towerofanimus | second prayer

Characters: Kyoko Sakura, open
Setting: Graveyard -> Cafeteria -> Library
Format: Prose to start, but I'll match you.
Summary: Kyoko pays a visit to the graveyard, then stuffs her face, then reads a motherfucking book (except not.)
Warnings: None.

《 GRAVEYARD 》
Kyoko had only given the graveyard a cursory inspection before, dismissing it as a decorative parlor trick like the rest of the floors, but after hearing that it was a sort of memorial she decided it to be worth another look. Not that she really cared about such things, but it was as good of a way as any to ascertain who was no longer in the tower. The sight of Mami's grave gives her a pause, though she does little more than let out an annoyed "tch" before moving on. She'd already crossed that bridge once and she didn't care to do so again.

So it's not until she stumbles upon a grave bearing her own name that Kyoko gives much of a reaction. Of course, her reaction was to kick it over, littering it with offerings of apple and pear cores. Her gaze bore down upon it for the brief moments that she stood in front of it. That sort of thing was fine if it was your own grave, right? It wasn't like she was going to be using it anytime soon. Crawling into a coffin once wasn't an action she felt any regrets about, but she wouldn't do so again. So, it was nothing less than an insult and a frustration to a person like her who still alive, right at the very top of the food chain.

《 CAFETERIA 》
She made a habit of avoiding to sit down and eat meals at a table like this. It was too slow and too stagnant and perhaps even a bit too lonely for her tastes. Well, being alone came naturally to her--after all, that was just how life worked, right?--, but the emptiness was nonetheless unwanted. It made her feel a sort of emptiness in the pit of her stomach, though food was one of the few pastimes that she truly enjoyed.

Still, some foods were harder to move with than others and so she was sitting alone at the table now.

《 LIBRARY 》
Kyoko wasn't an intellectual nor did she have any interest in becoming one; outside of comics and childish fairy tales where love and justice always prevailed she had always had precious little interest in things like books or school. Why bother with them when she already had a viable career locked in and could just take what she needed, but the end to their short-lived conversation had struck something of a personal chord. Losing your soul, trading it away, how much of a difference was there?

"'Lose your soul in the Tower of Animus,' eh? What a waste of time," the red-headed girl mumbled to herself, just barely audible, as she glanced at the empty history section and and munched on scooped spoonfuls of cranberry jam straight out of the can. She scratched at the back of her calf with the toe of her boot. There was no surprise in it's absence, but something to at least explain the name of this place would've been nice.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Eh? How are they boring?!" Calling books boring right in front of a book girl was never a good idea. Tohko looked a little shocked at that statement, but she managed to reply to the girl's second one. "I don't think that's true, or you would have been out of this Tower a long time ago. And I don't think everything can be learned just on the fly. Sometimes, you have to take some time to get lessons to sink in."

"Books haven't helped us get any closer to getting out of this place either, y'know. They yanked all the ones that mattered." She tapped her heel against the shelf it was resting on. "What's supposed to be so good about 'em, anyway? Unless you're still in school they're pretty worthless."

"Well, they did pull a couple of them..but that doesn't mean they don't have them hidden away somewhere. And that doesn't mean they pulled away all the ones that mattered..and I'm sure some have helped people get closer to t escaping."

Tohko then let out an annoyed sigh. "That's not true! Even out of school, books are wonderful things! Behind their covers hide joy, hope, wisdom, a million things that you would never find or think about in the real world! They hold solutions to problems, even if you don't realize it and great adventures that you can never actually go on. They're wonderful!"

..And delicious.

Wow, that was some lecture.

"Are ya done yet? Cause like, I really don't care about any of that."

And Tohko just looked shocked at that.

"But why not?! Books are important!"

"What's wrong with not liking that sorta thing?good." She took a couple more bites, chewing over it, before relenting just a little with a sigh. "But since you think they're so great, why don't you try and convince me? Gimmie a couple that are actually good and I'll give it another shot."

At the challenge, Tohko grinned a little. This was easy for her.

"Alright then! If you are depressed in this Tower, I suggest that you read The Little Prince! It's like a glass full of water that will cheer you up at the end of the day! The Book Of Tea will also do that!

If you meet another person with bad deals, read The Master and Margarita! You'll feel much better in the end, as Woland isn't a wholly terrible person!

Oh, and you must read No Longer Human, even if it is really bitter! I'll help you understand others! Read those and you'll enjoy them, trust me! You'll see that books aren't useless or terrible!"

Well, Kyoko had to admire this girl's dedication, if nothing more. A lot of those books sounded appropriate for someone like her by title alone. So much, that it was a little frightening, though of course she admit to that.

"Heh. Well, we'll see about that." She looked around the library, her face falling a little. It was pretty big. "There an easy way to track books down around here? The computers they got here are useless when it comes to stuff like that."

Tohko sighed and scratched her head.

"There's no computer service or anything that will tell you where any one book is at any given time. But..that's why you have librarians! Hang on here for just a minute! I'll grab the books for you!"

Since this was a research library where books like the ones Tohko mentioned wouldn't be located, she quickly ran downstairs to the library on the third floor, grabbed the books she had mentioned, and then ran back up to Kyoko. She caught her breath as she handed them to her.

"H-here you are! I hope you enjoy them and I hope they manage to make you like reading again!"

"Oi, you don't have to--annd she's gone."

Kyoko sighed, shaking her head, but waited for the girl as directed. In the time that it took for Tohko to return she pulled a book off the shelf at random, flipping through it without actually reading any of the contents. She snapped it shut and laid it down on a shelf when she saw that Tohko had returned, taking the small pile of books. She held them carefully with one arm.

"You really got 'em all, huh? You really didn't have to go that far, y'know." Really, she hadn't expected it.

Tohko chuckled and scratched her head.

"Yup! I'm one of the librarians here, so I know where the majority of the books are. And I probably didn't have to..but I wanted to. If you had trouble finding these later on, I would feel terrible."

"Heh. It'd be my own fault at that point, y'know." She glanced at the stack of books. It was a lot more than she'd anticipated...well, at least it'd give her something to do in her down time (which was, in this place, most of the time.) "Guess I should go get started on these."

"Maybe..but since I could have helped out out here, if you didn't have them now and had trouble finding them later, I would feel terrible."

After all, not being able to find a wonderful, delicious book was almost a crime. Tohko then smiled and nodded.

"You should! I guarantee, after those books, you'll be wanting quite a bit more!"

Kyoko laughed softly. She couldn't believe how seriously Tohko took all of this. She'd never met anyone this insistent about reading. It was enough to make Kyoko herself curious and even confident about the matter.

"In that case, I'll go ahead and get a start on them right now. I've got nothing else going on right now."

And Tohko just grinned at that.

"Alright then! I'm glad to hear that. I'll guarantee that you'll enjoy them. They're delicious classics!"

second prayer

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