HereComesTheSnow

Ignite Heart! A Magical Girl RP

Nakajima Hoshi

"Hunnnh..." murmured the blonde young woman in a completely intellectual, ponderous manner. "Tendou?"

What troubles you, Hoshi?

Less of a trouble, and more of a quibble. She didn't really have a big pinch of a dilemma right now, just more along the lines of being presented with two choices. A yes or no question, depending on how she asked it of herself.

Alright, that's fine. What are you quibbling over? A restless mind and an active one are not one and the same, you know.

Well, do I wanna eat now and avoid shopping hungry, or do I wanna get shopping done now and avoid wasting time?

Eat.

Eat?

Just eat if it's bothering you this much, trust me. A purchase made on an empty stomach always risks being heavier than you expect it to be, you know.

Nahaha, could you perhaps be talking from experience, Tendou-san?

It's improper to snicker to yourself in public, Hoshi.

I could use a Snickers...

The fairy remained as composed as ever from within the secretive depths of her hiding spot, not even rolling an eye.

I recall there being a Saizeriya around here, no?

Ooh, Saize doesn't sound so bad! Thanks, Tendou~

Any time, child.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

@Crimmy@Suku

forgot i needed those you know how it goes

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

Schwarzes and Such

"Have fun, then." I replied, letting her leave with little more than a smile and a short wave as I rose myself. While meeting up with family was indeed on my own agenda, I had one thing I wanted to at least get done beforehand. Something I didn't need to drag anyone else off into, too trivial and hopefully too quick.

Well, probably not as quick as it'd be for most other people.

Even so, it was early. Not even eight yet. I didn't even know if they'd arrived as of yet.

I had time... Probably.

"Better make it snappy."

Just a quick jaunt in and out of the Armory to take a look at one or two things, that was all I really needed to do for right now.

---

"Column A and Column B, as it were!" came the cheery response from the taller girl. "I assume it transforms out from that suitcase— Hey, Dawn-chan?" she called, craning her neck over her shoulder to check on her little sister.

And she was met with a smirk and the hand signal that could only mean "OK" or "money", as the smaller of the two had retrieved a pencil and notepad from somewhere within her voluminous sleeves. "Primed and ready for notation!"

"Awesome, sis!"

April threw her a back a thumbs-up in appreciation. They hadn't really delegated out the task yet, but it was common knowledge amongst the entirety of the surviving family tree that April's handwriting was bad in the same way that a dumpster fire could be called hot garbage. Dawn stepping up and logging the information meant that they would both be able to use it for their reports later.

Plus, it let April ask the questions and look at things up close!

"Basically, what we need to get an idea of is what it does and how it does it. Then we need to infer on our own how we could use them in situations outside the norm-- basically, what makes them unique as Hunting Weapons compared to normal stuff. You don't need to go wrecking the whole place, but a little demonstration won't hurt!"

Ignite Heart! A Magical Girl RP

Hyoukyo-senpai is just so cool and reliable...

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

I'm a bit surprised you're edging her closer to Baiken rather than further away.

Looks good, though.

@Crimmy

wait for me to finish eva i'll have plenty of problems for ya

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

@Crimmy

Luke Schwarz, Breakfast Club

"Yeah, that's true. Best case scenario is me having until the end of week before I need something again..."

I steepled my hands, a small part of me wishing for a pair of orange glasses and white gloves, and racked my brain.

Quite a few images flashed to mind. Even without my remedial education on hunting and weaponry, I would have always been able and likely willing to come up with at least five variants of weapons like this. They showed up in games all the time, and while I'm no historian or enthusiast by any means, I had already learned a thing or two about the potential options provided to me by the general category of "polearms".

Halberds.

Glaives.

According to some, Bardiches and other such greataxes.

Even a Naginata wasn't out of the question, but...

The thing was, a lot of my studying the types of Grimm under Tanner's careful tutelage had been done under the assumption that I would either be landing blows with blunt force or piercing straight through with the head of a drill. I wasn't so delusional as to believe I could get by without ever knowing where I would need to, say, cut or chop at something, but with the time I have until the next sortie being measurable in days...

I needed as smooth a transition as possible.

That narrowed it down a good bit.

"Something that offers sheer blunt trauma as well as enough puncturing power to penetrate thick skulls and tough armor... A weapon I won't need to switch targets all too much for, in other words."

I looked back up to her.

"That sounds like a Lucerne Hammer to me."

Ignite Heart! A Magical Girl RP

Considering like half this thread is comprised of Symphogay fans you're in the clear

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

@Crimmy

Luke Schwarz, Breakfast Club

...

I've made a terrible mistake, haven't I?

That was what I had been thinking then. Of course, given that I had just engineered a situation in which an aura-eating berserker would be involved with combat in the slightest, it'd have been hard to come to any other real conclusion. She was already a hard enough taskmaster when it came to intellectual pursuits, but now that combat was in the mix...

I wasn't too optimistic that these would remain simple, casual rounds of drilling or advisory.

"Yeah, I'm sure you will and then some..."

More like rounds upon rounds of adversary.

"I guess I'll dig around for one, then..." I lamented, hoping to not too openly show fear in front of her. "I can certainly ask Bianca for help with using the pointy, spear-y end of it, so that's a place to start."

And here I had just gotten used to not treating her as a wild animal, too. Forget making progress, I felt like I had actually regressed here! I can't become a friend to someone who scares me half the time!

Honestly.

Demanding teachers was one thing. In fact, I was very much experienced with them. It was why I was fine with having her lecture me through integrations without as much as a flinch, for instance. But that same Gratia, being as demonstrably vicious as she was in a fight...

Would she be able to tone it back enough for me to learn?

"......."

This wasn't actually my first time asking this question, was it?

No, no it definitely wasn't. I asked the same thing at least once before. Six months ago, in fact.

I asked it about April, when I first realized I would have to train with and under her at the Summit of Fists. How did that turn out, again?

Well...

---

"Hey Dawn?"

"Hai?"

"Make sure you have your strings ready whenever we see nii-chan."

The youngest Schwarz cocked her pretty little head in a manner not dissimilar to an inquisitive dog.

"What for?"

"Feel like I need to punch him for some reason."

"Ah."

She straightened back up with a smile.

"Sure thing!"

"Thanks, sis."

---

"I'll be sure to mind my P's and Q's when that time comes, then."

I'm not gonna die. Maybe get beat up, but not die or even get sent to the hospital. I'm a champion at getting beaten up and coming back from it.

That was what I told myself once and was telling myself again, and it had been working so far to be fair.

So why would I worry about fighting an aura-eating berserker when I had my semblance and natural grit to back me up?

...

Wait a minute

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

@Crimmy

Luke Schwarz, The Breakfast Club

"Y-Yeah."

So it seemed like her consumption of sweets was a sore point...

Well, learn something new every day, right? Still, that wasn't exactly something I'd have expected out of her. Being honest, I wouldn't have expected many sore points at all outside of "Napoli's existence" and "anything that harms Bianca", but I guess that's what I got for thinking I could perfectly read a person after knowing them for a week or two.

Granted, those couple of weeks felt like an eternity, so maybe my whole perception of time is screwy in general. It wouldn't have been the first time I'd lost track of everything.

Well, never mind that.

"Ah, so you both are familiar with polearms, then? That's pretty helpful. I'm sure I can't exactly bug your sister about it, but if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to pick your brain about how to use them some time."

My plate was now clean. Good breakfast all around, and one that provided the brain with the necessary energy to start working at full capacity again.

Which included remembering just who exactly I was talking to.

"Not that I'm asking you to teach me, I mean. That'd take up too much time, and it's a lot to request of anyone— more along the lines of some pointers, or sort of 'cross-referencing' every so often to make sure I've got everything straight."

I couldn't imagine her being too happy about the idea having to stack weaponry tutelage on top of being my math cheatsheet. Even as a friend, it'd feel way too much like just using her, which wasn't my idea of a good time.

Wait, that didn't sound right at all.

"You know, before I burn bad habits into my muscle memory."

Ignite Heart! A Magical Girl RP

Hoshi

In the humble abode of the Nakajimas, there was an unspoken of, long-standing tradition of Sunday being treated with a old-school and distinctly western sensibility. Even despite his own nonreligious stance, Kyotaro Nakajima was still one to respect the day of rest for what it was.

"MESSATSU!"

"Oh, that's a load of crap."

The perfect time for having a day off work and playing some good quality video games, of course!

"Oya?" came the smug, prodding drawl from the blonde seated beside him. "Oya Oya Oya? Do I see it all tied up at 2-2? Where's all the bravado now, Aniki? Are you possibly in danger of losing a set to me?!"

"I'm rusty." growled her legal guardian, responding to her elbow jabs with an increasingly intense glare every time. Uppity little... "'s just dumb luck and work's been taking all of my practice time."

Did we say glare? Correction:

I don't understand how a fully grown adult can pout so petulantly at a video game.

It's a competitive thing! It's just like whenever I get mad about getting passed up in a race!

Well firstly, you're still a child--

I am NOT a kid!

Yes you are.

"Oho? What was that? Shouldn't you be watching your sodium intake instead of talking, Aniki?!"

"I'm not salty because you Raging Demoned me."

"I don't believe you~"

Even ignoring your legal status as a minor, would an adult rub salt in the wound like this?

Heh, salt. And yeah, they totally would. Watch if he wins, he'll totally reverse it back on me like threefold.

Which goes back to my original point, doesn't it?

Shh, I need to concentrate!

However, instead of concentration, a thought occurred.

"Hey, speaking of salt, though."

"Yeah?"

"Have you gone shopping this week?"

"I though you did that?"

"That was just to grab dinner, not to stock up..."

Both paused.

...

"Craaaaaaaaaaaap."

Fifteen minutes later, one energetic girl and her fairy companion were out the door, fighting games forgotten in favor of the search for sustenance.