It's after school, long enough for the crowds to have died down a touch at least. Jiaying's left Sora a note asking if they can have a chat after a rather, what she views as disastrous meeting the other day. Then again, it did end inf a fight so it wasn't a good meet up one way or the other. Still in her uniform, she's chosen one of the art rooms as the meeting place mostly as an excuse to sit somewhere quiet and doodle!
She doesn't fully know if the other girl is going to show up or not, but there's no getting around that. Instead she watches out the window from time to time while working in her sketch book. It wouldn't look too out of the ordinary other than the fact that she appears to be talking to a stuffed rabbit that she's dressed up like a zombie, complete with spell tag and hat! It's in Chinese and she's talking quietly, but she is very clearly having a conversation with it.
"So what's this about?" Sora asks in a relatively flippant tone after she comes in, dropping into a chair and acting like that rabbit isn't there at all. None of her business, despite the interesting data point. She's in her volleybal uniform, hair tied up into a ponytail, and looking like she just came out of practice.
Jiaying Maki turns her head back at the question, ending whatever question she had with, "An jing." before snapping her book shut and stuffing it away in her bag. She looked like she was about to say something all serious-like, then stops with some self-doubt. One gets the feeling she didn't plan things out too well in her head or maybe didn't even expect Sora to show. After composing herself, she asks, "What happened the other day? With uh, well I didn't know you had close family in the same school? I mean-when we met the o-the fox?" There's probably more the way she looks, but she sort of lets it drop for the moment.
"Ayana got on my nerves the first time we met, and though I gave her a chance to prove me wrong, she kept doing things to piss me off. I'm fed up with her, but because she's my cousin's girlfriend I can't avoid her." Sora gives her side of the story, in a pretty summarized version. "So I got a little harsh with her, I don't see why that of all things would cause her to snap like that."
She shrugs, looking towards the window. "And okay, I may not have been entirely innocent either, but she started it, and I gave her a chance when she asked for one. I've even helped her with her homework, and if she still wants my help, I'll keep helping her." She folds her arms, "Feels like my life has been a cruel joke ever since she walked in on it."
Jiaying Maki crosses her arms and says, "You accused her of wanting to eat your cousin and said some pretty mean things! I mean some of the stuff you said was kind of close to home." Literally, some of her near family aren't good! Not that she really wants to admit to that at all. "You didn't really have to say all of that you know!" She may have taken some of it personally. After a moment she lets her breath out and asks, "If you're willing to still help her and you're going to keep doing so, why not just try to start over? I don't know what's going either way, but it was kind of scary seeing her lose it and you grab her- was that really what I think it is? Why would she wear it?" She kind of sort of trails off briefly before returning, "I didn't like what you said okay?"
"I'll admit, I got angry, I said some things I really shouldn't have, but it's not like she hasn't been constantly provoking me." Sora tries to smoothe it over, while still defending her emotions. "I'll try to rein myself in in the future, I don't normally get that angry."
The other bit, Sora takes a moment of pause. "I don't know what you think it is, and really, those are questions you should be asking her. Not me." For as much as Sora loathes Ayana, talking about stuff like that seems to be crossing a line as far as she's concerned. "And I gave her a lot of chances to start over. At what point am I allowed to actually get upset if she does things to upset me?"
Jiaying Maki points at her and says, "It wasn't just that you said it to her, it's what you said!" She crosses her arms again and turns on her heels before saying over her shoulder, "I don't all of those bad things, but you were making it sound like we all do you know." And that's as close as she'll admit to being even close to a kitsune! They're distinctly different, really! Stamping her foot she says, "You even found out what I was before you said it!" Turning back around she adds, "I didn't think I'd see anyone that angry though and.. I was kind of worried about it too. Even if I want to yell at you some more too you know." Not that she's been yelling. As an aside, the bunny seems to be watching Sora as she moves around the room.
"Sorry, I really shouldn't have. I was angry, and attacking the fox side of her is something that gets on her nerves so it's my default. I don't mean it, I know she'd never do anything like that. I don't have any reason to believe you would either." Sora admits that, and slumps back. "I just wish things could be the way they were, but they can't." She eyes the bunny, for the first time acknowledging its presence.
Jiaying Maki flops unceremoniously into the chair at the apology and waits for a moment before leaning back. "I wouldn't! I try really hard to be anything, but those kinds of stories. Who wants to grow up hearing that kind of thing?" She turns to face Sora after and asks curiously after a moment, what little anger that had been in her voice gone, "What were they like before?" The bunny stops moving for a moment. Should Sora look away for even a short time it would stand up though. Just.. stand there, nothing else.
"I was the rising star, the girl everyone knew would be the best ever. Good in class, good at sports, good at her supernatural studies, and then this complete stranger comes in and steals the show." Sora is still not being fair, but this time at least it sounds more genuine. Envy and pride are powerful motivators. "And I don't know what I'm doing now." The curse hunter, goes back to ignoring the the bunny.
Jiaying Maki reaches back behind her and sits the rabbit back down. There's the hint of an echo in Chinese and she turns and glares at it for a moment before carefully placing it in her bag. An eraser zips out of the bag and she nudges it closed with her foot while muttering to herself. After that mess, at which point she never stopped watching Sora. She eventually asks, "Did you used to spend a lot of time with your cousin then? I... tended to avoid my immediate family on my mother's side. One of them bit me and that was a fun week." She says this dismissively, but there's a hint of actual anger there again.
She quickly shakes her head and asks, "What would you like to do? I uh... was just upset because I was surprised to hear you say that and I probably shouldn't have taken it seriously, but you're a friend right?" She seems to think so at least.
"The old family mansion has been turned into an apartment complex as the family grew. Ikiko and I aren't even all that close cousins, but we live right next to eachother so it's a lot closer and we all know eachother." Sora explains the family arrangement, "Which is also why I can't avoid Ayana even though I want to. We live in the same place."
Then, she seems eager to change the topic. "I'd like to think so." She answers the question of friendship, "To be honest. I don't really know a whole lot about friendship... I don't have a lot." It's true, Sora seems to be someone most of her classmates respect, but from a distance. She seems in a way unapproachable to a lot of them. "Which suits me fine, but it makes it hard to say."
Jiaying Maki drags a chair over after recovering her eraser and sliding it into her bag's pouch. Settling down, she rests her elbow on the table, then her chin on her hands. "That sounds like... a pain. Living in an apartment like that. Not that I don't live in one, but I mean I mostly like my neighbors you know?" She seems fine with changing the subject though.
She offers an actual smile at the mention that they're friends, but it turns into a look of confusion. "Why would you be hard to approach? You're... spirited, but you were quick enough to say something to me right?" She shrugs and adds, "You smiled then too though, maybe that was it?" Wait did she? Oh well.
"I get good grades, I'm good at sports, and I live in a mansion. I can't take friends home with me because of what my family does, so all they see is the mansion." Sora explains, a little softly. "And no, I didn't smile, and the only reason we kept talking was because I was too polite to tell you off." She's hard to approach because she doesn't like being approached. "I'm not good with people, okay?"
Jiaying Maki sticks her tongue out at Sora and says, "Then why drag me to that beach party where everyone was all clingy and weird. That was awkward after you left!" She sounds more teasing there rather than upset. Though that does bring up a good question, "What does your family do? You hang out with flying girls and you weren't reacting to Meifeng trying to gaslight you." She nudges her bag with her foot and offers a wry smile, "Better than at least one person I've met. You haven't accused me of being a thief yet. He's.. apologized for that at least."
"We're a family of curse hunters. We seek out curses and cleanse them, it makes our family a little odd." Sora explains the basic idea of what her family is like without trying to obfuscate it. "And why would I react to Meifang, I guess that's the bunny, trying to gaslight me? My cousin is dating a kitsune and I was briefly dating a guy who has a tiny figure hanging out with him." She's talking about Kukai there.
"I'm not a magical girl or anything like that, but I'm not blind to magic like most people either." She shrugs, "Because I didn't want to go alone, and I thought you might want to get to know more of the folk who know about things."
Jiaying Maki fishes around behind her for a moment before tugging free one of the two tags she wears regularly. She slides it over to Sora and asks, "Are you any good with luck?" The tag is a somewhat crude good luck charm and it looks like it's a bit haggard. Tapping it a few times she says softly, "If not, I can keep using that one. I'm thinking I need to learn how to do this without relying on crutches one of these days though." She lets out a sigh and keeps her finger touching it as she continues, "I... don't know about hunting curses, but I've spent time trying to get ghosts and other haunts to move on our leave. I uh, have done it with a few other things to. Maybe we're not too different there by the way."
She begins laughing at the mention of her not being a magical girl, "Oh but you'd look great in a cute dress with those.. big boots and shouting your attacks!" She then turns a faint shade of pink and nudges her bag under the desk a bit further. Don't peek at the manga in there. Don't flip through her sketch book. To aid the distraction she says, "I did enjoy some of it at least, didn't really get to meet too many others since tapping someone kissing on the shoulder and saying hi is almost as awkward as just sitting around stealing food while they do it."
Sora looks over the good luck charm, "It's not bad, but you could..." Sora gets a couple of empty talismans out of her bag along with a brush. She quickly closes the bag again, and then starts writing a good luck charm. Her efforts are neat and practiced, she's definitely done this a lot. "... use this. It's not perfect, but it should be a little better" She hands the charm to Jiaying.
"Don't even get me started on that. I'm glad I don't look silly like that, I'll stick to normal clothes." Sora's shadow subtly twists, folding its arms in a huff. It's easy to miss, and it quickly fades. "I hoped there'd be punch. There's normally punch, and I got someone to put some clear alcohol in water bottles so I could spike it. I just put the bottles with the others since someone decided there wouldn't be..."
Jiaying Maki watches closely. Her own writing is crisp and neat, but she's a bit sloppy with the actual use. After a moment she scowls and asks, "Do you think you could tweak my other tag? I uh, rely on it to not be chased by dogs mostly." Which isn't really true, but at the same time it sadly is. It's what prompted her to make it anyway. The second tag comes out after a quick look around and with the second tag's removal, she would shift subtly, clearly relying on her own magic to force the same appearance. It's about as sloppy as the rest really.
The flicker of movement catches her attention and hse leans back to try and get a better look, but then it's gone. She nudges her bag one more time and murmurs something to it quietly in Chinese. There's a brief chill and then it passes. "Those bottles everyone thought were tainted. They smelled funny to me so I sort of skipped on them." besides, she figures drunk fox-girl's bad.
"I could try, that's a bit less standard though..." Sora looks over the charm, trying to analyze it. After some time of looking, she attempts to recreate it, neatly but she seems a little uncertain. "I'm not sure if this'll work, but give it a go?" She suggests, ignoring the subtle shifts. "Tainted is an odd way to call it. They were booze, I think they call it Vodka?"
Jiaying Maki takes the modified charm and holds it up, letting the ink dry for a moment before sliding it back into place behind her. The strangeness about her disappears and she sniffs at the air, then sighs and slumps forward. "It'll work, but I still don't get any of the benefits I should have. It's like being under water almost." She sticks her tongue out, leans back and says, "Thanks for trying though. I should.. work on it some more as well. Could help if you wanted." Hey an offer to hang out again. "Vodka? It smelled like paint thinner..."
"I could look into it, right now I was just copying your work and trying to make it neater. If you can tell me more about it..." Sora answers, a little uncertainty. She's sure that if she can find an answer she'll be able to implement it, it's the search she's uncertain about. "And yeah it was like the cheapest stuff I could find. You don't spike a punch with good alcohol."
Jiaying Maki sighs after a moment and pulls the old tag out and offers it out to Sora. "I use it because animals can tell I'm not uh... I don't like dogs. They tend to bite and running from them gets old alright?" She actually sounds embarassed that she can't hide from dogs. She shifts in her chair, adding after some thought, "You didn't actually see my ears did you?" Laughing a bit, she holds her hands above her head and says, "They come up to about here. It makes me feel less tiny if I'm cheating my height marks." Glancing over with a hint of a smile she asks, "Wait where did you even get cheap alcohol and how do you know?"
"Finally, someone who understands that foxes and dogs don't get along." Sora says with a clear exasparation about something related to the past. Probably Ayana, really. "And I didn't see your ears, don't worry." Sora seems amused by the topic of cheating on height marks, but ignores it and instead answers the other question. "Someone I know bought it."
Jiaying Maki shrugs and says, "I mean I'm sure some can, puppies are cute. But too many dogs have chased me and that isn't fun. I spent an afternoon in a tree one time back home." She crosses her arms and blows a raspberry, then tilts her head back and says, "A pity! I like my ears. They're cute." She sounds like she's joking for that and she jumps right from that to her next question, "You know someone that knows you don't use good alcohol in punch?"
"I know lots of people." Sora dodges that bit, and then clarifies, "But it's about alcohol to spike punch with specifically that that person said it." She grins, and gets a bottle of water of the same kind she used to carry the vodka to the party, opens it and takes a sip. "Want some?" She asks.
Jiaying Maki shrugs a touch, "I'm not going to tattle Sora, I do enough stupid things." She shifts in her chair, tapping her fingers together and murmurs, "Like breaking into a church to see if I bounced or not." Then she begins laughing, glances over and takes the bottle of water hesitantly, taking a sniff of it before she tries it.
"And I'm not going to tattle on him, either. If I told everyone who promises not to tattle, someone would tattle anyway, and so I'm just telling no-one so no-one feels left out." Sora justifies her decision to not share, it's a cynical logic, but at least it's not personal? The water is just water, no alcohol or other funny business. Sora smirks when she notices Jiaying sniff it first.
Jiaying Maki takes a sip of the water still a bit hesitant, what! She's seen her tricks. Then she says either way, "Thanks!" before laughing and looking at the bottle of water. "So... do you go out nightly hunting for curses and the like? Do you think I could tag along? I need more practice with my abilities! And it would be nice to have company right?"
Sora giggles a bit, at Jiaying's clear hesitation at drinking the plain bottled water. "No. I need to sleep and do homework too, I'm supposed to still be learning too. As a family, some of us do. I don't think they'd want outsiders around, though..."
Jiaying Maki sticks her tongue out and takes another sip of the water as she glances over. "Could just meet up after the fact? Though if you've got a partner that goes out... I mean I could go out alone. It's a neat excuse to look for hauntings and stuff." She tilts her head towards Sora and adds, "Only if you'd want me there anyway at least."
"I'll ask. That's as much as I can promise." Sora answers and there's a certain sense of finality to her words, she clearly doesn't seem inclined to be swayed, and like pressuring her on this is only going to make her offer less. "Is there anything else? I've got someone I'm supposed to be tutoring soon."
Jiaying Maki shakes her head and holds her hands up, "Fine fine. I'll head home for the evening. I have to catch up on homework and sleep through bad shows for being up too late last night. Did you know churches aren't really that sacred it seems?" She stands up, brushes herself off and hefts her bag to her shoulder, then offers the half-empty bottle of water before frowning and asking, "It's fine to just keep I guess..."
"Depends on the church, I think. Like any shrine, if the faithful are genuine and the priest is honest, it'll have weight. If they're not, how could their faith uphold it?" Sora suggests casually, she's seen enough to know gods are real, but this is mostly speculation on her part. "Keep it!" And then she's off. "I'll see you tomorrow."