savethecitydesu | Discovery?! The disciplinarians discern enigmas?

Entry tags:

takeo,
tsuchi

Discovery?! The disciplinarians discern enigmas?

Who: Takeo and Tsuchi
Where: The Disciplinary Committee Room
What: Reading the scroll Mitsuya dropped here
When: After this thread.

Takeo had a bandage around the wound on his arm. He had made a point of cleaning up, because even when wounded he wanted to look dignified. "Alright," he'd said, as soon as he'd finished putting a safety pin on his sleeve to hold it up, nice and tidy. "Let's see what this is all about then."

He opened the scroll, and to his shock and surprise, words appeared on it-- literally manifesting as the blank paper was exposed, in a burst of purple flame that left behind inked text. It urged him, however, to say in awed tones: "Utazawa, come look at this...."

HELLO,
YOU HAVE CHOSEN THE SCROLL OF SWIFT INITIATION

Before Takeo could finish taking in what was before him, he felt as if he had been punched in the face, and the mysteries arcane being revealed to him.

He also shouted: "MOTHER FUDGECAKE!" because while most people would shout some obscenity when surprised by a punch, Takeo knew that, in his position as head disciplinarian, someone was bound to punch him eventually, so he'd been practicing.

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"I know," said Tsuchi. Then he began thinking of what he could do himself. He smiled briefly. "But I know you'll find something. You're that clever."

He tenderly turned and faced his friend. "But you make it very difficult for me to say that you're wrong." He was not any too sure how he would make his point, and it came across as uncertainty. "I mean, if he's hiding something bad and all. It's kind of corrupt, isn't it? That's pretty serious, right?"

Takeo closed his eyes and smiled. In the madness of the last couple of minutes, there was something that he could fall back to, something that made him feel well-- trusty Utazawa. If he didn't know for a fact that the other boy had the personality of a sponge, and generally bent to the greatest will nearby, he would feel like he could take the world thanks to his support. But it still felt good.

"Indeed... but, it's not the matter right now. I think it's--"

Takeo got goosebumps then. Little did he know that it involved someone else talking about putting a curse on him. He decided to believe that "Hmm... all this, this magic business, however, makes things so complicated that my thoughts slip. I don't... know how to deal with it."

He could, however, observe the one thing he knew for sure. "But I do know that you..." he looked up at the other boy, "Can calm others. You... calmed that thug. Just as you calmed me, with no... no supernatural aid, huh."

Tsuchi put his hands down on the windowsill and undid the catch. Then, as though casting out his awkwardness, opened the window. He leaned out and inhaled some air. He had calmed people exactly as his friend had said, from the thuggish to the benign. It was odd and a marvel.

His hair blew as he took a downward peek. "I guess so," he said rather distractedly. "I think we should just stop struggling for an explanation and just roll with it."

"Indeed," Takeo had to agree, "and though I won't let go of my curiosity for the why or how behind all this, I have more pressing matters to attend. We need to know if it's dangerous, we need to be cautious... and, more pressingly," he held his hand up, slightly out of the window, "what we have now is power, Utazawa... And we must learn to control it, if we are to use it fairly. Power is there to be used... alongside prudence and," he paused, "just the right amount of ambition..."

It was only then when Takeo realized a chuckle was bubbling up his throat. He tried stopping it, but it continued for a moment... before it went away. He drew his hand to his chest, concern briefly forming on his face, and then a tiny scowl of disapproval. But that flurry of expressions passed as he came to look impassive. "Utazawa, take note... we are to research magic at once. Even that out of fantasy books, even that from silly little new-age guides. All of it. We'll seek knowledge where we can find it! And thus, come to understand our position a bit better..."

He paused.

"Anyway, did you see that? Hmm. I wonder if I can do fireballs..."

Tsuchi was discovering that the thought of reading occult magazines was not entirely unpleasant. His first thought, of reading such things, was that such publications were not exactly dangerous. The second thought was the general strangeness of it. They would not get such stuff from the library. But, since he knew they were careful, there would be nothing for anyone to discover in this room.

He looked across at his friend, a little bemused.

"Possibly? I don't think you'll get off for singeing Oubai's hair, though," he said, scratching the side of his head.

But the knowledge that they could do such things - and possibly be seen - made him say something else, "Do you think anybody else can do things like this?"

Takeo thought for a moment. "Law of possibility says that it's likely, specially since the scroll spoke of us as initiates - I guess that means that it's directed at an unspecified group of people..." he clicked his tongue, "A weapon of mass-induction, if one may call it that?"

He paused, starting to pace. "Araragi had it... and she was coming out from that building, in quite a hurry. While not necessary or certain... It's not impossible to imagine that she may have found something like this as well, or learned to do magic like this. Also, this room is too small, I cannot pace in a proper dramatic fashion, and it's making me angry. Utazawa, brew me my anger-soothing tea that tastes like clementines and gets me all giddy."

Tsuchi went off to discover the kettle. And he was more amused than ever.

But it took him some time to brew water with the old boiler. He searched for teabags that might have disappeared down the back of the cupboard. He took an old cracked cup from the overhead compartment. He knew that he had seen Araragi with the scroll. With the constant pacing occurring at the other end of the room, he felt so tranquil.

"Maybe you should bring her in for 'questioning'," he said, coming back. He put the cup down. "Well, I'm not grass-sitting that building at midnight holding a pair of binoculars. It'll make me dirty. But since it's you..."

"Actually, no. If I bring her in she would realize we figured out that she took that scroll... Nor will we explore that place yet, so our grass-sitting adventure will have to wait," Takeo declared, pacing a little longer. In doing so he repeatedly passed the boiler... and eventually stopped in front of it. "I think... we should focus on figuring ourselves out, before we do more. I mean, beyond mere introspection: we need to understand the extent of these powers of ours..."

He reached down to tap the kettle, as far from the fire as possible. Little by little, he let his hand slide lower, expecting the feeling of heat to eventually kick in, taking a moment before giving a small hiss-- much longer than he should have. "Hrmm... my tolerance to heat has increased considerably..."

Another pause. He put his hand on the kettle again and focused. He thought about the feeling from before...

All too soon, the kettle began to boil.

"Huh. Imagine that. Practical magic..."

Tsuchi tensed almost completely. He was by then far too convinced that sticking his own hand on the hot metal kettle was suicide. It seemed to him that the only way to mirror such behaviour would be to stick his hand in a bowl of water. That was safe.

"You mean witchcraft, sir? Are you going to put a spell on troublemakers or something?"

If there was ever a moment for a villain musical number, it was that where Takeo's looked over his shoulder, expression dull, and ready to just wave off the ridiculous idea... but, instead of dismissing it, his eyes grew wide, his expression lit up as a kid's when they get to the Christmas tree and find their name on the biggest box waiting under it.

He smiled.

It was a smile like a razor. Sharp, bright, and inspiring of caution.

"Why not...?"

Tsuchi, in his agreeable manner, said nothing against it. He understood he had made the suggestion. But something about it moved him away. He seemed to glide, across the floor to the desk that took pride of place in the room.

"You gonna backdate these curses then or something? I can whip out some files. Though, I wonder if we'd be breaking any rules..." He fingered through paperwork.

Now, Takeo turned his full attention to the other boy. He was still smiling. "Do you not think I'm serious about this, Utazawa?" he asked, stepping closer to the desk.

The desk served to remind him that his assistant was taller than him. This really undermined the effect. And so, he shouted, dramatically.

"Arise! Sudden and convenient powers of telekinesis. Bring this chair betwixt Utazawa and the floor...!"

But the chair did not obey.

He spent a moment in silence before scowling. "Fair enough. My powers are not over furniture, yet."

Tsuchi sighed. "No, I just worry." He doggedly went on, through the whole system of indexes. His fingernail stopped above Osamu's card. "And I am quite sure were he to know about it, Oubai-san would have plenty to say to you."

Though, with his behaviour and focus on ethics it was confirmed he was ignoring the vocal display, he still could afford a smile.

"Plus, it bounces back to bite you on the ass, in the movies anyway."

Takeo picked out the student card that Tsuchi's finger had lingered on, observing it. A notorious troublemaker, this Osamu Hinomori... a perfect candidate, but then....

"Ahh, your clearly defensive and mood-defusing sarcasm once again sparks an idea in my mind, Utazawa, like a cigarette bud that starts a forest fire and sends many adorable animals and metaphors running for their lives," Takeo said, bringing a hand to his chin. "It is what happens in the movies... Now, could it be that's just the product of writers needing some sort of narrative conflict, or some ancient truth that has remained in our collective unconscious?"

He frowned.

"On that note, how many of the things we know about magic, aside from the decidedly erroneous notion that it's not real, might be true?"

As his friend remarked on his behavior, Tsuchi almost stopped at another card again. The slight frown on his face showed that it hadn't gone unnoticed. He failed to pull the card out of the holder and instead scratched his head.

"I don't know what to say about that," he said avoidably, "I mean, this is the first time I've ever been asked such a thing, you know? There's enough there we don't know that we ought to do something about it."

"Which is why I suggested we do research. In fact, we should take no action until then..." he said, still looking at the picture in his hand. "Though, oh, Utazawa... imagine the possibilities. The order, the justice, the fairness..."

He closed his eyes.

"The student council treasurer being turned into a frog."

Tsuchi laughed and rolled his head sideways a little.

"You'll enjoy that, no doubt." He looked bemused at the thought. "I had no clue you were into that sort of thing."

"I like living in fantasy," Takeo replied without much hesitation, but without looking back at Tsuchi. "I was already a resident in that wonderful place even before it became a refuge from the unhappier times. It's a nice place... it's where the idea of justice comes from, after all."

He finally turned about to face Tsuchi. "But if you mean turning people into frogs... yes, that too. I mean, don't you ever wake up in the morning feeling" he shuffled, as if embarrassed or as if he were about to say 'not so fresh', "like someone should be a squatting amphibian?"

"Well," Tsuchi began speaking, whitening his cheeks, "there's some people I'd aim such things at."

Nothing else was said then, or even for a while. Until Tsuchi took a hold of his nerves.

"And some I'd protect against it, but let's not talk about that," he added.

Takeo's eyes lingered on Tsuchi for a moment. His lazy gaze was a bit hard to read. Was that acknowledgment or gratitude?

In any case, he nodded. "Well, there's only one course of action now, one thing to do... Quickly, Utazawa!" he clapped his hands before himself, "To the-- to the bookstore!"

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Discovery?! The disciplinarians discern enigmas?

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