XBLAZE - Concurrent:Butterfly [IC]

[Airen]

Tsugumi Uro
Phantom Field
Morning, April 13th, 2056
Event Stock: 0
Phantom Field (?)

"All three are in Tomobiki, and you have met them before, whether you remember it or not."

A somewhat vague answer, distressingly vague in fact...

"To give specifics would be to violate my programming. Primary Directive is to defend the User and repel the world's 'Cessation of Existence.' While I do not believe you are a threat, I cannot disclose identities in any true capacity."

Of course it's not that easy, in stories it basically never is either, but...

It seemed life ran off those sorts of inconvenient tropes as well, that, or this was one hell of a dream...

"As for her strength, certainly. The User is competent, I would say they are strong; it is in their best interest to not allow the city to be eaten as well, so being a help is also a given... Even beyond them, there are plenty of people in town that wish to avoid an end... That town was designed to be hope, not despair."

A pause, then:

"...As for the girl you saved. She is not a user, so I could disclose her identity in theory. Unfortunately, she is also nameless. But she is a magic user, so if you can find her once more, perhaps you could call on the favor you have done her? Like the others, she should be within this world in some fashion... If T-C hid her, then it must be for a sound, logical reason."

[Bird of Hermes]

Tsugumi Uro
Phantom Field
Morning, April 13th, 2056
Event Stock: 0
Phantom Field (?)

Ah, it was never going to be easy. Tsugumi hoped it would but it was in vain. It appeared that there would indeed be help but getting to that stage would be difficult.

“So then”, Tsugumi muttered, listing off to himself. “Find the ‘Regret’ and smash it, whatever it is. You say there are people who can help who I may have met before but your programming can’t tell me who they are so I can’t find them. If I fail we all die and the moment we leave, I’m going to forget all this happened…”

Well this was just lovely.

The young man took in a deep breath only to sigh loudly.

“Do you have any more bad news to give me before you kick me out of here System T-A? Any guidance at all before I wake up and forget this all happened to begin with and I die anyways?”

Tsugumi was hardly the most cheerful chap whilst in a downward spiral and nothing was being said to improve his mood at all. Although realising the weight of his situation, he was still faintly hoping this was really just an elaborate prank or intricate dream. But no, this was too ridiculous for his mundane subconscious to make up.

If the shadow was really going to find this ‘Regret’ and devour everything and he was one of the few who could stop it- but what was the point if he was going to just forget everything the moment he woke up?!

Why stress him out, what purpose could this serve other than amusement? As this encounter prolonged, it only reminded him why he hated drama and dealing with these types of people. T-C was seeming to be the least helpful and frankly self-serving one here. Was it all T-C’s fault? Possibly. Was Tsugumi going to blame T-C? Probably.

Perhaps Tsugumi was wrong, maybe Chiasa and Mizuki were just exceptions to his general rule about people. Maybe he should sit back and-

No.

What was he thinking?

Yes, he had almost been devoured but if he did nothing then Chiasa would… Mizuki would… and Naoko. No, Tsugumi couldn’t let this happen. Not to her, she had put up with enough already. He could picture her in his head.

He couldn’t think of what she’d say specifically, probably a misremembered quote from Queen Victoria. But the words themselves weren’t important. Tsugumi knew his aunt seemed to be on half-energy all the time and he knew the reasons why but she would never show her moments of weakness. Even despite his outburst earlier, she held onto something. A quiet determination.

Yes, that was what was needed.

Deal with the problem and complain later when you’re alone.

“Ok, let me rephrase that, sorry System T-A.” He started carefully, preparing his words and for the reaction they’d bring. “So when I wake up, what is it I need to do exactly, how do I remember?”

One last thing.

“And…”

Tsugumi gritted his teeth for a moment. System T-A, The Original Epigraph was far more co-operative and helpful but still...

“How do I get talking to T-C at all?

[Kuroyuki]

Yoko Aoyama
Northern Cross Academy
Vier's Classroom
April 12th, 2056
Weather: Sunny
Event Stock: 1


I continued to give Kasumi a pleading look while she thought about whether to accept Motou Chiasa’s offer on a secret flavor. She seemed vaguely conflicted? Maybe she’s also curious about what kind of flavor it is?

"...I'm kind of curious too."

Does this mean that Kasumi is going to say yes?

"It's... Okay I guess."

When Kasumi said that I was so happy that I ended up hugging her. I couldn’t wait to try out the new flavor with her!

"Alright, Alright~ That's a good knight-chan~ Now, you said next week right Yoko? How about next Friday?"

Friday? I don’t think I’m doing anything next Friday… So it should be okay right? I poked out from Kasumi’s back again and gave her a single nod. I felt a mental warning bell go off. It felt familiar and something I felt recently? For some reason, I can’t remember what it was.

It should be fine right?

[Mooncake]

Kotetsu Shima
???
Date: April 11th, 2056
Weather: Clear Skies
Event Stock: 2

"...Perhaps you should see what's biting. I'm with you, so worry not about irrational fears, all that can be caught here is "truth."

A sharp pain rings in his head for a moment, linked to a dull throb in his arm. If he had a cigarette, Shima would have burned it down to the nub.

"The 'truth', huh?"

The line in his hand is beginning to tug, slowly but incessantly. Shima wraps it around his hand once, twice, hard enough to bleed.

"Might as well see what it wants."

He pulls as hard as he can.

[Airen]

Tsugumi Uro
Phantom Field
Morning, April 13th, 2056
Event Stock: 0
Phantom Field (?)

"How to remember?"

A head tilts to the side, as if this question took a bit more genuine thought from her than the other ones had; while it was clear this entity possessed something close to omniscience, there was seemingly a number of checks and balances within her systems that made direct intervention difficult for her to accomplish, or rather, there were rules she had to follow in order to be the sort of existence she was, even so...

"Do I have permission to interfere with your cellular device? I will put a counter and a reminder on it. It will have to be vague and lack some context, but it should point you in a more general direction than mere subconscious thought."

That was... Surprisingly more helpful in a direct way, and-

"As for T-C... It was constructed after me, so my knowledge on it's personality is somewhat more limited. Assuming it's directive is exactly the same as the rest of us, it will interfere when it feels that it must to protect you, allowing you to die should be considered a failing of it's primary directive. My confidence that it will appear in order to avert such a thing is in the upper ninety percentile, so you can have some confidence in it. I'm sure it has a reason for stalling, perhaps it is having some trouble directly booting into this space."

...It's not a hundred percent chance or anything, but...

At least showing up to stop you from dying meant it wouldn't be entirely useless as a 'guardian program.'

[Bird of Hermes]

Tsugumi Uro
Phantom Field
Morning, April 13th, 2056
Event Stock: 0
Phantom Field (?)

Tsugumi had given up, there was no arguing here. This wasn't something he wanted to do, he just wanted a simple life, a quiet life.

But the consequences were too much; Naoko, Mizuki, Chiasa... the latter two were only recent additions to his life but for some reason he couldn't quiet pinpoint, he felt like he had been through a lot with them in the short time he knew them. Auntie Naoko however, no. He had seen her go through enough. She had done so much for him too.

In the end, he had no choice.

Tsugumi took a deep breath and steeled himself.

"Do it. Do anything and everything you have to do for me to save my aunt."

[Airen]

Kotetsu Shima
???
Date: April 11th, 2056
Weather: Clear Skies
Event Stock: 2

---Obviously, it wouldn't be a normal sort of catch.

While the thing on the other end of the line is undeniably heavy, it is no more resistant than a particularly large or determined bass, and thus your strength alone is enough to simply ensnare it and drag whatever it is from the ocean of clouds.

What emerges first, gripping onto the hook of it's own accord, is what seems to be a small hand; it is not the hand of a person, it is shiny and porcelain in nature -like a doll- and the dark brown hair and glass eyes that come peeking out from beneath that storm of rolling fog truly reveal it to be such... Of course, it's not unheard of for discarded items to get caught within fishing lines, but for the doll to be clinging to it with it's own hands, well...

It's unnerving, to say the least.

Even more so when the head tilts of it's own accord, eyes going out of their way to meet with your own; in her other hand...

Is the hand of another doll, this one male, both dressed only in pure white hospital gowns; their are name-tags on them, but only the letters 'M' and 'U' can be seen as the initial of their first names on the girl and the boy respectively. Of course, even that doll's other hand remains below the sea of clouds; and it is only with another final pull that the truth of the matter is revealed...

One more doll, another kid.

It seems familiar even at a glance, but unlike the others, the name-tag on this one is perfectly legible, but the words written there aren't a name.

No...

What's written there, is simply...

'You.'

[Airen]

Watanabe Yuuki
Northern Cross Academy, The Azure Tent
April 17th, 2056, Early Evening
Event Stock: 0
Chilly

"Alice is my guardian. She was made to be fast in order to protect me."

---It's certainly a strange answer.

While the doll in question is just a doll, the almost child-like grip of affection the girl gives it at those words is one that makes it clear she's saying it without any form of irony at all...

"I told you before right? I died. I got sick and died, so I can only stay in this place. There is no-body for me to return to, you see~"

It's a bad pun, as well as a surprisingly morbid joke for what was effectively a ghost.

"But Alice never died, or I guess you could say only one of her died? I made her two bodies, and one of them is still over there, so she can come and go as she wants, I don't try to stop her. But she's always around when I need her, so I haven't lost the game yet!"

A pause, then:

"Oh, you asked about that too huh? Sorry~ Forgot~"

---Her thoughts seem strangely scattered, all over the place, as if she was having trouble remaining coherent for long periods of time.

"It's hide and seek. I thought it was just Alice and I at first, but after awhile something else started showing up over here too; Alice keeps us away from it, so it's been a pretty long game. It's caught up a few times, but Alice lets it chase her around for a bit when it does. It's kind of strange-looking, like a shadow? Spooky school story huh? There was plenty of that sort of thing when I was in high school too~"

Her head tilts as she smiles -seemingly unperturbed by the more disturbing implications- and...

Chiasa starts twitching in her 'meditation.'

[Airen]

Yoko Aoyama
Northern Cross Academy
Vier's Classroom
April 12th, 2056
Weather: Sunny
Event Stock: 1

"Alright, it's a plan then~"

While alarm bells have been shooting off inside of your thoughts ever since you agreed to her proposition, it is ultimately one that was made with your own will, and thus one neither you nor Kasumi can really turn your back on...

Besides, this person was clearly harmless.

The warning bell wasn't the bell of physical danger, no, it did remind you of another sensation -another person- but it was really hard to pin it down now that you really thought about it, and...

The classroom bursting out into a strange storm of noise at your words is one that shatters whatever concentration both you and they had managed to acquire over the course of this class... Yes, while it's not entirely clear what they're indignant about, there seems to be a certain sense of 'lamentation' amongst them, as if they had just seen something absurd succeed where it absolutely should have failed, and...

"Well, at least the next generation of magi seems rather lively~ I was afraid everyone would be deadly serious all the time-!"

Vier seems to just accept it all, quieting the classroom with a literal snap of her fingers once it all becomes too much for her good will to handle, which-

"I'll pick you both up, I've got a motorcycle~"

-Leaves those as the last words from Chiasa before class begins in earnest.

--}i{--

[palad1n]

Watanabe Yuuki
Northern Cross Academy, The Azure Tent
April 17th, 2056, Early Evening
Event Stock: 0
Chilly

Yuuki didn't really thought his attempt at small talk would work, but he's thankful that it did. Not only did it give him more information to work with, but her (relatively) normal answers and her attempt at a joke, even if it is rather morbid, also helps him to calm down and not being constantly creeped out.

Or maybe he's just getting used to this...

Still, more questions only popped out through her answers. He could believe that Alice is her guardian, but how can a doll like Alice 'died' and followed her? And who - or what - is the shadow-like entity that she claimed to play hide-and-seek with her? And what would happen if the shadow does catch her?

But his musings were interrupted by the twitch in Chiasa's fingers.

He thought this session would go on forever, but that small sign of Chiasa coming back gives him hope. For a single moment he thought on grabbing her hand and shook her to end her trance, and Yuuki is really tempted to do just that...

But he stopped himself from doing so.

After all, the crystal is still showing the girl on the other side, and who knows what would happen if he ends this session prematurely. He just needs to stall for time for a little while longer...

"I guess Alice must be really good then, if you've managed to avoid the shadow until now." Yuuki began, keeping in mind that the girl seems to dislike questions being asked; that means he just needs to paraphrase his questions as comments or attempts at conversation. "But what are you doing there when you're not playing the game? Or when Alice is coming over to 'this side?'

How long has this been going on, anyway?

[Mooncake]

Kotetsu Shima
???
Date: April 11th, 2056
Weather: Clear Skies
Event Stock: 2

Shima held the dolls in his hands gently, just in case he slipped. Years of riding on fishing boats had left him with a strong set of sea legs, but he didn't really trust the sea of clouds here. You couldn't fully trust the ocean on the best of days to begin with, and that was in reality.

He'd accepted the doll's eyes moving to meet his with ease, since he knew it was a dream of some kind, even if he'd never had one like it in his life. When he pulled up the doll that, for all intents and purposes, resembled him... he accepted it too.

Holding it carefully, he gave its hand a gentle shake.

"Welcome back."

[RacingeR]

Loraine Irwin
Tomobiki, Nagatani Estate
Morning
April 11th, 2056
Weather: Clear Skies, Warm.
Seithr Rating: 100 (Safe)
Event Stock: 3

“Hmm…” Lori’s nose for mysteries picked up a trace of something, looking at Zero’s reaction and the odd melancholy that had invaded the ninja just now. She could smell a story here, one she’d like to poke into later on. Didn’t seem like a good idea to just ask Zero directly. Although some of it had sounded… a bit odd. Reminded the principal of someone, huh?

She said nothing, instead just listening to the ninja as she analyzed the labyrinth they were traversing. It was a relatively simple one, all things considered. Loraine had spelunked through so many labyrinths and death traps that, if she put her mind into it, she suspected she would crack the labyrinth, given enough time. Granted, it took some skill to make this, and the road that needed to be walked over twice would stump her for some time, but it wasn’t nothing that Lori herself couldn’t make, if given enough space, materials and time.

Okay, so Zero showing up had kept her from using the whole day to clear the labyrinth. But she wasn’t going to admit to it. She had her pride to keep as one of the world’s most notorious magic thieves-!

Still, she was shocked when she saw what was at the end of the path, the box decorated with the same colors that her phone had, indicating clearly that she was a very expected visit.

“Interesting… did the Principal predict that I’d be the first to attempt the labyrinth? It isn’t a hard guess to make, if she knows my records…” Lori smiled as she walked up to the box and looked at it, curious. “Or was this a small feat of clairvoyancy? Or is she scrying the labyrinth or is somehow attuned to it and used a spell to change the color of the box once she knew I was here?”

“Hehe, I find the Principal more and more interesting.” Lori said to herself, and then opened the box.

She was curious about what the ‘vampire’ would gift her with, after all. And Lori wasn’t one who knew how to keep her curiosity under control.

[Airen]

Loraine Irwin
Tomobiki, Nagatani Estate
Morning
April 11th, 2056
Weather: Clear Skies, Warm.
Seithr Rating: 100 (Safe)
Event Stock: 3

Unless the box was enchanted, the item itself must not be something particularly substantial; the weight of the box is so light that it feels almost empty, but the hand that disappears into the darkness of the opening brushes up against something metallic as it scrapes against a cardboard bottom...

The appearance of the box suggests some form of clairvoyance on the part of the principal, of course while true clairvoyants do exist, the idea that she is one of them alongside being a theoretical vampire is too much for your mind to accept as the obvious answer. If she truly is clairvoyant, it's likely a limited clairvoyance that extends merely around the entirety of Tomobiki... Bounded Fields that would enable such things are perfectly possible if given enough time to work on them, the Sages back at the island were said to have that sort of access to the goings on within it, and thus the idea that the 'highest power' here would have some way of tracking the -possibly dangerous- Unions was not one that struck you as particularly impossible...

No... It was likely guaranteed...

After all, the best way to ensure something succeeds is to have plans within plans; still, as annoying as that realization might be...

"Oh. It's a key?"

Looking over your shoulder at it, Nina calls out it's mystery a moment before you can see it with your own eyes...

"Library?"

Yes.

It's an old fashioned style Berlin Key, and the white-tag handing off of the side simply reads "Library."

It does not specify what library, nor it does not even state a building...

But it is certainly a key for some library, somewhere in town.

---Thinking about your own personal history.

Perhaps it's something of a joke.

"...Hmm. That's two keys so far. She's really trying to get students to run loose."

Zero doesn't seem quite as informed about your past, but she seemingly notes it as something worth commenting on...

[Airen]

Tsugumi Uro
Nurse's Office
Morning, April 13th, 2056
Event Stock: 0
Cloudy Skies

You awaken from a dreamless sleep.

Or at least, that's how it feels like to you. The softness of one of the nurse's many beds is one that does not infringe upon the natural structure of the body, it supports everything perfectly, leaves bones aligned as they should be, and thus there's a certain 'dreamy' feeling that comes with awakening without soreness back into the world you called reality.

---Yes, a dreamy feeling.

But all lingering aches and pains had vanished, so...

How long had you been asleep? It's hard to say. The red-haired nurse was clicking away at a keyboard in the distance, she doesn't seem to have noticed you're awake, and you can't see a clock from where you are, so naturally your first thought is to check your phone for it, and...

11:30...

It's pretty close to noon, and while that's somewhat alarming in it's own right, something else draws your attention, namely...

It seems your TOi schedule had shifted ever so slightly while you slept.

...You couldn't remember changing your interests or anything inside of it's applications, or going out of your way to search for anything over the internet that might lead it to make that sort of conclusion...

So it was somewhat strange.

[Bird of Hermes]

Tsugumi Uro
Nurse's Office
Morning, April 13th, 2056
Event Stock: 0
Cloudy Skies

He laid down.

The softness of the bed and taking the little power nap seemed to have worked wonders. With the nurse turned away, she couldn't see the relaxed soft flicker of a smile on his face. He was refreshed. Oddly so, it was almost a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Tsugumi couldn't quiet put a finger on it, it was odd to feel so tense free after a visit from the nurse's office.

Usually such visits were dreaded by others but if he felt this good then he'd feel better about about his frequent visits.

As for his phone though, after a quick look Tsugumi saw something.

'Interest in Occult Stories Confirmed.'

Huh.

Since when did that happen?

Tsugumi couldn't think of a point he showed any interest in ghost stories. Even with all the shows and movies he had seen with his aunt, the horror genre wasn't exactly something that they had exactly dipped their toe into. Historical European dramas though? That was more his speed.

...

Must have been a glitch or something but it would be too much of a hassle to change it. He may poke out a little as out of place there but making a fuss would only bring more attention to him.

He'd just have to bite the bullet and go into something a little outside his comfort zone but his his aunt would want him to keep making friends, though at least he'd settle for just getting along with people. She'd like that and there was that little outburst of his earlier this week, it would be good to make things up.

As for the nurse however, Tsugumi sat upright and turned to face her.

"Hello?" he asked before a dull yawn escaped his lips. "Everything alright?"

[Kuroyuki]

Yoko Aoyama
Northern Cross Academy
Vier's Classroom
April 12th, 2056
Weather: Sunny
Event Stock: 1

"Alright, it's a plan then~"

The small alarm bells in my head conspicuously stopped and instead I heard the loud, creaking shut of a door. For some reason, that sound was worrying and made me anxious.

But I should be fine. Motou Chiasa was harmless… At the very least, I didn’t I feel like I was going to be hurt from her. Physically at least. But then why do I feel slightly anxious about this meeting…

Before I could really think about why I was worrying, there was a loud sound coming out from the rest of the class. W-what? Why is everyone shouting and seemed to lament at something?!?

At the outburst, I returned back to behind Kasumi’s protective back where it felt safe from all of these weird things. Like everyone was in some form of anguish or disbelief at something that occurred. Barely over the loud din of anguish (?), I heard Vier speak.

"Well, at least the next generation of magi seems rather lively~ I was afraid everyone would be deadly serious all the time-!"

I-I see… I would prefer if it was quieter.

"I'll pick you both up, I've got a motorcycle~"

A motorcycle?! With that said, Vier snapped her fingers once and that was the end of that. The classroom thankfully being quiet once more. But something about the classroom still worried me so I didn’t leave the safety of Kasumi’s back…

--}i{--



Wednesday, April 13th
Weather: Cloudy
Evening/Night
[Event: Abandoned Shrine?]

[Airen]

Watanabe Yuuki
Northern Cross Academy, The Azure Tent
April 17th, 2056, Early Evening
Event Stock: 0
Chilly

"I don't do anything."

A blunt answer, but one that is nevertheless full of meaning.

"I blank out a lot I guess. Stare at walls for weeks. It's like blinking once and realizing three days have passed, you know? Although sometimes it's more like I go back a few days instead... Although that would be kinda silly, so I'm probably just crazy. Or dreaming I guess, but if I was you, I'd go with the insane theory. Almost definitely crazy."

Followed by an uncaring admission of her own possible insanity.

"Of course, now that I think about it, there was someone else here once that kinda reminds me of you at a glance... What was the name? Ah, that's right, it was-"

A sudden jump in Chiasa's consciousness makes it impossible for you to hear the rest of what that girl had wished to tell you. It was the sort of semi-infuriating timing that existed within the hearts of books, movies, and television show run-times, but...

"Ahh..."

While you are still somewhat on edge -thankful perhaps that the stressful event was over- your violet haired senpai doesn't seem to share that tenseness; coming out of her trance like coming out of a nap, eyes closed and body stretching back slightly, arms raised in a silent stretch.

"Always feels a little weird coming out of those..."

Eventually, her eyes open, and...

"So, see anything interesting? Your face is telling me all kinds of stories... Nothing came out of the ball right?"

---Wait.

Had that been a possibility?! Or was she just messing with you?!

[Airen]

Yoko Aoyama
Abandoned Amanohokosaka Shrine, Tomobiki
Wednesday, April 13th
Weather: Cloudy
Evening/Night

Well, this was certainly a shrine!

While you hadn't been able to find the free time to charge your way here after class yesterday, the determination to make your way here today, to set up a semblance of your old life here within the confines of your new town, is one that forces all obstacles in your path to be crushed-!

Except for a certain Einzbern, who you and Kusumi had skillfully went around rather than through, knowing that if she had managed to catch sight of you after class, that you would once again be caught up in 'her pace' rather than one you had set for yourself. It's not entirely a bad thing, as a part of you knows she's doing it purely to ensure you are able to better adjust to life here in Tomobiki, but even so, it is in the nature of teenagers to wish to rebel and be free, and thus-!

"...Yeah. This is pretty abandoned."

Dead branches and old leaves litter the tiled ground in front of the shrine -likely remnants of last year's winter- and the storage shed that exists off to the side of everything, has a clearly rust-broken lock, and is bent in a way that implies something heavy crashed into it's metallic frame at one point, or that whomever had 'fixed' the shed had used less than stellar materials in order to do so-!

The shrine itself -in contrast- was somewhat more together. The woof of it's walls and donation box is neither shining nor rotting, and the visible lock on the side of the building actually seemed to be both functional and enchanted; the sort of lock that will yield only to the actual key -or enough excessive force- and thus one that you wouldn't be able to open peacefully, if not for the key you had acquired from the principal...

"Guess it's a good thing we brought brooms..."

And garbage bags for the leaves, but...

Really, looking at it now...

You probably should have brought some sort of wood polish too...

The grounds needed cleaning, the shed door needed fixing -and it's contents needed counting- and the interior of the shrine itself likely needed to be looked at as well, just to see exactly what it was you were working with here...

You could work together with Kasumi on it, or split the work between the two of you, but...

Either way...

You probably weren't going to finish tonight, or at least...

Not before the -currently descending- sun actually set over the horizon.

[Airen]

Tsugumi Uro
Nurse's Office
Morning, April 13th, 2056
Event Stock: 0
Cloudy Skies

"Certainly, certainly."

While you can't see her face just yet, the sound of the nurse's voice makes it clear that she's 'smiling.' While her behavior seemed to shift slightly from student to student according to rumor, to you, the doctor had always been casually warm, the sort of teacher that felt 'close in age' to her patients, showing both maturity and teasing tendencies with a startling frequency, but right now...

Her voice is simply pleasant...

"There's nothing particularly strange about your Crystal, but your body's stress levels are somewhat elevated beyond the norm; it's not a big problem ultimately, but do you get enough sleep at night? Do you still feel stressed from the move, or any other source? I would have woken you up a few hours ago, but you seemed to need the rest."

A pause, then:

"Of course I contacted your teachers as well once I decided to let you sleep, so there's no worry for missing assignments or anything; not that homework is traditionally given during the first week anyway..."

Surprisingly thoughtful.

[palad1n]

Watanabe Yuuki
Northern Cross Academy, The Azure Tent
April 17th, 2056, Early Evening
Event Stock: 0
Chilly

While there was some feeling of annoyance at Chiasa waking up just as an important revelation is about to be had, for the most part what Watanabe Yuuki felt as the purple-haired girl stretched her body up was that of relief, even if he does still felt somewhat tense.

Yes...

"So, see anything interesting? Your face is telling me all kinds of stories... Nothing came out of the ball right?"

He was relieved enough that he let out a little laugh at that statement rather than balking and asking whether Chiasa was serious or not like he'd usually do. After dealing with the girl in the crystal ball, that comment was so like Chiasa that Yuuki felt the remaining tension in his body and mind fade away, even if he does massage his temple to deal with it.

"No, nothing came out of the ball... I think I would've run if that's the case." Yuuki said after he calmed down, looking at Chiasa in the eyes before taking a glance at the crystal ball. "I did, however, have an interesting conversation with someone in the crystal ball. Someone from this school who's been dead for some time."

And so, without missing a beat Yuuki recounted what happened to Chiasa with as much detail as he could; this is supposed to be a way to see whether can actually be her assistant or not after all, and as he rambled on, Yuuki noted to himself that he seems to be able to do that just fine.

"...And that's when you wake up." He finished; the experience still felt surreal to him, and he still got no clue how that's supposed to tell his future. So naturally Yuuki turned to the supposed fortune teller for answer, and he'd be lying if he said he isn't looking forward to her answer... because as eccentric as Chiasa is, the experience showed that she's the real deal.

"So... can you tell me anything from that, senpai?" Yuuki asked as he brought his lemonade into his mouth, only to look at it with a frown when he realized that the bottle is empty.

He forgot that he already finished it before the demonstration...