Magical Lotus - Mahou Shoujou Byakuren - Episode 2, part 4 (Complete)

[Oldmansour]

>How does she look?

>At this distance, you can't read her expression that well. But her walk is light and unburdened, your modelling experience tells you. In fact, she's walking like someone that's just had an enormous weight lifted from her shoulders.

[Hello Purvis]

>Well, that's good news!
>Wave to her.

[Oldmansour]

>Well, that's good news!
>Wave to her.

>This is indeed good news!
>As you raise your arm to wave, Risa does you one better, and practically squeeees at the sight of Kiku, and rather loudly. Until Koko squeezes her big bushy tail, and her 'squeeee' becomes an 'owwwwww'.
>The dragonfly winged youkai merely matches your simple wave, while Chie, smiling like a cat in front of a saucer of fresh cream, sprints forward towards the elder miko.
>In this time, Kiku has managed to come close enough for you to take a guess at her expression. At the moment, you would call her... puzzled.

[DracoOmega]

>Does she seem to have noticed us?
>In either case, let the excited ones go on ahead and then follow at a polite distance.

[Oldmansour]

>Does she seem to have noticed us?
>In either case, let the excited ones go on ahead and then follow at a polite distance.

>You think so.
>Risa is not long in following Chie, though she does audibly whimper slightly as she rubs her bushy tail where Koko grabbed it. The dark haired youkai, now sporting a rather amused grin, follows behind her, the winged miko walking abreast.
>Chie and Kiku stop in front of each other, Kiku definitely looking puzzled, but her face seems to lack the tenseness, the severity, that seemed to be graven upon it, even from before her meeting with the demon. Her gaze passes between her sisters, Risa's sign, you, the banner hanging from the temple roof.
>"Welcome back, Onee-sama!" Chie and Risa announce in near unison, Risa holding her sign above her head with a proud smile on her face. The other two shrine maidens echo their sisters' sentiment a moment later.
>"What are you all doing out here?" Kiku asks them, gesturing at both displayed signs. "What is all this?" Even her voice sounds somehow lighter than it did before.
>"We wanted to surprise you, Onee-sama." the winged youkai says with a rather shy smile as she glances sideways at Risa.
>Koko lightly raps the squirrel youkai on the top of her head. "You can see how that ended up." she says fondly. Risa merely laughs and sticks her tongue out.
>This does little to alleviate Kiku's puzzled expression. "... Byakuren?" she asks, obviously looking for an explanation of sorts.

[DracoOmega]

>Raise our hands disarmingly, but smile a little.
>"I had nothing to do with the welcoming party; if you want to know what all the buzz is about, you'll need to ask them, I think. Did you have a nice walk?"

[Oldmansour]

>Raise our hands disarmingly, but smile a little.
>"I had nothing to do with the welcoming party; if you want to know what all the buzz is about, you'll need to ask them, I think. Did you have a nice walk?"

>"Uh..." Kiku begins, but no words follow this. She seems, well, bamboozled by what she sees before her. When her eyes settle upon Chie, however, her ears twitch slightly. "You told them."
>Chie nods, looking slightly abashed. "Was Chie not supposed to?"
>"Well, no, but-"
>Risa interrupts her elder, lunging forward and grasping Kiku's hand. Kiku looks quite shocked, but Risa presses on, "We couldn't help it, we wanted to show you our appreciation, our thanks, our big signs!"
>"You mean YOU couldn't help it." Koko says with a grin. "But you know how she is, Onee-sama, Risa's cheer is pretty catchy."
>Chie adds, "Chie told Isumi first, Isumi wanted to do something for Kiku. Mayumi started on banner..." the green haired winged girl nods once.
>Kiku blinks, seemingly quite at a loss. "I don't... I don't understand..." She once more looks to you.

[DracoOmega]

>Offer her a smile.
>"It's a wonderful thing to have friends that care about you like this, isn't it?"

[Oldmansour]

>Offer her a smile.
>"It's a wonderful thing to have friends that care about you like this, isn't it?"

>"Friends?" Kiku stumbles over the word, looking at the faces of the shrine maidens before her. A glance to your right shows that the other two, Maiko and Anya, are on their way over here as well. Maiko is obviously happy to see Kiku, and while Anya doesn't look 'happy', per se, she certainly doesn't like as grim as she did when you were speaking with her.
>Chie, still smiling, says, to Kiku, "Friends, sisters. Both are true. We know how hard Kiku works for us. What Kiku goes through for us. We wanted to thank Kiku for it." Risa, Koko and Mayumi all nod in their own way, the green haired Mayumi in an understated way, the horse-tailed Koko casually, and the bubbly Risa quite energetically.
>Faced with the love and appreciation of her sisters, the tall, severe, powerful shrine maiden Kiku's face contorts, her face ripples into a smile, and two great tears roll down her cheeks.

[DracoOmega]

>Continue to smile gently and let her have her moment.

[Oldmansour]

>Continue to smile gently and let her have her moment.

>"Kiku?" Chie asks, tilting her head curiously at the elder miko. You hear Anya mutter something in Moscovian. She sounds quite surprised herself.
>"Are you crying?" Risa asks her. "Are you crying?"
>Kiku wipes at her eyes, then covers them with both hands, weeping.
>You take a few steps backwards as Chie and Koko approach their weeping big sister. You have your own things to discuss with the tiger youkai, but she obviously needs a moment with her sisters.

>"I..." Kiku manages to say after several moments, poking her eyes out over her fingers. "I didn't... I thought you all hated me...?"
>"How could you think that?" Anya demands, her accented voice stern, yet not harsh at all.
>"Sure, there are times when you can be a bit too strict." Koko adds.
>"And you can be kinda scary." Maiko chimes.
>Mayumi flutters her wings. "But we know you're looking out for us in your own way. Trying to make us the best we can be."
>"And keep us safe, too!" Risa chirps. "Nobody's tougher'n you, and that means nobody walks on us when you're around! And you'll never let us be slack-tailed oafs." A curious look passes over her face, and she turns to Maiko. "Do we like being slack-tailed oafs?"
>The collection of mikos have a pleasant laugh. Even Risa, after a moment.

[DracoOmega]

>Continue to hang back until there is an appropriate pause; no need to poke our nose into this nice family moment just yet - there'll be time to deliver unpleasant news later.

[Oldmansour]

>Continue to hang back until there is an appropriate pause; no need to poke our nose into this nice family moment just yet - there'll be time to deliver unpleasant news later.

>While Kiku does not join them in their laugh, you do see her trying to smile through her tears. Chie steps closer to her. "We are sorry if you thought we did not like you. We like you. Even Komeji-sama thought this was good idea."
>As Chie comforts Kiku, Anya looks in your direction. She gestures with her head to her left, a sign that she wants a word with you, and steps in your direction.

[Hanzo K.]

>Raise an eyebrow and nod. "Yes?"

[Oldmansour]

>Raise an eyebrow and nod. "Yes?"

>The grey-eared miko and you walk a few steps away from the crowd. "Might not occur to others to say, but you should not speak of this later." she advises you.

[DracoOmega]

>"Are you concerned for Kiku's... 'face'?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Are you concerned for Kiku's... 'face'?"

>"Partly." She looks back at the tiger youkai, then back at you. She has an intensity that the others lack, even Kiku didn't come across as quite this... harsh. Severe, yes, but in a different way. "I am not at liberty to discuss details."

[DracoOmega]

>Nod
>"Well, you needn't worry that this private moment will be made otherwise."

[Oldmansour]

>Nod
>"Well, you needn't worry that this private moment will be made otherwise."

>"Especially from Eagle." she adds, for emphasis. "What happens here, not for her ears."

[DracoOmega]

>Nod again.
>"Of course. I understand."

[Oldmansour]

>Nod again.
>"Of course. I understand."

>The youkai seems satisfied with that, at least as far as you can tell. You're good at reading people, but this one is a bit hard to grasp. "I thank you." she says simply.

>The other shrine maidens, by this point, have all clustered closer to Kiku now. In other circumstances, this might have lead to a group hug, especially with someone like Risa around, but, emotional or no, Kiku isn't quite that type. In fact, she seems to be pulling herself back together. She's still crying, but she seems to have reigned in the high end of her emotions. "Thank you. Thank you, all."
>"We should head inside now." Koko suggests. "Isumi should be finished in the kitchen by now."
>"You all can go ahead." Kiku suggests, looking in your direction. "I need to speak to this guest."
>"Taken care of." Anya informs her.
>Kiku nods. "All the same..."
>Anya shrugs. "Your decision."
>"Don't you be too long." Risa teases Kiku, before bouncing off towards the shrine, most of her sisters following.

>Chie, however, remains a moment, as Kiku places her hand on the shorter feline's shoulder. "Thank you for believing." she says quietly, caressing Chie's face with the back of her other hand briefly. "I remembered you, when I needed strength."
>The younger miko's smile is truly feline as she receives the attention of her senior. "Chie always believed in Kiku."
>Kiku pats her cheek with surprising gentleness. "Go on inside now. I'll join you all in a few minutes." As Chie starts to walk off, her steps light and happy, Kiku calls after her, "And ask Mayumi to take that big banner down. It's nice, but a bit big." Chie calls back an affirmative, leaving the temple grounds empty apart from you and your fellow magical girl. "I never would have imagined..." she mutters to herself.

[DracoOmega]

>Give her another gentle smile
>"It seems that even in times like this, not all surprises are unpleasant ones. You are cared for deeply, Kiku; no matter its guise, your concern for your sisters has not gone unnoticed by them."

[Oldmansour]

>Give her another gentle smile
>"It seems that even in times like this, not all surprises are unpleasant ones. You are cared for deeply, Kiku; no matter its guise, your concern for your sisters has not gone unnoticed by them."

>"I believed they were afraid of me." she says, her voice still heavy with emotion. "I am not the easiest person to live with. I know this, it is the way I am, the way I chose to be. I imagined, sometimes... But this is beyond anything I had imagined."
>"And you." she adds, turning her head to face you. Her complexion appears somewhat ravaged. Some people have the complexion for tears without ruining their look, but she definately does not. "What are you doing here? Not HERE, I mean..." She shakes her head and tries again. "I suspected you would stay around this area, but I wasn't expecting to see you HERE."

[Hanzo K.]

>"I wanted to look into a few things, and maybe help the others out a little with what they were up to."
>Smile in a gentle and somewhat playful way.

[DracoOmega]

>Frown a little.
>"There's a bit of a story there. But before that... how did it go? I do not mean to pry, so anything you feel is private can remain so, but if there is anything you think should be shared..."

[Oldmansour]

>"I wanted to look into a few things, and maybe help the others out a little with what they were up to."
>Smile in a gentle and somewhat playful way.

>Kiku looks at you somewhat analytically. "What you found appeared to be somewhat draining. I know you were tired before, but you seem much worse now."

>Frown a little.
>"There's a bit of a story there. But before that... how did it go? I do not mean to pry, so anything you feel is private can remain so, but if there is anything you think should be shared..."

>Kiku exhales, an almost serene expression spreading across her face. "I stood in His presence, Byakuren."

[Hello Purvis]

>More smiles!
>"Were you tempted to pet him? I was."
>"I knew he would accept you."

[Oldmansour]

>More smiles!
>"Were you tempted to pet him? I was."
>"I knew he would accept you."

>"I didn't want to risk my mercury allergy acting up."
>"It was... Well, I don't really have words. No poet I've ever read could describe what I saw. What I felt."

[DracoOmega]

>"I imagine it was even more profound than my own experience, such is the bond that you already shared in His service. And I am glad that it seems to have brought a certain peace to your spirit as well."

[Oldmansour]

>"I imagine it was even more profound than my own experience, such is the bond that you already shared in His service. And I am glad that it seems to have brought a certain peace to your spirit as well."

>"You can tell?"