2022-10-24: A Weird Guy ~HERO~

• Cast: Ako Furuma, Guy Shishioh
• Where: Tsutsujidai Shopping Plaza
• Date: U.C. 0096 10 30
• Summary: Ako is on the hunt for weirdos!! She finds the weirdest kind of guy of all: A man who wants to save his enemies.

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<Pose Tracker> Ako Furuma has posed.

It's a day ending in Y in Tsutsujidai, and Ako Furuma is off-school. She has decided NOT to go to MacDaniel's today, because she is watching her weight for 24 hours. Aka, 'not craving it'.

Right now, she's in the central shopping district. There's benches, clothing and beauty stores, and a little planted tree next to the bench, but it's primarily urbanized. She's mainly window-shopping, but also people-watching.

Is anyone else here 'weird'? Did Akane put people in the shops? She's a master of judging by covers, so this is the perfect time to do so.

"What a pain..." She says, as she clicks through cat pictures her girlfriend sent her, wiggling a finger as she stretches. "There's gotta be weirdos around here, right?"

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

Well, there is one thing.

He's tall, over six feet. The bright red hair stands out, too; it's not the full-on orange it used to be, but it's still solidly auburn. Also it goes down to his waist.

Also, he's dressed in full GGG outfit, the green and white jumpsuit with the gold vest over top.

Also also, his left forearm is covered by a gold bracer with a lion-shaped design over the fist and a handle stuck into the back of it, like he thinks he's a metal hero or something.

He's sitting at a cafe, sipping coffee, and then pursing his lips like he were thinking about the flavor deeply.

Ako has, of course, never seen, heard of, or thought about Guy Shishioh, the first of the Kings of Braves before. Those events didn't happen in Tsutsujidai's world.

<Pose Tracker> Ako Furuma has posed.

A mysterious man...with a mysterious bracer! Be subtle, Ako. Be subtle. You need to learn why he's here.

Ako walks up to his table, places her hands on it (as a small 15-16yo, she's not very intimidating), and Scooby Doos her way into trouble.

"Hey, you. What's up with that bracer? Are you some sort of Tarabaman or something? Your very apperaance is 'I want to save the world...'." Her anxiety is spiking just by doing this, but she's a master of looks...and this man may lead her to a clue. No, he will.

"But your vest is gold, implying rank! Are you the Taraba Master or...something?"

Ako Furuma has never watched Tarabaman. She's a magical girl fan.

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

He could be anyone! A villainous toady! A creature of evil! The dreaded Fully Adult Chuuni...!!

Guy Shishioh, for his part, is having a cup of coffee and, having now had one (1) experience from Renais on actually good coffee, has realized something tastes...wrong, here. What is this...sweet, maybe? Yet another thing to talk to her about soon.

Hold out for soon. Soon will come soon enough.

But before he can further explore the deepening of his palate, though, he is accosted by a fifteen year old! His G-Stone (the g-stone is every cell of his body don't worry about it) didn't react to danger at all!! That is because there is no danger.

He finds himself smiling, actually. "Well there's a how-do-you-do," he says, with a pleasant, slight tease in his voice for this stranger. He sets his cup back down. "Interesting. Not many folks notice the uniform, honestly."

His eyes sweep her, assessing the girl's look and posture. "The bracer connects me to a very important friend of mine," he says. "But I guess you wouldn't know that, around here."

"And no, I'm not a Taraba or an Ultra, for that matter. Some might call me a Vessel of Light, though." That one was a joke for him. He doesn't cross his arms; his posture open, though he does cross his legs at the knee with a certain amusement. After a moment of grinning at having successfully beaten around the bush, he says, "My name is Guy Shishioh. And you're right, I guess. I've been fighting enemies of mankind for a long time, now." Time jumping made the counting it weird. "And you..."

He tips his head, and shows off a little: "Library," he says out loud, and the hand with the bracer whines, connecting him wirelessly to GGG's database. Once he would've needed to be Equipped for this, but his Evoluder powers make it possible without that.

His smile goes just a bit dimmer. "...should probably stay for a chat, Miss Furuma. We have a mutual friend."

<Pose Tracker> Ako Furuma has posed.

Ako made a mistake. This guy's weird! Weird! Her G-Stone is reacting to danger! (She doesn't have a G-Stone).

Even so, as she wants to retreat, she listens to his points. And then he knows her name. Via his bracer.

"What." Flat, all she can say.

But when anxious, her brain kicks into overdrive. "You're talking about Akane, right? Then you're like him." She doesn't say who he is, but this makes her think of Kaworu quite a bit, in the sense of 'secret spy'.

Ako's gut to know more kicks in, and she takes a seat across from him once she gets any sense of visual confirmationn. "My name is Ako Furuma. You probably just, like, read my mind, but I'm a student at Tsutsujidai. She's one of my best friends...but we both know there's something more going on, right?"

Her eyes sweep, to Venora in the diistance. She's awakened, clearly.

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

Guy knows he's ridiculous and doesn't often get to enjoy it. He keeps his smile calm but just a little teasing as she staggers, but soon recovers. "'Him?'" Guy prompts her. His hands fold on the table, letting her sit calmly. "My equipment lets me access the Gutsy Galaxy Guard database from anywhere," he says, which is only a stretch inasmuch as it doesn't actually depend on equipment these days. "And we've got a little data on you, because..."

He watches her gaze move, and nods. "Yes. You're a friend of Shinjo's. I'd hate to ruin your day, but it'd be a big help to have a chat. How much do you know?"

<Pose Tracker> Ako Furuma has posed.

"Oh, no one special, just a kid I know with grey hair." Sounds like a non-sequitur. If he's not on the database, Ako is fine! If he is, well, Ako is screwed (except not, because Guy knows Kaworu).

"I know that I was asleep. Then I woke up. Akane creates kaiju, except I didn't know. One of those kaiju almost got me as collateral, but a giant monster ally saved me, even if it got blood everywhere. She's bringing people to the school who shouldn't be there. I'm not the only person who knows, though I refuse to name names."

She's giving a lot. But she expects, in return..."Fill my gaps. What am I missing? How can I *help her*?"

She will not leave until Guy gives her info in return.

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

"Ah, Kaworu's a friend of mine. I should've said two mutual friends, now that you mention it." He gives her that charming hero's grin.

"I see," Guy says. "That's sure the bullet points...I'm sorry, I'm sure this is hardly something you want to be thinking about during exam season." He means that, and scratches his cheek awkwardly. "I remember that fight. I was there that day, too, if it's the day I'm thinking about. The black robot with the blue core. GaoFighGar." ... He shakes his head. "Maybe it's better I not ask you to dwell on it. Sorry."

"It's tough to say all the details. There's been a lot going on." Does he challenge her with the dimensional abnormalities...only if it comes up, he thinks. Explaining that eventually gets into explaining that she wasn't always from an anomalous PLANT, wasn't always a Colonist, that her very history changed...and that brings up that kaiju aren't the only thing Akane Shinjo created.

She should know, he thinks. But he should carefully judge if or when to tell. Maybe it's not his story to reveal.

"It took us a while to connect her to the kaiju. Kaiju forges are...probably too common, if anything, but hers have some particular traits. There's a lot going on - in this town, about this place, that eventually led us back to her." good job not leading her directly to the question you didn't want her to ask, guy

Then, his hands slowly curl, and his face grows just the slightest bit tight. "Two of the people she's...captured? Brought here, I guess, are personal friends of mine. One is Alouette. I've known her since she was very small, and she worked for my organization, GGG." Pronounced Three Gee. "The other is Renais. She's my cousin, and..." ...definitely not explaining triple zero in this conversation, preferably at all, if he can help it. "...she's suffered a lot," he says, finally. "Seems like that's what she's using to get them, actually."

He looks...not a little frustrated, though he tries to hide it. And he does not, quite, get around to how Ako can help.

<Pose Tracker> Ako Furuma has posed.

"I don't remember. I just have dreams. It's fine." Ako responds about GaoFighGar.

She mulls. She has a question, especially after a soft sigh of relief after he mentions Kaworu, but first..."Alouette Pommier? She's doing well. Learning music. I don't know much about her otherwise, I'm going to show her the ropes at school. Renais...that must be the new teacher. She gave off 'do not approach' vibes, so I can understand suffer a lot." A pause. "I don't think they're here necessarily against their will."

"I can't see Akane forcing someone to do something they absolutely don't want to do."

And then, Ako fidgets with her fingers. "This wasn't always a PLANT, right? Kaworu Nagisa mentioned that. But that's all I know. Where were we before?"

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

"Yeah, I visited her recently. It's a little sad seeing her this way, but...she does seem fine, you're right. It might be good for her, in the end. She mentioned the piano. Well, hopefully we get this all solved before a recital comes along, but perhaps she'll continue after." That might be nice. She seemed excited.

"I don't think so either," Guy affirms. "Something Alouette said was...I don't know if it was false, as such, but, she said we'd stopped fighting Akane, and well..."

He grimaces, shaking his head. "We haven't. No order like that was given. Akane may have said she'd stop somewhere, but I'd be one of the ones making a decision like that, and it didn't happen. What I'm getting at is it seems like their memories have been altered, at least a little. And Akane herself told me that they were accepting a dream that would let them lose some bad memories." He shakes his head. He looks...he's trying very hard not to look frustrated. "Well. I guess I can't blame them too much. Have a few myself."

He shakes his head out, though, as Ako asks the question.

"Suppose I should just say it," he says, and straightens up. "Tsutsujidai was originally accessible as what appeared to be a ward of Tokyo, accessible via the train stations. GGG has some experience with dimensional abnormalities, and we were able to determine it was essentially tucked into a dimensional layer on top of certain portions of Tokyo."

He holds her gaze, if he can. "A few months back, during an attack by a kaiju we've designated as Diriver, an effect we've designated Chaos Bringer occurred, an...intrusion, I guess, of Tsutsujidai's layer of reality onto that of the rest of the Earth Sphere. At that time, it manifested as a PLANT."

He folds his hands. He's normally pretty expressive, but right now he feels like what he can do best is help this girl catch up.

Even if he has to tell her that Akane is as much her god as her friend.

<Pose Tracker> Ako Furuma has posed.

Ako considers all the info. It's overwhelming, and it's obvious but the rapidity of her fidgeting. But she believes him. Why make this up? It fills so many gaps.

Luckily, Ako is very smart. "Akane made this dimensional layer, right? Am I..."

"I've been having these weird thoughts lately. Is any of this for real or...?" She finally asks. "Are we in a simulation? Am I as real as you or Kaworu?"

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

Guy watches her fidget. He can tell she's anxious, but she's doing her best to hold it together. He purses his lips, not entirely wanting to blow this girl's world wide open. But...she does ask.

"It's real," Guy says, intensely. He seeks her eyes, focused and serious. "Nothing about you is false, Ako," he says. "As far as I or anyone I work with is concerned, you and everyone here are just as real and deserve to be safe and happy just the same as anyone on Earth or anywhere else in space."

But. "...but, it does appear that Tsutsujidai was originally created by Akane Shinjo, with the help of her guardian Alexis Kerib."

...Momentary pause. He says it. "As well as everyone in it."

<Pose Tracker> Ako Furuma has posed.

As the info drops, Ako's eyes open wider involuntarily, as she looks down at her hands. "Akane...made me. Probably to be her friend. Is it bad that..."

"I don't hate her for it? I just want to help her." Ako places her hands on the table.

"...if she created this place, she must be from somewhere else. Earth, maybe? If so...I've heard it's not very kind there. Is that why she made a kinder world...?"

Ako starts tearing up, slowly, but brushes it aside. "I need to help her. But I won't fight her. *There's something only I can do*, and that's...make the world kinder for her."

"For us."

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

"...maybe someone would say that. But I'm glad." Guy gives Ako a warm, sincere smile, not that flashy hero grin but something kinder and more heartful. "Because you're right. As best we can figure, Akane created this place because she lost hope in the world outside, and, somedays I can't say I blame her. It's not all bad. There's a lot of people who still stand up for their beliefs, who have hearts full of courage. But it is a world where that's needed, I'm afraid. I can't deny that." He scratches his cheek. "...sorry. What I'm saying is...more than anything I have, she needs friends who believe in her."

He sees her tears, and...stands.

He walks around the table and then takes a knee - he's tall enough he ends up not so far below Ako's eye level with their positions. "Be there for her. Be there for her people. Show her that the world isn't just the one she fears. I've fought so many battles. And one of the things I learned is that everyone can be a Brave. It's not something you lose, it's something you deny in yourself. Accept your courage, and show her you believe in hers."

His fist clenches against his chest. "Right now, I have no choice to fight her. She's done something to my friends that I can't accept. But I don't want this to end in tragedy, either. I swear it. It would be my honor to help you save your friend, Ako."

<Pose Tracker> Ako Furuma has posed.

Ako wipes her tears away as Guy says powerful, emotional words. He's right. Courage...

"...I believe in you, Guy Shishioh. I don't know you, but your presentation makes you trustworthy, and if she has your friends...you need to get them back. If...I ever need to get in contact with you, is that alright?"

Bravery is infectious, it seems. Courage. Ako steels herself.

She's decided her path.

<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.

"Yeah," Guy says. "It hurts, every day without them. A lot more than I ever imagined. It's because I know how much it hurts that I'll fight until the very end to make sure you save yours."

He reaches into his vest pocket, producing a card with the GGG Green and Blue emblems. "This number is the GGG Hotline. Tell them you need to talk to me, I'll make sure it gets through. If you ever get in trouble, call."

<Pose Tracker> Ako Furuma has posed.

Ako nods, takes the card, and rises, tears still on her cheeks.

"Thank you. Vessel of light, huh...sounds heroic."

And then she moves to wave goodbye and leave, so he can finish his coffee! She kinda crashed in on him.

But it was fruitful for everyone.