Reiko was here. She had her nose pushed up against the glass. A new expansion of a card game came out. Reiko liked this card game. She liked it super hard. But the new set...? /It had an ENTIRE Koi Archetype/. She could picture it! Reiko Toyuama with her /Fantasy Super Koi/ deck wins the competition! Her deck becomes standard for years! Yes. She was going to make this happen.. /somehow/.
She had bought ten packs of cards and was hurriedly opening them and fanning out the cards. Staring...peeking...
Come Come Little Koi cards~ She sings in her heard.
She looks excited!
In one hand, Ayana holds three satay sticks loaded with juicy meats. In the other, she holds an orange popsicle. The dark-haired girl seems torn between which to eat first. Conveniently, she finds herself distracted by the sight of, "Reiko!" Unconcerned that she might get sticky popsicle juice or teriyaki on toys, Ayana makes her way towards the younger girl, then offers her the popsicle. "Here. I got you this!" Because she's Orange, see. It's a blatant lie; she'd got it for herself, but her eyes were bigger than her mouth, apparently.
Ikiko Hisakata might not keep up on all of the latest arrivals at Twin Bells, but she does like checking every so often to see what plushies are available, and some of her classmates had mentioned some cute dog plushes being in stock. Maybe they're huskies or malamutes, and those are pretty close to being wolves...!
A familiar voice calling a familiar name catches her attention -- there's Ayana and Reiko! "Hi Ayana! Hi Reiko!" Ikiko says, heading over to her friends -- the plushies can wait for now. "How are you two today?"
Reiko Touyama blinks. Oh! It's Ayana! and she has meat. She puts down her cards and accepts the popsicle. "Ah..thanks?" she asks with a smile and takes it. Nom. Cold and delicious. She looks over at Ikiko and smiles. "I'm well! This super cool card game expansion came out with /koi themed/ cards! And I love the game! and Koi! I'm going to collect them all!" she insists. She looks down at her fanned out cards. Then she flumps. "Ah---no Koi cards in this pack! Lame!" she huffs.
She opens another package.
This is where her allowance money for the week has gone!
Ayana tilts her head a little at the cards as she sticks one of the sticks of meat in her mouth. "Harro, Ihi-chan," she mumbles to Ikiko around a mouthful of satay. She considers the other girl for a long moment, then offers one of her satay to the werewolf hesitantly. "So ... do you eat the koi?"
"Any wolves?" Ikiko asks, only partially serious. Although, if there /are/ wolves in the game, she might consider picking up a few packs herself. Well, if she likes the wolves they have, anyway.
She gives Ayana a smile and accepts the offered satay, murmuring thanks. Taking a bite of the satay gives her a moment to hide a smile at Ayana's question. "These koi would just be pictures on cards -- pretty to look at, but no meat at all," she points out.
Reiko Touyama continues eating the orange popsicle. She makes sure not to drip popsicle juice on her new cards. Afterall, these might not be the cards she want. But she might be able to trade around school for the ones she wants.
Peek, Peek... "Nuts...!" she huffs and crosses her arms and looks pouty. "Not in this pack either."
Her eyes glance over to Ayana. "E..eat the koi!? Koi aren't for eating!" she says with wide eyes.
She blinks! "Oh! Like wolves and foxes and stuff already got thier expansion. But it's kinda outta print and they don't have it here." she meekly admits. "Maybe I can find some for you?" she asks.
"... you don't?" Ayana asks quietly, utterly confused. She's pretty sure Koi are for eating, and are very tasty at that. "I ... oh." She frowns a little, then asks, "What do you do with these, then? Do they summon whatever creature is on theM? That seems a little odd for a toy."
"I /think/ 'summoning' is the term used when the creature card is played," Ikiko shrugs. "Reiko knows more about the game than I do, but I'm pretty sure the creature doesn't actually appear when the cards are used."
...although that /does/ sound like an interesting idea, she muses to herself. And probably one that could result in the magical side of life getting more lively, in a 'what trouble is happening now?' sense.
"If you're able to find someone willing to trade for them, sure!" she responds to Reiko. "I might get into the game, even if it's just to have a canine deck." An art deck, instead of an actual battle deck -- perfect for someone more interested in the pictures of the creatures than in the actual game!
Reiko Touyama blinks. "It's a card game." she says softly. "The cards have pretty pictures, and there's rules on the card that you can play against other cards!" she says with a beaming smile. She pauses. She forgets for a moment Ayana is a magical fox girl. She leans forward and up. "Y..you haven't been eating koi for real, have you!?" she asks with glaring accusance! Oh she's going to be so /puffy and mad/ if Ayana has!
She nods. "Yeah, the act of playing a monster card in the game is called a summon!" she says. She leans in. "It's just a game! Not actually magic." she giggles.
She pauses. "Oh...! Do.. um." she says. "Do you have a fox plush Ayana?" she asks softly.
Ayana's eyes widen at the brief pending fury of the miniature orange-chan. "N-no!" she lies, if only to prevent finding out what would happen if they fought. She's pretty sure she'd lose that fight. I mean, unless she ate Reiko's koi friend.
"So it's just a game?" she asks, peering down at the cards. "Weird. Why would you play a game with pieces of cardboard?"
She raises her head at the question, though. "N..no," she admits. "I don't have any plushes." Oh the horror.
"For the same reason you use balls, nets, and other stuff in sports," Ikiko points out. "They're the thing used to play the game, and it takes less space to play than sports."
She glances over at Reiko when the younger girl asks Ayana about plushes. "Maybe we should get one, then?" Ikiko suggests.
MEANWHILE, IN ANOTHER MAGICAL DIMENSION WHERE THE OPPOSITE HAPPENS.
Ayana is carried up the door of Twin Bells by a wave of angry looking Koi and shoved, face down into the trash can on the opposite side of the street next to a bench. Magical Dimension Reiko screams. "DON'T YOU EVER TALK TO ME AGAIN AYANA MORIKO!" she says angrily and storms down the street as all the koi nod and poof into magical orange sparkles.
BACK IN THE MAIN UNIVERSE WHERE AYANA MADE THE BETTER CHOICE
Reiko smiles. "Because it's fun!" she says. She peeks over at the animals. "Ikiko~ Let's get Ayana a fox plush!" she beams. "She totally needs one!" she insists. She takes Ayana by the hand and begins to drag her to the shelves filled with plush animals! "Let's find one! We should be able to find a pretty one!" she insists.
Ayana blinks in surprise, then hastily shoves the last satay in her mouth so that it won't accidentally be sullied by the toys she might encounter. She hastily scarfs the meaty goodness down, then discards the stick on the floor like a rude person. Ayana licks her fingers clean of juicy teriyaki sauce, then peers at the rows of animal plushes. "I've never had a plush before," she notes. "Do you have a koi plush?" she asks Reiko curiously.
Ikiko Hisakata munches down the last of the meat she had, scooping up Ayana's discarded stick as she follows in Reiko's wake -- the two sticks can be discarded later, when they're near a trashcan. "Sounds like a great idea!" she beams to her friends, even as she looks around at the plushes currently on the shelves.
Well, there's the normal assortment of dog plushes, but no huskies nor malamutes. And of course there's a wide selection of teddy bears in various sizes and colors... hm. This could take a while.
Reiko Touyama beams! "I do! Mister Bloopy!" she says with wide eyes. "Plushies are cute. And sometimes...when you're sad and alone... you can hug em! And they help a lot!" she says with a smile. She looks back along the plusheies after discarding her popsicle stick. She finds a few foxes. Orange and Silver..... she taps her chin. Ayana is....
A black fox? Right? She'd... like a black fox! She she peeks at the orange one though and narrows her eyes.
"Hey...uh. Can you two. Stand there. And hide me. Just a moment?" She asks.
"Do you have a wolf plushie?" Ayana asks of Ikiko, brows furrowed even further in confusion. Nevertheless, she turns her back to Reiko peering around the store to see if anyone will come to look. "That actually does sound like it'd be nice. I don't ... my family isn't very affectionate. Our parents are always busy and my big brother just wants me to be this great person that I'm not. Super smart, super outgoing. I'm worried he's going to be very upset with me when he sees my grades."
"One or two, but they're pretty small," Ikiko replies to Ayana while nonchalantly moving to help hide Reiko. Well, it was supposed to be nonchalant movement, but lining up like you're defending against a soccer penalty kick does tend to look odd. "They're also colored more like normal wolves -- dark grey to white. I've been looking for one in, uh, the colors I like, but I haven't had any luck there." The 'marshmallow' color scheme isn't as common in plushes, after all.
Reiko Touyama looks around. No one looking. No existing Black Fox plushes. But there's an orange one. She can work with this.
She pulls her Chroma Crystal from it's necklace under her shirt and murmurs...
"Color Power! Empower me color of Orange!~" she sings out a moment. The orange from the fox begins sliding away into the chroma crystal, leaving it colorless. Well. It doesn't leave it colorless. It's black. It's 'muzzle fluff' and 'tail' are still white. She can't do something about that.
Her crystal glows before claming down. The influx of color lifts her mood a little more than it was before.
She pulls up the fox plush.
"Okay!~" she says as she turns around and beams. "A black fox plush!" she says holding the plush up to Ayana!
Ayana startles when Reiko begins to sing her words of power. She takes a step back towards the girl, as if that would make doubly sure no one could see her. When it's all over, she turns around, curious, and then finds herself nose-to-nose with a black fox plushie. Blinking once, Ayana leans back, and a pair of foxy ears emerge from atop her head, twitching in curiosity. "It looks like me," she murmurs. Even the eyes are the same shade of brilliant blue. Then she shakes her head, snapping herself out of the confusion. Her fox-ears vanish once more behind a wall of illusion. "But won't they wonder where we got it, if they don't sell any like this?"
Ikiko's eyes widen as Reiko uses a bit of magic. She waits until Reiko says she's done, then turns to look at the results. A black (-and-white) fox plush! She reaches over and pets the plush, enjoying the feel of the material but also feeling for any lingering energy. After all, the way of removing color that she has the most knowledge of isn't very pleasant to encounter, but this is /Reiko/ doing the color changing...!
A thoughtful expression crosses her face at Ayana's question. "Maybe they won't notice?" Ikiko suggested, checking the attached barcodes of both the changed fox plush and one of the unchanged, non-orange fox plushes. If they're the same barcode, then the computer might not notice the change, which might make it easier for the change to not draw as much attention.
Reiko Touyama grins. "I don't think they'll mind unless they don't like you giving them money." she says. "People tend to like being given money for things!" she insists as the young girl she is who thinks allowances grow on the allowance tree.
She beams. "I can take the color orange from things to give me boosts and make myself feel better. I shouldn't do it a lot. And I kinda used it selfishly in this sense." She admits softly. "Even if it was for someone else. All it means is I have a bad dream tonight and that's it." she nods matter of factly. "But... Ayana needs a plushie friend!" she beams.
The Barcode seems untouched!
Ayana inspects the fox-plush carefully from all angles, then leans down and gives Reiko a very sudden hug. "Thank you, Reiko-chan," she says. "I'm very sorry you will have a bad dream tonight. I wish I could do something for you in return." Then again, she did give up a popsicle.
Ikiko Hisakata smiles at the sight of the hug. "Still, that's a clever way of making a black fox plush," she admits, giving Reiko a hug as well.
Up close, the fox plush does look pretty, especially with its brilliant blue eyes. Ikiko's expression turns thoughtful as something about what Ayana said earlier lingered in her mind, but she can't quite place what. Something about how the plush looked?
Eh, it's probably not important right now.
Reiko Touyama she beams. "Consider it thanks for the popsicle~" she says into the hug. "You should give it a name!" she says softly. "Plushies like it when you give em names!" she insists. Ayana may be a fox in a human would, but she's pretty sure this thing isn't alive at all. It isn't even magical!
She smiles a at Ikiko. "Well I can usually help if the color orange is involved!" she says, then looks down sadly. "I guess my job as a magical girl is more important than I thought it was, I guess..." she says softly.
"But...if I can use my powers to help, I'm gonna! Even if it means taking just a little orange away from the world!" she insists.
Ayana looks very confused at Reiko, but smiles nonetheless. "Thank you," she repeats, then hugs the plush tightly and looks to Ikiko. "Are you going to get another wolf plushie?" she asks curiously. "Something bigger?"
"Maybe," admits Ikiko. "If there's a standard-sized one that-- ah, here they are!" She smiles as she finds the assortment of wolf plushes, but the smile falter slighty as she looks them over. "Aw, none of them are the right--"
She pauses for a moment, then looks at the back of one of her hands, deep in thought. She then picks up one of the plushes with black-and-white coloring, then glances from Ayana's plush to Reiko. "Well, that shade of tan is /close/ to being orange," she muses, looking at the plush again.
"Hey, Reiko... think you could put that extra orange onto the black parts of this plush?" Ikiko asks, holding out the wolf plush to Reiko.
Reiko Touyama looks at the plush and nods. "I could...!" she says. "It's also stop me from having a bad dream! Um..." she looks around and motions Ikiko and Ayana to huddle. She pulls out her chroma crystal again. "Color Infusion!~ Fill the world with color~ she sings out quietly. And the color flows into the doll. It ends up being a dull orange. Probably close enough--dull because the fox plush was maybe a little smaller than the wolf plush she's given this time.
"There!" she says. "Is that good?" she asks peeking around.
Ayana opens her mouth, then closes it again in confusion. She stares at the multi-coloured wolf plush, then tilts her head confusedly and leans in to peek at it. She pokes at it with a finger, then asks, "Why do you have powers over the colour orange? What are you supposed to do with them? I don't understand."
The dullness of the orange actually helps bring it closer to tan -- it's now a decent approximation of Tsukiko's colors. "Yes!" Ikiko beams, hugging Reiko. "It's even better than expected!" A wolf plush is nice, while one in her colors is even better... but best of all is one that her friends helped customize -- both Reiko for transferring the color, and Ayana for supplying the source of the donated color, albeit indirectly.
Reiko Touyama looks to Ayana... then looks down meekly. "Um... Prism Keepers. Protect color." she says softly. "Each Prism Keeper is the avatar of thier namesake color..." she says. "All of... the color orange is tied to my Chroma crystal. Like all over the world!" she says with wide eyes. "If it's broken, orange stops existing as a color. It turns various shades of gray. If you.... can do that to all the Prism Keepers. Break all thier crystals..." she says softly.
"The world will sink into despair as color stops to exist. Everything would be. Grey and boring. No... Oranges, or Reds or Pinks or Yellows or Blues....." she says softly.
She looks down. "I need to go. I'm sorry!" she says. "Grandpa is taking me to the koi pond later!" she beams as she begins out the door.