2022-07-31: Who I Am

• Cast: Lucine Azul, Leito Igaguri
• Where: Nadesico Gym
• Date: U.C. 0096 07 31
• Summary: Leito and Lucine train in martial arts; they each reveal their secret.

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<Pose Tracker> Leito Igaguri has posed.

Leito Igaguri has never taken on a student before. His 'partner' has, technically, but he denies it. But when Lucine asked to be taught some of his martial arts he showed against the Vajra, Leito had no choice. He was terrible at saying no and this was their penance for punching a bug.

Actual martial arts clothes were too short notice, so Leito was in his athletic clothes in the gym, preparing a space and waiting for his pupil. "Ah, is this such a good idea...?" He muttered to 'himself', and if overheard, got slightly weird about. "I mean, if Master Leo found out, are we sure he wouldn't be mad...?"

But in the end, he steeled himself. And he wanted to get to know Lucine better, anyways - a teenager from a life of tragedy, trying to help anyways. Fighting in a giant robot. It was admirable.

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

        Somehow, despite being the daughter of a fearsome bounty hunter/mechanic from a bygone age of bounty hunting, Lucine knows only the basics of fighting hand to hand combat. Outside of her father's spirited insistence, there wasn't much need to learn how to 'throw a good punch', and as talented as Kris was, there are doubtless one or two bounty hunters in this current generation whose skills would flow like water around the man's old-school emphasis on fast, savage punches. Add on top of that Lucine's lack of the same mountain of muscle that was needed to make such an overreliance work, and you had a crying daughter and a glum dad.

        Piloting was so much easier to pass on, even if that too was an exercise in vanity. Who needed a bounty hunter who would be more likely to cry than battle a savage bounty to the death, or someone who looked more likely like she was going to serve you tea instead of serving you a good fist to the jaw? And for fighting hand to hand... outside of the darker sides of Martian life, a person could get away with not knowing how to fight. It's not as if Mars would ever be invaded by merciless, mindless machines from a dimensional portal, allowing them to be nearly anywhere in excessive numbers, effectively killing off a majority of the planet's population outside of major cities and well-guarded colonies.

        And it's not as if that daughter would just have walked from a meeting with a certain 'witch' with the realization that there were certain situations she might not be able to reason out of.

        "... I apologize for bringing this up again... but, I'm beginning to realize that knowing some techniques might be useful if I'm caught outside the Dianthus." Dressed in the handy Nadesico athletic uniform (a pair of red sweats and a white t-shirt with the logo on it), Lucine has her hair pulled back into a tight bun, with a red sweatband pulling back the smaller hairs around her hairline. "... I hope it's... not too much of an inconvenience. I figure.... perhaps, just... knowing how to defend myself, or... something to that effect? If.... that's alright..."

<Pose Tracker> Leito Igaguri has posed.

Leito hadn't been sure about this, but everytime he sees Lucine up close, he can't resist himself a melancholy smile. His daughter is gonna be her age some day, and if he wants a world where she'll be safe, he needs to protect the kids before her, too.

"A-ah, you're fine, miss Azul. Let me just...get myself ready." And then Leito stretches, which, for a mundane person, might seem normal. For a newtype, there's that 'weirdness', showing that his partner is in control now.

"The first and foremost thing you'll need," 'Leito' says as his demeanor changes to one of utmost confidence, "is to believe in yourself. If you're not confident, you're as good as dead. The techniques of Space Martial Arts I will be showing you are very simple, but also not often passed down. Let's start with stance."

Stance training is pretty easy, though he'll probably have to manually correct Lucine's stance a few times.

"Tell me. Did something change that is making things dangerous outside the Dianthus?"

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

        It does matter that Lucine is asking Leito, out of all the people she does know who possibly might have some experience. Leito's personality is very similar to Lucine's own in some ways: the quiet demeanor, the overt politeness, an introverted personality. She can trust Leito. He'd understand, on some level.

        ... Even if there's something to him that Lucine has trouble putting her finger on. It comes when Leito stretches, magically gaining a sort of confidence that was lacking before.

        It's not as if there are two people there. That explanation would be too simple; maybe he just finds martial arts relaxing in the same way she does plants.

        "... Right. Confidence..." She nods. "Being confident." Her dad would call it 'having a decent poker face so people buy your BS', but she gets the sense 'Leito' means it more honestly. "... So... like this?"

        Lucine is much more receptive here than her eight year old self. "... Ah, so... like this? Ah, right...." She is still a novice, but she's relaxed, showing a full trust.

        Which is good, because that means that his question is taken with some thought.

        "I suppose it's silly... thinking a few lessons will help, but... several things." Lucine frowns. "... It's... well, there are a few things... there has been at least.... one person, who has shown... interest in me, but then had realized that I... perceived things about them that they felt made me a danger to them. As well as... ah, Tsutsujidai. Which... makes this even more silly, since... I do not believe learning how to fight would help if I ran into someone called the 'Devil of Tsutsujidai', but..."

        But, if they came to Ruri again, and Lucine was there...

        "... Perhaps it's... confidence. If I feel I can gain control over a situation... I wouldn't panic."

<Pose Tracker> Leito Igaguri has posed.

ABORT, ULTRAMAN ZERO, ABORT. That is the warning sign in Zero's brain, specifically as Lucine talks to him via Leito and she starts talking about 'interest in me' and she's seventeen and oh god she's trying to learn martial arts for her sparkly vampire boyfriend isn't she. This is what Lumina's sci-fi romance books have taught them!

But something grounds him back down and prevents him from spaghetti. "The 'Devil of Tsutsujidai'? Explain." He suddenly sounds deeply serious - and in an uncharacteristically of Leito way. It feels like...someone with a mission, who needs to know if this is relevant.

As he says that, he makes sure her stance is right, and starts showing defensive maneuvers. Very basic motions, before getting into more complicated things.

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

        Well, it's not that Zero is too far off. Lucine's crush is not a sparkly vampire, but he is a surgically enhanced super soldier on the run from an evil shadowy organization! Same difference. And his name is--

        "My friend, Liam... the person who was on the run, when I was going to meet up with you, but you couldn't come? The one time where Ultraman came in and helped us. He's with NERV now, and... he became involved with the conflict over Tsutsujidai, due to getting to know someone named Anti, who he felt some similarity too, since... both he and Anti were used by people." She adjusts her stance with Leito's helpful tutelage, furrowing her brow.

        It is odd, how serious Leito seems right now. It's not as if he wasn't a serious man before-- quite the opposite, actually, due to being a man with a serious job and a family, but this...

        There's some context she's missing, but what?

        And why does she still feel, in her gut, that she can trust him, despite these strange quirks of his?

        "... The Devil of Tsutsujidai is someone who is orchestrating the events of Tsutsujidai. He is an entity that whose name can't be mentioned aloud, or it will risk summoning him, even here. If Liam said that, I am able to believe it, as strange as it may sound. He works with someone else, or perhaps, 'uses' this someone else, as well as Anti, as actual agents. Now that Tsutsujidai is outside of the dimension it was in, it risks intermingling with our world, trapping all of us in our own prisons, separate from each other. I don't know of that's the intention of the Devil of Tsutsujidai, but I imagine it's something he doesn't mind."

<Pose Tracker> Leito Igaguri has posed.

Leito's frown sharpens, immensely, at the explanation of the Devil of Tsutsujidai. This is something his partner is here for. No.

Something Ultraman is here for.

As he finishes up a defensive posture, Leito's recognizability disappears, but his trust doesn't. There's still something warm and safe about his personality. "Lucine Azul. I need you to tell me *everything* you know. And in turn, up front, I will confide my greatest secret in you."

No one would be listening. Lucine likely already knows - she has some sort of sensory power, and met with him, and seems to trust him.

"My name is Ultraman Zero. Leito Igaguri is my host and friend. I am here on assignment, to investigate various alien threats."

It's hard to believe. But the mind finally matches up. If she focuses on his mind, and then remembers back to Ultraman Zero - they are the same.

"You cannot share this with anyone, or you risk endangering them further. But if there is a being threatening this dimension, it is my duty to stop them. Please. Work with me."

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

        No one is listening- at least, no one who wouldn't already know.

        Lucine tries something she has never truly tried, up until now, if just because the very idea of it seemed invasive. A person's mind is theirs, after all; it's one thing to simply register the emotions around her like they were the scent of flowers and grass on the breeze. It's another to intentionally narrow in on another's mind, even if it's to try to communicate. Perhaps that's why her abilities are dwarfed by many other Newtypes.

        But, she needs to confirm this, or risk Liam's safety in telling anything further of what she knows.

        Lucine holds her hand out in front of Leito, palm outward, her fingers slightly cupping forward. Zero may be able to tell that this isn't some strange martial art she's been concealing all this time, especially as he may perceive her mind trying to stretch out and focus on his own. Besides, w gesture like this doesn't actually increase Lucine's abilities, but it does provide a visual marker for her of what she is attempting to do.

        Even this is a difficult feat, like stretching out an already sore muscle further than it's gone in a while.

        All of it, just to confirm solidly what she's half-suspected all along, as well as Zero's own words.

        "... So I was right.... there were two of you there, all along..." She frowns and her hand relaxes, going up to massage a temple instead. "Sorry... being a Newtype... I try to respect people's privacy as much as I can... I apologize for forcing that on you without asking first... but... that must have been why I felt...." She begins to smile. "... So... the Ultraman that helped us... that was you. You came to our defense because you were there already, in a sense..."

<Pose Tracker> Leito Igaguri has posed.

Leito - no, Ultraman Zero - does not move. He shows no fear, and smiles briefly. As she confirms both that and her Newtypism, he nods. "No. It's fine. You needed to understand, and now we're on the same page."

"We were too exhausted after the battle to meet up with all of you, yes. I still owe Liam an in-person apology...but for now, if he has information about a dimensional threat - I've dealt with those before. We can talk about it now - or with him, if this information is his. The choice is yours."

He rubs his brow, briefly, glasses removed earlier and put away. "This Devil of Tsutsujidai is likely to be highly dangerous. We cannot rely on the Federation alone to stop such a force."

<Pose Tracker> Lucine Azul has posed.

        "... A secret for a secret. Though... it's likely quite a few people have put two and two together. ... In regards to my abilities, that is. It's... why what happened on Mars was..." Lucine frowns, her chin pointing downwards. "... Very hard, on me. My abilities aren't as strong as other people's... but, I am aware that I have them, which is half the journey, for most." It's another reason why the Jovian lizards are so frightening, as well. Vajra, at least, have a presence that can be sensed.

        Jovian lizards do not.

        "Nono, it's alright... your secret might have come out earlier if I had met you too soon after meeting you on the field." No that this would be any danger, as they now know." Lucine considers the choice Zero lays out for her, and, after a moment, she nods, a strand of dislodged hair floating in the air as she does. "It may be best that you meet Liam, if you feel comfortable with it. He was involved directly in much of this, and all of my information comes from him. I haven't even been to Tsutsujidai before... I don't even know what this devil looks like."

        Then... why did Lucine get involved?

        That's the final part of the puzzle, but not one Lucine can reveal, because...

        ".... There is... another thing, but... I can't say it here. I apologize." Lucine trusts the Nadesico to not spy on her, but Omoikane's loyalty to Ruri may make any mention of her name, or any indication of the Devil's presence being a possibility on this ship, something that will be brought to Ruri's attention, bringing her further into danger.

        Come to think of it, wouldn't the mention of this devil be a security risk in itself? Not to mention Leito's own identity... Lucine frowns at the thought. "... I trust Liam completely. But you... that is your choice, whether you wish to trust him to the same degree. But." She places her hand on her chest. "... your secret is safe with me, Mr. Igaguri. And Mr... Zero?" She tilts her head. ".... I suppose... would saying just 'Zero' be too impolite, for an Ultraman?"

        A question for the ages!

<Pose Tracker> Leito Igaguri has posed.

As Lucine explains everything, Zero-Leito nods. "I will meet with him, then, if you trust him. We need all the allies we can get. Thank you for trusting in Ultraman."

And then, the question about 'is Zero too impolite'? "You're twenty-thousand years too early for a first name basis, miss Azul!" He's half-joking.

Only half.