Charles Patricius

Monster Spiders could become human? That was news to Kazu, who'd been adventuring for a millennium. Information like that was either amazing, dangerous, or both ─ probably the latter. If he had the chance, he'd really like to see one of those. For now, he was still awaiting the information transfer with Chiori while hearing the old woman's explanation about the outfit being a one of one design. If that were the case, he'd definitely be going through with the original plan if possible. That 'tailoring' session wasn't a bad idea at all. Well... perhaps that was never the intention, but he still wanted it in those terms. Moving on, he was being tapped by Kei to suggest a release. Some rather intriguing new clogs were offered to her, so he could confidently let her take care of things herself from there. While she did that, he'd be speaking with Chiori himself. "That's cool. I've never seen a uh... local who makes things by those rules. Some old blacksmiths in the boonies, maybe, but it's an awesome outlook! I'll take care of this outfit forever, but... are you able to do armor visuals by chance? I'm gonna eventually want some mix-ins for situational use. Does that count among tailoring needs?" he asked. All the while, Rindou remained silent... but only outside of his own head. Inside, he had infinite questions. What was happening? Why was this happening to him? Was this all prearranged? Was Ito Chiori taking an official stand against the IPC?

Miko latched on to the philosophy of too much being enough. Hiruko laughed, figuring she'd like it. "There's a joke to make there, but I don't think I've got it in me right now. Or... maybe I do? Maybe magic's just got me backwards~" he joked moments before the clause of Miko telling no lies. He completely believed her... though much like many others, Hiruko fully understood that she often withheld the entire truth in place of lying. Whatever the case, Hiruko showcased his functionally dysfunctional body, and Miko claimed his signals were crossed. Hiruko laughed once more. "Damn. Sakucchi said I needed a healer, but you're telling me I should have gone for an electrician? I could have done that easily~" he said. Some weird sensation was coming from Miko's fingers while they discussed and she performed her 'checks' if they still counted as such. Mention of 'mana circuits' had him chuckling again, as if he didn't have enough reason already to make the electrician joke. Oh well; she made it seem like an easy enough fix and further expressed her own knowledge of his prior, albeit accidental, magic use. Then came the question about his sensory abilities. Was everyone meant to have some innate heightened sense? If that were the case, his may have been askew for years. "Since this happened? No. But if it counts, I could always feel a lucky streak coming along. Sakucchi made it sound like that was the kind of magic I've been using."

Monster Spiders could indeed take on more human forms as they evolved, it was a unique possibility which Kei could confirm. But that was a conversation for another time, for now, Chiori was speaking with Kazuhiko, while using her phone to transfer her information to him, and expecting to receive his in return. It would seem he'd have every reason to give it as well... the lad had quite way of speaking and definitely wasn't discouraging her initial thoughts about him being a himbo. He liked her outlook and compared it to blacksmithing, the likes of which she could only compare to old Samurai movies. "Sou, you mean like for a cosplay type of thing? I design those occasionally. I usually don't do the accessories but... I also didn't always make shoes. Give me some time to work on the design a bit more. I can add it to the tailoring, I like challenges. It's not often I get to make those kinds of upgrades.~" Chiori mentioned as if she was excited. She also noted the approach of Kei and she seemed to be much more comfortable in those high clogs with the single point around the arch of her foot. "These are totally awesome~" Kei chimed. "Good, I'm glad you can make use of them... text me sometime and enjoy the rest of your date..." Chiori said. Looking at both individuals side by side she could appreciate the contrast between a wandering samurai and the first daughter of the shogunate, or something similar.

Meanwhile, Hiruko was making a joke about magic having him backwards, which earned him a laugh from Miko. "Ehehe♪!~ That's terrible, Hiru-nii♪~" she chimed but it was all in good fun. She'd easily accept the logic he gave her whenever it was possible. More jokes were coming from him as he lamented his present state, her words bringing up the idea that he could have called an electrician. "I mean sure, but I doubt they'd allow themselves to be teleported straight to you," Miko said joking right along. The entire time she was having a good time and coming to understand the state of his mana and those mana circuits which weren't quite ready yet. "Not naturally creative, nor naturally destructive... I can see how you might have had issues. But you made two... and they came out properly aged, that's great really," Kama said. There were three images she couldn't identify as children but she could make assumptions about, "This blonde, the pink haired girl and the white haired one... are they your friends?" Kama asked of Miko as the girl herself continued to scan the body of Hiruko. "Hai, Hayasaka Ai, is our oldest friend. Great, a bit of a shut-in... really into tech and writing, is the blonde. Totsuka Chika is the pink haired one... she's... Ast...I mean Saika's twin, I feel like that explains enough. She requires adult supervision but her heart is in the right place. The white haired one is... Shirogane Kei, she's the youngest of our friend group, a bratty crybaby, tsundere tendencies. Wait that might not make sense, she acts a bit like Angelica... that might make it clearer, but good at managing things, especially numbers. They're my besties and the other apprentices, weird how that works out..." Miko explained of that trio. According to Hiruko he'd not had any major changes since this happened but would call himself possessing the ability to feel good luck coming on... Miko heard him and nodded. "Hm, yeah... I'd call it luck too. Actually ingesting your mana as a side-effect which makes one lucky even after leaving your presence directly. For a while yesterday I felt like absolutely nothing could go wrong... I accomplished so many important things," Miko mentioned. "Still, do you have regular upgrades to your senses, like do you know what we taste like, can you hear the magical quality of my voice, do you feel the tingling of our skin contact..." Miko asked. All the while that tapping of her ring finger on his chest seemed to have found a steady rhythm, and now she was feeling his mana and pulsing back against it. As if she intended restore sensation from his lower extremities upward, since his mind was apparently still working already. Left leg, right leg, torso, left arm and right arm... would feel the pulse of her mana in that strange beat, aiming to pull all his parts into harmony.

The best way to explain his desire for armor pieces was, indeed, for cosplay purposes. "Something like that, yeah. As realistic as possible though, if that makes sense. I'll make a call later and we can work something out?" he asked while sending his information into Chiori's phone. By the time that exchange was done, Kazu's gaze was shifting to meet the arrival of Kei in that new pair of clogs. She thought the new pair was awesome, and Kazuhiko was shamelessly checking out her feet until... he realized that was probably a weird thing to do. "They are. No idea how anybody walks around like that. Oh! It's like you've done that pillar training thing!" he claimed. Being urged to enjoy what remained of their date, Kazu was content to move on with it right away. "Hai hai! Arigatou!" he said to Chiori and the elderly woman, bowing to both. Upon rising, he looked to Kei once more. It seemed he'd actually forgotten about Rindou's presence entirely when speaking. "Anywhere specific you wanna go next?"

The electricians Hiruko spoke of may have actually enjoyed being teleported directly to him, in spite of Miko's assumption. It seemed the laughter wasn't stopping any time soon, as he even laughed about that idea. "I wouldn't be too sure. My favorites to call are massive nerds, and I say that lovingly. You'd probably have to shut them up long enough to explain that it wasn't some experimental teleportation pod that got them here," he mused before hearing Sakura mentioned the details of Miko's friend group. As Miko gave the list, something caught Hiruko's attention. "Totsuka...?" he whispered. He knew that name, and he knew of some individuals with pink hair. How strange. That would likely become something he had to revisit later, but first came the healing process and the reveal of how his 'luck' affected others. Though this magic stuff seemed to work on strange mechanics, Miko alleged feeling like she could accomplish anything after her time spent with him. Well... that made an interesting mental image. "So it's not just those guys? What, mana is carried by bodily fluids ─ stuff like that? I put mine in you, you feel lucky. I get yours... and my car karaoke gets better?" he said with an upward inflection, though it was less a question than it could have been. Further questions from Miko could be easily answered as well, even as Hiruko was noticing his fingers twitching in sequence. "There was always a taste; I just couldn't rationalize it with anything I understood. I don't know about any magical voice stuff, but I'm feeling a bunch of tingles from whatever you're doing right now," he answered.

Kazuhiko, asked Chiori for cosplay armor pieces as real as possible. Such an odd request, but it was made with such a good natured tone. Usually special requests annoyed Chiori beyond all reason, but for this lad, and a few others... she'd easily acquiesce. Besides, there was always something interesting about taking on a new challenge. "I've not tried it before, but... I'll do some research and do my best... later, Kimura Kazuhiko~" she said giving a little bow to him and Kei before going back to her little unnamed stall to continue her work. She would not even be bothering with Rindou and it seemed the pair of teens wouldn't be bothering either. Both seemed content to walk and talk, but Kei noted the look towards her feet and had something to say, "Prodolzhay tak smotret', budesh' putat'sya pod nogami." she uttered in Russian for the sake of their continued conversation. Moving on from that, what did she want to do? After a bow to the shop keeps she shrugged, "Festival Mochi Dango!~ I have a taste for something sweet!~" she exclaimed. Her movements in those clogs were definitely more relaxed and she was content to ignore someone like Rindou. Him not speaking was actually a great relief, if he wandered off in the moment, she'd have willingly let him off the hook for barking like a dog, just to keep having a good time.

Meanwhile, Miko was finding out that the 'electricians' that Hiruko spoke of, were probably just his tech people. The kind who were so deep into the science and science fiction world that they'd been called nerds in a loving fashion. "Love a nice nerd..." Miko muttered happily. That whispered utterance of Totsuka was one which was weird, "Not going to question that one," Miko uttered. At the same time, her hands starting to tap. Her fingers individually moving so that she could finish tuning the man sitting in the chair. "No, not just those people... everyone's mana seems to have different potency and effects. Some are alcoholic, some are mood enhancers or drugs, but some are just like sweets or something nourishing. Good on you, keeping track of the most important points... though I feel weird about the music being what anyone gets from me," Miko said as it was very weird to pass along her own mania... it would also make keeping her musical secret difficult around the truly clever people. Not that she worried about it in Hiruko's case, he'd definitely keep her secret whenever it was revealed or he figured it out. "Sexy brain is indeed a thing~" Kama mentioned. Her other questions were answered as well, "Sou ka, that's fine. Not being able to rationalize is a pretty normal initial reaction. I was really surprised to stumble upon you, I didn't expect a non-magical person to exist so fully after coming back here. Enhanced senses are pretty normal. You'll more than likely find it easier to use mana sensory abilities through your most naturally enhanced sense, but you can use others as well. Your natural training and instincts will likely lead you in the best direction once your mana circuits are complete and working properly," she explained. "As for the tingles, I am spreading my mana around and forcing pulses to reinforce your building circuits and using sound to tune them so they work in conjunction with your body... I'm almost done by the way, you've been among my most reasonable patients so thank you, Hiru-nii♪~"

A quick farewell to Chiori and her coworker, or perhaps subordinate, was given before Kazu and Kei both decided to move right along. Just before that, however, Kei spoke Russian once more... for the purpose of threatening him if he kept staring at her feet. "Uh... it wasn't like that," he insisted. Kazu was telling the truth, but he was also being just as untruthful. It really wasn't like that... but it was quickly becoming like that at the time ─ something further enforced by Kei's threat. Kazu figured the best thing he could do at the time was shutting up and going ahead with the idea of seeking mochi dango. He could enjoy a set of desserts as well, but... Kazu was the only male present who thought shutting up was the right idea. Indeed, Sukoto Rindou had the opposite opinion. "Ho?! Do you think you can both just wander off like I don't exist now? There's still my victory tour ahead, I'll have you know!" he shouted haughtily. Only just remembering Rindou existed, Kazuhiko turned around, surprised. "Oh, damn. Too much awesome stuff happening... I forgot about that whole thing," he admitted.

Of course Miko heard that little whisper of the Totsuka family name. She decided it wasn't to be questioned, and frankly, that was the right decision in Hiruko's opinion. "Best not to," he stated plainly. While she continued her work on his body and mana circuits, he continued taking in information. This magical knowhow was going to be useful, he believed. Everyone with mana had some sort of flavor, some sort of effect, and clearly potency differences. Miko had her own opinion about the acquisition of musical talent from her mana. Hiruko had an opposing one. "Why have a problem with that? My steering wheel appreciates the quality improvement," he joked further. With Miko's explanation of magic functionality, he had much to think about. It seemed whatever magic he developed for active use had some innate flexibility based on his own instincts, perspective and general mentality. That was going to be interesting. More importantly though, Miko was almost done fixing his body. Hiruko could tell as much; those movements of his fingers were conscious efforts for once. The feeling was even looping back to his wrists and elbows, with the same being the case in his other extremities. "I can tell. Not a hundred percent just yet, but still somehow better than ever. Looks like I'll be able to go out and get my son's first birthday present today after all. I thought I'd be stuck here for ages otherwise~" he said, casually revealing his conclusion about the boy who needed a gun.

Kazuhiko and Kei started up their date again, free of all unnecessary baggage. Though not without a bit of Russian flirting. Still, Kazuhiko was content to claim that his staring wasn't what she thought it was, which only made her chuckle. "Whatever you say...but you don't actually seem opposed~" she claimed oh well. With happy shoes on her feet she was content, she was even about to loop her arm in his as they made their way towards the mochi she apparently wanted. Only to hear a voice which made her happiness shatter into a million pieces. "Bespoleznyy grebanyy zhuk." Kei swore again, she was becoming so creative with the kinds of things she said, but she kept the general theme just the same. "It's easy to forget about vermin when they're being quite and scuttling along in the dark corners where they belong," Kei said as if it was a perfectly reasonable thing to say. "You could have left without embarrassing yourself. You could simply walk away... but no, here you are continuing to dig yourself a grave~" still they had agreed to the wager and even if they were having an admittedly better time without him, she still wanted her mochi and to spend time with Kazuhiko.

"Rule one it is♪~" Miko chimed. She wasn't often an evoker or claimer of Rule One, but she was definitely not opening any jars of worms surrounding the surname of Totsuka. While she looped and reinforced this man's newly forming mana circuits, they spoke of magic and all sorts of information that he might find useful. Still, he questioned her claims of passing along music being a bad thing, could she even explain why without outing herself? Did it matter if she did? "Yeah, I'm sure the car deserves some nice sounds too..." she mused in that same joking manner, choosing in this moment to skip her discontent. By the time he mentioned beginning to feel better, that same feeling should have been making its way into the trunk of his body, past his shoulders and hips and towards the core of his torso. "I figured you'd get that far on your own... in truth you also would have recovered without any interference if your mind had been recent along with the rest," Miko mused from a more physician style perspective. Sometimes it was really best to do a system shutdown and reset. As for his present, Kama had something to say and she was still going through Miko's pictures... "You really are brilliant, Hirrun~ " Kama mentioned first. "Are you getting something for the one I had too?" Kama asked not realizing she'd not mentioned what she'd been up to during part of her recovery time. "Oh, and why is this bond so strong, Micchan... Hirrun? I've been holding that thought for a few minutes but I don't have a valid explanation..." Kama asked in full curiosity, between her fingers the visual representation of their connection which was a vibrant shade of orange like it was trying to transition from red to gold, not that she'd mention that part.

Was Kazuhiko opposed to Kei's threat? No; he absolutely wasn't. Based on her reaction, it seemed that sort of thing wasn't removed from her list either. Noted and logged. Kazu would probably find some way to address that later, but first... mochi dango! Well, that was the plan. In actuality, first came yet another interruption by Sukoto Rindou, a continuous thorn in the side of a simple impromptu date. From his perspective, Kei was still just being petulant. She thought he would embarrass himself just because she was giving arbitrary points to some body who had nothing going for him but attractiveness and too much apparent gym time. "Heh! You think I'm just going to sit down and take all this cheating on the chin? I'm still going to find a way to win this! You'll rue the day!" he complained. Kazuhiko stared blankly at the man. Cheating? He hadn't done anything of the sort personally, but he knew Rindou's type. The only answer that man was willing to accept, was his own victory... so there was only one thing to do. "I've got an idea. Let's throw away the points. All of them. We get the dango, then we each pick one location, and one gesture of any sort," he suggested. "And what purpose do you think that'll serve? A location and a gesture? It's a very poor suggestion," said Rindou. "First, it'll let this whole thing be over with an absolute answer. Second... a date is an adventure. When it's all over, did it mean anything if you didn't make a great memory? Maybe, maybe not. Either way, it's so much better when you've got the ability to reminisce on what happened," Kazu explained before looking toward Kei again. "What do you think?"

Hiruko's repairs were going smoothly. As time passed, he felt control of more areas on his body. In the meantime, there was a bit of chatter still keeping him occupied. He figured recovery would have naturally come at some point, but he couldn't just wait around until it happened. After all, Hiruko apparently had a kid to prepare birthday presents for. Ah... but that wasn't all. Kama asked if he'd be getting something for the child she had as well. Now, that was strange. These magical offspring were obviously able to be born shortly after conception, but... he could only wonder when she had the time. "The what? When and where did that happen? Wouldn't they be right here? We haven't exactly separated since yesterday," he said, finding a legitimate point of confusion. Regarding the bond Kama brought attention to, he hadn't a clue what she was going on about. Hiruko had neither baseline nor supporting information. Perhaps it could have been something to do with the recent healing process? No, that couldn't be it. "I couldn't even try to answer whatever you're asking now, Sakucchi."

Kei could almost not be pulled out of her good mood, except of course the fact that Sukoto Rindou wouldn't leave well enough alone. He'd been sown Kazuhiko had something he didn't, he'd been given proof that it was possible to build connections that even he didn't have through sheer luck. But still that wasn't enough for him, he claimed they'd been cheating "I already rue this day. And your existence... and I really don't appreciate the insinuation that I am being anything but fair," Kei mentioned without even changing the tone of her voice. No one was cheating, points were determined by her and fairness was offered and given. Kei didn't appreciate the insinuation that she'd been dishonest at all. Whatever the case, it seemed that Kazuhiko was also tired of Sukoto Rindou's constant interruptions. He proposed an idea which didn't sound to bad to Kei, but of course when Rindou claimed that it didn't make sense. Kazuhiko gave a full explanation which Kei heard out. It made all the sense in the world to her, she'd wanted to go on this impromptu date. "I think it's a good idea. I won't have to continue giving points to vermin for throwing his wallet at problems. And I'll get to have a good and noteworthy experience. So go on, we get mochi and you can both show me what you think will make this date worth remembering after its over," Kei agreed to the terms and conditions.

Meanwhile, Miko was helping Hiruko along in his recovery. She could feel it, and hear it... the echoes she'd heard in his voice were becoming fainter and fainter over time. She observed his movements and noted that he'd almost gotten back his own movements. Still there was a bit of chatter to keep him mentally busy while the remaining changes were performed. Miko could feel the pulses a bit better. Instead, surprise and general confusion was shown about the nature of their child. "I've been working on him since yesterday, but I finished him up right after my rebirth. I had a lot more material to work with, and Onii-chan thought it would be a good thing to do in that space between. As for where he is... he floated off, that was the explanation I was given while you were trying to hold on to yourself," she explained of the situation. "As for baby making in general, as long as you have enough materials, the kid will come out old enough to defend itself. Sometimes it can gain consciousness and defend itself from attempts to pull it apart... Kaya-sen ran into that issue, with your son. Today only one kid was born that needs adult supervision, everyone else came out in our own age range give or take a few years," Miko added for context. Beyond that was Kama's question about their bond. Once again Miko was staring at one of those strings... which Kama saw the world with. "Sou ka, Saku-chan sees the bonds between people conceptually like the threads of fate. But she doesn't have a lot of context for the full breath of human emotions so she sometimes has questions about how things came to be and how they work. Being honest here, Saku-chan. I don't know what happened. We only spent that one day together and though I feel like that's wrong I don't really remember the rest. I'm going to have to blame the rest on lost time on my end. Which is a shame because if I fucked you today and I don't remember I am going to be very upset," Miko said while looking at Hiruko her face earnestly pouty.

The sun was setting over the festival, and one final challenge was issued. Kazu and Kei both seemed onboard with the idea of one hurrah to complete this silly little competition, though Rindou was skeptical. Kazuhiko, however... wondered more what he thought he'd gain from this. If Kei didn't like the man, winning a sudden contest in the middle of an interrupted date wasn't going to change the future. If anything, he figured things would be made worse... but oh well. "Fine! I'll go first when the time comes. By the time I'm done, you won't even have an idea! Maybe I'll even purchase a kennel for you, since you'll be easily confused for a dog by the end of the night!" Rindou proclaimed. Perhaps the most annoying thing about Kazuhiko in this moment was his indifference to everything Rindou was saying. In fact, he was absently looking around and mentally applying centuries of adventuring experiences to the near future. Without so much as another word, he was making his way toward the dango stand. Rindou followed along confidently, figuring the boy was mentally struggling to think of something ahead of time.

According to Kama, she'd been working on her child since yesterday. The actual birthing process had been handled during a time in which he was basically muted. Following that birth, however, the boy somehow... floated off. Of all the unusual things Hiruko heard today, that may have been the strangest yet. Whatever 'space between' she'd been taken to was apparently the proper place to have a child, but it was from that space that said child disappeared. By the time Hiruko managed any additional commentary, he was finally able to work toward sitting up properly. A stretched arm here, a rolled shoulder there ─ he was feeling quite alright. "Well it'll be hard to get something for a kid whose location I don't even know, but I guess I'll work on something for that one too. Any others I should know about?" he asked, seeming to target Miko with that question in particular. "I'd rather know before I start thinking about how these people are supposed to work on this planet. Can't exactly have some random young adult calling me dad, and identification might be needed in any case," he blabbered. Hiruko had nothing to offer about that strange bond Kama spoke of, nor did he have any memory of interacting with Miko this day. As crazy as things had been thus far, though, anything could have happened. Speaking of craziness... Miko would currently be receiving a phone call from one Mikami Takao.

The understanding of this situation shared by Kazuhiko and Kei was something which would apparently not even cross the mind of Rindou. Kei didn't like him, and there was nothing he could do to change that... if nothing else, the interruption to this date, his attitude the entire day and his inability to be thoughtful, were clear cues to the girl that he absolutely wasn't the kind of man she was looking for. Whenever she made it back to her father's house, emancipating herself and offering to sink his entire legacy if he didn't leave her be, was at the top of her list. For now however there were dango to be had, "Kak chto-to stol' malen'koye mozhet proizvodit' stol'ko shuma?" she wondered in Russian. Whatever the case, she was excited for her sweets and even more excited to know what kind of event Kazuhiko was planning. This date for better or worse, was already something which was going to be in her mind for a while but how would he be improving that? She couldn't wait to find out. Whenever she had mochi in hand, Kei would being her usual foodie fare, all while excitedly thinking over the coming event.

Meanwhile, it would seem that Hiruko was getting back to normal. Enough to move and begin stretching as he gained his motor-functions back properly. "Hai hai... it's an odd situation even to me. I think he's upset with me as well," Kama mentioned as if it was a perfectly normal thing to give birth to a child who might dislike her for whatever reason. As for the question directed at Miko, she gave it a bit of thought. "I am going to be honest, you could be one of my daughter's fathers. It's a bit hard to tell, given the oddity of my own creative process. I finished up my kids with Kazuchii, though and they have a lot of direct influence from my mentor and other stuff that was inside me at the time. The girl looks like she could pass for your sister, but she doesn't necessarily give off the kind of vibe that says you had a lot of input," she expressed. As for the oddity surrounding Sakura's powers and how she saw the world, Kama could say at the very least, that Miko understood her... it made her quite happy to know the girl understood her motivations a bit. A big final pulse of energy would come from Miko's palm and with it, she'd withdraw, "Let me know if you feel anything strange. But you sound right again to me so I think I've got you all lined up..." Miko said to Hiruko. But what about her ringing phone? Well Kama was scrolling pictures when a name popped up oddly enough without a picture. "Micchan do you have a brother? You're getting a phone call from Onii-chan..." Kama mentioned as she held out the device for the girl. Miko's attention immediately shifted but she'd still give a moment of reply. "I don't have a brother but I can't have his name in my phone for... reasons," she said quickly. "I have to take this though..." she said quickly, not giving anymore information and allowing the phone to ring about five times before she answered. "Moshi moshi, Takushi♪~ I wasn't expecting to hear from you today..." Miko said, which was the truth. When they last talked he'd claimed he'd be contacting her sometime the next day for their big collaborative project, whenever the man called Mitchel sorted himself out. At the same time Kama was staring at Miko letting go of one threat to touch another. The color of which was odd given the way Miko answered her question. "Sou ka, I understand..." Kama muttered knowing why she wasn't to make explanations.