Takashi turns the phone in his hand over a few times idly. Like he does when he's unsure of what to do, when he's drifting, he's wandering through the Three Wards. One of the things that sets him apart from the populace though is that he's not been wandering through the streets - he's been flying around. He's turning the phone in his hand as he sits on the edge of a massive building in Mitakihara's Neon District, out of henshin for a moment. Finally, he elects to send the text message he's been wondering about for so long.
To Ami-chan: Hey, are you okay? I haven't seen or heard from you in a while.
That's pretty innoculous. And matches a lot of his opinions. After all, the last time they'd seen each other had been when she was playing nurse after a brutal fight, and he knew Ami was, in some way, involved in the magical world.
Ami hit the books hard u pon her return from Paris. Between trying to re-set her physical clock, and keeping up with the abundant amount of research she needs to do, the bluenette has been too busy for many trips to the Game Center Crown, and she hasn't paid a lot of attention to other goings on outside of the school world.
The text, however, is not ignored. The one thing she has kept close to hand has been her cell phone, just in case Usagi needs her. So it is rather quickly that Takashi receives a reply:
To Takashi-kun: I'm just fine! I didn't know you were looking. Everything okay?
Takashi breathes an audiable sigh of relief - one that, like many of his reactions towards various people, does not go without internal analysis - when he recieves her text back so quickly.
To Ami-chan: I'm glad to hear that. I was going to start really looking if you didn't reply. Given the circumstances we saw each other last under.
After a much longer delay he sends another text.
To Ami-chan: Thanks for that. I didn't realize how bad off I was. That's why I started to worry when I didn't see you around.
This time her reply doesn't come right away, but it's short enough that it could be attributed to a trip to the bathroom. It does give Takashi plenty of time to send both texts before she can reply, though.
To Takashi-kun: Hey, that's what friends do. Especially in our world. We wouldn't be the good guys if we couldn't help one another, right?
Takashi stretches and lays on the top of the roof while he waits for the next text. He reads over it and considers. Of course, he knows he's not the good guys. Not really. But something somewhere doesn't mind being called that. And there's no reason to deny it, not in regards to her.
To Ami-chan: Well, I don't have many friends who'd do that. Anyways. Would it be cool if we met up somewhere? If you're not terribly busy.
Ami's reply comes even slower this time. And no one goes to the bathroom twice in a row. Which means either something else is distracting her, or she doesn't know what to say to him.
Just when he might think she's offended at the request, though, his phone bleeps with her next text.
To Takashi-kun: I dunno ... I want to, but I've got a lot of work to do for Virtue, and it's a school night. What did you have in mind?
Takashi rolls over to his side - still on the rooftop - and looks at Ami's text. 'come hang out with me on the roof of some random store in the neon district' doesn't have much of a proper ring to it. He looks at hers.
to Ami-chan: Anything I can help with, if the work's that overbearing? Otherwise, it depends. All I know really is that you're good at chess, good at saving me, and you looked resplendent in that dress. How else do you like to spend your time? Cram school doesn't count.
Takashi looks at the text for a while before sending it. He backspaces out the 'looks' part... before looking at his phone, shrugging, and typing it in again and sending it. No reason to not tell the truth.
Ami considers the pile of notes she has staring her in the face. Dark energy, light energy, corruption, betrayal, alternate histories, pre-histories. The sheer volume of information she's collected on the dark kingdom is staggering. But letting Takashi into that part of herl ife is terrifying, even knowing he's Frost Knight. What would Venus say?
What would Luna say?
Ami reaches up to pet the cat at the thought, then sighs. "Luna, why don't you go sleep with Usagi tonight? I'm going to go out and see a friend, okay?"
"Ami-chan? Is everything okay?" Luna asks in reply.
"Yeah, it's fine," Ami lies to Luna with a little smile. "But I'm going to go see a boy, and I don't need you judging him. Especially since we're just friends."
Luna makes a face, but Ami sticks her tongue out at the cat, and she huffs off to go find Usagi.
Ami reaches for her phone once again.
To Takashi-kun: Maybe. I don't know if I can tell you all of it. But maybe you can help anyways. School, work, swimming, and chess; that's pretty much the sum of my life. But honestly I need to get out of this place. It's stuffy and empty and I could use an hour or two away. Where to?
Takashi decides a little bit of honesty is fine here, and he replies back relatively quickly.
To Ami-chan: I'm actually wandering around the Neon District right now... but unless you have a thing for jazz clubs, this area's kind of unfamiliar to me. There's a nice cafe between here and Uminari, with good pastries - or if you'd rather, there's a great little Takoyachi place near the Uminari's harbor. It's nice out today, for January.
To Takashi-kun: Two things in life I will never turn down: Takoyaki, and a view of the ocean. I know the place. I'll meet you by the dolphin statue out front in about thirty minutes?
Takashi smiles a bit as he taps out his last message.
To Ami-chan: Be careful about telling me what you'll never turn down, I'll use it as an excuse to talk to you more. Anyways, see you in thirty.
Then he just slides forwards off the building, henshining into Frost Knight on the way down to jump his way across the wards and be leaning up against the statue when Ami arrives (unless she uses the Dimensional Space Express, which he really can't match for time.)
Teleportation is so last night. Ami arrives in a taxi, and pokes her head back in just long enough to thank the driver directly before she shuts the door. For Takoyaki she is dressed in black leggings and a blue peacoat, with matching kiddy-heel blue shoes. Fancy it is not, but there's still a classic elegance about her. She does have a pair of very fancy earings in her ears, though: silver and blue dangling things that sparkle in the moonlight. The pair of blue studs just above in her left ear almost seem out of place.
Takashi went from school to wandering around to flying to texting Ami, and so he's still in his Infinity Uniform, which is a cream-colored blazer and trouser with navy blue trim and black shoes - but it's fitted very well and could possibly pass for a semiformal outfit in a way given the meticulous attention Takashi pays to himself - it doesn't look sloppy in any way, even as he leans against the statue waiting for her.
And while she doesn't look as fancy as she did when they met at Clover Tower, even someone who lies to himself and others as much as Takashi does cannot avoid the way she still catches his eye.
"The earrings are nice." he adds as she walks up.
Ami's smile matches the radiance of the gems in her ears. "I know, right? They're super cute. Usagi-chan bought them for me last week, when we were in Paris." Wait, what? They went to Paris?!
She reaches up as if to show off the earings a little better to Takashi, then smiles at him. "She always finds the most thoughtful gifts. Also, hi!"
Takashi does take a moment to register they went to Paris. But he takes it in stride. "Ah, that's where you've been then." he says, simply. And perhaps, astutely, continues "...is that why you've found yourself with so much work?" After all, normal middle school students do not go on trips to Paris with their friends. Even Infinity students don't. And Takashi /is/ observant.
"Yeah, I actually met with Tsukino-san recently. She's... nice. Very happy." he adds, nodding as she reaches for the earrings. "I think they're very... you. She did a good job picking them out. Anyways, lets get some Takoyaki and we can pick out a bench away from the rest and talk work."
"Mmm, no, the work is irrelated," Ami says with a smile. "I took my besties to Paris on a cultural tour the last week before school started back up. My mom thought it was a great idea for us to experience another culture, and I speak French, so it worked out fine."
Ami's face lights up when Takashi admits that Usagi is nice. "She's wonderful," Ami agrees with Takashi as she follows him to the Takoyaki store. "Honestly, before I met Usagi-chan, I didn't know what friendship was. She's showed me a whole new world. I probably wouldn't have ever agreed to play chess with you in the first place if it weren't for her." Implying they'd never really have gotten to know one another.
"We can actually eat inside, if you'd rather," Ami notes. "There's a quiet booth in the back corner that's usually empty. And if anyone listens in they'll just think we're two weird kids stuck in our fantasy worlds."
Takashi gives Ami's comment a skeptical eye - just because he's used to keeping secrets than any real hunch - but he lets it slide. She mentions she speaks French though, which he picks up on. "I'd like to learn French someday. It was on my radar, but... I had to learn German rather quickly recently, because it's shockingly close - almost dead on - to the language of my weapon. And I know English, too, of course."
Ami's talk about Usagi and the way meeting her changed things strikes a chord with Takashi, as well. "Yeah, I made a friend like that a few months ago." Made is correct, sure, but the friend was a familiar. "And some of the girls I work with really opened me up to people. Before then, notsomuch. I wouldn't have tried to join in on a game I wasn't familiar with, either." Without Ayana Takashi would likely be in his lab even now.
"Inside is fine, too, if you prefer. I just was going with the whole ocean thing. And in a certain way aren't we just the two wierd kids stuck in that world? Sometimes it's strange to realize that the rest of the world really doesn't see things like I see them, or you."
Takashi walks to the door and holds it open for Ami - and momentarily he'll get the Tako (and pay for it, of course) for the two of them before walking with her to the table.
Ami's eyes widen as she realized he'd meant a bench with a view. She considers that thought carefully as she enters through the door and orders her Takoyaki. While waiting for their order to come up she doesn't take a table, she just stands thoughtfully quiet for the time being.
A slow smile begins to spread across her face--visible to the observant, but not noticeable from one moment to the next.
She breaks her own reverie suddenly to say, "It is funny. If I told some guy there are magical girls fighting youma in the streets, he'd laugh in my face. Call me crazy. Or assume I was talking about an anime."
Takashi, hands now full of Takoyaki, looks at her - she hasn't taken a table, so he smiles and presses the issue a bit. "You have to pick one or the other or we're never going to get any work done, though." he says, inclining his head both at the back of this room and then towards the door.
"I think I might be a lot more concerned about the whole... actual truth of what I experience... if there weren't others doing the same. If this is all a delusion, at least it's a shared one."
Ami grinsd at Takashi as she tries to make a decision. But then she remembers her resolution for the New Year, and heads for the door.
"Mmm," she agrees genially as she leads the way towards a bench out on the pier. "Honestly, even when I did learn the truth, I was pretty sure it was a delusion at first. But now there's just too much scientific evidence that it's all real for me to dismiss it anymore. And besides, I kinda like being able to help people."
Takashi follows her out the door (and still manages to use his height and long arms to reach over her and open the door from her while balancing their food in his other hand) and listens. "Yeah. Well, once you realize you're able to affect changes on the world around you, the evidence builds. Especially when other people can be affected."
Once they get to the bench and they set their food down, Takashi smiles. "Alright, so speaking of helping others - what are you working on, and how can I help?" he asks directly, popping a takoyaki ball into his mouth afterwords.
Ami picks a bench that's directly facing the ocean. Despite the darkness, she seems to be happy being able to look in the water's general direction. "A lot," she admits thoughtfully as she puts one of the little fried batterballs to her mouth. "Right now ... I'm following about ten different threads. Separating purity from darkness, investigating different forms of dark energy, and trying to chase leads to an ancient civilization that may have been literally erased from history. It's ... it's a lot."
Takashi leans closer. She has something special now - his interest, his curiosity. "Well, you're definantly working in my field of expertise right now - energy - and my field of hobby - history - so I think it's safe to say you've come to the right other genius." he grins, pointing a thumb at himself. He doesn't lack for self confidence, but there's still that subtle compliment couched within it.
"What's most pressing? I'm sure you've got an idea of priorities, right?" Because Takashi has never ever found himself with too many projects and not enough time. Nope. Never.
Ami sniffs amusedly at Takashi's arrogance. But it seems more like she takes it as a joke rather than thinking him arrogant for saying it. Besides, he is a genius in her mind; the truth is never the wrong thing to admit.
"Ehhh, none of these are what's most pressing," Ami notes thoughtfully, "but all of them may actually give me insight into the thing that is. So they're all relatively equal importance, and solving them will be a tremendous help to me."
Ami finally bites into the first of her takoyaki balls, then makes a pleasant face at the taste, closing her eyes as she savours the sensation. After a moment, she actually starts chewing, swallows, then licks her lips clean. "I think ... the history may be best, but it's also the one I can tell you the least about. Have you ever seen an entire region of space that doesn't exist? Like .. a whole castle but stored in a pocket of spacetime that falls outside of Newton's model?"
Takashi leans forward. "Well, I'll be happy to help you." This time the you is explicit. Because he's pointing at her. But then she starts talking and he smiles a bit.
"You don't... spend much time around Mitakihara Ward, do you?" he asks. It's a serious question, not mean. "Well, I guess it's possible for folks to miss if they're not looking for it. You probably won't anymore, once I tell you." he adds, cryptically, and eats another Tako ball before he continues - a convinent pause, perhaps for dramatic effect.
"It might not be exactly what you mean - but a region of space that doesn't, or shouldn't exist sounds close. There's a lot more of Mitakihara Ward than there should be. I think most normal people don't consider it, because it's outlandish, but there's a lot of space stacked on top of each other there. A lot of the buildings, especially Infinity, have more and bigger rooms than they ought to by square footage outside. But they do."
"Given that it's not unreasonable to assume somebody could shove a castle into a pocket. There's a whole wing of Infinity's labs that doesn't 'exist' but I could also take you there right now."
There is a moment where Ami is legitimately surprised by Takashi's response. No, she hadn't expected any of that, leastwise not from him. But now that she's aware of it, the senshi files the information away for later. Someday it might be useful.
"Whoa," Ami says quietly, suitably impressed. She finishes eating the takoyaki ball she's started on, then drops the skewer into her cup before grabbing the next bit of fried delicious.
"Okay, so ..." Ami thinks for a moment, "So there's a place I found recently on a hunch. It's from a time that no longer exists; a place that once never was. And I think it's got a direct connection to someone who opposes my friends. But what's really important is that it's not the only one like it; there's another, similar place, where our true enemies live. I'm trying to figure out how to ... manipulate it? I know it can be; it reacts to its master's will as if it were perfectly attuned to his whims. If I can figure out how to tap into that, I might get us an advantage when we go to face our own enemies."
Her moment of 'whoa' serves as the necessary response and he's actually satisfied with his yammering about the way Eclipse organizes things in Mitakihara's effect.
Takashi's eyebrow raises. "Who opposes your friends? There's a lot of unfriendly forces out there." Takashi asks, curiously. "But when it comes to barriers... I mean. Witches distort reality with their presence. Mages and Knights can build barriers which shunt off space. So what you're talking about doesn't sound that unreasonable. A lot of those spaces can be manipulated by their creator. We know Labrynths are. I've been doing some interesting work with Barriers. And there's what's going on in Mitakihara. That's directly created, actually. And manipulated intentionally to change how it works."
"Oh, and there's a dimension conterminous with ours, full of negative energy - dangerous place. A lot of the uncontrolled youma come from there natively, as far as I can tell."
"I ... can't tell you that," Ami says gently, grimacing just a little. "It's not that I don't trust you, it's that it's not my decision. I'm sorry. If you were in Virtue ..." she trails off. "Anyways, a Witch's Labyrinth is a good example of what I'm talking about, except this place was ... wholesome? Good? I don't know how to describe it. It felt good. But the place I'm looking to go, I suspect, won't feel so great."
She sighs and sticks another takoyaki ball in her mouth, then chews on it frustratedly. "Ugh, this is so unscientific. I hate when I have to describe how things 'feel' instead of providing concrete measurements. The energy signature definitely matched ... other signatures I've come to associate with positive aspects. Mmm."
Ami quickly moves on, "Anyways, so that's one conundrum. The others are a little easier. There is a man I know who is possessed or controlled by our enemy. He is not, himself, an enemy, although when they control him he becomes one as their pawn. And he is a very dangerous pawn.
"Anyways," she continues, "his body is entirely comprised of dark energy. It's like ... he's only holding himself together through sheer willpower. I've speculated that he has a real body elsewhere. Or perhaps his mind is all that's left of the man who once was. I want to save him, but being completely consumed by dark energy ... all the methods I know to deal with that will kill him."
Takashi nods. "I'm sure we both will need to keep secrets from each other - but that doesn't mean we can't help each other." he asserts. "You could try taking me to the place you did find, I might be able to suss something out in the place it's hard to pick up on just hearing about it. Or if you have measurements, wavelengths. Something concrete, as you say."
When she complains about feelings, though, he holds up a finger. "It's important to remember magic comes from feelings. Just because we can measure it and quantify it doesn't make the source of it any less the heart. Feelings are important, too." he says, bluntly.
And then as he's listening to her talk about her enemy, he puts another takoyachi in his mouth. Intending to chew and swallow it, the things Ami says give him a clear and visible moment of startlement, of discomfort - and the snack lodges itself in the back of his throat, sending him into a momentary coughing fit which does not help his shock at what she's saying.
It takes him ages to get his wits and breath back to him, and he tries to recover from it by talking through it.
"Well, I can tell you positive energy and negative energy are very hostile to each other. They don't co-exist well. Like acids and bases. Sometimes you can get them into a stable solution, but if his body is entirely negative energy and you try to purge him with positive energy you'll just destroy it. I don't know of any other ways to resolve that off the top of my head."
Then Takashi realizes he might've given more than he meant to, thinking over his own words - the stable solution, of course, being the boy sitting across the table from the bluenette genius.
Takashi nods. "I'm sure we both will need to keep secrets from each other - but that doesn't mean we can't help each other." he asserts. "You could try taking me to the place you did find, I might be able to suss something out in the place it's hard to pick up on just hearing about it. Or if you have measurements, wavelengths. Something concrete, as you say."
When she complains about feelings, though, he holds up a finger. "It's important to remember magic comes from feelings. Just because we can measure it and quantify it doesn't make the source of it any less the heart. Feelings are important, too." he says, bluntly.
And then as he's listening to her talk about her enemy, he puts another takoyachi in his mouth. Intending to chew and swallow it, the things Ami says give him a clear and visible moment of startlement, of discomfort - and the snack lodges itself in the back of his throat, sending him into a momentary coughing fit which does not help his shock at what she's saying.
It takes him ages to get his wits and breath back to him, and he tries to recover from it by talking through it.
"Well, I can tell you positive energy and negative energy are very hostile to each other. They don't co-exist well. Like acids and bases. Sometimes you can get them into a stable solution, but if his body is entirely negative energy and you try to purge him with positive energy you'll just destroy it. I don't know of any other ways to resolve that off the top of my head."
Then Takashi realizes he might've given more than he meant to, thinking over his own words - the stable solution, of course, being the boy sitting on the bench with the bluenette genius.
Ami blinks in surprise when Takashi starts choking on his Takoyaki. She sticks the one in her hand into her mouth and holds the skewer there while she reaches up to gently pat his back. Is she going to have to save him from choking!?
No, it seems he's getting things under control himself, so she puts her hand back in her lap and watches with concern. Wh en he starts to talk again, she smiles concernedly, but doesn't intrude any further. Pulling the skewer from her mouth, she sets it in the cup with the first, then picks up her third little ball of yum.
"Yeah, I think you're right on the two wavepatterns canceling one another," Ami explains with a nod. "It's like the theory behind noise-cancelling headphones. Get the right frequency and the other wave just can't continue. Which is great when you want a shield or a weapon, but terrible when you want to manipulate one wave into another. Wait ..." Ami says, opening her eyes in thought. "I wonder ..."
Takashi slows down on the eating because he is aware he's outpaced his benchmate. Then, he thinks on it for a long while before he decides it's safe to offer information to her. "Are you sure the person you're dealing with is the person you think they are? Like... dark energy, positive energy. They're not just born from emotions, they can also cause emotions. Change people's actions." This much, Takashi has been sure of over the long months of his very personal experience.
"Also, don't get too hung up on waves alone. Both kinds of energy really exhibit a unique form of wave-particle duality - it's why canceling it isn't as easy as just finding the frequency. It's also why they manifest so brightly... or so darkly."
Ami turns to regard Takashi thoughtfully, then nods her head and continues tapping that next takoyaki ball against her lips in thought. "I know, I know," she says agreeably. "And that's what I mean by he's being controlled. The dark energy isn't his; it's just all that's left."
Ami smiles as she explains, "Right now he's on an upswing; the real man is in control. But he may be subsumed at any moment. So I take everything he says with a grain of salt; record everything. I make sure I'm not being duped before I enter it into the milieu of data, and I make doubly sure I don't let him catch me off guard."
Sticking the ball in her mouth, Ami chews and swallows quickly. "Anyways, maybe I don't have to cancel the darkness in him. Maybe I can change it into something else. Like focusing a ray of light through a coloured crystal or glass ... slow it down or warp it fundamentally. Split it into a rainbow? Except whatever the opposite of that is for dark energy."
"Well, if he's on an upswing there's got to be something concrete out there for you to find." Takashi offers. "Without anything to produce other energies to offset it, he'd be hostile at best, irrational and ravenous at worst. Like, assuming he's being beneficial to you and not just himself, I suppose." Takashi says, thinking about that comment on a LOT of levels.
"It's very good to see you being cautious with him, though. And... if you succeed in actually changing him rather than purging him, that's data I'd love to have. It could assist a lot of people. And... do you have any idea what you'd use to convert it? That would be one impressive feat - the two powers are diametrically opposed."
"Not positive energy," Ami says with a shake of her head. "And besides, this is just an idea I only had sitting here on the bench." She grins at Takashi, then says, "Guess you helped after all. Even if it doesn't pan out, I'm still glad to have a new angle to explore."
Ami finishes her next ball of Takoyaki, leaving only one on her little plate.
"Anyways," she explains, "Right now I'm thinking of focusing his body through some kind of multidimensional matrix. I don't know. It's weird, but I may have a way to test the idea safely."
Takashi nods a bit as she grins. "Well, realistically, part of the job is just to act as a sounding board - one you don't have to spend time and effort explaining all the underlying concepts to get there." he adds. He looks at the last lonely Takoyaki on his own plate, too, batting at it idly with a free stick.
"I am glad to hear I helped you." he says, carefully, like he's been weighing those words for a moment. "I hope I can do it more often than every few weeks. It's really nice to talk with you like this." With that out maybe his own heart rate will find some normalcy. It doesn't sound odd after having said it like that, after all.
To be fair, some of the things Ami's been talking about have given him his own ideas - rather than solutions to problems, they might end up creating problems for others - and so he's gotten a bit out of the conversation himself, though he remains mum on it.
"Feels a little one-sided, though," Ami notes to Takashi, before popping that last ball of battered delicious into her mouth. She savors this one, chewing slowly, before she finally swallows with a sigh of contentment and resignation.
"You could be sharing your experiments with me," says the bluenette with a grin. "Who knows, maybe I'm smart enough to help you the same way you've been helping me."
Takashi eats his right after she eats her last one. And he smiles after he finishes it - these are so good! - and looks at her.
"Who's to say I haven't been sharing them this whole conversation, though. And that your working out your problems hasn't helped me with some of mine?" Takashi is actually grinning now. He loves puzzles, after all, and that includes in a way inflicting them upon others.
"I know you're smart enough to help me because you have been." he clarifies. "I didn't want to talk with you just because you're pretty." Then, as an afterthought "... doesn't hurt though."
Ami actually blushes at that compliment, and immediately reaches up to scratch at her arms nervously. "Ahehh. Well," she says, "It's um. It's been really great. Thank you, Agera-san," wait wasn't she calling him Takashi-kun?
"I should get going, though," she notes as she stands and puts a little distance between them. "Th-thank you for your help!"
Takashi is directly perplexed by the sudden change in her attitude - complimenting people has become a matter of course for him, in a way - though it perhaps came a little bit easier for him with Ami-chan ever since the dinner at Verde.
"You're welcome, Mizuno-san. Thank you for your help, too." he replies a bit playfully, mirroring her change in terms - but the playful nature he says it in indicates it doesn't mean she's lost any closeness with him by his use of it.
"I'm going to stay here and look at the ocean for a bit. It really is a nice view you picked out. You should text me first sometimes, too." he adds even as it's paradoxical to the way she's putting distance between them.
Ami blushes even more furiously and actually bows to Takashi before she turns to rush away. She'll call a cab when she's not breaking out in hives.