11303/Magical Mystery

Magical Mystery
Date of Scene:	06 April 2020
Location:	The Magic Box, Sunnydale
Synopsis:	Giles attempts to figure out the source of Katsumi's mysterious powers.
Cast of Characters:	Buffy Summers, Bakeneko, Rupert Giles

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Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers had been doing a good job in introducing the newcomer to the other Scoobies, and it was only inevitable that she would eventually run into Giles. Actually she was specifically looking for her Watcher, because if anyone can figure out what had happened to Katsumi, he can.

And so she has returned to the Magic Box, this time in the middle of the day with her new friend in tow. "C'mon Katsumi, I'm sure Giles can help you. He's all kinds of smart, if anyone knows what's going on with you, it's him.." And she leads her through the entrance of the store, peering around.

Bakeneko has posed:
Katsumi Oshiro has been meeting some Scoobies, it's true. Or, perhaps former Scoobies? She's still trying to get a bead on Cordelia. Verbal jousting is fun, especially when against someone who seems to rarely be challenged, but is she friends with Buffy? Frenemies? Is that a real thing? Oh gosh, is that what /she/ is to her, after that fight at the Bronze? The whole friend dynamic is something Katsumi has struggled with her entire life. She never can seem to keep any.

"Giles? That's his name? Is he British as Hell?," Katsumi asks, likely demonstrating a little bit of why that's the case.

The Magic Box seems rather quiet, though. Her hands link neatly behind her back, just above the poof of her skirt.

Rupert Giles has posed:
Giles' rather beat-uo old Citroen is parked out front with, it appears, the hood up. It's owner is, at least initially, nowhere to be seen, although as the pair arrive through the front there can be heard some brief very British muttering and cursing from somewhere out back before the vehicle's owner emerges. Giles is definitely dressed down, today. A pair of oil-stained, worn demin jeans and a white t-shirt that's equally marked and grubby. He's holding a spanner and a screwdriver in one hand and a greasy piece of the car, probably a pump of some sort, wrapped in a rag in the other. "Ah... gracious. Buffy." He wipes the back of his hand across a rather sweaty brow, leaving something of a smudge. "You... ah.. will have to excuse the mess. Seized oil pump." He tsks. "The old girl has definitely seen better days." He pauses, blinks at Katsumi. "Ah. Ah... I don't believe we've met. I'd... um... offer to shake hands... but..." A wave of the tools in his right hand. "A trifle dirty at present, I fear."

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers smirks at Kat. "Heh, as British as they get. Very proper, stiff upper lip, all that fun stuff.." she grins, seemingly having no issues in calling Kat a 'friend'. Not that she trusts easily, but one way or the other, this girl seems to have earned her trust and respect. Even if she does kinda remind her of Faith.

She pauses before actually entering the building as she spies a Giles fussing over his car in the parking lot, quirking a curious brow at him. "Oh, heh, Giles. What happened to the car?" she nods over to it and steps towards him. "mm maybe you should call the garage?"

To Katsumi she grins, "Heh, Kat, meet my Watcher, Giles. Giles, this is my new friend Katsumi."

Bakeneko has posed:
Katsumi Oshiro is taken aback by what emerges before her. Hyper masculine activity - doing the greasemonkey thing, check. Excessively polite and modest demeanor completely mixing up the visual? Double check. Her pixie features start to brighten with a growing smile. But that smile would err more impish. Finally, she bursts into a careless giggle. "Oh my god, he sounds like a documentary!," she announces, as if he weren't right the Hell there in front of her. Buffy wasn't kidding, though. He's about as British as it gets.

Rather than politely introduce herself, the Punk Princess flounces away, only to return with a rag. Rather brazenly, she attempts to smudge it at Giles's brow. "Hold still, Papa Bear," she advises.

Whether or not the older gentleman obliges, Buffy's words get her attention. Her gaze ping-pongs between the two of them. "'Watcher', huh?," she asks, her tone ladden with question. Not one for subtlety, she adds, "What exactly is it he's watchin', Buffy?"

Rupert Giles has posed:
"Yes.. ah.. well." He manages a smile. "The BBC is somewhat renowned for its documentary output, so I shall, um... talk that as the compliment as which I am sure it was intended, Miss Katsumi..." A bemused blink. "Papa B... Really?" He does, however, condescend to let her try. "I fear... mind my glasses, young lady... that that'll take more than a rag to shift."

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers peers intently at Katsumi, eyes widen in surprise. Dammit, she's frighteningly like Faith. "Um..." she clears her throat, pulling out her phone, "Would you like me to call someone to take your car in? Doesn't look like you're getting anywhere and I unfortunately don't know much about cars."

She glances back at Katsumi, and stifles a laugh at the whole documentary thing. "Uh yeah, he's my Watcher, y'know, advisor, mentor, trainer, all that 'fun' stuff.." she shrugs. Really, Buffy is getting to the point where she no longer needs a Watcher as he's taught her everything she needs to know, but..She still needs him.

"Um so anyways, Giles, I wanted to talk to you about Katsumi and her little..Situation, but maybe we can go inside and grab a cup of coffee..?"

Bakeneko has posed:
"Shh-shh-shh," coos Katsumi as she dab-dabs at the grease. It may or may not be working. In fact, the rag itself may not even be clean. She could be making it worse. She had good intentions, though!

At last, she leans back. Yep. There was a reason that rag was left out; it was not in good condition. Her mouth opens, but confessing her error in judgment just doesn't happen. Instead, her eyes uplid with a sheepish smile. "Aaaall better...?," she purports with an odd upwards inflection. There's a quick glance over to Buffy, as if to ask her to support the claim.

She's just as happy to let the topic switch!

"So you're like a sensei." Her lips purse. "Hmkay." There's another glance to Buffy, then back to Giles, whom she gives an obviously critical once-over. "I'm guess this is more the Rocky Balboa, frumpy goblin type sensei - Mickey, I think his name was. You know what I'm talking about." Her right hand lifts before she realizes she's still holding that rag. Button nose crinkles, and she goes to put it back where she found it. "My situation's a real head-scratcher. Maybe we can go over it in the dojo-thing in the back?"

Rupert Giles has posed:
Rupert Giles says, "Ahem." Giles finds a place, rather cautiously, to put the recalcitrant piece of Citroen and tools, laid on the rag. Finally scratches the metaphorical itch he's had since the pair walked in, and removes his glasses to polish them on a mostly clean corner of a handkerchief from out of his pocket. A blink. "Frumpy... go..." He shakes his head. "Never mind. There are some pop culture references I am, ah, more than content to remain in blissful ignorance of." Glasses restore he glances across at the Slayer. "Would, um, you care to fill me in, Buffy? Perhaps, as the young lady suggests, not in here?""

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers grimaces as Katsumi aggravates the problem with a not-so-clean rag. "Um...Maybe not use the rag..c'mon, let's go inside!" she nods to Giles as she starts dialing a number on her phone. "We'll get the garage to look at your car, it'll be good as new! In the meantime, I know someone who can give you ride home..Um.." she blanches, recalling Thomas' crazy driving, "Ummm well there's always Angel.." oh wait, Gile still hates and blames Angel for.."Well, we'll figure something out!"

With a nervous laugh, she leads the two of them into the building, "c'mon, let's get you all cleaned up first, y'know, with a CLEAN rag.." a LOOK is pointedly given Katsumi, "Grab a couple cups of coff..Err tea, and then I'll tell you all about it!"

Actually Buffy holds the door open for the two them to step inside, since Giles is probably all covered in grease still and Katsumi isn't helping any with that greasy rag.

Bakeneko has posed:
Katsumi Oshiro withers at the look she's given, her narrow shoulders hunching. But she doesn't argue. No bringing more focus to her faux-pas! At least she already put the rag away!

Katsumi wastes no time in moving along, though. These are things she'd rather not discuss in places where random people are likely to wander in. So she breezes right on through the shop and along the path to the normally unknown training room. Clearly she's been there before. Granted, she doesn't have the key to get in.

Rupert Giles has posed:
"I am... reasonably certain that the old girl simply needs a new oil pump. I.. fear I may have to look up the correct model on that infernal computer, and engage in some, what's the phrase - 'e-commerce'." Buffy gets a wry look. "I do, you may be surprised to know, possess a credit card."

He follows the pair in, heads over to the sink in the far corner, grabs a container of degreasant, which apparently has been left there for exactly this reason, and starts washing his hands. "Now then. I am curious."

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers finishes making the call and the mechanics are on their way to tow the car..Beacause it's more trouble than it's worth and she's not a big fan of do-it-yourself-car repairs. "No worries Giles, let the garage handle it." she shrugs.

And it looks like Katsumi knows right where to go, though she pauses as they pass by his office. "Hmm shall we step into your office?" though she does wait for him to clean himself up as she leads Katsumi into his office.

"C'mon, we'll leave training for later. And perhaps you should tell him exactly what you told me. Y'know, about when you first came here? How you suddenly acquired those purple eyes?" and all that other stuff.

Bakeneko has posed:
Katsumi Oshiro blinks when Buffy diverts them to an office. "But-.." Katsumi likes the training room! It's spacious! It has things to beat on! She exhales a puff of a sigh and lets herself be guided about.

"Is it, like, private? Reasonably quiet? Because I may not really know what really to tell, but it's not stuff I want people spreading." She doesn't take a seat or anything. She continues to stand, lingering by the office door uncertainly.

Rupert Giles has posed:
Giles frowns at Buffy as he dries his hands. "It might, perhaps, not have occurred to you, but sometimes the purely physical pleasure of fixing something with one's own hands is a very, um, welcome tonic for the demands of the arcane and metaphysical." He follows the pair into the office. "It is sufficiently private for the matter in hand, I'm sure." Katsumi gets a reassuring smile. "Now..."

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers smirks and shrugs, "Sure, but you didn't seem to be getting anywhere, anyway, you can tell 'em not to come if you manage to fix your car. They cant come til tomorrow anyway."

She nods to Katsumi, closing the door after Giles, "Heh, we're fine here, don't worry. She really likes to punch things.." this last part is said as an aside to Giles with a slight grin. "Incase you hadn't already noticed. But anyways..."

Buffy ponders where to start with Katsumi, "Well for starters, Katsumi here woke up one day with amethyst eyes. And super strength and toughness and who knows what else. Erm, I think you said everything changed the moment you stepped off the plane from Japan or something? Can you fill me in on anything I missed?"

Although it wasn't realy much to go on in the first place..

Bakeneko has posed:
It really isn't much to go on, and Katsumi is painfully aware of it.

She scooches a chair out to take a seat, somewhat deflated. Deflated enough to not even remark on the whole punching thing! She just sinks back into the chair, limbs limp. "That's the gist of it. Only it didn't happen that fast. I've been to America lots of times. Probably noticed my accent." More to the point, her accent has only the barest coloring of Japanese. Her handle on English is excellent. "I got off the plane super drained. Figured it was jet-lag. But it kept going. And my eyes, these things?"

Her hand lifts to point to the bright magenta irises.

"These used to be green. Then they got really pale. Then they started turning this color." Her hand drops again. "And then-.. wait, do you have any idea who I am?," she derails.

Rupert Giles has posed:
"I... um. No?" Giles manages a slight smile. "I believe we have known each other for a good... what? Five minutes?"

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers hmms, "Soo what are we looking at, Giles? Demon possession? take over? Symbiote? Some sort of supernatural virus? Surely there's gotta be some explanation for it. I mean.." she sighs, leaning back in her chair, pondering.

"It doesn't seem to be life threatenning, honestly, it seems to have enhanced her abilities. Heck, she's stronger than me.." although in this superized world, she's starting to realize there are a lot of people stronger than her, alas.

Bakeneko has posed:
Katsumi Oshiro thins her lips at the lack of recognition. Nevermind that it's understandable and Giles definitely doesn't seem the sort to follow the sport, Katsumi likes fame! "I'm a professional wrestler." Beat. "Was, anyway," she adds more quietly. "Katsumi Oshiro. The Punk Princess. I came to America to do a huge show. And on the night of that show, I put a girl in the hospital by kicking her too hard. Like, out of the ring and into the audience too hard. Not-humanly-possible hard."

She scratches idly at her cheek.

"So that's the deal. What do you say, doc? Am I gonna live?," she asks facetiously.

Rupert Giles has posed:
"A wrestler." Giles polishes his glasses, on a clean handkerchief this time. "Interesting. Hmm. Perhaps some kind of magical symbolism..." He glances back at the shelf over his shoulder. "Are you at all familiar with Japanese mythology? Does this condition of yours resemble anything from that area?" Ahah. He plucks a book down from the shelf, sets it down carefully. "Let me see..."

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers blinks, "Magic symbolism? You mean like...Some sorta..Wrestling demon possessed her because she beat up a girl..?" she scratches her head. That makes no sense at all.

"Nah, I'm pretty rusty on Japanese mythology. Care to enlighten me? Are there any stories about Japanese Wrestlers with amethyst eyes?" do they even get that specific?

Bakeneko has posed:
If there were, Katsumi's never heard of them. Rather, Katsumi is starting to squint at Giles.

She suddenly looks to Buffy. "Is this motherf***er calling me a magical sumo?," she asks bluntly, offended. Back to Giles, her arms cross irritably over her chest. "No. It doesn't. There are no cases of sudden-eyes-changing-color-hyper-strong Flu in Japan."

Rupert Giles has posed:
Rupert Giles blinks. "I don't recall mentioning flu." He frowns, turns pages. "I am merely suggesting that your ability might be magical in nature, and magic often relies on the principle of Similarity, which, ah, states that similar things, of whatever nature, attract. No offence intended."

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers's eyes widen even further, turning to stare at Katsumi. And her rather..Potty mouth. Giles of course, seems to ignore the slight in his typical British fashion and Buffy cant help but smirk slightly at that.

"Oh, I see...Sooo, we just have to do our research, find something..Similar, a similar myth or creature that has something in common with Japanese super powered wrestlers?"