2023-09-12: Day By Day: Her Problem
- Log: Day By Day: Her Problem
- Cast: Kaname Chidori, Xia Twins, Leonard Testarossa
- Where: Jindai Ward, Nouvelle Tokyo
- OOC - IC Date: September 12, 0097
- Summary: Bereft of Sousuke Sagara's protection, Kaname Chidori finds herself under attack by an assassin, and comes face-to-face not only with Sousuke's replacement, but with Amalgam's Mr. Silver--Leonard Testarossa.
<Pose Tracker> Kaname Chidori has posed.
Things have felt off for a while now--a few days, at least. At first, it was subtle. A sourceless anxiety, a feeling like everyone was giving her a wider berth, the distinct sensation of being *watched*. This growing sense of impending doom and dread loomed ever larger over her as the days went on, like the music in a horror movie building to a crescendo as the slasher reels back to stab his innocent, beautiful teenage victim.
She felt like a paranoid, but she'd planned for this. Scouting the area in advance, and now... nervously playing with her lapel, she noticed a lump in the fabric. Hard. Metallic. A transmitter.
The moment she passes the gate of Jindai High School at the end of the day, she turns right instead of left and breaks into a run. Without Sousuke to protect her... this is all she's got.
She tries to move unpredictably, cutting through back alleys, hiding and taking breathers when she can... but never for too long. She can't stop.
As the sun begins to set, she runs across a salaryman--who, seeing her in this part of town, dressed like a schoolgirl, makes some assumptions. He propositions her.
She's about to keep running, when she realizes the opportunity. As it starts to rain, she accepts, and rushes into the nearby love hotel with him...
And emerges from a second-story alley window, barefoot, wearing a button-up shirt several sizes too large for her. The transmitter in her clothes is gone... and this window's got no street visibility.
She tries to crawl out the window onto the fire escape, but slips and falls, hitting the pavement hard, the taser gun in her hand clattering across the pavement. She curls up, groans, her entire side numb with pain. She can barely breathe. Maybe she should just give in...
No. She pushes those thoughts down. She needs to keep going. She grabs the taser.
Nearby is another hotel. The tallest in the area... the perfect place for her stalker to be watching from, she'd concluded during her scouting. Pushing through the pain, she clambered up the fire escape, up six floors.
And at the top... she finds a figure in a trenchcoat, standing on the other side of the roof, across a field of air conditioning units, looking down at the street below. She sneaks forward, slowly, until there are only a few meters separating them, and she takes aim with her taser.
"DON'T MOVE!" she yells. The figure--a middle-aged man--jolts. "Turn around. Slowly. I've got a gun on you."
He does, and his eyes go wide with surprise. "What--"
Kaname looks at him from under her brows. "You want me, right? I figured I'd come to you instead."
"You found the transmitter, then?" he asks, his voice oddly distorted. "That's why you went into the hotel with a stranger... I underestimated you. Listen. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm with Mithril."
Kaname felt the trigger against her finger. "What makes you think I'll trust you? You've got a gun, right? Take it out slowly, and put it on the ground."
The man laughs. "Don't get cocky. You think I'm threatened by a taser? Look, I can't kill you, but I can still teach your smart ass a lesson. And we've got bigger priorities. I'm not the only one who's b--"
"Drop the gun, shitbird!" she yells again.
<Pose Tracker> Xia Twins has posed.
In all respects, the insurgents' attack on Azdistan's solar power factory was a resounding effects. Political chaos abound, panic over the safety of such an important religious leader. Of course, Vincent Bruno was lost to Mithril, but that was of no concern to Yu Lan or Yu Fan.
No, there's another reason they left feeling a little dissatisfied - and that's because they didn't come out of it with Sousuke Sagara wrapped up with a bow for the Sensei.
Fortunately, there were contingency plans for exactly a situation. Oh, they were aware of his little transfer. His foolish desire to protect the person he loves, and perhaps even delude himself into thinking he belongs while he's at it.
All it would take to break his spirit is to follow Kaname Chidori's schedule for a while, wait until she inevitably makes herself vulnerable, and outside Mithril's protection -- and strike.
And when she pulls a stun gun on the very person who's supposed to be protecting her? She's ripe for the picking, thinks Yu Lan.
Agent 'Wraith' is asked to drop the gun - whether they planned to comply or not, there's no time before a bullet or two fly out from the shadows. Non-lethal, of course, but the sedatives inside mean Kaname is alone and corned.
"Kaname Chidori, correct?" A Chinese accented voice asks, as Yu Lan reveals herself - firing yet more shots before she even receives an answer.
<Pose Tracker> Kaname Chidori has posed.
A gunshot rings out, and there's a brief splash of blood from Wraith's chest. Another, and another. He falls to the rain-soaked roof as one seems to graze the side of his face.
"Wait-" is all Kaname has time to let out as Kaname turns to face the voice... and by pure chance, her heel slips, leaving her faltering as the bullets fly. By accident, she manages to dodge the spray of fire, with just one bullet grazing her cheek.
She stares, shocked, then looks down at herself. Besides the stinging in her cheek... she wasn't hit? Her jaw, slightly agape, closes. She assesses her options. Everything she could use as cover is behind her assailant, as is the only off the roof.
They don't want my mind... they want me dead, she realizes. Is this it? Is this where I die? Is there really nothing I can do...?
All the fear in her heart melted away at that, replaced by anger, white-hot, spilling over, compelling her legs to push forward. She dashes DIRECTLY AT Yu Lan, poised to tackle the woman full-force with her shoulder...!
<Pose Tracker> Xia Twins has posed.
Yu Lan's first shot grazes. As far as she understands it, despite being associated with Mithril, you could hardly call Chidori a combatant. That was what Sagara was for. Was that luck more than sheer skill?
But it's true - Yu Lan doesn't give a damn about how impressive Kaname's mind truly is. If anything, depending on how you look at it, disposing of her swiftly is a mercy.
Gritting her teeth, she expects Chidori to run for her life, and prepares to make chase. The last thing she thought she'd see is for the girl to desperately charge for her, trying to grapple her with a shoulder tackle.
No matter, she's a professional. Meeting Chidori's hot-headed anger with a cold-blooded stare, she discards her own gun, using her honed instincts to take the advantage.
After all, being on the roof means you must be prepared to fall. And as she slides to the floor of the roof to avoid her assault, retrieving her gun - there is now nothing left between Kaname, the edge of the roof, and quite a high drop to the city below.
Still on the floor, gun trained on Chidori for another round of shots - her would-be target will have no choice but to take it, or jump and break her fall with whatever she can see!
<Pose Tracker> Kaname Chidori has posed.
Yu Lan dodges, and Kaname's eyes go wide as she realizes the choice she has to make--between bullets and a six-story fall.
Instead, she chooses neither.
She leaps. She's not in the line of fire long enough to get hit, instead tucking and rolling as she hits the roof on the other side of the alley. The sun has set, now. It's dark on the rooftops--dark enough for her to set up a decoy.
It doesn't take her long. An antenna aerial does well enough; in the cold and the rain, she strips out of the white shirt, draping it on the metal and letting it move in the wind while she crouches down behind an AC unit on the other rooftop.
What's the range on these tasers, anyway...? She sincerely hopes it's enough...
<Pose Tracker> Xia Twins has posed.
Kaname Chidori is crafty enough to momentarily escape death, letting a rooftop across the alley break her fall. Yu Lan pursues, making the leap with almost impossible precision, making it look effortless. Will Kaname really be able to make it?
As she makes her landing, Yu Lan brandishes a large, sharp machete, chasing the schoolgirl down with the heavy weapon.
But Kaname uses the extra time she has on her would-be killer to her advantage, with that decoy. Now that the sun's set, it's all but impossible to tell the difference between the genuine article.
Cowering for her life, she thinks, as she makes a clean, confident slice with the machete...
To cut at only fabric. Yu Lan's eyes narrow, realizing her mistake. A petty trick like that is one thing... but Kaname Chidori won't be able to hide forever, she's certain of.
What Yu Lan doesn't realise is that the real Kaname Chidori has climbed to a vantage point above her, taser gun trained on her assailant... all it takes now is to pull the trigger.
<Pose Tracker> Kaname Chidori has posed.
Kaname's positioned herself well. Her hands are shaking. She's trembling, and she's pretty sure she's never been colder than this in her life, bereft of all but her underwear.
But she's able to steady her arms against the HVAC unit she's hidden behind just enough... and when Yu Lan pauses on the realization thatshe's been duped, Kaname pulls the trigger. Twin barbs fly out to her, charged with enough electricity to deliver a knockout.
Is that it? It's hard to see from here... but as the electricity pulses and snaps, she hopes that was enough. That they hit, and that she's out of danger for now...
<Pose Tracker> Xia Twins has posed.
Yu Lan certainly hears the electricity crackle, but it's hard to say there's enough time to properly react to it.
Her eyes widen when the electricity starts to reach her body, but as much of a professional she is - even she can't handle that much voltage at once.
She slumps, and collapses to the ground - unconscious. Kaname Chidori has not just survived the night, but triumphed against her assailant, a cold-blooded assassin, no less.
But is it truly over? Kaname might hear the faint sound of footsteps over the pouring rain....
<Pose Tracker> Leonard Testarossa has posed.
Don't hesitate in front of your enemy. Sousuke taught her that one.
Nothing happens for a few moments. Time enough for Kaname to get down, dress herself again if she pleases. Once she's decent enough, a voice, male, deep and somewhat self-amused, rises up. "It looks like you've won, Kaname Chidori."
The speaker is a man - a boy? About the age as Kaname herself, perhaps, with long, messy, silvery hair, the top half of his face and the intent of his eyes hidden behind a blak umbrella. To either side are two men in raincoats, each of them ENORMOUS - eight feet, at the least, and broad across the chest in a way that would make them seem tremendous even at more normal heights.
"I believe," he says, hand in the pocket of his three-piece suit's long overcoat, navy blue, "that there are two kinds of women in this world." There's a faint, almost teasing smile on his lips. "The ones who look good in the rain and the ones who don't."
He tips the umbrella back, revealing grey-silver eyes with a lighthearted, quite unafraid twinkle in them. "Anyone who looked at you now would be hard pressed to disagree, I think. Congratulations, Miss Chidori."
One of the large men is holding a large object - it's the intelligence agent, tossed over his shoulder and entirely limp.
<Pose Tracker> Kaname Chidori has posed.
As her would-be assassin audibly slumps to the ground, Kaname lets herself relax... and slowly make her way over to Yu Lan's unconscious body, both to make sure she's actually out, and to grab the torn remains of the one garment she currently has. She wraps it around herself, huddling in the meager warmth of the rainsoaked fabric.
The voice startles her, and she looks at the speaker with fearful suspicion, taking a couple of steps back as she sees him and the two gigantic men beside him.
"W-who are you?" she asks, her voice barely above a whisper, eyes darting to Wraith's body slung over one of the henchmen's shoulders. "How do you know my name?"
She can't look behind her, but she knows she couldn't do what she just did in reverse. And even if she *could*, she's about ready to collapse...
<Pose Tracker> Leonard Testarossa has posed.
The young man chuckles - everything is unthreatening, but in that self-amused, unthreatened way that has a vein of condescension running the whole way through it. "We are kindred spirits, you and I," he non-answers, and raises his free hand to close his umbrella. A little rain doesn't bother him. He closes the distance a few more paces, smiling at her placidly the whole time. "I came to rescue you," he says.
Then he stops, placing the umbrella down to mark his points, and chuckles again. "...is what I'd like to say. But I do strive for more honesty than that in my dealings. I don't think my intervention would have changed the outcome. You would live, and Yu Lan would fail. So..."
Hm. His head tips, eyes regarding her with the curiosity of an intellectual, not a young boy with a half-naked peer in front of him. "If you want to know my motives regarding you...it might be best to say I am testing a theory. A certain dilemma, concerning the matter of fate."
<Pose Tracker> Kaname Chidori has posed.
Kaname just... stares at the man, frowning, both out of confusion and suspicion. There's a resemblance to him, something she recognizes. It's hard to place, especially in the dark like this.
"Fate?" she asks, quietly. "As in... you mean there's no other way this could have gone?" She clutches the shirt against her tightly. But if he knew, and let it happen...
Whatever side he's on, it's not hers.
"So what's this theory of yours? You've got s-s-some kind of future-predicting computer, or something?" That's not a thing, right?
No, it's not a thing, unless he's got the ZERO System... whatever that is.
"Is he alive?" She asks, nodding to the man slung over one of the henchmen's shoulders.
<Pose Tracker> Leonard Testarossa has posed.
"Well, that's what the experiment is about," the young man says, with an entertained little lilt. "I'm not overly fond of being too direct. Words can be so fleeting." He gives her a positively companionable smile. That silvery hair shines in the blaring light of the neon below. It's not a celebrity, it's not someone from school or GUTS...If not for the tension of the moment, the adrenaline in the air, he might be downright princely in his handsomeness. "Ah, but that directness is such a core part of your appeal...that boy and I can agree on that much. No, today was not about testing predictions. Merely hypotheses."
His attention drifts to the man on his follower's shoulders. "Ah, this," he says, referring to the agent like an object. "For now. But this person is unquestionably my enemy...and they were rude to you in a way I find myself hard pressed to forgive."
The large man holding the agent begins to hum in a way that's...familiar? Electrical, but it's not a motor, is that....
Muscle Packages? Like an Arm Slave?
"It's not quite what I came for either, but would you mind terribly if I eliminated it?"
...then he turns completely. "And while I'm cleaning up loose ends...you've been back with us for some time, have you not, Yu Lan?"
His eyes cut again to Kaname, favoring her with an almost apologetic smile - as if he's having to take a work call during dinner - and then turning a much harder stare on where Yu Lan has fallen. "I'm certain of it now. She's too much for the likes of you. You'll never beat her. You should really give up."
<Pose Tracker> Kaname Chidori has posed.
He may be handsome, but this guy is already infuriating Kaname, and not in the endearing way like Sousuke... god, she misses him right now.
And he knows Sousuke. Suddenly, she's filled with fear-- is Sousuke all right?
The worry is interrupted by the man's disapproval of the man over his henchman's shoulder. She was wrong. That man *is*, almost certainly, on her side.
Dropping the ball, or being an asshole, doesn't mean he deserves death... especially not with how much of a bitch she tends to be.
He points out that Yu Lan is awake--and she takes several shaky steps aside, reasonably certain she's out of ankle-grabbing reach. She shivers... but straightens, looking as confident as she can given her circumstances. "I *would* mind, actually. Don't kill him."
If this guy respects her as much as he seems to, then maybe her opinion on the matter means something.
<Pose Tracker> Xia Twins has posed.
"So, you were watching this whole time, Mr. Silver..." Yu Lan rises as the young man addresses her. What could he possibly want?
She stares him down when he suggests she really should just give up. Chidori is just a schoolgirl... how could she possibly be too much for her?
"This is something my Sensei wanted. As long as I draw breath, I won't stop trying to kill her." She draws a knife, breathing heavy, staring down the heavy-coated... yet unarmed man.
"Do you really think we're going to obey you? You and your organization no longer have any power over us."
She doesn't pay attention to the precarious fate of Wraith. With them in the bodyguard's grasp, Mr. Silver is powerless. Or so she thinks.
"So first... I'll start with you, Leonard Testarossa!" And she lets the blade fly.
<Pose Tracker> Leonard Testarossa has posed.
The young man does not move at Yu Lan's answer, not in face or posture. Not even when she draws a weapon. Not even when she throws it.
Not even when the end of his coat swings around and blocks the blade, knocking it aside. "Useless," Leonard Testarossa says, as condescendingly unruffled as he was before Yu Lan spoke. "I am also too much for you, I'm afraid, but in a way I think you'll find rather more concrete."
He nudges his head and the other bodyguard steps forward with heavy, rooting footsteps. The hood and scarf make his head indecipherable. "You'll find very little under the sun that the organization has no power over, Yu Lan." Then, he shifts his attention. "Subdue," he orders the bodyguard.
And while that's happening, Leonard turns a smile back on Kaname like he hadn't just ordered two assassins to do battle. "Let's see, where were we...Ah yes. Are you so certain this man's life is worth anything to you? Even Teletha would have had someone break his knees, for speaking to her like that."
<Pose Tracker> Kaname Chidori has posed.
Leonard Testarossa.
Kaname's eyes go wide at that. The distinct artificiality of Leonard's bodyguards registers to her, filed away for later consideration. But for now--
Her would-be assassin finds herself subdued by one of those bodyguards, flinching, but not...
Well, she's not going to beg for the woman's life. Not right now.
She frowns deeply at his words. "You may be her brother, but you don't know *anything* about her." Her voice is almost a snarl, spilling over with anger. It's hard for her to keep from punching him right now, even if those *things* with him could snap her neck...
"Yes. I am completely *certain*," she retorts to the relevant question. "I don't give a shit what you think Tessa would do. *I* am asking you to put him down." Even shivering, hair matted against a torn office shirt so wet it's translucent, she stares at him with the confidence of a steel bulkhead.
<Pose Tracker> Xia Twins has posed.
If everything else wasn't enough for her to get the hint, Yu Lan still doesn't stop trying when she watches a knife literally bounce across the coat like it's made of rubber.
Machete in hand, she charges for that 'bodyguard', given orders to subdue -- and finds her machete to cut against metal instead of flesh. It shatters. Carrying out Leonard's orders dutifully, the bodyguard simply grabs her and slams her to the ground like a ragdoll. "Complete, sir."
If Kaname and Leonard's little discussion didn't need any more interruptions, a clearly stolen unarmed transport hovers above the roof, the pilot climbing out a mirror image for Yu Lan. "I see you failed to carry out Sensei's orders, dear sister." She says, opening the door for her to get in, outrunning Alastor. "In any case, the plan has changed. I'll tell you all about it on the way..." Yu Lan, barely even conscious, doesn't say much in response.
"My little sister caused some trouble for you, did she? I look forward to settling our unfinished business, Testarossa... but it won't be today." As for Chidori, Yu Fan regards her with a cold stare. Not to be underestimated if she could take out her sister.
<Pose Tracker> Leonard Testarossa has posed.
As it strikes, the bodyguard reveals its artificiality in full; the blank mask of a faceplate under the hood tilts outward into an almost alien, leering face, a single red line for an eye, a grille-like shape beneath it - exhaust vent? Yu Lan does not remain conscious long enough after to force it to reveal more secrets than that.
Then Yu fan arrives. The...robot? *Creature?* turns up toward the rapidly-arriving transport, and-- "Leave it at that," Leonard says, and it stands down at once, stomping away as Yu Fan drops down. "I was in the area, Yu Fan," Leonard replies, placidly, and thus quietly implying that in fact no, Yu Lan did not manage to cause Leonard to exert much of anything. "Do be careful where you set foot next," he advises the departing women. "Mr. Kallium is not as restrained as I am."
Then, attention turning back to Kaname, his gaze takes her in again, and there's a positively fond smile on his face. "What a woman you are. I think I'm in love. Very well, then. Release your burden."
The second bodyguard drops the intelligence agent like a sack of potatoes.
"Plan 1211, Alastor," Leonard explains without prompting. "You might call them the world's smallest AS...though, at that size, you might as well just call them 'robots.'"
His lips curl up, curious and pleased. "I think you can understand by now just how difficult it is to get an AS to act autonomously. Hardware, software, firmware...miniaturizing the power and control systems was a refreshing challenge."
For once, the pride in his voice comes perilously close to reaching his eyes. It would've been nearly impossible, let alone 'challenging.'
That look fades a moment later, though the smile doesn't. "That business with the Xia sisters was the actual reason I was here," Leonard confesses. "I expect you'll see them again, but I'm sure you're up to it. With that marvelously bold heart of yours. And with all else settled," he says, and walks toward the edge of the roof. "Shall we call this meeting to a close?"
<Pose Tracker> Kaname Chidori has posed.
Kaname just... stares as Yu Fan's mirror image comes to save her sister... Great, she thinks as Yu Lan stares daggers at her. Twin assassins. That always goes *great* in the movies.
She winces as Wraith drops to the floor, but her attention goes to the Alastor as Leonard explains. She just... nods slowly, a little numbly. "Almost impossible," she murmurs.
"Thank you," she adds, her voice clearly begrudging the gesture. But she really... didn't expect him to just *do* it. She's heard and gleaned bits and pieces about Leonard from Tessa already, but...
Just what the hell *is* he?
Taking a deep breath, trembling in the rain, she nods. "Fine." She looks over at him and the Alastors warily, stepping closer to Wraith. She startles, a little, as she sees that under the facial wound is- another face?
A disguise, obviously, but...
"Are you awake?" she asks quietly, glancing up to make sure Leonard and company are actually leaving.
<Pose Tracker> Leonard Testarossa has posed.
Leonard strides to the edge of the roof, and then turns to Kaname again. "Before I take my leave, a word." He smiles, that sincere, utterly insincere look. "I wasn't just teasing you. I really do think I've fallen in love. And soon enough, I'll show you the greatest gift I can offer...and pull you free of the illusions you still live in. I aim to show you a whole new world. A world where you won't have to fear the Whispers."
He half-turns, like that was all...and then he glances one last time over his shoulder. "...not even she will be able to keep up with you for much longer, Kaname. Let alone that clod of a sergeant. I think you already know that."
"We'll meet again," he says, and waves over his shoulder, before jumping off the rooftop. His two henchmen follow.
There is a CRACK of asphalt exploding from the impacts of such heavy bodies, but looking over the edge of the roof reveals only the mist of a foggy evening. He's already gone.
When Kaname returns to the agent's side, he makes a small, helplessly grunt. "Barely. That man.." they struggle to speak; voice changer still reflecting a middle-aged man. "...injected me with...something. A paralytic."
<Pose Tracker> Kaname Chidori has posed.
Kaname glowers at Leonard as he insists he's fallen in love... but the rest of it worries her. What does he mean by that--this greatest gift, a world where she doesn't have to live in fear...
'keep up', though? Even if she gets smarter, it's not like it's a competition. Ugh.
"Bastard," she mutters, looking at where he and the Alastors just were.
She hugs her arms tighter against herself, caring less about exposure and more about warmth. "Is t-t-there anything I can do to help?" she asks, looking down at him. She briefly considers an apology, but decides against it. "I can't get you down from here, but..."
<Pose Tracker> Leonard Testarossa has posed.
Leonard's response is resonant absence.
The agent simmers for several long seconds, his teeth gritting and grinding. "No," he says, trying to force something like frustration through a body struggling to bear it. "I still have my pride. A failure like this is unthinkable. I'd rather die like this."
<Pose Tracker> Kaname Chidori has posed.
Kaname Chidori stares at Wraith for a long moment. "Would you, really?" she asks, then shakes her head. "You're just going to give up and die?"
She looks up, off toward the skyline. "Well... I'm going to fight. I don't know how I'm going to survive something like this again. But whatever happens, I'm going down kicking and screaming." Her voice gradually rises in volume. "I'm gonna live, goddammit, and if anyone says otherwise, I'm gonna CLAW THEIR GODDAMN EYES OUT!"