The Malayan Krait [Closed]

The snake seemed happy. It was... a nice feeling. Michiko thought back momentarily to her food, but decided that no; she would continue eating meat. After all, there was nothing wrong with not knowing. Ignorance was bliss. She giggled to herself, placing her hands onto her hips and staring out at the sky with a soft smile. It had been a while since she'd last used her powers; confidence was nice to have for once. She didn't need to be scared of everything--maybe her consistently being scared was a divine allowance to get her to appreciate confidence, and therefore not get overzealous. As she pondered this, she heard the voice of Ai coming from her side. "How long does it last? The personality change... I mean." She blinked a couple of times, before placing a finger softly against her bottom lip.

"Honestly, it depends. Usually, it'll last as long as the power remains with me. All things depending, that could be forever--although I haven't experienced it yet, my grandmother told me of the 'Bleeding Effect', wherein powers that were contracted by my ancestor were capable of remaining with her after a certain length of time, even if she got rid of the contract. Her personality would change slightly, but not much--she'd mostly revert. I don't know, however. You may break the contract at any time you wish, and I won't hold it against you if you do," she nodded, "I understand, because I know how precious one's power is to them. In fact, this power lets me understand that more than anything else in the world could." She chuckled softly, shaking her head. "So, doing something?" She tapped her chin lightly, before placing her finger onto her bottom lip once more.

"I really don't know. I'm actually kind of hungry, now that I think about it!" She laughed softly, lightly covering her mouth with her fingers. She enjoyed having the confidence to speak like this. She really did love it so much.

"Alright then... Is there a certain place you want to go?" She almost seemed a little disappointed, that Ai did. Was she that intent on going to the zoo? Well, Michiko didn't think there was a zoo around--not even a petting zoo, and students were, to a very lesser degree, only allowed to bring pets in from the outside world. As such, there were only pet supply stores; not actual animal shops. There was very little that actually appealed to an animal lover in this city for students. Michiko felt rather sorry for Ai in that sense; and she honestly wondered just how many friends she had that were actually human. Smiling kindly, she then decided to hold out her hand. "You'll have to follow me. It's okay; I won't bite." She winked slightly, before leading on--whether or not her hand was taken.

The streets were rather busy this afternoon, despite what she had originally thought. Honestly, Michiko had no idea what people did with their time in this city. There were arcades; game stores and everything in between--it actually reminded her a lot of that one visit she had taken to Akihabara in Tokyo with her grandmother. The only time she'd ever been to Tokyo; probably the only time she'd want to be there without at least one person contracted to her. Laughing softly at her memories of running away from gigantic crowds of people, she noticed that her destination was a little way ahead--certainly close enough to be visible to all parties involved now.

Above the small teahouse was a sign that said 'Teahouse'. It was generic, but she knew the owners. There was a little table in the corner that she almost always buried herself into; but this time she'd be happy enough to sit in one of the central tables with Ai. As the finally reached the door, she opened it before her, the bell making a soft noise to allow her passage. As she expected, there was nobody in here. It was out of the way, and not too well-known, but Taiga was a lovely woman whom Michiko adored. "Welcome to the Tiger Teahouse. It's a small place, but few people will come in. In fact, I'm pretty sure Taiga-sama is happy to cater for all kinds of pets as well." She smiled kindly, finally letting go of Ai's hand (if it were in hers in the first place).

"You sure...? Even a snake?" Michiko nodded happily. She'd seen almost an entire menagerie in here from her little table in the corner at times. Students were pretty much allowed any pets they wanted to have, as long as they were capable of taking care of them. That's what Michiko loved about Taiga--she was a former student who started working around Academy City, and one of Michiko's few actual friends around here. Although Michiko would rarely approach Taiga openly, there was something about the woman that had always drawn her closer... of course, there was another reason that Michiko had brought Ai to this specific teahouse, though there were closer ones.

"Trust me, I think you'll like it here." At that moment, a petite and youthful-looking woman strode out of the back room with a confident stride. She turned instinctively towards the table and waved--"Michiko-chan, yahoo!" Michiko smiled and nodded, waving back with a cheery smile. Taiga knew what that meant, and pranced up to the table with a big smile. "You have a friend with you, Michiko-tan~? And she has a snaaaaake?" The woman giggled and laughed. "Does she like animals, then? Does she want to meet Shishima?" You could almost see the anticipation in Taiga's eyes. Michiko merely nodded, answering for Ai. "Yahoo!"

As quickly as she appeared, Taiga returned behind the curtain. "You know how students can keep almost any pet? Well, this pet is Taiga-san's. This pet is the reason Taiga-san named the teahouse what she did." Michiko giggled quietly as the sound of a guttural growl escaped from the backroom. As Michiko watched, a calm-looking tiger started padding out from the back, looking around the tables with a kitty-like expression. "Don't be afraid, Ai-chan. I mean, I usually am, but still. Shishima isn't going to hurt you. He's just a big kitty." She smiled softly, tilting her head to the side. There weren't any zoos here, so this was the closest to a menagerie that one could find around here.

Aha. Michiko knew that she was right in bringing this lovely young lady here. She couldn't hide the smile on her face--there were things about her powers that she was only really coming to grips with, but this was one of the nicer ones. To be able to understand a person's heart and feelings through the usage of that which meant everything to them--it was great and wonderful, and Michiko wondered if that was the reason behind her usually timid nature. To be able to become brave enough to break the ice... allowed her to do this; allowed her to become confident and talkative, even if only for a little while.

She laughed softly at the actions of the girl petting the tiger, and even giggled at the expressions Taiga was making. Honestly, she figured that even the bubbly woman would have a hard time figuring out what was going on, and yet Michiko understood both Ai and Shishima flawlessly. Before things got too hectic between those two, Michiko quickly waved down Taiga with a smile. "Might I have a green tea and a lemon tart, please?" Taiga nodded energetically, before rushing off into the kitchen with a yelp. It would be good to get Taiga going, and Michiko knew that Ai would get something sooner or later. Michiko would even pay! Yes, that would be nice. Smiling to herself as she tilted from side to side in her chair, Michiko gave thought as to what else they could do. Honestly, it was pretty boring here. Well, not here, but in Academy City in general. Maybe... maybe she could go fight something. No, no, that was a bad idea.

Her thought was immediately broken with another 'yahoo!' from Taiga, who brought out some tea and a tart with a huge grin. Michiko pulled out her purse, but Taiga shook her head. "I've never seen Shishima this happy. It's on the house~" Michiko nodded and thanked, returning the purse to her pocket.

"Hehe~" It was cute, watching Ai interact with the tiger as her tea was placed upon the table in front of her. In fact, Michiko was kind of jealous of that tiger. To be fawned over, by such a cute girl... did Michiko actually have feelings in that direction? She blinked a couple of times, thinking it over. She'd never really put much thought into her own sexuality. She didn't like men that much, even when she was around them--if it was the wrong kind of man, her breasts were the only thing on his mind. Any other kind of man was either not interested, gay, or a gentleman. But even then... Michiko loved watching girls walk by with a soft smile on her face, marvelling at their beauty and wondering what they got up to in their own home. Did they lay with man or woman--or both? She giggled softly at the thought before shaking her head and getting rid of all of that mindset. No need to think about romance and sexuality, Michiko. No need at all.

As the last of the thoughts drifted away, Michiko noticed Ai look up at her with those amazing eyes fading back into normality. She breathed a soft sigh of relief, placing her hand on her thigh and yawning slightly. She took up her tea in her other hand and brought it to her lips, drinking back some of the warm liquid while making a satisfied noise. As Taiga turned towards Ai to take her own order, Michiko suddenly blinked. What.. was the time? No, no, it didn't matter... right? "Oh yeah... No one is going to come in here and freak out over the animals right?" Michiko blinked and tapped her chin lightly, before returning to her tea with a calm smile; "Oh, no, don't worry--there's no way that'll happen. Well, it's possible that someone who doesn't know what Taiga does could walk in here and get scared out of their wits. I know I did when I first arrived." She giggled and finished off the tea, before hearing a quiet beep from her wrist.

"Oh! Crap, I'm suddenly needed for something. A meeting, if you will. I'm going to have to run--sorry." The girl quickly got to her feet, bowing multiple times with a determined expression. "I got so lost in having fun, that I completely forgot about it. I'm really sorry, but this is important." She dropped a small sum of money onto the counter, "Here's the payment for mine and Ai's food, Taiga-san--plus a little extra for the show!" She bowed once more and turned towards the door, preparing to run before realizing something and turning back: "I'm going to break the connection. These people don't know about my power, and I'd rather keep it that way," she smiled weakly, "It was fun while it lasted. And you as well, Kiokure! She nodded, bringing her fingers up to her forehead and drawing it across as if cutting a string. "Break!" When done, she nodded in thanks and ran off, trying to hide the fact that she was slowly going back to her old self. She was jealous of Ai... but also thankful that she'd made a nice new friend. Now, to deal with groups once more.

[EXIT]