2538/A little bit of Change in their lives

A little bit of Change in their lives
Date of Scene:	04 March 2017
Location:	Mitakihara - Mitakihara General
Synopsis:	Sakura finally gets to put Kukai and Lacrima back where they belong.
Cast of Characters:	Sakura Kinomoto, Norie Okana, Kukai Souma

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Sakura Kinomoto has posed:
Sakura Kinomoto was sitting on the roof, her wand out. Kero on her shoulder. Asleep. He... still wasn't doing his best. Ever since... well, whatever it was making him sick.

She had her wand out and the card. And was totally NOT dreading this.

She hadn't spent ten minutes looking at her phone. Had'nt been terrified to send them a text that it was time. Hadn't typed out the text, then held her finger over the 'send' button for ten minutes. Not at all terrified that she'd do this and then she'd get yelled at by Kukai again. Totally not.

Norie Okana has posed:
A text goes out. Eventually.

Norie-K takes the elevator up because Norie-K has no magic unless you count 'sparkling at girls' magic. Norie-K doesn't. The people she likes as.. well Noire-- aren't big on the 'sparkles'. That much is true. Just look at Lacrima. That isn't sparkle.

Well.

Maybe in some other people's eyes it is. He doesn't know as he arrives and looks around. Ugh. This..

He doesn't want to go back. He's scared. But it isn't right to keep this body. It isn't right to just... pawn being that vampire on someone else due to a happy accident. It isn't and he knows it.

Even as Lacrima. He'd know.

"Sakura?" he calls out, a little unsure.

Kukai Souma has posed:
Kukai-N feels her phone buzzing and looks down at it. There was only one text, from Sakura. It was time - the Change card was repowered. If it was possible for her to cheer, she would have. Instead, she collected the little pouch that carried the sleeping Daichi's egg and bolted for the door.

Saving energy was secondary to her at the moment - for now, she spends her power bouncing from rooftop to rooftop, racing towards the hospital roof as quickly as she can. It's the most important thing she can do right now. So when she sees the two figures up on the rooftop as she lands she knows who they are, and approaches them. "I'm here. Is it true? It's ready?"

Sakura Kinomoto has posed:
Sakura Kinomoto yelped and... moved a little away from Kukai when he arrived. Towards norie. just an inch, but it was instinctive. And pretty obvious. "H-hi Kukai-kun."

She was scared. Of him. It wasn't a 'You're a mean person' fear. It was a child's fear. The kind of fear that's instinctive and a little worrying. Because they can tell this person isn't very nice. The way she held her wand up, as if to protect herself from her.

Wow, Kukai probably never thought he'd be on the end of this. "

"Please... stand next to each other and hold hands. I... I can do this then... okay?"

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana looks to Sakura and to Kukai-N. He purses his lips and sighs a bit. "Hello, Kukai." he says. "You seem okay, considering. I heard you've been feeding. That's... that's good!" he says. "I mean. I know you don't want to do it. That's how I feel. It sucks... doesn't it?" he asks.

"...I'm going to be honest... I'm not. Looking forward. To being in that body again." he says quietly.

"But this isn't fair to you..." he says to Kukai. "You have friends that care about you waiting. They'll be happy you're back to you. I don't have as many friends. I'll deal." he says. "I always do." he says with a sigh.

He sighs and moves to take Kukai-N's hand.

...That body is always so cold. He bites his lip. His heart rate picks up. He squeezes tighter because the other option is to let go.

Kukai Souma has posed:
Kukai-N purses her lips and looks towards Sakura. She notes the movement and growls. "I'm not going to hurt you, Sakura. I just need this done. Come on." She crosses her arms. "You'd think I was going to tackle you."

She shakes her head, then looks over to Norie-K. "Hi. No, I'm just dandy. I'm you on steroids, eating everyone I can get my hands on to keep Daichi alive. And... yes. This sucks. It sucks, sucks, sucks. But... I'd like to note, I think I did a better job at being you than you have."

She steps forward, then hmphs. "...I don't want you to take this back. Not that I want to stay in it, but nobody should have to do this day in, day out. And I'm not sure what to say about your friends, but.." She holds up her hand, and then links it in Norie-K's, squeezing back. "... Are we ready?"

Sakura Kinomoto has posed:
Sakura Kinomoto nodded and then drew the card. "Change! Turn them back to their normal forms!" And then, with a flash, they were back!

Kind of... anti-climatic, really. Sakura took a step back, looking between the two and making sure to keep away from them. Just in case Kukai... snaps.

Norie Okana has posed:
To be fair. The change itself was anti-climatic at first. It was a flash. And their bodies had changed. It was the everything else that was filled with... everything else. There is however a flash.

Cold. She feels cold. She remembers this feeling. It feels like on the first day she woke up like this. For moment she has feeling still. But it's quickly snuffed out by that fog. That darkness, reseating itself. For a moment, it looks like she actually looses cohesion- smoking from the bottom but reasserts her form.

She grates her teeth suddenly as she doesn't let her hand go... and then she shakes.

Norie had predicted one of two outcomes. But she knew the most likely. "Nnn...nrg...."

"A...aha..." she says with wide eyes suddenly at Kuaki, before she just collapses down to the ground of the hospital roof, backwards, letting go finally as he pulls her legs up to herself and she just begins crying. True to her namesake.

Lacrima. 'Tears'.

She places her hands to her face but it does little to hold back the thick purple ichor from her eyes that horribly masquerade as tears. She hides her face. She tries very hard to become best friends with the rooftop's floor with her eyes.

Sakura Kinomoto has posed:
Sakura Kinomoto stared at Norie, her mouth falling open. "Norie-chan, I..." she said, taking a step forward, then a step back. She was confused, not sure what to do in this situation. She then looked to kukai, giving him a pleading look.

And then she fled. "I-I need to get back to my room before someone notices!" So brave. Leaving the two alone to work this out.

Kukai Souma has posed:
There is a bright flash and Kukai groans, reaching up to grasp his head as it spins. It takes a moment for him to recover, to think, to look around at things through new eyes. Through his eyes.

He looks over at Norie as she seems to... spread black fog over herself, coating herself in it and then absorbing it. The girl shudders, and then collapses onto the rooftop. Kukai lets out a little sound and sits down next to Norie, wrapping both arms around her and hugging her very tightly as he looks up to see Sakura backing away. "Ok Sakura. See you later..."

Kukai lets Norie hide her face, pushing up to one side and hugging her tightly, petting her back and letting her cry, unwilling to leave and let her go through this alone.

Norie Okana has posed:
This takes a few moments. She hears Sakura leave somewhere, in the back of her head. Yes. Leave like everyone else Sakura. That's how she knows she's back. She's already thinking the worst of people again.

This crying goes on and she makes a pretty obvious puddle around her. She's probably viciously stained whatever she was wearing. This is why she hates crying.

She's rebuilt herself from the ground up after being purified. This is no different. She starts trying to put pieces back into place. Even if they're where they're supposed to be already. It's just a mental exercise. Something to concentrate on. Something besides the feeling of losing everything all over again.

There's a loud heaving sound as she stops. She doesn't particularly come out of her little 'cocoon' she's made with her arms and knees.

"I--is..."

Nrg.

"Is your...stupid..little thing okay?" she forces out, because anything is better than crying.

"...I mean. Dachi.". No sorry. Though the correction and a name might be taken as one in a roundabout way.

Kukai Souma has posed:
Kukai looks at Norie, holding her close and letting her cry, pretty sure she's stained part of his clothing as well. He watches her stay in place, keeping both arms around her, patting her back. "... Daichi. I.." He turns to one side, reaching down to pick the pouch off Norie's hip. He opens it just in time to see the egg crack in half and open for the first time in nearly two weeks.

The little figure that climbs out looks starved and drained, with big black bags under his eyes, but it's clearly Daichi. He looks up at Kukai, and then at Norie, and then hovers up, hugging both of them, first Norie's arm and then Kukai's neck, shivering all over, before he curls up in the collar of Kukai's neck to sleep. Kukai reaches up with his free hand, petting the little Guardian Chara, and then nods. "...Yeah. Yeah, he's ok. Thank you." He stays in place with Norie, though.

Norie Okana has posed:
The ichor is harmless. It won't poison or it isn't toxic. He probably shouldn't try eating it though. Physically. Harmless. It'll wash out with a simple wash. She remains quiet again. She's stopped crying. She eventually pushes herself up, softly /trying/ to be gently pushing Kukai away to give her the space to do so. Besides. The contact isn't something she enjoys. It makes her feel uneasy.

She looks like a mess already as she looks around and blinks once as she frowns and just sighs and lets herself switch over to Lacrima. She looks less like a mess now. But she also isn't Norie now. But this feels more comfortable than trying to keep a disguise up.

"....I don't think I messed up any part of your life." she says. "Except. I knew nothing about sports. So you might wanna say the right sports words. At the right time." she says as neutrally as she can manage right now.

"...I may have kissed that boy on the cheek. Because I thought you were dating. But I told him. He should talk to you. Because..it didn't sound. Like..." she stammering a little trying to give a play by play.

"....you shouldn't... drain puella magi. It's bad for them..."

"...you were around Sachi-chan for a moment. Did you smell it? It's hard. isn't it?..."

"I visited Sachi-chan because I thought you visited her often. I forget what she said about that. She wishes she was still in a coma."

She's wavering. "I'm fine." she suddenly coldly. "I'm readjusting."

"Did the voice talk to you?" a pause.

"It says you're an idiot." another pause. "...please tell me that was indicative of what happened while you were in this... thing." she mutters tiredly.

Kukai Souma has posed:
Kukai lets her push him back as she sits up, and figures that as long as the tears stay on his clothes they'll be fine to wash out. "...I don't think I messed up your life, either. Your parents seem like they're doing the best they can with you, now that I can look at it from outside. It's a hard situation." He blinks and cocks his head. "Which boy? Wait. Nagihiko? Oh, man. Well. We are... it's sort of a long story."

He blinks, looking at Norie. "Is... that voice giving you a play by play or something? OK.. And yes, I know. I didn't want to create a witch, but I didn't know any better ideas. And yeah. Sachiko smelled... good. Really good, actually good, in a world full of few things that were good." He shakes his head.

"She's... damaged. I mean she was damaged when I first met her. The loss of her sister was hard for her. And I did visit her a lot. As for the coma.." He sighs and shrugs. "I dunno." He looks over at her, and then can't help but snicker. "Don't let her fool you. Usagi ambushed me in the mall and gave me a lot of hugs and she squalled in the back of my mind louder than I did. You can beat her in the long run, Norie."

He sighs and then shrugs. "I ... did some things I hate. I didn't want to do a lot of the things I did. But I had to. At least, it felt like I had to. And I know how crazy and almost out of control I got when I was hungry. That breaking point scared me. I didn't want to become a monster." He shakes his head, and then pets her back. "... I want you to know something. At least somebody out there knows exactly what you're going through. And it's awful. But maybe we can find a way to work it out. And I'll be here for you." He smiles. "As long as you're not shooting at me alongside Riventon anytime soon."

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana shakes her head. "The voice is just a voice. It's.. darkness. I have people. Like Kunzite. Warning me all the time. About falling to the darkness. You can't fall when you're already fallen." she says tiredly. "I can't get worse than this. I am rock bottom and into the bedrock... with. That kind of thing. The only thing that separates me from ... one of those. Things that scream and attack people is I know what it's like to be a person. Those things don't."

"They only know inhumanity. They don't know or remember what it's like to feel anything besides malice or hate or anger or wrath or... any number of..." she trails off.

"...part of what I do for Riventon-sama is study these things. It's why I.. know. These things." she says. Still tiredly.

"Did you go to the therapists appointment? I hate those. They give me pills that'll never work because I don't even have body chemistry." she laughs a little sourly just for a moment. "If you didn't. That's fine.. mom and dad will. Probably. Overlook it once. Since I got back."

"Thank you. For trying to be home as me. I didn't want my parents worried again." she says quietly. "Your family is weird. I only have the one brother. You might want to reassure them everything is okay." she says.

"It isn't easy. Is it?" she asks. "It stopped being hard when I just accepted it. Those people won't remember your face when they wake up anyways." she says quietly.

"That's why I was such a mess when we first met. I was starving myself. I didn't want to do those things. I still don't want to do those things." she says quietly.

"But it's a choice. Keep control and feed. or Starve and potentially put numerous people in comas like I did to Sachi-chan." she says.

"Usagi..." she says.

"I didn't. Speak to her. I think I remember. What I wanted to say. I think it'll mean more. If I say it in this body." she says quietly. "Anyways."

When Kukai says he'll be there. "Riventon-sama. I wish you could had met him in that body. Friendly like. He was the first person that gave any sort of damn about me like this." she says quietly. "The first thing he always does is make sure I'm okay on various levels. The reason you probably had it easier than.. I did. Was because of the device on my wrist he made. It stops the darkness from flaring up. It's like a valve." a pause. "He'll be happy to know I'm back and able to help him. I think he needs the good news. Even if it isn't good news for me." she says quietly.

She raises a brow. "I don't understand death. I mean. I do. But I don't. Not. Right now. Maybe about half an hour ago. In your body I did. I don't know if you noticed. But you don't exactly have bodily functions in this thing. I only eat because it's..."

"Comforting? It's literarily the only human thing I can do that feels the same as it did when I was human. Otherwise. I don't breathe. Or need food. Or technically I don't need sleep, but if I stay up for forty eight hours I begin getting gaps in memory of the earliest time since my last sleep. It's better to sleep and retain memories."

"....yes. I know the coffin is gaudily stereotypical." she rolls her eyes. "But some vampire legends are true. I don't /need/ the coffin but I find my rest is more restless in it."

"...I'm talking to much." she says with a hard breath.

"I talk to distract myself. Sometimes I just talk to myself in that manor. To no one."

"Right now I'm trying hard not to breakdown." she tiredly admits. "I just need a few more minutes. I'm setting things in my head right."

"....I thank you. For the offer." she says quietly. "Kunzite talks to me a lot. We have some things in common. He used to be in a horrible dark energy shell too. He gave me some advice. I took it. I wrote myself a letter. To remind myself of things. While I was in your body."

"I took the time to feel things I didn't get a chance to when I was human."

"....I know what love feels like now. Romantic love. I mean." she says more quietly. "I didn't get to feel that when I was human. Now I know. I still. Can't feel it. But I should be able to know when I should feel it."

"I'm hoping that's.. enough." she says quietly.

She settles down a bit. A deep sigh. "Okay. I'm going to be okay. I think." she says, just a bit less tiredly and neutral. "I mean. What passes. For okay. For me" she says.

"I'm not. A very good person. To talk to about feelings." she says quietly. "But. Are you. going to...." she sort of grits her teeth.

"I mean..."

"Are you going to be fine...?" she asks. "I don't feel anything lingering in you. I don't feel anything foreign in me."

Kukai Souma has posed:
Kukai nods after a moment. "Yeah. It's... day to day, trying not to let it take over. Trying not to just.. take it all. I know. You at least are somebody. And you at least remember joy and happiness and .. and light." He stays next to her, listening.

Kukai shakes his head. "No. I just wanted to lie in bed and try to ignore my stomach growling. If it hadn't been for Naru I.. don't know if I would have gotten out of bed that day. It was awful. I'm sorry though."

He chuckles after a moment, then mms. "Damn that sounds good. I forgot how good even dark humor felt, even a light chuckle. Oh, god, right." He pulls out his phone, tapping away at it. "Sorry. I gotta text Nadeshiko and Nagihiko, tell them we're switched. And.. as for my brothers I'm gonna spend a big night with them and make a family thing out of it. It'll be fine."

He sighs and then nods, putting away the phone. "... I tried my best to focus on the worst people, on the ones that deserved it. And I know I was lucky to get them. There was more than once when I knew that if I had to I'd grab some random sod and drain them before I went crazy. So.. I get that. I understand, now. Maybe better than anybody else does." His hand squeezes Norie's back as he sits besides her. "I know."

He nods. "Maybe one day I'll get a chance to talk to him about things without wanting to punch him in the nose. And... I think that may be the difference between you and him and all the monsters. You at least know what the light feels like, and aren't totally willing to destroy it for no reason. And that's why you have friends. Even though it doesn't feel like it."

He shakes his head, looking over at her. "..Yeah, I didn't sleep a lot. But I tried drinking some coffee, and eating a few things, and it was... it didn't taste good. I was sad, drinking coffee. That was awful."

Kukai shrugged. "I felt ok sleeping in the coffin. I was able to get a better sleep than I did in my bed. I felt more protected inside it, in the manor. And.. no, it's ok. I'm glad you're talking. And I've talked to myself, too. Sometimes there's nobody else to talk to."

Kukai nods, then hmms. "Yeah, I've heard part of that story before. It was a thing. And I'm glad you did have a chance to write the letter. And... Romance?" He eyes her. "Do I need to worry about weird people coming up to me and smooching me?" He grins, faintly. "...I hope so too. Love is the best good."

He nods and then pats her back. "Yeah. I didn't want to talk about feelings, either. None of them were good - I didn't have any good feelings. So that sucked. And I didn't want to spread that around. So talking about feelings is out."

Kukai rolls his eyes back, then shrugs. "I feel ok. I wanna make sure everything works all right, but..." He looks over at her, and then reaches over, hugging her again. "... I know it may not feel like it right now, but ... I understand you more now, I think. I get what you're going through, maybe better than anybody else. And... more than anything, I hope I took some of your darkness, and gave you some of my light. I hope I gave you something to keep going on."

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana blinks, and head tilts. "It was...nice?" it sounds like a question. "It was nice. To feel those things again. And. You take a lot of little things for granted. I never feel warm. Or even truly 'cold', it's just always. cold." she says. "I know it sounds like a gross. But I just ate until I barfed? Because I don't get full in this body. I just wanted to remember what that felt like. Full." she admits, just a hint of sheepishness.

"I caught up on a comedy series I used to watch. That ended after I became this thing. It was nice to laugh and get to the end of it."

"There's lots of little things. Like that. I think my life will be made at least a little easier. If that's what you mean. By light." she says quietly.

"Yes. I do remember. But remembering and knowing what you should feel and.. actually feeling it."

"...It's kind of like asking for a Coca Cola. And they give you a Pepsi." she says dryly. Dry humor. Dark humor considering the subject. "It just isn't the same and won't fill the same role."

She's hug. She sort of lets this happen. She doesn't quite hug back. But Kukai should understand why.
Herrobably the fact she isn't pushing him away is enough.

"Yeah..." she says quietly. "I know it wasn't on purpose. But. I am..."

"Grateful. For letting me use your body. There are things I couldn't do. Due to the circumstances. Like. Apologize to my old friends. I mean. My normal friends." she says. "But I got done enough."

"I should. go. Now." she says quietly. "If. There is something wrong. Later. Please let me know." she says as she turns to leave. A pause.

"Thank you. For. Not worrying my family. By disappearing. I got back from. Nearly half a year of running away. They didn't need to go through that again." she says quietly.

Kukai probably is able to get a last few words in before she lets herself cloak in black mist- off to the Dusk Zone. She needs to just... sit there. For a while. Before she goes home.