way than I had expected."

She leans against the back of the bench. "The day after the encounter at the animal rescue, I went to ask my 'cousin Sora if she happened to know anything," Ikiko recalls. "That turned out to be the day she went missing. That evening, Amulet Heart, Ayana, and myself happened to encounter Shiniko after an unrelated fight against an X-character. Nothing overtly hostile, but she bragged about some sort of 'unstoppable' plan and mentioned that she was taking spare energy from a large number of people in Tokyo."

A frown at a recalled detail. "She also had a shadow familiar in the area that looked uncannily similar to Ayana's fox form -- like Shiniko knew exactly what she looked like. So yesterday, I asked Maki-san a few questions, to see if the coincidences I've noticed over the past few months were actually connected.

"And they were."

Ikiko leans forward, rubbing her face. "Apparently Sora is Shiniko, sort of how Norie 'is' Lacrima," she sighs. "Norie is trying to keep Shiniko from becoming as dominant over Sora as Lacrima is over herself, and Maki-san wants to make sure that Sora-chan is healed or unpossessed instead of destroyed, which is why she had been hesitant to explain things previously."

Kunzite has posed:
It's impossible for Kazuo to have this conversation standing and not loom despite himself. He moves to the far end of the bench instead, folding himself down. "I saw the notice in the papers," he notes as Ikiko mentions her cousin being missing. "The family name caught my eye." Since Ikiko had just given him hers.

'Taking spare energy' prompts his eyebrows to lift. "Interesting. I haven't seen signs of that kind of general drain, and my principal hasn't had the reaction he generally does to that kind of thing. That doesn't mean Shiniko might not have found a way or a place to do it that could bypass his notice, but -- I'd expect to be able to confirm a statement like that, and I can't."

The mention of a familiar echoing Ayana's fox form prompts a frown from him that mirrors Ikiko's. The words 'and they were' deepen it. And the confirmation -- well.

Kazuo exhales, slow, when Ikiko's finished. "Maki-san and I have talked about that, yes. It's my principal's preference for these situations, too, when possible. Markedly so."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"My first guess to how she was getting the energy -- before the odd shadow pools started appearing, at least -- was that she had somehow put a siphon on her victims," Ikiko remarks. "Gather a small trickle per person, less obvious than most, then count on numbers and time instead of volume and speed."

A small shrug. "But I could be wrong about that," she admits. "Maki-san did mention that we need to make sure that all of Shiniko's shadow familiars are destroyed, especially the birds, so maybe they're the ones gathering energy -- a little at a time, so as to not attract attention. She also mentioned that the familiars explode into that shadow fire when destroyed, so that's a hazard to remember."

Kunzite has posed:
"She drains her victims, yes, but individually at the time, not thereafter. Or we'd have seen news articles about a spike in prison deaths." Kazuo taps a fingertip against his knee, absently arhythmic. "I haven't seen any of the lone ravens gathering energy. But it's not impossible that they do so only rarely. Still -- Mamoru was aware of the prison incident from across the city. So. If they do so only rarely and only on a small scale, then she's not getting much from them."

Why he expects that he'd notice, he does not go out of his way to explain.

"She's been using that fire for at least two months or so, yes. That's how I knew how to contain it. I can't do it particularly efficiently, though; she works with a combination of things I can't deal with easily." Kazuo shakes his head. "And dealing with her familiars is at best a holding action. Maki-san thinks something's affecting her. If we can work out when Shiniko first appeared -- if you can figure out if anything changed in your cousin's life around that time ... that might give you an edge."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata thinks hard. "The first I recall seeing Shiniko -- back when she wasn't as malicious as she is now -- was in late February," she finally mentions. "And Sora-chan had started acting more withdrawn about a week or two before then."

She pauses for a moment. "Well, more withdrawn than usual; she wasn't exactly very sociable before," she admits. "But it's like she didn't even want her family to know what was going on..."

Her voice fades as she becomes aware of the irony hanging around her neck. As she touches the Lycan Locket, she recalls how unlike herself she acted during the day between her first night as Cute Wolf Tsukiko and accepting that she could do good as a magical girl, even as a sort of werewolf. And there's more cursed objects around the Hisakata Residences than just the Lycan Locket!

"Oh, fleas," she swears.

Kunzite has posed:
Months, to reach the point where she struck at the prison. That's almost impressive in its way; most succumb rather faster. Kazuo listens again, nodding slightly at 'more withdrawn' as if that weren't surprising, were an utterly typical description...

'Fleas,' for a werewolf, is a curse indeed.

"That sounds as if something might have come to mind," he observes, sounding neutral enough. His expression's impassive. It's only his eyes that have gone alert, have focused on her quick and sharp and ... not hopeful, precisely. Not expectant. But leaving a space, somehow, that could be filled.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata nods. "Sorry about the caninespeak, but I realized that she could have accessed one of the cursed items my extended family guards," she explains. "Some just make you notably unlucky, others used to be benevolent before they had mishaps, but there are ones that have to remain sealed because of how dangerous they are. And if she got her hands on one of them..."

Kunzite has posed:
"Then if you're lucky," Kazuo says, "it started overlaying another persona on her. And if you're unlucky, it gave her power, and this is simply who she becomes when she has power."

His frown reappears, a little more marked. "And she's been growing stronger, and been able to use her power in subtler ways. And she made something modeled after Ayana."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"At least I have a start on where to look for info," Ikiko sighs. "My family keeps notes on the cursed objects they've dealt with, so maybe I can figure out which object it was. Or at least narrow it down, anyways. Still, it's a step closer!"

She stands up and gives Kazuo a hug. "Thanks for meeting with me," she smiles. "I'll be sure to contact you once I have more info, especially if I can identify which object it is and how to defeat it."

Kunzite has posed:
The embrace startles Kazuo, but sitting down he's still at a far better height for it than he is standing. He manages an awkward touch of hand to Ikiko's arm, at least. "Please," he says quietly, "be careful. And twice as careful with Ayana. She's vulnerable to the kind of power Shiniko uses."

He pauses for a long moment, studying Ikiko. "You already know what to do if you could use my help. And - good luck."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"I will, and thanks," Ikiko replies. "Here's hoping that the search goes smoothly."

She starts heading off, still cautiously avoiding shadows. Time to look through the family libraries... hopefully without prompting awkward questions. Well, she could always say that she's concerned about the unusual pools of shadows; that part is true enough...