Give Me Luck [Open]

Aki wasn't the most superstitious person you'd meet, but she did have a fondness for charms. Charms for good luck, charms for love, charms for victory, all kinds. She just thought they were cute and they did help in the smallest of ways, as Aki felt that she wasn't the luckiest of people.

As she walked up the path towards the old shrine, she took a nice breath of fresh air. It was one of the places that was still kept old in Crystal Tokyo, though she wasn't entirely sure why. She didn't mind, and she also wasn't the only one around either. Many were students... from Juuban, Kouhai, and of course Tengoku-Teki, also eagerly hoping to get some good luck for their studies, club victories, and high school love. It was the beginning of the semester after all. However, Aki wanted a bit more luck in something else as well. Now that she had awakened as a senshi, Sailor Lyra, she felt that she needed all the help she could get. With her mother away, she'd have to figure out a lot of things on her own. Of course, she wasn't the first, nor the last to do this. She'd figure something out.

"I'll make you proud, mom," she said with a grin and a clench of the fist. She was going to fight whatever those creatures were and turn them into stardust!

Eridani had felt him drawn to this place, much like he had been drawn to the school in the first place. However unlike the school, something was telling him not to get close. For some reason it reminded him of one of the human shrines back on his planet. A places that demons often did their best to stay away from. He was over next to a small pond that was off of the main steps, his hands were in his pockets as he watched the water.

Even though he had come to this world in search of grimoire, he felt no closer to success than he had before. This city was large. This planet was large. What was he going to do. The demon turned his had and spat to the side. His mind wandering back to that auditorium. What had the creature been and this Senshi thing. "Maybe I'm just scratching the surface." At this point he was hoping that he and his siblings were the only ones searching for the book. Beating them too it was going to be a difficult task as it was.

He turned to start trying to make his way up the steps when he saw the red head. "Why are you following me." His voice monotone and lazy. He didn't believe she was following him, probably a wrong place, wrong time sort of thing but he had to harass her some.

Of course, she knew exactly who's voice that belonged to, but she also didn't feel like acknowledging it. Really, she'd rather just ignore him but she knew that if she did, she'd make it worse. This guy was like a rash that just kept coming back. One that needed a very specific ointment that she couldn't seem to find anywhere. Honestly, it frustrated her to no-end, but if she can just make small talk with the brunette and walk away, that would be a blessing.

"Why would I be following you? Like really," Aki replied as she looked over her shoulder at the young man rather irritably. "I'm here because I wanted to pick up some stuff. In fact, I should be asking why you're here. You don't really seem like the charm buying kind of guy," She actually wasn't all that sure what kind of guy he was. Maybe the 'sacrifice your children to the dark lord' kind of guy.

Eridani watched as she teetered on the fence, between ignoring him and opening her mouth to speak to him. She made the right decision, though he wasn't in the mood to harass her as much as he normally would. Somehow, someway he would have mustered up the motivation to make her regret ignoring him. There was no reason why someone would try to shut him out from their life when he had so much to offer. Experience and good looks.

"Because you're some kind of female stalker for all I know, and trust me. You wouldn't be the first." His hands still shoved in his pockets as he strolled up beside her, leaning down "What stuff?" He questioned, not caring if he was sticking his nose in her business. Having secrets and a private life was something that he was good at prying into if he really wanted to. "Charm?"

His head tilted to the side as a hand came out of his pocket, two fingers laying against his cheek as he gave his head a slight tilt to the side. Appearing to be pondering just what they were. "I'm looking for that book." He lied, well in a way it was a half-lie. He was searching for a lead or anything here that might be of interest.

His hand went from his own face to try and pinch Akiko's cheek and pull. "Why are you looking for a charm~?" Leaning over, getting his face level with hers as he tugged on her cheek more.

"I am not stalking you. If anything, I want to get as far away from you as possible," He had stalkers? How could a guy like him have women wanting to chase after him? He has such a sour personality!

"If you're looking for the book, the go to the libraries like I told you to! Or did you decide to completely ignore that suggestion?" she turned away from the young man, trying to speed up her walk. Of course, he was quite a bit taller than her, so of course he'd able up. Of course, she couldn't ignore for that long, as he started to pull on her cheek more and more.

"Ow! Stop that!" she swatted his hand away from her cheek as she rubbed it softly. "You are a big jerk you know that!?" Annoying, thoughtless, and just mean!

"Honestly, I should just get a charm to ward off annoying boys like you!" It suddenly felt like a deja vu moment... as though she had said something similar to him once before. But she hadn't even known him for that long. "Just leave me alone already and go look for you stupid book."

"I know you're not. Don't get your panties in a bunch over it." Rolling his eyes at the red head, he couldn't help but smile. A real smile. At how defensive she was over it. Though he just shrugged slightly as he told him to check the libraries. "I need to look everywhere. Not just in libraries. I cant rule out that the fact that someone may have the book in their possession, like here. Eri frowned slightly. "You're acting rather defensive and I've yet to really do anything to you." His hand falling back to his side as she swatted it away.

She called him a couple of names and he let out a long exasperated sigh. "And now you're being rather mean. I'm just trying to socialize with you." In a way he was, but he wasn't actually trying to be annoying as he thought he was being to her. "At least explain to me what happened at the auditorium. I don't feel safe anymore." He lied, but to her he was just some annoying classmante.

"So... have you actually looked in the libraries?" she couldn't help but ask.

"I'm acting defensive because I know you're going to do something due to your track record with me," That was her logic behind it anyway. He was just a guy who couldn't be trusted to be nice and kind. Hell, he was even smiling at her misery. Besides, pulling on someone's cheek was totally not innocent.

He then brought up the auditorium. "Yeah..." It was bad, but at least she had been able to finally become Sailor Lyra. Now she just needed to get better at being a proper senshi like her mother. "I was told that Crytal Tokyo has a history of others trying to attack it, but that hasn't happened in such a long time that almost everyone had forgotten about it. I have no idea what that thing was," Or what Fortune Keys were for that matter. It couldn't be good though. They all just have to stay alert. "I heard that the other school was attacked too,"

She finally made it up the steps to the shrine. It was fairly busy, and part of it was probably due to the attack. Needed magic and luck to protect themselves and all that. "You'll be finding a lot of charms here, but probably no books,"

"Some but to properly look through each individually will take time." There was a method to his madness, on any other world or even city this might have been easy but this... Crystal Tokyo seemed to be full of magic, it was difficult for him to pinpoint what was what. Even his own apartment with his own items and findings would give him unusual feelings when approaching it. Finding this tome wasn't going to be as easy as he had hoped. "What track record. We've known each other for a short time. I hardly call that a record." Rubbing the bridge of his noise with the hand that had been swiped away.

"Doesn't seem like anywhere is safe." The demon looked off into the sky as though he was wondering about something, appearing to be uneasy an insecure. Though in all reality it was the opposite, he didn't care. As long as he got what he wanted then he would be on his way. The school. Those creatures and the keys had nothing to do with him.

"I'm not big on charms but don't rule out the book. Its rather exclusive and to find it just within a library waiting to be checked out would be rather preposterous to say the least. Its necessary to check high and low." Starting to walk up the steps again. "Its always in the last place you look." Saying with a smile as he shoved his hands back in his pockets, a bit of a sweat starting to break on forehead but not because he was tired. What was it?

His mind wandered to the charms... The shrine... That had to be it. It wouldn't turn him back now. Though he wasn't a full blood, bred from darkness, demon. The human that he did have in his veins would keep the effects of the charms at bay. Hopefully.

"Well, call it what you will, but you have't exactly been the nicest," she replied to the brunette. She was just being cautious around him, that's all. As she should be, considering he just pinched her cheek.

The more he spoke about that book, the more curious she was about it. It didn't really sounds like anything that she was familiar with. Rare and not in a library? Was it old? Was it about history? Dolls? Art? Cars? She was also wondering why his father hadn't really given him a more clear indication of where this book was. Seemed kind of frustrating to just wander with no pointing in the proper direction.

"What's the book about exactly?" she asked, looking at him. "I have a feeling the only books they'd have here would be about the occult. Maybe the history of Crystal Tokyo, but that's all I can really think of,"

Once they were up at the charm kiosk, the red-head got rather excited. It had been awhile since she got herself a charm! "Hello~ I would like a gakugyō-jōju and a yaku-yoke** please," the red-head asked the elderly woman politely. That's all she really wanted. "Are you gonna get any, Eri? How about kaiun? That's for general luck, so maybe it'll help you find your book,"

*gakugyō-jōju (Luck for studies)
**yaku-yoke

"Not the nicest? I haven't even been mean yet." Replying with a roll of his eyes, she was so worrisome and he had done nothing to her. Was she always this fretful or was it only around handsome looking men like himself? He couldn't help but wonder.

Eridani hesitated for a moment as she asked him what it was about, his eyes gazing off up into the sky as if the book were to fall from the heavens themselves and openly present itself. "What's the book about?" His voice trailed off as he thought about it. "Its an old thing, ancient perhaps. What I've been told is its one of the first... uhhh... Legends to ever be put to print. Father claims there was only one to ever exist, though I find it hard to believe."

"So little truth..." A hushed voice seemed to carry on a soft breeze, hardly audible. Though Eridani seemed to take no notice. "Incantationnnnn..." The voice seemed to be whispering right in her ear. "A heart as dark as pitch, bound in its pages... Watch out." A sharp laugh and just like that the voice melted away on the breeze, just as it had come.

Eridani hadn't seemed to notice anything as he inspected the charms, shifting as she picked up her charms. These things seemed idiotic to him, but he knew better than to say that they didn't do anything. A hand reaching up to wipe his forehead off the sweat that had been accumulating. This place. A sneer appeared on his lips as he looked around. "Maybe I should take one." What could it hurt? His eyes gazed over the charms. He didn't like them. He didn't know what they did. It hurt his eyes just to look at them, made his blood warm. "How much are they. I don't want to waste all my earnings on these dumb little things."

Was he really so dense that he didn't realize that he was mean and a bit lazy? He beat up a nerd, he tried to take her food, he essentially had a tantrum ad Crown Parlour, and expected her to help him with all of his homework. And yet his older sister was the total opposite. It was honestly quite a surprise.

"Oh, so it's a book on folkore and mythology," That narrowed things a bit. "Well, if it's anything about Japanese folklore, then it might be possible to find it here after all," The shrine certainly had a lot of history and mystery.

Before she could continue talking though, she heard an odd whisper in her ear. She batted at her ear and then looked to the side. "What... incancation...?" But there was no one else near her. It came and left in an instant. Was Eri playing tricks on her? "You know, I don't like it when people try to scare me for no reason,"

Eridani leaned in and flipped through the charms, seemingly enveloped in them as he looked at each one. Picking some of them up and setting them back down, after what he had seen at the school and with this city in general there was little reason to believe that these charms. As foolish as they were. Didn't contain some kind of magic in them. How they worked and if they worked was a complete mystery to him. "I suppose you can say that." That was the closest thing he could pinpoint it to, where truthfully Eridani could only imagine what was wrapped up inside the book's pages. "Father was never very clear about what it contained. I'm not so sure he even knew what it was about, but he's sure of its existence." Beyond the shadow of a doubt.

Eri flicked his nose with his thumb as he shot her a confused glance. "I thought that's what these charms were made of?" Unsure of what she was talking about. He pulled away from charms for the moment as, an utter look of confusion on his face. He hadn't done anything to her that he could recall. "Uhh.." Pausing, trying to find how to respond to her accusation of him trying to scare her. "I'm at a loss to what you're talking about." Rubbing the back of his head, what had just happened?

The demon bit on his lower lip before turning back to the charms, reaching to pick on up but as soon as it touched his flesh a hissing, almost burning sound was briefly heard. He instantly withdrew his fingers back to his chest. Gripping the hand that had touched the charm. He didn't yell or anything but he looked at where his fingers had touched the charm. Starting to show signs of being burned already. Eridani shot a glare at the charm. "What charm is that?" Asking as though nothing had just happened. The elderly woman took a quick glance at the charm before giving a soft shrug, "A ward against evil spirits." She said calmly as Eridani dropped his hand back to his side, his fingers still throbbing. "Hmph."

"Someone just said something in my ear," she replied. "Something about a dark heart... bound in pages?" she touched her ear again. She wasn't going crazy, she knew she heard someone whispering in her ear. "You and the clerk are the only ones here you know," but he wasn't right beside her... ugh! What the heck is going on here!? Not more weird magic stuff! She's already had enough for one day. She didn't need more!

As Eridani continued to look at the charms, she decided to take a peak as well. Maybe she should get a charm that wards away evil spirits after all...

"I should pick one of those up along with the luck charm..." she said to herself as she looked at the one that the brunette had picked up. "What's the matter? Afraid that you're an evil spirit?" Oh how little did she realize...