View source for 2018-03-01 - Words Can Say Anything


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! style="background:#CC6699; border: 2px #CC0033 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | '''Title: Words Can Say Anything'''
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|'''Summary''':<br>
''Yumi picks Mikoto up after a [[2018-02-24 - What's in the case!?|hard battle]] against a masked stranger, and they have a heart-to-heart.''
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| '''Who:'''<br>
[[Yumi Ohzora]], [[Mikoto Minagi]]
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| '''Where:'''<br>
Akihabara Electric Town
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| '''OOC - IC Date:'''<br>
<2018-03-01 - 2015-03-29>
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    <Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

... and just like that, the masked invader is gone. The magical girls disperse, to dismiss their powered forms where no-one can see them, or to try and chase the villain, or just to go /home/. Mikoto doesn't know what happens to them, because Mikoto has her own problems.
 
Her first priority is righting herself. Something she's always struggled with is the notion that sometimes, to go forward, you have to /stop/ - stop moving, stop fighting, regather your strength to try again in a smarter way. Mikoto's never been good at it. She was always told to keep going until the enemy was defeated. The idea that she would end up face-down in the ground was what her training was supposed to prevent.
 
Being beaten into submission is what happens to children, not grown warriors. Mikoto is supposed to be past all that, and yet, here she is.
 
But fighting isn't working. Struggling isn't working. So she stops, and rests, as much as it pains her. She waits. And, given time, she tries again - and this time, she's able to push herself, shakily, into a sitting position.
 
She can hear Yumi talking, and she looks up to see her on a phone. Mikoto frowns. Is she calling Mai..? Mai will be disappointed to know she was defeated again so soon. Mai wanted her to rest. But, Mikoto wasn't trying to fight! Mikoto just wanted to go shopping with Yumi! The fight just happened!
 
Mikoto is getting ready to yell just that so that Mai can hear, when Mikoto hears the word 'drive', and stops. Mai doesn't drive. Natsuki drives, but Mikoto doesn't think Yumi would call Natsuki. Maybe she's not talking to Mai, after all.
 
Mikoto balls her hands in her lap, and frowns, studying Yumi silently. Who, then?  


    <Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

Gone, gone. ...But some things linger, of course. Yumi, for her part, looks around to make sure nobody's looking, and dismisses her magic, setting her staff away back into her phone in flashes of green... But she keeps her broom out for the moment, calling it back over to her with a gesture and leaning back to sit down on it with a wince, breathing in. ...She looks over to Mikoto with some worry, bites her lip. ...She thinks...
 
The struggle at least tells her a few good things. But Yumi hesitates, takes a minute to breathe, to try to calm herself down. And then... Eventually, after weighing it out, she hesitates again and depresses a button on the side of her phone. "...Call driver."
 
Her voice is low, and indistinct after that. A few words come out here and there. ...But what she's saying...
 
"Look--" She bites her lip, "I need you to come out here and I need you to keep it quiet, okay?" Pause. "...I--" She gets irritated, "Look, my mother pays you to be /my/ driver, right? So you can keep a couple secrets. I don't want to worry her, you know? It's... It's not a big deal, or anything. It's just--magic stuff." Pause. "You--"
 
"...O-oh. You just... need my address. I, um... Just a sec..."
 
Yumi fiddles with her GPS until she finds it, rattles it off, starts forward...
 
And kneels down beside Mikoto as she says, "Okay, see you soon." She puts the phone away in her purse and starts reaching out for some bandages, biting her lip--still wincing over her arm, which is covered--and starting to put... cute green band-aids in a line over Mikoto's leg cut. "Sorry, it's the best I can do for now... We'll get you some disinfectant, okay? I don't have enough for something this big."


    <Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

As Yumi talks to her driver, Mikoto shifts her glance around, assessing the grounds as well as she can in her current condition. She can't hear anyone other than Yumi, and the distant sound of traffic. Drying blood assaults her nose, making smell a difficult proposition - but she can't see anything lurking in the darkness, either. It looks like they're alone, and Mikoto breathes a sigh of relief. It pains her, but she doesn't think she can fight, not right now.
 
When Yumi approaches, Mikoto looks up at her again, tilting her head to consider her friend. She catches that wince, and looks from Yumi's arm to her face. "Yumi," she tests out the words on her mouth, always so foreign after a battle, "you okay?"
 
She yelps, as Yumi starts putting bandaids over her leg, but she doesn't move it away. "Stings," she explains, in a voice as pathetic as she must look. "But - but it's okay, Yumi. I'm okay."
 

    <Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

People do tend to scatter a little after something like that, though they're already beginning to filter back in in the few minutes since things went down; this is a busy city, and people have things to do. They are alone... For now, but there are no visible threats. The words come from Mikoto though and Yumi looks down at her, hesitating before she shakes her head. "...Just tired," she admits. "The adrenaline's kinda wearing off..." She laughs faintly, but it's sort of an awkward laugh. SHe's slouching; she doesn't look so great.
 
She hears the help and stops a moment, before--"Ah," she says. "...Yeah, it kinda would," she says. "As long as you're okay. Right? You took it pretty hard there..."
 
Her hand shakes a little, without her noticing it, as she works. "I um... I called somebody to pick us up... Somebody quiet, okay?" She pauses, at that, and reaches out--her broom disappears in a flash of green light. ...Now there's a /second/ charm on the end of her phone. A little broom.


    <Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

Yumi is just tired, she says. Yumi laughs, even though her body language says she's hurting. Mikoto frowns. Yumi was just tired /before/ the stranger appeared. How tired must she be, now?
 
"Yumi, sit down," Mikoto says, and even though it's phrased as an imperative, her questioning tone of voice makes it sound more like a suggestion. A request, even. She puts a hand on Yumi's sleeve as if to tug her down, but she doesn't pull. She doesn't want to send her off-balance.
 
And she shakes her head, when Yumi talks about how much Mikoto's been hurt. "My fault. She was too fast. Should've prepared." How she could possibly prepare for a surprise encounter, she doesn't say. It seems obvious to her.

She nods, when Yumi mentions someone coming to pick them up. Her broom disappearing into a trinket is something she notices, blinking owlishly at the change. But instead of focusing on that, she holds up her other hand - so recently healed - and slowly closes it into a fist before opening it again. "Think of something else, do something else, and pain isn't so bad. Don't do anything -" her hand drops to her lap, lax - "mind focuses on pain, becomes difficult to work." And her hand balls into a fist again, in her lap, now she's explained. She looks to Yumi expectantly. She's... trying to help.


    <Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

Yumi isn't /saying/ it either way, how tired she is, how she feels. She has a habit of trying to keep that sort of thing to herself. ...But Mikoto suggests she sit, and Yumi hesitates for a moment until her sleeve is touched, and then she sighs. "Well, okay," she says, and sets the bandages down to put her hands behind her, stretching out her legs with a little difficulty. She's pale, but she's usually pale; she's at least not all that bruised up, thanks to the protection of her magic sparing her the marks one would expect. Easily covered up.
 
"How could you have prepared?" Yumi asks. "...You did good. We won, you know? Sort of, anyway." Pause. "Kind of." Maybe. ...Not really. But they did drive her off?
 
Yumi smiles slightly at Mikoto's blink. "...Little spell I have. Lets me keep it with me! If it were just me I might try to fly home, but..." Even then she's not feeling great, she doesn't say. "But..." Mikoto gives advice, and Yumi's expression goes a little pained. "I, ah..."
 
"I'm used to it," she says instead. "Hurting, I mean. It's okay."


    <Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

"Fight more," Mikoto explains, to Yumi's question. "Train more. Remember. Not stop." She hesitates, for a moment, hand clenching and unclenching. "... not assume, we would be safe. Not take shopping granted. There's always danger, Yumi. But I - I thought -"
 
She thought they'd be okay, because it was just a nice, relaxing shopping trip. She didn't think anything bad would happen, because she was with her friends, and she was supposed to be recovering. She let her guard down. Mikoto shakes her head, too overwhelmed by the concepts to figure out how to put them into words. It's shattering, to think that her innocence made this happen.

Even though Yumi says she did good, Mikoto is clearly bothered by where her response took her. Is it any wonder that she focuses on Yumi, instead? She looks over to her, frowning, openly concerned. "Shouldn't be used to hurting," she insists. "Pain means something went wrong. Reminder to be better. Doesn't work, if it's always. It's not okay!"


    <Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

"...You can't be fighting /all/ the time," Yumi says. "Nobody can live like that. Besides... We were," she says. "We decided to intervene, to help that guy. That was our choice. ...So, you know..." She trails off, not quite able to find it from there. "You--" She worries at Mikoto, immediately, her expression a mask of concern. She sees how overwhelmed she thinks. But--
 
"Ah, um--" It's not okay. Yumi stops, closes her eyes. "...Maybe I shouldn't be," Yumi says, "But that's how it is. I hurt really easy. It's just... You know, how it is. It's because I'm sick." She kind of hates saying it that way though, and theres something tangled-up in her expression. "A-anyway don't worry about it, I've got some medicine, I'll take it in the car, okay? It's um..."
 
She pauses. "She doesn't know I'm... you know, that I do this kind of thing. She thinks I'm just a normal witch. But I asked her not to ask too many questions, okay?"


    <Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

Mikoto stares at Yumi uncomprehendingly. Nobody can live like that? That makes no sense. If that were true, what about her training? What about the years she's spent learning how to carry on? She sounds frustrated as she replies, "/I/ can. I have to."
 
It seems so obvious to her. She doesn't know why Yumi doesn't get it, and she's not sure how to explain.
 
"... didn't want Yumi to get hurt," she mumbles, instead, about her decision to help.
 
But Yumi is being hurt anyway. Yumi is in pain even though she wasn't hurt badly. Mikoto frowns, shaking her head. "I hate sickness. Hurts people for no reason. Can't stop it." How do you fight something invisible, that attacks you from the inside? If she could, she'd have fixed Takumi long ago.
 
She glances over, when Yumi mentions that 'she' doesn't know. Mikoto isn't sure who 'she' is, but if Yumi cares about keeping up appearances, Mikoto doesn't want to expose her. Unclenching her hands, she grunts with pain as she pulls Miroku's strap over her head, laying the case in her lap. Reaching over to the sword, she hefts it up, and slips it back into the bag, zipping it closed. "Secret," she assures her.
 

    <Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

"..." Yumi blinks a little as Mikoto stares at her, thinks about it, glances to the side. "Sorry. I forget... Sometimes, how different some people are. But we can relax a little together, okay? Look out for each other." It's not that obvious to Yumi... At first, anyway. But she's seen a lot of fighters by now, seen a lot of that /type/ in the Shepherds, who can't get away from it, who didn't choose it like she does all the time. Who...
 
"...Sorry," Yumi says, glancing away. "But I don't like being... this fragile thing that nobody can count on, you know? I don't want to be a burden on you. I want to /help/." She looks to Mikoto, hears her talking, and Yumi looks glum. "...Yeah. I hate it too," YUmi says. "But you get used to it, right? You..."
 
She sounds resigned, more than used to it, and with more feelings than that that she can't express.
 
But secret--Yumi nods. "Thanks. ...Hey, can you help me? We should... get out to a road a car can get to... Just a little bit down the street."


    <Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

"I know I'm different," Mikoto says, not quite looking at Yumi. "I do hear everyone. They say I'm wild, demon, little kid. Because I don't know things. It's just not important, so I don't say anything."
 
It's possible she's taken entirely the wrong meaning from that statement.
 
"But Yumi's not burden. Yumi fights really hard. Harder than everyone else, because Yumi's body is an enemy too. Yumi's strong! I'm glad Yumi's my ally! But I don't understand," Mikoto's hand balls up in her lap, "being sick always. I see it makes things hard. And I want to help. So I fight for Yumi, because I'm good at fighting. Fighting's how I help."
 
Mikoto pauses, worrying at her lower lip. "Does it... not help?"
 
She doesn't know how she could possibly make things better if she couldn't do that.
 
Luckily, Yumi /tells/ her how to help. Mikoto nods, firmly, and uses the car she's been leaning against to slowly lift herself upwards. One hand keeps hold of Miroku's strap, and once she's upright, she slings it back over her shoulder. (Oof.) Her hand freed, she offers it to Yumi, while still leaning on the car with her other side.
 

    <Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

"I--" Yumi looks pained again for a moment, for the misspeaking and also for Mikoto. "No, I--" She stops, reaches out a hand for Mikoto's arm, "I don't mean it like that. They say stuff about me, too. I just mean that you think about battle, that it's important to you. ...You're... a warrior, you know? I'm not used to thinking like that."
 
Mikoto explains though, and the gray-haired girl hesitates, reaching up to adjust her glasses. "...You think so?" she says. She doesn't answer the rest yet, though. Mikoto wants to help... And she worries, but--
 
Yumi teaches up to take that hand, and she's not that hard to help up for a girl as strong as Mikoto, despite her height; Yumi's pretty thin. "It helps," she says, and wavers as she stands, leaning on Mikoto a little. "Let me know if... I'm too heavy, okay?" A beat. "Thanks. It's nice to hear that." A beep comes out from her phone, and Yumi reaches into her purse and takes it out to check it. ...She taps a few buttons in return.

"Kay, this way, all right? Down the street." Yumi points. "It's not... far." Huff.


    <Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

Mikoto feels the touch on her arm, and looks up at Yumi. "Oh," she tilts her head as she absorbs the information. "Yumi's not used to it...?"
 
Of course she's not. Most people didn't grow up like Mikoto did. But it still feels strange to her, to realise it. Even if most people didn't grow up in shrines, even if most people weren't raised to be their brother's sword, she's always believed that everyone was fighting /some/ battle. It only seems natural that everyone's a warrior in their own way. To think otherwise feels strange, somehow, like she's intruded on something private she was never meant to see.
 
Fuu's earlier healing wind, luckily, has helped to close the larger cuts; a little blood leaks from her as she supports Yumi up, but not much. Yumi can feel her relax as she says that Mikoto /is/ helping, aided by a little sigh of relief. "Don't worry," she assures her. "I'm used to carrying stuff. Yumi's not much more."
 
(Yumi is, in fact, much /lighter/ than a person of her height and build should be, and Mikoto can't lie and say that doesn't worry her.)
 
Pointed down the street, Mikoto begins guiding them there. She walks slowly, and it's not just for Yumi's benefit, this time. Through little puffs of air, Mikoto distracts herself by talking more, hoping she can reassure her friend.
 
"Yumi can be strong and sick. Yumi's magic, so strength... isn't just muscles."  


    <Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

"Yeah," Yumi says. "I'm... an artist, you know?"
 
Yumi doesn't think of it as a battle, really, though it's a metaphor that could work, an analogy that isn't inaccurate. It's just something she endures, something she tries to hold on despite. It's a different kind of physicality. ...And it is a little private, in a way.
 
Yumi notices the blood, winces. "...Okay," she says. Yumi's not much more, huh? She nods at that, not really able to laugh at it since she /knows/ it's true. "Okay." A beat, "...Good thing she's got leather seats..." she murmurs about the blood, worrying a little at her.
 
The walk is easy enough; people are coming back, and some lift eyebrows at the tired girls who look kind of hurt--most avoid them. Nobody has walked up and tried to help, yet.
 
"...I hope not, right?" Yumi manages with almost alaugh. "I'm not very good at muscles. I can do lots of other stuff though." She sounds a little like she's convincing herself. "...People tell me I'm strong," she says. "Nurses, mostly. That I'm strong, for dealing with it all. ...But I feel stronger... when I'm fighting like that. When I can get back up when I fall. You know?"

She points out another spot, where they start to wait. Some cars go by. It'll be a little bit, but Yumi can deal with a little quiet, and... Well. Maybe not as long as she'd imagine.


    <Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

Mikoto has no clue why Yumi is so enthused about leather seats. Leather sticks to the skin and clings uncomfortably. Perhaps it's just something else Mikoto will never understand; she certainly doesn't have any room to complain.
 
The people who begin to drift back into their line of sight are glared at by Mikoto, warned off with a stare which communicates /perfectly/ how little it's any of their business. (She learned it from Natsuki!) When one looks as though he might stop to help, she curls her lips over her teeth, and he adjusts his hat and turns away. It's better, this way. They're normal. They wouldn't understand.
 
Her expression changes instantly when she looks back to Yumi, smiling through the pain. In some ways, it's a more difficult expression right now, but it feels so much more natural now the threat has passed. "Makes sense," she says. "Not giving up is achievement. Proving Yumi is strong, not just hearing words."
 
She eases the both of them down into their waiting-spot, and leans against Yumi once gravity isn't working against them any more. "Words can say anything. Even lies. Grandfather said... words don't matter. Actions matter. So I learned actions first. Words come after."
 
Mikoto closes her eyes against the glare of Akihabara's lights. "I don't like talking too much. Feels like I'm not understood. Like everyone knows rules I don't. But... I'm trying. I was more quiet before."
 
How strange a girl she must have been, to talk /less/ than she does now. But it's undeniable that Mikoto has said more here than she's ever said in a group setting with Yumi.
 
"But people say lots when they're not talking. When acting. And Yumi says, 'I'm not giving up.' Yumi says, 'I'm gonna keep fighting.' Yumi says, 'I won't let you do it alone.'" Mikoto turns her head against her shoulder, opening her eyes and looking up. "That's what Yumi says without talking. That Yumi is brave."  


    <Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

Yumi doesn't saaaay why. She just appreciates it. For some reason. Cleaning bills reasons.
 
Yumi doesn't notice Mikoto's glare; she's busy being a little self-conscious as she has to lean on a girl much shorter than her--has to lean on anyone at all, but the height difference definitely makes her own stature stand out more. She does notice the smile, though, and smiles back briefly, because that's what you do when people smile. "...Thanks," she says, sort of awkwardly, letting it dirft. But once they wait, she listens--it's a little area under a cover, there are some vending machines at it. But...
 
Well, Yumi doesn't go for the vending machines. She listens, instead. She can imagine someone that quiet, really. But what she says about words..
 
"I-" Yumi bites her lip, glances away, and nods, slowly. "...Thank you," she says quietly. "I... I try. I don't know how much I'm contributing, really. I'm not as strong as all of you, I know that. But I want to help. ...I want to help /people/. I want to be strong enough to do that."
 
She looks back over, "...It's okay. Nobody gets all the rules, you know? I feel pretty distant, too. And I hink you're doing good. You never have to talk too much around me if you're uncomfortable, okay?"
 
...In the distance, amidst the cars, one turns onto the road. Specifically, a black limousine, behind a delivery van and beside a few sedans. Surely this has nothing to do with anything. Yumi doesn't notice at first.

"...I agree with you though. Words... Words are nice, but some things you have to express another way. Action does it. Actions can be hard... It's what I try to do painting, too."


    <Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

Mikoto is tiny, but despite that, Yumi's weight doesn't seem to bother her much. Certainly, she's moving slowly, and wincing, but that much can be attributed to the hard battle they've gone through. It's a silent relief when they manage to sit.
 
Yumi confides in her, and Mikoto feels a terrible kinship. "... me too," she admits, hesitantly, "I feel like I'm not contributing, too. Because, I only know fighting." She only knows fighting, but Mai works job after job to get enough money for themselves and her brother. She only knows fighting, but Mai doesn't even want her to fight. The thought furrows her brow.
 
But Yumi's reassurances make her feel better, and Mikoto smiles again. "Thanks! Yumi's good person," Mikoto nods to herself. Yumi understands. The rules are hard, and she's relieved to hear Yumi doesn't care about her talking so much. Perhaps she doesn't have to exert herself so badly. Putting the words together is /hard/.
 
"Actions mean more," Mikoto agrees. "Painting's good. Did calligraphy, deliberateness meditation..." she gestures, thinking. "Way of disciplining mind."
 
She thinks, for a moment, and decides that it /is/ worth talking more. She likes Yumi, after all, and wants to put the effort in. But if Yumi really doesn't care about her talking, maybe she doesn't have to talk in such a stilted way. "Strength's mindset, but also effort," she says. "Consistent effort. Find talents, exploit them. If Yumi can't be hit, kill before enemies have chance to strike. If Yumi can't kill, make it too difficult for enemies to hit."
 
The way she says it makes it sound so /easy/, but it's clear from Mikoto's eyes that she's deadly serious. "Masked girl - kept at range, kept moving. Probably weak to direct attack. We never knew, because too good at moving, too good at attacking. Attacked always, even when running. You see? Yumi can also do it. Find what Yumi is good at. Be overwhelming. Then, Yumi will win."

Notably, Mikoto's analysis doesn't include anything about /her./


    <Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

Yumi worries a bit about it, but on the other hand... With her history, a little pain, a little injury just doesn't get under her skin that much. The fact that she's wheezing a little as they go, more as they make their way over, doesn't make her say much either. ...That kindship is terrible in a way, but... Well, it is what it is, isn't it?
 
"Mm," Yumi answers. "...There's a lot of fighting lately," she offers. "But I thin it's okay. Your presence is nice, you know? Sometimes just being there is good."
 
Yumi's told she's a good person and laughs a little. "I try," she says, and that's about it. She smiles at her again though, and then--listens to the agreement, nods. "Calligraphy... Yeah, that's great. --Meditation? Wow. That's impressive, Mikoto-chan." Disciplining the mind... She tilts her head. "I know how that goes. You gotta learn a little discipline around magic."
 
Mikoto decides to talk more though, and she starts talking in a way more natural to her. ...Yumi, for a moment, doesn't even notice the difference; it seems clear to her, easy. "Huh..." She listens, thinks about it. Find talents...
 
"...Heh," she says. "You sound a little like Mother," she says. "Confront, be bold... Find the weak points. She taught me most of what I know about how to use magic, most of my curses. " She thinks though, nods. "...You /are/ good at fighting. That's like... Really thinking about it. I sorta try that, you know? I don't think of it that way, but I try to weaken what I'm fighting so I can take it on. ...I'll--I'll think about it, you know? Though um... I'm not sure I can do much... killing, you know...?"
 
The limo reaches them, then, comes to a stop, and Yumi looks up at the shape. "Oh--" The Driver steps out of her seat and walks around. "Ohzora-sama," she greets, in her /impeccable/ formal clothes, her cap; she is black-haired and serious, offering a hand to help /both/ of them up from where she stands almost at attention.
 
"Oh hey, Miura-san," Yumi says. "I know I don't call you much..."
 
"Think nothing of it, Ohzora-sama."
 
"This is my friend, Mikoto Minagi. We're gonna take her home first, okay? Just home."
 
"Yes, Ohzora-sama. Minagi-sama." Yumi takes the hand, gets up--Mikoto is offered one, whether she takes it or not, the driver opens the limo's door. It's... Well, there's seating in there. Snacks. Drinks. It's /really/ nice. ...Really, /really/ nice.

Yumi puts a hand on the back of her head, "I figured a cab would ask too many questions, but Mother insists on keeping a driver on staff for me, so..." She gets in, takes a seat, practically melts into the car.


 
    <Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

Is it impressive? Mikoto blinks, tilting her head. She'd never thought of it that way. It was her grandfather's way of getting her to stop wriggling around and /listen./ It never really seemed remarkable. Still, Yumi seems to know what she means, and Mikoto is satisfied with that.
 
Mikoto listens to Yumi's tales about her mother with that same curiosity, blinking big yellow eyes. She sounds like a strong fighter. "Grandfather taught me," she shares in return. "And my Lord Brother... I'm still searching for him." The shift in tone is especially notable, now she's talking the way she's most comfortable; she refers to her brother in a positively /archaic/ way.
 
How strange. She's never been seen with family before.
 
When Yumi praises her analysis, Mikoto's face lights up in a bright smile. "Thanks!" She nods, firmly, and pats Yumi's arm, right back to her normal tone of voice. "S'okay. It's hard at first. Yumi'll get better."
 
... at killing people? Mikoto seems strangely at peace with her reassurance, if that's really what she meant. She doesn't offer any further explanation, one way or another, because there's a car pulling up. A /long/ car. Mikoto looks at one end, lets her eyes trail to the other, and is frankly astounded at the length between the two. "Long car," she repeats, out loud, staring openly.
 
The woman offers her a hand, and Mikoto looks from her to Yumi and back again for confirmation. But Yumi is talking to her like a known factor, so Mikoto decides it's safe to take her assistance. Miura will find Mikoto to be a lightweight girl - though whatever's slung across her back adds an extra weight.
 
Slipping inside, Mikoto buckles up, as Mai has painstakingly drilled into her. And there, she finds... "Food!" Mikoto chirps, and instantly reaches for the nearest candy bar.
 
Poor Yumi will soon find that the snack quantity in her limo is /inversely proportionate/ to the quantity of Mikoto inside it. All that fighting takes a lot of energy, after all.  


    <Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

Yumi smiles, eyes closing briefly, at her compliment. She seems to really mean it! Yumi likes givig compliments, though. But her eyes are open by the time she shares stories about her mother--Yumi, of course, is fairly formal herself about her Mother--extremely so, in fact--but nevertheless she notices Lord Brother, all right. "...I hope you find him," she says. "Missing a family member's hard." She doesn't dwell on the term of address. She focuses on that, instead.
 
But then her arm is patted and Mikoto reassures... her. Yumi thinks about it and isn't sure if she should feel as reassured as she does. "Um, Mikoto-chan, did you mean--"
 
But the car pulls up, and that's that. It is indeed a long car... Though it's not a stretch, so it's merely long instead of suuuper long.
 
Miura, the driver, does not seem to mind the extra weight. "May I take your bag?" she asks. ...When Mikoto refuses--obviously--she nods. "Very good." She isn't going to argue. She just closes the door behind them; there's plenty of room for Miroku back here. For them, too. The driver returns to her own seat and gets ready to drive off.
 
"Thanks," Yumi says to her, "Um, Mikoto-chan, where should we take you...?"
 
The car pulls off, starting smoothly for the road. The snacks include a lot of high-sugar, high-energy options, but all with very healthy ingredients, very few preservatives. What is here is fairly tightly controlled. ...and there's a lot of matcha flavor. But indeed there is... expensive candy.

Yumi laughs, faintly, even if she winces a little. "Hungry, huh?"


    <Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

Missing family members is the hardest thing, and Mikoto nods in understanding and gratitude for Yumi's well-wishes. "I will."
 
She promised.
 
"Huh?" Mikoto asks, as Yumi begins asking something only to cut herself off. But she doesn't press it, not with another woman here. Miura asks if she can take her bag, and Mikoto shakes her head fiercely, grasping Miroku's strap with her free hand. Instead, Miroku leans against the door, adorably strapped in itself on Mikoto's insistence; Mikoto sits closer to the middle, beside Yumi.
 
Mikoto is distracted from the food, briefly enough, to answer Yumi's question: "Ohtori dorms. Leave me outside. Gotta sneak in." It's surely after midnight, by this point - the disciplinary committee will be hard at work making sure that no students are prowling the halls after curfew. And Mikoto doesn't want to disappoint Kasagami, because she /likes/ Kasagami!

The food is /just/ the sort Mikoto needs to replenish her energy after a hard battle. She completely fails to notice Yumi wincing, because she's eating, and right now food is the most important thing. "Yup," she nods, her mouth still full before she manages to swallow. "Fighting makes hungry." It seems odd that it makes her /so/ hungry, especially since they'd been eating through the night when they stopped at cafes, but... Mikoto seems happy?


    <Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

Yumi knows what that's like, after all. ...She knows a letter better than she would like.
 
Yumi does /not/ clarify what she was asking though. Instead she glances at Miroku strapped in with a small smile, and stays in her seat, still leaned heavily back into it. She thinks about the answer, nods. It's definitely psat midnight by now. ...But Yumi isn't the only rich kid to steal onto the island in the night. "Oh, okay. That's fine. Miura-san, take us to the Ohtori dorms again, okay?"
 
Wait, again?
 
Yumi doesn't draw a lot of attention to herself... Though she doesn't take any snacks herself, after all. But if it makes Mikoto happy, Yumi's glad. "I'm glad you like it. I was a little worried... You know, this is kind of ostentatious..." She gestures. "But it does have snaks. Eat as much as you want, okay? There's some water down there too."
 
While Mikoto eats, though, Yumi starts to sort of get lost in the seat, and slowly... slowly, start to close her eyes.


    <Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.

It makes sense that Yumi would go to the dorms! Mikoto isn't the only person who attends that school. She doesn't even /question/ it.
 
"Ostentatious?" Mikoto asks, looking over to Yumi. "... what's ostentatious?" If it means it has a lot of food, it must be a good thing. What's much more comprehensible is Yumi's invitation to eat as much as she'd like, which makes Mikoto grin. "Okay!"

It's not Mai's cooking, but it's still food, and it's still revitalising. Mikoto tears through a granola bar, chugs down some water, and starts on a mixture of chocolate and nuts. She's so occupied, she hardly even notices that Yumi isn't talking any more.


[[Category:Logs]]