RP [Illi] Doki-Doki Channel!

The sun glared through the cracks and holes which formed between the meshed branches overhead. It wasn’t a particularly pleasant day out, the summer heat was beginning to come into its own, while the humidity hung heavy to the ground. A breeze stirred as the two girls walked, carrying with it the stickiness of midday, a feeling which clung to the skin like a film. The sort of day you wanted to spend hiding inside with a good book or soaking in a tub.

Still, even with the heat it was nice to walk back with a friend, even if they didn’t speak much. Sometimes companionship was just nice. And the little summer flowers were in bloom. Yuina paused as she walked, she reached down and plucked up a small white flower. She held it up to her nose, a faint sweet smell, before smiling.

“My mom and I used to make bookmarks with these.” She said holding the little flower out for a moment before she tucked it into her hair behind her ear. “Ah, it’s so hot out. Want to swing by a cafe and get some ice cream after we drop our stuff off?”
 
Yuina stopped to pick a flower, and Karen stopped as well, no words needing to be spoken between them. It was almost instinctive, following Yuina's lead, staying beside her. Yuina's attention was downward on the flower, and Karen's eyes lifted, watching over her back, keeping vigil for the both of them. There was no danger here of course, but Karen wasn't really thinking about that - or even thinking about looking out for Yuina. It wasn't something conscious, it was just... something that happened. It felt natural, like little flowers in the grass in the summer.

Yuina looked over the flower, and Karen looked over her shoulder, and things were peaceful and safe.

And hot.

Karen moved her head a little at the suggestion of ice cream. She'd never really been in a cafe before. She'd always been too worried that something might happen... but this was different, wasn't it? She would be with Yuina, and that meant everything would be okay. The inquisitive tilt turned into a nod, an acknowledgement of the summer heat.

Karen thought it was nice, really.
 
“It’ll be nice to take a little break.” Yuina said with a smile as she looked at Karen. Not too long, just enough to share a nod before returning to the path. Things were quiet again as the two resumed their walk, save for the chattering of birds and the distant rumbling of the city. It wasn’t the sort of sound you really listened for, it sort of faded away into the background but oddly soothing to the ear. Students loitered a little off the path as they neared the dorm, some sat with friends chatting while others studied under the shade of large trees.

A hot sunny day was still a sunny day.

The sliding glass doors smoothly slid open as the two approached, releasing a pleasant rush of cool air. Yuina sighed as she stepped inside.

“I’m going to head up and drop off my bag then we can meet up in the lobby, sound good?” Yuina said softly. “The cafe is only a short walk away, and shouldn’t be busy.” She added with a smile.
 
Ah, the air felt good. Karen followed Yuina inside and gave her a little smile and a nod, then watched her friend walk away before moving off to her own rooms as well, carefully putting away her school things. It was strange to think that it hadn't been that long ago when she'd spent all of her time in this room - even her classwork had been done here, away from other people. Things had changed a lot. Karen still wasn't completely comfortable around others, but as long as Yuina was there, it was all right for a while. She was starting to do... normal things. Go to class. Get ice cream. All the things that she had been too afraid to do, for so long.

But as long as Yuina was there, it would be all right. Karen took one more look around at the security of her room, then shook her head a little and left it behind, returning to the lobby to wait for her friend.

She arrived first, which made her a little bit nervous - but she knew Yuina would be there. Still, she stayed off to the side, watching the room with caution. Not entirely fear, not any more, but uncertainty.

And, perhaps, just a little bit of curiosity. That wasn't... so bad, after all.
 
For the time of day the hallway was oddly quiet. No open doors, girls in the study room, or music trickling through the walls. The faint hum of lights overhead muddled with the muffled sound of her own footsteps on the carpet. Posters lined the wall, one for every girl who was contracted and had lived on the floor, and as strange as it still felt, her own was at the end of the line. She couldn’t help the feeling of being out of place, even after the past few weeks. Yuina paused for a moment outside her RA’s room to check out the notices. Nothing new, other than a reminder about an upcoming fireworks festival. With that taken care of she continued on down the hall, only stopping when she reached her own room.

She pulled her key out of her pocket as she approached, slid it into the lock and --

With the pressure of her hand, the door gently crept open. Yuina froze in place. Had she forgotten to lock up when she had left this morning? She couldn’t remember. A faint sound, the movement of paper, a gentle scrape. Yuina felt her pulse quicken. Was someone in there? Should she go in? Call Karen?

She placed her hand on the knob and she leaned forward resting her shoulder against the door. With an agonizing slowness she shifted her weight forward, the door creeping open. The edge of her wardrobe. The side of her bed. Her desk. Yuina froze and their eyes met.

A muddled yellow, like a polished copper coin.

For a moment they were both still, then the Grimm screeched a sound which sliced through the silence of the hallway and Yuina slammed the door closed.
 
Something was not right.

Yuina was not here, and that was not right.

But no...

It was more than that.

Karen didn't really know how she knew, she only knew that Yuina was her friend, and that something was wrong. She'd felt... something. A quickening of fear. Maybe it was only her own, but it was still enough to push her into action. She wanted to run away. To hide. To pretend it wasn't real.

But nothing wasn't not real any more, and Yuina was her friend. Karen turned back towards the hallway, her steps hesitant at first, then quickening instantly as she caught the sound of something else - a scream. It wasn't Yuina's, but it didn't need to be. Karen knew that sound well enough. She broke into a run, her eye already blazing, the skin around it falling away like ash. Karen gritted her teeth and held it there - she had to hold it there, had to keep her mind about her. She couldn't let go and fall into the hunger.

Not until she was sure that Yuina was safe. Karen rounded a corner, and her friend was there, pressed up against a door.

"Yuina!" What happened?
 
THUMP.

The whole door rattled against her back as something heavy crashed against it. Yuina pressed her shoulder tight against the heavy wood as she gripped the doorknob. The sound of nails scraping, the crackle of wood, an odd chattering sound almost like a man moaning through clattering teeth. Yuina felt her heart hammering hard in her chest as scattered thoughts filled her mind, never quite forming something coherent. She needed to hold the door. She needed to run. She needed to call for help. She needed to transform. She needed, she needed, she needed, she—

“Yuina!”

Her head jerked away from the door as she looked wideyed down the hall. A jolt of relief was matched only by a jolt of something heavy again bashing against the door.

“Karen! In my room!” Yuina called. Wood bowed before buckling with a high pitched creak. Yuina pulled away from the door as thick claws pierced the wood. Black smoke curled around her body as her uniform frayed into a dress. Yuina lept back from the door, towards safety. Towards her friend Karen.
 
Grimm.

In Yuina's room.

Karen didn't even have time to be afraid. She was angry. She had always tried to stay calm, to stay quiet, to stay out of the way - and this creature, this thing was in her friend's room. Karen would not - could not - accept that. Yuina was her friend, and she was smart and kind and perfect and beautiful, and the Grimm were not allowed to be in her room. Yuina moved back as the Grimm's claws pierced through her door, and Karen moved in front of her, impatient, pacing. Her eyes were on the door as it buckled, just waiting for this thing to bash it down. It could have the door, but it could not have Yuina.

Yuina was hers.

The door splintered and broke free of its hinges, and Karen stepped back just far enough to kick off again, lowering her head and rushing forward, ducking under the vicious claws and impaling the creature on her horns - sharp twisted things, piercing, bleeding sticky matted patterns down into her hair. Karen didn't care about that, either. She pushed forward, tearing herself free again, clenching a bone-armored fist and driving it into the Grimm before her. She didn't even know what it looked like, or care. It was here, in Yuina's place, and Karen was going to hunt it down, and hurt it until it died.

Yuina was hers.
 
KRRRICK

Splinters flew as the door bowed outwards into a broken crooked gash. The hinges of the door squealed as metal twisted, crackling as they tore free of the doorframe. The whole thing shuddered, teetered oddly for a moment before it came crashing down into the hallway. Yuina could feel the hairs prickle along the back of her neck as something heavy filled the air. Not so much hungry as it felt predatory. She forced her body to relax as she brought her hands up in a defensive posture.

The Grimm lingered just inside the door, it’s body inconsistent, a haze making sharp lines that should be soft. It’s face crooked, a lopsided maw with prickling teeth, uneven eyes of ringed gold and yellow, slits for nostrils drawing labored breath. A clawed hand gripped the door frame as the beast leaned out. It’s lips split as it screamed, a deep throaty rip as it swung its body out of the room.
 
The Grimm moved in, a gleam in its eyes - not merely to eat, to sate an endless abyss, but to hunt, to kill. Karen's own eye gleamed gold, the same mien reflected within. Yuina was behind her, and Yuina could turn this thing to mist and shadow, but Karen didn't want that. No, this thing had no right to Yuina's touch, no right to go back to harmless shadow. It would be blood and flesh and splintered bone. It would hurt, and it would die beneath her claws, and it would fear her.

Her fist was red with blood, running down in little rivulets between the bony plates where she had launched her first strike. Karen flexed claws, her gaze never leaving the Grimm's, and when it opened its mouth to scream, she slashed her hand across its vile lips, tearing. Did it think its cries would cause fear, or pity?

Karen refused. She moved in again, close, close enough to embrace the Grimm the way she would never embrace a person, and let her hunger and her rage tear her flesh and push bones into armor. Let it try to tackle her, she would move with it, and every time it twisted there would be a claw or a spike of bone, wedging into gaps, tearing weak spots in its flesh.

Yuina is mine.

And so are you.
 
Flesh and skin and sinew shred with a jittering screech that gurgled through the Grimm’s ruined jaw. The monster didn’t slow as it crashed into Karen's claws in a tangle of motion. For a moment the Grimm tilted forward, pressed its weight against Karen in an attempt to push the girl back. Yuina brought her hand up, her palm open as she reached out, all she needed to do was touch it. The Grimm’s body shuddered as Karen’s claws carved into it, leaving behind deep gashes of broken skin filled by a hazy inconsistent nothing. It reached out as Karen wrapped her arms around its lanky frame, an angry, wet, screech as it’s hand swiped through empty space.

Yuina brushed her fingers across the back of its hand as it passed. Spongy flesh, rough skin. Grimm were simple things. When she brushed against them, even if it only lasted for a moment she could understand them. Hungry. Angry. Something that needed to eat. Something more sour lingered here, longing, obsession like slime turning water yellow and ill.

Karen pushed, her strength causing the Grimm to tumble backwards. It scraped at the thick latticework of bone around Karen’s shoulder trying to pry her off as her fingers sliced through flesh.
 
Bone and blood and shattering, lingering and longing and love turned into bitterness, hatred, despair. Karen didn't know if those feelings were the Grimm's beneath her or her own, nor was she sure if it mattered. Perhaps she did not care about such things at all.

But no, she must care. She must care, because she was so close, so close, always so close to the edge of the abyss. It was so easy to fall in, but how hard would it be to climb back out once again? Would it even be possible? Or would she find the filth at the bottom quite contenting to wallow in, and forget what the sky above had once been like?

She must care.

It hurt, as she stepped back from the precipice, because the rage no longer masked the pain. She could feel the shattered bone, the torn skin, the horrible twisted things that had become of her own flesh and bone and blood. What she was now was so close to perfection - no. No. Not perfection, that was not right at all. Karen shivered, but the Grimm was still there, its claws tearing into her shoulder, and she plunged her own claws into its throat, tears streaming from one eye and blood from the other.

Yuina, please.

Please.

Make it stop.

Save him.

Save us.

Please.
 
“Karen!”

Bone splintered. A spray of blood colored the walls. Rage consumed the air. It clung to her shoulders, pressed against her, screamed into her ears. So much of it that Yuina felt like she were suffocating with each breath. She couldn’t tell it apart. The rage that hated her. The rage that pleaded for her. The rage that needed her. It was all so loud, so impossibly loud. How could no one else hear? Why was no one else coming?

“Karen! I…”

Yuina reached her hand out, swatted at the rage, but the emotion evaded the tips of her fingers. Silence. She just needed a moment to think. To help. If she could just… that little voice that pleaded for her, Yuina reached for it, she clung to it so tightly that she could feel it spreading across her body like a wild flame. Yuina exhaled. Karen needed her because she was going to hurt herself. Because deep down she was hungry and Yuina could help.

Her body moved. She brought her hands together, as if offering up a prayer, and that knot of rage that had been twisted around her chest loosened. Yuina took a step forward and the rage around her was swallowed in the silence. She knelt next to Karen. The Grimm jerked and twitched, it’s body dissolving away into smoke in the growing tranquility as it stared up at her, eyes glittering like a polished coin.

“It’s okay Karen. I’m sorry I took so long.” The Grimm’s arm crumbled away as Yuina wrapped her own around Karen’s shoulders. She pulled her friend close, squeezed her tight. “You must have been so scared. But you’re okay now.” Her words filled the silence, a whisper in the stillness of the hallway.
 
Somehow, through the terrible darkness, the rage started to fade away. It dispersed like a black mist, and Karen felt... other things. Not rage. Not hunger. She felt Yuina's arm around her, and she turned towards her friend and leaned in, swallowing a lump in her throat.

"S...sorry."

A word. Words were hard, so very hard. It was only a whisper, but it was a little something. Maybe she should have been scared of the words, but the words weren't just for anyone. This one was for Yuina, for the arm around her shoulder, for the voice that pushed back the darkness. Karen was herself again, and all the traces of her horrible transformation had faded away, leaving her just a girl, scared and worried and... loved.

Yuina was her friend. And maybe, just maybe, it would be okay.

"I'm sorry."
 
“That’s okay.” Yuina whispered too, because it felt as if that would be enough. She held Karen, ran her hand in a slow circle along her back as her mother always had when she needed a good long cry. And that was fine too, letting the emotions spill away. “You’re okay, and I’m okay.” She rested her forehead against Karen’s, a smile that existed on the corners of her lips. The emotions lingered on her fingertips, not rage, no that was gone, but those bitter things that languished alongside fear and sadness.

“You’re my friend, so it’s okay. You’re still here, so it’s okay.”

———— ~ ———— ~ ————

The shadows lingered in the disused comers of the room where the plum blossom wallpaper peeled in long yellowed strips and husks of dead insects gathered. A solitary man sat in the room, or something that held the shape of a man in the least, his features cast in long shadows by the blue glow of his monitor until all that remained distinct about his appearance was the glittering of sickly yellow eyes. Long fingers clacked across the keyboard as a silent video played. It was the third time through, perhaps maybe the fourth, but still he stared. One girl dressed like a monster, the other in a fluffy dress, and the real monster evaporating into nothingness. It wasn’t different this time, all the parts played as they had before, but still he couldn’t help but watch.

“Well? Did you find your answers?” A chatroom icon flickered, a yellow butterfly.

“Many, but none.” The man wheezed, a dry croak deep which rattled in the throat. “She didn’t touch it, so I don’t know. And that other power is, new.”

“A waste then?”

“No, no, the little beastie, she is…” a labored breath was followed by an empty sound of cracking. The man sighed, contentedly. The part of the video where ichor sprayed. “Vulnerable.”

“Don’t disappoint me again, Désir.” A bell chirped as the chat room closed, and Désir’s golden gaze returned to the security footage. Two girls crying as a little morsel of shadow unfurled back into the emotions which granted it shape. He drew a breath, long and full as if he aimed to empty the room of air as the footage began again, from the beginning.

———— ~ ———— ~ ————

“That must have been frightening for the two of you.” Akamine said, her pen once more scrubbing notes in the margins as a look of sympathy crossed through her light gray eyes. Yuina only nodded silently in response. “And that was the first time you were able to use that power?”

“Yes, it was.” Yuina said. The lawyer flipped through a few pages in her stack, a frown formed as she underlined a sentence before returning to her place.

“Now, returning to where we were in the story, an investigation found that the Grimm had entered through your window?”

“Yes, I had left it open to let some fresh air in before I went to class, and the detective thought that’s why it chose my room.” Yuina said.

“And do you agree?” Akamine asked.

“I—“ Yuina shook her head. “Grimm don’t do that, do they? Climb up several stories to hide in a room when there are closer people around. But the detectives didn’t agree.” She ran her thumb across the top of her cup before bringing it up to her lips. The lawyer nodded.

“And after that?” She asked. Yuina set her cup back down and looked over at Karen, before she started to talk.

“There was a meeting, a sort of formal event with a lot of the newly signed magical girls like we were, that Monarch made a surprise visit to. And around that time I felt like we were, I don’t know, being targeted? More Grimm acting strangely, like the one in my room.”
 
It was all very unsettling.

Karen had been trying to be calm - to be patient, to be respectful. This conversation was... only a conversation, wasn't it? Yet the longer it was, the harder it was to stop feeling tense, to stop feeling like she was in a fight. Yuina told them about that day, the day when the Grimm had invaded her room, her space, her trust. For the lawyers, it was just a statement of facts, something that had happened. A recitation.

But they hadn't been there, of course.

It hadn't been the same after that. Something had broken, and even if Karen didn't speak about it, she knew it was there. Yuina's words about the investigation, quickly glossed over, the less said the better - but it hadn't been right. How had the Grimm climbed into the window with those claws without leaving marks? How had it even fit its lumbering body through in the first place?

No, there were too many questions. Whatever had happened, it wasn't the Grimm coming in through the open window, and if people were saying that it was... They were fools, or they were lying. Either way, they were dangerous. It was different for Yuina, Karen thought. Yuina trusted people, or she tried to. She wasn't a fool, though, and she wasn't satisfied with the results of the investigation either, but she didn't say anything and Karen... couldn't.

But something had broken that day, and she knew now that Yuina wasn't safe in her room any more. Karen had started slipping out of her own room at night, moving silently through the hallways, taking up a guardian's post in the corner alcove where she could watch Yuina's door while she slept, where she would be able to feel the sickly taint of the Grimm if they came close again. She knew it probably wasn't the right thing to do, but it was the only thing left. She couldn't bear the idea that something might happen when she wasn't there, and so she watched, silent, her eyes glittering in the shadows, sometimes with the barest hint of gold.

Yuina didn't mention those nights. Karen wasn't about to, either. She let the story slip by, moving on to the next event, her attention half before her and half, as always now, on the shadows.

===

The meeting itself set Karen's nerves on edge in an entirely different way than had been usual lately. It might have been a relief, if she had dared to let it be. Social events were notsomething that Karen had a lot of experience with - or any experience at all, really. There had been the signing, but that had been... different. It had been sitting somewhere, signing things. It wasn't like this, where they were expected to meet other magical girls and... Karen wasn't even really sure what they were supposed to do, really, but Yuina would know, and she would stay with Yuina.

The awkwardness started before the event, of course. Formal had certain connotations, after all, and while many of the magical girls could just transform if they wanted to look their best, that wasn't going to work for Karen. She owned her school uniforms and a few casual things - nothing at all that could be remotely construed as formal.

Whether she liked it or not, she was going to have to get something different. Having spent most of her life a recluse had not given Karen much in the way of a fashion sense, and she had to admit that she had absolutely no idea what she was doing. Even the idea of shopping was worrying to her, because of all the people out there - people who would look at her, who would have feelings, who were... just people. What if something went wrong? What if she went wrong?

That was why Yuina was there, of course. That, and because hopefully at least one of them had some idea about what they ought to be wearing to the upcoming event, and it certainly wasn't going to be Karen.
 
It was a silly little thing really, everyone getting all worked up over some formal event to celebrate the newly contracted girls. Still, Mr Sawai had impressed upon her how important this event was as compared to all the other events that he had called quite important for two rising stars. That was another sort of silly little thing, wasn’t it? Trying to get so famous that you have to wear a disposable mask just to keep others from recognizing you. Parts of it were nice, like seeing the mute boy who had just felt a little more, seen perhaps, accepted maybe, when he saw Karen. But, other times it all just felt so…

Yuina’s fingers flipped through the dresses in the rack as she looked over each one. She had come with a plan that she thought was a pretty good one: find something cute but modest for Karen, something she could feel comfortable in, and something a little flashier for herself. That should keep Mr Sawai happy, right? As long as one of them stuck out for the camera. Yuina pulled a dress out of the row and held it up for Karen to look at, it was a pretty purple, deep with golden pinpricks that caught the light like the stars over New Kyoto. A skirt that went past the knees, long sleeves that tapered to a sheer fabric from the elbow down to the wrist.

“What do you think? Would you like to try it on?” Yuina asked.
 
Yuina held up a dress, but Karen shook her head. She wasn't exactly sure what was wrong with it, just that it wasn't right. For a moment she hesitated, waiting for the reasoning to make sense to her, then signed something quickly. Yuina might not catch the sign though - it was something they were working on, but it wasn't perfect yet. Karen shifted her attention to the bag at her side, taking out a tiny white board and marker, writing the words no gold on the board. Gold was the color of the Grimm, wasn't it? Their eyes, their hunger, their...

Best not to think too much about that, maybe - but gold was the wrong color, especially for Karen. Especially when she was... well, the way she was. She was close enough to the Grimm as it was, and she didn't really want to remind people of that. Or maybe she just didn't want to remind herself of that, Karen wasn't sure. Still, no gold. She reached out, touching the dress, dragging her fingers across the rest of it. It was... nice, otherwise. She didn't have anything like that. Karen usually dressed in a way that she wouldn't be noticed - something that would let her fade into the background, unobtrusive, faded, muted.

But... maybe. She didn't really want the spotlight, but Yuina would be there - and she wanted to look nice for Yuina. For... some reason.

Karen smiled, then signed again. Pick something else.
 
“Yeah, it’s not good enough.” Yuina said, returning the dress back to the rack. A frown crossed her lips as her gaze flicked across the other dresses on offer. Perhaps she was thinking about this all wrong? Karen wanted something else, so wouldn’t it just be better to try to find something that she would just like to wear? Yuina tapped her index finger against her lip for a moment before she glanced back at Karen, catching the girl’s eyes for a moment. Gold was definitely no good, it was hungry and vicious but Karen was more what she was now.

“How about this?” She slid another dress off the rack, a lighter shade of purple that seemed like it would go well with her eyes. The skirt was shorter but ruffled with a sash along the hips. “If I went in my transformation we’d look like twins with this dress.” She said with a light laugh.
 
A glimpse of purple caught Karen's eyes as the dress moved off the rack and into Yuina's hands. It wasn't like a flash of gold or a spatter of red, it was just... purple. A bit bolder than what Karen usually wore - a lot bolder, really - but Yuina's comment about twins made her glance up in consideration. That was... nice? Maybe? Was that what she wanted? Karen didn't have any sisters, much less any twins - she didn't know what that was supposed to feel like.

But she wanted to be with Yuina, at her side - not just in the awful parts, when the Grimm were all around them, but in the other parts too. The quieter parts or even the louder parts. If Yuina was there, it would be all right - and there had to be more to things than just one Grimm after another, didn't there? She reached out, her fingers trailing through the ruffles of the skirt, then cautiously took the dress from Yuina, holding it up against herself and trying to picture what she'd look like in something like this.

That was about impossible. Karen had never worn anything like this, it seemed... strange.

Strange, but maybe not a bad sort of strange. She hesitated one more time, more out of habit than anything else, then gestured towards the fitting rooms. She might not be certain about wearing something like this... but she was at least willing to give it a try.
 
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