2022-10-21 - Were you Close?
| Title: Were You Close? | |
|---|---|
| Summary: Setsuna explains some of her history to Kyouka. | |
| Who: | |
| Where: Tama River | |
| OOC - IC Date: October 21, 2022 - Wednesday, January 20, 2016 | |
*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ Tama River +*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+* At the head of this river, deep in the Tama region, a dam forms Lake Okutama. Gazing upon its calm waters, it is difficult to imagine that beneath the dam, a great river erupts. In days past, the Tama River ran rampant, flooding frequently, often so intensely as to wash away towns or permanently alter its course. Today, the dam and an expensive series of levees have tamed this serpent of water, and its floods, while frequent, cause no significant damage. The new Tama River is a beloved location for leisure and recreation. Kayaking along its rapids, rock climbing and bouldering in nearby parks, picnicking alongside its slower sections; Tama is a long river, and has something for everyone. A great number of sports fields have sprung up on its banks, for children and adults alike, and it's not uncommon for the Tama River to host school games. Neighboring areas flock to the riverside at festival-time, erecting food stalls and fair games. The mouth of the river empties into Tokyo Bay in the Yamanote region of the city, right next to Haneda Airport.
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Higashi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Setsuna Higashi has not gotten that far after a few minutes; she's walking aimlessly in the vague direction of home, but more to clear her mind than anything. If she really wanted to get out of there, she'd be gone by now, thanks to the power of Akarun. But she isn't; dressed in a short dark coat over a deep red top, dark leggings, and a dark skirt with boots, she could be any ordinary girl in the area for now. But just this moment, she's come to a stop to look towards the deep forests some distance away.
Her expression is blank.
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouka watches as Setsuna leaves, gears slowly turning in her head. She's frowning gently as she tries her best to gauge Setsuna's mood. Not an easy task, sometimes, but she had some clues.
They clearly have history. Setsuna mentioned her status as a former enemy when they talked that first night, and that was confirmed tonight--for both her and Mikoto, in a surprising but yet not twist--, and she corrected Abiko on Westar's name, as well.
A mention of moving...
Kyouka glances to Mikoto, but she seems focused on snacks. Surely she'd go after Setsuna if she was concerned.
But Mikoto's not telling her not to go, either...
"Hey, uh, I'll catch up with you guys later."
And then she takes off, chasing following after Setsuna. Not running, but... walking with purpose, and with at least a bit more aim. "Hey, Setsuna," she says softly as she catches up. "... Just, wanted to check in."
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Higashi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Setsuna's mood is hard to read, but the fact that she's no longer bothering to emote at all makes a few suggestions. That can mean a few things, but given the context clues... It's not hard to guess that she's troubled, in some way.
Mikoto knows to give Setsuna space. Kyouka doesn't... but maybe that's all right, this time, because she doesn't already know. It would not be hard for Setsuna to shake her, once she notices that she's catching up. But she doesn't.
"...?" Setsuna glances over to Kyouka, for a moment and then holds her gaze on her longer as she thinks. There's a thoughtful expression in her eyes, but that's all.
"...Is everyone all right?" she confirms first. "I know I left quickly." | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | | Jan | Jan | Jan | Jan | Jan | Jan | Jan | Jan | Jan | Jan | Jan | | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | |Today is Jan 20, 2016, Part 4. ||http://battlefantasia.pinksugarheartattack.net/Holidays_and_Events
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouka has noticed that odd little peculiarity of Setsuna's emotiveness. But she's never asked for more details, and simply accepted it as just... who she is.
And she will, gladly, leave Setsuna alone if told not pursue, but until she does, well...
She's recently discovered she's a bit of a worrier, at least when it comes to her friends and family.
Kyouka nods softly. "I think so... all the civilians fled when that thing appeared, and Abiko and Mikoto seem fine..." Abiko's chips, on the other hand, may be facing peril from Mikoto, but that's not as much of a priority.
She looks about ready to follow up with something like 'Are you okay?' but as she opens her mouth she hesitates, thinks better of it, and switches to a different question. "... You need some company?"
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Higashi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
"That's good."
This is all Setsuna has to say at first; her clear, dark red eyes stay on that distant horizon, as she considers. Abiko and Mikoto are fine. The civilians are fine. But, Kyouka is hesitating. Setsuna isn't sure what she wants to say and doesn't. ...She's not very good, at reading people.
"No," she answers easily, with a shake of her head. Then she thinks about it. Before Kyouka can go, she adds, "...But I don't mind."
She pauses, and turns to look at Kyouka again. "You probably have a lot of questions."
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouka does give a short little nod at being told 'No', and is about ready to turn, but then Setsuna tacks on that she doesn't mind, and she nods again in response. "Okay." She takes the opportunity to approach closer, so she's standing next to her friend instead.
Kyouka shrugs. "I mean, I do, but I've nothing but questions for the last 3 weeks or so. I didn't come here to pry your life's story out of you, just... see if there was anything I could do to help. Or even just keep you company. If all you feel like doing is staring off at the horizon thinking, then... I'll just stare off at the horizon silently with you."
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Higashi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Setsuna stays standing, watches Kyouka for a litle while longer. She mentions that she's had her questions but isn't necessarily asking... Hm.
Setsuna considers. What could she do to help? She isn't sure. Would it just be companionship? "...I would worry you felt awkward," she decides. "Humans usually feel awkward at silences when there's something on their mind."
Then she looks to the horizon, "I..." She trails off, as she considers, looks down, and then decides, "I would feel less awkward, if I answered your questions." Yes, that will do. She settles on it. "You may not want to be friends after you get your answers. I would respect that."
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouka just waits and lets Setsuna take her time to think. She likes being active but... she can be patient, when the time is right. Like now.
She smiles, faintly, as Setsuna mentions her concerns. "Setsuna," she says, gently, and sincerely, "I appreciate you being worried for me, but... right now the only thing on my mind is helping you. We 'humans' also care for our friends. And I consider you my friend."
"Setsuna, I meant more that, my life has been filled with questions ever since I found Strike Wolf, but... okay. If it'll make you feel better..." And then she shakes her head. "Hey, no. That's not going to happen," she says firmly. "I heard what you said back there, about wanting to protect peoples' happiness. So unless that changes, you and me?" she gestures a little back and forth between the two of them with her hand. "We're good. Got it?"
"But questions, questions, hmm..." She looks off to the horizon. "So, start with the obvious one, I guess. You and Westar. You two have history. Were you... close?"
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Higashi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Helping her? That's a nice thought. Kyouka's gentle words do get through to her--she pauses, and listens, as...
"I understand," Setsuna says. "I still believe that. So I suppose that means we will still be... 'good'." She doesn't gesture nearly as much; she's almost stock-still, in fact. But she puts on a brief smile. "I like friends."
It lasts maybe a little longer than it should, as Setsuna still isn't quite having success with her emotiveness yet.
"Mmm. No one in Labyrinth is 'close'," Setsuna answers, once she gets through the initial question. "...But he wanted to be, more than most. He was... one of the closest things I've had to what humans call a 'brother.' He wanted to help, and to look out for me. And I never had time for him. He got on my nerves, all the time. He wanted to 'help', too. But I wasn't having it."
"He's annoying, and loud, and irritating, and kind of stupid. And I..."
"I worry about him."
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Of course Kyouka is here to help. If Setsuna wants to protect peoples' happiness, then... well, she deserves to have her own happiness protected too, right?
She grins a little when Setsuna does. Kyouka likes friends, too.
She listens, thoughtfully, as Setsuna explains about Labyrinth. "No one's close there, huh? Sounds lonely..." she comments quietly, when Setsuna is done. She nods a little as Setsuna explains that she worries for him. "... You had to leave him behind, huh? When you switched sides." It's another question but... one she's pretty sure she can guess the answer.
Obviously Westar is still with Labyrinth, but... 'leaving someone behind' is a specific connotation.
"... You ever try to convince him to leave, too?"
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Higashi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
"It is," Setsuna agrees about Labyrinth. "There's no 'family', no 'friends'... Nothing like that. Just Lord Mobius."
"I did," she answers as to leaving him behind. It's specific, because it's accurate. But convincing him to leave? "...It wouldn't work," she says. "They weren't able to 'convince' me for the longest time, either. And they tried. And even if we could--even if he'd listen..."
"Labyrinth doesn't just let people go. They'd come after him, like they have me. And he wouldn't have a 'miracle' to save him like I did. When Northa came for him, he..."
She looks totally blank, except for the sagging of her shoulders, a sort of despair in her expression. "He'd stay dead."
It disappears, from that brief moment, before Setsuna straightens. "...My friends, and Akarun--they saved me. But he doesn't have Akarun. I can fight back--I'm Pretty Cure. But he wouldn't be able to. ...So even if he listened..."
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouka draws in a sharp little breath as Setsuna mentions 'no friends' and 'no family'. "Damn. And they want to make Earth just like it..."
She listens, as Setsuna explains how it wouldn't work, how 'Norta' would come after him and how... Westar would stay dead.
There's a blinking at that statement. It really takes her a moment to make the logical inference from that: it is yet another strange thing she's had to learn to parse, along with an ever growing list that includes magic, ogres, wraiths and now...
Her eyes widen with a mixture of surprise and alarm as she works out what that means. "((Oh crap.))" she blurts out in English before she realizes what she's doing, and quickly switches back to Japanese. She is, at once, insanely curious, determinedly not wanting to ask her friend about her death and apparent ressurection, and a tad bit horrified at the possible stakes on the table.
Then again, last night the stakes were the end of the world, but 'the world' is rather different from 'a single person you know.'
What the hell do you say to that, anyway? Everything she might think of to say sounds hollow, so instead she just slings an arm around Setsuna's shoulders in a sideways hug. "Damn. That sucks." Setsuna dying? Westar being unable to leave? All of it, pretty much.
"So... what did make you leave, then? And what changed your mind about Westar?"
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Higashi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
"They do. All those things are 'unecessary', 'inefficient'."
Kyouka blinks for a bit; Setsuna doesn't mind the time it takes her to answer, and she doesn't understand the words in English she blurts out. She is quiet, through that period. And instead, Kyouka reaches out. Setsuna is surprised--but the momentary tension melts through as she leans into her new friend. "...Yes," she agrees. "It really... 'sucks'."
She's a teenager in Tokyo; slang might not be her first language, but that's something she's picked up for sure.
What made her leave? "...My mission was to infiltrate human society to defeat Pretty Cure. I pretended to be their friend, so that I could get close to them, so that I could understand their weaknesses, and destroy them."
"...But," she says, "They treated me like a friend. The things I felt... I had no concept for them. It became harder, and harder, to keep going, until... I couldn't fight them anymore."
"Them, or the others. Especially Lera. Who knew what I was sooner than they did, and still cared about me. ...Who cared about 'me', not just the girl I'd made up. But so did they, I found out."
"One day I couldn't do it anymore. So I ran away. ...Northa caught up to me, eventually. But then I became Cure Passion, and... they accepted me as one of them."
"For Westar, I think I always sensed that he cared. I just tried to shove him away. When I started to understand what 'friendship' was, I... couldn't see him the same way, anymore."
"The day before I left, he said..."
"He said we'd get donuts, when I won."
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
"And yet, they're the things that make life worth living..." Kyouka muses, on the topic of Labyrinth trying to eliminate family and friendships.
Kyouka gives Setsuna a gentle squeeze in that hug, and lets it linger a moment before she lets her arm drop again. There's no apologizing, this time, unlike the other night.
She listens as Setsuna explains about infiltrating, how things got harder, how eventually she ran away, and then... miraculously, it seems, became Cure Passion.
She winces a little as she explains what Westar had promised her the day before she left. That... is a bit too cruely ironic, even for a world with magic.
"Dang. I'm sorry," she says quietly. nd she is. It's not much, but it's the sincerest sentiment she cn offer. "I'm guessing he didn't take it well..."
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Higashi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
"...Mm." Setsuna counts them among those reasons, for sure. She could talk more about what Labyrinth doesn't have... bu she doesn't linger on that. She instead looks back to Kyouka. She is not totally emotionless, to look at her--it's slight, but some of her feelings do come thgh, as if it's become habit.
It might be easy to miss, though.
"...That's," she say, "Not an apology, but sympathy, right?" she confirms, just to be sure. Talking about all these things again makes her hesitant in matters of emotion. "Thank you."
"...But no, he didn't. For a long time he tried to convince me to come back. He kept calling me 'Eas'--that's what I was called, back then, as an Executive of Labyrinth."
"...So," she says, "You can see why I... wanted to get away."
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouka is... maybe a little, getting to understand Setsuna's emoting a bit. At the very least, she's accepting of how it sometimes doesn't match what she finds typical in most other people.
And that's fine. She knows Setsuna does care about things, even if it's not always clear.
"Yes," she says firmly, "That's me being sympathetic." After a moment she blinks and finally puts a few things together. "... Um... would it be good for you if I tried to be clearer with the language I use? If I ever say something you don't understand, please, just tell me, okay?"
Kyouka nods, "Yeah, I do... Um... I'm sorry, about asking if we should chase him down. I just... didn't know if he'd still be a threat to the civilians or not." After a moment she adds, "And that is an apology, by the way."
And she also sees why Setsuna got upset at Abiko for the 'Westy-chan' remarks.
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Higashi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
"..." Sesuna is quiet for a moment at the question, and then answers, "Yes. Thank you. I think I understand most of how people talk these days, but..." There are still things she misses. Like all of Chat Noir's puns. Just, all of them.
"I will."
Setsuna shakes her head. "No, it was a fair question. If we know of a threat to people, why don't we go after it? But Mikoto had a good poin about less practical, more... moral reasons, not to. For a while, we had.." She considers.
"Your apology is accepted. But the reason it's a contentious issue is that, once, there was a big disagreement among magical girls in Tokyo over how to handle such threats. Whether we should attack pre-emptively... whether it was acceptable to sacrifice some lives, to save more."
"So, don't be surprised if that kind of thing gets strong feelings on it."
"Regardless," she says, "I... appreciate, that you came after me. And that you didn't push, when you did."
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
"You're welcome," she says, when Setsuna responds to her question.
She nods when Setsuna brings up the points Mikoto raised. "Yeah... and I fully agree with her point of view, there... One of the things I've learned studying martial arts is that you don't provoke an attack."
She's glad the apology was accepted, at least. And she listens as Setsuna explains about the big disagreement. It's still weird for her to think of magic having existed all along, of there being all this history of magical girl stuff.
That not all magical girls have always been on the same page.
"Right... Thanks for letting me know about that. I.... probably won't need to ask that question again, I don't think, so I hopefully won't provoke any akward feelings."
She smiles a little, when Setsuna thanks her for following after her, and gives her another, briefer, hug. "Of course. Friends look out for each other, after all." Both affirming the benefits of friendship existing, and to reaffirm that she does, in fact, still consider Setsuna a friend. "And thank you, for choosing to open up to me. How are you feeling, after discussing all of that?"
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Higashi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
"I see. ...Yes." Setsuna did not learn philosophy with her martial arts; she learned efficiency, power, discipline, and strength. She learned to be the best. It didn't bring with it any of these ideas of holding back except to wait for a better opening.
"You are also welcome," Setsuna says. She doesn't speak to awkward feelings. instead, Kyouka talks about friends.
"...Yes," Setsuna says back to Kyouka. But how is she feeling...? The brief hug receives no jolt or surprise like might've happend earlier.
"...Mm," she says, and looks out to the sky. "...I'm..."
How is she feeling?
"I'm not sure." She looks down. "But it's good that I was able to explain it to you. It's... better, to be understood."
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouka is still looking forward to their chance to spar, to compare notes, but... well, now is hardly the time for any of that, of course. But she will be interested to compare notes, some day.
And when Setsuna comes back with the answer of not being sure... she just nods and accepts it. "Not being sure is fine," she says quietly. And then she nods as Setsuna expresses how she feels about being able to share. "Yeah," she agrees. "I'm... glad I can get to know my friends better, even if it's not always pleasnt stuff. And I'm definitely glad that you decided to take the chance to fight for happiness. The world would be a pretty lousy place if there wasn't any room for second chances."
<Pose Tracker> Setsuna Higashi [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Another day! Setsuna likes that kind of thing anyway; physical exercise is good for you!
But Kyouka tells her being unsure is fine, and Setsuna is a little relieved. "...Yes," she says. "Thank you." A small smile, then
"It would, wouldn't it? ...I'm not the only one. And I'll keep fighting, for the other people who could, too."
