daybreakacademy | Hollow Plot: [open]

[She does know a Toki. And she knows he has a sister. ...Had a sister. He didn't mention having any others, though. Orihime turns to look at her again.]

Rikugou Tokidoki?

[There might be others, and she hopes there are, because now she really is starting to grow wary.]

[Her smile fades slightly; perhaps this girl knows him too well. Did he tell this girl about her death? Her eyes take on a red tint as a sort of jealously grows within her. Why would he tell this girl something so personal?]

Yes. [It's almost a hiss.] I would appreciate your help.

[She reaches for Orihime, the sleeve of her dress falling back to reveal the odd attachment of her arm. The forearm is backwards, claw marks apparent down the length. Her fingernails are now visibly torn and bloody.]

[Orihime jerks back with a frown, staying out of reach, but not attacking. Instead she faces her with her fists clenched at her sides. This can't be his sister. He loved her. This has to be some sort of imposter.]

What's your name?

[She takes a staggering step closer, her eyes unfocused and empty, but her gaze somehow still penetrating.]

Ginshu.

[It's drawn out, almost a growl, and much deeper than her voice was before.]

...You're lying.

[And she runs. A quick pivot on the ball of her foot and she's dashing through the streets, sprinting for the road that winds back through the countryside and woods.]

[Whether this thing really was Ginshu's ghost or not, it didn't matter. It was after Toki. And if she was going to fight it, Orihime wasn't going to do so in the middle of the street where people would get hurt. She had to get somewhere else, somewhere that no one else would see, so she could use the full extent of her powers.]

[Ginshu follows, her appearance shifting when she reaches the road. A growl rips from her throat as she pursues Orihime, gaining ground despite her awkward gait. Her hand slaps against the ice heavily with each step. Her wolf mask forms over half of her face, her eyes glowing red.]

No. Lies.

[Her voice is inhuman and slurred; the bottom half of her face is missing.]

[Orihime spins in place and thrusts her palms forward, slamming her shield directly in front of Ginshu to put a quick stop to her pursuit. Hopefully that will daze her enough to get more distance between them. That mask...she's seen something like that before. The creature that attacked her, the one whose assault awakened Orihime's powers...if she'd been able to recognize the feeling of its soul back then, would it feel the same?]

[Either way, she doesn't have time to stop. Her breath leaves in quick puffs of warm mist as she bolts, digging her phone out of her pocket. It's not easy to run and flip through her contacts at the same time, but she's able to find Toki's number and call it. Once she hears the click, whether it's a message machine or Toki himself, she speaks immediately.]

You're in danger. Find a teacher as quickly as you can. I'm going to hold it off, but if I can't do it, you need to be safe.

[She doesn't wait for a response, snapping the phone shut and running faster to make up for lost time. She just hopes he understood.]

[The shield barrier is unexpected. It derives from something more powerful than her, she senses. Daemons or fey. Something corporeal with great magic. It seems to weaken the further Orihime runs from her, and in a short time, she is able to break it; a lingering curiosity stays with her. What is this girl?

Quickening her pace, Ginshu lumbers after the girl, growling and shrieking. Her mask morphs to cover all of her face, the eyes trailing red smoke. This one is prey. She chases Orihime down the empty road.]

[She has to resist the urge to clap her hands over her ears at the sound of that ghastly, inhuman scream. Once she passes the last country gate and slips into the forest, she nearly sighs in relief. As she's been running, she's been thinking hard, trying to come up with a plan. She thinks she has one.]

[Killing Ginshu isn't an option. If it really is Toki's sister, twisted into something that wants to kill him, Orihime has to find out why, and how such a thing was even possible. She doesn't want to be the one who takes away the person he loves a second time, she'd rather die than let that happen.]

[She skids to a stop behind a walnut tree, pressing her back against the dark trunk and breathing hard. She just needs to find the right place to pull this off. She checks her wrist and nods silently to herself. Right. She's got this.]

[Ginshu isn't far behind, and Orihime cannot hide from her. She hears the labored breathing and lurches ahead, confident she has worn down the girl and can take her time with the kill. Her backwards arm wraps around the tree, above Orihime's head. She growls.]

[Orihime jolts, startled. Ginshu was much closer than she thought! But she's not hurt, she's okay, she just has to make sure she doesn't panic.]

[She kicks snow to the right and dashes to the left, hand rising to her hairpins. Her shield is ready to get called up if her feint fails, but it's Tsubaki she needs to get ready. Two trees, just slightly apart...that would probably do it. They need to be heavy too, but not so big that they'd fall too slowly.]

[There's a pair up ahead that look good. She drives Tsubaki through the base of one, and slams her shield up immediately to keep it held in place. It can't fall yet, she has to time this just right. Orihime races for it, getting ready to slice down the other tree to her left.]

[The distraction of the snow is minimal. Though Ginshu had waited too long; the girl was running again. She follows towards the pair of trees. Her arm breaks apart at the elbow, extending on rope-like tendons to give her longer reach. She's done playing with her prey. It's time.]

[Orihime yelps in surprise as something hooks into her coat and arrests her flight so hard her feet nearly fly up in front of her. No, not yet...the trees are just right there!]

[Gritting her teeth she pitches her weight forward, her shoes digging furrows in the snow as she strains to pull forward. Then, in a quick flash of insight, she unzips her coat and throws her arms back, pulling free. She stumbles, but she's running, and brings her hand up to her hairpins as she sends Tsubaki lancing through the final tree.]

[Wood creaks and groans, the enormous trunk slowly toppling downward as Orihime bolts beneath it and recalls her shield to drop the second tree too.]

[Ginshu stumbles back a bit as the tension in her arm is released, the coat in her gnarled fingers. Orihime's trap works as intended, the trees simultaneously falling right as Ginshu attempts to make it through the opening. Her leg is caught between them, and it will take her precious minutes to extricate herself, allowing Orihime's escape.]

[Thank goodness. Thank goodness thank goodness thank goodness! She lifts her wrist to fire a couple of webs at Ginshu, and misses twice because her hands are shaking. She did it...she really did it!]

HAAAAAHHHH THAT WAS SCARY!

[Orihime doubles over and exhales a shaky breath. When she straightens, she quickly punches a text into her phone. She's not really close with much of the faculty members here, but Ekkehardt works pretty closely with her at the infirmary, so...he'd probably be her best bet. She's not sure who Toki went to, but now that the threat seems neutralized, it's probably okay if that's who he picked too.]

It's Orihime. I'm in the woods about a quarter mile north of the road gate. Caught a ghost! Please help. :)

[But it's not Ekkehardt who appears.]

[Avery isn't sure what's up with the sudden rise of dead people wandering around campus, but it's something that definitely hasn't escaped his notice. It just wasn't his problem. If these kids couldn't fight an angry ghost or two, what hope did they have of surviving Nightfall?]

[At least, that's what he thought at first. But then he'd had an idea. Whatever these things were, they weren't students, right? In fact, they seemed to be more detrimental to the learning process than anything else. So, of course, no one would mind if he helped himself to a little snack or two.]

[He was doing everyone a favor, really. He deserved it after years of playing nice.]

[It's a little shocking to hear one of his students cry out in the middle of the day, but it catches his attention--and alerts him to the pinprick, oil-drenched buzz of a soul nearby. His glowing eyes are visible before the rest of him, and Avery steps out of the shadows to approach Orihime]

Inoue, I don't suppose you'd like to tell me what that noise in there was?

[Orihime turns, startled. She was expecting Ekkehardt to make haste, but she didn't know he was so fast--oh, that's not him. She lowers her phone, blinking at the eerie appearance of her teacher. Is...she in trouble?]

Er...a ghost was chasing me, and then some trees fell on it.

[She points at Ginshu. That's pretty much all she needs to sum it up, right?]

I didn't know anyone else was close by. I'm a little relieved!

Ghost, eh? Seems like there's been a plague of them lately.

[He grins.]

But it looks like its a lucky day for both of us! I'll be more than happy to take care of this nasty little problem.

[He walks toward Ginshu, steps slow and deliberate, a predator happening upon his hapless prey.]

[Ginshu is one moment away from extricating herself from the trees and returning to her pursuit of Orihime, when this man appears from nowhere. He's not human. His aura is somewhat oppressive and Ginshu watches him slowly approach. When he gets within range, she extends her arm as she had done with the girl; partially detaching it at the elbow, reaching for this... daemon?... to tear into him. He's in her way.]

[He grabs for her wrist to hold it away from himself. It's a temporary measure--he's always preferred magic and surprise to a physical fight--but he only needs a moment.]

You know, I should thank you. But it's not like it'll matter in about five seconds, so I won't.

[Avery extends his hand, his face swallowed up by shadow as he reaches out for that tainted, oily soul and yanks.]

[She tilts her head in confusion at the shadow form. She growls as he seems to try and take something from her... did she have a soul to take? Was she only a soul? In truth, she didn't know. But it hurts and she is angry. With a screech, she pulls herself free of the fallen trees; whatever the daemon has hold of tearing in his grasp. She's gone in an instant, her mission only temporarily interrupted.]

[He tries to keep hold, but Ginshu is already running, and he's left with a small chunk of a prize for his efforts.]

Darn.

[This was why you weren't supposed to pay with your food, wasn't it?]

Whatever! I'll take it!

[And he's all smiles and pride as he return s to human form and walks back to where Orihime is, popping the piece of soul into his mouth and swallowing on the way.]

[It tastes like greasy, dirty cardboard, and he swears it clings to his throat. It's all he can do to suppress a gag.]

Ugh...

[ Oh right, someone else was supposed to show up. Ekkehardt has arrived with his usual lack of announcement, and finds a less pressing but still concerning situation to deal with. ]

[ He can certainly see the evidence of a ghost having been caught even if it's no longer there, so. Things seem to have turned out...mostly fine? ]

Miss Inoue, I'm glad to see you're in good health. Mr Rikugou was quite worried about you, to say the least.

[ He carefully leaves out the screaming and the crying and the fact he left Toki in the hallway to go look for Orihime, yep. ]

[ And then he just looks over at Avery because he can see the curse on you, what did you do. ]

...Mr Atchison, I hate to ask [ he's dreading the answer ] but what have you done to yourself? [ He just sounds kind of resigned. ]

I didn't do anything. All I did was help out one of my students. And reward myself with a little snack.

[He seems confident, hands on his hips and all, but he's also starting to look a little green. Whatever had been done to that soul is not settling well in the slightest.]

Stop! You can't--!

[She's too late to stop Avery from tearing into Ginshu. And when he eats that piece, she feels sick to her stomach. What...why did he do that...? What if it really was Toki's sister? Orihime holds a hand over her mouth, horrified, pale as bone.]

[She's a little glad the ghost got away. It doesn't make her feel great, it will probably come after Toki again, but better than being devoured while helpless.]

[Her head jerks around in startled shock when Ekkehardt arrives, just before she breathes a sigh of relief.]

Is he okay? I probably scared him.

Hollow Plot: [open]

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