「浅野 凜」 Asano Rin

[It is morning in Poly, and it could be such nice one, too -- but too bad, Citizens, if you are looking at the network today, what you are greeted with is a PIERCING SCREAM. That, followed by scrambling, heavy breathing, and very quiet whining noises. All to the very exciting visual aid of a white ceiling.

Then some more scrambling, and finally, you see a face.

A very boyish face, and quite overflowing with terror. Until suddenly, the brows slant down hard in some serious righteously offended anger.]

Okay, will someone explain to me what is going on here?

[It is odd, this sentence. Because inflection and intonation do not seem to quite go with the male face, and the sound of it is crackling, unsure, as if the user was not accustomed to it. (Spoiler: she really, really isn't.)]

I mean -- curse, right? WHY is there a curse like this?

[Here, have a hearty facepalm.]

I just... is there some kind of lesson to be gained from this, or do the deities just have a really tw-- [wait, "twisted" isn't even a question here] -- random sense of humor?

[A pause as she looks at the communicator pensively.]

Doubt anyone has better answers, on second thought, but... I'm sending it. Someone talk to me. Someone tell me I'm not alone here with this.

[And sent, it is.]

(OOC: SUDDENLY SASUKE. Go forth and have fun.)

Wow, it's crowded today! It's a "visitor's day", huh? Wonder if anyone... [a bit louder] is anyone I know out there? From home, I mean? Even someone who's usually here? Haven't even looked...

Say, all these curses lately... does that give about a good idea of what it's always like?

Oh, and also! I, ah, probably need a job. [Don't ask how she's been eating up to now.] I have mainly housekeeping skills to offer, but I'm adaptable! I could also help carry things or sell things or be a waitress or something, I think. If I were explained the job a little. I'd be glad if anyone would be so kind as to consider me for a position! Thank you inadvance.

(OOC: Have at her! Anything goes!)

[By the magic of the City, a little girl of maybe six years appears on Misery Square. She's just walking cheerfully, her reaction to the new situation delayed. But then it registers, and she stops and blinks.]

-- hm?

[Her eyes dart around, and then they light up in recognition.]

Uwaaah! It's the weird city again!

[For a few moments, she's just standing there gaping. Then, she notices that something's stuck in her obi. A communication device! Excited, she plucks it out and holds it in front of her face with both hands.]

Hello, box! Hellooooooo!

(OOC: The return of Babyrin! Taken from soon after the last time, but not from a specific canon scene. Have at her. Oh, and network replies are assumed voice.)

[voice]

I think... I should, after all, issue an apology, for the behaviour of my... of me a few days ago. I can't really deny that that was part of me, can I? But here's the thing, and this goes especially to those who might agonize over this: flaws make only half a person.

And that's why I think it's okay.

For a general cheer-up, I've prepared some pastries. Come get them at the square if you want, there's enough!



[action]

[It's right back to the start, it seems: Rin is sitting on a bench on the square, a small table with several artfully arranged pastry pyramids next to her. On her lap is the laptop Umi gave her as a Christmas present. In fact, she's wearing the kimono and necklace she was given for Christmas, too. She's idly playing with the necklace as she clicks around on the laptop, still learning how to operate it, so things go slowly. A little too slowly for her liking, because intends to use it today. Umi's note had said that maybe this thing would actually keep her notes, and this type of curse is what will put that to the test.

Thinking back to the network entry she had posted, she dearly hopes it was enough. She made an effort to display confidence and nonchalance, but within her, doubts still exist. Having your bad side develop a will of its own and act separately from you while you were locked in a spooky mirror version of the City is a pretty scary thing. But she sets her lips and tells herself to not let it get to her. She can deal, she's beyond letting scary things define her.

Right?

Her gaze goes to the pastries on the table. That tactic worked well enough last time she used it, so hopefully it will do the same now. Not that she doesn't also genuinely want to cheer up her friends with this, but she's aware of the double effect and entirely willing to use it to her advantage. Her research has, after all, been going stale for a while.]

Here's to hoping the best.

(OOC: As usual, anything goes! Fourth walling, canonmates, mockery: bring it.)

At first, all you see is darkness, and the darkness is total. Not a thing discernible - except for sounds. Wet sounds, like water dripping somewhere far away, and sounds of breathing, not loud, but clearly audible. Rin, she tries to move in this darkness and kicks a few pebbles loose.

A feeling of danger reigns over the room - and it is somewhere inside something, judging by the sounds and the odd feeling of walls closing in on you.

Then, kaboom! Light literally explodes into the room, and in plain view to the front is a cavern tapering to a tunnel, and in that tunnel, doors start opening. One following swiftly after another, there are also creatures coming out from behind those doors. They look like large, humanoid otters, their faces a mere caricature of an animal.

They start moving, back to where Rin is standing.

(OOC: Inspired by this mess (spoilers).)

Are we finally done with the torture and the suffering? I guess that makes it true: the end of the year is indeed special.

Well, not to dwell on that! To the Curse Brigade: Would setting up shelters in the buildings make sense? As far as I can tell, as much as anywhere - at least they never get destroyed, though things invade them, certainly. Is there even any place in the City that's completely safe from curse effects? Because I'm thinking about setting one up in Building Three, where I live. It would be close and thus easy for me to maintain. But I would need helpers.

And... dare I ask what's up with all the mistletoe? It's a bit... sudden, so I don't know if I trust it.

(OOC: Currently out and about, doing the usual grocery shopping/library/whatever, and so available for kissing!)

[SPLOSH.]
[Such is the sound of Rin falling unceremoniously into the foutain. She's splashing around and gasping, until she gets out and you can hear water dripping onto the concrete.]

Wh-what?

[If you were to see her, you'd watch her standing there and quietly looking at her surroundings, until her eyes widen in recognition as the reality of her situation dawns on her.]

... back here...

[Down she slumps onto the ground, sopping wet and utterly dumbfounded. She'll regain her senses sometime in the near future.]

(OOC: And here she is again, fresh from Japanese volume 23, chapter 150/162.)

[A small cell with a signifantly smaller window which only lets in spare light. Huddled in a showdy corner beneath said window is Rin, breathing heavily and irregularly, eyes diluted.]

... hnngh. I get it.

[Her voice is quiet and a little shaky at the beginning, but then becomes steady as her breathing calms down.]

You won't let me out of here, right? Not before I do what you want, before I say the words you want, before...

Well. I plead guilty, I do. I can say that. There's... [She has her eyes downcast.]

... there's blood on my hands, no denying that.

However. Half those cases turned out to be something of self-defense, and Renzō...

If Renzō wants to judge me for what I did, that's his due right. I'll grant that to him... and him only.

I am not going to give up myself or my freedom to anyone else for this.

[Now, she's looking directly at the camera. There's a flicker in her eyes that says she's noticed that it's recording.]

Because there are things that are more important to me.

(OOC: Been psychologically bombarded with an ever-rewinding replay of Anotsu telling her he's doing it all for grandpa, with the occasional memory of mommy dearest thrown in for good measure. \o/ Will escape later on today.)

[In your square, there is a little girl in a pink kimono. She is smiling as she speaks, and the mirth in her voice is clearly audible.]

That none of us get burned by sparks!

[But then she looks around herself and realizes... that something is amiss.]

Huh?

... mommy?

[Her face and voice both carry the sheer puzzlement. She is too confused to even be properly shocked.]

Mommy?

...

Daddy? Grandpa?

(OOC: Upping your kid quota with the Age Reversal curse. Taken quite directly from this scene and about six years old.)