Jade Seal Academy: A Pathway of Choices

"Huh?"

Akari seemed distracted - she'd barely gotten ready, even for the usual amount of 'getting ready' that meant. Her hair was a mess pulled back in a loose ponytail, and she'd thrown a faded hoodie on to hide the fact she was only wearing a torn undershirt underneath. One hand hovered over her chest, fingers brushing over the hard metal there.

'Oh. Uh. Yeah."

They were going to find the witch. At least, that's what they were supposed to be doing. That wasn't what they were actually going to do, if her and Kikyo had a say in it, but her attempts to try and dissuade the search altogether had fallen short, so all she could really do was follow along and make sure they didn't find that secret door.

"You got enough snacks? Water?" she continued as she slung her bag over her shoulder - a simple nylon satchel with some random gym logo on it. "Let's go."

--

"This the expedition?"

Akari was in slightly better spirits by the time they'd met up with their friends, casually stopping nearby to lean against the wall.

"Hey."

She popped a new lollipop into her mouth, sour flavor running over her tongue.

"We got any maps?"

Miko giggles and gives Kaya one last squeeze before stepping back. Yay hugs! People like hugs. Miko likes hugs, and she’s people, so they must!

Two more people arrive and Miko spins to greet them. Her holographic-tiled shoes slide a little on the smooth floor, but she catches herself and goes over to greet Akari, holding up both hands for a high-ten. Kikyo gets a proffered fistbump. Gotta shake things up! “Expedition team!”

Kaya says more about the witch, and Miko considers her words with a knowledgeable nod. “Sounds like kind of a swanky deal to me. Except the eating people part, that’s gross.”

Oh, oh, oh, but they get to stop the witch from eating any more people! And isn’t that exciting?

“Eeeeehehehe!” Miko squeals, bouncing on her toes. A real adventure!!

"I don't... think anyone actually eats people." Kaya's tone was more correcting than reassuring, but perhaps it would have the same effect. Also, perhaps she was entirely wrong. She didn't really have a lot to go on. Ms. Meehan had told her some things, but Kaya had gotten the feeling that her teacher wasn't able to tell her everything.

That probably had something to do with the witch.

"And, um... I guess we'll see about the brooms and potions." Kaya wasn't really sure about that, either, but one thing she was sure of: "Magical girls are not the same as witches." They were not. Kaya was not a witch, she was a magical girl, just like she had always been meant to be. "Come on, let's go downstairs."

She led the way down the staircase to the weird weight training room that no one ever used, as far as she was aware, looking around curiously. It definitely seemed like the sort of place where something should be hidden. There was a locked door on one side, marked Supply Closet. Perfect. Kaya went over and tried the doorknob, which was locked, but she was prepared for that. She'd heard about a trick with a card, and she had her library card. Kaya knelt down and slipped it into the crack, wiggling it a little. The latch popped with... surprising ease. She had expected to have to work at that a lot more. She pulled open the door quickly to reveal...

...custodial supplies. There was a mop bucket with a mop in it, three brooms - one of which looked like it might have been there when Kaya's grandmother was a student, two of those dustpan-on-a-stick things that she didn't know what to call, and a whole shelf full of cleaning supplies.

It looked like Kikyo would get her brooms and potions fantasy after all, but maybe not in the way that she'd intended it. Kaya looked through the shelves just in case: bleach, floor cleaner, floor cleaner with bleach, toilet cleaner (yuck), multi-surface cleaner [with bleach] [with lemon] [with lemon AND bleach], and an industrial-sized pack of cans labeled "Gum Remover."

That was probably Akari's fault.

"Huh." Kaya wasn't impressed. She picked up one of the cans of gum remover and gave it an experimental shake. "I guess that isn't it."

“So spooky!” Miko agrees, because basements are- uh. Basements. Basements are under houses! And schools, apparently. But if Kikyo thinks they’re spooky then they must be, totally.

A blank look crosses her face for a moment, but it’s gone nearly as quickly as it appeared once she reasons her way through the momentary lapse. Haha, what was that even about? Oh, right, they’re going downstairs.

She bops after Kaya and Akari, humming along to the music emanating from her pocket. The song pauses momentarily and then restarts again. Or maybe it’s a nearly-identical song queued up right after the first one. She doesn’t remember what setting she has it on, but it hardly matters when she gets to enjoy nice music either way, right?

Right. Kaya opens a supply closet that has some supplies in it, and while she and Akari poke around there Miko spins to take in the rest of the room. Maybe there’s something up with the weight rack.

“I’ll check over here!” Miko skips over to the rack and starts taking weights off of it, starting with the lightest. The old, overburdened metal gives a little groan as she shuffles a 15-pound dumbbell off it. Maybe it’s haunted! Wait, they’re looking for a witch, not a ghost.

“Oh no, a trap!” She tugs at the 30 pound weight, but it refuses to move.