[b]Kotori Shirohane - Unknown Place | Unknown Time[/b] [color=royalblue]"Welcome, to the Velvet Room"[/color] It was to these words that Kotori opened her eyes - or rather, she woke up to. No, that wasn't quite right either - but at the same time, the distinction didn't seem important. Instead, she found herself slowly looking about her surroundings - it was predominantly blue, in a velvet shade which seemed oddly familiar for some reason. Bringing her gaze to her front, she saw a long dining table; big enough to host about a two dozen or so guests at the same time. The seats - one of which she occupied, she realised - there were other figures, but most too wispy to truly make out. It was strange. She should be afraid, or at least wondering at the oddness of this place and how she got here - but she found herself quite calm instead, as if she'd somehow already been here. Looking closer at the table, she noticed that before her own seat was an inscription which read as 'Priestess' - and that she wasn't the only occupant who wasn't a mere silhouette. Of the three, one drew her immediate attention. An impossibly long nose, huge eyes and a very wide grin made up his face - yet despite his outlandish appearance, he seemed neither comedic nor truly frightening as he fixed the two guests before him with his eyes. [color=royalblue]"This is a place between mind, and matter, dreams, and reality. I see we have two more guests joining us this time. I am Igor, and this is my assistant, Henrietta"[/color], he said, the blonde-haired girl giving only the slightest of acknowledgements at her introduction. [color=royalblue]"To have two in here at once... It has been a long time since I've had the pleasure, of having more than a single guest in here at any single time. Let's see... You... Have drawn the Fortune. To choose one's destiny is one of the many facets of life, but whether or not you can execute that choice is an entirely other matter. It appears you nearly simply gave into a predetermined fate, I'm sure you will agree"[/color], he spoke. He seemed to be addressing the other guest - before turning to Kotori. [color=royalblue]"And you, have drawn the Priestess arcana... A very pleasant arcana if I do say so myself, it represents the feminine, and means untapped wisdom or power... Which for you would have remained untapped if not for some persistent people yes?"[/color] Kotori didn't know how he'd know of such things - he just did and that was all there was to it. She didn't even need to nod in agreement - she knew it to be true too. [color=royalblue]"But... Now is not yet time to go any further... Henrietta."[/color] At the clicking of his fingers, the girl in question stood up, walking around the long table to hand both of their guests a key. Kotori looked at hers - it was in the same shade of velvet as the room itself. [color=royalblue]"This is the key to this room, in due time you will find yourself returning here of your own will, but until then... Farewell"[/color] And with those words, velvet to blackness once again; Kotori's departure being just as seamless as her initial arrival. --- [b]Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma Hospital | Monday, June 1 2015[/b] Kotori's eyes slowly opened - only to immediately close again at the brightness before them. A little more gingerly she tried again, slowly trying to adjust her eyes. The first thing she noticed was that her surroundings weren't velvet - instead, they were mostly white. Besides that, she had difficulty actually making them out - everything seemed out of focus. Blinking once, twice, it took her a moment to realise that she didn't have her glasses on as she reached up to rub her eyes. Looking down and around, she also realised that she was in a bed - and even without her glasses, an involuntary frown came over her face as she recognised it; even seeing clearly: She was at the Warakuma Hospital. She'd been here a few times in the past; sometimes even in these very same beds - so often in fact that she not only was able to recognise them but also had grown to dislike them. Luckily though, it also meant she knew that there was a small cabinet at the bedside atop which she found her glasses - and as the world returned to its normal unblurred self, she gave a small sigh of relief. A small smile followed when she saw that that hadn't been the only thing there: A small vase stood there, a colourful arrangement of flowers standing within and bringing at least some life to this otherwise so pristine and stale feeling room. Looking around, Kotori reconfirmed that she really was in a hospital room - before her gaze fell on the chair beside her bed. Or rather, the occupant therein. Wide-eyed and with the strangest of expressions on her face sat her mother, staring her straight in the eye. Kotori was taken aback at the sight - beneath her eyes were the beginnings of dark rings, the eyes themselves reddened and her hair looked somewhat disheveled. She looked like she hadn't slept a wink for days. [color=green]"...Mum?"[/color] Kotori gingerly asked when she didn't say a word - only to find herself in a sobbing hug so fast her mother might as well have spontaneously developed teleportation skills. [color=white]"Oh, Kotori,"[/color] she heaved between breaths as she clutched her daughter closely. [color=white]"You had me so worried."[/color] Relenting ever so slightly in her grip, Tsubame drew away just enough to sit down on the edge of the hospital bed - but now with a tearful smile on her face. Confusion started to make way for guilt in Kotori's mind as she realised what her mother meant - and just why she looked that way. For her, it had been a strange experience - but for her mother, her only daughter suddenly vanished from the face of the earth without a trace. Of course she was going to be worried - even more if said daughter happened to be Kotori. A faint clicking noise drew the two Shirohanes' attention to the door where a nurse stepped through - only to stop for a moment when she saw that Kotori was sat up and awake. "Ah, excellent, you're awake, Shirohane-san. I'll let the doctor know," the nurse said with a genuine smile before leaving the room again. Turning to her mother, Kotori asked to confirm her suspicion: [color=green]"What time is it?"[/color] The answer didn't really surprise her - but her eyes widened for a moment when the next question was answered with [color=white]"Monday."[/color] --- "So, just to be sure. In recent memory, have you felt light-headed? Had difficulty breathing? Chest pains? Headaches?" With each question being answered with a [color=green]"No"[/color] and a shake of Kotori's head, the doctor gave a satisfied nod. "Okay, that's good." Flipping through the several sheets of paper on his clipboard, occasionally stopping on one to examine it, he finally nodded once more before speaking up again. "Well, the test results show you're doing as well as on your checkup last Saturday, so there's no cause for concern. You can be discharged tomorrow," the doctor said before leaving again. Following that, the two talked for a while more - most of it being Tsubame catching Kotori up on what had happened these past few days before she too would leave. She was more than a little reluctant to do so - but Kotori insisted that she looked like she needed rest more than her daughter. Tsubame promised to come by early the next day again before heading back home - the same place she'd spent the last few days in constant fear ever since Kotori had gone missing. But thankfully, that was now over she thought as she passed the two policemen sitting outside the room and a boy; paying neither of them much heed at this point. The policemen were the next to enter the room - the same two that had shown up at her home Friday to inquire about her disappearance - and asked her a few questions; having rather tactfully given the two some time first. Unfortunately, she couldn't really answer their questions to any kind of satisfaction - on one hand, she didn't know anything about the kidnappers. On the other hand, she kind of doubted that telling the truth would work out very well so she instead opted to simply say she didn't have any clear memory of things after the kidnapping until she woke up again in the hospital. The policemen were clearly not very happy with so few leads, but soon after thanked her for her time and wished her a swift recovery before they too left the room; the shortness of her answers leaving just a few minutes before visiting hours would end. Once they did, she found herself alone in the room as her thoughts turned to the events that had unfolded. It seemed even crazier now that she thought back on it - but at the same time, she knew it wasn't a dream. She gave a soft sigh as she turned her eyes downward to her hands resting on her lap. It was silly, really - and at the same time, that silliness just made her feel all the more guilty. Three years ago, her father had died in a car accident - it was so sudden and unexpected, it'd come as a complete shock to her. One day he was there - and the next, gone. Forever. She still remembered that she'd crying for days afterwards whenever she realised just how much she'd taken him - and everyone around her, for that matter - for granted. It was a terrifying realisation to have to come across, knowing how easily someone you loved could vanish from your life. But that hadn't even been all - for a few days later, the cause of the accident had been found out. According to the police, he must have briefly lost control of the car. The reason he'd lost it had been unclear - until it was found that he'd actually suffered a heart attack moments prior. As it turned out, he'd actually had a weak heart all his life - according to the doctors, the heart's blood vessels were unusually small and in turn caused the heart itself to be perpetually overcompensate with stronger, more rapid beats just to keep itself going. This, in turn, tired the heart disproportionately - and made it very susceptible. And then they found that the reason for this was genetic - which meant that Kotori suffered from the very same weak heart which might just stop beating at any moment. Fortunately though, with the problem known and identified at a relatively early age, countermeasures could be put in place - in fact, she'd had three operations to try and correct the problem over the past three years already, though it still wasn't entirely fixed. Lifting a hand to the neck of her hospital gown, she gave it a light tug - and, as ever, saw the scars of the operations on her chest. But now, in light of the past events, she actually gave a small smile - before, she'd only seen the scars themselves, perpetual reminders of her own death. But in reality, that wasn't true - that was just what she'd come to believe after descending a constant spiral of negativity; having focused entirely on the wrong things. No, instead they were just small scars - all of which were already in the process of fading from prominence - that instead showed that she was well on the way to full health. Somehow, she'd become so fixated on this that her fear of death had instead turned into a fear of living. Somewhere down the line, she'd used this as an excuse for herself to not even try to really get to know people; to keep to herself - when in reality, it was just her own shyness holding her back. That was something she was going to try and change from here on out. A small smile came to her face after all that. Thinking about it, she should probably thank those four that had risked their lives back then for helping her with her rather literal inner demons when she go the chance. It had been a rather odd group, too - Akane had been there, and she thought she remembered seeing Hamada too. Even the rather famous idol girl, Chiaki, had been part of it, as had the boy whom she'd remembered hearing the some girls occasionally talk about and point out, Rui. Looking back up, however, she could picture him perfectly - until she realised that that was because he was actually standing in the open door; a knock on which she must have missed. Blinking in surprise, she quite quickly returned her hand back to her lap as she realised how odd she must have looked to an onlooker. Giving a fairly unconvincing half-cough, half-throat clearing sound, Kotori gave a small bow in greeting as well as she could whilst still sitting in bed. [color=green]"Good evening, Shinichi-san,"[/color] she greeted, her voice still rather quiet. [color=green]"And thank you for..."[/color] Kotori tried to find a fitting word, before just settling for [color=green]"'this'"[/color] and a vague hand gesture - after all, she figured that was probably the reason he'd show up so soon instead of just waiting until after she was discharged.