6th Broken Illusion [Backdated to Christmas Morning]

[punch_illusions_get_harem]

[ Phone : Drone Filter ]
After all the tricks, does this place really expect me to open a box sitting innocently under the Christmas tree I didn't even help set up, just because it has my name on it?

[ There is a pause as he considers it. ] Right. I didn't think so.


((OOC: Action open to housemates and/or any guests for that morning, or anyone who would reasonably stop by 840 Hastings.))

Comments

[heartmaestro]

[Blink-blink.]

One of the packages I received this Christmas. [And that's basically all she says, turning around and striding back into the house, towards some place in the back. She doesn't touch the front door, so take it as an invitation inside.]

[punch_illusions_get_harem]

[ He does step in, and discards his boots at the door. Old habit.

Touma can't stop his eyes from wandering as he looks at the sheer amount of items strewn about. What do they say? Why are they up like that? Did she hang them? ] You mean, you received more than one?

[heartmaestro]

[Most of them look like clippings cut out of books, newspapers, and magazines. They all mention someone called "Dr. Ichinose" and seem to be about this person's accomplishments. And no, most of them are just strewn around, stacked from the sheer number of them.]

Yes. This one came in the mail. My dress was under the Christmas tree, but in similar packaging.

[punch_illusions_get_harem]

[ Touma picks one up and reads it more thoroughly. Sounds like someone important... ] This town just gets weirder by the day. [ She doesn't seem to mind the mess, though. ]

Did you spread them out or did the box just explode or something?

[heartmaestro]

[Near the back of the house, she pries open a door. It seems to be a closet of some sort. There's standard drone items in it, but clashing horribly is the bike propped up against the side wall.]

I spread them out. I wanted to read them all.

[punch_illusions_get_harem]

[ Wow, the bike looks so much better, suddenly. Must be something to do with the town reverting back to the way it looked before everything went to (literal) Hell.

Either that, or she was bored and a gifted mechanic. Perhaps the young woman had obsessive-compulsive tendencies? Looking at the articles, he has to wonder... ]

Why not put them in an album or something? A, whatsitcalled.... "scrapbook"? You could sort them and they'd be easier to page through that way. What if one of these—[ Setting the paper back down. ] —got lost under the couch, or you needed to dust?

[heartmaestro]

[She puts her hand up to her chin, seeming to legitimately consider this.]

That's true. I'd always been used to having them up on my walls at home, though...but keeping them organized might be better.

[There's a pause.]

I don't believe I've introduced myself, either. I'm Kotomi Ichinose.

[punch_illusions_get_harem]

That's what I'm thinking. [ A nod. ] Plus, it'd be easier to keep them safe, since they seem to be so important to you. [ And now, with that name (with a name), he can begin to imagine why. ]

Touma Kamijou. Nice to meet you, Ms. Ichinose. [ He steps over to that closet, to pull out the bike. Can he do it without knocking anything else over? Only one way to find out... ]

[heartmaestro]

[She picks out the one that's stuck in her hair, looking at it a little forlornly.]

Please, just Kotomi. I'm not fond of formalities. [There's a few hatboxes (with frilly 40s hats still in them) on top, but other that, the path is pretty clear. ...but this Touma we're talking about.]

[punch_illusions_get_harem]

[ It is indeed Touma, and that is exactly why he'll soon be buried under a pile of those boxes. ] If you say so—oooOOO! [ Crash! ]

[heartmaestro]

[Kotomi yelps as the boxes go tumbling.]

A-Ah...are you alright...? [She crouches down, trying to stuff the fallen boxes on a higher shelf.]

[punch_illusions_get_harem]

It's fine. [ Groaning, he reaches out for something to hold onto to help him sit up. One of the boxes had caught him across the bridge of the nose so he had his eyes shut. ] I'm fine. Its just my luck...