2022-12-08: Commitment by Candlelight

• Cast: Koji Kabuto, Sayaka Yumi
• Where: Fujinomiya City - New Photon Power Lab
• Date: U.C. 0096 12 08
• Summary: Worried deeply for Akane Shinjo, Koji arranges a talk with Sayaka to tell her his intent to go to Tsutsujidai to help her - and to make a promise that terrifies him (in a good way).

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<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.

Somehow, this is the scariest meeting with Sayaka Koji's ever suggested having. It's just another situation briefing, right? Get each other on the same page and make sure they're still agreed that they're hand-in-hand confronting the Earth Sphere.

... No, that's the phrase that's the problem: Hand-in-hand. Actually thinking about that is more terrifying than any number of kikaiju or Mycenaean Warrior Beasts. But Koji Kabuto is ever the one to be thrilled by fear, right?

VERTEX: > Hey, Sayaka
VERTEX: > [very long pause]
VERTEX: > Do you want to meet up somewhere after work?
VERTEX: > Something I want to talk to you about.

... Alea iacta est, Kabuto.

<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.

Somehow, getting the text is almost as scary as it was sending for Koji. But it's also a little exciting - Koji taking the initiative. He's only been one to do that during the heat of battle, after all. There is a long pause until her own response to the text.

VERTEX: >Sure.
VERTEX: >Let's meet up at the 'secret' bar at the lab.
VERTEX: >We can get something to drink.
VERTEX: >I'll be waiting, then.

...What is she doing suggesting a bar of all places, she wonders. But when Koji arrives, it's all set up, empty aside from two unfilled glasses on the counter. It's dimly - almost romantically illuminated by candlelight.

Sayaka herself waits beside the counter, wearing an elegant, yet simple purple sleeveless dress. "...Hey, Koji. What did.. you want to talk about?" There is somewhat of a worried expression on her face at the moment. Koji usually doesn't request meetings in private, so what could this possibly be?

<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.

Koji's not changed out of his work suit. He's looking at his phone thoughtfully at the bar as Sayaka steps in, turning to greet her.

Not for the first time, he's struck dumb by the sight of her. "Uh. Wow."

He realises he's staring, and clears his throat. "I... Never realised we had a place like this in the lab. It's not new, either, this has been here the whole time, huh?"

He swallows a shaky breath. "Have you caught the latest readings from Tsutsujidai? There's something... wrong."

He shows her the image captured by 3G surveillance - a pinkish-yellow kaiju corpse that, of all the creatures 3G has classified as CK (Cognitive Kaiju), looks the most man-made of all of them, telltale finger marks impressed into a shape that is otherwise just 'lumpen clay' with cursory stubby limbs and a vestigial-looking, floppy head.

"This body has been there for over a week. Normally Akane's maintenance kaiju fix any aberration in the ward by the next morning. For this to have... not disappeared..." He shakes his head. "But that's not all that's worrying. All of Akane's work up until now - it's been... beautiful. Expressive. Designed. Even when we were pushing him to the brink, Hell kept hitting us with all sorts of ingenious kikaiju designs to push us back just as hard. This is... If Akane's kaiju reflect something of her heart, this is like the life's gone out of it."

<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.

The first thing Sayaka notices is Koji staring.. she holds off the witty remarks, once he quickly realizes this and changes the subject. It /is/ a nice dress after all.

"It... hasn't been used a whole lot, with how busy we've been with work. I figured it was a good time to dust the place off," she replies, about the bar. If things had gone better.. maybe they would have a lot more memories of laughing together in here.

But then Koji turns dead serious, and Sayaka turns to glare at the surveillance image - a kaiju corpse that looks a lot like a rubbersuit for one of those Tarabaman shows Shiro used to watch - maybe a little too much. As if its creator didn't even try to dispel the illusion that it is nothing more than a monster shaped by human hand.

The maintenance kaiju not working, the lack of heart in the kaiju - Sayaka immediately skips to the conclusion. "Akane Shinjo is in danger." Her tone is disquieted. "If Akane Shinjo really is a god - one with a responsibility for her people - what will happen to /them/?" It's a terrifying thought, that one girl can hurt enough for it to have consequences on an entire pocket of the world.

"We need to do something, but.. do you even have any ideas, Koji?" She has a feeling he might just - he probably wouldn't make this a private briefing if he didn't.

<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.

"Well... It is a nice bar, I'd rather we have it than not, y'know?" He grins a little. "Maybe one day - " No, it's not time for that yet. Don't get distracted, Koji.

"I wish I had a plan, but... all I have is my gut telling me I need to be there. I look at this... body, and I know where this is ending for Akane."

"Lorelei was bad enough. Never again." Doctor Heinrich's daughter's despair-driven last stand against Mazinger Z had left both Shiro and Koji badly shaken - he and Lorelei's names are inscribed high on the memorials to the war you can find all around Fujinomiya City, treated with just as much reverence as any other life taken so cruelly by Hell, Ashura and Brocken.

Koji swallows the fire and the lump in his throat, looking back at Sayaka. "I'm... I don't know what's going to happen, but if I can help get that girl out, I've got to. She deserves a better world. We all do." He walks forward, taking both Sayaka's hands in his. "So - when I get back - we need to put this tension to rest... and talk about us."

<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.

"Yes, one day." Sayaka smiles. Koji may not have finished that statement, but one day, they can still make right on everything they've missed out on. Or so she hopes.

"Knowing you, Koji, your gut figures out a plan as it goes, right? I'll.. try to trust it for once." Because when she looks at that kaiju corpse herself, she can just feel the hollow cry for help that it is. The comparison isn't lost on her either. They have to prevent this girl from being another victim of the Universal Century the best they can.

But when Koji puts his hands across hers, and speaks so uncertainly, Sayaka wavers for a moment. With the maintenance systems deteriorating, Tsutsujidai could very quickly descend into total chaos. "You're right but.. you're putting yourself in a lot of danger. You can't just say that before going off-" She sighs deeply, and stops herself there.

She moves to put her own hands on Koji's shoulders. "Just be careful, got it? Come back so we can talk about /'us'/."

<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.

Koji smiles, firmly, boyish, reckless confidence sparking in his eyes again. "It's a promise, Sayaka." He pulls his comrade, his best friend, the woman that drives him crazy and who he's absolutely crazy about, into a tight hug.

There's time enough to make the most of what's left of the night, even if it's just to hold each other for a while.

<Pose Tracker> Sayaka Yumi has posed.

As Koji pulls her into that hug, Sayaka's face flashes red with surprise - then it softens into a smile. When he promises her, she knows she can trust it, that he /will/ come back for her no matter what it takes.

But even if he has to go soon, Sayaka has always been a bit selfish, and she pulls him in tighter... just for a little while longer, while the candlelight still flickers.