[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

[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?

[reveilation]

[ It isn't a 24/7 shop but Kido wasn't thinking about the possibility that they might have to hide out for that long, but now she is, thanks Hibiki. She doesn't speak until they're inside and behind the door, watching the crows take roost around the area and the cat tap the knife against the door and paw at the glass sadly.

It's like living in Hitchcock's The Birds, why this. ]

I didn't do anything to the cat, it's just been following me around. Maybe it thinks I have food on me, but I don't... Hopefully it'll go away soon.

[ People on the street passing by sometimes stop to crouch and pet the cat, but does the knife get any weird looks? no. nobody's going to save them. ]

[rabbeats]

[ He's glad that Kido hasn't asked him about the crows. There's no answer to why are they following him in the first place, after all. Since there's no point in staring at the door and waiting for the cat to go away (it's not going away, not when people are stopping to pet it), Hibiki turns on his feet to check out what kind of shop this is.

Looks like a toolshop for all your farming needs. ]

Oh, I've been looking for a weapon anyway.

[ Is he checking out the sickle? You bet. ]

[reveilation]

That's not something you want to say out loud...

[ cue a couple of shoppers turning their heads curiously at the comment, but they look amused more than anything, thinking it just a joke. Kido has no sense of humor, moving away from Hibiki and looking at the hedge cutters. ]

How good's your throwing aim?

[rabbeats]

A weapon against the weeds, obviously.

[ Hibiki corrects himself even though it doesn't look like it's necessary given their amused looks. ]

Pretty good, I'd say? I have good reflexes.

[ He's literally asking to be tested. ]

[reveilation]

[ There are people here, or Kido would have absolutely stomped on his feet too remind him how not good his reflexes can be, so she'll just settle for staring pointedly down at his feet for a second before looking back up. ]

We'll find you something long ranged to use... Maybe a shovel. Or a spray bottle.

[rabbeats]

Or maybe a bow? We got the wrong shop for that, though.

[ The only bow he should ever hold is a toy bow, though. ]

I wonder if pepper spray would work on these guys.

[ Now he decides to be all ~cryptic~ and ~mysterious~ because they're in public. Still, it might make him sound even more suspicious. ]

[reveilation]

[ She shouldn't hang out with Hibiki anymore, he's making it sound like they're a bunch of thugs waiting to pepper spray a rival gang or something. Which, by the way she's always dressed, doesn't look too far from the truth.

Kido just sort of uses her hood to hide her face, maybe nobody will recognize her, since it's not like she can go outside with all those knife wielding animals everywhere. ]

...You'll want something with a longer range than those tiny pepper sprays. Something like a spray paint can, with more pressure.

[rabbeats]

Maybe a small extinguisher? Some of these guys use fire spells, so it might come in handy.

[ Modern times require modern solutions etc. In the meantime, he peeks at the door where the cat is still waiting. ]

We'll have to distract it somehow if we want to ever get out.

[reveilation]

[ A fire extinguisher can put out preexisting fires, but Kido's pretty sure that if he sprayed that stuff at a Shadow's face, it's going to get real angry really fast. ]

Hm... I think I know what to do. Let me borrow your hoodie.

[ Hopefully Hibiki's gotten another shirt by now???? ]

[rabbeats]

[ Thankfully, he did. Which is why he hands her the hoodie almost right away. ]

While we're here, do you think they might have some bubble wrap here?

[reveilation]

...That's something to ask the store owner, not me. If they don't sell any, I'm sure they'll have bubble wrap left over from shipments.

[ Meanwhile she'll head to the door to take care of this cat? You do you, Hibiki, live your bubble wrap dreams. ]

[rabbeats]

What are you doing?

[ Hibiki places his hand on her shoulder trying to stop her. ]

What if it attacks you again?

[reveilation]

Hm? I'm going to throw your jacket over it to pick it up. It worked for getting the raccoon off Terrence's face.

[ And it's not her jacket, so it's fine if it gets scratched, bitten, or cut up a little. If Hibiki is nice, she can mend it for him, no big deal. ]

[rabbeats]

Okay. But wait a minute.

[ He hopes that Kido will wait for him because he's getting that bubble wrap. Some is going to Terry for sure, but Kido might need some just in case something goes wrong with her hoodie plan. ]

Here. It might help a little in case the cat is still armed.

[reveilation]

[ ...How is a thin sheet of plastic bubbles supposed to protect her from a knife that can stab right through it? But okay, alright, she takes the bubble wrap and... wraps it around her hands, she supposes? before picking up the jacket and using her foot to push the door open.

The cat darts at her immediately and Kido tries to throw the jacket over it, misses and gets only the bottom half of the cat as the cat... drops the knife to pap at the bubblewrap on Kido's arms, oh my god bubble wrap is so cool? it's soft and bouncy and holy shit, the little cat is losing its mind. ]

[rabbeats]

[ Luck is necessary to make it work, but it turns out that they both (or maybe just Kido) have enough of it today. ]

Take the bubble wrap and run, I'll distract it.

[ Or rather, Byakko will distract it. There's going to be a huge kitty and a small kitty playing together in the middle of a pavement. ]

[reveilation]

[ No...? Kido's not going to take away the cat's toy, just to have it chase her around town all day again?

She carefully steps on the knife so it won't go poking anything by accident while she finishes bundling the cat up in Hibiki's jacket, letting the cat paw at the bubble wrap also in her arms, and then holds the bundle out to Hibiki. ]

Take it.

[ You're the cat dad, Hibiki. It's you. ]

[rabbeats]

[ Oh, he meant like. The whatever remains of that roll he got earlier!! ]

But it's a huge responsibility? I'm not ready to be a single parent...

[ Of course he isn't. He's staring at the bundle and gazes up at Kido, realizing that she's serious about this. ]

[reveilation]

[ ...Oh. lmfao oh well, Hibiki's being made to be a single parent anyways, Kido going ahead and letting go of the cat bundle so that Hibiki's forced to take hold of it. The cat will be fine, not wrapped tight enough to prevent it from sinking its claws into the front of Hibiki's shirt as necessary if Hibiki doesn't catch it in time. ]

You're ready. I believe in you.

[rabbeats]

And what are you going to do?

[ It's going to be fun when he develops that allergy... ]

[reveilation]

[ adsflkjh ganba Hibiki ]

I'm going home. Bye.

[ yeah she just abandons her child in Hibiki's arms and walks away ]