It's a cool, windy evening. There's no school today, for the younger children, but Sachiko has been at the park all day. Dressed in a pair of brown poofy shorts over black tights, a white blouse, and a vest, she looks a little silly. The girl spent the first few hours here playing on the playground, seemingly alone.
Ever since the sun started changing colour towards sunset, however, she's been seated in one of the swings, staring up at the sky curiously. Hopefully.
Well, for the older teens, there was school, so it took until sunset for Kukai to get free and get out to the park. Finishing off the last of a cheap stick of tempura, he's out doing his jog through King Penguin Park, slowly jogging through the familiar territory. He's in his jacket and pants and moving along, past people, past trees, past little girls in the swing sets... wait.
Kukai stops, looking over at the swing set for a moment. That... Is that Sachiko? It is! He's tempted to wave at her, but something inside says 'not out of henshin, not just yet'. So he moves along, looking for a bathroom or deep bit of nearby brush to change in...
Sachiko could stare straight at Kukai and not recognize him, although the chara following him might earn a curious look. But no, the girl's eyes are cast to the heavens, waiting, watching, hoping that Sky Jack will arrive. Periodically she glances aside towards a patch of trees, as if looking for someone there, too, but then she's back to looking at the sky.
It's not hard to find a bit of thick shrubbery in behind the trees for transforming. A bright flash of light from one side out of Sachiko's vision flickers, and then a few moments later there's someone tapping her on the shoulder. "You know it's not safe for little girls to be out so late at night." Sky Jack grins down at her from behind her, then opens his arms for a hug.
Sachiko yelps in surprise at the tap to her shoulder. But then it's a voice she knows, and she lets out a little happy squeal. "Sky Jack-onii-chan!" she says happily, twisting around to hug him tightly. Never underestimate the hugging strength of a seven-year-old; they can bend steel bars with their love.
"I was looking for you," Sachiko says, a bigger smile on her face than anything he's ever seen out of her. "Do you think we can go flying tonight? I'm not scared of heights anymore, and I wanna see the city and ask you some questions. I even made sure I dressed warmer for it." Because apparently that's what this is suppposed to be. It almost makes sense, given she is covered from ankles to wrists to neck. But it's awfully thin fabric, where the shorts and best are not.
Jack hugs the little girl almost as tightly, grinning and holding her close. "I'm really glad to see you so happy again. I was really worried about you." He reaches up, patting her hair and listening.
"You were looking for me... so we could go flying? Aaaah." He hmms, then grins. "Sure, I don't see why not! I'll tell you though, this?" He pulls at the blouse. "You are going to be very chilly if we go too high or too fast. So I'm gonna keep you behind me."
He snaps one hand, bringing into existance his hoverboard, and hops onto it, then gets her up behind him. "Keep both arms around my middle, ok? I'll block off most of the wind." He keeps one hand on her back, supporting her on the board as he lifts off into the sky. "So what did you want to talk to me about?" He's going slow and staying sort of low.
In the hug, and when Jack tugs Sachiko's blouse, it's clear that there is some sort of colourful necklace around Sachiko's neck. Green and red and blue. "Behind you?" Sachiko asks unhappily, "but then I can't see very good," she notes. Nevertheless, she does climb up behind, and wraps her little arms around his legas, clinging tightly as he sarts for the skies.
"I'm not afraid," she reminds him, "not of wind or cold or anything. An-chi said I shouldn't be afraid, because she'll protect me. Mm. But! I wanted to know if you know a person. Supposedly she's a Magical Girl. Her name is Runealy Waldia. Do you know her?"
Sky Jack hmms, poking at Sachiko's new necklace. "Huh, what's that? And you can lean around me a little." He stands side-on to Sachiko on the board, since she's small enough to stand almost square on. His hand is warm and comforting on her back, rubbing gently as they fly.
"Well it's not about being afraid. Everybody can get cold and it hurts when you fall for anybody. You do what you can to mitigate that sort of thing." He blinks for a moment. "... Um... Runealy? Yeah, I know Runealy. She's a friend of mine. Can we go back to that whole 'An-chi said she'll protect me.' bit?"
The necklace feels a bit coarse at a touch; and touching it surely shows it is braided of something in multiple colours. Hair maybe? No, more likely it's some sort of ribbons. "This is a special necklace my um ... friend gave me," Sachiko says with a smile for Jack. "It protects me from bad spirits, and makes me safe from falling, too. They said it will help me get out safer at night so I don't hurt myself climbing the bedsheets."
Sachiko's eyes go wide as she stares out at the city. From his vantage, if he bothers looking too closely at that necklace, he'll readily see that it goes down relatively far into the front of her shirt.
"So can you help me to meet the Princess Runealy?" Sachiko asks curiously, turning her head to look up at Sky Jack with big, hopeful green eyes. "Pretty pleeeeease? I'll be extra good if you let me meet her."
Sky Jack huhs and looks back at her, patting her back. "Oh? A friend like Momo? That's a powerful necklace. Does it really keep you safe?" It's the normal vantage for him, and he's looking around as they fly over the city, keeping a hand on her, warm. He's looking more at her wide eyes than the city.
"Well, sure I can ask her if she'd like to meet you, but why do you wanna meet her? And you still haven't answered me about Anshi 'saying' something. You gotta tell me what you've been up to."
Sachiko leans into Sky Jack's warmth; apparently she's chillier than she thought because her skin is starighting to pale. But she doesn't complain. "I just wanna meet her," Sachiko says. "I think she was there at the Walpurgy-not. Can I meet her?" she asks hopefully. "Pleeeeeeeease?"
Sky Jack shakes his head. "I'm telling you Sachi-chan, I'll have to ask her if you can meet her, I can't just... y'know, fly you over to her. She's got her own things she's doing. And I think she was, too, but... Sachiko Hayakawa." He looks back at her. "What did you mean when you said 'Anshi said not to be afraid'?"
Sachiko blinks at the seriousness on Sky Jack's face. She frowns and buries her face in his hip. "You're being mean," she mumbles at a whimper. "I don't wanna fly with you anymore if you're gonna be mean to Sachi-chan."
Sky Jack blinks, then lands on top of a building for a moment and turns to face her, kneeling. "I am not being mean to you, Sachi-chan. You know I'm not. I'm just.. surprised. I mean... I wanted to see Anshi almost as much as you did and hearing that you actually saw her? Wow."
He reaches over, putting his hand on her shoulder. "I mean I haven't seen you for a few days and suddenly you're talking to her and getting necklaces and meeting new friends and you know I worry about you."
Sachiko looks up at Jack when he kneels down, searching his face. She looks uncertain, clearly not sure of what she's supposed to do. Eventually, though, she takes a deep breath and says, "If I tell you, you gotta keep it a big secret," she mumbles.
Then she swallows and says, "I met a man who said he could help me to get An-chi again. He said I don't gotta do anything, except to be a good girl and do what An-chi says."
Sky Jack looks at her closely for a long moment, then smiles and nods. "OK, I'll keep it a secret. Just between you and me. And this man was the one who gave you the necklace, too?" He looks more closely at the necklace for a long moment, then nods. "Can I see it more closely? It's really pretty."
Sachiko shakes her head fervently. "Nuh uh," she mumbles happily, then leans in to whisper, "An-chi gave it to me." She smiles and pulls the necklace out, revealing that it is in fact particoloured hair in a braid, woven tightly, and then wrapped around itself into a long necked knot. To anyone who's spenty any time studying corporal punishment, the noose will be obvious. But it's such a colourful noose.
Sky Jack 's heart goes cold when he sees the noose, but he manages to keep his smile on his face despite his dread. "Oh, ok. Hold it up here, I wanna get a picture of it." He pulls out his Virtue phone and leans back a little, waiting for her to hold the noose necklace up so he can take a quick video clip of it, scanning back and forth over it. "Ok! Thank you. I'll treasure it always."
He reaches over, petting her head. "So... what do you and An-chi talk about?"
"Don't tell anyone who gave it to me," Sachiko says while he's recording--that'll be the clip he gets to watch, over and over again: a smiling little girl, proudly displaying her woven noose-necklace, and chastising him against telling her secrets to others.
When he puts it away and pats her, Sachiko closes her eyes happiliy and leans into the patting. "An-chi is my onee-san," Sachiko says as if he should already know. "We talk about sister things. She's very happy to be able to see me again."
Why would Anshi give her a noose for a necklace? Why would some strange man want to bring her back for Sachiko? There are so many crazy questions he can't answer, but he keeps the smile on his face as she talks, pulling her in close and hugging her, feeling the rope through her clothing. "I'm glad you're able to talk to her again. Will you ask her if I can talk to her again as well at some point? I wanted to see her again..."
"Um," Sachiko says, thinking hard. "I can ask, Onii-chan, but An-chi said she doesn't wanna talk to anybody but me. She's worried people won't understand acause she was dead. But," Sachiko thinks very hard, furrowing her brow, "I bet if you let me meet Princess Runealy, you could meet An-chi."
Sky Jack nods and then kisses her forehead. "OK. We'll both have to see what we can do. And she shouldn't mind talking to me, out of everyone." He can't get over the feeling of dread. "Anyway. Do you want to go and keep flying around the city? Did you want to talk about something else, too?"
Sachiko thinks about this for a minute, then nods her head excitedly. "Yeah, can we fly really really high? And then maybe you can take me home."
Sky Jack gets back onto the board and positions her in behind him, heart hanging low in his chest. "Ok. Hang on tight Sachiko. We'll go as high as you want." He lifts off again once she's firmly on the board and rises into the sky, his hand supportive and maybe gripping a little more tightly onto her back than she might like...