Reiko Touyama stumbles out of class and yawns. It was a tiring day. She doesn't seem /too/ chipper, which is odd for the usually smiling meganekko. She walked to her locker and began stuffing her schoolbooks inside as she closed it and sighed, spinning the combination lock as she leaned up against the lockers and began to sliiiiide downwards to the ground as she sat with a sigh.
She placed her sketchbook in her hands and began to flip through it. A picture of Cute Wolf... a picture of Black Fox... she ripped these out of her book and right there on the ground began drawing a new picture with her pencil rapidly, gently peeking around. It was odd for her to do this- but she typically did it when things agigtated her- just sit in front of her locker and sketch.
She was trying to keep alert for anything else in the hall as people began filing out.
Another day at school. Another day of staying quiet in the corner. Another day of being sent to the school counsilor to try to figure out what was wrong with her. Another day of trying not to be noticed by anyone or even seem like she was trying to make friends. That was Misa's day. All the while, Maeko had been watching as usual. Every so often, those with powers might have sensed a small blip of dark energy, but this was something that wasn't entirely unusual at the school, as it had been going on for months now, but there never seemed to actually be an attack or anything of the sort, and it was very subtle.
Misa stepped out of the classroom last of her peers, and moving slowly and quietly. She was hiding her face in a book at the moment; not really reading it so much as trying to look like she was busy -- which meant that, unfortunately, she wasn't presently aware of Reiko who was drawing on the floor.
If Reiko didn't notice or say anything, there was a good chance that Misa might just trip over her or bump into her, as she was walking in her general direction. Or worse -- Misa could possibly be on a course towards Reiko's drawing! Which would just be horrible!
Reiko Touyama is sketching...two figures... holding each other-----features... body..... she's on a massive spree and then---whoops! Misa trips over her because she's sitting on the floor! Her eyes go wide and she tries to duck her legs in, in time but that doesn't work out.
She eeks and reaches out to catch Misa- putting her book to her side quickly, not worrying about it. Sketchbooks can be replaced... drawings redrawn.... but people can't and she doesn't want her hitting her head or something too hard because of her!
She eeks. "H--hey are you okay!? I'm sorry! I was...just trying to find a quiet place to draw!" she says spastically!
Sketching, sketching, sketching, doll! ... Misa gives a surprised squeak as she begins to fall over -- and... then... Reiko reaches out to catch her! Catching Misa would probably be surprisingly not that unpleasant. Even though her skin seemed like it was slightly oddly hard, she was also ... fairly light. And very skinny.
"Uwah! A-a-ah, uhm, I-I'm sorry, I was... uhm... I wasn't... looking where I was going..." Misa says quickly, moving to get off of Reiko as fast as she can-- but even just that brief contact ~might~ have been enough for Reiko to feel the doll joints and similar on the girl's body, depending on where her hands ended up. Misa shifted a bit nervously, looking at Reiko to try to make sure she was okay, without actually touching her.
"A-are you okay? I'm okay, don't worry." Well, she might have a crack or two because she was fragile, but those tended to heal quickly, and were hidden by her clothing at the moment. "U-uhm, t-the library tends to be pretty quiet..." She mumbles.
Of course, since Misa was interacting with someone... Maeko was nearby, watching. Judging silently with her malevolent gaze, visible just out of the corner of Misa's eyes, and somewhere behind Reiko, peeking around the corner of a set of lockers...
Reiko Touyama slowly stands up and helps Misa up as she frowns. She's light. Hard? Is she sick? Her mind does not immediatly go to magical causes as most people. She picks up the ripped out pictures and the sketchbook and her backpack as she blushes. "I'm sorry....um. Oh! We've met before....haven't we?" she asks as she taps her chin...
"I ... hrm----...." she can't seem to remember proper. "... Fifth grade...right?" she asks softly.
"...I... think... you and one other tripped down the stairway into me and I caught you..." Misa says towards Reiko thoughtfully at the mention of having met before. "Well... caught is possibly, the wrong term. I uhm. Broke your fall. Yes. That's it." She says, nodding firmly. "I, uhm. Yes. I'm in fifth grade. I'm Misa Sakagami." She says, introducing herself again in spite of the fact she most likely did before!
She looks at the ripped pictures... and the sketchbook. She thinks quietly for a few moments. "...It's okay. With drawing, you uhm. Have to sketch as ideas come up, right?" She asks towards Reiko, giving a slightly awkward smile.
A possibly familiar ~giggle~ might be heard by Reiko from down the hallway. Similar to the giggle that had happened shortly after the trip down the stairway. Though if she looked, Maeko was hiding again. Always staying just out of sight.
Reiko Touyama ohs! "Oh! That's right!" she smiles a bit. "Come on then, let's go to the library...." she says as she motions along. "You didn't get too hurt from that...or the fall just now. Right?" she asks as she slings the bag over her shoulder.
"Yeah just. Stuff going on and---I draw with my heart n'...all that n'... stuff." she says with an exasperated sighhhhh. She closes her eyes for a moment as she peeks around. Eh?
"Eh...?" she asks looking back at Misa, thinking she giggled.
"Ah, uhm. I'm okay. I'm ... a bit clumsy so uhm. I just uhm. I am used to getting scrapes and bumps all the time." Misa responds, giving a helpless shrug. "I...I'm okay." She says again, standing up as Reiko begins to motion her along. She seemed to hesitate a bit, shifting in place nervously, glancing around when Reiko's eyes closed. Okay. Maeko didn't seem to be doing anything wrong right now.
At the 'eh..?' and look at Misa, Misa just shifted a bit in place. "H-huh?" She asks towards Reiko, looking confused at her. She had gotten good at hiding... very good at being dishonest. She kind of hated it. "D-did something happen?"
Reiko Touyama blinks. "No, I thought you giggled...or said something." she shrugs and smiles. "It's okay!" she says as she sighs and walks along, making it to the double doors leading into the library, she pushes through and holds them open for Misa as she waits with a grin.
She finds it mostly empty this time of day, a few students here and there, but she finds a nice quiet table to sit down at. She places her sketchbook down and begins drawing again. It's easy for her to erase the marks she made during the accident and continue on without a second though.
She smiles up at Misa. "So...Misa-san.. was it?" she asks. "Can you tell me a little about yourself?" she asks softly. "What do you like to do!? Are you in any clubs?" she asks with a wide smile, typical questions as she draws.
"O-oh! It must have been someone down the hall or something..." It was plausible, even if there weren't many people still out in the halls, since most people had already gone off to clubs or headed home or something. Misa ended up following Reiko to the library, which ... kind of had her a bit on edge on the inside. Would this make Reiko a target?
A quiet table. Not many people around, but just enough. Would it be safe to relax a little here? Maybe a little. Even if it was a self-appointed loneliness, Misa /was/ Lonely. "Ah, uhm. I uhm. Don't... really... do much. I kind of ... go home after school." Misa says awkwardly.
"Eh-heh-heh... l-lame, huh?" She says, opening the book she had been pretending to read earlier, looking at it quietly for a few moments. "...I'm not in any clubs. I'm uhm. Not really athletic or anything... about all I'm good at is tripping." She mumbles.
Reiko Touyama head tilts and frowns. "Well that's sad...." She says softly. "Not even the Library Club? It's quiet and there's not a lot. People talk about books!" she beams. "I'm not in it though...I'm in Art and Anime Clubs." she says softly.
She seems to be drawing two figures in a /romantic/ pose. She's defining them now. They appear to both be small but feminie--- now she's drawing ears on them now though.
She peeks back up. "Not lame, but...how come?" She asks. "Just clumsy? You worry a lot?" she asks with concern.
"... I don't talk to people much." Misa mumbles quietly, turning another page on her book. "Well... I guess... I'm okay at other things. I uhm. I'm okay with occult stuff... I read a lot of books." She says quietly, "Spells and ... curse breaking ... and stuff." She explains quietly, turning the book she had around so Reiko could see. It was a book on old exorcism and curse-breaking rituals, shrine maiden style of stuff involving prayer slips.
"...None of it seems to actually do anything. But it is interesting... I guess." She says, looking towards the drawing that Reiko was working on. "...Ah... well... I could have guessed... the art one." She says with a very small smile. "...You seem to be pretty good at drawing." She says, a quiet little compliment.
"Ah, uhm. Just ... I don't... uhm. The occult club was scary... and the other clubs were not... really uhm. I-I don't ... do well with people..." She gives a small nod to herself. That should be a good enough explanation.
Reiko Touyama smiles. "I used to be 'bad at people' before I met Mei-chan..." she says softly. "--and she got me talking and showing my art an stuff around." she says softly. She looks...
"Curses breaking....?" she asks with a series blinks. She taps her chin. "Why you intrested in that?" she asks as she peeks at Misa curiously.
She begins sketching the forms proper of Cute Wolf and Black Fox, as she seems to be some sort of sketch machine. She head tilts a little.
"Why was it scary? If you're intrested in it... then...." she mumbles.
"...People, uhm. People who spend time around me... end up with really bad luck..." Misa says towards Reiko, giving a helpless little shrug. "That's... all, I guess... i-it's probably just silly coincidence..." She mumbles softly.
"A-ah, uhm, forget I said anything. I-it's just interesting. Uhm. B-but uhm. T-the club had some weird people in it..." She says, giving a little shiver. "I-it's one thing to read it in a book, seeing people actually trying to practice some of it is scary..." She says, trying to explain it the best she could.
She tilts her head curiously as she looks at Reiko's sketches, turning her book back to herself and turning the page. "... Those two are cute. Like uhm... neko...mimi?" She muses a bit. "But... tails are too fluffy... ... uhm... not neko... ..." She falls quiet as she thinks on that, glancing towards a window. Ugh. Maeko was still watching.
Reiko Touyama grins. "Not quite nekomimi's~ A wolf and a fox." she says. "And they are...in love and---" she just grumbles and blushes and continues drawing as she sketches like a madwoman. "Nevermind, it's just a silly story of mine..." she claims. It isn't, but still. She wants to be safer than sorry and she shouldn't tell what she knows even in a roundabout way.
She blinks a bit. "I dunno, I have bad days and good days." she says softly. "A buncha bad days doesn't mean bad luck..." she says softly. "I just gotta keep my chin up!" she says with a smile.
"...Oh. Okay. A wolf and a fox... they look fluffy." Misa says with a firm nod. She tilts her head thoughtfully. "...I-I don't think there's anything wrong or silly about a story about love... i-it sounds cute." Misa says with a little nod. Luckily, she hadn't met either wolf or fox, so neither one was in danger from her! At least at the moment.
Maeko was another story for another time, of course. "Oh... ... I-I guess..." Misa says, thinking on things quietly. "...W...what if you ... knew for certain... it really was bad luck though?" Misa asks, turning a page in her book.
"...Ah, uhm. Sorry... forget I said that... it was silly." She says quickly, shaking her head a bit, her twin tails bobbing a bit as she straightens her head again. "...I... I must be being creepy, sorry..."
Reiko Touyama head tilts. "Well I'd go to the shrine and get a charm!" she says with a smile. "They're good for that sort of thing!" she says softly. She smiles and finishes the lines. She takes out a pen and begins to detail her sketch lines carefully, tracing them gently and carefully. "But..I dunno if I belive 'real' bad luck." she says thoughtfully....
Her head fills with a vision of Hiroko as she her eyes sideglance a moment and she looks shamed a little. "Maybe there is.. I dunno." she says with a deep resigned sigh as she closes her sketchbook softly a moment. She leans forward. "Whatcha reading?" she asks.
"... Maybe ..." Misa says quietly. Shrines made her feel icky though. Would a charm make her feel even worse than just being there? "...Maybe after I head home then.." She says quietly, hear ears twitching a little bit, which made her sidetails bob a bit. It ~might~ be something cute to look at. Maybe. "...It's uhm. It's just ... a silly thing."
Misa shifts a little bit. "...I-it's not exactly a huge secret... m-my parents fell asleep and didn't wake up a while ago... b-bad luck has been following me since then." Misa mumbles, lifting the book. "It's, uhm. 150 exorcisms of the shrine maidens of Kyoto. I-it, uhm, tells a lot of stories of them... a-and how they did the rituals... o-or at least how they were supposed to be..." She shifts quietly. "M-my parents might be angry with me for surviving... I-I thought maybe... that it might help..."
Reiko Touyama head tilts. "Oh that sounds intresting!" she smiles---
And then the smile gets shot off her face. Like immediatly as she puts the pen down and walks over to Misa and gives her a light hug if she'll let her. It isn't tight. "I'm so sorry..." she says softly, looking down. She might not like her parents very much but- she would be very sad if she never got the chance to see them ever again.
She gently steps back. "Did your parents love you Misa...?" she asks somberly. "I don't think they'd be angry with you. They love you!" she says throwing her arms out in exclamation!
"...I... I'm sorry, I probably said too much... you're... you're probably going to have bad luck now..." Misa mumbles softly, allowing the hug, though not exactly returning it immediately. "My parents... I..."
"I ... think they did... we moved a lot... but ... things were ... kind of okay..." She says squietly, her ears shifting again, her twin side-tails shifting slightly again as she looks up towards Reiko.
"...You don't have to be sorry... it was my fault ... not yours..." She mumbles quietly. "... B-but... you're right... t-they probably aren't angry with me." She says quietly. That hug had, once again, resulted in feeling that hard flesh, and if her hands had ended up in the right place, she might have felt a ball joint -- the most obvious of which being her elbows. "...I...if you see a doll ... uhm... d-don't let it near you..." She says, her tone dropping into a quiet whisper.
Reiko Touyama head tilts at Misa and frowns a bit. "I dunno why I'd have bad luck now!" she says with a cheerful attitude. She frowns a bit though as Misa recounts a few things about her parents. "Well..I can still feel for you Misa-chan---that sounds terrible." she says silently. Then... wait. What. Doll!?
"A doll...?" she asks softly with a solid blink.
Misa shifts slightly, her gaze shifting around some as she thinks on things. "...The doll hates me. She punishes me by punishing those I make friends with." Misa says quietly, keeping her tone low so that the other students probably wouldn't hear. Of course, it was likely inevitable some student would hear and all sorts of rumors would spread. "...She is small, with purple hair, and purple eyes. She is made of ceramic and very cruel." Misa says quietly, rocking slightly in place. "...I have talked with you twice in a friendly way... there is no way she won't be after you..."
This is why Misa wanted to stay out of school often. But her parents wouldn't let her stay home. She gives a soft sight as she rubs her face. "The... uhm... the giggle earlier... that was her..." She shifts her gaze towards the window, staring directly at Maeko. "...She's watching through that window... she won't stay if you look though. She doesn't like being seen unless it's to taunt me..." Misa says, quietly and nervously explaining some probably concerning things!
Reiko Touyama blinks and leans in. "Some sort of creepy doll!?" she says with wide eyes. Okay now she's worried. She crosses her arms and huffs! She sits back down and looks down at her sketch book and looks back up at Misa with a huff. "So you're afraid a doll is gonna come after me. What's she gonna do?" she asks curiously.
She frowns and nods. "O--oh..." she said. She thought that giggle was unnerving. Didn't she hear it before? During that trip down the stairs?
She looks back at Misa with wide eyes. "I can tell you right now! If this is a dark force I'm not afraid!" she says boldly! She points a finger skyward--in some sort of strange poses.
Then a koi appears and mimics this pose next to her. It's floating in midair and looks adorable and magical.
Well that's a thing that happened.
"Y...yes..." Misa says quietly, shifting slightly as she listens to Reiko, her gaze shifting away. "I... uhm... w...well... s...she was probably the one... who tripped you on the stairway... she does things like that... e...everyone I've befriended ended up hurt..." Misa says quietly.
She shifts a bit nervously, "B...but... s...she doesn't... I don't... ever see... what she really does..." Misa explains quietly, looking down. "...She ... she tells me about it.... and tells me it's my fault... b...but..." She shakes her head a bit. And then...
Koi? Misa blinks a couple of moments when she sees that. "...F...fish?" She says confusedly, biting her lip quietly as she thinks on that. Maybe... maybe... was she powerful like that Tuxedo person? She reaches a hand out to attempt to poke at the koi.
Reiko Touyama blinks. "Fish...?" she looks down. "Oh!" it pops in an orange sparkle. "OH! So you can see them too! Okay neat!" she beams. "Usuaully everyone ignores them unless your're like-- magical n' stuff too." she says.
She beams and leans forward. "Yeah! They're my koifriends. They appear sometimes. It's strange. I'm a protector of color!" she says. "My color is orange... and the thing that makes me happy most that's orange is Koi!" she says. "So I can create and use Koi n' stuff!" she says. "Also... magic that fights things that corrupt? It's strange. Anyways, that makes me Prism Keeper Orange." she says nodding intently.
"So if this doll comes after me well me and my friends have things to say about that!" she huffs!
Misa shifts slightly, her gaze shifting slightly from left to right. Before she looks towards Reiko. "...Oh... I see... well, uhm." She bites her lip again softly. She shifts a hand quietly and makes a small seal. "...Release." she mumbles quietly. And... a weak energy-concealing magic fades from Misa, which left her feeling... a bit dark. "...I have... a little magic..."
She mumbles softly. Her magic was definitely weak though, not dangerous. And she didn't /seem/ like she wanted to hurt anyone. Probably. She thinks a few moments. "...I am ... not really a protector though... uhm..." She shifts slightly, moving her arm towards Reiko. "...Feel my elbow..." She says quietly. "... She did it to me..." Her elbow would, of course, definitely feel like a ball joint, almost as if she weren't human. It still had some give though, in spite of being somewhat hard like the rest of her body. "... I hope that she doesn't go after you... but it's probably going to happen..."
Reiko Touyama gently reaches out to touch as she frowns. "Oh...okay...." she says as she huffs. Her crystal is reacting to the dark magic. She doesn't like it. Misa can see it glowing through her shirt. She frowns and she taps it and it quiets down. She reaches over to touch Misa's elbow and blinks. "What's that?" she asks.
She gently moves her hand back and frowns. "I fight things called Shades... they steal color and drain the energy of people. I also get stalked by a creepy girl named 'Griselda' once in a while who wants to break the source of my power because it means orange'll dissapear from the world together. Same for the other Prism Keepers..." she says.
"So I'm used to dealing with creepy girls n' stuff who wanna do bad things to me." she says crossing her arms. "So----! If your doll--- thing comes after me...!" she huffs.
Misa shifts a little bit. "...Her punishment... for uhm.. disobeying her ... I didn't play with her enough..." Misa mumbles quietly. "...So she made me like her..." Which might explain the mild dark magic coming from Misa. She looks down quietly, thinking on things quietly. "...I, uhm. I'm ... a doll too..." She whispers quietly.
She listens to Reiko talk about fighting Shades... that steal color and drain energy from people. She shifts quietly, looking towards Reiko's face. "I, uhm... I really hope... this doesn't make things harder for you... that sounds like a lot to deal with already..." Misa shifts nervously. "...I'm sorry... you just wanted to draw and now something like this is happening..." She says, looking down.
"...It's all my fault... I should have just hurried off again... I'm sorry ..."
Reiko Touyama sort of sits there for a moment in shock as her mind comes to terms with this particular bit of horror. Turning someone into a doll!? Then she gets angry and huffs, slamming her palms down onto the table. "Unexcusable! How dare she does that!" she reaches out for Misa's hand.
She huffs! "My life is already hard! It can't possibly become harder even with this!" she insists. She crosses her arms defiantly.
"It isn't your fault! I skirted you away here to talk! So maybe I'm at fault! But I don't care!" she says with a wide smile.
"You can always come talk to me if your doll 'friend' wants to make a big deal about it well she'll have to deal me, my koifriends and my other friends!" she huffs.
Misa shifts uncomfortably as she watches Reiko get angry and start huffing and slamming her palms on the table, her hands moving to her lap quietly as she watches her. "S...shhh... t...there's people around..." She says, glancing towards the small handful of people that were still in the library nervously. She takes a small breath as the hand was reaching for hers though... she seemed a bit hesitant.
Though she didn't move her hand out of the way, and even took Reiko's hand! "... I... I hope you're right... y...you seem like... a nice and good person, Touyama-san." Misa says quietly, nibbling quietly. It wasn't her fault... but ... if it wasn't her fault, then Maeko would make it her fault somehow. She looks up towards Reiko quietly. She didn't care? ... Weird people...
"...Okay... I'll... keep that in mind... b..but... I'm not brave... I might run away and hide... s...so if you end up not seeing me for a while sometimes... t...that's probably why..." She says nervously, glancing towards the window now and then.
Reiko could probably feel Maeko's hate-filled glare.
Reiko Touyama feels a chill. This makes her feel bad. She sort of grimaces and shakes her head. She frowns and begins packing her bag. "That's okay, Misa-chan...." she says. "But... I'm going to help any way I can and if that means talking to you and trying to get your mind off stuff because you have a jealous doll haunting you- well!---Welll!"
Yeah okay that gaze is getting to her, she still stammers through it.
"I--I'm going to do it!" she says as she puts her backpack on. She smiles---as best as she can and forces herself to give Misa another hug- before she takes off!
Reiko wasn't sure about these consequences--- but if this girl was out to make her life miserable, well---join the club!