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[12:15] <Karo> A mountain was still a mountain. Karo had cursed it every step of the way. The weather was still too hot, and he was miserable, and even if he didn't even have homework to bring this time he blamed his teachers. -
[12:22] <Karo> The Mount Honga's temple came into view at last. Huffing, he sprawled out on top of the very last steps leading to it, and just lay there, trying to catch his breath.
[12:28] <Minaplo> A moment later he would come face-to-foot with his reward.-
[12:30] <Minaplo> Umeko Saitou was standing over him, wearing the classical miko outfit- a plain white kimono with a bright red hakama.-
[12:30] <Minaplo> She swept around him.-
[12:31] <Minaplo> Then she knelt down and gently prodded him in the ribs with the broom. "I'm not going to apologise for the mountain being a mountain. I'm pro-mountain. People keep telling me boys are full of virile energy, where's that now?"
[12:35] <Karo> "You've been… told a lie," Karo wheezed. He refused to stand up despite the prodding. "Quit living on mountains, for godssake."
[12:36] <Minaplo> "It's for Gods' sake that I live on one in the first place." Said Umeko. Prod, prod. "You know, I can walk up and down this mountain no problem."
[12:36] <Karo> "Shrine maidens have special powers. It's the only explanation."
[12:41] <Minaplo> "It's true. We have many powers. The Miko-Kagura dance to summon kami into our bodies and into the world. We can create a special sake by swirling rice around in our mouths. Oh, and the kiss of a shrine maiden can restore power to the tired."-
[12:41] <Minaplo> Poke, poke. "You're not hanging out for a kiss right now, are you?"
[12:43] <Karo> "I won't be threatened or poked into moving," Karo grumped. "If anything, you should sit with me. All that sweeping looks tiring."
[12:46] <Minaplo> "It's actually pretty relaxing. Meditative, you know. You should help me sweep."
[12:47] <Karo> "No thank you. I do plenty of chores at the place where I live." A lie, of course. No reason for her to know that.
[12:48] <Minaplo> "What kind of chores?" She was now sitting down next to him, her legs folded elegantly beneath her.
[12:49] <Karo> "You know… cooking. And taking out the garbage. And fixing things. Uh…"
[12:53] <Minaplo> "Oh, you cook? What do you cook?"
[12:54] <Karo> "Why? You have a housemaid living here. You don't need my kitchen magic."
[12:54] <Minaplo> "What, you think I'm asking you about your cooking so I can score a meal out of you? The only meal I'm likely to get off you is the one I get when I eat your carcass."
[12:55] <Karo> "Hey! I gave you a meal the last time I was here. That was my last bag of chips, too."
[12:55] <Minaplo> "But you didn't cook the chips."
[12:56] <Karo> "You don't know that…" he hefted himself into a more dignified sitting position at last.
[12:56] <Minaplo> "They were convenience store chips."
[12:56] <Karo> Karo sighed. "Yeah, they were. And they were great."
[12:57] <Minaplo> "They were okay."
[12:59] <Karo> "To answer your earlier question, we made salsa chicken in Home Economics this week, and mine was pretty good. So I basically cook stuff like that all the time."
[01:00] <Minaplo> "Mm… I want salsa chicken. Come on, make me some."
[01:06] <Karo> "I'll give the recipe to your shrine maid."
[01:09] <Minaplo> "Aren't you supposed to be flexing your cooking skills to impress me?"
[01:11] <Karo> "I climbed a mountain for you. If you aren't impressed by that, you're not gonna be impressed by cooking."
[01:12] <Minaplo> "Hmmm."-
[01:12] <Minaplo> She poked him in the ribs again with her broom. "So you came back after all."
[01:21] <Karo> "Yeah, I did. You should come to school more often."
[01:21] <Minaplo> "Huh? Why?"
[01:21] <Karo> "…" -
[01:22] <Karo> "Not gonna lie. If I could get away with it, I wouldn't go either."
[01:23] <Minaplo> "Then why do you want me to go?"
[01:24] <Karo> "Because we're supposed to go, I guess. Like, it's good for your future, and we could hang out there."
[01:24] <Minaplo> "You just want to see me more without having to climb the mountain."
[01:24] <Karo> "Maybe."
[01:24] <Minaplo> "You're hurting Honga-san's feelings."
[01:25] <Karo> "What's it gonna do? Curse me?" Karo scoffed. "It's just a mountain."
[01:26] <Minaplo> "So it's okay to be mean to things if they can't punish you?"
[01:26] <Karo> "Y-yes?"
[01:27] <Minaplo> "So it's okay if people bully you and get away with it, then, right?"
[01:28] <Karo> "Of course not…"
[01:29] <Minaplo> "So it's okay for adults to do things to children because the adults can't be punished?"
[01:30] <Karo> "No! The opposite should be true."
[01:31] <Minaplo> "But you said it's okay to be mean to things if they can't punish you."
[01:31] <Minaplo> She poked him in the ribs again, harder.
[01:42] <Karo> "Owww… I'll take back my statement. Hurting things that can't punish you sucks."
[01:42] <Minaplo> "Now apologise to Honga-san."
[01:43] <Karo> "Ugh. Sorry for belittling you, Honga. You're anything but little."
[01:44] <Minaplo> "Good enough. Besides, who says the mountain isn't alive?"
[01:47] <Karo> "Spooky. You really think so?"
[01:47] <Minaplo> "What am I, Kaz?"
[01:50] <Karo> "Oh, yeah, I guess you would think so."
[01:50] <Minaplo> "Mhm. Besides, the mountain is full of trees, and birds, and other animals."
[01:52] <Karo> "Are there bears up here?"
[01:52] <Minaplo> "That's a secret."
[01:54] <Karo> Karo peered down the mountain stair-path with dark suspicion.
[01:54] <Minaplo> "Hey." Poke. "What do you wanna do? My uncle's not home, so we have the run of the place."
[02:00] <Karo> "What do you guys do around here for fun normally?"
[02:01] <Minaplo> "We don't?"
[02:02] <Karo> "Oh."-
[02:02] <Karo> "I wish we had fireworks. We could set them off, and no one would bother yelling at us."
[02:02] <Minaplo> "Fireworks, huh?" She smirked. "One day, not this time."-
[02:31] <Minaplo> "Anything else you wanna do? We could Study."
[02:32] <Karo> "But we could study at literally any time."
[02:33] <Minaplo> "Of course." She said solemnly. "Do you, though?"
[02:34] <Karo> "I figure I'll leave my exam results up to fortune."
[02:35] <Minaplo> "Ah, so you want to fail…"
[02:49] <Karo> "Hmph. Are you serious about studying?"
[02:49] <Minaplo> "Enough."
[02:52] <Karo> "I… guess we could do some. What's your favorite subject?"
[02:52] <Minaplo> "Oh come on, Kaz. You don't really want to study. Let's do something fun first."
[12:16] <Karo> "Fine. What about messing around with woodland friends? We could watch birds. Or play fetch with a fox."
[01:02] <Minaplo> "Ever played with a fox before?"-
[01:41] <Minaplo> Another poke.
[01:42] <Karo> "Ow. No. But they're just like dogs, right?"
[01:44] <Minaplo> "Nope. They're wild animals that'll try and kill you if you're not careful."
[01:44] <Karo> "But they're so little…"
[01:55] <Minaplo> "Foxes are bad news."-
[01:55] <Minaplo> "So what do you do for fun, then? If we were at your house, what would we do?"
[01:58] <Karo> "I'm… kind of between houses right now. Or dorm rooms, anyway." He coughed. -
[01:59] <Karo> "But if things were normal, we'd watch tv, and sleep, read comics, watch movies, play videogames…"
[02:09] <Minaplo> "Aha."
[02:10] <Karo> "What?"
[02:10] <Minaplo> "So you're an inside kind of person."
[02:11] <Karo> "Yeah? What so great about being outside?"
[02:11] <Minaplo> "Fresh air, good views, not being trapped?"
[02:13] <Karo> Karo frowned a little. "I guess if you needed to, you could play games on your phone while you were outside."
[02:13] <Minaplo> "I guess you could. But you know, we could go inside. Watch some tv in my room."
[02:17] <Karo> "Yeah? Ok!" He stood up slowly, grunting like an old man with bad knees.
[02:19] <Minaplo> "Well done."-
[02:26] <Minaplo> The shrine was somewhere Karo had been to once or twice… The interior was old, yet clean. But it was also empty…-
[02:26] <Minaplo> Umeko didn't linger here, instead taking Karo through to the back part of the temple, which was residential.-
[02:27] <Minaplo> Here it was… Even quieter, somehow. A little dustier.-
[02:27] <Minaplo> Umeko led him to a sliding wooden door- then stopped. She turned to look at him curiously.-
[02:28] <Minaplo> "You're not going to freak out because you're going into a girl's room, are you?"
[02:30] <Karo> "Wait… should I?!" He looked at her in alarm. What if she had underwear lying around? She might try to brain him with her broom in a fit of embarrassment!
[02:30] <Minaplo> "I don't know, Kaz." She said, her voice deadpan. "Should you?"
[02:37] <Karo> Karo studied her. He didn't know the answer to that, but… "I'll be fine. I'll let you lead the way, though."
[03:13] <Minaplo> Her bedroom was, in fact, messy, although the clothes that were strewn around were regular, normal clothes- no undergarments of any kind.-
[03:14] <Minaplo> It was otherwise pretty simple. The floor was tatami; there was a futon for a bed, and a basic television setup. A little table sat in the middle with a cushion beneath it.
[10:40] <Karo> "Oh!" This wasn't what he was expecting. It was pretty normal.
[02:08] <Minaplo> "Sorry for the mess."
[11:16] <Karo> "No worries. I've had messier rooms. Although, if I'm being honest, I thought the inside of a temple with be more…mystical."
[11:18] <Minaplo> "I mean, there's mystical parts. I could show you the secret room of divine sacrifice if you like."
[11:27] <Karo> "I know you're just messing with me, but that would be really cool."
[11:35] <Minaplo> "Not if you were the sacrifice."
[11:50] <Karo> "But I've been so helpful! And nice. Who could possibly sacrifice me?"
[11:52] <Minaplo> "Well don't good people make the best sacrifices?"
[11:57] <Karo> "Only if they're innocent shrine maidens?"
[11:58] <Minaplo> "So you want to sacrifice me?"
[12:00] <Karo> "…no. Let's be honest here, sacrifices don't work."
[12:07] <Minaplo> "Unless they're heroic ones?"
[12:15] <Karo> "No one ever does those, though."
[12:28] <Minaplo> "Yes they do."
[12:34] <Karo> "Name one person you know who's done that."
[12:34] <Minaplo> "You made a heroic sacrifice climbing this mountain."
[01:24] <Karo> "You're right! Every time I climb, it takes ten years off my life. Plus, I'm all vulnerable. Surrounded by bears and foxes, stalking me through the forests…"
[01:25] <Minaplo> "Exactly. You're a real brave man, Kaz." Said Umeko, nodding politely as she rifled through her cupboards.-
[01:25] <Minaplo> "You like anime?"
[01:28] <Karo> "I like it ok. What've you got?"
[01:47] <Minaplo> She held out a stack of Evangelion DVDs.
[01:50] <Karo> "Uh…"
[01:50] <Minaplo> "Uh?"
[01:51] <Karo> "You're an Eva fan?"
[01:51] <Minaplo> "Of course. It really speaks to me."
[01:52] <Karo> "Really? Why?"
[01:52] <Minaplo> "Doesn't it speak to you? About the inherent problems of relating to other people, and the desire for warmth versus the fear of being hurt?"
[02:01] <Karo> "I mean, I don't think that's actually a problem for me. At least the mech designs are kinda cool."
[02:01] <Minaplo> "Hmmm. What a boyish answer."
[02:01] <Karo> "What's that mean?"
[02:01] <Minaplo> "It means it's something a boy would say. Probably to sound tough."
[02:05] <Karo> "Or something a tough adult man would say. Probably 'cause it's true."
[02:06] <Minaplo> "I don't think it sounds tough at all. I think it just sounds childish."
[02:08] <Karo> "Look, you want to talk about true sophistication… there's a movie playing in town. I'll take you to it after I'm done with exams."
[02:09] <Minaplo> "Oho. So forward. Is this one of those exam dates I keep hearing about?"
[02:11] <Karo> "No, I said -after- exams! I just want to expose you to the best art imaginable. Something that depicts the struggles between ambition and reality. Heroism and petty, human drives."
[02:13] <Minaplo> "That's what an exam date is." She said patiently. "'After exams, why don't you and I do something fun' or, in specially interesting cases, it's 'if you do really well on exams, I'll give you something nice'…"-
[02:13] <Minaplo> "… What movie is this anyway?"
[02:15] <Karo> "Char's Counterattack." Karo beamed.
[02:16] <Minaplo> "What, gundam?" Her face screwed up.
[02:17] <Karo> "What's wrong with Gundam?"
[02:18] <Minaplo> "Everyone talks in this really self-important way, and all of the women characters get shot to make the men -extra mad-, and it's all just…"-
[02:18] <Minaplo> She summoned a word from the depths of her grimoire. "Sophomoric."
[02:24] <Karo> Appalling! Karo let his face darken. "People talk that way because the events happening -are- important. It's war!"
[02:25] <Minaplo> "The last time I watched a Gundam I spent a whole two weeks pointing at random objects and describing them as 'The cog in the machine we call the Federation', because that's how one of the characters referred to himself. Every time he spoke."-
[02:26] <Minaplo> She put an arm around Karo's shoulders and gestured up at the roof. "Cogs! Cogs everywhere!"
[02:36] <Karo> Karo gave her an annoyed nudge. "For someone who hates theatrics, you sure are good at it. Do you want to come or not?"
[02:36] <Minaplo> She pulled away sharply at the nudge and gave him a dark look. "Touchy."-
[02:36] <Minaplo> "You really want me to come? Fine, I'll come, but on one condition." She waggled the Evangelion DVDs at him.
[02:37] <Karo> "Ugh, fine. It'll be easier to prove which one's superior if we watch them back to back."
[02:38] <Minaplo> "Exactly. Besides, this is a form of studying." Said Umeko. She closed the cupboard, but not before Karo would glimpse a collection of Sailor Moon dvds in there too.-
[02:38] <Minaplo> She loaded her rather old player up with a disc and…-
[02:38] <Minaplo> …-
[02:38] <Minaplo> Karo would soon realise Umeko had an endearing character trait.-
[02:39] <Minaplo> They were about seven minutes into the first episode when she hit pause.-
[02:40] <Minaplo> "Oh, this reminds me of a story I found when I was reading up on the episode. So apparently Rei is named that to lure the character designer for Sailor Moon over…"-
[02:40] <Minaplo> Another few minutes, pause.-
[02:40] <Minaplo> "I hear actually that model of car was chosen because the designer's a huge car nerd…"-
[02:40] <Minaplo> More watching, then a pause.-
[02:40] <Minaplo> "So the Hedgehog's Dilemma is this thing in psychology about…"-
[02:41] <Minaplo> This endearing character trait made a 23 minute episode run for about an hour.-
[02:41] <Minaplo> And it never really stopped.-
[02:42] <Minaplo> The third episode was about to begin. Umeko was smiling. She kept glancing at Karo to gauge his reaction.
[02:50] <Karo> Karo was trying his damnedest not to zone out. She was honestly, genuinely excited about it all, and he didn't want to wreck that, but goddamn…
[02:51] <Karo> "Lemme guess. You talk about this sort of stuff with fans online a lot."
[02:51] <Minaplo> "What? No way." She shook her head. "Look… I'm going to tell you a secret."
[02:52] <Karo> "Yeah?"
[02:53] <Minaplo> "I can't study. Not in the normal way."
[02:53] <Karo> Karo cocked his head slightly.
[02:54] <Minaplo> "Like when teachers give you homework or assignments or lessons… You ask them why and they say, 'it's for your future'. That doesn't sell it to me, I can't feel motivated." She shrugged.-
[02:54] <Minaplo> "The only way I have to actually get invested in the topic is to go through it by a story, or anime, or movie, or book. Like if I want to study history, I can't just follow the homework layout. I need to watch a movie about it, and in the process I get all kinds of questions about it which I research later."
[02:59] <Karo> "Definitely sound more interesting. Homework just sucks," Karo complained. "What do you do for, say, math? Math doesn't have a lot of stories involved in it."
[03:00] <Minaplo> "There are still some, but it's definitely harder to find them…"
[03:03] <Karo> "What about philosophy?"
[03:04] <Minaplo> "Easy. Everything's about philosophy." She pointed at the dvds.
[11:16] <Karo> "Ugh. Ok, school me. This might be useful for exams."
[11:27] <Minaplo> Umeko went to speak.-
[11:28] <Minaplo> The sound of a door slamming somewhere in the temple caused her to start terribly; her face went blank, her eyes wide.-
[11:28] <Minaplo> She leapt to her feet, tore open the door to her wardobe and pointed inside. "Get in!" She hissed.
[11:29] <Karo> "Eh- But…" Parents? Why was she so frantic? "Won't this make things more suspicious?" he asked, as he stumbled over to her.
[11:36] <Minaplo> "Shhh! Just shhh!" She started to push him into the wardrobe.
[11:38] <Karo> Karo went with it, huddling curiously among her clothes.
[11:39] <Minaplo> "Now stay here." Said Umeko. "And don't come out until I say so."-
[11:39] <Minaplo> She closed the wardrobe door, dooming him to darkness.-
[11:39] <Minaplo> A moment later he heard her door slide open, and close again.-
[11:40] <Minaplo> Now it was just Karo, huddling in a wardrobe with Umeko's garments. A miko robe similar to the one she'd been wearing hung in front of him. To his left was a plain black dress. There were others, but it was hard for him to see without light.
[11:43] <Karo> This was weird, wasn't it? Friends usually didn't shove each other into closets. -
[11:43] <Karo> He fidgeted uncomfortably. When was she coming back?
[11:44] <Minaplo> It was weird, Karo. But probably not unique to you.-
[11:45] <Minaplo> Fifteen minutes passed.
[11:54] <Karo> Karo fidgeted more. Surely it wouldn't hurt to open the door just a crack. Get some air in there. So he did that.
[11:55] <Minaplo> He did so. A little band of light illuminated more plain clothes. Many of them were covered in a fine veil of dust.-
[11:57] <Minaplo> The ground of the wardrobe was messy: books had been thrown in there, mixed in haphazardly with hygiene products, rolls of gauze, deodorants and perfumes, and even what looked like a half-finished knit scarf.-
[11:58] <Minaplo> The room looked different, too- in the brief time between him being wardrobed and her leaving she'd gone through the room like some kind of anti-whirlwind. Gone were the messy clothes, and gone were the dvds. The futon was spotless and wrinkle-free, too.-
[11:59] <Minaplo> A moment later, a voice caught Karo off-guard. It was a masculine voice, so deep and powerful that he didn't realise it was distant for a few seconds.-
[11:59] <Minaplo> "Is your room clean? Let's go have a look."
[12:01] <Karo> He shut the door immediately again. Was it… her grandfather, maybe? God, this was dumb. He could have met him, and smoothed things over. -
[12:02] <Karo> Hello. I'm not dating your granddaughter, we were just watching dvds in her room. By the way, how about a lift down to the foot of the mountain in whatever car you own. It's awfully hot outside.
[12:05] <Minaplo> The door opened.-
[12:05] <Minaplo> Karo felt the weight of the man's eyes on the room…-
[12:05] <Minaplo> "Hmm…"-
[12:06] <Minaplo> Was Karo going to jump out and say hello, or was he going to stay put?
[12:07] <Karo> Stay put for now.
[12:08] <Minaplo> Footsteps. Coming closer…-
[12:08] <Minaplo> The darkness in the wardrobe seemed even deeper.-
[12:08] <Minaplo> The footsteps stopped outside of the wardrobe. Then-
[12:10] <Minaplo> "I'm sorry. I would have put some incense out if I'd known you'd be back." Said Umeko meekly.-
[12:10] <Minaplo> A pause, then-
[12:10] <Minaplo> "You shouldn't need me to be here to do the right thing, Umeko."-
[12:10] <Minaplo> "Yes, uncle."-
[12:11] <Minaplo> Footsteps, leading away… The door to the bedroom closed. Karo was alone in the darkness.
[12:14] <Karo> "Uncle. Not grandfather. Right," Karo muttered to himself. He cracked open the wardrobe again. Was there a window in her room?
[12:14] <Minaplo> A little one, near the top.
[12:19] <Karo> Reachable? Or big enough for him to fit through?
[12:19] <Minaplo> It'd be a squeeze of a fit, and it was only barely reachable… He could do it, but it was a question of skill.
[12:29] <Karo> Ugh. Too much trouble. -
[12:30] <Karo> Shaking his head, he climbed back into the wardrobe. He pulled out his phone, muted it, and began to play a game.
[12:30] <Minaplo> …-
[12:31] <Minaplo> An hour passed. Nothing…
[12:35] <Karo> Did she forget him? She probably forgot him. He tried texting her. "Bored. Is he gonna leave soon?"
[12:39] <Karo> …but then he realized he hadn't even gotten her phone number. Damn. -
[12:40] <Karo> Well. Time to try for the window after all. It was better than trying to guess at what was going on in the other room.
[12:41] <Karo> He climbed out of the wardrobe again and closed it behind. -
[12:47] <Karo> It should have been easy. Float up to the window. Slip through. Run stealthily off into the night…-
[12:53] <Karo> It was not easy. Adrien had said that they could use their weird otherworldly powers at time, but it still took concentration, and it was hard to rise off the floor steadily and accurately. And when he finally reached the window, there was a problem. He could get the top half of his body through, but his hips… -
[12:58] <Karo> For one terrifying moment, he couldn't go forward or backward. He just dangled. But then, fighting, he squeezed himself back into the room. He had to leave some things behind. Like his dignity. And the school shirt he'd worn that day. Grumbling, he searched for a replacement, and found one under the bed. A girl's shirt. It didn't smell great, but he was out of options and dignity.
[01:04] <Karo> Sulking, he went back to the boring but safe wardrobe. How many more hours would it be?
[01:05] <Minaplo> …-
[01:05] <Minaplo> The door opened. How long had it been? An hour? Two? Since his 'escape'.-
[01:05] <Minaplo> Door closed. A whisper. "Kaz?"
[01:06] <Karo> "Still here," he mumbled, opening the wardrobe. He climbed out, his legs stiff.
[01:06] <Minaplo> "Oh, good." She said.-
[01:07] <Minaplo> Umeko looked… Exhausted was the word for it. Haggard, even; her miko kimono and hakama seemed to hang a little loosely on her frame as though she'd lost weight in the last few hours.-
[01:07] <Minaplo> "Are you okay?"
[01:08] <Karo> "Are you? What even happened?"
[01:09] <Minaplo> "Don't worry about it. Is that my shirt?"
[01:10] <Karo> "Uh. Yeah," he said awkwardly. "Ended up losing mine."
[01:10] <Minaplo> "… How?"
[01:12] <Karo> He pointed to the window. "Thought I could make it. I nearly did. But, well…" he shrugged. "Anyway, I'll give it back once I get out of here."
[01:15] <Minaplo> "… Yeah, it's a hard window to crawl out of."-
[01:15] <Minaplo> "Okay. Come with me. Keep totally quiet."
[01:17] <Karo> Karo nodded, following her to the bedroom door.
[01:17] <Minaplo> Creep, creep.-
[01:18] <Minaplo> She was slow, cautious, peeking around every corner.-
[01:19] <Minaplo> As they neared the partition between living space and temple, she froze. There was a living room off the hallway, the door was open, the sound of a television. The glare projected into the hallway, broken up by a broad-shouldered, looming shadow.-
[01:20] <Minaplo> She closed her eyes- took a deep breath- and tip toed hastily across the gap. Then with a finger over her lips she turned and beckoned Karo over.
[01:26] <Karo> Karo followed her lead, also tiptoeing past. They were so close…!
[01:26] <Minaplo> The man in the room shuffled, sniffled. Umeko startled.-
[01:26] <Minaplo> Once Karo was gone, it was all she could do to avoid breaking out into a run. Once they were out the front door that's exactly what she did, bolting to the top step of the mountain road.
[01:28] <Karo> Karo did too! He stripped off the school shirt as he ran and shoved it into her arms once she stopped.
[01:29] <Minaplo> She recoiled in surprise as he stripped off his shirt; she windmilled her arms, hopped back several feet, and glared at him- before realising what he was doing.-
[01:29] <Minaplo> "Oh. Yeah, thanks." She said.-
[01:29] <Minaplo> "Hey, so… Thank you for coming around today. I had fun, but…"-
[01:29] <Minaplo> "You shouldn't come back here anymore."
[01:29] <Karo> Karo's face fell. -
[01:30] <Karo> "Not even as a respectful worshipper, or whatever?"
[01:36] <Minaplo> "Well maybe as one of those, but…"
[01:39] <Karo> "We also have to go to the movies in a week."
[01:56] <Minaplo> "Well…"-
[01:57] <Minaplo> She had a helpless look on her face.-
[01:57] <Minaplo> "Yeah, I can do that. I think. I'll try."
[01:58] <Karo> "Ok. Good." What was he supposed to say? Something comforting, right? "Thanks. For trying, y'know?"
[01:59] <Minaplo> "For trying…?"
[02:00] <Karo> "Yeah. You just said 'I'll try'."
[02:00] <Minaplo> "Oh. Yeah."-
[02:00] <Minaplo> "Thank you for walking up the mountain twice. I appreciate it. I'm sorry."
[02:01] <Karo> Karo shrugged. "We can always talk about it some more later. Don't sweat it too much in the meantime."
[02:02] <Minaplo> "Okay."
[02:03] <Karo> "I'd better go before your uncle wakes up and wonders where you went."
[02:03] <Minaplo> "Yeah…"
[02:05] <Karo> "Yeah…" He started off. "See you!"
[02:06] <Minaplo> And she stayed and waved at him, then watched him walk down the mountain, for quite some time- her tiny silhouette shrinking until it became a pinprick swallowed up by the immensity of the temple and the distance of the mountain.-
[02:06] <Minaplo> The Priestess Arcana strengthens…