Evening approaches. It is a chill late autumn evening, and the streets of Uminari City are bustling with activity. As usual, it's not too busy, but one particular small burger joint may be slightly popular with kids after school at Seishou Public.
"GIVE ME ALL THE CHEESEBURGERS!" That would be our villain: a raven-haired teenaged girl dressed in a too-short dress over bike shorts, thigh highs, and combat boots. Her white overcoat is so furry it might well be a part of the fur that covers her animal ears and big bushy tail. Wait what? That's a foxgirl attacking the burger stand! And judging by the dark energy pouring out of her, she's not got anything resembling control right now.
There is a tearing, rending, ripping noise as her dark energy tears the doors to the joint apart and sends them flying, swallowed by the screams of the terrified and the injured. Ayana Kaiju cares not for their screams! Her form ripples, a little; some kind of gellatinous mass crawling through her. Something very out of sorts for the girl.
Some days a small burger snack just feels right, especially when a friend of yours hasn't been in school for several days and you need something to help cheer you up. That's what's bringing Ikiko to this burger stand after a day of school and club activities. It might not be the best burgers in Tokyo, but it does have a few things in its favor:
1.) It's nearby to Seishou Public School (ease of travel), and
2.) It's not the burger joint she frequents at night as Cute Wolf Tsukiko (less chance of being identified).
"I wonder how Ayana's doing," Ikiko murmurs to herself as she walks along. The sounds of crashing and screams catches her attention, and the faint feel of dark energy off towards the source of the noise makes her shiver. Something is wrong -- something that needs a magical girl.
Ducking into an alleyway, Ikiko touches the locket around her neck and says "Lycan Locket!" There is a glow of silver, and then moments later Tsukiko bounds up out of the alley, leaping towards the source of the trouble, just as a magical girl does.
She just wishes there was a certain second magical girl with her.
Ikuto and Yoru are enjoying the night air. Well, not really. Ikuto had been about to find a place where he could settle down and start playing his violin for fun and profit. Not busking, but gathering X-Eggs; Kazuomi's been particularly relentless about him 'earning his keep', so to speak.
And then he heard screams. Screams are always a bad thing. Usually means someone's in trouble. Also Yoru's comment doesn't hurt either-- "Ikuto! There's somethin' goin' on down there-nya!"
Ikuto's already got his ears on. And so, with Yoru's comment, he heads for the burger place. He catches sight of Cute Wolf and pauses. After he's sure she won't see him immediately though, he heads in to follow her, curious now. What's going on here?
Takashi Agera just happens to be in the area - and he's heard about the burgers the shop sells. So he's headed that way when he hears screams. They don't necessarily have the same effect on them that they might have on other people - there's no sudden, immediate need to put himself in danger to help others.
But what he does have is a need to test his henshin. So he's headed off in the direction of those screams - and burgers!
What he sees when he gets there is quite a shock. It's his familiar. But it is also, in many ways, very not his familiar. The shock is pretty great. But then he sees the Cute Wolf - and that further complicates things. He knows she's one of Ayana's magical girl friends.
...Well, he wanted to test, right?
A henshin in an alleyway later has him walking in just behind her, in his new gray armor and wielding his halberd with the blade made of sharp ice. He's really hoping he's not going to have to stab Ayana.
What the devil happened here, anyways? There are no Justice Speeches. This whole thing is too confusing for justice speeches.
Everyone has to earn their keep, and Kunzite's been working on that - there's a project of his who's partially resident in the area, and it looks better for her cover if she actually goes home from work sometimes. Besides, it's easier to pick up her collected energy that way. The only kind of food that's on /his/ mind is what they need to restore their Great --
There are crashing and screams. Anomalies. Again.
Kunzite momentarily considers the possibility that this week is specifically mocking him.
Against his better judgment, he turns to consider the source of the noise. There are a couple of things that catch his attention. One -- dark energy. An ally, a source to be harvested, another incident with the White Flower's people? Could be any. And two -- in among the terrified and the injured, he catches a glimpse of half-familiar hair. It *might* be the girl that Apatite acted so uncertainly with, that he's relatively convinced that Beryl threatened. That Beryl had agreed to protect, as long as Apatite kept up her side.
He makes a low, irritated noise in his throat, and flickers out of existence in the area where he was, back in on a low rooftop with a better view through the now-absent doors.
Seriously? What Youma asks for cheeseburgers!? The poor workers at the little stall don't entirely know what to do. Two of them throw cheeseburgers at Ayana Kaiju, while the other three just turn and run out the back, screaming in terror. Three more normal people inside turn to run as well, but as they pass through the field of gloom that surrounds the foxgirl, they fall to their knees and are forced to crawl away lest they become entirely weakened by the dark magic she emits.
One little girl--she can't be more than three or four--gets up from her table and very politely offers a cheeseburger to the Kaiju Foxgirl. Somehow, the little girl seems resistant to the effects of the gloom. The Kaiju cares not! She snatches burgers thrown at her from the air and consumes them, then reaches for the burger offered by the little girl and consumes that, too! Then, an unexpected extra appendage emerges from the Kaiju's back and flings the little girl across the room, where she lands with a cry of pain and unhappiness.
The Kaiju cares not! She leaps forward onto the counter of the stall, presumably seeking more cheeseburgers.
Cute Wolf Tsukiko skids to a halt. That's... Ayana? But not quite? What is with that aura of gloom surrounding the foxgirl? And what the heck was that appendage that emerged from Ayana's back?
What is going on?!?
The wolfgirl darts in front of her monstrous fox friend and spreads her arms to block Ayana's advance. "What are you doing, Ayana?! Why are you doing this? What happened to you?!?" she asks in caninespeak, worry plain on her face even to those who don't understand the language of dogs and dog-like animals. A brief glance away is all it takes for Tsukiko to notice Ikuto and the Frost Knight, but her focus is on her friend.
Ikuto emits a surprised and distinctly displeased noise when he sees the people being so affected by that dark energy. The others can keep the kaiju busy. For the time being, Ikuto is going to concern himself with getting the normal people out and to a relatively safe place.
Yoru will have to serve as a pointing-out-things fairy for the time being. Yoru will dart in, looking for someone who hasn't made it out before collapsing, and hover over the spot waving his handpaws until ikuto finds his way there and pulls the person out. His designated 'safe place'? A neighborhing building's roof.
...These poor saps are going to have a weird story to tell later, about a boy with cat ears that pulled them out of that burger place when that gas leak happened. Wait, cat ears? Halloween's been over for a while, hasn't it? Oh well. Gas leak trumps weird cosplay outfits...
Takashi isn't sure what to do here. Obviously, he wants to stop Ayana - but that isn't exactly something his halberd is capable of doing without possibly hurting her. This is... not his familiar's normal mode of action. And for a moment, a cutting thought comes through him - is this his fault? Does she think /this/ is how he wanted her to act?
Then she goes for the cheeseburgers. This is less evil and more just out of control. It's clear now - it's just like that boy he infused with dark energy. The question is, how to get it out of her? Well, first thing's first - stop her from hurting the people. It's more because he realizes that, if Ayana gets better and realizes she's injured civilians? She's already in a fragile state.
~EISBARRIERE~ his device calls out as he sweeps his halberd forward - and a massive wall of iron-hard and thick ice cuts through the resteraunt, blocking Ayana off from most of the civilians while Ikuto gets them further away.
So the Black Cat is here, too.
Kunzite's pale eyes narrow. The girl on the rampage looks familiar, sounds familiar -- all right, sounds more than looks. But that appendage doesn't make a good substitute for butterfly wings. And then there's a wall of ice, and he can't see any more from this vantage point ... but that wall will also cover Apatite's human, most likely.
Until the creature wreaking destruction notices there's a back way out.
A flicker of shadows takes the Dark General from one rooftop to another, and then he's leaping down from what's coincidentally Ikuto's safe roof, taking the landing with care for his more recently injured leg (if nothing else, at least Sailor V isn't also here to irritate him again), crossing to the back exit left wide open by fleeing employees. Getting a feel for that field of gloom -- whether it's an active energy assaulting the humans near it, or whether it's an active /drain/ of energy. Or something else entirely. With his luck, something annoying.
Ayana Kaiju cares not for friends and family! She is simply hungry, and at present there is an adorable wolfgirl standing between her and the food! That won't do. Ayana starts to leap forward, intent on attacking that pesky doggirl (whose words seem to have no effect), only to run smack face-first into a wall of very cold ice.
There is a scream of pain and anguish from Ayana Kaiju, and all the weird moving blobs on her body go very, very still. Ayana Kaiju backs away from the wall of ice, picks up a handful of french fries off a table, then screams again and runs through the back exit into the alleyways. The weird blobs on her body reform once she's away from the ice! "FEED ME!" she yells, and sends out waves of black gloom towards anything nearby. Away from the burger joint, she heads towards the suburban homes. Refridgerators have food, right?
Cute Wolf Tsukiko tenses up her muscles as she braces for impact from Ayana's charge, but suddenly there's a wall of ice between her and her friend. The wolfgirl takes a surprized step back, noticing how the odd movements on Ayana stop for a while after the foxgirl's chilly impact.
Tsukiko leaps away from the wash of black gloom with a yelp, then chases after Ayana Kaiju. "Talk to me, Ayana!" the wolfgirl calls to her friend, this time in Japanese. "Why are you doing this?" While she tries to get answers, she's also trying to cut off the foxgirl, hoping to slow down her oddly-acting friend.
Once the people are safe on the roof-- it's a pretty short building, and there's a fire escape, so they shouldn't be in too much danger unless they do something stupid like roll off. And that'd hardly be Ikuto's fault, now would it?-- Ikuto gets a look at the situation, just as Shadow Ayana comes out of the restaurant. He leaps to another roof to get a better look, and narrows his eyes. Hasn't he seen her before...?
Well, either way, this isn't a situation he needs to take lightly. Looking to his Guardian Character, he intones quietly, "Yoru." The Chara nods, offering an affirmative grunt. His cat features disappear briefly, and the telltale glow of his body starts. "Ore no kokoro...UNLOCK!"
He changes in typical fashion-- his tail and ears reappear, but slower this time; the glow begins to shrink around his body, leaving behind the familiar cropped-top with two long tails in the back and a wide loose neckline and the pants with the long strap between the knees; a long, sharp, wickedly curved claw appears on his right wrist; the glow gathers into a cross shape on his chest and then shatters, leaving behind the large silver cross.
CHARA NARI: BLACK LYNX
Once changed, he leaps down, just in time to hear Cute Wolf call out to Ayana. One look at the weird orby-jelly things gives him an idea of what's going on. "I don't think she can hear you," he notes as he leaps down near her and starts to follow.
Waves of black gloom crash over Kunzite, but the shadows that cloak him after Ayana passes are his own, the signs of his own energy-absorption powers fighting for a moment with hers. "She's starving." Kunzite's voice is dry enough to threaten the bay, at the moment. "Make anyone hungry enough, and they'll lose their sense of proportion. Food, energy, whatever, she'll take it. If you're fast enough, you /might/ be able to do something about it before she starts chewing off her own limbs."
He's not actually trying to /stop/ the foxkaiju, mind. Following with interest, but not getting in her way -- not as long as she's going the /other/ way from the human who might or might not be his cohort's concern.
The Frost Knight spins his halberd after the wall goes up - but then Ayana seems content to just go around. Well, he's not surprised. But at least she doesn't seem to be directly threatening innocents. Just decency and the planet's food stores.
He moves around, and he's up with Ikuto, Tsukiko, and Kunzite; He starts putting up more walls to try to hedge her in.
"I'm not sure anyone's /that/ hungry. But I don't she's a normal monster." The knight says. "I bet she's just filled with something bad. All we have to you know... remove it."
Meanwhile, behind his facade, Takashi is racking his brain over what could have caused this. Is there some virus exclusive to Familiars? Is she undergoing some sort of pyschotic break? Psychotic breaks don't cause strange growths though. But maybe they do in familiars?
Once again, Cute Wolf comes between Ayana Kaiju and her food, but this time the ice walls are being used to wall her in, not to prevent her direct advancement. There is a growl of anger, and Ayana Kaiju charges poor Cute Wolf. Tsukiko is suddenly immersed in an oppressive, energy-draining gloom as Ayana Kaiju tackles into her. Sharp teeth flash as Ayana Kaiju bites at Cute Wolf, not quite managing to find purchase in the girl's flesh. "So hungry," she complains, as gellatinous ripples surge across her body.
Cute Wolf Tsukiko glances back at the assortment of magical boys following along, paying partial attention to the comments they're making. Ayana Kaiju apparently can't hear, is too hungry, and has something inside causing trouble?
...is the foxgirl infested with a case of magical worms?
The wolfgirl tries to push against Ayana's rushing attack, attempting to keep out of reach of the teeth. Between the push and the gloomy drain, Tsukiko is pushed backwards, her knees starting to buckle. She has to do something; she can't just leave her friend like this. But how do you figure out what's wrong?
By getting close enough to find out.
With a surge of determination, Tsukiko lunges forward and upward, trying to bind Ayana's arms with a mighty hug. The wolfgirl slides her shoulder upward, trying to pin Ayana's mouth shut to limit the biting. "Shh, shh," murmurs Tsukiko, trying to calm Ayana and pat one of the gelatinous ripples. Just what /are/ they, anway?
Ikuto is smart enough to stay away from direct melee with Ayana. She is not the slow, lumbering type that he can run circles around. She's as fast as, if not faster than, Ikuto himself is. Of course, this presents a problem, since Ikuto's main focus is melee-based attacks. It's his main focus, but not his only focus, though.
Hence, when Ayana makes a grab for Tsukiko, Ikuto swings his claw forward, the gleam from his silver claws forming silvery-white energy. "SLASH CLAW!" he growls, and the energy is launched at Ayana. He's aiming for those weird ripples on her back, and trying not to hit Tsukiko in the process.
The Frost Knight is wracking his brains - and trying not to get in the giant-size familiar's way - about what could possibly go wrong here.
That's when it hits him. This is actually, totally, his fault. Except for the fact that Ayana tends to eat anything that isn't nailed down or otherwise hidden. He recognizes what's wrong with her.
He also can't -say- that right now. But he knows what he needs to do, and maybe, just maybe, Ikuto's attack will give him the leeway he needs.
~KALTELUFT~ his device calls as he twirls it in a circle, and it emits a sub-zero burst of chilled wind at Ayana's back, ideally after the claw connects.
Away from the direct melee? That's a popular option. Kunzite approves of it. He's interested, but interested from a safe distance, perfectly willing to let Cute Wolf Tsukiko take the risks. Happy to, indeed. "Ah," he says as the wolfgirl closes. "Now we can see whether they're contagious."
Not completely uninvolved, though. If someone else is starting the experiment, he can chime in: he extends his own powers, fights Ayana's gloom for the traces of ambient energy in the area, a complement to Frost Knight's cold.
He doesn't actually try to tap Frost Knight, or Ikuto, or Tsukiko. But he's not benevolent enough to try to shield Tsukiko from Ayana's energy drain directly, either. Jerk.
Cute Wolf Tsukiko manages to turn Ayana's attack against her, pinning the kitsune to a wall. She snarls and snaps at Tsukiko's shoulder as she tries to pin her mouth closed, but soon enough Ayana Kaiju is in an incredibly awkward position, held close by her best friend.
As the Curse Hunter reaches to try and touch one of those rapidly moving gelatinous globs, it suddenly forms into the shape of a mouth and tries snapping at Tsukiko's fingers! Yipe, be careful, Ayana has more mouths than anyone has a right to, right now!
All right up until the slash claw stabs at her back. Ayana Kaiju screams in pain and hunger at the slash to her back, and for a moment she is too busy dealing with pain to actually press her attack on Tsukiko.
That is the moment when Frost Knight makes his attack. Fox and Wolf girl are surrounded by a chill wind that cuts deep to the bone. Ayana Kaiju's eyes widen, and she shivers in mingled pain, terror, and ... recognition? "Tsuki," she whimpers. Every single blob on her body goes completely still in the cold. "GetitoutgetitAHHHHHHHH!" she trails off in a scream as the blobs begin to move again, once more forming into mouths that half-emerge from Ayana in search of food like leeches.
Tsukiko's fingers recoil away from the ripply mouth, but the wolfgirl manages to keep her grip on Ayana. She shivers as the gust of icy wind surrounds them, but her courage is seemingly rewarded by Ayana finally recognizing her -- a reward that is short-lived as the blobs become more frenetic in their actions.
Her jaw drops in shock, then she jumps back as swarms of mouths start to snap at anything within reach. Whatever that gelatinous stuff is, it's the cause of a significant threat to other people -- and even worse, it's hurting Ayana and forcing her to be vicious!
Tsukiko narrows her eyes, then takes a deep breath--
--and howls.
She wordlessly sings a song for Ayana, of the enjoyment of a delicious meal, of the sense of wellness of body, of the feelings of happiness. And underlaying it all, the howl conveys their friendship, and how much Ikiko missed Ayana, and how glad Ikiko was to see Ayana again.
The howl is a very moving sound, and even those not directly sung to might be touched by the emotion within it. Even the gelatinous thing tormenting Ayana will feel it -- but Tsukiko's howl has a different message for it:
BEGONE.
Right there! When those mouths start emerging from Ayana, Ikuto draws back again, sending another application of that silvery energy at the shadow-possessed girl. But instead of cutting, the energy seeks to 'hook' onto Ayana with one end. Oddly, this shouldn't actually hurt. But as the energy keeps moving, the three arc-shaped slashes all bend into near-circles, trying to 'grab' some of the mouths as they emerge.
From the looks of it, he's trying to hold them out like one might hold a despicable creature down for someone else to dispose of it.
That becomes clearer when, should the energy hook onto and bend around the mouths, he'll call out, "I've got them!" Some of them anyway, but there's not really a lot of time to be splitting hairs. He's hoping it'll hold Ayana in place for Tsukiko's howl, as well as hold the mouths out far enough for others to hit them is they so desire.
"Well, that's disgusting." the Frost Knight says, as if that understatement would somehow make this all so much more bearable. In Takashi's head, though, he can almost see how everything happened - he knows what's going on, to a small degree.
Between Tsukiko's howl, Ikuto's grab, and the chilly wind from before supressing them, those horrid things are exposed. And now, to go about the grisly work. He's the one with the polearm, after all.
And despite the fact that it appears like the head is made of mere ice, it cuts through the offending creatrures like a hot knife through really disturbing butter - hacking away at each of them he can see, moving quickly and deftly.
Kunzite holds his own effect in place, trying to keep the creatures from feeding themselves off streetlights, or body heat, or any power within the wolfgirl's song ... or Ikuto, for that matter. Keeping watch on the foxgirl for signs that any part of them left within her might still be active, viable, trying to regrow. Other than a little more darkening of the shadows around the shadow-things, though, there's not much overt sign that he's doing anything --
Okay, anything other than taking a calculated step back from Tsukiko's howl. And, after a measured few moments, a second.
Howls and Hooks and Halberds, oh my! The howl causes the leech-like growths to quiver and shake, seeking freedom from the pain that Tsukiko's power causes them. The hooks are, thereby, made all the easier, which leaves them readily available for Frost Knight's icy halberd to slice straight through the growths. With each attack, a flash of frost overwhelms the gibbering mouth, and it drops to the ground, mostly frozen. With Kunzite's barrier in place, there's just nothing left for them to feed on, and so they remain inert, there, rather than drawing on the alley's refuse to continue fueling its rampage.
Ayana shakes in pain, terror, and hunger, but Tsukiko's song comforts her through it. When the last piece of youma is carved from her body, Ayana falls to hands-and-knees, whimpering.
As Tsukiko finishes her howl, she swiftly steps over to Ayana and gives her a big hug. She doesn't say anything for a while; the howl already said more than what her words could convey. Instead, the wolfgirl just holds the foxgirl close, lightly skritching between Ayana's ears.
After several moment, she rubs foreheads with Ayana. "How about if we go get some snacks?" Tsukiko asks gently, a warmly encouraging smile on her face.
Ikuto isn't quite ready to relax just yet. While yes, Ayana's down, that doesn't mean things are resolved. Perhaps all they've done is wear down Ayana's actual strength until the youma could take over? Or maybe there was still parts of the youma still there that they hadn't gotten?
Regardless, as Ayana collapses and Tsukiko hugs her, Ikuto takes a few steps torwards the two of them. "...Are you all right now?" This is aimed mainly at Ayana.
Meanwhile he looks to the others, to see if everyone came through all right. He doesn't recognize Kunzite or the Frost Knight, given the somewhat blank looks he gives them. He's watching, though.
It takes a whole /lot/ of self control to not be the first person to rush over and try to console his familar. But he doesn't. Instead he casually walks over, after Tsukiko gets there.
"I think it's entirely possible she might have had enough cheeseburgers." Frost Knight says, spinning the halberd and quickly shifting to using it as a very pointy walking stick.
"Are you feeling better now?" he asks. There was just no way he wasn't going to ask that.
"She'll recover," Kunzite notes. "It's out of her. Or, at least, there's nothing in her still fighting me." Because that's a reassuring statement, just about now. He reaches back to his shoulders; unclasps his cape; sweeps it down onto the pavement, and nudges one of the ... things ... onto the fabric with the toe of a boot. Waste not, want not. Besides, contact with /him/ isn't about to melt the Frost Knight's ice.
Ayana leans into Ikiko's pettings and attentions. She's shivering and tired, but at least she's safe. Ish. You know, for a girl who just got turned into a youma, and had her secret identity largely destroyed. Luckily, fox ears, fox tail, and youma-like tendencies generally cause people to miss the obvious signs of similarity between the cute girl at Seishou and the creature that nearly destroyed a burger joint. "No more burgers," she agrees with Frost Knight. "But ... jerky and donuts maybe?" Yeah, she's probably alright.
Cute Wolf Tsukiko nods to Ayana. "Fresh donuts and plenty of jerky," she agrees, helping the foxgirl up. "Jerky first, so you can have a snack while we go to get the donuts." Besides, both /do/ sound great, and she had been planning on getting a snack as well, so this will all work out!
The wolfgirl turns towards the trio of magical boys and bows to them. "Thank you for your help! I don't know what would have happened without you three," she says, her gratefulness plain on her face.
It's Yoru's muffled voice, emanating from somewhere vaguely inside Ikuto's chest, that asks Kunzite, "You sure you really wanna touch that thing-nya? It might get you next."
Ikuto assures the nervous Chara, "I'm sure he knows what he's doing." And then Ayana speaks up about more food, and Ikuto smirks. "Hellacious case of heartburn, ne? All that grease," he teases. Tsukiko's thanks comes, and Ikuto waves it off. "We were passing through," he says. "I could hardly work with all the ruckus going on."
...Yup, Catboy's still a jackass.
Takashi thinks on it for a while, deciding wether to break his henshin here and now. While Ikuto knows him as Riventon, he doesn't know him as Takashi, and shouldn't have the relevant information to connect all three parts. Kunzite's an unknown - but it seems like he's more interested in the failed experiment. Eventually, though, he decides Discretion is better.
"I'm Frost Knight." he says, introducing himself specifically to Tsukiko. "Thanks for your help, too. I was just trying to get a burger..."
Somehow, Kunzite forbears from giving the wolfgirl a snarky answer. 'Somehow' may relate to 'let's not invite her making that noise again.' He answers Ikuto, or Ikuto's chest anyway, instead. "If anyone else feels like containing the thing, then by all means. Leave it here, though, and it'll wake up and start eating again, and waste all your efforts. Inefficient. Besides, it tried to consume the other young lady here, not to infect her." He gestures one-handed toward Tsukiko, with a slight nod of his head in her direction. And no, he doesn't follow Frost Knight's lead and introduce himself.
Then again, he's also not touching the ooze with a hand. Boot. Definitely boot. It does not seem to be eating the boots. Right now anyway.
There is no sign of his having either jerky or donuts in his possession, alas.
Ayana leans heavily on the wolfgirl, but peers at the other three cautiously. "Thank you all,' she murmurs, as well. "I'm sorry I caused all that ruckus. I was just ... so very hungry." She's still hungry, but at least she lacks the energy and stupidity to just eat the gelatinous youma again. Her gaze falls on Frost Knight, and that halberd, for a very long time. Then she shakes her head free, and her ears seem to vanish with the effect, leaving a much more normal looking thirteen year old standing in the kitsune's place.
Cute Wolf Tsukiko nods to the three magical boys, then gives Ayana another hug. "Come on, I know of a shop with a wide variety of jerky that's along the way to the donut stand," the wolfgirl remarks to the foxgirl. She starts walking along with her friend, heading down the alleyway towards the next street over.
She doesn't de-henshin yet, though. Once she's out of sight of the others, sure, but not until then.
Indeed, no, Ikuto doesn't seem to recognize Riventon/Takashi as this 'Frost Knight'. He can of course see where the name comes from though. Kuzite's lack of acknowledgement of the question just has Ikuto believing that, just as he thought, the man knew what he was doing in picking it up. As for containing it? "Not my job," he states plainly.
He does at least have the grace to accept Ayana's apology at face value. Ikuto nods, and observes, "As long as you're all right." So there's some humanity in there somewhere, it seems. As Tsukiko seems to be heading away, likely with Ayana in tow, Ikuto offers a nod of farewell to the two girls.
Then he turns to Frost Knight and the unknown other man (that would be Kunzite), and sends them both a look. And then, before anybody can assign him to cleanup or containment duty-- not that he has any purification abilities to do the trick anyway-- he leaps up to a roof. He still has to get those X-Eggs for the Director tonight, too...
Takashi watches Ayana leave with Ikiko. He's still a little worried, but he can't de-henshin and he's sure they both don't feel comfortable around him, either. And he's uncomfortable around Kunzite.
He looks back at Kunzite. "Have fun with that. Try not to let it out." he says, strangely knowingly. Then, he makes a /massive/ jump, clearing the buildings around entirely. He might not be able to fly like most Knights yet, but that doesn't seem to be harming his travel time!
"Because that plan worked so well for the last owner," Kunzite mutters, but it's largely to himself rather than a barbed comment in Ayana's direction. In everyone else's wake, he wraps the bits up in his cape, familiar as it is as a focus for his powers, and straightens to --
To eye Ayana and Tsukiko warily, just for /one/ moment. That's a more familiar silhouette, without the ears. But he doesn't say anything; that Ayana doesn't know he owes her something of a favor doesn't mean he can't consider it paid.
He flickers out in shadow instead, to go find a sufficiently isolated place to contain this particular monster, and keep it from trying to eat other monsters until he actually wants it to. He'll have to feed it something, he supposes. Pity Nephrite's already missing.
Ayana clings to to Cute Wolf Tsukiko as the other girl leads her away from the alleyway. "Did I hurt anyone?" she asks Tsukiko quietly as they leave. Once they're out of views, she, too transforms: her clothes changing from the odd mixture of her familiar barrier outfit into a more normal sundress and tall socks. At least this way no one can connect her by outfit to the monster.
Once Tsukiko is confident that the others have left, there's a silvery glow as she turns back into Ikiko. Ayana's swift and silent outfit change raises an eyebrow for a moment, but -- eh, kitsune.
"All things considered, you were actually pretty polite," Ikiko notes, giving Ayana another hug. "That gelatinous parasite was mildly vicious, but I think everyone will be okay with some rest."
She gives her friend a concerned look. "Are you /sure/ you're feeling better?" she asks worriedly.
"I vaguely recall a little girl," Ayana says unhappily as she hugs Ikiko. "I hope she's not too hurt." Her stomach growls, and Ayana reaches down to cover it. "I ..." she trails off, thinking back on the events of the past week. "No, I don't think I'm okay," she tells Ikiko quietly. "I may never be okay again. But mostly I'm hungry, and I don't think I want to think about it. I don't have any money, though."
"My treat, then," Ikiko smiles gently as they walk along. "And if you ever want to talk about it, I'll be glad to listen."
The fact that Ayana showed up after a week, hungry and possessed by a hungrier youma, makes Ikiko think. Where was Ayana's brother during this entire mess? Why didn't he make sure that she was fed? What can Ikiko do to help make sure Ayana gets enough to eat?
And come to think of it... if Ayana is a fox that was turned into a kitsune, then what is with her brother? Or should it be... 'brother'?
Ikiko stays silent for a while as she ponders these questions. There's so much that she wants to know -- possibly several things that she /needs/ to know -- but now is not the time to pester Ayana with questions.
Now is the time to feed a friend.
Ikiko gives Ayana another smile. "Just a few more blocks to the shop with all of the jerky," she promises. "And then after that we'll go get donuts."
Ayana-that-Was would feel bad about extorting her friend for food. Not too bad, but bad enough to at least recognize the feeling of guilt within her. Ayana-that-Is still feels the sensation, but it's more detached; like watching someone else's guilt from the outside looking in. She stays quiet as they walk the rest of the way to the jerky shop, analyzing the sensation of recognizing her guilt but not actually experiencing it.
At the jerky shop, Ayana orders as much for herself as Ikiko will let her get away with, mostly beef jerky, but also some salmon jerky as well. Spicy, sweet, and everything in between. When they finally leave for donuts, Ayana's curiosity of guilt have been replaced by a mouthful of food, which she chomps on happily as they walk. Between bites, she asks, "How did you manage to not be drained by the gloom that was surrounding me?"
Ikiko Hisakata bought some jerky for herself as well, but most of it was for Ayana. "Determination, I guess?" she shrugs, taking a bite of some jerky. "I felt the drain at first, but I knew that I had to do something to help you, so I charged in and hugged you."
She covers her mouth as a yawn sneaks up on her. "I think it affected me more than I thought," she admits sheepishly. "I'll probably sleep solidly tonight." Now that things have calmed down and she's no longer running on a lively mix of adrenaline and fresh-hot concern, Ikiko is starting to feel the effects of the fight.
"I see," Ayana replies thoughtfully, eyeing Ikiko askance. "If you eat, it gets better," she tells her friend. At least it always does for Ayana, but that's because she converts food directly into mana.
Again the fox falls silent for a bit, finishing off the first little baggie of jerkie before she speaks again. "Hey, can I come stay at your place, again, tonight?" she asks curiously. "Without Reiko-chan this time," she notes. "Not that I mind Reiko-chan, but .." what's her excuse? Nope, nothing. So she just leaves it at that. "If you can't, it's okay. I'm just bored." What with being out of school for the entire week? Of course she is.
Ikiko Hisakata nods to Ayana. "Food and sleep; sounds like a good combination," she agrees, taking another bite of jerky.
She gives Ayana a slightly inquisitive look, but fishes out her cellphone and sends a text home, placing the request and giving a vauge explanation for what's going on, as well as giving an estimated amount of travel time. After a few minutes, a reply comes back, then a convsersation composed of several short back-and-forth texts.
When the last text comes in, Ikiko nods and gives Ayana an encouraging smile. "Yes, you can come over! We'll even be able to have you over for dinner!" More food for Ayana is undoubtedly a good thing!
Ayana smiles a little at Ikiko, but it isn't the broad, excited smile she might have given once before. Instead, it is a subtle thing; almost calculating as she studies her friend. Or maybe it's just that she's too hungry to give her usual excited smiles. Reaching into her pocket, Ayana pulls out her own phone and sends a text to Takashi:
Taka-kun, I cleaned the lab, but ate an experiment. Sorry! The new door is on the way. I'm going to sleep at Ikiko's house tonight. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow after school.
Ayana slides the phone back into her pocket, then her smile grows a little broader. "There, now my brother knows where I'll be," she says as she wanders along. "So did anything cool happen in school this week while I was out?" she asks.