[open] i don't have a clever title like haki's but whatever

[reveilation]

i. 7/17 (bgm)
[ How did this happen...

Kido loves cats. She really does. But she does not like this one specific cat chasing after her with a knife in its mouth and unrelentingly following her for the past four blocks. Is this karma for not stopping on the street to give it head scratches?? ]

Ugh, stop it!

[ She turns on her heels to confront the cat, stomping her feet on the ground in an effort to scare it into dropping the knife or running away, but all the cat does is prance closer and make stabby moves at her ankles. ]

Drop it right now, cat! You're going to trip and hurt yourself and—

[ slice up her ankles, cool cool cool ]

ii. 7/18-7/21
[ Anywhere around town or the outskirts near the forest or the lake, maybe you're out here enjoying some quiet and alone time watching the crows fly overhead, and then all of the sudden something falls from the sky and it's not quiet and alone anymore and Kido appears out of thin air holding her head and screaming at the sky.

This just sort of happens throughout the next couple of days, an unusual number of crows circling the town and Kido suddenly appearing where there definitely was nobody standing there before, trying to fend off things falling from the sky. Some of them are cool, like an mp3 player or a charger cord, but then there's also an umbrella and after that, Kido starts carrying that around to protect her head from falling objects. It sort of helped with the dartboard except that was really heavy and still hurt, and the three darts that accompanied it punctured the umbrella and now it's useless in the rain.

Another crow lands on her shoulder and drops a stack of bills amounting to ¥10,000 onto her lap. ...The bills get stuffed into her pocket and this crow gets a head pat before it flies off.

But not this last one, who keeps trying to deliver Kido a pair of glasses that she immediately turns and yeets into the middle of the lake. The crow flies over and plucks it out of the water and brings it back before Kido can run away. Maybe it thinks they're playing fetch. Kido does not want this. ]

iii. 7/17-7/22, Lockdown
[ The only reprieve that Kido gets from the weirdly aggressive animals in the town is during Lockdown, when the only birds she has to worry about are the Shadows overhead. Unlike her first few days here, she's much less scared of them than before— not that she's gotten any better or more confident at fighting, but because she does not need to. ]

Hey, let's team up.

[ She makes this request at the school gates, a key swinging on her finger. No more hopping fences. ]

I can guarantee you that we can walk through to the end of this place without being noticed or attacked. If you want to fight, I can guarantee the first strike. But either way, I need others around to discuss what we should do.

[ It's late into the month. Everybody else in the town seems to have slowed to a crawl, this place has not disappeared yet, and a there's also that gate at the very end that they can't get through. They have to do something about this. ]

wc.
[ Contact me at birdseed for anything you need!

For prompt iii: this can be either a one-on-one thread, or a group of two characters + Kido! Essentially she's getting them through the dungeon by using her canon ability to make them unable to be heard or seen, and then leeching off their kills bc her Persona has growth 3 and can gain experience doing nothing haha ]

Comments

iii

[bandwidthout]

[Kido's not the only one looking more confident, though Wyatt's voice is still loud when it's her turn to talk. After her success with running the fuck away from everything or getting them to run away from her, she's taken to hopping from foot to foot and stretching when she'd otherwise be standing still. Strong legs are her greatest weapon at the moment.]

Guaranteed first strike...! You really are a rogue! [Kido is amazing...] Shouldn't you take advantage of that? You can get sneak attack damage, and if you have the Assassinate feat, that's auto-crit on top of that! You might even one-shot these monsters!

[reveilation]

[ She's not too sure how to respond to this, but isn't a rogue a villain? Somebody dishonest and— actually, yeah, here Wyatt is talking about assasination and Kido waves a hand in front of her face so she can jump in. ]

I don't think I'm strong enough to take them down in one shot. If the first shot doesn't work, we'll be in trouble if we can't fight. So let's just walk by them. You don't even have to be quiet.

[ Real talk, if her power required people to keep silent in order to be invisible, Kido would have just done this herself. ]

ii

[decipere]

[ kokichi is just doing his usual thing of being anywhere and everywhere when he spots kido by the lake and... throwing something??? into the water. ]

Hey, hey, that's considered littering! You should think about the environment!

[ ... he doesn't really care that much actually. he just wants to be a lil shit. ]

[reveilation]

[ Who cares about the environment... In the time it took for Kido to turn around and give Kokichi a tired took, the crow's come back to drop the glasses on Kido's head. ]

Fine, then. I'm recycling.

[ She picks up the glasses to put on Kokichi's face— the crow caws and hops over onto Kokichi's shoulder because this is getting rid of it too, why don't you want its gift, Kido ): It tries to grab for the glasses, and if Kokichi's face is in the way, oh well. ]

[decipere]

[ ow, bird :/ watch that pointy beak of yours. once kokichi starts seeing it making an grab for the glasses, he'll just take it off and give it to the crow. he'd like to keep his eye, thanks! ]

I don't think Karasu-chan likes that idea either, though. [ karasu-chan = crow ] I think he wants you to have it.

[reveilation]

[ The crow happily takes the glasses back and tries to put it on Kido's face, but it doesn't have as much dexterity with just a beak, so it keeps poking Kido in the face instead. She tries to swat it away, to no avail. ]

"Karasu-chan"? What, is it your pet? That's not surprising, somehow...

[decipere]

[ kokichi likes this crow. good, poke kido in the face. do it for him. he'll hold out a hand for the crow if it wants to take a break from being swatted away by the meanie :/ ]

Aha, nope! I only met Karasu-chan right now, but I like his energy. You should accept his gift.

i

[16lab]

[ RO comes from a world where humans are pretty scarce. After seeing that this place has plenty of humans walking around, it doesn't really deter her determination to keep humans safe.

Even if it's from this knife-wielding cat.

She has absolutely no experience with animals, but she luckily knows to grab it by the scruff with the logic that most living organisms seem to stop doing what they're doing when they're grabbed by the collar area, and tries to yank the knife at the same time. ]

Shouldn't you worry more about yourself...? This creature is attacking you with a sharp object.

[reveilation]

[ The cat hisses from where it hangs, because that's the only sound it can make without letting go of the knife. It paws at RO's hand ineffectively, tail lashing back and forth while Kido rubs a hand at the back of her neck. ]

It's a cat. It doesn't know any better not to run around with what it thinks is a toy.

[ Though, it's still embarrassing being caught talking to a cat, and getting chased around by it in the first place. ]

Here, if you can hold it still, I can try to get the knife out of its mouth...

[16lab]

Of course.

[ RO attempts to hold the cat steadily with a firm grip without squeezing its heart out. She also tilts its neck up so that it doesn't have much leeway to move. This is pretty much all she can do that she knows of so that it wouldn't try to cut Kido as she tries to take the knife. ]

[reveilation]

[ The cat gives a sad, muffled meow as Kido reaches forward and takes the knife out of its mouth, allowing it to be free to give a very clearly sad meow.

Kido sighs, holding the knife at her side and— because she would never get the chance otherwise, without somebody holding a cat in place so it can't run away— pats the cat on the head. ]

Bad cat. Reflect upon your actions.

[ She gives the cat some ear scratches, ugh, it's cute. Unfair. ]

[16lab]

[ RO finds it so odd. Humans are plentiful here, yes. But what she didn't expect was animals having sharp objects on them. She probably saw one bullying Hibiki somewhere and now this cat. ]

Is this... normal?

[ She kinda figures it is, because Kido doesn't look scared of the cat and is petting it instead like it didn't just chase her with a knife?? ]

i

[rabbeats]

[ Why all animals in Hirajiro have knives, what is wrong with this town...

As soon as Hibiki realizes what is going on, he steps in closer after summoning Byakko. Standing just behind Kido together with the huge kitty, he asks him to roar and hopefully make the cat drop the knife.

Too bad that there are some crows circling up high above their heads. And what do they have in their beaks? More knives. ]

Pet it as soon as it gives up on the knife!

[ This is the only way, clearly. ]

[reveilation]

[ It's self defense! The animals have to defend themselves too.

Kido jolts when she hears the roar, but thankfully she's not the only one and the cat poofs up in fear as well, dropping the knife to hiss and spit and Kido sort of hand-hovers in a panic because she's trying to pet the cat but the cat's just swiping at the air with its claws out. ]

Oi, help me pet it!

[ Or else!! whatever the consequences are will happen!!! ]

[rabbeats]

[ Oh no, not the consequences!!!

This is one of the weirdest request someone ever made, but it doesn't mean he's not going to help out. Not being sure how to tame this cat isn't going to stop him from getting scratches all over his hands. Let's be real, that's prone to happen. Keeping the cat away from the knife, Hibiki tries to pick it up to make it somehow easier for Kido.

As soon he manages to to that, it starts raining knives, literally. Thanks, crows...and please watch out Kido.. ]

Pet it, quick...!

[ Are they going to die in the streets. Is this divine punishment. ]

[reveilation]

[ WHY IS IT RAINING KNIVES WHAT DID YOU DO HIBIKI

Rather than dying here trying to pet this cat, Kido instead yanks Hibiki away to run towards the nearest shop so they can at least have a roof over their heads and a door to keep wild murderous animals out. ]

WHAT DID YOU DO????

[rabbeats]

It was the murder of crows.

[ He didn't do anything...expect from being around, oops. ]

I hope it's a 24/7 shop. [ Let's be real, it probably isn't. ] What is your beef with that cat?

ii

[tantantaaan]

[ Leon's casually walking around the town for some when a crow zooms right by the side of head, prompting him to duck the other way in reflex. ]

Whooa, that scared me...!

[ His eyes then follow where the crow is heading to, catching the sun reflecting on the item secured tight on its legs (feet??? what do you call that???). Before he knows it, he's already running after the crow. ]

Waaaait!! Crow-san!! Isn't that glasses?! Give it back!! Someone might need it!!

[reveilation]

[ Somebody does not need it! Somebody doesn't want it!! The bird keeps chasing after Kido but she's running away from it and now Leon's running away from it and it's the more ridiculous train coming through town...

Kido can hear Leon shouting behind her, but you know what? She's not going to slow down or stop or say anything back, she's just going to pray that he somehow manages to catch up to the bird. ]

[tantantaaan]

[ It takes Leon quite a while but he finally realises that the crow is actually chasing someone, not running away.

Gasp. Has the crow been trying to deliver the glasses for that person all along?! Oh no, he misunderstood!! ]

Hey!! You there!! Hey!!!! Waaaaiiit!!

[ He hopes the person can hear him! ]

Crow-san just wants to give you your glasses back!! I don't think Crow-san will peck you!! So it's okay!! You can stop running!!

[reveilation]

[ It's still a misunderstanding and Kido shouts over her shoulder ]

It's not my glasses! That thing is—

[ and promptly trips over a rock in the path and comes crashing down onto the ground. The crow takes the opportunity to fly over and land on her head. ]

iii. 7/21

[overstrain]

[ Terry had been pretty low-key for the past several days. Normally, he'd be up and going like a supercharged energizer bunny despite the injury, but that wasn't when he was thinking about internal issues. He even took the first day off entirely, but ended up working several short shifts. Apparently the doctor and the owner of the cafe got into an argument about it and this was the compromise. Good thing Terry managed to grab few more people to work in his place.

By the 21st, he seems to be mostly fine. His head no longer requires bandaging and there's only a gauze taped to his right cheek. It's mostly there to cover a huge, nasty looking bruise. He doesn't want to see makeup again for like... another decade of his life. Now that he's finally back here at the school gates. He hadn't gone to the dungeon since the incident, nor has he summoned his persona. It felt like it's been forever.

Terry turns to Kido and that makes him think for a moment, back to their first day in the town. ]

Oh, is that the invisible thing you tried before? It works now?

[reveilation]

[ Kido would rather not see Terry coming back here, but she can't deny that his dragon is powerful/scary/she hopes Terry scolded it into behaving better by now. Besides, if this works, they can be a little less worried about getting through the dungeons alive, so long as they're able to sneak around the monsters. It'll work for every place besides that door at the very end, because that'll sure alert the monsters that something's up. ]

Yeah, it works now. I'm confident in my ability to keep us hidden, but you have to stay close and don't go running off. If you leave my side and something spots you, I'm leaving you behind.

[ Maybe she'll save him. But she's also equally likely to just walk away. ]

[overstrain]

[ tbh, he thought he was hallucinating that Kido was there the whole time when he saw that she was gone after walking away....... maybe it was all a fever dream, but nah. ]

I'll follow you like usual and stay close. I'll let you know if I need to stray off for whatever reason beforehand.

[ Since it's Kido offering to use her powers, after all, he figures that it's worth it to take it more seriously this time around. He doesn't want that sort of thing to go to waste. Though, speaking of powers. ]

I think I'm getting my power back too, though I think it's coming at a slower rate. I tested it out several times and it looks like I can only find out where something is at a given moment, like... something physical. It doesn't work all the time though, like if i want to find a specific cat when this weird thing happens at midnight, nothing comes up.

... Though, I think it can be helpful if you need it.

[reveilation]

[ He trusts in her powers but she's still skeptical about his, especially since she hasn't seen it in action before. Whatever a demigod power is... ]

Give it some time, I guess... I'd like to know where the cats go off to during this time too. Does your-

[ she almost says 'eye power' but it's just normal power, she supposes ]

... Does it work like a radar? In that maze, especially, being able to know where those monsters are will help us navigate too.