#jusenkyocursed

[witchoftrinity]

"If I knew someone else was out here I would've came around to seeing them a lot sooner."

Of course Mika knew that probably wasn't the complete truth in today's case. It might've been a gut feeling or a false flag but for someone that checked their phone so compulsively every morning Mika felt she would've noticed at least one familiar name through the contact list. Still it was only something small, especially considering she was already passing the hot cup of liquid right over to the individual sitting across from them.

"So you have to tell me about yourself Ranma!" Mika said, almost as if she was completely oblivious to the mere idea they weren't an actual student to begin with. "Do you have any hobbies? Oh, what clubs are you part of?! Anyone you have some secrets about?"

@jusenkyocursed

[isolaradiale]

i'd like to drop both ranma saotome (ranma 1/2 | 105) and changli (wuthering waves | 402). thank you!

They'll be dropped for you!

– mod solaris

[isolaradiale]

on prior reserve, here is my application for ranma saotome from ranma 1/2! you can find his application under the third sidebar link!

Welcome to scenic Isola Radiale, Ranma!

You will be housed in HOUSE 105.

You will retain your curse that will be able to be activated up to five times daily.

– mod pleiades.

[deathreversed]

"Nice..." A small smile plays on Nier's lips when she hears it. Ranma may not be able to understand just how much even these small gestures mean to Nier, but for some reason, she has a good feeling about her. Maybe she reminds her of the Captain to a degree; brave, kind-hearted, generous- or is she just imagining what she'd like to see?

She accepts the offer with another smile, nodding her head. She'd got more than enough dust, but if she insists, Nier won't say no. To be looked at, thought of, treated like this, is all a dream come true. Already, the seed of something is germinating in Nier's chest.

Trotting alongside Ranma, Nier's smile widens. Helping someone like this, having them look at you, having them acknowledge you, having them rely on you is...

"Don't worry, Ranma. If you need help, I'll do what I can. I promise. Anything you need, you can just ask me..."

Ranma couldn't understand what she really meant by that, of course. Very few people did. But Nier's heart swells all the same; what bliss it is to be known, to be seen, to be loved. She'll make as many promises as she needs to to keep it that way.

🔴 "Sky-Strewn... Oh, so it's probably that place, huh?" Ranma nodded up at the land that was floating above the city. She'd been wondering about it. Guess it was a place she could go if she wanted to, then. Upon mentioning what was clearly referencing the cellphone, she fished around in her pocket for a moment before pulling it out.

The case was half blue and half red. Someone had a sense of humour. "You're talking about this thing, right? We had phones back where I came from, but they weren't this flat and had to be plugged into a wall. No idea how it works, though." Ranma was an 80s and early 90s kid. Phones weren't that advanced.

She was surprised by Nier's reaction to her invitation though. "Huh? Why wouldn't I be sure? You seem nice enough to me." Aside from her reaction in the beginning, but Ranma had dealt with worse. "C'mon." It didn't take long for Nier to catch up though.

"I'll even treat. I gotta figure out how to earn more money though, or it's gonna be a little rough in the long run..."

[kleinstar]

" Mm. I'm not talking about friendly matches here... " Eiden sighs.

" But eh, don't get me wrong I' m not running after anyone to stop fighting or anything. I have bunch of friends that enjoy sparring and all that stuff. "

He's more concerned over his own peace rather than playing peacekeeping.

" You arrived here pretty recently anyway I gather ? So I think the place will show what I mean eventually. "

🔵 "I guess you have a point, but at the same time there's probably more people out there that don't care about hurting someone over nothing, too." He liked to believe that he'd learned his martial arts for the good of others. If the weak needed protecting then he'd protect them. That was just how Ranma's mind worked.

"If you don't keep that in mind, then one day someone like that is gonna do some damage before you even know what hits ya."

Ranma shrugged. Was he being too dismissive? He wasn't the kind of guy that worried about that kind of stuff. Much to his dismay when he'd eventually lose. "Not like I'm gonna live in fear or whatever. If someone challenges me then I'm not gonna run away."

[rosaictus]

"ha! i'm not a mere child, in fact i am much older than i look, so make sure you treat me with respect." her damn appearance yet again has gotten her mistaken for a child, why couldn't she be summoned when she was in her thirties? "alright then, ranma. i am called nero claudius, seeing as spirale has many people from different worlds...i won't assume you know who i am."

taking a good look at the boy, huh he doesn't seem sturdy and one slash to hin could easily put the boy down. the last thing nero needs is a child's blood on her hands.

nero materializes her weapon and points it at him, "are you sure? this isn't a toy, i could do some serious harm you...unless you have anything else to spar with?"

🔵 "Child? Aren't you younger than me though?" Ranma might have made an incorrect assumption there. She was shorter than him and had a cute face, so he'd been assuming she was at least around his age, but he'd dinged her a little younger. He quickly tried to move past that by introducing himself as requested. "Name's Ranma Saotome. I'm a student of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts."

So she was a weapon user? Well, that wasn't really an issue. Swords, giant spatulas... he could deal with melee weapons well enough.

"I fight with my fists, but I can use a weapon if I gotta." He was pretty good at impromptu weapon usage when he had to. "But I'm built of tougher stuff than I look."

[ostentumm]

Oliver grins, he begins bouncing at the balls of his feet, warming up as he begins stretching out his limbs. "Keh, I was gonna say the exact same to you! I don't want you crying to me about how I beat ya," he says with a smirk. Ranma is confident. Oliver can tell his confidence isn't misplaced. This guy really knows how to fight!

"Oh, we should make some rules huh?" DAMMIT, dar'khol! Whatever, Oliver gladly tosses his twin daggers off to the side, "No weapons! We can fight however way we want, but no weapons and we can't hit the face!"

🔵 "Huh, really?" Ranma rubbed at the back of his head. Anything Goes Martial Arts was kind of like that. His style was just whatever style was necessary to win even if it meant fighting dirty. It was also possible that Oliver wasn't trained. He could be self taught.

"Well, don't complain when I beat ya. Name's Ranma Saotome, of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts! I'll let you make the first move, Oliver!" He was talking big for someone with physical capabilities that were limited to what was essentially normal human physical condition.

[punisheye]

Just his luck after everything else that's been going on in his damn life lately. All he was doing was trying to head home from the shooting range, taking the usual shortcuts to get home faster, when he had taken notice of someone trying to follow him.

It was easy to pretend he didn't see them, and he had other things to worry about.

Until they appeared from hiding and tried cornering him in an attempt to rob him. Wolfwood had remained completely unperturbed as he had a gun waved around in his face, letting the would-be robber put on his tough guy act even when he realized Wolfwood was a lot bigger up close.

He was just about to wind his fist back and knock the fucker out after about a minute of being bored when someone falls out of the damn sky and right on top of the robber's head. Wolfwood blinks. The gun clatters to the ground and Wolfwood crouches down to pick it up.

"Nope. Never seen him before," he replies as he goes about flipping the safety on and detaching the mag. He sets the now-empty gun back on the ground. The guy is still conscious, but looks a little dazed. "Was actually just about to leave. You might wanna get outta here, too."

@punisheye

🔴 The cloud was still overcast from a freshly fallen autumn rain, and while the rain had stopped, Ranma had unfortunately gotten caught up in it. Which meant her curse had activated, fortunately not in front of anyone. Whatever she'd been planning to do beforehand, those plans had changed as she jumped from rooftop to rooftop. Thankfully the buildings around here were pretty low.

She'd gotten a little too cocky and had leaped without looking at one point, and ended up landing on the top of someone's head with enough force to slam them down onto their knees.

"Uh..." Whoops. Ranma looked concerned, but she was still balancing on the stranger's head while looking dead on at another man. One with sunglasses and a big cross. Her landing had knocked a gun out of the hand of the man she'd landed on too. "This isn't your buddy, is it?"

[ostentumm]

"I've never fished in my entire life." Aaaand that's why he's looking into breaking a hole with his FIST. Luckily though, he stops when Ranma mentions a hole.

"Oh, like the one over there?" He gestures at a few holes about. "They look a little small. How are we going to pull out a massive one? What if it gets stuck? THEN what? The hole is too small."

@ostentumm 🔵 SOMETHING SEEMS ICE-FISHY

🔵 When Oliver had invited Ranma out, he hadn't expected to go ice fishing of all things. Fundamentally it shouldn't have been an issue. The water was frozen, and he knew how to fish. But he hadn't explained his curse to Oliver yet, so if he got even a little bit wet then it was probably game over.

It was fine. He'd just avoid getting wet!

"Uh... Do you even know how to ice fish? I think we need to find a hole or something." With his hands in his coat pockets, he was on super duper high alert.

[witchoftrinity]

"O-Oh I'm sorry! I didn't mean to stare at all."

The only reason Mika was uncharacteristically keeping her eyes on the individual was because something about them seemed familiar. She couldn't quite put a finger on it considering she was pretty sure they had never met. But maybe her mind was playing tricks on her yet again.

"Y-You just remind me of a friend I met here awhile back. Ranma was their name." Maybe they went to the same school back in their own world? Their red jacket was pretty indistinguishable from a crowd.

"Do you know them? They have bright pink hair just like me."

@witchoftrinity 🔵 AN UPLIFTING WINTER FAIR

🔵 Ranma hadn't been expecting this to happen, but maybe it should have been expected with his luck. He'd headed up to the winter fair on the floating isles all on his own. Just to scope things out, see what all of the fuss was about? He hadn't expected to bump into Mika. Who didn't know about his curse at all.

But she was staring at him. She was definitely staring at him, and had been for a while now.

"C-Can I help you? Did I do something wrong?" Did she have a hunch?

[deathreversed]

Most drones don't even have repair functions like Nier does. Most drones aren't like her. That's probably for the best. She limps along after Ranma, though after a while full function returns and she's able to keep up with her. And when she speaks, her answers are short, because her mind is preoccupied. She only looks up when Ranma announces their arrival, and she removes her shoes so as not to track any oil inside her home. "Th-thank you," she mumbles, still distracted.

"A shower... N-no, I don't want to stain anything," says Nier, shaking her head as she steps inside. She's never been inside one of the Fibonacci houses before. "Worker drones are rated for rainfall so it would be safe, but..."

There's a lot of cleanup ahead, too much for a simple shower. Nier sighs, and finally looks back up at Ranma. "Honestly... Do you have a bucket? A-and maybe some rags and detergent? And just a bag for these..."

Heading for what she's pretty sure is the bathroom, she begins to disrobe, because it's not like her clothes actually cover anything important. "I'd really appreciate something to wear in the meantime, too... I-I'm sorry to be asking so much of you, even after I made you come all the way out here... I-I promise I'll make it up to you, somehow..."

She doesn't feel upset anymore, she feels kind of... empty. Not of oil, her HUD indicates those levels are fine, but of something else, something she can't place. Nothing in her diagnostics indicates anything is off, and yet...

Nier sits down on a stool within the washroom. She removes her hair for a moment, then replaces it, because she actually does feel odd without that. Instead she just sits and slowly lowers her head into her hands. She doesn't say, or do, or think anything. She just sits, and waits for Ranma to return.

🔴 "Huh? I just figured it'd be fastest. Sorry." Maybe she'd gotten too used to carting the others around back home that she'd picked Nier up without thinking. She was actually a little heavier than Ranma had expected, but ended up chalking it up to the fact she was literally a robot. At least for the time being. The girl rubbed at the back of her own head awkwardly. She'd probably overstepped and was a little self-conscious about it now. "Sorry, don't really know how drones work..."

With the invitation accepted, Ranma hopped back up onto the fence and began to walk a little ways ahead of Nier. She kept her eyes trained over her shoulder at the drone as she walked, though.

She just kept to idle chitchat for most of the short walk, trying to keep her mind off of things until they reached House 105 and Ranma led her in. "I have two roommates but they aren't usually here when I am. Get comfy, uh... You want me to draw you a shower? Do drones shower?" If they were electric than maybe they didn't? "I probably have some clothes you could borrow too, but they're all backless."

[witchoftrinity]

"Ah don't worry about it. I...assumed as much and still appreciate the conversation nonetheless. Sometimes I'm perceptive on these things and other times they blow right over my head. But most people would've run away the moment they heard my name. Even if they didn't know what I did at all from my world..."

People just believed whatever was touted from the highest rooftop after all. Bonus points that many thought of Trinity as the school where very if not anything went wrong. It would honestly be a miracle if Nagisa and the others could keep the reputation afloat after the storm of comments and media presence people would spread.

"The Stars aren't exactly the nicest when it comes to just living our lives out. I-if it makes you feel any better Ranma I'd still love to hang out with you even when this all blows over! You seem caring even when all of this is going on. That takes a lot here, especially when there's memories or info in your mind that very much isn't yours."

🔴 "Yeah..." So was she ignorant to what was going on or not!? Ranma had been hoping to gleam some sort of clue about where she stood regarding the alternate selves thing, but she hadn't turned up anything of note. It was also becoming a little hard on her to hide her curse from people that seemed like good enough people. A thought she never would have had back home, but...

In this city everyone was at least a little weird. It was strange to say, but she was beginning to believe maybe hiding it here was unnecessary.

"Er... Well, I'm askin' because I woke up like... this. Like from your world? I'm not usually from there, I just have all those memories of living there. Sorry if it seems like I was trying to lie to you or something, I just don't really know what to do... But a lot of what I said was still true about the real me!"

[deathreversed]

How long has it been since someone cared about her? Before coming to this city, it had felt like years- it had been years. And now all these people were so nice and she still carried all that hurt within her and what were you supposed to do when people were kind to you and she was still so hungry and she felt ashamed of what she had to do and why was she trying so hard to hide this all and and and and and-

Nier's CPU stops for a split-second- a built-in precaution to stop her from frying her own circuits with worry. From the outside it would just look like her visor turned off for a moment, but when she comes to, none of those strings are overwhelming her anymore. Core temperature is normal. Everything is fine. She's fine. The oil helped, the crying helped. Ranma is helping.

Finally looking back up at the other girl, she feels the headband placed back onto her head. She still sags a bit, mouth hidden beneath the collar of her cloak, but it's less from fear and sadness than just pure embarrassment. "Y-yes... They're from another friend I made here, so I... T-thank you..."

She shrinks again, unable to look Ranma in the eyes. "I-it's just... On Copper 9, no one really... They all thought I was strange, so..."

The statement lingers, and Nier doesn't know how to finish it. Rather, she doesn't want to. They were all right, she was strange, and this is the proof. Other workers didn't have voices in their heads telling them to do things, they didn't thirst after the lifeblood of their fellows, they didn't have powers like this. Even though they didn't know all this when they ostracized her, they were right. And so Nier still isn't sure about how to handle other people caring about her.

And so she listens to Ranma talk, nodding along. Her desire to be known, to be understood, always leads to her saying something awkward, and so she remains silent. She even gives a small giggle when Ranma pokes her forehead, and it feels like a current washing over her. She doesn't know if she's being understood right now, but she's being seen, and that feels nice too.

"I'd... I'd still like to spend time together, if you don't mind. I don't want to be alone right now..." She casts her gaze at the fallen piles of scrap and the crumped robot behind her, and frowns. "But not here. I don't... I'd really like to leave."

And so she rises to her feet, a little unsteadily, and begins a shuffle back towards the fence where she'd entered.

🔴 Ranma just listened. Really, what else could she even do? At least she was good at it. The gods knew how often she'd just sat there and listened to Akane or Shampoo's problem. Sometimes she cared, sometimes she didn't. In this case it was hard not to. Not when the topic of conversation was so heavy. Whatever was eating the bot, it wasn't some silly teenaged nonsense.

When the pile of scrap was gestured to, she looked over at it and then back to Nier. So she'd destroyed them? Eaten whatever they'd been? Why was she apologizing? Critical context was missing, so Ranma was left to navigate things more or less on her gut. Nier was crying. She was sad. She seemed to think she'd done something terrible.

"H-Hey!?" Out of everything to prompt a reaction from the erune, the girl dropping her headband was the oddest. Ranma's lightning fast reflexes kicked in and she caught the headband on her toe after stumbling forward. She almost lost her balance, but managed to kick it up into the air so that she could catch it. Once she did? She placed the ears back on the bot's head. "These are important to you, right?"

Once that was done, she leaned forward and ducked in to meet Nier's gaze properly. "Do I look like you scared me? Am I leaving? Nope. Look, I still don't really get what's going on, but I'm not the kind of guy - girl - to leave a girl by herself when she's clearly upset." She reached up and poked the drone in the centre of her forehead with a playful smirk regardless of any oil.

"Some things don't need an apology, so don't be a dummy. I'll stay here until you're feeling better. And after if you still wanna hang out."

[deathreversed]

"It's called the Sky-Strewn Isles," she says, finishing her thoughts from earlier. "If you do end up wanting to go, then..."

Trailing off, she looks away. She wouldn't refuse an invitation, but she probably wouldn't offer one herself. Perhaps going with someone else might make it a little easier.

It seems as though this initial meeting is winding down, and Nier can't help but feel a little proud of herself. Nobody got weirded out or hurt, and even though there was that confusion about curses, surely the Captain would be happy that she managed to help someone. "O-of course, if you ever need anything else I'll do my best," she says with a small smile. "They have some technology that lets you contact people, I don't really understand it, but-"

She blinks in surprise, staring-wide eyed at Ranma. Had she misheard? No, this was real, this was an invitation.

"A-are you sure? If you really don't mind, then I suppose I..."

She racks her brain; she's certainly had food in the area, but why is it suddenly so hard to remember it? "W-well, um... There's a market not too far from here, I think... They've got a lot of stalls there so we can probably find something for both of us..."

Stepping closer to Ranma, her smile widens. "Ah, that's all to say... I-I'd really like that, thank you."

🔴 That was basically the long and short of it. Opinions would vary on pretty much anything, and Ranma had always seen her curse as just that. At first there hadn't been any benefit to being smaller and weaker, but she'd learned to understand its advantages with time. Little by little she'd been figuring out what it mean to be a "girl" all on her own, she just didn't realize that the world wasn't so black and white when it came to gender yet.

Ranma listened to what Nier had to explain patiently, though she did hope onto a nearby fence and stand on it crouched. She was just more comfortable in higher places, but she was still only a couple of feet away from Nier. She followed the girl's finger when she pointed to the supposed arena. "That so...? Well, maybe I'll head out there one day."

The mention of melancholy had her curious. Ranma could be insensitive, but she could also tell when someone was trying their best. Nier didn't seem like the type of person that would immediately bounce back if she accidentally said something insensitive like Akane or Shampoo, so she was being extra careful with her words.

She hopped off the fence and stood up straight with her arms behind her back. "Yeah! Good for you! I don't know a single thing about this place, so good thing I bumped into you. Thanks!" She turned to walk away, but stopped after a few steps and looked over her shoulder. "Know anywhere to eat that's closer? You wanna get a bite with me?"

[deathreversed]

She didn't use to feel like this in the city. Things had been comparatively normal compared to how they were on Copper 9, so why is this all happening now? Nier had been thinking that maybe, here, so far from home, she could finally live an ordinary life, surrounded by kind people who cared. Or maybe it was foolish of her to think she could ever have something like that.

The sound of Ranma's voice makes her start, and she turns to see the girl hurrying towards her, ears twitching. Oil drips from her clothes and body as Ranma reaches out to her, but Nier can't think of how to even begin to explain what's happened.

Her body temperature is normal now, at least, so she doesn't shy from Ranma's touch. The hand on her shoulder feels nice, actually. "N-no, there's no one else here but us... I-I just... Um..."

She wrings her hands, unsure of what she can say that doesn't make her seem insane or dangerous. If she says the wrong thing, Ranma might leave, right? That's how people have always been. "M-my internal temperature was just running high, a-and when that happens, sometimes I get... kind of overwhelmed."

Giving a small gesture towards the piles of scrap, she continues. "A-and so I, um... I did that..."

Maybe she's said too much. Maybe her lies are obvious. Her teeth and tongue are stained with oil, maybe Ranma can see that. Maybe, maybe, maybe. Her temperature starts to rise again, and then-

"I'm glad you're safe at least."

The feeling starts at Nier's chest and spreads through her body. She can't help but tremble as digital tears build up in her visor, and she tries to choke back the sobs as best she can. "I-I'm sorryyyyy..." she says, wrapping her arms around herself as if to keep everything trapped inside herself.

"I-I'm sorry for making you worry, I'm sorry if I scared you..." The cat ears fall from her fingers, forgotten amidst the storm of her emotions. "Please don't leave me, please don't leave..."

🔴 Probably much to Nier's chagrin, Ranma wasn't the kind of person who avoided being nosy. Even before she'd replied to say she was fine (which was clearly a big fat lie), she'd already hopped into the scrapyard after hearing the drone yell about something staying away from her. Was she being attacked?

She'd arrived near the end of whatever was going on. The drone had looked distraught to say the least. Whatever had been destroyed? Ranma hadn't managed to get a good look at it. All that remained was the aftermath. The mess.

"Hey! Are you okay!" The erune had known better than to involve herself at first. Call it intuition. But once things calmed down she leapt down to where Nier was in a single bound. "I know you said not to come in, but uh... Well, I'm more worried about you getting hurt than me." That was just the kind of person Ranma was. She was a protector at heart.

A hand was reached out to pat Nier's shoulder. An awkward attempt at reassurance. "Um... Were you attacked by someone? It's fine if you don't wanna say..." Nier hadn't wanted her involved for some reason, right? But if it was dangerous she was more than confident in her ability to defend herself. "I'm glad you're safe at least."

Ranma looked off to the side, a little embarrassed. She just wanted Nier to feel better. "And I'm pretty sure you can get oil out, if that helps."

[deathreversed]

"Now that I think about it... Maybe there are some things that some would consider a blessing that others would think of as a curse..."

Her mind wanders a bit; would she mind being a man? Would Ranma be concerned if she were shadowed by a beast of death? But Nier doesn't care to engage in such philosophical thoughts, and she tosses them aside with a shake of her head.

But these are questions she knows the answers to, or at least the approximations of answers. "Ah- for food, the Star Trail in Archimedes Ward has lots of nice places to eat. I think they even have foods from different worlds, so no matter where someone comes from, they can find something familiar. Which is... really nice of them, come to think of it..."

She didn't really consider the Island Stars as kind people, but she opts not to dwell on that, either.

"Sparring... Well, there's a place you could try, but..." Nier trails off, a frown forming on her face. She went there once, and it made her terribly homesick. She hasn't been back, hasn't wanted to go back. Perhaps with the right company, but for now...

"It's kind of far, but there's a place outside the city where you get back the things they've taken from you..." She points out towards the horizon; far beyond the city's limits, a few small dots can be seen floating in midair. "I think there's some kind of arena there. I don't know much about it, it... It has a very melancholy feel, for me."

A sigh, and she looks back at Ranma, giving her a small smile. "A-are those the kinds of things you're looking for? I guess I know more about this city than I realized, eheh..."

🔴 "Yeah! You get it!" Ranma shot up a little when Nier confirmed what she had come to believe over the past year of being cursed. It didn't matter what form she took, she was still herself! It was just that when she pondered what that meant relative to how accepting she'd gradually become of her curse where things had begun to get a little complicated for her.

To hear that Nier knew someone who had chosen a girl's form was interesting, though she only seemed to consider it a curse in the sense that Ranma couldn't control it. If she'd had the ability to determine when it happened without getting splashed, then would she feel the same way about it?

She filed that thought away for later. Nier didn't linger on the topic for long, which was pretty surprising based on past experiences.

"Hm... Guess I need to know the best place to get grub? And spar with people when I'm feeling it. I wish I had my strength back though." She probably would have ended up in a fight by now if she hadn't been completely sapped.