A Knight Does Not Die with Empty Hands [F/SN / Infinite Stratos / ???]

[Pipeman]

[X] Skip to the White Knight Incident

Is it just me or are all signs pointing towards our childhood friend on the path to becoming a yandere?
That would be hilarious.
Especially, once our chivalrous nature comes to the fore.

 

[Fellgar]

[X] The girl...wearing miko robes?

 

[EnderofWorlds]

Vote Tally (*=...you get the idea)

[X] Sit next to the girl with...blue hair?
[5]EVA-Saiyajin, Nightblade, stapeldex2, DarkLord, HyperionTW

[X] The brown haired girl...holding a leek?
[5]Sentoryu, Chronic, Korat86, dragondude, *Selias*

[X] The girl...wearing miko robes?
[15]LightMage. ckk185, Yun, FallenTemplar86, Tetsurou, Alexander89, DistorsionDrake, MHLord, Omegasstar, RyuKadori, Mignonette, jedarol, Usernames, *nick012000, Fellgar*

[X] Skip to the White Knight Incident
[5]ReinZero, arsdraconis, *Biigoh, Piperman, Archanist*

 

[Redon]

[X] The girl...wearing miko robes?

 

[Happerry]

[X] The girl...wearing miko robes?

 

[EnderofWorlds]

[X] The girl...wearing miko robes?

You lead Houki to the table with the miko; surprised at someone dressed in something besides the school uniform. Hopefully she won't be like some of the students here and still mock you two, or be scared of Houki and begin to freak out. When the two of you sit down at the table, the miko notices you and shies away a bit. Hoping to break the ice, you introduce yourself, "Hi, I'm Ichika and this," you point at Houki, "is Houki. What's your name?"

"...Hikari. Hikari Hinamizawa," she replied, still reserved and somewhat shyly.

Houki decides to join the conversation and asks Hikari, "Why aren't you wearing the school uniform? Shouldn't you be in trouble for that?"

Hikari tells her, "Well...it's family tradition for members of the clan to remain dressed in the proper attire for our duties to the shrine. They talked the administration into allowing me to keep in line with it."

That's rather strict of them, but before you could ask further, Houki cuts in; "So you're a miko, eh? My family also has a shrine they maintain but they're not as traditional as yours. I'm probably going to continue their duties once I grow up too."

Wait, what?! Surprised, you turn to Houki and ask her, "Wait, really? Why?"

Houki simply shurgs and says, "I'm already beginning to learn from kaa-san, and it's fairly peaceful and calm at home. I like it there; what's the problem?"

"But...but what about all the inventions you make? Wouldn't being a scientists make more sense?"

Houki sighs and says, "The main reason to be a scientist is to collaborate with your peers and equals. I'm five and I already outsmart most of the teachers and current scientists out there. My only 'equal' is my sister, who also doesn't bother dealing with other scientists. What's the point in trying to work with someone if they can't keep up?"

Then she brings a hand to her chin, thinks for a second, and then replies, "Then again...if it was a project that I was interested in and needed the extra help, I could see myself working with other scientists and engineers to get it finished; helping them by pointing out what they missed or by simply taking charge myself. Something my sister would never do; she's not exactly a 'people-person'."

That's certainly true, you've seen Tabane interact with other people; or rather, not interact with them at all. To her, anyone not close to her was dust in the wind; annoying and immediately blown off.

Houki then continues where she left off, "And besides, just because I'm a miko wouldn't mean I couldn't keep up with what I already do; I'd just do my inventing and research on my spare time. I want to be a miko because watching over the shrine and performing the duties of one seems relaxing," she then asks Hikari, "Since you're also learning to become one, can I ask if I'm right about that?"

Hikari, apparently on familiar ground here, replies, "Well, dealing with my family's traditions is...hard, sometimes. But the actual duties and rituals are relaxing to do, at least to me they are."

And so the conversation went to talking about the various duties of a miko, maintaining a shrine, and eventually to other things as Hikari became more comfortable with you and Houki. By the end of lunch, all three of you were laughing at your story of one of Houki's less fortunate experiments. Then, the bell rang and you went back to class.


And with that, you made another friend; after getting to know her for a bit, Hikari began to join you and Houki whenever you played at school. Her reserved and withdrawn nature served to balance Houki's more manic episodes whenever she got a new idea that was getting out of hand. Acting as the most responsible member of the group, she helped the both of you stay out of trouble at school whenever something went wrong.

Unfortunately, you could only spent time with her at school; because whenever you asked to hang out with her later, she always said the same thing:

"I can't, my family says I'm not allowed to."

Whatever traditions they had, the stuck to fiercely; Hikari even said that even allowing her to go to school was debated about for a long time, "They only agreed to it once they realized that the clan as a whole had become too...isolated; even for their standards. By letting me go to school, it would allow me to see what the world was like outside of the shine and compound."

Houki tried to solve this by making wristbands for all three of you, "Here," she handed you and Hikari one each, "Press the button on the side and it'll holographically project you to the other wristbands; that way we can talk to each other after school."

So while she couldn't physically be there, the three of you could still spent time with each other outside of school. Still, it was a poor replacement for Hikari actually being there. After three years of trying to get Hikari to talk to her family about spending time with you outside of school, and peacefully trying to find a way to get her out of her prison of a home; Houki hand enough.

"Ichikia, we're breaking Hikari out of her home to watch Tanbata fireworks with us." You looked at Houki, and nodded.

You asked her, "What's the plan?"

The plan was actually rather simple, Houki set loose all of her miniature robots and set them loose at Hikari's clan compound; where they caused chaos and exploded as paint bombs when damaged too much. Then, the two of you would sneak in under Houki's latest invention: an 'invisibility cloak' made of metamaterials that do...something; you don't know how it works, and Houki's explanation made you cross-eyed, but it did what it was supposed to and that's all that matters.

Sneaking in during the chaos, you looked room by room for Hikari, and eventually found her what appears to be a dojo of some sort.

...With a fire floating between her hands, and her focusing heavily on it. Houki stomps on the ground, getting Hikari's attention. She flinches out of shock and the fire goes out. When she finally sees the two of you, she begins stuttering, "W-W-Wha-What? How? But-"

"You're coming with us to watch the Tanbata fireworks, and we're not taking no for an answer!" Houki, straight to the point, explains what's going on.

"But-but I'm not supposed to-" This time, you cut in.

"Hikari, we want to spend more time with you. Because we're your friends, and we know you want to do the same. We think it's unfair that your family isn't letting you do; so we're doing something about it," you hold your hand to her, "C'mon, let's go."

Hikari pauses for a moment, then grabs your hand. Looking to Houki, the two of you nod and begin Phase Two: getting out of there ASAP. On jetpacks. Carrying Hikari in your arms, you fly away from her home and reach where Houki's family and your sister are planning to watch fireworks.

For the first time in her life; Hikari was outside of her home and somewhere else out of her own free will, and she was enjoying it. Laughing as you were flying in the skies, her sheer joy was infectuous, and soon you and Houki were joining in. By the time you reached your destination, all three of you had grins plastered all over your faces, and after introducing Hikari to everyone, you sat down and watched the fireworks.

Watching the fireworks was nice, especially since it was the first time for Hikari; who was wide-eyed and watched with innocent awe. Being with all your friends and family, it was nice.

Houki, watching the fireworks, said, "Being here, watching the fireworks is nice; the only thing that could make this better is if the fireworks were even more beautiful. If they were big enough and vibrant looking to paint the entire sky."

Tabane, sitting next to her, said, "Then next year, imouto; I'll make the largest, prettiest fireworks ever. They'll be big enough and flashy enough for the whole world to see!"

Hearing this, Houki only looked at her big sister and grinned, as you laughed at Tabane-san simply being Tabane-san.


The next year, Tabane introduced the IS to the world. Several months after that, exactly one year after that Tanbata festival; was the White Knight Incident, where a rouge IS took down over 1,000 nuclear missiles and hundred of military fighters trying to take it down afterwards. It made Tabane the most wanted woman in the world, and forced her family into protective custody; Houki included. You haven't heard from either Houki or Tabane since.

Still...as you were flicking through channels on the TV, all of them filled with news reports about the incident, you can't help but feel that something's...off...

[X] Try to get a better look at the footage of the incident
[X] Try to contact Houki, somehow
[X] Try to contact Tabane, somehow
[X] Write-in

 

[Biigoh]

[X] Try to contact Houki, somehow
- - [X] You WERE given the holo-wrist bands?

 

[Selias]

[X] Try to get a better look at the footage of the incident

One "knight" defeating a bunch of other "knights?" Let's check it out.

 

[nick012000]

[X] Try to get a better look at the footage of the incident
-[X] Use the Holo-wristbands to contact Houki

 

[BlackWarth]

[X] Try to get a better look at the footage of the incident
-[X] Use the Holo-wristbands to contact Houki

 

[Malcolmo]

[X] Try to get a better look at the footage of the incident
-[X] Use the Holo-wristbands to contact Houki

 

[Pipeman]

[X] Try to get a better look at the footage of the incident

 

[ShadowAngelBeta]

[X] Try to get a better look at the footage of the incident

 

[Happerry]

[X] Try to contact Houki, somehow
- - [X] You WERE given the holo-wrist bands?

 

[EnderofWorlds]

[X] Try to get a better look at the footage of the incident
-[X] Use the Holo-wristbands to contact Houki

Following your gut feeling and instincts, you go online to find more footage of the incident; trying to find what felt...off about the whole thing. Looking for the highest quality videos of the incident without commentary, you pay close attention to what happens, looking for may be a missing piece of the puzzle.

Again you see the incident; the missiles heading towards Japan, the rogue IS designated as the 'White Knight' cutting them down, the missiles exploding into colorful explosions, the military finally-

Wait; hold on. You rewind the video, looking again at the explosions. The vibrant and colorful explosions.

Why hadn't anyone reported about this? Isn't this something that's also odd about the whole situation? Then again, when you have droves of military and thousands of nuclear missiles being cut down by a single person; it's easy to miss the details like this. Not to mention, it's only been a day since the incident. Given a week or two, chances are that the explosions would be addressed.

Still; why would nuclear missiles explode into color? And now that you look at it, the way the explosions flared out kinda made them look like...fire...works...

"Then next year, imouto; I'll make the largest, prettiest fireworks ever. They'll be big enough and flashy enough for the whole world to see!"

Ok, so Tabane did promise to Houki to make the biggest fireworks ever; but that doesn't mean that she'd-

"Dear, we both know that Tabane is...unique. And while that causes problems..."

...But still; simply not caring about people and risking the lives of millions are two different things. Even she'd have to have some form of re-

"I am; when it comes to Houki, what she wants is what she gets. And if I have to drag you kicking and screaming to do it, then I will."

"I can and I will; and if I can't do it, then I'll make something that can."

...
...
.......
.....................
....No matter how hard you'd try to justify it, or try to deny it; you couldn't any longer. Tabane would go that far; if it was for Houki, all bets were off. If Houki wanted a unicorn, Houki got a unicorn. If Houki wanted her best friend to go to the same school as her, her best friend went to the same school. If Houki wanted fireworks, she got the biggest fireworks there were.

If Houki wanted the world to burn; Tabane would douse it in gasoline and light the match, and watch as it was set aflame.

You...you had to talk to Houki, tell her what you just discovered and realized. You had to...to be there for her; because now you're worried that Houki figured out what you did, and is blaming herself for what happened. Thinking that it was her fault that millions of lives were at risk, and all for happy festival fireworks.

Reaching towards the wristband Houki gave you years ago, you notice that your hands are shaking. You take a moment to stop, and take several deep breaths to calm down; it won't do anyone any good if you're freaked out when you talk to her. One you're relatively calm; you dial up Houki's wristband and wait for it to connect.

Eventually it connects, and you see Houki over a workbench tinkering with something. When you get a better look at her, you can tell that she's been crying; her eyes are bloodshot and she's sniffling every once and a while. It doesn't look like she's noticed you yet, instead focusing on whatever she's working on; probably to try to get her mind off of everything that's happened.

You try to get her attention, "Hey, Houki?"

Hearing your voice, Houki drops what she was working on and immediately turns to you, "Ichika?! But how-oh right, I forgot about the wristbands. Whoops."

She forgot? That's hard to believe, then again; with all that's happened, you guess she just forgot through all the stress. Worried, you ask, "Houki, are you alright?"

"I...no," taking a moment to rub her eyes and blow her nose, she continues, "No I'm not ok; I'm forced to move 'for my own good', leaving everything I've ever known behind. The government's trying to get my family to change their name, and my own sister has the gall to not even be here in person!"

Uh-oh, Houki's pissed; and an angry Houki is not something you're looking forward to dealing with. Still, you have to let her know, "Houki...have you been able to contact your sister? I know that's she's not there, and that she's also wanted by the government but..."

"Oh I talked to her alright," she snaps at you, full of spite and malice, "I let her know exactly how I felt about her little stunt. About how angry at her I was, how much I hated her. How it's all her fault for RUINING MY LIFE!!!" At that, she slams her fist down on whatever she was working on, breaking it. Breathing raggedly, she was trembling out of sheer rage; about ready to snap again, likely with another tirade about her sister.

Oh boy...this isn't gonna be pretty..."Houki, I know you're upset; but this is really important," Houki looks at you, and takes a moment to try to calm down. Once she seems less angry, you continue, "Do you remember last year, during Tanbata. Where we watched the fireworks together? Do you remember what you asked your sister on that night?"

Still breathing deeply so that she doesn't explode at you, she says, "I think I do; I asked about the fireworks, and to make them bigger and prettier. What does that have to do with anything?"

You really didn't want to do this, but you had to; "Houki, watch the footage of the whole White Knight incident again. Focus on the explosions of the missiles."

She snorts, and moves towards a monitor; probably a computer or something she made, and manages to find footage of the incident. Watching it, you can tell the exact moment she realizes what you did moments ago; her face goes chalk white, here eyes widen, and she simply goes slack.

Speechless for what felt like hours, she finally speaks, "It's all my fault. All of it; the missiles, the military, the forced relocation, my sister becoming a fugitive; it's all my fault. I...I...oh no, Nee-san; everything I said to her. I-I...I didn't, I mean I....it wasn't supposed to-to..."

Oh no, Houki's definitely not taking this well; she's on the verge of a breakdown. What do you do?

[X] Talk to her (write-in)
[X] Try to contact her sister, get them to talk to each other
[X] You have no idea what to do; stay quiet before you make things worse
[X] Write-in

 

[Biigoh]

[X] Try to contact her sister, get them to talk to each other

 

[Selias]

[X] Talk to her ("No, it was still her fault. She's an adult. She should have known that launching what looked like nuclear missiles wouldn't have gone over well with the governments.")

 

[EnderofWorlds]

"No, it was still her fault. She's an adult. She should have known that launching what looked like nuclear missiles wouldn't have gone over well with the governments."

Click to shrink...

Is it? At this point you've seen that Tabane is clearly not mentally sound; remember the rest of the conversation between her parents? About how they don't think she loves them? The slavish attention she gives her sister, giving her everything she asks for on a silver platter? How she simply tunes out everyone and everything that isn't you, Chifuyu, her sister, or her scientific experiments and projects?

You're not dealing with an adult; you're dealing with someone who's at the very least autistic and a sociopath, along with being fairly detached from reality.

I posted this on SB and I'll post it here: It's time to play the 'who's fault is it?' game. I'm sure you know how to play...

So, who's to blame? Is it Houki, who's unwitting words pulled the trigger and caused it all? Is it Tabane, who's already someone detached from reality and is probably not completely there mentally, but who still went through with it regardless? Both, neither? You tell me.

 

[nick012000]

[X] It's not your fault. There's no way you could have possibly known that she would do something like this. I mean, she's a technical genius; you'd think she'd have been able to build her own fireworks, rather than having to use other people's stuff.
-[X] Tell her to phone her sister and tell her it doesn't count because she cheated by using other people's bombs as her fireworks.

 

[BlackWarth]

Is it? At this point you've seen that Tabane is clearly not mentally sound; remember the rest of the conversation between her parents? About how they don't think she loves them? The slavish attention she gives her sister, giving her everything she asks for on a silver platter? How she simply tunes out everyone and everything that isn't you, Chifuyu, her sister, or her scientific experiments and projects?

You're not dealing with an adult; you're dealing with someone who's at the very least autistic and a sociopath, along with being fairly detached from reality.

I posted this on SB and I'll post it here: It's time to play the 'who's fault is it?' game. I'm sure you know how to play...

So, who's to blame? Is it Houki, who's unwitting words pulled the trigger and caused it all? Is it Tabane, who's already someone detached from reality and is probably not completely there mentally, but who still went through with it regardless? Both, neither? You tell me.

Click to shrink...

I understand your point, but while i don't see Houki as responsible in this instance, things are different with Tabane...

Houki at this point is a child and even without this factor, she really didn't understand her own sister or the lengths she was willing to go for her... at least until now and it took Ichika to point it out to her.

Is the Joker blameless of all the murders he commit just because he is insane? And even if insanity remove the blame it is alright to let a dangerous and unstable individual go free and let him do as he please just because he is crazy? Even if Tabane didn't commit any murder and doesn't act with malice, it doesn't change that she is a dangerous and unstable individual that would burn the world without regrets or thinking about the consequences if her sister asked. In this particular instance even if you ignore the millions of people she put in danger, she didn't even realize that her stunt would cause her own sister to suffer and ruin her life, this show that she is unable to think of the consequences of her actions even when they affect in a negative way the one person she give a damn about.

[X] Ichika should tell Houki what he realized about Tabane, he then should reassure her that it wasn't her fault because she didn't know, finally he should have them talk each other and make up but not before he make Houki realize what kind of power she has over her sister and to be more careful from now on so that another incident like this doesn't happen.

 

[ZurigaSungama]

[X] Talk to her ("This is not your fault.")
-[X] Try to contact her sister, get them to talk to each other

I'm not good at write-ins!

 

[EnderofWorlds]

Votes on SB are uniform; so I'll post what they're planning on here for you guys to see:

[X] Talk to her (write-in)

-[X] Everyone contributed in some way to these events. Nobody realized how far Tabane would go, but there were hints. We may not have known what we were doing or intended for things to go wrong, but in a way we are all bear a measure of responsibility for what happened.

-[X] But that is no reason to give in to despair! Houki didn't know what was happened! Even if her actions contributed to it, she didn't mean it and that counts for a lot! Now she knows the truth. Instead of being weighted down by guilt for the past, what she should focus on is doing better. Instead of lamenting the mistakes made, become proactive and try to fix the damage caused! Houki still loves her sister, right? Well knowing what she knows now about the lengths Tabane will go for Houki, convince Tabane that Houki feels bad, still lvoes her sister, and wants the two of them to make amends. In penance for what was done, find a way to make the world a better place than it was before. That's a worthy goal that would absolve her guilt!

-[X] Don't stop. Even mired in your darkest moments, you must move forward.

 

[Selias]

Votes on SB are uniform; so I'll post what they're planning on here for you guys to see:

[X] Talk to her (write-in)

-[X] Everyone contributed in some way to these events. Nobody realized how far Tabane would go, but there were hints. We may not have known what we were doing or intended for things to go wrong, but in a way we are all bear a measure of responsibility for what happened.

-[X] But that is no reason to give in to despair! Houki didn't know what was happened! Even if her actions contributed to it, she didn't mean it and that counts for a lot! Now she knows the truth. Instead of being weighted down by guilt for the past, what she should focus on is doing better. Instead of lamenting the mistakes made, become proactive and try to fix the damage caused! Houki still loves her sister, right? Well knowing what she knows now about the lengths Tabane will go for Houki, convince Tabane that Houki feels bad, still lvoes her sister, and wants the two of them to make amends. In penance for what was done, find a way to make the world a better place than it was before. That's a worthy goal that would absolve her guilt!

-[X] Don't stop. Even mired in your darkest moments, you must move forward.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, what the hell. I'll vote for this.

 

[BlackWarth]

Votes on SB are uniform; so I'll post what they're planning on here for you guys to see:

[X] Talk to her (write-in)

-[X] Everyone contributed in some way to these events. Nobody realized how far Tabane would go, but there were hints. We may not have known what we were doing or intended for things to go wrong, but in a way we are all bear a measure of responsibility for what happened.

-[X] But that is no reason to give in to despair! Houki didn't know what was happened! Even if her actions contributed to it, she didn't mean it and that counts for a lot! Now she knows the truth. Instead of being weighted down by guilt for the past, what she should focus on is doing better. Instead of lamenting the mistakes made, become proactive and try to fix the damage caused! Houki still loves her sister, right? Well knowing what she knows now about the lengths Tabane will go for Houki, convince Tabane that Houki feels bad, still lvoes her sister, and wants the two of them to make amends. In penance for what was done, find a way to make the world a better place than it was before. That's a worthy goal that would absolve her guilt!

-[X] Don't stop. Even mired in your darkest moments, you must move forward.

Click to shrink...

Change my vote to this too.

 

[EnderofWorlds]

[X] Plan Ragnarok

Seeing Houki going through an emotional crisis, you regret that you couldn't be there in person; a hug would be the sort of thing that would help with what you were about to say. Still, you had to do what you can, "Houki. Houki, listen to me; this isn't your fault."

"But...but I told nee-san-" You cut her off before she could go back to blaming herself.

"Yes, but you didn't know this would happen. None of us did; none of us considered that Tabane would go this far. Not you, not me, not your parents, not even nee-san. Where there signs? Yes, but they were subtle and we missed them; or simply brushed them off. There were a lot of things that any of us probably could've done, but we didn't. If it's your fault for all of this, then it's mine as well. And Nee-san's, and Tabane's. We all share a part of the blame."

"Ichika..." Houki takes in your words, and tries to refute them, "but you couldn't have..."

"And you could?"

There's silence for several minutes, and then finally Houki shakes her head. Then she asks, "What do we do now?"

"We move on," you tell her, straight to the point, "we move past the mistakes we've made and learn how to never make them again. We work on fixing the damage we've caused and try to do our best to deal with the aftermath." Saying this seems to...resonate, with a part of you; as if some aspect of yourself is having a revelation at the same time.

"We can't undo the past; no matter how hard we try, what's done is done. For better or for worse. All we can do is look to the future, and make sure that it's better than the present; and that those mistakes aren't in vain."

Houki takes in your inspirational speech; rubbing her eyes and taking a moment to just absorb what you've said. Finally, she tells you, "I have to go, Ichika. I need to talk to nee-san; to apologize to her...and to think. Thanks. For the talk, and everything."

You smile and say, "You're my best friend Houki; of course I'm going to be there for you, no matter what happens. Whenever you need help, I'm just a call away."

She giggles and says, "Yeah, thanks; goodbye Ichika." With that, she hangs up, leaving you alone with your thoughts.

Tired as all hell, you drag yourself to bed and drop down on it; to be honest, you were about ready to break down too: figuring out what to say to Houki was near impossible, before you simply when with what felt right to say. You hardly knew how you managed to get Houki through things as well as you did, a lot of it was playing it by ear and trying to not freak out like she was. All you knew was that the worst thing you could've done was show Houki that you were just as lost as she was; so you didn't.

Today...was not a good day: you learned that your best friend's sister has the worst grasp of reality imaginable, you had to help your best friend through dealing with the fallout of her sister's actions and how she was the unintentional catalyst for it all, and you've noticed that your sister is nowhere to be found right now.

Drained from it all; you just crashed and went to sleep, dreaming of a past filled with battles of honor and valor. Of war and triumph, and of a band of knights united under a single king...

Now then; when do you want to skip to:
[X] A couple of weeks later, Houki's in a slump
[X] After the first Mondo Grosso, where the world is shaken by another grand revolution
[X] During the second Mondo Grosso, where something is amiss...

 

[Biigoh]

[X] After the first Mondo Grosso, where the world is shaken by another grand revolution

 

[nick012000]

Drained from it all; you just crashed and went to sleep, dreaming of a past filled with battles of honor and valor. Of war and triumph, and of a band of knights united under a single king...

Click to shrink...

Darn. I was hoping watchning the IS battle would give us dreams of an aerial duel against a shining golden hero.

 

[Selias]

[X] After the first Mondo Grosso, where the world is shaken by another grand revolution

 

[EnderofWorlds]

[X] A couple of weeks later, Houki's in a slump

After you woke up from your well deserved rest, you got a call from Houki; she managed to contact her sister and by the sounds of it had a very deep and meaningful talk with her, probably patching things up between and apologizing for the hurtful things she said. Glad that things have gone well, you managed to get back into your normal routine; albeit with your sister absent more often, and Houki only available on long-distance calls. However, after several weeks of the standard routine of your dreams of knighthood, regular school, and spending what free time you could talking with Houki; something begins to change...

You start to notice it when, after several days since the whole White Knight Incident, Houki looks like she hasn't slept well. Or at all, really; bags under her eyes, her skin pale, and her hair looks unkempt. Whenever you tried to talk to her about it, she'd just brush you off with a simple, "I'm fine, you're just imagining things," and then continue with whatever she was doing.

It only got worse though; soon she started twitching, eventually just being jittery all the time. Whenever you called, she'd always ask if there was anyone else around, then take several moments to 'check the connection' in case someone managed to 'tap into the system'. Her eyes would always flicker to any shadows in the room, or anywhere in her peripheral vision; as if she was expecting someone to come after her. She also became more irritable, cursing like a sailor whenever she messed up something due to unsteady hands, or lashing out at you at times unintentionally. When she wasn't swearing up a storm, she would be zoning out; looking at her tools for minutes on end, or simply cut off in the middle of a conversation, before managing to regain focus and resume talking or doing whatever she was doing.

Things finally come to head when, after messing up whatever invention she was working on because of twitchy hands again, she loudly yells "FUCK!" and throw away the screwdriver in her hands and pushes the now useless junk off of the workbench. Then, she zones out again, only this time she has a saw in her hand and is giving it a look that's making you really uncomfortable.

Trying to get her to snap out of it, you call out to her, "Houki."

She doesn't hear you, instead mumbling, "...titanium alloy, silver wiring to replace nerves; would perform at 200% efficiency over biological components. Synthetic muscles would allow for greater precision along with higher strength output, outperforming real muscle by 150%..."

Again, you try to snap her out of whatever trance she's in; because Houki was starting to weird you out here, "Houki."

"...flesh...the flesh is weak; flawed, imperfect. It lacks the perfection of steel and metal, so it's only natural to replace the flawed parts with superior ones. It...it wouldn't even hurt; only for a moment..."

Then, Houki began to move the saw to her hand and now you were officially freaking out, "HOUKI!"

That seemed to snap her out of it, as she jolts from hearing you yell; and seeing the saw so close to her arm and ready to cut it off, hurls the damn thing across the room. She starts shivering and begins to look at the shadows frantically, as if seeing someone hiding in them, or expecting something to come forth from them. Slowly, she backs herself into a corner where most of the light in her room is hitting, still looking from shadow to shadow like a cornered mouse.

That tears it; even if she didn't want to talk about it, you were getting to the bottom of this, "Houki, what the hell was that all about."

She looks at you, and frantically tries to dodge the question, "What, that? Oh I'm just...um...a little tired is all. It's nothing. Nothing to worry about, hehehehe...he..."

You didn't buy it. Frowning, you ask her, "Houki...are you ok? I mean, are you really ok?"

When Houki doesn't say anything, you continue, "Houki, you're my friend, and for the last few weeks; you've been acting really weird. I didn't pry at first, but so far you've only gotten worse. I'm really getting worried about you; I mean, you look like you haven't slept in days. When was the last time you actually got some rest."

Houki looks to the side and mumbles into her hand, coughing to make it even more garbled, "*cough*nine days*cough*..."

"I couldn't hear you; how long?"

"...nine days..." Again she only mumbled out an answer, barely louder than last time.

"Houki..."

Finally she just snaps at you, "NINE DAYS; ALRIGHT!!! Geez, get off my back; I'm fine. See?" She give you a smile, but with the her sleep deprived face and still twitching eyes, it doesn't help her case.

Of course, you tell her this, "You definitely don't look ok, Houki. You can't just ignore the fact that you need rest; look, how about you just go to bed and get some shut-eye. That should help you feel better."

Houki, unfortunately, didn't agree. Looking away from you again, she said, "Don't wanna..."

You sigh, "Houki, you have to sleep eventually; you're not doing yourself any favors by trying to deny yourself rest."

"I don't wanna go to sleep, and you can't make me." There was something about the tone of her voice when she said that. Something that was nagging at the back of your mind.

Still though, "Houki..."

"No. No, please Ichika; don't make me. Don't make me go to sleep," her eyes start to tear up, and you realize that it was fear you were hearing in her voice, "I-I can't...don't make me...don't make me do it. Please, I don't wanna. I can't go through it anymore...nonononononono..."

This only made you more worried; you knew Houki would have bad nightmares, but you didn't think they were this bad. Plus, they only happened every once and a while, not often enough to cause Houki to go though...this...

Something was wrong with your best friend, and you needed to find out what.

[X] Try to talk to Houki; get straight to the bottom of what's causing this
[X] Talk to Houki, but try to dance around the problem; whatever it is is clearly something that she's not comfortable with
[X] Try to get Tabane on the line, she's her sister; she has to know what's up
[X] Write-in

 

[ZurigaSungama]

[X] Conference call with Tabane gooooooooooo!