2135/Book Binding

Book Binding
Date of Scene:	06 November 2016
Location:	Earth Court Frat House
Synopsis:	Kunzite transfers Shiniko's book to Ikiko for confinement. Ikiko promptly transfers it back. Also, Kunzite discusses Ayana with Ikiko, and gets a sharp reminder that having purification capabilities does not come with a built-in habit of figuring out when to use them...
Cast of Characters:	Kunzite, Ikiko Hisakata

---

Kunzite has posed:
Sunday, November sixth. Late evening, the day after the showdown with Shiniko.

Sora is not yet awake. This is not a surprise.

Kunzite texted Ikiko to arrange a meeting; the address he gave in both mundane directions and ... less so. Such-and-such a building, the topmost floor, look for the balcony with the lights and the rosebush; the door will be open --

-- and it is.

It opens (and it has its own tiny entryway, with guest slippers) into a room that clashes with itself. Rich: large and full of entertainment technology, and there is a counter that divides it from an actual Western-style kitchen, oven and space and elbow room and all. Not rich: the furniture is somewhat battered and does not entirely match, and some of it is not merely dented but actually stabbed. On the coffee table, accessible from both the couches (both!), is a tray holding glasses, a pitcher of water, a handful of varied sodas, mostly without caffeine. A plate of cookies that are neatly and ornately decorated, enough to be storebought.

Kazuo is seated in one of a couple of chairs grouped with the couches, looking up and rising silently at his visitor's arrival; there's an orange-covered book in English in his hand, now disregarded.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
It is late enough in the evening that reasonable young girls should be going to bed, sleeping so that they will be well rested for the school day tomorrow. But then, the life of a magical girl could hardly be considered 'reasonable' by most mundane standards, would it?

To save time and avoid questions, Ikiko had gone with the canine route, bounding across rooftops as Tsukiko. She has a small backpack with her, containing a few implements that might be useful for containing the magic of the cursed book her cousin Sora had been using: a length of purified silk fabric for basic insulation, blessed string to help fasten the silk afterwards, and a few more odds and ends of curse-fighting that might be useful.

The wolfgirl lands on the balcony, giving a slight bow to the rosebush (in thanks of its status as a beacon) and then a bow to the apartment before taking a clear and deliberate step into the apartment. It might be a small thing, but even a minor ritual such as that can help set the mindspace needed to face down a curse.

"Sorry about the delay; I needed to gather the materials without raising suspicion," she smiles apologetically, giving Kazuo a hug before setting her backpack down. "At least I made sure to list what materials I checked out, so that shouldn't prompt too many questions."

Kunzite has posed:
It is almost certainly a trick of Tsukiko's shifting shadow that makes the small rosebush seem to bend a few branches in Ikiko's direction in turn. The rustling? Probably from the wind.

The tall young man blinks at the hug, but manages a slightly awkward touch to Tsukiko's shoulder in turn before it's over. "The delay's no trouble," he says. Materials she checked out? Does the library system have cursefighting equipment? How would he recognize it if it did? Kazuo does not try to sort that one out; he only forges ahead. "Would you prefer to deal with it at once? Or would you prefer to talk outside of its presence, first? I can fetch it here at any time you choose."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Cute Wolf Tsukiko thinks for a moment. "I would say talk first, then work on sealing it," she finally says. "Or binding it, at least -- I don't think I have enough skill at this point for the rituals that would be needed to render it into a harmless form. Limiting its influence on the world, sure, but that merely makes it safer to store."

The wolfgirl sits on one of the chairs and takes one of the cookies. "Still, sometimes that's all that's needed to make the world a safer place," she shrugs, taking a bite of the cookie.

Kunzite has posed:
"Improvements are better than nothing." Kazuo lays his own book aside -- a harmless one, with no magic in it whatsoever -- and seats himself in turn. He doesn't seem at all disconcerted to be out of uniform while Tsukiko is still, well, wolf.

"You should probably know," he says, "that there were ... varying opinions on what to do with the book. Sky Jack and Maki-san preferred to destroy it. Lacrima suggested we let her take it to have it stored in a secure facility, which probably means one of Riventon's; but she was amenable to my holding it for the time being. I suggested we consult with you, and reconvene tomorrow. The others were amenable to that." There's a certain glint in his eye. "Of course, once it's in your hands, it's your decision whether to reconvene at all. Maki-san did tag it to try to keep it contained in the mean time, so you have a little of an advantage, there."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
There's an answering grin on Tsukiko's face. "My family is part of a loose-knit... well, 'guild' is slightly more apt than 'organization'," she remarks. "As a whole, we're used to dealing with cursed items, including storing them where their problems can be mitigated... although I will admit, I don't think we've ever dealt with one of this power level."

A shrug. "At the very least, it gives us a few more options in how to deal with it, including finding other choices," she observes. "Destroying it is the obvious solution, although there's the risk of the essence of the magic escaping to infect something else, if not prevented from doing so."

She makes a face. "As much as I hate to admit it, letting Lacrima and Riventon have it might cause the least collateral damage: if they have it, there's no reason for them to look for it, which means the minor vaults are less likely to be disturbed and have their contents taken."

Kunzite has posed:
"On the other hand," Kazuo says, "giving Riventon access to powers which tap into psychological flaws to which he's already subject, seems ... perhaps not the best-advised method of avoiding damage, in the long run." He shrugs, minute. "But then, he already has methods of constructing his own servants. I'll go along with whichever choice you make, though; you have the expertise, and I trust you'll think it through."

He bends his head for a moment, frowning. "It would, at least, keep the book away from Ayana."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"Powers and a stash of lesser-powered cursed items, or just the powers themselves," Tsukiko points out with a wry smile. "Sort of like the difference between standing for five hours in the rain and standing for five-and-a-half hours in the rain. Either way, you're already badly soaked."

She nods solemnly at Kazuo's note about Ayana. "As much as I love her, she needs more confidence in herself, and the book would cause bigger problems than it'd solve," she agrees. "Best to keep it where she can't reach it, and while my family might not be specialized in dealing with this kind of item, they probably know people who are."

Kunzite has posed:
Kazuo does not particularly react to the first things Tsukiko says one way or the other; there is neither agreement nor disagreement there. Apparently he meant it when he said he'd leave that choice to her.

The later part, about confidence, does prompt a reaction. His mouth tugs down at the corners just a little, tightening into a small frown.

"Do you think her lack of confidence in herself is her primary problem at the moment?" he asks. "Or a secondary but important one?"

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"She worries that the darkness within her feels more right than the light," Tsukiko finally says after a moment's thought. "I try telling her that the light within her is stronger than she realizes, but she consistently doubts it."

She sighs. "I'm not sure if it's a primary problem, or a secondary one to something larger that I'm not quite seeing," she admits. "But I'm pretty sure that increased confidence would at least help."

Kunzite has posed:
"Mn." Kazuo considers Tsukiko -- does not stare at her, precisely; he watches the set of her ears, the angle of her head, the way she holds her hands and places her feet. Gauging the amount of worry that goes with that sigh. "When I spoke to her," he says, "she was depressed. Insecure. Vengeful, to a degree, though she was largely holding that in check. She used her gloom as a first response; she used it at least once without being aware of using it. Does this behavior suggest anything to you?"

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Cute Wolf Tsukiko furrows her brow. "My initial thought would be 'just ask what's going on', but that only really works on dogs and other simple canines," she winces. "Her being more human is great for the kissing, but it also means that she also has a more human tendency to mask what feelings she shows to the world. Simple dogs are more straightforward: you ask them what's wrong, and they'll tell you, even if you have to translate the phrasings for things they don't fully understand."

Kunzite has posed:
"Even dogs can only tell you what's wrong to the extent they know it," Kazuo says. "Let's look at this another way. You brought Ayana back to a human form with the assistance of a -- certain entity." Apparently there are words he does not like to say, and 'deity' and 'god' and 'kami' are probably among them. "The process left her with residual orange energy, which she lost when we temporarily lost orange. At that point, her behavior changed for the worse -- please correct me if I am wrong.

"It would be reasonable, and perhaps tempting, to attribute such a change to the lost orange energy. But orange energy is a purifying energy; it shouldn't cause Ayana to behave in ways that are not natural to her. More energetic, perhaps. More creative. But still fundamentally herself.

"Is Ayana, presently, behaving like herself? Depressed, draining people regularly, draining them without noticing that she's doing so -- is that what she is like, at heart? Is that the nature that that entity saw fit to reward?"

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
More pondering from the wolfgirl. "Inari-sama did make a point about how things that are dark are not inherently evil, but I get your point," Tsukiko finally says.

Her look of thoughtful consideration gives way to an expression of inquisitive realization. "Perhaps she misses being orange?" she muses. "Or more accurately, the lack of orange is what's causing her funk, and that funk is why she's acting so dark?"

Kunzite has posed:
Kazuo inclines his head to the wolfgirl's point. "You've seen what my magic does," he says in agreement with it. "I am at least trying to do better."

He lets out a breath, and at last comes around to what he's been trying to lead Ikiko toward. "I suspect," he says, "though I cannot prove, that Ayana may have come under some external influence -- some darker magic, something that encourages her toward her worse nature and toward the indiscriminate use of her worse power -- that was being masked by the orange's lingering purification. When the color broke, the mask went away, leaving her behaving unlike herself with no other cause. It's possible that I could be wrong; that this is simply who she is, now. But I'm not at ease with that possibility."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Cute Wolf Tsukiko frowns slightly. "A heavier focus on draining..." she murmurs to herself, tapping her chin as she contemplates this view. "Not sure if this is the cause or not, but her trying to teach Lacrima might have had a bit more of an effect than we expected. At the very least, it undoubtedly didn't help."

Kunzite has posed:
"I'd be surprised if it had that sort of effect directly," Kazuo says. "Unless she and Lacrima broke into an actual fight, in whch case one of Lacrima's attacks might have infected her with dark energy somehow." He considers this for a moment; then he redirects his attention back toward Ikiko, rather than some absent space midair. "She mentioned that she was having trouble in school, with her classmates. She listed a few reasons that they targeted her. One of them was 'because Sora-chan hates me.' That seems another reasonable possibility. Or she could always simply have eaten the wrong thing again. The source only matters to the extent that knowing it helps solve the problem and prevent a recurrence."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"Well, my cousin did have a tendency to call her a feral trickster fox," Tsukiko groans as she rubs her face. "I'm not sure how much of it was overzealous family loyalty and how much was the book goading Sora-chan..."

The wolfgirl's face contorts into a scowl. "Come to think of it, there was a time or two when Ayana came back after a tutoring session with Sora and her starball had been infected with vicious darkness," she mutters. "I thought I had chased it out at the time, but if lingering traces stuck around..."

Kunzite has posed:
"It never rains," Kazuo says, dry. "In either case -- it might be something you might want to look into. And you might want to be particularly careful with the book in the mean time. But both of those I leave to you; I have no talent for cursebreaking or for cleansing a heart.

"For myself, I'm going to ask one of our people if he's willing to skip school for a couple of days and spy on the classmates over the teasing and ostracism problem; it may not be as bad as Ayana's perceiving it at the moment, but it's worth taking a look and seeing if it's a dynamic we can disrupt if necessary. Ayana doesn't have much human socialization; she needs the social skills school can provide much more than she needs school itself, and if the only social contact she's getting there is being pushed out, it won't do her any good."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"Two layers of silk, then," Tsukiko notes with a determined grin. "And I'm glad I brought a small roll of shadowhalt scroll; a bit of a mode shift should help slow it further than just adjacent silk."

She gives Kazuo a cheerful smile as she starts rummaging through her backpack. "Thanks for the help! I know Ayana will appreciate it, at least once things get better. Now then... give me a moment to set this up, and then we can get the book wrapped up and dampened for transport!"

Kunzite has posed:
Kazuo inclines his head, and rises. "I'll go and fetch it then. On your cue." As he rises, something not entirely unlike lightning crackles about his body, and there's a certain crystalline glint and lingering glmmer by his forehead; and then he's in uniform, cape and all, taking himself well off to one side to await her word.

When she gives it, he vanishes into shadow, and returns the same way under a minute later. His cape has been removed, and wrapped around a bundle that proves to be that book -- secured by not one but three tags of Jiaying's, keeping its power confined.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
On the first sheet of silk, Tsukiko uses salt to draw a basic Seal of Solomon, large enough for the book to easily fit within the central hexagon. With the tagged book in place, she deftly folds the silk around it, then ties the silk-encased book up with what looks like twine. She carefully measures out a length of scroll, cutting it from the roll between verses, then wraps the tied book up with that, dabbing it with water to activate some adhesive to lock it into place and carefully connect the ends.

A quick flip of the multi-layered book onto the other sheet of silk, followed by more folds and an even more elaborate tie-down with the 'twine', and then the entire thing is carefully lowered into a box of consecrated cedar, which she closes and then seals with loops of binding paper. "That should keep it manageable, at least long enough to find a longer-term solution," the wolfgirl nods once the binding loops have settled.

Kunzite has posed:
Kunzite watches from a safe distance, not attempting to interfere, and also not attempting to 'help.' She knows her own business. It's only when she's altogether finished and talking that he says, "I am reminded once again never to envy ritualists," he says gravely. "Please let me know if we can be of any further assistance."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Cute Wolf Tsukiko pauses for a moment as she considers household logistics. "Actually, I hate to ask, but could you keep this overnight?" she asks apologetically, holding out the sealed box. "I'd get fewer unanswerable questions if a warded box doesn't just show up at home overnight; if I pick it up after school, I can tell most of the truth and just fib on the exact timeline. It should be less hazardous now, especially for that short of a time frame."

Kunzite has posed:
Kazuo inclines his head to Tsukiko in turn, then accepts the box in both hands as he straightens. "I can put it back where I was holding it for another day," he agrees. "Possibly more if necessary, now -- it's still risky to keep it there for too long, but there's some space to breathe. You know how to reach me, and I can retrieve it for you at any time."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Cute Wolf Tsukiko beams! "I should be back tomorrow through the front door, then," she nods. "And in the meantime, I might have an idea or two to help chase lingering darkness out of Ayana, although they'll likely be slow and subtle. And speaking of Ayana..."

The wolfgirl munches another cookie, then bundles up a few more to take home. "A little snack for her, once I get back home," she grins, heading for the balcony.

She crosses the doorway, then bows to the apartment and bows to the rosebush. "Thanks for the help! See you tomorrow~!" she calls back as she bounds away.