Classmate Connection

It's a bright but heavily overcast day at Seiyou Public, the air still cool and chill this soon after the giant tornado. The school is still not fully open just yet, but they had said something about wanting to 'maintain some form of normalcy for the students', so after the cleaning crew had rapidly given the grounds and classrooms a once-over, the school had been opened back up for any students still in Tokyo at the time. Kukai, of course, had made it, and towards the end of classes was going through the grounds, talking to everyone and making sure noone was badly hurt after the storm.

Minoke Sato rolls onto the campus, after assuring her folks that she'd be fine. She stretches, hmmmming happily. "Hello, Kukai-sempai," she states as she sees him talking to some people as she heads towards class. She is wearing her normal uniform with black overcoat and a choker around her thriat with several onyx gems on it.

Kukai Souma hears the wheelchair approaching before he ever hears Minoke's voice, and turns to greet her. "Minoke-san! Hi!" He grins at her, somewhat used to the honorific at this point, hearing it from several students a day. "Really, you can just call me Kukai, it's ok. It's good to see you." Daichi pops up over his shoulder and waves.

Minoke Sato nods. "Alright, Kukai. Then it's just Minoke from me." She smiles. "Exciting last few days, huh?" she asks, looking all around. "Good to see you... and who's your little friend?" she asks, glancing at Daichi. "And what is your little friend?"

Kukai Souma lets out a breath. "Yeah. So much work to do - even more than usual. At least the school's mostly in one piece." He looks over at Daichi.

Daichi cheers. "I'm Kukai's Guardian Character! I was born when Kukai couldn't choose between which sport to play, but loved them all!"

Kukai nods. "A Guardian Character is born from the egg in a child's heart. They represent who we want to be when we grow up, and they help guide us along."

Minoke Sato nods. "Oh - that's interesting. So he's part of you or something?" she asks. "I have my Device..." she muses softly. "Say hi, Vortex. Quietly." "Greetings, Kukai. And... the Guardian Character, designation unknown." She ponders. "Good point - what's your name, little guy?"

Daichi poses for the attention. "I'm Daichi!" But then he stops, hovering over closer towards her. "Wait, who said that? Is it a ghost? Are you haunted?" His little eyes are so big and wide that he looks much younger than ... well, whatever age a Chara is.

Minoke Sato sighs. "No - it's not a ghost. It's a Device. A high-tech weapon that hides itself as a gem, "she muses, eyebrow raised at Kukai.

Kukai Souma and Daichi both oh and nod. Kukai speaks up after a moment. "That's what lets you hover around and get out of the wheelchair, isn't it? That's an amazing thing to have."

Minoke Sato nods. "Yes, that's right. But Vortex can't do it forever..." she muses. "She needs to rest from time to time..."

Kukai Souma nods. "I dunno how long I can stay in Chara Transform. As long as I need to, I guess. But I tend to come out of it when I don't need it. I feel like if it's something I can do myself, I should do it.

Minoke Sato nods. "I don't have that luxury - i need Vortex to move without the chair..." she muses. "So - Daichi knows enough to hide if normal people are looking, right?"

Kukai Souma grins. "Normal people can't see Guardian Characters. So it's not a problem." He nods. "Yeah. He actually recognized you before I did. I watched some of your videos from back when. You were really good."

Minoke Sato blinks. "You... you did?" she whispers softly. "Hopefully... you didn't watch the last one... did you?" she whispers, a tear comingo ut of her eye. "I tried... so hard to... not think about that fateful day..." She slumps.

Kukai Souma frowns and reaches over, patting her shoulder. "I.. when I realized which video it was I stopped it before I saw. I..." He stops, thinking, trying to come up with some manner of comfort and hope to give her. "Sometimes when our dreams are taken away from us, we get new dreams, or find new ways to make the old ones happen. What's important is that you don't lose that feeling of hope and joy. And if you lose your way, you seek to find a new one. Yeah?" He smiles and gives her a thumbs up.

Minoke Sato blinks. "There was no warning - I was doing my routine - I heard a sound, and the next thing I know I'm flat on my back. It didn't even hurt..." She sighs softly. "That was four years ago. A nd that's why my Barrier Jacket has a unitard and... that's why I go by Firebird. Because I did before..."

Kukai Souma nods. "At least you weren't hurt. It would be really bad if you were hurting all the time." He smiles. "You'll be the Firebird whether or not you're in a wheelchair, as long as you want to be the Firebird, and keep it in your heart."

Minoke Sato nods. "yes... but for the last four years I put that name away - it hurt too much to call myself that..." She sighs softly. "But now that I can fly again..."

Kukai Souma shakes his head. "Come on, what else are you gonna call yourself? Even if Vortex goes away, you're still the Firebird. It's part of who you are, yeah? So don't feel bad about it."

Minoke Sato nods. "But a bird with a broken wing is a pathetic thing, and for the last four years I was such a pathetic thing."

Kukai Souma kneels down and looks her in the eyes, grinning. "But you can -fly again-. And you were never pathetic. You had the strength to keep going, even when you didn't have Vortex in your future. You understand?"

Minoke Sato shakes her head. "No - I don't..." she whispers softly. "I... I was falling apart - I... I had thought of ending it a few times. I even looked a few things up on my phone. Just warm water, slit my wrists, take some sleeping pills and drift away... or something..."

Kukai Souma reaches over, taking her hands in his and squeezing. "Do you understand how bad that would have been? You would never have gotten Vortex. You would never have flown, much less walked again. You wouldn't have been able to help so many people. And think of how sad your family and friends would all be without you!" He squeezes her hands again for emphasis on his next point. "You have to keep hope, because you never know how wonderful life is going to get."

Minoke Sato nods. "I know..." she whsipers. "But every day, the little voice to end it all was growing stronger..." She sighs softly. "Vortex silenced it forever. And for that, you have my eternal thanks," she whispers, as she runs a finger along the gemstone on her collar. It flashes and makes an affirming beep. "It took me two months to figure out the proper flying spell - I think however Vortex came to mem, her memory circuits were damaged - some areas of her hard drive are broken... she has no recollection of anything before being with me."

Kukai Souma nods and then grins. "Well, that's a good reason to keep going too. You can try to find out what happened with Vortex, with her help."

Minoke Sato nods. "Yeah... but I'd need the help of other Device users to try to recover the memory..."

Kukai Souma stands up, beaming. "Then you've got your quest! Find the other Device users and get their help! I'm sure you can locate them, Firebird!"

Minoke Sato nods. "I'm already in contact," she muses softly. "Miss Blue for example." She smiles. "But I have to be careful - just like with a normal computer, a corrupted memory file can spread to the whole system..."

Kukai Souma nods. "Well. I know you'll get it working again." He looks up for a moment, then back at her. "How do you get home every day? Do you have somebody who comes to pick you up?"

Minoke Sato blinks. "I either roll home - it's not really that far - or if it's bad weather my dad picks me up - they got a van with a wheelchair lift." She smiles.

Kukai Souma nods. "It's about time to go home - do you want me to push you today? I don't mind."

Minoke Sato smiles. "You can walk me home, but it's a powered chair. My arms are strong but that'd suck." She whirls in a slow circle in her chair. "So what does your sidekick do for you? How smart is he?"

Kukai Souma ohs and grins weakly, nodding. "Ah, ok. I see that now. I dunno why... Never mind. And he's as smart as I am. And he's...." He looks at Daichi, then smiles. "Daichi's my friend and who I wanna be. He gives me good advice about being cheerful and forward and good at sports."

Minoke Sato smiles. 'Cool... Vortex is my friend too but she's not that much of a conversationalist." She shrugs. "Well - I should get going! I'm going to move along home."

Kukai Souma nods. "OK! I need to go back to the Garden and check on a few things. Be safe getting home, ok?"

Minoke Sato smiles. "See you later, Kukai. I'll see you later. And keep your eye to the sky for flying Firebirds," she muses as she starts to roll away.

Kukai Souma laughs. "Only if I'm not up there myself!" He waves as she rolls away, turning to head back to the Royal Garden...