savethecitydesu | (no subject)

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What: Ami and Asami sneak into the old school building! Others can join too!
When: 8:30PM, some night in June?
Where: Old School Building
Who: Ami, Asami, others!

People in school knew Ami as one person. Asami as Ami's only friend had begun to see a different side to her. And tonight it was almost as if a whole other side of Ami was coming out. A girl who had grown up playing fantasy games and wishing every single day that magic was real so that she could change her body and become who she wanted to be, she had grown up to be a little excited by adventure and the lure of possible mystery. Because if if something beyond explanation could exist at all, that meant there was a chance, no matter how small, that her dream could actually come true.

So when Asami found Ami crouched down by the fence outside the old school building, she'd see the young idol in all black, with plenty of adventuring supplies. She wore a pair of tight black jeans, sneakers, a black turtleneck, and her hair was put up in two buns on the side of her head out of the way. She had a smalls length of rope coiled and hanging from her shoulder, as well as a stack of ofuda she had made from designs online.

"Asami-chan, over here!" she whispered from her hidden spot, waving a short hand to her friend.

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Perhaps it was the sharpness of mind that came from his aversion to cross-eyed, glowing snake gods, but Takuro's mind was very sharp. It was as if he was standing in a perfectly still ocean, and felt every disruption, every wave around him-- the world around him, and its ripples, along with the colorful flow of magic, were his to behold.

This is what the magic taught him:

The building has three levels: a basement, a first story, and a second story.

One story over him, inside the school, where tendrils of mesmerizing spells that whispered sweet distractions to the mind, were three figures. One appeared a warm, almost lime green to his third eye - like the color of a meadow on an breezy summer afternoon. The other one was red, bright red, not like real fire but fire as we KNOW it truly is -- warm, red, hot. The other was a storm. It was like gazing into dark clouds, all calm and promise, and seeing the hidden lightning crackle there.

One story below - on the ground floor - two more figures. Two fires... one red, sizzling with electricity and sparks, and the other a deep, smokey fire.

He knew this too: there were monsters inside. Youkai. Small ones... He could feel their small lives and the magic, along with one or two slightly larger, but dull presences. However, there was something more. Someone bigger... much bigger, to the point that his mind's eye would be confused, for the figure was both inside the building, and much larger than any human could be, standing two stories tall, and wandering the halls in a slow, vigilant pace... until it stopped, and began to turn its head towards him, to fix him an arresting stare with two eagle eyes of bright orange.

(SIMPLIFIED FORM:)
1. Takuro knows the building has three levels.
2. Takuro has detected Asami and Ami on the ground floor, and the other three kids on the top story.
3. There are small and medium-sized youkai roaming.
4. There is one large presence in the building.

Takuro flinched back as the eyes fixed on him, involuntarily breaking the spell.

"Itsuki-kun, we need to move." Takuro didn't look back at his friend, instead peering into the gloom ahead. "Now." He grabbed the taller boy's wrist and set off at a jog, in the opposite direction of where he had seen that looming being.

"Either the place is on fire, or there are five people in here already-" Takuro hesitated outside a closed door before remembering a couple of smaller, non-human presences inside that room. He tugged on Itsuki again and continued down the hallway. "Two on this floor and three upstairs. There's also something... something big. It saw me..."

At a junction, he led the three of them in the direction of the two humanoid figures on their floor. "I'm not sure if we should just get out, or if we should warn the others and get them out as well, or if we still try to spook them off without revealing ourselves."

Itsuki was surprised to see Takuro so alarmed. "O-Oh my gosh!" he said, peering over his shoulder at the school building. It looked so normal from the outside. He rapidly weighted his feelings and made his choice: "I, I think we should get them out. They might be in danger, and even if I don't want them to get magic too, it doesn't mean I'd like someone to get hurt!"

"I don't know if it's going to hurt us. It might a candy demon or something harmless. I just... don't want to be around it. It saw me."

They were approaching the side of the building that had housed the two humanoid figures. Takuro forced himself to slow and catch his breath before turning to Itsuki for the first time since the spell was broken. "This is it. They're close by. You are the one that wanted to come here, so I'll follow your lead. How do you want to do this?"

Itsuki was apparently in better shape than Takuro, because he didn't need to catch his breath that much. Then again, he hadn't seen the looming figure above them, which also accounted for the fact there was still some of that bright spark in his eyes. "Alright, don't you worry Takuro-kun. I got it all figured out," he said, holding a hand over his shoulder so that the kamui could wrap around it, and thus, helping the snake god descend to the ground.

Once he was there, Itsuki reached into his pocket, producing a small, white cloth with two holes in it. Much like a stage magician, proud of his work, he dropped it over the Kamui.

He waited for applause. Finding none, he felt the need to explain - with his chest puffed out just enough and a childishly proud look to him. "Now, would anyone go into a school building where there are ghosts? Methinks no, mister president."

Hoooooooonk, went the kamui, in the honking snake language's equivalent to a long 'boo.'

Takuro bit back a sharper retort and sighed. "There are already demons in this building, Itsuki-kun. I'm sure we could find real ghosts if we looked for them." He glanced down at the glowing snake before nodding towards a door several meters down from where they were standing. "They're in there. Do you need my help or can I read the scroll while you're doing your thing?"

Despite Takuro's gentleness in not giving it to him as bluntly as could be, Itsuki knew that there was some measure of disapproval in the criticism. He shook his head at it, "Um, I think I'll just check the scroll for us, see if there's anything there that... ah, oh, I don't know what I'd be looking for. And Kamui can do his thing, I guess..."

By that time, the kamui had managed to somehow bundle himself in the cloth, and like a proper snake, was enjoying the toasty warmth. It was likely asleep.

Itsuki clicked his tongue, and fell into a curious mental state as he wondered if you could be embarrassed by your personal god. He opened the scroll...

"Hello, Initiate," the scroll said in bright purple font. "Arcane wisdom from ages past has left us this bit of knowledge: you are probably in trouble right now! It is also likely that your current knowledge of spells is very limited. So, this you must know: if it is wisdom you seek, there are many ways to learn new enchantments:"

A list appeared, each item punctuated by a small burst of differently-colored flame.

You can learn magic from:
- Other magic books and scrolls
- Word-of-mouth by other magicians
- Learn them instantly from forces divine or netherworldly
- Discover them as you experiment or practice magic

"However," the scroll continued, "since you opened this scroll now, it is likely you require some form of assistance. Unfortunately, this scroll is merely for initiates, and contains no more spells."

"If we hadn't gotten this scroll for free, I'd be feeling ripped off now." Takuro stowed the scroll away with a sigh. "At least we can hand it in to Iwata-sensei and make him happy, I guess."

He glanced up at Itsuki, his friend's face dim illuminated by the serpent on the ground. "Any other ideas? We don't have to scare them. We could just join up with them and pocket anything magical before they have the chance to read it. Or..."

He pulled out his phone, and showed Itsuki the number displayed on the screen. "...This guy is meant to be pretty good at fear, right? The first three summons are freeee."

The last word was almost sung as Takuro waved the phone in front of the taller boy.

There was a moment where Itsuki hesitated. The first option was certainly gentler, sweeter, and had a very high possibility of sharing the wealth of magic with their classmates.

He puckered his lips, looked at the phone, and, after a few seconds of consideration, said: "...Well it is free."

At that very moment, a phrase in bright neon red (and in English, to boot) appeared over Itsuki, slowly fading upwards before vanishing into thin air.

"Ah... I guess you really don't want them to get magic, huh, Itsuki-kun?"

Takuro shrugged, and looked at the number on the screen again. "I'm kind of excited to try calling a magical number. Let's hope it doesn't make too much noise..."

He hit the call button.

This time there was no sound. In fact, there was no flashy show of lights. There was only two rings of the phone, a 'click' as if the call had disconnected, and then a strip-club, S&M themed horse headed demon man of rippling muscles and an impressively immodest loincloth standing behind Takuro. Well, it was a pure black shadow with red eyes for a split second, then it was the S&M equine nightmare that, arching one unnatural eyebrow (for horses should have no such thing), said in a deep voice:

"Hello... young master. What can I do you for?"

Takuro tried to speak, but all that came out was a soft, choked noise. He cleared his throat before giving it a second attempt.

"I'd like you to scare off some classmates so they won't want to return to this building again. I was told that you were an expert of fear..."

"O-Oh my."

Unlike the previous, bombastic horse, this one had the capacity for modesty. He also had the capacity for arching his brows, which rings as an absolute act of wrongness for all who would see it. There was no shouting, no show of power, but only those eyebrows that go against the will of the gods slowly lowering over piercing eyes.

"I'm not so much into fear as I am into discomfort... but I can give you plenty of that, if that's what you're into," he said, leaning down slightly to look at Takuro closer. "Master."

A pause.

"See what I did just now? That's what I'm talking about... but I'm sure you'd prefer if I kept my displays a bit more conventional?" He said, and then slowly noticed there was a glowing snake on the ground.

Honk.

"Oh..."

Honk honk.

"Huh... well that's unusual, but I suppose... alright, understandable," the horse said, shaking his head and breathing in deep, which made his pectorals and pierced nipples swell out a little. "So... I suppose you'd like them to be afraid, but not--" he rubbed his horse chin before adding, "unable to sleep for days... So, something simple?"

Takuro shrugged. "Whatever is easier for you. Conventional or unconventional. Traumatic or otherwise. Just... don't hurt them, please." He hesitated. "We don't know exactly who is in the building, so nothing too mean."

"Sure. You'd be surprised how much I can hold back from being rough," he said, in a voice like hot chocolate. "Before that, however, I'm to introduce myself... you don't mind if I do, do you?"

Big bold red words appeared before the horse.

"But you can call me K-kun," the horse said, using his hands to wave off the caption so that it'd disappear into smoke. "I'll show you I'm good at what I do," he added, winking after a very uncomfortable pause, to the point the beat had to be calculated to create maximum awkwardness.

"I'm sure that you are... K-kun." Takuro was unfamiliar with addressing demons in such a manner, and was leaning back a little from the horse-headed man that towered over them. "Do you need us to help you, or can we just point you in the right direction...?"

Kaunko gave Takuro a long and uncomfortable look. "No need. You can come if you want..." he said, leaning closer, and closer, until Takuro would surely be bending backwards to an uncomfortable level-- at which point the demon smirked, in as much as a horse could (but not as much as any horse should.) "See? I'm good at what I do."

With that he straightened up, walked towards one of the school walls and reached to his side, where a black, gleaming whip hung from his hip. "You stay back, young master, and let me do the--" uncomfortable pause, "hard work."

After taking a couple of padded steps, the horse demon gave the boys a thumbs up.

"O-oh. Oh well, that's... that's something alright," Itsuki said, a tad meekly, huddling up to Takuro as they walked. "Hey, Takuro-kun," he whispered to the other boy as quietly as possible. "A-are you sure you didn't dial the wrong number? This um, this seems kind of... you know... weird?"

"Maybe that business man meant something else when he gave the number for 'personal, pressing assistance'..." Takuro mused. "But given that K-kun is all we've got other than your sleepy snake, and K-kun seems willing enough to help, I don't see why this is a bad idea."

"Besides," he added, "He looks professional, right?"

"Oh, um, he looks professional alright. Just... not quite sure of what line of work, really," he said, briefly checking behind them to see if the kamui was following along. He was, and had poked its head out of one of the eye-holes on his ghost costume, which it was now wearing as a long skirt.

That's when a giant rat carrying a bucket of dirt fell down from the ceiling in front of the group. Another one immediately followed from behind. Both stood up on their hind legs, hoisting up their bucket and a broomstick in each hand, and roared out:

"It's not even close," Takuro sighed, glancing across at Itsuki. "Just like the subway, I guess?" Taking initiative, he broke into a run towards the rat on the left. He jumped as he got close, swinging his leg with the intention of planting a foot in the new arrival's stomach.

Roll: 1

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VISIBLE ONLY TO TAKURO

Re: VISIBLE ONLY TO TAKURO

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Player dice roll 2

Re: Player dice roll 2