thirteenth prayer

[prayed]

Characters: Kyoko Sakura and open
Setting: Floor One Hundred, Floor Twenty-One, Floor Nineteen, Floor Four, Floor One
Format: Starting in action, but I'll follow.
Summary: Birthday and event shenanigans. Also eating a ridiculous amount of ice cream.
Warnings: None.

Floor One Hundred ⚜
[It's not often that Kyoko bothers with this floor. Truthfully, there's no reason in particular for her to be here today. She had simply wandered off the staircase without giving it even a single moment's thought about her actions or the consequences they might have.

Consequences like a fresh burst of homesickness. It's a strange feeling. Everyone she knows from back home is here. Homura, Madoka, Sayaka and even Mami. She's alive, but the sight of her father's church takes her back. It reminds her of the place she had so wanted to protect so strongly that she let the secret get out. It reminds her of her city, of fighting Witches and her every day routine.

It's startling how much she misses those things. Less shocking is how much she misses her freedom. The sight of this tower gets boring fast. With a slight sight, she finds herself at a the back of a pew, finds her hand goes through it, before opting to simply walk down the aisle--or at least, what this place is telling her is the aisle. A stick of pocky hangs out of her mouth, her hands shoved in her pocket.

She needs to stop over thinking things.]

Floor Twenty-One ⚜ Set before the rumor is changed by Tetra
[Kyoko had come to the restaurant largely on a whim. There's precious little reason to run around doing errands for the tower when the food in the cafeteria is perfectly fine, really, but even so, there's little harm in checking out the menu. If there happens to be something interesting enough then well, it isn't as though she lacks confidence in her ability to dig up anything they ask of her.

Of course, it remains closed. More interesting are the words carved into the wall.

SAYAKA MIKI AND JIN SHIRATO: DEFINITELY DATING. YOU'D HAVE TO BE BLIND NOT TO SEE IT!

She takes the words at face value, her expression falling as she rereads them. Apparently she was blind, because she didn't see it. Sayaka and...who the Hell is Jin? Sayaka sure as Hell hasn't ever mentioned him to her. Didn't she have a guy that she was interested in? That guy she made her wish for, Kyousuke. She folds her arms and shakes her head, letting out a heaving sigh. Somehow, it's annoying to find out that Sayaka's dating someone, especially through words scrawled on a wall. She mumbles to herself sullenly.]

You'd think she would've at least told me.

Floor Nineteen ⚜
[The library's missing sections have been restored.

This rumor, at least, was worth checking out the validity of. There is apparently some truth to it, too. Well, sort of. Kyoko is rummaging through the books, which are old enough to crumble to dust at the slightest touch. Some look as though they've had a jar of ink spilled on them, others have been violently torn apart.

The history section she can get hiding, but why would anyone go through such extreme methods to hide information about things like astral projection? The red ink is vaguely unsettling, creating the image that they'd been bathed in a pool of blood before being placed on the shelves.

DATA EXPUNGED

What's that supposed to mean...?

[She pulls another book off the shelf as she considers this, coughing violently as it breaks apart in her hands, sending up a thick cloud of dust.]

Floor Four ⚜ backdated to May 9th
[Upon waking up, Kyoko didn't give much thought to the date. The fact that she's fifteen now occurred came and went with the only significance being that she's proven to be capable of living this long, but really, that's only natural. Even back home, she went out on her own terms. She's strong enough to protect herself from anything. At least, that's what she chooses to tell herself.

Besides, really, what reason does she have to celebrate? She doesn't need an excuse to spoil herself or buy herself nice things, nor does she need anyone to provide them for her. That just one of the benefits of having this power and being sharp enough to use it up on herself.

So, the cake (surprisingly well made, coming from such a stuffy person,) that Naoto gave her was nothing less than a surprise. An unusually embarrassing one, at that. Kyoko is still unsure of how to take the gesture, even as the cake sits on the coffee table in front of her, a huge chunk of it missing. Really, she only mentioned it in passing. How did that girl even remember? She doesn't get it at all.

Lost in thought as she is, she'll still take the time to look over the back of the sofa at anyone entering the floor with a complicated expression on her face, as though she's not sure whether or not she wants to see who's joining her.]

Floor One (Kitchen) ⚜
[Today, either ignorant to the rumors about the cafeteria food or (more likely) simply not caring, Kyoko can be found in the kitchen, leaning back against one of the counters. In the crook of her arm she holds a gallon of ice cream. With her other hand she's shoveling large spoonfuls of ice cream into her mouth, paying no heed to the many reasons this is a bad idea. Sitting next to her is a plate with cookies on it, occasionally spearing the ice cream with her spoon in favor of lifting one up.

Her eyes remain locked on the door and so, anyone who walks in will find her biting down on her spoon in order to free her hand for a light wave before she promptly goes back to stuffing her face.]

Comments

[bytheirhand]

And look how I've chosen to live it...

[The words are murmured -- unsure and hesitant.]

[prayed]

[Her voice matches his. She doesn't want to know more, not really, but even so, she continues to question him.]

Yeah? How's that?

[bytheirhand]

I almost had an entire train car of passengers killed to keep anyone from knowing the things I just told you.

So, not very well, by most standards.

[prayed]

That's taking things too far, y'know...

[She's still playing with that scalpel. It's not a matter of intentionally hurting herself, rather, her sense of pain seems to have been cut off entirely, and she's been entirely too focused on him to notice anything else. So it's not until she moves to wipe away the tears that appeared without her even realizing it, painting her face red with gore, that she realizes what a mess she is. She shoves one hand in her pocket, using the other to wave the scalpel as she speaks.]

What stopped you? The Rail Tracer?

[She's not sure whether or not she's being serious at this point, really--no, it's more like, she doesn't want to be, but all of these realities that shouldn't exist just keep popping out at her one after another.

Maybe, she just wants to prove to herself that this one won't.]

[bytheirhand]

[It's been easy to avoid her eyes during all of this. Easy to miss the blood covering her hands and dripping down her legs when he was so focused on one little spot on the floor and rubbing at his wrists. When he finally looks up, he immediately wishes he hadn't.

A primal, paralyzing fear takes hold of him, his eyes going wide. The rational part of him knew that it was Kyoko sitting there, that under the mask of anonymity and gore was just a teenaged girl, but that part of him was incredibly small. The rest of him could only see one thing -- the Rail Tracer. Red hair, face smeared with blood, hands covered in it, waving the scalpel in his face.

He shrieks and stumbles off the chair, backing away from the monster in front of him until his back hits the barrier.]

No. Stay away from me!

[prayed]

[She jumps as he shrieks, her own chair toppling over as she jerks up and stares at Czes with naked confusion. He's always afraid of her, on some level she's always been aware of that fact, but this was more than an idle fear. It's blind panic, as though suddenly--

all at once...

he just found himself face to face...

with a real...

...monster...

That last thought comes slowly, but it makes the bile rise up her throat. It's not a look that she's unfamiliar with. She's seen it before, at home. She's seen it more times that she cares to admit here. "You're still you." People always say that, but the second your appearance change, they look at you differently. As though all of your humanity dissipated when you were given a face lift.

Just last month, how many times had she been looked at that way? Like anyone would ask to be given that kind of body. Kyoko knows that's not the case here. He's probably spooked because she looks like she just stepped out of a slaughterhouse.

But it doesn't make it any less frustrating.]

O-oi...I don't bite, y'know.

[She steps towards him calmly, still clutching that bloodied scalpel tightly, stopping just in front of him. She doesn't even bother trying to fake a smile, insteadlooking at the back of her hand. How had she managed all of that?]

See? This is why I said you shouldn't be playing with something like this. You'll definitely just hurt yourself with it.

[She shakes the scalpel for emphasis before letting out a heavy sigh.]

I guess I gotta clean up this mess now. What a pain....

[bytheirhand]

[He presses himself back against the barrier, like he's hoping he'll be able to melt through it. Maybe he doesn't even care if he gets out of there in one piece. Even if the barrier sliced him into pieces as he fell through it that would be preferable. At least he knew what that felt like.

He looks and feels very much like a cornered animal. A rabbit waiting for the fox to close their jaws around its neck. The more she waves the scalpel around the more terrified he looks. It's impossible for him to keep his eyes off it.]

[prayed]

[She follows his eyes down to the scalpel, as though suddenly realizing just what he was afraid of. She has no way of knowing the true reason behind that fear, but it's not hard to infer why a victim of torture and abuse might be afraid of someone waving a sharp object around.

Should she give it back to him...? No, if he does that, he'll probably be the one waving it around like an idiot. She doesn't want to leave it lying on the floor either.]

Ah, so it's this thing. Well, I guess I might as well just get rid of it. I doubt you'd want it back like this, y'know.

[Kyoko shrugs. She pulls the scalpel back behind her shoulder and closes one eye as she takes aim at...something. When she throws it, it sails through the air, through one of the gaps in her barrier, and lodges into the back of a chair resting against the far wall. It's just like watching a game of darts, and she hit the bullseye.

It's probably not hard to imagine what that kind of force would do to a human being.]

[bytheirhand]

[Oh god. Oh god she was going to take that scalpel and throw it at him and it was going to go right through his eye and out the back of his head and --

He screams, closing his eyes when she lets go of the scalpel. The sound of the scalpel sinking into something that was not his own flesh gets him to very hesitantly open his eyes. He turns, looking for where it ended up and swallows hard. Whimpering, he slides to the ground, bringing his knees up to his chest.]

[prayed]

[There's a flash of red and all of the blood disappears, leaving Kyoko looking good as new. It's the sort of magic trick that usually accompanies her detransforming--after all, a teenage girl walking around covered in blood is bound to turn a few heads--, but it's easy enough to use that trick outside of that. Even easier now that this place has given her reason to toy with her magic now. Maybe it'll help him to calm down a little.

That done, Kyoko crouches down and reaches to rub his head.]

I was serious when I said that I wasn't going to hurt you.

[bytheirhand]

[That helps considerably, but he's still wary and paranoid as hell. He shrinks back a little when she rubs his head, but at least he's stopped looking at her like she's a monster. That's a start, right?]

... That's not the first time I've heard something like that. It's nothing personal.

[prayed]

Hate to break it to you, but I'm not gonna get anything out of lying to you.

[Still, she seems to have already accepted that her word isn't enough. So with a defeated shrug, Kyoko takes a seat next to him, her legs stretched out in front of her. She leans back against the barrier.]

So, how about it? You done freaking out over nothing yet?

[bytheirhand]

[Over nothing, shes says. Sure. Over nothing.]

I'll be fine.

[prayed]

[There's a moment where she considers pursuing the matter of the Rail Tracer, but there's something else that's nagging her. Something that she hadn't pinned down yet.]

That man...he was all that you had, huh...

[bytheirhand]

[He nods quietly, hugging himself a little tighter.]

Yes, he was.

[prayed]

[...]

Did you ever try to run away?

[bytheirhand]

No. I believed him when he said that what he was doing was necessary. I... I was a very sheltered child. He was my world.

[prayed]

[She nods once. His answer doesn't surprise her, not even a little bit.]

Yeah. If it's you, there's no way you'd run away. You were probably just too kind and too honest to understand.

[She places a hand on the top of his head.]

And because of that, you probably wanted to see him happy, right?

[She thinks it'd be nice if that were wrong.]

[bytheirhand]

[He laughs a little. It's a bitter, cold, and hollow sounding. A sound that doesn't suit someone so small.]

To the point of foolishness. It was all I knew.

Of course I wanted to see him happy and I believed he was doing what was best for me so I could be happy. No matter how many times I screamed and begged him to stop he never did. He was doing it for my own good. I'd understand all he did for me one day.

[prayed]

[There's a touch of sympathy to her features as she watches him explain. There's that sinking, empty feeling in the pit of her stomach. Her hand moves through her pocket. The idea of going so far to make someone else happy is so familiar that it's a little sickening.]

In the end, wishing for another person's happiness just brought you misfortune.

[Her hand slides down to his shoulder, pulling him closer to her.]

That's only natural. There's no way to fix another person's circumstances..ah, you already know that though, huh? That's why like, you probably wound up thinking something like, "ah, I'm just going to be hurt, then I'll live for myself alone. I won't depend on anyone ever again"--or something like that, right?

[She chuckles, waving her free hand as though she already knows she's totally off, but by now, she's almost certain of it, of who this boy is, and it's a little frightening.]

[bytheirhand]

Mm... something like that, yeah.

[prayed]

You really are ten.

[bytheirhand]

No, I'm not. I drank in 1711 and when I left my world it was 1931. You do that math. I'm not ten.

[prayed]

So what? You're still ten.

[And she's not talking about his appearance, either.]

So, how long've you been out on your own for?

[bytheirhand]

I'm not ten.

[He sighs, pulling away from her in frustration.]

A little over a hundred years or so. It's easy to lose track.