2022-11-21: "Something I Can Take With Me"
- Log: "Something I Can Take With Me"
- Cast: Yuta Hibiki, Ennil El, Rikka Takarada
- Where: Junk Shop Aya, Tsutsujidai
- OOC - IC Date: 0096-11-19
- Summary: Why do we share pain? How do we share love? There is a girl in Tsutsujidai who needs the answers.
<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.
Tsutsujidai is quiet at last. With his mug of hot chocolate long finished, Yuta knows he should be heading home soon. Rita and her mom deserve to have some time to recover after all this. But the thought of being all alone after being trapped in that dream is a little too much to bear. And so, he lingers, leaning back into Aya's couch, playing with the dangling tassles of the scarf Calibur made him.
Much like Yuta, the Neon Genesis Junior High Students seem to be in no rush to disperse themselves. Vit sits on the couch with Yuta, tapping away at his phone. Borr flips a knife in their hands, watching Max carefully, eyes suspicious as the large man moves toward the kitchen.
"Hey. Where do you think you're going with your arm like that? Go sit down!" Borr shouts.
Max looks... almost guilty. He stops, sighing, giving Borr a displeased glance. "Injury is no reason to shirk my duties. We have made a mess of all these cups, they must be washed."
After the battle, Max had been favoring his right arm. It snapped clean off in his other form, after all... At Yuta's urging, he removed his suit jacket so they could check him for injury. A near-solid line of bruises was revealed to extended around Max's bicep, something he tried to brush off. Between Rikka and Yuta both, they managed to convince the Hyper Agent to put it in a sling for a while. Nobody knows how their physiology works, but the two teenagers insist on Max resting.
Of course, this still leaves the matter of dishes.
"You know what? Fine. I'll do it. Just don't get used to this, yeah?" Borr stands, vanishing her knife with a quick gesture. Making her way to the kitchen, she grumbles at the height of the sink, but gets to work. Max, with a grateful noise, sits back down at the bar.
Yuta smiles. "Thanks, Max. Just for a little while, please take it easy. I didn't even know you guys could merge like that!" The young man glances over the back of the couch toward the door, looking at the lanky, slouched form of a certain samurai. "Calibur, you sure you don't wanna join us? Isn't it cold over there?"
"N--no." He answers, simply. Danger was still present in the streets of Tsutsujidai. As the one who took the least amount of damage in battle, Calibur has taken it on himself to watch for any incoming threats.
"Leave him be, Yuta. We all unwind in different ways." Vit offers, not breaking his scroll.
<Pose Tracker> Ennil El has posed.
Dawn has been especially harsh on Ennil El today. Unlike Max, she bears no obvious injury from the night's events - but the unfolding conflict cost her plenty in peace of mind, and an emptiness has been gnawing at her since.
She'd considered the Starbows from her first evening in Tsutsujidai. It does have a small selection of snacks. But she'd been there to meet Akane Shinjo and - as unlikely as it was - coming face to face with the city's overseer again only dug an even deeper pit into her stomach. So she'd taken to the streets... and not found much of anything. Without a guide, the neighborhood had not gone out of its way to provide her with much.
Then her gaze had lit on something unusual. Or at least meaningful to her. JUNK SHOP, huh? Akane had mentioned there were a few around. She had said Ennil might like to check them out.
If nothing else, maybe they'd know how to find somewhere else for breakfast?
Drawing a deep breath, she did her best to gather herself to deal with people again, and started towards the door --
And then stopped.
What kind of place had a guy with that many swords watching the door?
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
It's been a trial for everyone, an exhausting and emotionally-trying time. She's a little disoriented, too - perhaps the effects of what happened within the dream, where she found herself able to reach out to others fighting in the physical world. The hot chocolate helped, and the presence of friends is appreciated. Rikka isn't about to chase Yuta and the Neon Genesis Junior High Students away. Right now, she doesn't want to be alone, either.
She's sitting on the couch, as well - legs hauled up onto the couch and hugging them to herself with a blanket wrapped comfortably around herself. It isn't cold - when is it ever, in Tsutsujidai? - but it helps. She looks up, though, when Max starts to move toward the kitchen.
"You're not going to recover if you don't take it easy - then where will you be if something else happens?" Rikka insists. "...I don't want to see that happen to this form, too."
She emerges from her blanket cocoon to help Max with his arm before, before sending a grateful smile to Borr.
"...Thanks." She replies. She goes to sit down, though... but as she does, she notices someone else approaching the Junk Shop Aya. ...It's a little late for customers, but at the same time they've all been so busy they haven't really thought to change the sign from 'OPEN' to 'CLOSED'. It'd feel bad to turn someone away after they've come all this way.
"...Someone's at the door." Rikka notes. "Should we let her in...?"
She watches for just a moment to see how Calibur handles this.
<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.
"Thank you, Rikka." Max says, a smile in his voice at Rikka's care. "We are all the better for your presence, as ever."
Calibur makes eye contact with Ennil. A long, long moment passes. He can sense the light within her, not perfectly, but enough to know she's dangerous. At the samurai's hesitation, Borr looks up from behind the counter, squinting at Ennil's form. Vit moves imperceptibly closer to Rikka and Yuta, lowering his phone to keep an eye on the situation.
"Calibur?" Yuta calls, turned around fully on the couch to take a look. "Is... it alright?"
At last, the samurai moves. A decision is made. He steps forward, one hand coming out of his pocket... And holds the door open. No further words or explanations are offered.
"Uh, alright." Yuta mumbles. "Vit, could you get another glass of hot chocolate? Anyone out this late deserves it."
"Fine..." Vit says, with faux-annoyance. It'll give him a chance to keep an eye on this mysterious visitor. Slipping his phone into his pocket, Vit gives Max a look as he passes by to enter the kitchen.
"Hmm." Max offers, standing. Even with his arm in a sling, he cuts an imposing figure. Easily the tallest man in the room, and broad with muscles, he takes the hot chocolate from Vit once it's prepared. Should their guest choose to enter the shop, he will present her with it.
Yuta watches everything unfold, glancing at Rikka. Everyone's acting strangely. This person clearly isn't a civilian of Tsutsujidai -- but there's no Dreamers left here, anymore. She could only be one of the people who came here to fight, but on which side? She doesn't look injured...
"Hey there!" Yuta offers, a tentative smile on his face. It won't hurt anything to be polite.
<Pose Tracker> Ennil El has posed.
Ennil is intimately aware of the staredown. She's spent enough time hunting and being hunted to know when she's being sized up.
What could possibly be so important in this tiny shop?
But something shifts, and the door swings open. Ennil favors the tall, quiet man with a wink and a playful "hands up" gesture as she steps in, peering around the space. She's not that small a person, if slight, but between Calibur and Max she's certainly outsized. She decides not to question the presented cup and takes it into her hands, pulling the warmth close to her and letting herself breathe. Oh, hot chocolate?
Still, the tension doesn't break. And when the boy on the couch speaks up, she actually starts a little. Not in the least because... He makes her the most tense of all. Why? Something tugs at her, but she pushes it down. This would be a terrible time for it.
"Did I... misread the sign? It said open..." It would be strange, thinking about it. It's either too late or too early, depending on your direction, for most businesses to be operating. And there are a bunch of people resting on a couch...
"But, uh. Hello..."
She takes a small sip of the chocolate, trying to force down the tension welling in her. She hasn't been harmed, and this boy... He looks a little confused, but not at all upset. She hasn't done anything wrong.
"This, uh. Junk shop... a friend mentioned there was one in town."
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
"Glad to help." Rikka replies with a nod. She doesn't quite sit down back yet, looking between Calibur and Ennil. Eventually, after a staredown... the former opens the door. She glances, briefly, toward Yuta when she sees him looking her way. There's definitely something off... maybe they're just feeling especially protective after what they just went through?
...It was pretty touching, admittedly.
But, for the time being, Rikka offers Ennil a smile.
"Good evening." She greets politely. "Sorry, it's been a pretty long day so we haven't had a chance to close up shop yet... But, we're not in any hurry, either, so you're welcome to stay for a while. And if you see anything you like, let me know and I can get you taken care of."
And there's a lot of things too like, with so many discarded and unwanted goods on display, brought here to be given new life.
She's interested, though, when Ennil mentions that someone told her about it.
"They did? But, yeah... this is Junk Shop Aya. My family owns it." Rikka explains.
<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.
Calibur appears impervious to Ennil's wink and hands-up gesture. As she enters, he resumes guarding the door, staring out into the night.
"Er -- sorry!" Yuta says, raising his hands in a placating gesture when Ennil starts. "What Rikka said. You're welcome! It's been a really weird day around here... If you're in the city, I'm sure you get it."
He scoots over a bit on the couch, toward Rikka, making room for Ennil to sit in Vit's vacated spot, should she choose. Max takes a seat at the bar once more, and Vit leans against the back wall of the kitchen. His phone is out again, but his scrolling is much slower. He's paying attention to the kids' conversation.
"I can totally promise anything here will be delicious. Even if not quite as delicious as Rikka's mom makes." The young man is making a serious effort to put Ennil at ease, smiling tiredly up at her. "The cake set is extra good. Who recommended the place to you, just out of curiosity?"
<Pose Tracker> Ennil El has posed.
"Technically, she just said there were junk shops in town." Ennil shrugs. "But I was walking around the neighborhood and this one stood out."
Which is interesting. Because it felt like there wasn't very much else to see.
"Family owned place, huh?" That gets her to smile. "And, thanks. For your patience." The space is so comfy she can't help but feel like an intruder, but she does step in a little further, looking over the stock.
"Yeah. Very strange night..." And she's being offered food, too. She almost says something to turn it away, but... "Oh, that sounds wonderful, actually." There's just something so sincere about this tired-looking boy. The way he makes space for her. She can't bring herself to deny her own hunger right to his face.
She settles into the offered space, curling her legs slightly - though not to the degree where she might scuff up the couch. The hot chocolate is sinking deeper, bringing her out of the terrible, exhausted fugue of the just-past evening.
"Mm? Oh, yeah."
It's past her lips before she thinks about it. She's just too tired to stop herself.
"Her name was Akane."
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
"No problem. I think we all kind of get it." Rikka replies as Ennil thanks her for her patience. She nods, then, as Yuta explains that it's been a really weird day. It's been weird for everyone. She returns to her seat on the couch, making sure to leave room for Yuta to move over so that Ennil will have enough room to join them too.
"Yeah, definitely recommend the cake set." She agrees. Yuta asks who recommended the place, and Ennil says a very familiar name. Rikka looks briefly in Yuta's direction before looking back toward Ennil.
"Akane... if she recommended you look into junk shops, then we might have a friend in common. Small world!" Rikka comments. Her tone is genuine, at least - despite everything, she still thinks of her as a friend. The question is, how did the two of them meet...?
<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.
"Aya's pretty unique. We pretty much use it as our hangout." Yuta says, smiling again as Ennil settles in. "Rikka's family puts up with us."
Ennil invokes Akane's name, and Yuta's friendly smile twists into something like grief. He looks away, quickly, not wanting to distress a guest. "Y--yeah, she's in our school! A friend from class..." His voice is hoarse, despite his efforts.
Noticing Yuta's distress, Max tries to take Ennil's attention. "I see. Are you one of Miss Shinjo's allies, young lady?" There's a weight to the question. "You are, in either case, welcome. But it is a question we must pose to you after the day's events."
As they talk, Vit clatters around in the kitchen, eventually coming forward with a small tray. A decadent-looking cake is the centerpiece, along with a nice glass of milk and a fork. "Enjoy, miss!" Vit says, smiling at Ennil.
<Pose Tracker> Ennil El has posed.
This is one of Akane's friends? Did she intend for this to happen, too?
"It sounded like we both like making things. It's actually what I do for a living - I grew up in a place where folks couldn't really afford to replace things when they broke, and... turns out I'm kind of a natural? No kidding, though." It's not exactly the whole truth, given what it is she's usually salvaging, but she has learned a decent amount of civilian repair too. "Maybe she thought it'd be funny if I dropped in on you."
She smiles, and says, as genuinely as she can; "I'm glad Akane has friends so close by. And so thoughtful!"
Something twists in the boy next to her, and despite his best efforts, it twists in her too. He sounds so hurt... and they're all worried about last night. Do they --
When Max pipes up, her bones momentarily freeze, despite the hot chocolate. Oh. So... They do know, then. Something, at least. His arm is in a sling. Is that... something she did?
It takes a moment for her to figure out how to answer the question. It would have been easy, not even 24 hours ago. Now:
"I don't know. I was." A longer pause. "I'm... sorry if I've caused you any grief."
And she is. She's sorry for all the grief. The whole world's worth of it. She still wishes it would end.
But for some reason, there's still cake? Vit is smiling down at her, and she takes the plate with unsteady hands. "I... is that okay?"
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Rikka listens with interest as Ennil explains what she does for a living - repair and salvage...
"Oh, really...?" Rikka remarks. It feels like she's met a few people like that recently. It shouldn't be that surprising. "It's a good skillset to have... And I kind of like the feeling of putting things back together. It's nice to meet someone in the same field. But... I get the feeling her suggestion was probably genuine."
Rikka notices Yuta's grief-stricken expression. ...She can't really blame him, but she appreciates his attempts to cover it up. Max addresses Ennil next, then - asking if she's one of Akane's allies. ...And... she is - or was. That...
Oh. That puts a lot into perspective. Rikka is a little conflicted at first... but eventually, she nods.
"It's alright. It's not like you showed up here to fight us... We welcomed you in, we're not going to turn right around and kick you out." Rikka replies, and then nods down toward the cake. "...Besides, it seems like you could kind of use something nice right now."
<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.
"That sounds really impressive, being able to help people like that." Yuta says, recovering after a moment. "There's a lot of cool old stuff here. If you want to look around, I'm sure you'd find something you'd like."
More about Akane... "Y--yeah, we do our best. She means a lot to both of us. Oh! My name is Yuta Hibiki, by the way." He leaves it to the others to introduce themselves, should they wish. "Tsutsujidai is small, but we all really care about each other here. I think that's important."
"I see." Max replies, his gaze steady. He listens to her calmly, even as Yuta makes a soft noise of surprise. "Our battle was not with you. And so, whatever crimes you may have committed are not ours to prosecute. You may stay as long as Rikka would like."
Vit nods. "Yeah, long as you don't go throwing plates around like a certain someone..."
"I heard that!" Borr shouts from the kitchen. "You know I had a good reason!"
A bit nervously, Yuta laughs. "Really, I'm glad Akane had someone she felt she could talk to. Thank you for that, Ennil. Whatever else... If you don't want to talk about it, that's okay. We're all trying to recover, too." Rikka speaks up, and Yuta gives her a grateful smile. "Exactly what Rikka said. Even if we're enemies tomorrow, let's be friends tonight, okay?"
<Pose Tracker> Ennil El has posed.
'That sounds really impressive, being able to help people like that.'
For a moment, Ennil's expression goes distant. She stares down at this soft-spoken boy, and... Something trembles in her mind. The memory is sharp, and she seizes up on the fork in her hand.
No. That was someone different. She shakes her head, slowly.
Akane's friend wants to do something kind for her. She'd feel even more miserable to turn her down, at this point. The fork sinks down and brings her her first bite of the cake.
"Well. You were right about the cake. It's really good." She relaxes back into the couch, as much as she can, taking slow, thoughtful bites. Regarding Max, and the other three dressed like him. "I don't think we have any more reason to fight, then. Or... I hope we don't..."
She's bound to cause more grief, but hopefully it won't have to be here, in Tsutsujidai. Not for a while, at least.
"I totally get what you mean, by the way," she says, circling back to Rikka's point. "It's like... whatever it was before, it's yours now. You get to bring it back into the world." Something occurs to her, and she has to take a drink of the milk to clear her throat before she can pull it out of her chest. "Despite everything -- "
It's hard for her to parse. The very idea of it seems so strange. If you care about someone...
"Akane is your friend? Even if you have to fight her? Doesn't that mean... you'll end up hurting each other?"
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
"Yeah. She's... very important to us." Rikka agrees, when Yuta says that Akane means a lot to both of them.
"Rikka Takarada." She introduces herself, after Yuta introduces himself. Max says Ennil can stay for as long as she's okay with it, and Rikka nods. "...Yeah. Feel free to stick around as long as you need to."
"Right?" Rikka says about the cake with a smile. It fades just a little as Ennil says she thinks they don't have any more reason to fight, though.
...Maybe not tonight, but eventually... But, that's later, and this is tonight. It's like Yuta said - even if they're enemies tomorrow, they can be friends tonight.
But, she picks herself up after that, nodding as Ennil talks about how it feels to repair things.
"Yeah, it's... I like being able to give new life to things people have thrown away. It's sad, when something goes unused and unwanted before it's time." Rikka agrees.
She smiles, though, when Yuta expresses his earnest gratitude for Ennil giving Akane someone she can talk to. She feels the same way. But... then Ennil asks that question, and Rikka has to think about it for a moment.
"I wish... I wish we didn't have to fight her. It's difficult." Rikka admits. "But... it's because we're friends that we have to stop what she's doing. Because if we don't people will get hurt, and that'll only hurt Akane more in the end. But... we haven't stopped reaching out to her, either."
<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.
Yuta grins as Ennil compliments the cake. "I've used it as a post-battle snack lots of times. Nothing grounds you better than some delicious food and a warm drink."
Food is important, in Tsutsujidai. It goes beyond courtesy to something more. Yuta couldn't identify what it is, really, if you asked him. The first time he met Akane, she offered him food. That moment has stayed with Yuta ever since, and he seeks to pass it on.
"If you do not wish to harm the children or the city, then we will do nothing to stand in your way." Max adds. His voice is more friendly now, though his mask obscures most of his expression. "Truly, even I had had my fill of battle this evening. Thank you for not making it a necessity."
Vit returns with two more plates of cake, one for Rikka, and one for Yuta. The young man eagerly takes the dessert, tearing into it with a flavor of gusto only teenage boys can muster. When Ennil asks if they'll end up hurting each other, Yuta and Akane, his eyes turn sad, and he lowers his fork.
"We will. And we have." Yuta says, keeping his eyes down. "We're doing what we can to help her, and... I'd like to think she's doing the same thing, for us. But we keep hurting each other along the way. I don't want to. I don't like fighting, and I'm not good at it." He takes a soft breath. "But I won't sit by and watch while the place I care about is hurt, or while people die."
How does he explain what Akane's done, just in the time they slept? The months they happily spent together? They're private, deeply important to Yuta... and not something he wants to share. But he doesn't want to make Akane sound like some kind of villain, either.
"Akane is a good person. Someone's hurting her, and taking advantage of her. That's the real person we're after. We're doing all we can." A wobbly smile, as Yuta's eyebrows draw together. "All we can do is hope it's enough."
<Pose Tracker> Ennil El has posed.
There's more cake. These two friends of Akane answer her, as honestly as they can. They really do --
"Oh. You're... braver than I am." She winces a bit at the admission. "I wanted to protect this place, too. I thought someone was trying to make Akane miserable, and that needed to stop. No matter... What that meant I had to do. So that the pain would stop."
More cake. It gives her time to breathe, even if she shudders as she does.
"All I managed to do was make things worse..."
But she only bends this time. There's genuine kindness here. The promise of something she can't see through Dawn's light, but feels nonetheless - an answer to pain that isn't silence.
It's as real, and as sweet, as the taste on her lips. She thinks back to the Starbows. To how she'd wanted to share sweetness then, too, with someone who needed it.
"Can you promise that won't change? That you think Akane... no matter what, that she should be saved too?"
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Delicious food and warm drink... That's definitely true. Maybe that's her upbringing talking partly, too, but it's always been important to her.
"Especially when you have someone to share it with." Rikka agrees. Max says his piece and Vit arrives with more cake. She accepts hers with a grateful nod before digging in. Of course, she takes hers a bit more slowly than Yuta does. ...Not that she hasn't been known to shovel cake into her mouth from time to time, as her phone icon can attest.
She listens quietly, then, to Yuta's response to Ennil's question - taking in and quietly appreciating his resolve.
Ennil, then... admits that they're braver, explains why she did what she did.
"...I'm sorry." Rikka murmurs a sympathetic apology. She can understand that feeling - of trying to help and making things worse. It's something she fears doing herself, sometimes. But when she asks if they can promise that their feelings about Akane won't change, that they feel that she should be saved too - Rikka looks up. There's steel in her eyes, now - you'd never know that she was exhausted, mentally and physically, from an incredibly long day just by looking at her.
"I can. That's what I want more than anything - to save her, and keep her safe from those who'd harm her." She confirms.
<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.
Yuta's eyes go soft. "You wanted to protect Tsutsujidai? No matter what else... That makes us friends." A bright smile. "I don't think you made anything worse. Things were already pretty rough here, and... I think it's going to take a little while for them to stabilize. But you wanted to help us. Thank you."
That's more kindness than a lot of people bring to Tsutsujidai...
Rikka's resolve bolsters Yuta. "You're amazing, Rikka. We can do this, together with everyone!"
"Yes." Yuta answers Ennil, without hesitation. Brilliant blue eyes meet Ennil's, full of determination and sincerity. "No matter what. I'll never give up on her. I may not know exactly what to do to help, but --!" Yuta raises his left arm, displaying a red wristband. "Nothing will change my heart!"
<Pose Tracker> Ennil El has posed.
Ennil smiles as the two of them re-affirm what she'd hoped for most of all.
"I'm glad. I hate to admit it, but... I can't see things the way you do. Yet. Maybe ever." It hurts to say. "I'm still someone who can't shoulder anyone else's pain. That might mean... I cause trouble again. I don't mean to."
Yuta is glad she cares about Tsutsujidai. Of course she does. This place... is already precious to her. Even if she can't have it forever. These two will need to rest, and so will their guardians. And she can't neglect her duty. If she stayed here, they might, well-meaning as they are, call on their allies to put an end to the Oath inside her.
But she can have a little longer, can't she? Just this once?
"Rikka. If you don't mind, show me around a little? I wanna see what kind of stuff catches your eye. Make something I can take with me, maybe. I think we have that much in common."
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
"Yeah, together." Rikka agrees with a nod as Yuta chimes along with her sentiment. And he has his own resolve, too - his own determination, which bolsters her in turn. Rikka smiles back at Ennil, then... though, her expression softens when she admits that she can't see things the way they do.
"It's alright to take care of your own pain first. Once you're ready, you can start helping others with theirs - little by little." Rikka assures. "And if you never feel ready... that's fine, too."
Soon enough she's finished with her cake - and, Ennil asks her to show her around.
"Sure. I think we have some things you might like." She says. Whatever might happen in the future, at least for now they can share this moment together.