Alrighty, time for a giant-ass collab between me, Styr and Fei! :D
[hr]
Much to her elation, Kotori soon found that the gathering within the auditorium was not what she had so horribly dreaded moments before. It was mostly drivel, speaking about new rules, regulations and the like. But once it adjourned, much thanks to where she had sat towards the back, she bolted immediately for the door. Swinging wildly around the corner, the rapid pace of her breadth nearly outmatched the rate of her frantic footsteps as she headed immediately for the cafeteria. Praying desperately that her book might still be there. 

Barging into the cafeteria, the emptiness of the table she had sat at caused her soul to sink to new lows. Not only would she have to deal with the miserable task of finding a roommate later, which would also be awkward; her book was all but gone! Worriedly, she patrolled the lanes between the tables, hoping that that it had fallen on the floor.

Sasaki sneezed. There was an inkling feeling that somebody was looking for him, but who?

Kazeno woke up after hearing the sounds of footsteps and the opening of the door. And Chi Ni smashing a ghostly gong in his ear; Kazeno promptly fell over the rafter he was sleeping in and landed on the ground. Hard. Thankfully, air cushion tended to be pretty soft.
"Dammit Chi NI!" Kazeno shook his fist at the demon spirt who was laughing her ass off.

Kazeno brushed himself off and coughed, "Paragade, I choose you!"

A duck soon appeared atop his head and Kazeno quickly launched it at ballistic speeds at the ghost, resulting in Chi Ni making a similar fall to the ground only without an air mattress to save her. Hopefully ghosts don't die from that. Watching his loyal duck return to its spot on top of his head, Kazeno turned around to see Kotori staring at him wondering what the hell happened.

Taiki lost the opportunity to 'bump' into Kotori and steer a conversation. So she simply took a seat and watched from afar, inconspicuously of course. She tries her best to not look at her target and the duck boy. Only taking casual glances from time to time.


With a sigh of bitter regret and a slump of utterly bitter defeat, Kotori accepted that her precious novel was gone. Vanished from this earth, disappeared in some horribly grave fashion. She was likely to never see it again, as the fates would likely have it. Yet matters of greater concern immediately presented themselves, namely in the view of a duck abruptly being launched through the air. 

Blinking bewilderedly, the Esper turned to look at none other than Kazeno, whose prized pet promptly perched precariously back upon the top of his head. Wait! She recognized him! They had met here earlier, not an hour before! He was a friend of Sasaki, that peculiarly large boy!

“Um, h-hi!” She stammered mildly at first, folding her fingertips together to hang in front of her anxiously as she kept her distance. “I-I w-was looking for a lost book. A blue cover…might have you seen it?"

Kazeno shot his head as he chucked two poker cards from his back pocket at Kotori. The girl ducked as the cards made their way to their true target, Chi Ni who was  threatening to tie a weight into Kotori's hair.

"Sorry about that," Kazeno walked over with his unperturbed duck on his head and sat down  at a seat a nearby table before practicing some card tricks, "And also, sorry, I didn't see your book."

Kazeno flipped a card around in his fingers while he shuffled the rest in mid air in a series of dazzling tricks, "Want to play a game Kotori?"

Crying out in surprise as she was forced to duck whilst cards zipped over her head at the velocity of throwing knives, Kotori blinked bewilderedly as he casually just started playing cards again. Admitting first that he hadnt seen her book of course while doing so. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion, for as dexterous as hands that he seemed to possess, a sudden projectile being flung in her direction seemed unlikely. Snapping her head back to try and see if there was someone behind her and finding nothing, the Esper returned her gaze to Kazeno.

If he didnt have her embarrassing book, then who did? It didnt make sense that he would have it, now that she thought about the turns of past events. He had been part of the crowd gone manic over a silly little fight. 

“Can I take a rain check?” She requested mildly, watching his fingertips dance across the arched backs of the card’s intricate red patterns. “Im in a  bit a hurry to find something I lost. So sorry.” Dipping her head into an apologetically deep bow accordingly, the girl turned hurriedly towards the exit of the cafeteria. Anxiously clenching her fists so tightly that the knuckles turned white, she only paused when she noticed a peculiar set of eyes that dodged swiftly away when she looked dead at them.

A peculiar blonde girl, one that didn’t recognize. Her immediate concerns were voiced, as her own individual panic had gifted unto her something a little different. A bit of personal drive or perhaps even purpose. With it came a small fang to her personality. 
“Can I help you, Miss?” She inquired politely, sweetly even. “I’m looking for a certain book, it has my name on it. Might have you seen it?”

Taiki grinned mentally, while remaining neutral on the outside. She had first thought that Kotori had a very severe case of Social anxiety disorder after researching a bit up on her profile. But like her earlier bold display of morals, it wasn't that bad... Nonetheless it's still very early to say.

"I'm fine... You though... Might need some. I haven't seen any book but I can help you out if you want to."

Taiki returned Kotori's smile with an equally sweet one and stared a bit intently at the girl's eyes, observing... probing...


The girl was certainly eerie by the way that she seemed to stare deeply at Kotori, like how a predator studied their prey. In truth, it made the her rather uneasy but now in this moment she was desperate. The school was beyond behemoth proportions, there was no way she could cover all the grounds by herself! Help was an option, but seemingly at the same time it was not!

What would happen if the girl found the book first, and she began to read it? Even worse, what if she was one of the few who recognized it for the kind of literature it truly was?! Beyond any doubt judgment would come brutally and swiftly in the form of scandalous rumors and the like. A knife in the back before the new school year could even begin!
She couldn’t possibly bear the shame of enduring such horrors.

But maybe, just maybe she could try a smidgeon of trust in this girl. 

“Y-Yes…o-o-okay.” Kotori stuttered weakly at first, swallowing hard the pill of determination that this required, though she was helpless but accelerate her talk to faster and more inaudible heights as her words continued. “T-The book I’m looking for is the G-Grimm Fairytales. It’s a b-blue hardcover and and andtheresintricateblued-designsalloverthebackfrontandspine.” She coughed suddenly, as her lungs rasped to rake back a stolen breadth.

“It’s a blue hardcover. Sorry again…I…just, yes. A b-blue hardcover with designs sort of like a more floral fleur-de-lis all over the front and back.”
 
 Taiki gauged her response carefully. She could definitely feel the anxiety from the girl now. But there was something off, it might have something to do with that book she was looking for. Hearing her describe the item like a rapid-fire machine gun served to confirm Taiki's suspicions. 

"I see~"

She jumped off her seat and patted her shoulder.

"Jeez."

She giggled.

"Calm down~ you shouldn't be so embarrassed about reading a fairy tale book~"

She tried to assure the girl. Taiki couldn't help but mentally laugh at the girl's troubles. Fairy tale books aren't that bad to read, even if you're already an adult.

"So... First thing to do when looking for a missing item, retrace your steps. Can you think of any instance where you might've lost it?"

Boy, was Taiki in for a big surprise...


Her new eerie friend’s attempt to allay Kotori’s worries did very little despite of the kindnesses she was trying to emanate. It only made the Esper worry even more! Her earnest willingness to help meant that she probably didn’t know the kind of book she was looking for. Mentally, Kotori cringed at the thought of this girl opening the book and finding all of the dark and dismal tales that lay within; much to contrast the stories of old that even she as a child had grown familiar with.

The gentle pat upon her shoulder snapped her away from this troubling train of thinking, and all she could whimper was a meek: “T-Thank you so much.” At first while she tried to consider the horrors that this girl might run into as a result of her actions.

Was risking the corruption of a younger mind worth concealing her embarrassment? Was it truly? Biting her lip hesitantly, the young Esper dusted off the pleats of her skirt before nodding. This girl was kind enough to help, she must also be kind enough not to invade her privacy, she thought, she hoped, and perhaps even prayed a minute amount.

“Well, if you find a similar book, my name is on the inside of the front c-cover. In English…I-I’ve been practicing. If it’s there, then the book is mine…I f-figured that it would be a unique enough signature.” Nodding bravely with an embarrassed flush about her cheeks, Kotori suddenly realized swiftly how rude she had been. Here she was, asking help of a complete stranger! A stranger who was willingly giving it and she didn’t even know her name!

“Oh! A-And, my name is Namashiya Kotori.” She mildly, offputtingly stated; for she was already thrust into an awkward situation. “And the last time I saw it was here…I-I was reading it when I met that boy…Sa….” Gods, she was absolutely dreadful when it came to the remembrance of unfamiliar and new names. “Sas….Sasaki! Sasaki-san! That was his first name.” She began, as her complexion turned into one that pathetically apologetic. “I-I don’t remember his last name…”

"Sasaki?" Kazeno reutrned all of his cards into a deck formation, "You mean that guy who eats more than a small country?"

Kazeno got up, the deck of card went off the table and into his back pocket as he went over to Kotori, "His last name is Kirima. I think that is at least."

As his presence osmosis'd into everyone else as Chi Ni returned to his side, hovering above his head. Kazeno took out a card and played with it in his fingers and smiled., "Shall we all go look for your book  Kotori-chan?"

Taiki could almost see the gears and clockwork of the anxious girl's brain going into hyperdrive as she over-thought practically everything. 

"No problem~"

Taiki held her smile, listening intently as the girl described her book further with awkward stutters and jitters. Then the girl seemed to have remembered that she has yet to introduce herself.

"I'm...Mishima, Akiko "

Taiki made a small inconspicuous pause before quickly coming up with a feminine derivation of her real name.

Moving on, Kotori remembered a name, a name that might lead to the book they sought.

"That's it then~"

Taiki elegantly clapped her hands to emphasize the point as the duck boy joined in their conversation and provided much needed information.

"This 'Sasaki Kirima' person is our lead~ finding him will bring us closer to your book."

She raised a finger to bring up another point.

"I suggest we split up to cover more ground, the academy is a big place after all~"

It seemed at long last, the wretched fates that she had grown to curse so much in the last moments had finally sewn a string in her favor. Kazeno, a friend of the giant boy leapt mercifully into the conversation to provide the insight that the two girls desperately needed to set forth on the path of reclamation. A breadth perhaps, or maybe a relieved sigh finally caused an exonerated expression to cross her face. There was hope, at least a faint glimmer of it; and she was not one to deny it after having felt so lost for what felt like an eternity. 

For a knife through her heart might finally at last have been stayed through the warmhearted nature of others. 

Mishima-chan, whose earnest willingness to help paired with that peculiarly familiar sense quipped the idea that they might divide their force of three to search the grounds more efficiently. This was a notion Kotori couldn’t deny the novelty of, so with an anxious affirming nod, the Esper nodded with as much bravery and steadfastness that her heart could muster.
“R-Right, that sounds like the best idea Mishima-chan. I…I will go north, you two the southern portions of east and west, perhaps? And we’ll meet in the center?” 

Met with a brisk affirmation of agreement, the trio walked back to the outdoors and back into the hustle and chaos of the beginning new year just as the auditorium was fully let out at long last. Starting at the center of the grounds and working their way outwards, it would be only so long before hopefully one of them saw Sasaki, and reclaimed the book that was hers. If he had it, that is. 

If he didn’t, god knows where it could be then.