Tale as Old As Last Wednesday II [Maid IC]

[Deme]

Yuki nods quietly, and follows after Terran.

As she follows, though, she looks over at Leon, having noticed his trouble with snapping his fingers. As she passes him, she raises her left, metallic hand, and tries to snap her fingers. It accomplished nothing, of course - merely the dull sound of metal brushing against metal. She then quietly gives him a faint little smile, as though to silently tell him "I know the feeling." She then turns and follows after Terran, and goes to see the bath she shall be using.

Leon looks at her hand and pockets his own. He smiles, just a little, as they leave.

((Yuki gets (1d6)[6] favor for that gesture, because Leon thought it was sweet.))

Past the -- and the cat-man sprawled out on Leon's bed like he owns it -- and they go into a side-room. This, in turn, seems to branch into a separate side room, which is the domain forbidden from all RPG characters, that is, the toilet. The one they're in has, first, a washbin; since it doesn't seem to be pipes for this, water for said washbin is in a pitcher on the side. There is not a mirror... But there are basically all manner of soaps, perfumes, little hair fripperies, bottles of shampoo and the like, arranged around the washbin with great care, and probably in order of favoritism. No prizes for whose they were.

There was a curtain, and beyond it, a great white claw-footed tub. The faucet seemed disused, but the tub, while clean, did not.

"...Never had we any luck with the faucet, and thus, the bringing in of water from the kitchen was essential, but I wonder..."

Terran reached over and turned the faucet, and hot water -- presumably from the spring they'd unclogged -- came out.

"Ah, thou shalt profit from thy efforts today after all, Miss Yuki!"

[Trobby]

Ante's body went rigid, the water surrounding her heating up from sheer embarrassment. If this were an anime, and it basically is, the water would bubble as if boiling around her, as she sank into it with a face as crimson as a tomato.

Hani, the ever innocent, looked between Merri and Ante, tilting her head to the side as she compared the two. She then looked down at herself, and patted her own chest, before looking up at Merri.

"It's okay Merri, we're the same size!" Innocent little Hani comments. Her older sister, now more embarrassed than ever, submerges her head into the water to hide herself from the other maids.

[Atreli]

Lune cringed at their words.

This was not what I had in mind. She kept quiet. There is no way I am stepping into this conversation of potential awkward filled landmines.

Oh Merry, If I end up lasting into tomorrow I may have to give you some social pointers. She shrugged to herself.

Not the worst final words ever.

[Lycan 01]

Yuki smiles a bit at the discovery that the faucet works, and rather well at that. "Lucky me," she says aloofly, before bowing her head respectfully to Terran. "Thank you, Sir Terran. I will wait until later this afternoon to use the bath, though. I currently lack the needed change of attire, and I should probably also see to the rest of the maids or any further orders from the Prince."

Assuming there's no protest, she steps back out into the main bedroom, and stands at attention before Leon - though her expression seems at least somewhat relaxed. "Do you have any further orders or requests at this time, sir? If not, I should likely go check on the other girls, and ensure they are getting along and not at the mercy of some sort of bath-dwelling poltergeist or other bizarre circumstances," she deadpans, albeit with a faint hint of a smile.

She's got a point, though. Knowing this place, there's no telling when - not if - one of the girls will grab a haunted swimsuit or summon a giant enemy crab or something.

[Benson]

Merri stared at Hani and worked her jaw and then after a moment she nodded her head. "Yea....we do......we should probably drink more milk if we wanna get impressive ones like Ante." She patted herself again and slightly frowned.

Her mind then went to the time when she fell and got a face full of Ante boobage, as embarrassing was that all was, they were awfully soft and fairly squishy. Still, her face turned a slight tinge of red as she tried to shake the image out of her mind.

[Trobby]

Hani considers this, and nods in a sagely manner.

"I always drink a lot of milk, so I'm sure I will grow up to be like Ante."

Satisfied with this, she swims off to another corner of the bath.

Ante, who feels that this needs some follow-up, emerges from her submerged embarrassment to drift over to Merri, clearing her throat before she, very carefully, words her apology.

"I'm terribly sorry....she's young and doesn't quite...'get' that part of the body yet...I do hope you don't take offense, you...may not have my...'generosity', but I assure you Merri that you are as picturesque as any lady ought to hope she could be."

Spoiler

Show

I'm not entirely sure what the rules for affection/comfort are. For the moment, I'll make an affection check. If something further is needed I'll post it in OOC

(1d6x2)[12]

[Benson]

Merri suddenly felt a little self-conscious about being complimented about her body, well the stuff not her devil heritage she presumed. Her hands re-actively clutched for the apron that was not there so more or less she was lightly scratching at her thighs under the water.

"Uhm...I don't know about that but uh uhm thank you.." She quietly said and puffed her pink cheeks a little.

[Deme]

"Oh, no, I'm fine."

Leon was sitting on the bed, scratching Mozart's ears, with an expression suggesting that eyes had been rolled...But fondly, and now all was settled.

"You probably should be sure that they're alright. You do have a point, after all."

[Trobby]

"...You ah...don't need to worry about me. I won't...I don't think anything badly of you because of what you are." Ante says, choosing her words very carefully. "You're...you are Merri, and I think what you do is more important than what you are...and you're a woman of cultured beauty...perhaps a little...youthful in behavior...but a woman I will gladly work alongside, and this...won't change that."

She extends a hand to Merri tentatively, offering a brave smile.

"Agreed?"

[Lycan 01]

Yuki gives a faint smirk. "I shall take my leave then, and endeavor to save the day," she says with a hint of subtle playfulness.

It seems the assassin is (very) slowly coming out of her shell.

And with that, Yuki heads off to find the baths. It should take her a moment to get there, though. Hopefully she doesn't get there too late to help with whatever trouble may be brewing, or barge in on anything too awkward.

[Benson]

Merri faintly smiled and glanced up, raising a slightly closed hand as Ante offered hers. "Uhm....sure, agreed and uhm stuff." She then shook her hand.

[Trobby]

Ante returned the handshake firmly, glad to be on good terms with Merri, but more importantly glad that nothing awkward had happened.

Of course we can't be having that, can we?

Hani had been watching this exchange since it started, and with all her heart had hoped for it to go well.

Seeing the two shake hands made Hani's heart leap, and as a result her entire rest of her body also lept, right onto Merri.

"Sister!" Hani declared as she glomped her 'new sister' from behind. Perhaps a bit too forcefully, enough so to send Merri forward into an unsuspecting Ante!

[Benson]

"Bhuwh...ack!" Were the only sounds that escaped Merri's mouth as she lost her balance completely. Oh not again....! She then fell forward, her weight and momentum causing Ante to fall over onto her back as once again she fell on the demon. However, as luck would have it, somehow, through convoluted antics Merri's own lips fell upon Ante's.

Now I'll never be a bride!

[Trobby]

And as the players fates conspired against them, it so happened that Ante spiraled back herself in this ballet of pratfalls, landing herself against the edge of the baths as Merri landed herself on her lips, thus locking the two together for more than a mere brief moment, made all the worse by Ante having made an attempt to catch her and secure her fall, ending up looking like a sweet embrace between the two.

It would be quite unfortunate if someone were to walk in on this scene without any context.

[Lycan 01]

The door to the baths flies open, and Yuki barges in dramatically. "Never fear!" she proclaims with suitable gusto for one who is more than likely arriving just in time to save the day. "For I am here to-"

She pauses.

"Interrupt a private moment, apparently," the assassin deadpans with a slight frown. "My apologies."

And with that, she steps back out into the hall and slams the door behind here, leaving the situation in the baths all the more awkward.

[Benson]

Merri's cheeks went a bright red, much brighter than before as the scene happened, made worse by Yuki's conclusion jumping.

She quickly pulled back and untangled herself from Ante's hold and scuttled backwards the other end of the bath. "I-I-I...p-please d-don't get m-mistaken....that was an accident I swear!" She stuttered and sputtered, her heart beating quickly as she attempted to take hold of herself. Her fingertips than slowly reached up and touched her lips, that was her first kiss, oh boy.

[Trobby]

Oh it was worse than that, far, far worse than that. For what Merri didn't realize, and couldn't have realized at all, even if she knew what Ante was and how long she'd lived...

Was that it was her first kiss too.

She stared blankly at the woman across the bath from her, touching her lips for a moment in contemplation.

It...certainly wasn't the kiss she was expecting, and she certainly wasn't young enough to blush like a maiden at having such a thing 'stolen' from her...

It did leave her heart racing a bit more than she'd like to admit though.

Once she had calmed down though, taking a deep breath, she replied to Merri's frets.

"It's...quite alright Merri, no need to get balled up. You're a lovely doll, really." SHe says, slipping into 1920's slang again. "N-no need to go all goofy, we're friends after all, right?"

[Atreli]

Lune watched the accidental horrors with a sympathetic half smile on. There was nothing she could have said that would have made the awkward filled air less so.

Thus she decided to see if Yuki needed any help with any chores elsewhere in the mansion and leave Ante and Merry on their own.

Slipping out of the bath, she vanished into the changing room and got back into her uniform within moments.

As she left the bath to go find Yuki, she gave a final tug on the ribbons tying her pink hair back into place.

[Benson]

Merri watched from the corner of her eye Lune making an exit stage right out the pool. Oh great...we scared her off... She presumed.

"Y-y-yea...s-still fr-friends," She nodded her head and turned her head. This was still just so awkward.

[Trobby]

Ante bit gently on her lower lip. She saw Lune leave too, and came to the same conclusion that Merri had.

Though, now that they hadn't an audience, she felt at least a little bit more at ease, and so could speak a bit more naturally.

"It was an accident, yes? Now, Hani and I have already finished washing up. You ought to do the same. There is still plenty more for us to do this day. Come along, sis. Let's get dried off."

"Awwww." Hani pouted, having just gotten used to being in the water. The two maids emerge from the baths to grab fresh towels, dry off, and change in a sequestered area of the baths.

Ante, in particular, hurries to get changed before anyone can see.

[Benson]

Merri just sorta just hung back and let herself stay in the water longer, she technically had yet to actually wash herself.

[Deme]

What Happened Last Night

Spoiler

Show

Trobby: An eternal flame burns on the horizon, a dark endless horizon that stretches to infinity, beneath a bleak and unadorned void from which souls tumble, some in freefall, some assailed by demons that tear it apart as their screams can be heard in the distance.

On a precipice, looking out over the work of Hell's Minions, Ante stands, watching the souls be swallowed into the dark machinations below. Her maid uniform does nothing to hide her true nature as she watches the demons at work, impassively. She sees the souls of her fellow maids pass her by, and does not even raise her voice to call out to them.

A hand, a taloned hand, presses itself upon her shoulder, as Leon hovers over her. He whispers softly into her ear, in a soothing voice, the only voice she knows.

"This is where you belong." It whispers to her, as a soul being torn in half screams across her vision.

And at that moment, Ante wakes up, shivering in a cold sweat. She checks herself and her surroundings. No one has seen her horns, tail, or wings, and her little sister is asleep this time, but she is now restless, and so very quietly gets out of her bed and wanders into the hallway by candlelight, looking for some way to chase her nightmares away.

Deme: The palace, at night, seems cold and disused -- without some active force pressing against it, the silence of untold generations of disuse creep back into their proper placements: the floor's stones are chilly on bare feet, and shine in the icy moonlight that shafts through the windows. The doors of the other bedrooms are closed, staving off a draft that flows like water through the corridors.
And a song drifts on that draft like a scent through the breeze, crooning out a melody. The voice, lyrical and rich in a near-tearful tone, is absolutely unmistakable.
"Time's not a friend
Hurrying by
I wonder who am I

Am I the face of the future?
Am I the face of the past?
Am I the one who must finish last?"

The song continued, but that last note had been a long one, held across the world for a moment. Leon was somewhere still out of sight.

Trobby: Ante dislikes the cold. Her body is not suited to handling it. She holds her candle close, preferring its heat over the harshness of the lonely chill. She draws out from it when she hears a familiar voice, the unmistakable voice that drew her from her slumber. She lets it, and the enchanting melody behind it, guide her through the castle.

Deme: Eventually, as she wanders towards the kitchens and the central foyer, she finds him.

"Look at me and tell me who I am
Why I am
What I am
Will I survive?"

Leon's disheveled, really only half-dressed, a night-shirt thrown on but only half-buttoned, his creamy hair loose and falling in waves across his shoulders, sliding and blocking his face. He does not carry a candle, and so hers casts the only light in the corridor besides the moon, leaving the great feathered wings, dragging listlessly so the pinions scrape the floor behind him -- and his horns cast shadows worthy of Ante's most familiar dreams.
He sings, though it has an almost hypnotized quality to it -- the feeling is real, but his steps are weightless and dream-like.

"Who will give a damn?
If no one knows who I..."

He pauses mid-step, and blinks. There is something bleary about his expression.

"Oh."

Trobby: "...A little over a minute, though I only just stepped into the room, Master Leon." She says, anticipating his question, as she finds somewhere to set her candle down and approaches him, holding her night gown tightly to her body to fight off the cold.

Deme: She had, however, anticipated the wrong question. He ran a hand through his hair in a sort of vestigial effort to adjust, but did not actually adjust it in any way. He stumbled forward.

"...When did I get here?" He tried, instead. His voice had kept the mournful quality of the song, but had lost the energy of being propelled by melody, and was left listlessly drifting along.

Trobby: "...I cannot say." She admits, though she wishes she could be more comfort. She holsd herself back, not in fear of him, but in fear of upsetting him. "You...have been sleep walking?"

Deme: Something like a smile drifted across his face, the first hint of a Leon-like expression. Wings trailing behind him, he leaned against the wall, practically melting into it.
"...I feel like I'm always sleepingwalking now...Is that the way it is?"
He muttered, more to himself then to her.

Trobby: "...Shall I...escort you to your room, Master Leon?" She offers him a hand, wondering at his words. Perhaps to him, in a body that is not his own, it is like a dream, or perhaps he only wishes it were so.

Deme: He places a hand in hers, though he does not yet start moving.
"That name again...I know it. I know it and it's strange. I know it... and I know you...."
He lifts his face up towards the ceiling, peering up with distant focus. Then he shook his head.

"And then it's gone. It belongs to someone else."

Trobby: "...No one can take that from you, Leon." She says, clutching his hand tightly with both of hers.
She holds her hands there, not sure what else she can say.

Deme: Leon's desperate, frightened eyes fix on hers for a moment, finally arising out of the sea of sleepwalking confusion.

"I don't know if that's true anymore...I...I might be the one taking something."
But he holds onto her hands tightly, regardless.

Trobby: "...You're frigid cold. You shouldn't be out so late like this." She says, taking firm hold of one of his hands, while reaching for her candle. "I shall escort you this instant, and I will here no guff about it." She insists, hoping a firm tone will help keep him roused out of his dreamlike state.

Deme: "...I...There was something I came here to do, I'm sure of it." Still, he does not resist her attempts to rally him forward. He smiles ruefully, and a very clearly Leon-like expression rises up onto his face, like a cork bobbing in the sea. "I'm sorry, I'm not making any sense."

Trobby: "It can wait until morning." She assures him gently, patting his hand. "When you've had proper rest Master Leon. Do please follow me." She says, and though she only vaguely knows the way, she guides him back towards his own quarters, holding the candle out carefully to guide them.

Deme: "...The painting. I wanted to see the painting," He mutters as he walks along, trailing after her by the hand, his steps uneven and trailing. "The one in the foyer -- you've seen it, right?"

Trobby: "...Yes...we can stop by there...It shan't take too long." she assures him, making a detour towards the foyer. She leads him slowly, not wanting to overexert him this late at night.

Deme: He followed along passively, letting her hand do most of the work, while he himself focused merely on putting forth the least resistance.
”Ante, Ante -- yes, that's it -- do devils have parents, Ante?" He asked, sing-song and far-away sounding, preoccupied by the prospect of his suddenly lost, suddenly acquired goal.


Trobby: "...No. No we don't." Was it a lie? Or was it an unwanted truth? Even Ante wasn't sure. Cosmologically, she was as eternal as angels, but she hadn't ever asked that question of herself either. She held tighter to his hand, not wanting to lose him in the darkness.

Deme: "...Hhn. There's a lot of cause-and-effect missing, there. Then, that's the idea, theologically, isn't it? That the start of the chain's got effects with no causes, while the end must have causes without effects..." He put his head in his spare hand and shook. Not his head. Just in general, like a shudder. "...How do I remember that, of all things, of all nights? I remember that, and not my own effects, and not my own causes..." Leon continued letting himself be led to the foyer, though.

Trobby: "Remember when we first came here, Leon? Our first day, when we first met?" Ante asks, hoping it will reassure him.

Deme: "...Did we come here then?" Leon said, unclear if he were calling her out or -- more likely, given his tone -- trying to resolve his own uncertain memory. "I remember best the roses."
After a moment more recollection, he added, "You caught me in a song then, too."

Trobby: "We really must have a duet sometime." She chides him, as they near the foyer.

Deme: "That sounds wonderful." He nodded and smiled dreamily, his hands dropping away from his face, which had found some serenity.
They finally entered the foyer and he strode towards the painting, before -- eventually, just standing in front of it for a long time. The silence seemed almost holy, with Leon's eyes big and glistening in the moon-and-candle-light, standing as if this, and nothing else in the world, were the source of light.
He did not turn to Ante when he said, "...This isn't the proper one -- it's an imitation."

Trobby: "Where do they keep the original?" Ante asked conversationally, not wanting to interrupt him at a moment like this.

Deme: "...The royal throne room." He spoke slowly, awakening something in his words. "...But I don't really know."

Trobby: "...We will get you back there." She says, gripping his hand tightly. "You have my word."

Deme: This sudden escalation -- his hand tensing at being gripped, then relaxing -- knocked him off his guard, and he looked, stunned and slightly feverishly red-faced, not at the painting, but at her. "...Ante..."

Trobby: "...Leon..." Ante trembled a bit,not sure if she should be frightened, or enthralled, and feeling a bit of both.

Deme: He clasped her hands with his other hand, and drew them close to him.
"I just...remembered...Something important... Ante..." He paused, trying to process whatever sort of slightly maddened visions that were driving him tonight. "Am I especially attractive by hellish standards? As I am now, I mean?"

Trobby: ...enthralled it is. "Leon...by any standard, be it angel or demon, you are an incredibly handsome man."

Deme: "...I'd hardly call it any standards..." Leon said, perhaps a bit pouty. He was not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but it certainly answered the question of Merry's reaction. "But...thank you. That explains a lot."

Trobby: "...Certainly by mine." She assures him, looking quite directly into his eyes unblinkingly.
She seems to want to lift herself up onto her toes, and to deliver a reassuring kiss...but the little bit of mind that's reminding her to be professional is holding her back, keeping her taut on a string, held to the floor.

Deme: Whatever arcane processes were directing this night alerted him to the fact that he was not paying the correct amount of attention to the correct things.
"Is that so?" That right now, someone was convinced of his own worth. ]"Then, Ante...If you do something for me right now, I will promise you whatever your heart desires. You need only remind me of this." He touched her cheek, a talon tracing its way along her jawline very delicately. His silvery eyes were the cloudy grey of a storm brewing, with all the same clarity -- and all the intensity.

Trobby: "...You needn't make such promises Leon...we are...friends..." She says hesitantly, though doubt is in her voice, and she shivers as he touches her cheek from the cold.

Deme: "...As you wish." He pulled his hand back, from her shaking more than her words, and folded his arms closely to himself. "But...please. Just... Tonight, sit with me a while. Keep me from forgetting everything. There's...I still want to hold onto these people." He gestured to a windowsill near the entrance, if only for lack of a better place.

Trobby: "...Only if you promise to keep me warm." She says with a smile up to him, holding his talon'd hand tightly. "And not to be upset if I am somewhat slow getting up tomorrow."

Deme: "If that's the promise you want, then...fine." He drifts to the windowsill and leans against the glass. He spreads a single wing to make a spot -- and, when she sits, a blanket to wrap around her, in a feathery embrace.

Leon watches the moon through the window for a while.
"...If it were just me, I might just go out there." He says in the dreamy tone of voice that had begun this whole scene. "I could, you know. I don't know how, but I could. No one would ever find me. I'd never find me."

Trobby: Ante holds onto him more tightly as she watches the moon herself.
"I know...I know what it feels like...to be alone...to feel like nothing could possibly hold you down, that you would not be missed if you were to simply...disappear."

Deme: "...No, that's just what I mean. It's not just me." He breaks his gaze from the moon, and looks back at the painting. "It's them, too. My father and Jaye...And probably the kingdom, but it's a big place. I'm sure it'd get along fine. He's a good kid..." He nodded thoughtlessly. "And...There's all the maids and you, now. You need me to stay." He smiled gently and kindly. There, between the painting and the night, he could hang for a moment, supplying just a bit of warmth.

Trobby: Ante blinked, and in all of this outpouring of feeling, she hung upon one simple fact. "...I didn't realize you had a brother."

Deme: "...Who did you think was in the painting?" He said, gaining coherence through incredulity. "Though, I suppose that isn't him any longer; it was a few years old when I left, the painting. He's Hani's age, really."

Trobby: "...I don't suppose he could visit? Hani's not had a playmate her age in awhile..." She considers this. "I suppose it slipped my mind that he'd be your brother… ah...I'm sorry, I have let myself get a bit carried away..."

Deme: "...I don't know. Maybe. I...He still writes, you know. He does. Every week. His letters have gotten so much better. It's a little bit frightening." He closed his eyes, unable to answer her question with certainty, but also unable to deny that the option was tempting. "He's my half-brother, really; the woman in that painting is his mother, but not mine. I have no full-blooded siblings... Just Jaye and..." His eyes shot open. "Terran. I'd nearly forgotten him just then. Oh, dear, no, you can't tell him about tonight, please, don't. He'll worry... And Terran may need me most of all."

Trobby: "...Tell him of what?" She says with a sly grin of a devil. "I simply woke for a nightly stroll and got lost along the way. These corridors can be so dark, you know."

Deme: "Good, good...Or bad. I really don't know." He sighed in relief, all the same, and slunk back down to rest. His head drooped onto her shoulder. "But...About my condition... If you meant what you said, then Terran's the one to ask... They won't tell me much of anything."

Trobby: "...I might...I just might...you matter to me, Leon. You're the only human I've met to this day that has treated me like every other."

Deme: He smiles and nods, his eyes closed. Very sleepily, he says, "Well, because you are. But...I hope 'I' always would have. I want to believe that of...'myself.'...Because you deserve that."
He began to hum something, under his breath, distractedly. It may have been 'Once upon a dream,' as he drifted off to sleep, with his head on her shoulder.

Trobby: She gently lifts him up, with some difficultly, and carries him to bed, and while she does, she hums the rest of the melody to herself.

(((1d6)[1] favor for Ante for the excellent mood.))

End of Episode 2

Episode 3 - Visions are Seldom as they Seem

This Morning

It's spring in a quiet city. Cherry blossoms fall onto the streets like snowflakes. Students walk, bags in hand, towards school.
It's the first day of a new semester.

And you all wake up in your seperate houses or apartments to find...You're late. On the first day of class! Hurry and get to class!

...That's surely what you should be doing, right?

((The genre is now a Modern High School Slice of Life setting. Characters are adapted to this setting and unaware of the shift...Unless they pass a will check, though you're welcome to not take it for a full high school AU experience.))

[Trobby]

I want to see you, but I can't... How sad, these feelings...
I can't say it, but I want to.
I just keep letting my chance slip-

*click*

A hand reached through the flower-petal cloth divide between the two girls' halves of the room. Only one of them had a working alarm clock, and it just happened to be the younger girl's Cardcaptor Sakura alarm clock.

The older girl, tossing aside her comforter, sat up and stretched in bed, cracking her back slightly as she smiled at the bright sun. It had been a good night's sleep, and the first day of school was going to be-

The sun shouldn't be that high up yet.

The older girl's eyes darted to the wall clock she had hanging over her makeshift homework station in the corner.

7:59 is what it read.

"...HANI." The older girl yelped, leaping out of bed and rummaging into her dresser drawers in a haste. "HANI WAKE UP WE'RE LATE!!"

Her little sister Hani, still curled up in her soft pink blanket, turned over and looked at the clock disinterestedly.

"Nuh sis...school's not 'til eight thirty..."

Her sleepy reverie was interrupted by her older sister pulling her out of bed and setting her sleepy body on the ground.

"Hani we have to ride the BIKE to school, and we need to eat breakfast and get dressed and did you shower please tell me you showered Hani!"

Ante was at least managing to get her sister dressed despite protests. It was a big day for both of them after all. Transferring to a new school at the start of the semseter, and since they were both going to the same school they'd be taking the same bike. They shared a lot of things in fact...

At this moment, Ante wished they didn't have to share the alarm clcok, or that she'd made sure it was set for something more reasonable than 8 O'clock.

"And we've got to get our book bags in order and thank goodness I planned a route without traffic and Hani did you brush your teeth yet please tell me you did."

Hani, having conceded to her sister's schedule now, was in fact brushing her teeth very throughly. She was very happy about it too, because her toothbrush played the Pokemon theme song whenever she brushed them, and so was a little upset when Ante popped it out and made them both rinse at the same time.

"Sis you have to brush too, or-"

"I'll just have some freshmint gum Hani, we're going to be late!" She insisted, and it was only by Hani's quick reflexes that she managed to slip her hat on before they rushed down and out the door.

[Atreli]

Lune, on time as usual, was on her way to school already. Every day she walked to and from school by herself. Sometimes she'd spot her classmates together and it hurt. Despite her adorable features and upbeat personality, she rarely had anyone talk to her but maybe this time would be different.

Yea sure. I'll make a friend this year is just as likely as a ghostly football team doing a musical number.

She sighed.

[Benson]

"Hey cutie, why don't you skip out on school and hang with us?"

Merri grimaced as she stood there on the subway, one hand carrying her schoolbag, the other holding onto a bus hand grip loop-thing. She glanced over at the college aged boys who were making passes at her and gave them the ol stink eye. 'This isn't really happening on my first day of school....lame..'.
She opted for ignoring them and focusing on other things, like the first day of school. She was looking forward to it, new faces, club activities!....school dances. She flushed at the last thought. Yep, it was gonna be a good school year.

[Deme]

Lune's route to school

A cat, sitting on a stone fence, watched Lune walk by. He was a tuxedo cat, all black with a white chest, tip of his tail, and white paws. The cat's green eyes honed in on her during her approach. He licked a paw as she reached him, and then stood up, and began to walk along the fence-top, following her.

"...This is probably your fault...Or maybe it's your credit?"

Said a voice. There was no one around who could have said that: the road was empty, save for Lune and the cat.

---

The Subway

"Well, what do you think?!"
This cheerful opening attracted some attentions in the subway.
"...Thou lookest most deserving of all men's ridicule." Came a slightly quieter, more serious voice.

A turn of the head would reveal the speakers: one, hiding his face (and his bad eye) in his hand, was the tall and somber star of the fencing team (because the school had one of those), Terran. In a perfectly-starched uniform, standing rigid as was expected, he gave off an air of utter despair at what he was seeing.

Because if he was going to school with someone, it could only be his foster-brother and "prince" of the classical music club, the splendidly popular (well, with the girls) Leon, who today...
Was wearing, in addition to his slightly-customized uniform, unbuttoned perhaps slightly more than is entirely within regulation, a giant paper mache head of Beethoven.

---

Ante's Route

As Ante and Hani rushed down the street, they'd spot a crowd up ahead at an intersection.

"Aw, come on, baby; you sure you can't share your notes?" Came a boy's voice from the center of the crowd -- which, on its outer layers, seemed to feature entirely schoolboys, forming a protective ring.

"I-I really can't. That's cheating." A girl's voice, thin and quavering.

"Well, aint that the pity? I guess we'll have to think of...Some other thing you can do for me." Said the boy. A few of the circlers whooped.

[Atreli]

"Hello?" She looked over at the cat in confusion. "Did you say something?"

She shook her head, and turned to keep walking. " No, that's crazy, right?" She muttered to herself.

[Benson]

The Subway

From the corner of her eyes, Merri caught sight of the giant paper mache head of Beethoven. What? She looked upon it in confusion, she could not help but stare and then that staring turned into a chuckle. It was just so absurd as then her imagination decided to play the image of this young man with the giant paper mache head of Beethoven at the piano, the mood all dramatic. She then just laughed really loud, and bonus, it was a weird and awkward sounding laugh.

[Deme]

This caused both of her fellow students to look her way. The one in the paper mache head waved. Something about his hand, going enthusiastically back and forth, caught her eye.
Something about it seemed wrong. But what? It had the 5 usual fingers, in the 5 usual positions. But something about it seemed wrong.

"Ah, do you like? I'm thinking of wearing it during the Classical Music Club's recruitment drive!"
Terran rolled his eye.
"I still think that thou couldst garnerest more members with thine own face. It worketh well enough in years previous."
To this, the costumed (of a sort) boy tutted sharply.
"I do admit that membership was high then... But as nice as it is to make sweet music, I'd rather a club where the members all know how to play an instrument. Say!" He turned the giant paper mache head away from his foster-brother and back towards Merry, "You don't happen to have a burning passion for music, do you?"


---
Lune's Route

"Oh, well, it could be crazy. You're pretty nutsy, little windfish."

Commented a voice that was clearly coming from the cat. He sniffed at her thoughtfully.

[Trobby]

Now it must be pointed out that in such a setting, there are certain...unspoken rules.

Heroines for example always stop to help the downtrodden and desperate, who usually wind up being lifelong friends. Talking animals dispense magical transformation wands like candy. You are 20% more effective in a fight when you wear an eyepatch. That sort of thing.

But it must also be noted that times have changed, and in the past while young protagonists may have had the time to wait for an entire piece of toast to heat up before riding off on a bicycle to their first day of school, certain protagonists had even less time than that, and that breakfast foods had evolved to include items that were ready to eat right out of the package.

So, it must be excused that our protagonist, one Akuma Ante, is breaking tradition by dangling not a piece of toast, but an untoasted pop-tart from her mouth.

This would be because she is on a bicycle, which she alone is pedaling while her young sister Hani reads off of the covered basket on the back, holding onto her sister with one arm.

It is in this style that Ante and her younger sister happen upon the unfortunate circle of rapscallions accosting the young girl at the center, and for that reason that Ante drops her pop-tart on the ground.

"Drat...I was quite hungry today too..."

Ante assessed the scene. There was a nearby stone wall. Ante could climb up on it, and decry the boy's un-gentlemanly behavior from atop it like a true anime heroine...

But there was a strong breeze today, so instead she set her bike near the wall and approached them herself.

"Stay here with the bike while I take care of this, sis." Ante said, as the young girl in a cat-eared hoodie followed her sister into the crowd, keeping close as the older girl elbowed the boys at the edge of the circle aside.

"Alright, enough of this tomfoolery you goons! Beat it, scram, vamoose!" She says as she knocks her way towards the accosted girl, not caring who she has to shove aside.

Spoiler

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Athletics to push her way into the circle: (1d6x3)[3]