[AQ] All these Eggs [Mitsuo/ADMIN]

[Mitsuo Takahashi]

SPOILER: Click to show

 Egging Out
+ Description: You keep spotting painted eggs all around campus--just sitting here and there for decoration. No one seems to know anything about them, or where they came from--even members of the school’s staff. Their patterns are similar to Heart’s Eggs; maybe there’s a connection?
+ Investigate the eggs themselves: -2 Guardians, +1 Faberge, +1 Roost
+ Ask Kirishigi-sensei about the eggs: +2 Guardians, -1 Faberge, -1 Roost
+ Interrogate Kirishigi-sensei about the eggs: -2 Guardians, +2 Roost
+ Paint some eggs to add to the collection: +1 Guardians, +2 Faberge, +1 Roost
+ Steal or vandalize the eggs: -2 Guardians, -2 Faberge, -1 Roost
+ Requirements: Tag for an Admin to do the thread’s closing post, or to mod if talking to Kirishigi-sensei.
+ Submitted by

---

Mitsuo frowned at the foam painted egg on the windowsill.

It was a brightly coloured blue egg, with a interesting set of star-shaped patterns drawn all over it. It had been sitting innocently on the windowsill, along with a bunch of others that had peppered the corridors. His gaze flitted between it and another egg right next to it. An egg that was less but certainly as colourful as the painted egg beside it. The egg that he had found nestled next to him when he had arrived in Otonoki.

An egg that he still didn’t know if it was real or not.

He had originally thought that his sun-patterned egg had been a gift by his parents, as a way to cheer him up about the move to Otonoki. But once it was clear that his parents couldn’t see it sitting on top of his table, he had figured it was probably one of his hallucinations - which had worried him at first, for he rarely had hallucinations of the visual type - and when the egg didn’t do anything to him, he had pretty much made himself oblivious to it, thinking it was simply one of his usual fluctuations in his illness. Maybe it’ll go away he thought, as he wrote answers on his homework while at his desk.

It didn’t, but since it still never started jumping around and distracting him, he had simply settled into a routine of ignoring it in its entirely. At least, if anything, it made for a pretty desk ornament.

But recent events had made him wonder about the true existence of the egg.

The first thing he had noticed was he could touch it. The second thing he noticed was that it was warm. Warm like it was housing a real life in it; warm like a living being was growing within it; warm like it was alive. His hallucinations were mostly auditory, and some were visual, but he had never ever had tactile ones. As much as that could be possible, it was still difficult to believe, remembering his doctor’s words to his mother about the types of hallucinations he would have. He had, at first, dismissed the first time he held it, and he had never held it again, having thought that it was one of those hallucinations that would hopefully go away.

But Ekewaka’s words had made him question the egg even further. He talked about all these ‘eggs’ and ‘fairies’ flying around; the actual words escaped him at the moment, but he remembered thinking that Ekewaka probably had a pretty…overactive imagination. And he had dismissed it then, thinking it was as such. But the incident over at West Oto recently had brought him back to the topic of eggs again. Those girls kept talking about it…and they had ignored him entirely in their attempt to get said ‘egg’ out of Sayuri, despite the fact that he was in front of them, trying to protect her. He hadn’t managed to ask the second-year further about the eggs, noticing how distraught she was after the event. He didn’t want to stress her even further.

His hands gripped tightly at the windowsill. He wished he could have helped her…

But that was a different matter entirely. This morning, when he opened his bag to pull out his pencil case, he had spotted his own egg had somehow been packed in too. He blinked, wondering what in the world happened - and panicked slightly even, for he wondered if his hallucinations have gotten worse - but when the egg did nothing again, he simply ignored it once more, going through his classes without much of a hitch. At the end of the day, he had given a sigh of relief - Classes were over! - before he threw everything back into the schoolbag haphazardly, swung it over his shoulder and walked briskly out.

That is, till he spotted the brightly coloured eggs in the corridors.

Honestly, what in the world is this…? he thought as he frowned at the foam egg, holding it up into the air to inspect it. It definitely felt like a craft egg, like someone had made it for some kind of decoration, so Mitsuo was sure it wasn’t like the egg that had appeared next to him in the car. Yet, the colours and the patterns…it had a similar feel to his own egg. He soon held up his sun-patterned one, wondering if there was any connection to the two of them.


Juon

[Juon]

It wasn't often that Kirishigi Notsuka left the planetarium; there were only ever but a few reasons, and it was uncommon for them to ever come up at all; usually, it was things like delivering documents, be they to teachers, administrators, or sometimes even to students--other times it was something more personal, something like... an inventory.

There were a good many students around campus that were aware of the painted eggs scattered in every nook and cranny around; when asked, the majority of teachers would simply say, "they're art," and move on; but few knew the true artist, and even less why they made them. Granted, they weren't all made by solely one person--some over the years had joined in on adding to the collection on their own volition, but for the most part, they were made by that single individual.

And there were times of which he looked them over, others when he added, some even when he rotated stock. But this was a calmer afternoon, and he had ultimately been roaming the halls, only to find a student

... Examining one of the eggs.

... Against his own?

"Admiring the art?" he offered gently, approaching before slowing to a stop to peer over the boy's shoulder. "Or just comparing?"

[Mitsuo Takahashi]

Mitsuo had been concentrating so hard on the two eggs that he hadn't noticed that there was anyone else in the hallway. So when a voice rang out - that had sounded far too close for comfort - the second-year immediately whipped around in surprise. And his eyes fell onto a male. A male teacher. "Gahhh!" he yelped and he stumbled backwards in a comical, cartoony manner, a look of absolute shock on his face. Yet miraculously, the two eggs that he had been holding up hadn't fallen from his hands.

It took him a full second before he finally recognised who it was.

"Kirishigi-sensei!" he exclaimed, lowering the eggs in his hands. Granted, he had barely seen said teacher at all since he had transferred a few weeks ago, but it was hard not to listen in the rumours surrounding said teacher. Things like the 'Guardians' and how they always had their meetings in the planetarium, and how said teacher rarely left the building at all. Though a part of him wondered why Seiyo had a planetarium to begin with but that was a mystery best left for later. "I uh--I was just---" Why was he acting like he was caught in some ghastly act? Maybe it was because he was a little bit of a mischievous prankster, even if they were all in good fun. Still, he hadn't done anything large-scale since the fountain soap trick with Sayuri. And some minor ones...like flicking eraser dust at his friends just to poke fun at them whenever they were in a boring class. Immediately he searched through the words Kirishigi-sensei said earlier; yes admiring the art sounded like an innocent excuse--

Before he realised something really important.

The teacher before him had said "comparing".

"Wait, can you see this?!" the boy suddenly exclaimed, holding up his sun-patterned egg for Kirishigi-sensei to see.

[Juon]

"Hello," came an innocent response to the second year's immediate yelp and stumble, offered with a slight apologetic wave. He hadn't meant to startle the other, of course--but he had the tendency to do that; he was a quiet man with a small presence, and spooking people without intending had always been something he'd done, even from when he was a kid. It was by this point that he no longer even apologized for it; it was simply a fact of life he rolled with.

His expression turned soft, though, as Mitsuo recovered and asked if he could see the egg--it was then that he immediately could tell the scenario, one that he had seen so many times before. The comparison was a little new, though; it was almost amusing, in a way, especially considering what egg holders often thought about the true nature of the painted eggs. But he hadn't imagined off the bat that it was the reason why; it was more innocent than that.

"That's a Guardian Character Egg, isn't it?" he offered with implication. "Anyone who has or has had one too can see them, after all." Kirishigi tried a little smile, then, gentle and patient toward the other.

[Mitsuo Takahashi]

Mitsuo could only stare in bewilderment at the teacher in front of him, blinking slowly as he held up the sun-patterned egg in his hand. The star-patterned form egg was still in his other hand, now grasped tightly between his fingers. For a moment, he said nothing, as all he did was look at the other with an expression of surprise. But the moment the other's face softened, his too changed. A teacher could really see it! It was real! Oh my god it was not a hallucination. He gawked back at Kirishigi-sensei, lowering the egg back down to his chest. Honestly he didn't understand how he was feeling at the moment; confusion? Surprise? Perhaps even...relief?

But his words made him pause.

"Guardian Chara...Character? Egg? Huh?" he said, staring back at him with a perplexed look. He had never heard of that before. And the more the teacher spoke, the more confused he became. Anyone who has...or had had...what? What? What was he trying to imply here? "Whoa whoa, wait, hold up," he suddenly said, blinking slowly in a puzzled manner. "I don't...what? What do you mean by anyone who has or has had one? It's just an egg isn't it?" he continued, holding up his sun-patterned one again.

[Juon]

"It's an egg, certainly," Kirishigi replied, as if on-cue. He had expected Mitsuo's reaction nearly to a T, the small and patient smile still remaining across his features with a soft certainty. This wasn't the first time he'd introduced a student to the concept of their Guardian Character, and he didn't expect it to be the last, either. But there was something almost inspiring about it, in a way; the initial discovery was as magical a something as the eggs themselves were. "But it's not an egg you'll eat, or anything like that. It'll hatch, soon.

"The egg comes from your heart," he continued, pointing gently with two fingers toward Mitsuo's chest. "You made a wish, and that egg was born from it."

A slow nod. He looked out the window then, staring across campus, shifting to move that point toward a building that sat not too far across it. "In the library, there's a book on them that may interest you," he then moved on to explain. "The Heart's Egg--that's the title. Much of what you might want to know is all there."

His point finally shifted back toward the fake egg that sat in Mitsuo's hand to compare with. "...That one's just painted, though." The statement had been tagged on with the smallest touch of... humor, maybe?

[Mitsuo Takahashi]

Mitsuo's eyebrows furrowed even more in confusion as the other had - seemingly - agreed to his statement. If it was an egg, then what made it different? Why was he talking about the uhhh...Guardian...Guardian something thing, and why was this something a teacher was talking to him about? Actually now that he thought about it, if Kirishigi-sensei was talking to him about it, did that make it important somehow? He was rather confused. In fact he was even more puzzled when he talked about it being 'not an egg you'll eat'. And wait, what did he mean by hatch? "Hatch?" the boy said, blinking, staring at him in a confused manner. "Hatch? Do you mean a chicken hatch out of these?" he started to say, holding his sun-patterned egg up.

But at the man's further words, his eyebrows knitted even further and he stared in a baffled manner back at the teacher. As much as relieved he was to know that it was real, to hear that it was born out of his heart was a just much too hard to believe. How could a heart birthed something like that? Okay that was a little bit too logical even for him, but still. He gave a slow nod at the other. "Wait, how do you...how does--" he started, a hand raising to gesture at his chest. "How does a heart do that? Wait what wish?" He suddenly panicked a little. "When did I make a wish??" Wow this was a lot to take in.

He stared in a confused manner as the other pointed out of the window. The library? "The Heart's Egg?" he repeated. He raised the orange and dark-coloured egg again. "So that book would be able to tell me all about...this?" he asked. Before he turned his gaze towards the blue-coloured egg when it was pointed at. "Painted?" the boy repeated. He held it up too now. Now that it was on his eye level, he couldn't help but admire it. "It's so pretty though, for just being painted," he said with a bit of awe, a sparkle in his eye. "I wonder who painted it. And why. And why does it look similar to..." He looked back at his egg. "...this egg."

[Juon]

"Not a chicken--something else. You'll see," Kirishigi assured with a patient nod. The smile of similar feeling shifted to something more mysterious, though, as he continued asking questions; questions that even he himself couldn't answer. But there was almost an entertainment in that, a sense of mysticism that resided in the unknown elements each born Heart's Egg granted. Every single one was different--no matter how many he had encountered from students over the years, no two were ever exactly the same.

"Only you know the answer to that," he responded in regards to the question posed about his wish. "When your wish was made, what that wish is... I can't tell you those. But you might not know them right away, which is fine."

There was a small shrug at the last inquiry, though--about who and why these painted eggs are. "I wonder," was all he said, but he stared down toward the small painted egg with a touch of fondness in his hollow eyes. "There are things like these all over. You might enjoy finding more of them." He let his hand fall to brush his fingers gently over the surface of the painted egg, feeling the familiar strokes beneath his fingertips.

[Mitsuo Takahashi]

Mitsuo blinked at the man in front of him. Not a chicken? What other things would hatch out of an egg then? He stared at his sun-patterned egg once again, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he wondered what on earth else would pop out of its shell. Neither did he receive a satisfactory answer for some of this questions, only staring in further confusion as Kirishigi-sensei gave him a mysterious smile as a reply. He turned his gaze over to his egg in his hand, an expression of uncertainty on his face.

He looked back at the teacher when he spoke once again. "H...Huh," was his puzzled response, his eyes flitting back to the sun-patterned egg. Honestly he felt like he was a young little seedling being given advice by an older wiser sage-like being. A cryptic piece of advice - yet even when looking at Kirishigi-sensei he couldn't help but feel that there was something mysterious about the egg in his hand in a kind of mysterious and mystical way. Almost magical in a sense.

He didn't really understand where that feeling came from though.

Mitsuo only tilted his head to the side once again when the other gave yet another answer-that-was-not-quite-an-answer, but as he gently caress the blue-coloured egg in his hand, a part of him wondered if he was somehow connected to them. It seemed almost like...they were his own creation. Or his children. But ah, surely he was overthinking it; it wasn't like he knew the teacher all that well. Maybe. Either way, he wasn't sure if he wanted to ask. Instead however his attention was diverted by his further words. "Enjoy finding more of them?" the freckled boy repeated, tilting his head in query. Before a shine appeared in his eyes and he stared back at the teacher with an excited look. "If I find them all, do I get a reward?!" he eagerly asked, as if he was a child hoping for candy.

[Juon]

'If I find them all, do I get a reward?'

The eager request rung very unexpectedly in the ears of the quiet astronomer, and it legitimately caught him off guard, to the point where he leaned back with surprise, an eyebrow raising at the idea. A reward--for finding every single one of them? He paused, crossing his arms, but letting one hand raise contemplatively to his chin, as if he was trying to think of each individual egg, and where to find them all, scattered far and wide across the grounds of campus.

Slowly, then, his head bobbed in a nod, approving the idea with almost a challenging curiosity.

"Alright; if you find and compile a list of every single painted egg within the grounds of Seiyo Academy, I will give you a reward."

Of course, he wasn't about to tell what that reward was--nor did he even know himself yet, and he also seemed to have no intention of even telling the second year how many eggs there even were on campus; or were there sheerly just too many to even try to count in one's head? Did he even know still where they all were? ... Well, he'd find out, now, he supposed.

[Mitsuo Takahashi]

Mitsuo was staring at him with an eager expression, waiting with a wide smile for the other's answer as the teacher seemed to pause and ponder on his words. But the moment the other had given his approval, his eyes grew large and they sparkled with immense excitement. A reward for finding them all! Okay, Kirishigi-sensei didn't tell him what that reward even was, but he didn't care; it was the thrill of the challenge of searching for all of the eggs on campus! "Yes!!" he said, pumping both of his fists (or rather, his hands gripped around the two eggs) into the air enthusiastically. Already he was looking around them, as if he was trying to spot more of the eggs lying around - he would have to backtrack too, to the ones and the groups of eggs that he had found in the other corridors, but no matter! He was sure he would find them all!

"Wait," he suddenly said, his eyebrows furrowing as he lowered his arms back down again. How many were there? And what about the eggs that weren't painted eggs? Though to be honest, he wasn't sure if he was going to get a satisfactory answer out of Kirishigi-sensei, but still he had to try his luck at least once...! "How many are there on the whole campus? I saw a couple of them when I walked down from my classroom." He soon raised his sun-patterened egg once again. "And what about...this? I mean what if there are others like these? How do I know it's not painted and like--" He paused, blinking, as he searched for the right word. Yet the word he finally settled on made a simmer of emotion pass briefly over his eyes. A word he wasn't accustomed to using in such context. "...Real?"

[Juon]

_{((SORRY THIS IS SO SUPREMELY LATE I'll be back into regular swing now! o/))}

As Mitsuo started looking about with excitement, Kirishigi's gaze on him almost became one of amusement; it was hard not to admire the boy's enthusiasm, though it was also hard not to feel immediately drained upon seeing all of it, too; nevertheless, he wasn't too terribly affected either way.

"I don't know--there have been so many added over the years. I'll have to count them," was his honest response--he had no reason to lie, after all--as the idea was brought up. A finger was raised though rather matter-of-factly, and maybe even with an air of playfulness. "Though, I do know where all of them are."

He let his demeanor fall more formal again, though, as it was followed up as to how to know whether certain eggs were real or not real--while Kirishigi didn't actually have full context as to why he would feel the importance to ask this, he did figure it enough, considering that most couldn't see Heart's Eggs. "The real eggs will always feel warm, as if they have life," was his simple answer, though. "The fake ones are... made of simple things. Foam, wood, the like. They're easy to tell, once you take them in your hands."

[Mitsuo Takahashi]

Mitsuo's eyes grew big and wide. So many added throughout the years? Wow! "Whomever that keeps painting them must be really diligent!" were his words, holding up the blue-coloured egg in his hand. He hadn't realised that some of the eggs had been painted differently from each other, as if they had been created by more than one person. "Now that makes me even more excited! I wanna know how many there really are in this school!!"

He blinked back at the teacher as Kirishigi-sensei's expression took on a warmer one, and he couldn't help but smile at it too. "Warm huh?" he began, a bit of a dreamy look settling over his face. For some reason, the eggs had a mystical feel to it that the idea of them being warm seemed to soothe his heart. He couldn't explain it but...there was something calming about that description. "Oh! Like mine then!" he said, holding up the sun-patterned egg as he grinned back at the teacher.

He was so fired up that he wanted to scour around the whole school now to find them all! In fact, he was totally sure he was going to get find them all! And get the reward from Kirishigi-sensei in the process!! He looked out at the window - and noticed that it was already getting darker than he had expected. Whoa, how long had he been here, talking to Kirishigi-sensei? "Oh!" he suddenly exclaimed. He was supposed to help out with his mom for dinner! Now he couldn't go egg-hunting today! "I better get home soon; was supposed to make dinner with mom!" he said, looking back at the teacher.

The freckled boy turned on his heel, but not before flashing a wide grin towards Kirishigi-sensei. "It was nice meeting you, Kirishigi-sensei! And I'll totally find them all, you'll see!" With that, he gave one last smile and a wave, before he bolted down the corridor.

Tomorrow, he was totally going to start his immense list of all the eggs on campus.

((it's okay!! I've been so busy cries tears; I think this is a good post to end it with??))