REDACTABLE - Ochako

[heartablaze]

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WEEK ONE - SATURDAY - POST-TRIAL

[heartablaze]

[Welp. Hikaru's not that hard to spot considering she beelines for the planetarium immediately after Kano is taken away, and then straight to her bedroom, where she slams the door shut.

Knockaroo on room 18?]

[infreefall]

[ y. yeah. ochako's looking for hikaru, once kano's been taken away, and eventually it leads her here. ]

Shidou-san? Are you in there? Can we talk?

[heartablaze]

[It's gonna take a hot minute, but there is noise of movement on the other side of the door.

Eventually, the door will crack open, Hikaru standing in the same pajamas she'd worn the entirety of trial, her eyes red as she gingerly looks up at whoever is at the door.]

...Oh, um...

You're... Ochako-chan, right? [She leans her weight against the door, studying the girl in front of her with a tired gaze.]

Are you feeling okay?

[infreefall]

[ she nods, more in answer to the name than anything. ]

I will be, eventually. [ wounds heal sooner or later. emotionally... looks away. ] I just... wanted to check on you, and... and talk to you about something.

[heartablaze]

Mn... Yeah, I don't mind. Raven-san isn't here right now. Just, um... mind his stuff, okay?

[She'll keep the door propped open long enough for Ochako to slip in. Raven's pod is a Mystery Machine aka idk what's over there, but Hikaru's is a mess of blankets all bunched up in a pile with multiple plushies strewn about. Her broadsword lies discarded on the floor, along with her PHS and a small red stone.

Hikaru will plop into her pod with little fanfare, her expression somehow tense despite how exhausted she still looks.]

Thank you. For... standing up for him when you could, Ochako-chan. I know there's not very many people who like him...

[infreefall]

Okay. I won't touch it.

[ she'll just go ahead and limp inside i guess, careful of all their stuff, to lean against the wall just inside the door. ]

...I think he likes it that way. [ she doesn't know why. just the thought of wanting and actively trying to make people dislike you utterly baffles her. ] But I knew it couldn't be him. It's like... he was trying too hard to make us believe it could be.

WEEK TWO - THURSDAY

[heartablaze]

[She is freshly bandaged as she trots out of the first aid station and onto a Mission to find her group members from last night!!!! She may have been busy in a burning building but she still heard SO MANY GUNSHOTS AND SCREAMING so

Ochako where are you :( :(]

[infreefall]

[ well she is avoiding the pier now so let's saaaaay we're grabbing a snack in the kitchen, and ochako smiles when she spots hikaru! ]

Hey, Shidou-san. How are you feeling, after yesterday?

[heartablaze]

Ah! Ochako-chan, there you are! [She sounds like she swallowed a cheese grater..... She'll clear her throat a bit against her elbow as she bounces into the kitchen, a slight limp in her gait but one that doesn't affect her energy.]

I'm a little burnt up, but I'll be fine -- What about you, though? What happened with the boat? I heard so much gunfire after we left!

[infreefall]

Ah, your throat... Do you need some water?

[ goes to grab a cup... she's limping a little heavier than on wednesday morning, but doing her best to hide it. ]

We got it back, eventually. Fujimoto-san helped us catch up, and Hua Cheng-san fought the skeletons in the water. I fought the ones on the boat by myself, and they shot me in the arm, but I've had it looked at already. Nothing to worry about.

[ she says all this with a smile ]

WEEK THREE - WEDNESDAY MORNING

[heartablaze]

[Normally one might expect Hikaru to be a little more reckless with her curiosity. But walking through the abandoned village has her a little straighter in posture, more on guard. Something new adorns her right hand as she tensely keeps her grip on her sword. There's nobody here, so... why can't she shake this feeling, that something might be around the corner?

When she spots Ochako, her posture relaxes a little.]

Hey, Ochako-chan. You're up kind of early, aren't you? [Hikaru it's like almost noon, it's fine.]

[infreefall]

[ hm? her head tilts in confusion, then she's pulling out her phs to type something real quick. she'll show hikaru her notes app a moment later:

Isn't it almost lunchtime? ]

[heartablaze]

...Is it? [She looks up at the sky. Mnn... weird.] Maybe I've been out longer than I thought...?

[She'll shake her head, though, gesturing to the PHS.]

Ochako-chan... did the Realm take your voice? I know Nii-chan said that happened to him a couple days ago.

[infreefall]

[ oh somehow i forgot to mention but since ochako is wearing shorts with her cute safari outfit it's probably more obvious - there are some more bandages on her injured leg! like, not just fresh ones, but they're almost up to her knee now.

anyway! she nods, thinks about it for a second, and types something else:

did you lose your sense of time, Shidou-san? ]

[heartablaze]

[OCHAKO...

That is... distracting!]

I don't think so... The time feels right, but...

[But she'll settle her hand against her hip with a pout.]

Ochako-chan, what did you do to your leg?

week 4, tuesday.

[infreefall]

[ sometimes you are exploring and you find a fourteen year old hanging out in a graveyard. why? time to find out. the other one had an excuse, but she doesn’t think hikaru does, so... ]

Hikaru-san? What are you doing out here?

[heartablaze]

[It's an oddly tranquil moment, the younger girl on her knees in front of one of the decayed tombs, her hands calmly in her lap and her sword to one side. She's easily reaching out to break one of those bubbles before Ochako is close enough to see, watching with an impassive expression, face shifting only subtly.

Ah, and then Ochako speaks up. Hikaru gives her a nod, even as she reaches out to touch another memory (the last image got posted first please i want to kill imgur). It's rather bleak, a hope born out of a personal desperation.]

I wanted to pay respects. [Her expression saddens a little, at what she can see.] This was a nice place to think, though.

[infreefall]

[ nik i need you to know how upset i am that there is a character named ascot? this is so distressing?

anyway.

ochako pauses, startled into silence by the memory and the solemnity with which hikaru speaks. this girl... she really has had a hard time, hasn't she? frowning, ochako steps forward, so that she can kneel beside hikaru. ]

To the people who were removed from the realm, or to someone else...?

[heartablaze]

[Please enjoy his giant hat, it is his best quality]

...Both. [She'll look at the gravestone in front of her, worn to the point of being illegible.] If this place is made of memories, then even if we can't tell who died here anymore... it doesn't mean they deserve to be forgotten. Just like anybody else that's lost.

[A beat, before she glances to Ochako with a quiet smile.]

Is that why you're here too, Ochako-chan?

[infreefall]

I didn't think of that, actually... I was just exploring. [ despite the embarrassment in her voice, ochako sees no reason to lie about it. ] I did pay my respects to the ones who were removed, but I went to the shrine for that.

...Have you lost a lot of people before you came here, Hikaru-san?

week 7, saturday.

[infreefall]

[ wherever they are, ochako brightens when she sees the other girl! ]

Hikaru-san! I had no idea you could fight like that! You were amazing!

[heartablaze]

[yaaaay she is so tired but she'll still give Ochako a quick hug when she enters the kitchen]

Yeah! My family runs a kendo dojo back home, so I've used swords since I was really small, but I usually can only use my magic when I'm in Cefiro!

[She is waiting for the freezer to stop glitching the fuck out, a spoon impatiently being wiggled back and forth in one of her hands.]

You were so cool, though?? I knew you had the guns and everything, but I didn't know you used swords, too!

[infreefall]

[ there's a light laugh as she returns the hug! ]

I remember that. But I never actually saw you fight before - you're really good, you know? And your magic was pretty cool, too.

[ hikaru would make a great hero. she does make a great hero. ]

Honestly, I'm still pretty new to the sword thing... Xie Lian was teaching me, when we first got them. Hua Cheng-san helped me pick out an easy one to use, too. Without their help, today would've been a lot harder.

[heartablaze]

[whats a hero isnt that a sandwich]

Mn, it takes a lot of practice. Part of good swordsmanship is the character you have when you draw it against somebody else, though, and I think you definitely have the right heart to be a swordsman. If you had a good sensei like Chijin, you'd learn a lot!

[Freezer :( hmph]

If you can ever visit Tokyo or anything after this is all over, I'll show you how our dojo trains. Maybe it'll teach you some stuff you didn't know before!

[infreefall]

I don't know... Monsters are one thing, but I'm not so sure if I'd be able to use it against another person. I want to save people, not hurt them.

Oh! Tokyo's really close to my school, though! I'd love to come and visit you and your family someday!