towerofanimus | (no subject)

Characters: Sakura Oogami and YOU!
Setting: Any place, any time after October 21st.
Format: I shall match.
Summary: Sakura has acquired an unhealthy fixation on unusual people. Alas, that includes most of the tower these days.
Warnings: Violence, character death with permission.

When she'd awoken after the crushing sensation, she'd counted herself fortunate. Nothing unusual, at first glance. No cybernetics, no animal parts, nothing grafted or sewn to her body... Just herself in a poor choice of outfit, and a niggling feeling that perhaps such enhancements had some appeal after all. Such thoughts were easily ignored.

Well, it was an ill wind that blew no good. At this point, she would no longer require candy. If her friends had survived yesterday's drought, it would be best for them to benefit from her ignoble end. She can be found wandering the tower, looking for familiar faces. And if she looks a little too intently at some of the less familiar faces, it's hardly the strangest behavior exhibited thus far.

...Several days later, she was beginning to feel much less fortunate. What was a pirate without treasure, after all? The chest at the foot of her bed contained only a few trinkets from home, and nothing else. She had never been much for material possessions, after all. People were far more important. This tower was full of admirable and unique individuals from many distant locales. It made perfect sense to consider such people as precious treasures.

She began her search, enthused by her new purpose in life. Any resident with a visibly unusual quality, whether natural or not, may hear a hearty cry ringing through the area as Sakura strides towards them.

"You there! Your body... will you give it to me?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Sakura follows in hot pursuit. There's nothing like the thrill of throwing oneself against a worthy opponent, and Leon's legs certainly are to be praised. Whether those legs and his stamina are a match for her own, however... well, he's an exceptional human being all the same! She can't let this one get away!]

[ Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit--

He has to do something. He knows he can't outrun her forever, there's no way, but there's no way he's going to get himself killed again-- the first time was already bad enough back home. His heart is pounding rapidly in his chest from the sheer fear and desperation to just live somehow, his mind slowly jumbling in some sort of panic so the only thing he can think of is running as fast as he can, away from here, away from her.

.. Stairs. Stairs, right there-- he doesn't even think, he just quickly goes down them, hoping to find something that'll help him on the other level. In fact, he's not running down the stairs as he's just sliding down the railing, hoping to get an advantage in distance on the girl then and maybe disappear out of sight, if not just for a moment to cause her confusion, and so he arrives to see--

.. A pool?! Seriously?! That's not helping at all! Maybe he should just run further down the stairs, but instead in his surprise he ends up staring at it for a moment.. ]

[If he stares for too long, he'll notice that something is moving in the water. At first glance, the shape might look like some sort of monster from the tower, but... no, it's too human-shaped...

Aoi was bored. Like. Really bored. She had been to all the places in the tower she could conceivably go, and despite her best efforts, she could not find any suitable prey. So she thought that maybe, if she stayed in one spot for a while, something would come to her, and boy, was she right! As soon as she spotted Leon, a grin crossed her face. He'd do, for now.]

Hey, Kuwata-kun!

[With a splash, her head popped out of the water - towards the middle of the pool, so he'd have to jump in if he wanted to get close to her. Should he actually take her appearance in, he'd see that she looks... well. Totally different. Her dark skin has faded to a sort of bluish color, the hand waving at him is webbed, ending in what certainly looks to be wickedly sharp claws. And... was that a tail? What the fuck?]

[Sakura was not expecting Leon to stop mid-chase, and indelicately crashes into his back... The upshot of this is that she's too off-balance to grab for him, and now she's distracted to boot. Asahina's costume had been a mermaid, had it not? It seems like she's fallen to the tower's curse as well. Sakura isn't sure what to make of that. On one hand, it means she's failed to protect her once again, but on the other hand, the new look suits her very well...

...Which would be better for her collection? A world-class baseball star, or a rare beast of the seas? There's a proverb about switching horses mid-stream that applies to this kind of situation.]

[ There's a yelp from Leon at the crashing - Sakura is not quite small, after all, so there's quite some impact and for a moment to struggles to remain on his feet and keep all of his candies in the bucket at the same time, but somehow he manages to make himself more stable again.

Not that he remains where he's standing, nope, no way, not getting close to Sakura while she's like this, so he scoots to the side and away from Sakura quickly, but then he's distracted by Aoi instead. At least.. that's.. Aoi, right? Her being in the pool isn't that weird, but she looks.. weird.. definitely weird-- oh god, don't tell him that they got her too?! Is he stuck with two crazy girls here?!

His face only pales up more, practically drained entirely from blood by now. He has to get out of here-- maybe he can run down the stairs once Sakura isn't paying attention, and she does seem to be staring at Aoi instead now, right? Maybe it's enough to distract her..

He grits his teeth, desperately wishing as hard as she can for Sakura to get even more distracted. Maybe if he doesn't talk (in fact, he doesn't even reply to Aoi, lest he pull the attention of two crazy girls at once) he will go unnoticed here off to the side.. ]

[Aoi can't help but pout as Leon runs off - he would have been an easy target, most definitely. The screaming might have attracted others, even! He was the perfect target, but it's not like he was the only target in the area.

But... said other target might be a little more... difficult.]

Is something wrong, Sakura-chan?

[There's a bit of a less friendly tone in her voice, even as it remains light. She's definitely more cautious than usual, too.]

[Leon is becoming increasingly insignificant in Sakura's list of priorities.]

...I wish you had told me you were unable to meet the candy toll earlier, but there is no sense in worrying now. Has your new form had any ill effects? If you would like me to bring you something that you cannot reach in that state, I will do so.

[Asahina is her dearest friend, after all. It wouldn't do to be anything less than courteous during the time leading up towards the end of her life.]

Edited 2012-11-02 23:46 (UTC)

[ .. Yup. Definitely using this opportunity.

His heart is still pounding so loudly from fear as he inches closer and closer to the stairs, trying to be as soundless as possible while he's doing it.. and then he quickly sneaks the first few steps downwards-- but after that, it just turns into a run. Hasta la vista, not going to stick around with the two female classmates turned monster, nope, bye, adios, you two discuss stuff by yourselves. ]

I didn't want to bother you.

[If they had both been in a normal state of mine, Aoi would have been much more emotional during such a reveal. It's true, of course, but she says this easily, in a casual, "no big deal" tone of voice.

At her friend's second question, though, a wide smile crosses Aoi's face.]

There are no bad side-effects, no! Unless you count not being able to go up on land. But that's a nice trade-off, I think!! [She dives underwater, twirling and looping a few times, before breaking the surface again.] You should come closer! I'd love to show you what I can really do, Sakura-chan.

[Sakura strongly suspects that Asahina wishes her harm. That is fine. That makes her own plans easier to justify. Leon's departed. It's a shame. He would have made a fine bait. She strides up to the edge of the pool, trying to look as if she's not on guard.]

You always were most at home in the water... I am glad that you are enjoying yourself.

Not really. I'm pretty bored, actually!

[she grumbles a bit in annoyance. It's true, yes, that she's bored out of her mind with nobody coming near her, but she's also annoyed that Sakura is still not close enough.]

You can come in, y'know. I've been here lots of times before this whole mess started - the pool is perfectly safe!