Scene #1547: On The Fritz

Owner	Pose
Chiyo Sakai	Nounamu Sweets was actually a bit bare-shelved at the moment. The Wagashi was around of course. That was always available. The section that had housed chocolates of various sorts though? Those shelves were oddly empty along with a note of apology stating that they had sold out and were currently working on replenishing their stock. That didn't stop customers from coming and going but it did mean there was quite a lot more work to actually refill things compared to usual. Chiyo had actually stepped outside of the shop to take a break from that for awhile. One of the little cafe tables that was set up outside to enjoy the warm weather had been occupied by her as she sits with her head down in her hands as she just rests awhile with a cup of tea in front of her.
Hinoiri Kirara	Hinoiri Kirara was, well... she had to get some candy for a certain spoiled rotten reptile. So where else to go? And maybe they should check on that flower. She was curious if it was really growing. However, she saw Chiyo outside and just... sighed. Well. It wasn't like she could go somewhere else for some of the best candy. Gosh darn sparkle skirt hording all the good, addicting sugar. "Heyyyyy..." Hinoiri said, reaching a hand up to rub the back of her head. "How you doing?" She then glanced through the windows and... "Wow. Did you guys get robbed? Where'd all the candy go?" she asked before looking back to her. "But, ummm. I wanted to actually ask you something. And, like. You don't have to tell me? But last time I kicked your flanks, your magic was doing this whole... spazzing out thing. My Eclipse Zones shouldn't be doing that so... just want to make sure it didn't do that." Pause. "Cause, frankly? It could be really dangerous if it started turning your powers... like that. The last thing I want is one of those idiots accidentally killing someone because they didn't pull their spell in time." She rested a hand on the table, eying her but not making a move against her. At least not yet. "Also, if you were robbed? Wasn't me. Just... saying this now. I pay for my goods."
Chiyo Sakai	Hinoiri? One of the hands drops away to peer at the girl with a single eye. She knew the secret of course, but right now she was too tired to press the issue for any reason. Besides, she wasn't 'Sunbreaker' right now, and she was also a customer here quite often. "We got bought out. Some girl came by with a business card and just..." The hand sweeps toward the shop indicating it. "We've been working to restock and remake since then." It had been a few days now. The mention of her power though earns a twitch at the corner of her eye as she starts to frown. She risks sitting up straighter with her other hand dropping down to the table in front of her. "It's... it's not the zone," she mutters dourly looking more than a little stressed. "I don't know what it is. I just know that since some other Culinary Guardians finally showed up, my powers have ... Not always worked right. It hurts." "... Happens sometimes when I'm not transformed, too, but I just feel really sick then."
Hinoiri Kirara	Hinoiri Kirara looked concerned, then. "Wait. Bought the place out? Dang it. If I wanted some mass produced... wait. Do you mean bought out the store or bought all the candy? Cause... damn. Good job, I guess. I guess I'll need to just make do." Pause. "Oh, um. One of my coworkers got hurt so I'm buying them some candy to make up for the fact they're... well... hurt. And since they're staying with me I had to... encourage... my roommate to go visit her family for a while." Pause. "I'll probably to buy something that's both 'sorry' and 'good job you can bucking listen' in one. Nice kid. You'd probably like her." Hinoiri then blinked before sitting down across from Chiyo, a front on her lips. "Huh... really? Magic fluctuations like that aren't common. However, the fact it's happening when you're not transformed? That's incredibly concerning. Especially if it's making you sick." "So, if it happened once the others showed up, my first guess would be it being an imbalance in a kind of... shared magical weave. Errr, how to explain it..." She looked around before finally just shaking her head. "Okay, so, pretend I have a cup, okay? Now, imagine it's a small cup. If you have one mage working together, you can cast normal magic, right? But some spells require more magic than others. So you have two, three or even a dozen mages all working together on this one spell." "They all have cups, but because of that, you end up with one combined major cup. All the magic drawn from there, right? Now, that sounds good... but if there's an imbalance going on, it's like... all of the cups are there, but when they got pushed in, one of the cups got damaged. Maybe it gave too much, or maybe it got cracked. Maybe there was some blowback, right, and so three litres of magic got stuffed back into a cup that can only hold two litres. Or maybe one of the cups got connected to one of the other cups and now it keeps leaking out from that cup into the other cup. You know?" ... Hinoiri sounded almost genuinely concerned and... like she was trying to help. "The fact it's affecting you outside of transformation, though? THAT'S leading me to believe it's like your cup has been cracked, or worse. Like your magic is dripping out, or even being drained out, at bad times. Maybe even some kind of corruption where the magic is leaking into it and mixing with your magic, and your body is rejecting it. And frankly, that's not good." "If you come out like this, when your magic is all wonky? You're not going to be a challenge and you'll just be easier to beat, there's no point to beating you if you're going to just fall over at the drop of a hat. Worse, you might just fall over at the worse time and then I'll end up really hurting you. Ugh." ... And there it was, the REASON she cared.
Chiyo Sakai	Chiyo Sakai looks suitably horrified at the thought of the entire SHOP being purchased. "Oh! No, no I meant cleaned out the chocolate with one purchase not--No! Ojiisan would never sell!" ... At least she's fairly certain he wouldn't. Maybe if there was no other choice, but even then he was too stubborn for that to be done quickly. Then Chiyo falls silent as Hinoiri starts to actually talk about magic. About the weave of it working together, and how it could be shared. The thing is she's really, actually, honestly listening because what did she know about magic? All their differences aside Hinoiri came from a world with magic, or at least she'd claimed as such numerous times. "That... that makes sense," she has to admit starting to look more worried herself. "And is very worrisome given it started to happen once some other Guardians started to show up. I'd think Bonito would have told me though," she mumbles while reaching up to run a hand through her hair. "I know it's dangerous. I've not really been doing as much as I usually do, other than to heal people when I need. I'd just been nearby when that happened the other day and..." She shrugs helplessly. "I'll talk to some of the others, I guess. I can only heal through making food, not any other way."
Hinoiri Kirara	Hinoiri Kirara looked relieved, at least, knowing the shop wasn't going to be bought out. However, the rest of it? Not so much. If anything, she looked annoyed. "Bonito... is that the cat that's your hammer? The one that went all razor claws on me?" she asked, looking less than amused. "Don't take this the wrong way? But it doesn't necessarily mean he's not hiding things from you. You should just flat out ask him. Just in case in the future he tries pulling some jerkish response where he goes 'Oh, but you never asked!' when everyone KNOWS you would have asked so it's OBVIOUS he's just doing it for plausible deniability but you can't punt him because technically that makes YOU the bad guy and--" She then blinked and coughed. "Err, right. Kyubey, if you ever see him? Treat him like any other youma. Just trust me on this. But yeah, if others are showing up and now you're losing your powers? Maybe you all draw from a common source and they're disrupting that connection. Or maybe you're all experiencing this and the others are trying to be tough because they think the others aren't and they don't want to be the 'weak' one," Hinoiri said in a teasing tone. "And if you're the only one? Maybe you've got a traitor in your midst or something and one of them is draining your power before they move onto the others." That... that was a joke. She was trying to lighten the mood. "... Just... be careful when you interfere in other people's work, okay? You've got a phone. I won't try and like, hurt you when you lose your powers. but there are a few over in Obsidian who wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of that situation. If not for your sake, then for the sake of people like Usagi who would be heart broken if you got killed because your powers turned off right before someone threw you through a building."
Chiyo Sakai	Chiyo Sakai opens her mouth to protest about what Bonito would and wouldn't tell her. To be honest though he had been far less talkative lately than he used to be. Sleeping a lot more, too. "Yeah that's him," she agrees about being 'her hammer' at least. She hadn't been aware of the clawing, but given he ran back after Hinoiri had tried to make off with the Kine, that made sense. Then she mentions Kyubey which just earns a look of sheer disguist. "I know about that thing. That's how I was outed the first time. Can't not stare at it and people realized I saw him," she mutters. Since then she'd been far, far more cautious about letting on that she could see Charas or other similar creatures. At least until she wanted to let them know she could. The rest, the 'concern' being shown causes her to grow quiet. With a sigh she reaches into her pocket to withdraw and thwap down a wrapped mochi treat. "If your friend is hurt, give them this. It'll make them feel better." A pause, before adding, "Unless they have dark energy, any way."
Hinoiri Kirara	Hinoiri Kirara gave a small, soft sigh before taking the mochi and... "Well, admittedly? The fact they are one of my coworkers means probably, yeah, dark energy. I've also been teaching them how to use the stuff... but dark energy is more of a detriment in these kinds of things, anyway. Even the healing spells I know barely function when I use it and I'm a genius. Your little magic healing lollipops have certainly helped me at times." She then got to her feet. "But... yeah. Kyubey? Pure evil. Tries to manipulate and destroy innocent girls. Tried to do it on Sayaka. He's officially on my destroy on sight list. That thing is an abomination. I'm gonna go buy some candy. And... seriously. Don't come near the eclipse zones while you're like this, okay? If you have to, reach out to one of the magical people who aren't broken. You'll be worse than useless to your side like this, you'll actively be a detriment. And probably get one of them really hurt trying to protect you. Good luck figuring out whatever it is." "And hey, I know we're on other sides. But if you ever want a full magical examination, I'll help. But you'd need to be okay with me learning whatever I'd learn. Riventon would probably help, too. Huh. Funny, all the people who are smart about magic are in Obsidian... wonder if that says more about us, or more about you girls."
Chiyo Sakai	Chiyo Sakai gives a little snort at the thought of the 'smart magic people' being on that side. "I think it says more about us not having a large expense account to buy medical or scientific equipment," she points out with a wry grin that slips to a more serious expression. "... Thanks. I mean it. I'll be careful about my issue until it's resolved." One way or another. She really did need to talk to Mamoru about it, but things had come up. Like weird ass portals stealing people away, and making healing foods for when they came back, and then the whole issue with Sugata's people buying out the supply of chocolate. It had been busy lately. "Enjoy your candy," she offers out as she pushes her chair back to stand so that she can head back inside. Through the side door because it was Prep Work day. "The part-timer can get your stuff for you."