A Lesson to Learn pt. 3 (Kotori)

Just a day after meeting Risa there was a headline in the newspaper: Risa escapes from MC for the third time this year. Student released.

It was somewhat of a hollow victory to Keisuke, that student that Risa had a hold of was one of the brightest of the NOT students. The bell soon rang meaning the end of the day for most students. Keisuke sat in his class room staring at an empty fish tank with no lid on it. Well, it wasn't entirely empty. There was a mouse inside of it.

"Wonder what Kotori would think if she knew who you really were Risa." Keisuke says talking to the mouse in the tank.

"Did you hear the new?" a girl nearby Kotori whispered to her friend. Of course, Kotori perked up with interest and listened carefully.

"No. Why?"

"Rina escaped again!"

"Rina? Who's Rina?"

"The mad person, you silly head!"

"I thought she was Rika?"

Kotori rolled her eyes. She had a feeling they were talking about Risa. Well it did explain why Grandpa was quiet this morning (she made him take aspirin.....poor guy). "Well if I just found out right now, I'm sure Keisuke found out too," Kotori thought.

"You know your really starting to get me mad! If you keep me in this thing any long I'll just make a human form!" It was a bluff, Risa didn't have enough magic to do that. She was a powerful witch, but she wasn't powerful enough to make her own form.

"Did anyone ever tell you that you blink twice when you lie? It's actually fairly intresting." Keisuke said seeming to mock her.

"Whatever! Just get me out of this thing before Kotori gets here!"

"Why? So you can take over her body? What is it with you and taking the form of a high school girl. Your... hmm thinking about it wouldn't you be roughly the same age as Isao?" Keisuke questions still somewhat mocking her.

During that time, Kotori couldn't stop thinking about yesterday and that meeting with Risa. Sure they found out some stuff but it wasn't necessarily good news. Kotori sighed. "I wonder where she is right now......hopefully she's okay," Kotori thought.

Keisuke was still seeming to argue to the mouse Risa. "You really don't see the disadvantage you at do you?

"I clearly don't. After all I'm the one who's going to go human in a few seconds!

"We both know you can do that. You may be powerful. but your magic is just short of making your own form."

"Tch. We'll see about that in a few seconds won't we!

"You keep saying a few seconds, like your stalling. Are you trying to make me seem crazy by talking to a mouse? Professor Stein talks to his computer as he writes the notes, I think I'm a bit away from that, at least I'm talking to something alive.

Kotori sighed. The school day and the memory of yesterday was making her a little tired. "I still can't over with the raw madness part...well I have time," Kotori muttered to herself. Then she decided to go to Keisuke's room to find out more.

Keisuke sighed, seeming defeated, or annoyed, his sighs for all emotions always sounded the same. "Fine. I'll take you out of the tank, but I put hinges on the door, so you won't be able to get out as a mouse." Keisuke said grabbing the mouse Risa by the tail out of the tank.

"Hey that hurts! If you keep grabbing my tail I may end up having second thoughts about why your so kind." Risa said as she was put onto the ground. "Thank you. Now... just turn around for a second..."

"I don't trust you, and I'm sure someone is bound to walk into the room. So I can't take my eyes away." Keisuke said firmly.

"Tch. Fine then." There was a quick puff of smoke and then standing where the mouse Risa was a women who looked at least in the late 20s. In ways of appearance the woman could be said to look like Medusa, but with brown hair instead of blonde. She was wearing a black dress that looked almost like Haru's.
"See, told you I could create a human form." Though her appearance changed her voice was only slightly lighter, if she talked someone with a good enough ear could tell that it was Risa.

"Alright then, you proved me wrong about that, but I never said you would be leaving. Besides, your witch soul is exposed. You forgot to put a lock on it before you transformed so your witch soul couldn't be detected. Keisuke said with a smirk on his face.
Risa's witch soul was easily noticed by everyone in DWMA, and probably everyone in Death City as well. Risa looked surprised at that, she seemed to have forgotten to put the lock on it, she would still have her powers, but her soul would only be detected as human.

Kotori was getting near the door when she heard some talking. "Oh it must be Haruno," Kotori said to herself as she was reaching the entrance. Then poking her head inside, "Hi Keisuke and Harun- oh I mean...wait a second," Kotori frowned. She felt a troubling feeling in the room. Then she saw someone she never knew I her life. She was a meister so she could read souls and what she was feeling was exactly what she felt inside the stranger. However Kotori was not the girl to jump onto conclusions. "Oh ummm who are you?" Kotori asked warily.

Risa's soul that appeared largely around here was a light olive color and it had whiskers on it, but with the small number of whiskers on it, it seemed more like a mouse rather than a cat.

Risa turned to see Kotori. "Oh hello. I'm..." Keisuke learned that Risa couldn't lie entirely well, and it showed in her either blinking twice or taking a bit of time to think. ...Jun Ami. Jun was a name that was actually one for both male and females. Though it was more common for males to have the name it wasn't entirely uncommon for a female to have the name Jun.

"You see, Jun is the new nurse for DWMA. I twisted my ankle earlier today, she just wanted to see how I was doing." Keisuke, unlike 'Jun Ami' was actually a convincing liar. Nothing about him quivered when he lied.

"Yes.. I was just in the middle of talking to him, you can come in if you want to. It's only a twisted ankle. By this point 'Jun' had taken to her nurse role and was not quivering in her lies as much.

Kotori nodded slowly to mark her her confusion on Risa's hesitation but she didn't say anything.
After going inside she asked, "What happened?". She decided not to say tr news just yet.

Keisuke sighed. "I was thinking about what Risa said yesterday while I was walking down the stairs and I ended up taking a fall. Thankfully Jun was there so I was fixed up after a short while." Keisuke said. It wasn't entirely a lie, he did fall down the stairs earlier today, but that was a leap to get Risa into the fish tank. He didn't twist his ankle though.

"You really should be careful about that you know. You should be fine by now. But seriously you shouldn't over do it." 'Jun' was now lying with no problems what so ever. And the witch soul had disappeared as well. Just in time for Lord death to break the door in two with a reaper chop. He was holding a large cross like scythe in his other hand.
"Lord death? Why did you break down my door?" Keisuke says walking up to Death limping a little which only adds to the lie of him twisting his ankle.

"Spirit and I felt the presence of a witch here. Upon seeing 'Jun', who happens to look like medusa, Death holds the scythe, Spirit, to 'Jun's neck.
"Medusa, aren't you supposed to be dead. The way death was speaking was very serious, no doubt ruthless.

"I'm sorry but you have the wrong girl. My name's Jun Ami, the new nurse for DWMA. and I'm afraid that I haven't felt the presence of a witch here. Have you Keisuke? 'Jun' really was lying flawlessly, as if it were the real truth.

"I'm sorry to say that I haven't. Spirit, are you sure that your mind isn't just wandering at the though of Medusa again?" Keisuke said somewhat mockingly.
Lord Death was waiting for Kotori to speak. Even if it was just the word of one, it would be the quick end of Risa.

"No I haven't either," Kotori lied, though it sounded truthful. It was a bit suspicious of how all three of them all felt a witch presence. However if this 'Jun' really was a witch, she could just try to kill her behind her back......though Shiika wasn't here. However if 'Jun' really was going to work for a nurse, which she would or else that would cause some suspiscion, then Shiika and her eould have some time to plan. Then she half joked, "I'm pretty sure you know you hired her right?".

Spirit began to speak up. "I might have misread the soul energy. There are several students who have been possess by that Risa lately. Maybe were just getting too worked up over finding Risa?

"I suppose so. But I can't make it an official mission because of that very reason. Risa seems to be targeting mostly the DWMA students, most of the teachers are safe, she only took one or two of them. But I'll be honest I don't remember hiring this woman... Jun was it?"

"Yes that's my name Lord Death. And you hired me literally yesterday. Did you forget already? Sprit was staring at me all weird." 'Jun' said still cool headed though her lies as if it were the truth. Lord Death took the scythe away from 'Jun's neck.

"Have a good day then. And be careful. Death said waving goodbye.

"Especially you Jun-chan." Spirit said trying to flirt with 'Jun'.

"Stop being creepy!" 'Jun' yelled back at spirit.

Kotori smiled at the failed flirting part but besides that, stayed emotionless. "Death forgot he hired Jun huh? And so the girl earlier really wasn't lying....," Kotori thought as she reviewed over the whole event.

Then Kotori cleared her throat. "So I'm sure we all heard that Risa escaped?" Kotori said though she was mostly addressing Keisuke.

"Yes, I heard about it, it's in the papers." Keisuke said seeming calm about it as he sat back down into his chair.

"You shouldn't worry too much. Remember what Death said, he was going to take care of it." That it wasn't exactly what death said, it was the basic idea of it.

"Either way, Kotori, stay safe. If Risa is out and about then you should watch yourself, Shiika as well." Keisuke said still with no reaction to the lies that Risa was 'Jun'. Though Keisuke did seem to be oblivious to the fact that 'Jun' was a witch, at least that's how he was acting it.

Kotori nodded. Then she shook her head in wonder, "I wonder how she got out.....".

"Well, I've talked to her once or twice myself. She said she was always put in the same room. And parts of the wall look plastered over. She probably had the human she took over make a hole in the wall to the outside then escape in her mouse form. That's my best guess." A quick look at the walls did make it seem like it had been plastered over, like Risa dug her way out of there before. Keisuke nodded, agreeing with 'Jun'.

"Oh....okay then," Kotori said. Then looking at Keisuke, she asked, "Then shouldn't we look for her? She could seriously hurt somebody,"

"There shouldn't be any need to worry for a while. If you notice her take over pattern, she only goes for the DWMA female school students. Not to mention the pattern shows it's at least going to be three days before she does anything. If anything, she'll keep the pattern, we have nothing to worry about for the moment." Keisuke said seeming to have done research. 'Jun' balled a fist at hearing the way that Keisuke talked about her like that.

"I see....." Kotori said as she made a thoughtful face. Then jerking her head back at Keisuke, "Wait a second, DWMA female school students?! So that could mean Shiika and me!" Kotori exclaimed.

"Did you miss the part where I said that you and Shiika should be careful a few sentences back? But in any case yes, it's only the female students, no males what so ever, and no teacher's either. There is no patter from Weapon to Meister yet, because this is only the 3rd time she's ever broken out." Keisuke said as if he knew Risa's every move two steeps before she made it. 'Jun's fist balled tighter.

Kotori sighed and replied warily, "Alright then...........". Then staring at Jun, she asked, "So...I should probably introduce myself. I'm Kotori Takaki".

"It's nice to meet you Kotori." 'Jun' says unclenching he fist and holing out a hand. Her palms of crescent marks in them from her balled fists, they wouldn't be noticeable at a first look though.

Kotori reached out to shake their hands and smiled. Then she turned to Keisuke and asked after the handshake, "So is Haruno out of town?"

"Sadly yes. There was some family issues she needed to take care of outside of Death City." Keisuke sighs.
"You know, outside of Death City, I died six years ago, around your age.