After Dark, June 16th--??? (Locked to Maria and Osaka)

[happyhalloween]

[It was dark and Maria was lost, but she had to leave her house because Mama had seen Tomosuke! She'd found Tomosuke in Maria's backpack and Maria had snatched the panda out of Mama's hands and run straight out the door and kept running. She remembered what had happened all those months ago, when the Black Witch had possessed Mama and murdered Sakutaro and the bunny band and she could't let it happen to Tomosuke too.

So Maria ran and ran and ran until she was quite tired and thoroughly lost. She'd lost Mama too, but that didn't much matter when it was so very dark and everything was so thoroughly unfamiliar. She tried to do some black magic to Mama inside her head but even that didn't help much, no matter how many times she kicked Mama until her stuffing came out.

All Maria wanted was to find Maya's house so she could go inside and eat some burgers and ramen and have Bikini fuss over her, but she had no more idea of where Maya's house was than her own.

And now there was a scary shape moving in the darkness!]

... hello? Who are you? You don't scare Maria! Maria's a witch!

Comments

[happyhalloween]

Maria knows Osaka's good! Osaka's talked with Tomosuke at all our tea parties!

[Another happy smile.]

Once we've got them all good and conjured... that's when the black magic really starts. Maria likes to rip Mama apart, just like Mama ripped apart Sakutaro, so all her stuffing comes out. We break and break and break and we don't mind the screaming, because that means we did it right. Then we put them back together again! We can do that as many times as we need to until we feel better! Break and break and put back together again! Kihihihi.

[ohmygah]

[Uhhhhhhhhhh]

...But Osaka, that's me, can just imagine punching them in the nose or something, right?

1/2

[happyhalloween]

Right! If that's what Osaka wants!

2/2

[happyhalloween]

[And suddenly the scary face Maria is gone and she's all smiles again.]

What's Osaka doing out tonight, anyway?

[ohmygah]

[Oh good, Maria's normal again. That must mean everything's okay and always will be.]

It's simple, Maria-chan! In the movies, something important happens whenever they go for a walk in the night! So I went on a walk to make sure I could find the person I'm looking for!

[happyhalloween]

Ooooooh. Who is Osaka looking for? Can Maria help?

[ohmygah]

Sure thing, Maria! You could help me use black magic to find her! I'm looking for somebody named Osaka!

[...Wait.]

Uh. I mean Ayumu! I'm Osaka. I'm looking for an Ayumu.

[happyhalloween]

... Ayumu? [She rolls the name around in her mouth like it's one she's never heard before. And it isn't. Osaka's nickname had already become universally used by the time Maria had joined their little group.]

What does Ayumu look like?

[ohmygah]

[......Um. Uh. Hm.]

She... uh. She's got...

...

...

...

...

Hair.

[happyhalloween]

Osaka has hair! Maybe Osaka is Ayumu and doesn't know it, kihihihi!

... no, wait, that's silly.

[ohmygah]

[SILENT SCREAMING]

HA. HA HA HA. THAT... THAT WOULD BE PRETTY SILLY, HUH MARI-CHAN?

I, uh... I think she looks like me. Only not me.

[happyhalloween]

Like Osaka with blank white ghost eyes!

[Well, that's her current mental image of the mysterious Ayumu anyway.]

[ohmygah]

G-ghost eyes? S-so they're all invisible and stuff?!

[She probably meant intangible.]

[happyhalloween]

If they were invisible you could see inside Ayumu's head! No, they're just blank.

[ohmygah]

Like dad wants all those doctors to do?

[She has lost complete track of this conversation. Granted, this is not a new occurrence.]

[happyhalloween]

Osaka's papa wants to turn her eyes invisible?

[ohmygah]

I think so. He talks a lot about my head and getting something inside it to work. I think its got something to do with my ears, cause I forget to listen sometimes...

[happyhalloween]

Maria does too!

... do you think that's why Mama hits Maria's head? Is she trying to thump it so it starts working?

[ohmygah]

Ohhhh, maybe! That'd explain everythang.

[happyhalloween]

When we find Ayumu should we try to thump her head?

[ohmygah]

[...Feels super weird having her name said like its someone else. But she's gotta push through. She needs to find out what Osaka's been scheming.]

Yeah, that'd probably really help her out! We just gotta find where she's hiding and why she looks like me. Osaka.

[happyhalloween]

Sure! We just have to be careful we don't run into Mama or she'll kill Tomosuke and thump us both!

[ohmygah]

Oh! That's right! So we gotta be extra careful then. To stop O- Ayumu and the Black Witch.

[happyhalloween]

Uu! Super careful!

... you don't think they're teamed up, do you? Ayumu doesn't possess people, does she?

[ohmygah]

What? I would neve- [Oh right. Osaka.]

...Uh... I don't think so? She-she should just be a normal girl... right?

[...But if Maria was right and Osaka had the same powers as the Black Witch... that could mean...]

...We really gotta find her soon, Maria-chan! Just to be sure!