Description: Jira's club is cancelled this afternoon, on a whim she decides to meet up with Miki at Seijyun and see what shenannigans can be had!
The sun is setting over a chilly Southtown day.
Miki is leaving Seijyun High after a long day of school, walking out through the gardens towards the outer gates. She's not in a club, so she doesn't have to stay behind to do anything. A few other Seijyun students are leaving too, but the majority have afterschool activities of some kind. There's a few limosines waiting at the gates.
She glances back over her shoulder at the learning institution, a cold glare, wondering if spending so much time here is really time well spent. A slight shrug of her shoulders, and she continues onto and then through the gates if uninterrupted.
Fight Safety Club was cancelled today, because another club had decided to use the roof at Taiyo. One day set back wasn't bad, and Jira was short on ideas for how to spend her afternoon. Not much thought goes into her plan to see if she can spy Miki while waiting outside the Seijyun gates. Well, leaning agaist on the outer side, that's still outside, right?
Jira's a little surprised by the pickup vehicles, and wonders if she'd been better off attending here instead of Taiyo in the past.. but the Taiyo pride runs deep, so that line of thought is quashed. She isn't sure if she can quite see her friend, Murakami Miki, yet.
The vehicles aren't there because of the school itself, they're there because a bunch of rich kids go to the school.
Murakami Miki emerges from the gates, and blinks, seeing Jira. She bows to her respectfully. "Kasagi-sensei." She may be a friend, but she's also a teacher at Taiyo, a sister school, and in this context it seems appropriate to give her the proper title. She straightens back up, smiles without showing her teeth. "What are you up to today, my friend?"
Oh, there she is! Jira gives a friendly wave to get the attention of Miki, and returns the bow. "Murakami-chan." flashing a smile to the Seijyun student. "Not much actually. Club space has been taken over for today, so I cancelled the meet." she briefly answers. "I was wondering if you had any plans for today, and decided to see if I could catch you before you went home." she seems happy to have gone through with this half of her plan atleast. "Are you up to anything for today?"
Miki glances over to another passing Seijyun student, and starts walking down the sidewalk away from school. "Let's take a walk." Once she's a little ways away from the other students, she looks back up and over to Jira. "These days I'm hunting The Butcher. Well. Not in a killing sense. I want to talk to him, find up what he's up to. He may be an insane mass murderer, but he's been around for a while so he's likely to have some interesting viewpoints and opinions."
A walk is fine, Jira nods to Miki and follows her lead. She seems relaxed, casual, content. Then again she has no reason to be otherwise. "Sounds equally interesting as it is dangerous." she murmurs. "But, I suppose you're right, information from such a person sounds like it would be.. enlightening, with the perspective." an idle note. "Any luck with that?"
Miki shrugs. "I'm not good at the whole fear thing. Plus, I bet he doesn't have people come up to him and just try to talk that much. It's likely to intrigue him from novelty. He's going around a population center, he probably /wants/ to talk to someone. Either that or he wants someone to stop him." She smiles. "I don't have much in the leads right now, but you're welcome to tag along today if you like."
Jira returns the shrug after hearing the possibillity of said accoster wanting to be stopped. "Sure, I don't have anything planned. But I should get home at some point to fix dinner. After that I can be free the night." she states. "Or, can let Aka take over for the night so I can sleep." does sharing a body work like that? Well in Jira's case, it'd probably just be a nice surprise for anyone to figure out how Akabara works Jira when she's out.
Miki blinks, eyes widening slightly. "You can sleep while letting Akabara-san remain active? I wonder if I can do that with Shinma...." She thinks for a moment. "We should probably swing by your place and you prepare dinner first, then. If we do find The Butcher, or other trouble, it might end up making it hard for you to prepare dinner in time."
Jira nods. "I've been knocked out of a few fights and woke up somewhere quiet, like a hotel room or dark corner completely alone with Akabara telling me he dragged me home. I don't know if he was being literal.." she murmurs. "And that sounds like a good plan, I can get dinner done and top off on my chores." giving a smile to Miki. "I see your time at Seijyun is well spent, you have more insight than I do."
Miki slowly shakes her head. "Seijyun was fine when I was younger, but it's a waste of time at this point. It's not teaching me to get stronger. I'd be better off not going to school, though, so nothing against the school in particular." She looks over to Jira, meets her eyes. "What do you think of Taiyo? Is it still making you stronger? Is it letting you do what you care about?"
Jira quietly listens to Miki, giving a hum. "Well, I don't know about stronger, but my work at Taiyo helps those students become more useful. Schooling is important if you plan to build a life for yourself, outside of fighting." she states. "And yes, it does let me do what I care about. Akabara is.. mostly satisfied, I diligently practice and go through conditioning as he requests. But it helps to have friends push you to grow even further, no matter what you are trying to do."
Miki nods slightly. "Your companion is stronger than mine, and you don't want to be the strongest person in the world, so I guess it's not something you have to work on as much." She shrugs a bit, and looks up at Jira again. "Are you mostly satisfied with your life, Kasagi-san?"
"...Hmm. Come to think of it, Kasagi-san, how did you meet Akabara-san? Did he seek you out, or did you seek him out, or was it more of a coincidence, or...?"
Jira shrugs. "I don't know about stronger.. I can't really get a read on people's energy like that, so I have no idea the scope of his power." she murmurs. "As for satisfaction, I can say that, for now, I am content.. As for how we met, well. I swear I was having a dream, it was weird and was.. it was too lucid to forget, but Akabara wouldn't tell me more about it." she states.
"It was some weird place.. the sky was black but the ground was lit. All rocky and dry. There was this, I want to say cocoon of light, like Akabara's energy. So I went and opened it. Inside was a girl, who looked a lot like me but.. different. Before the dream, my hair was black you know." an idle fact. "This girl looked tired and she gave me something, a ball of energy or something. It melted into me, and then -she- turned into a pink light and followed. Weird dream."
"...Oh. Did you die your hair at first, when you changed? To stop people from being like 'what happened to your hair' or 'why are you bleaching your hair, or whatever?" Miki pauses. "...Are you going to become part of Akabara-san when you die, then?" She pauses. "Does Akabara-san keep a lot of secrets from you?" She furrows her brow. She's not sure how to be loyal to two friends who are in such a close relationship but don't neccessarily have each other's best interests at heart.
Jira shook her head. "I have no idea why it changed, but it did, and I didn't really question it. It was really odd, and for a while I had odd looks. But most of my friends are used to it now.. and I don't know, Akabara said that all his hosts stay with him and that it isn't scary at all, when I asked about that. He also told me not to worry. He won't tell me -anything- about that girl from my dream, but anything else I ask he answers." she nods to Miki. "We may have different goals in life, but we can achieve them both at the same time, I'm certain.. and, fighting is kind of fun too. Getting better means I can do more things, show more people." yes, that's a good goal.. maybe she could be a martial-arts master and teach people.
Miki listens quietly as Jira explains that their goals can co-exist. "Yeah, he seemed real nervous about you learning about her." She shrugs a bit. "Not that he told me much beyond that, either. Wonder what's up with that." She furrows her brow. "So... you really want to be a teacher? That's what you want to do with your life?" She sounds a little perplexed, but not like she's trying to talk down. More like she genuinely does not entirely understand the draw here.
Jira nods. "He always sounds upset and disgusted about it too, so I avoid that topic. And yes, I think that's what I want to do.. teach Akabara's martial art." she states, smiling broadly.
Miki nods slowly. "Are you going to teach people how to use the sort of power he uses, or are there other aspects of his martial arts that you can teach to others?" She pauses. "If there are other aspects, you could try teaching me a few of those techniques." She looks up ahead. "Ah, isn't that the Kasagi residence over there?"
Jira shakes her head. "Not if they don't already have similar talent.. I suppose some techniques could be adapted for those gifted with natural energy. Or to those with no specific gifts in energy, really." she comments. "I could give you a few, but Akabara would be better. They are his techniques." she muses. "Yep, that's home~" with a nod.
Miki nods slowly. "That's true, but if you're going to learn how to teach Akabara-san's techniques, you're going to have to... well, teach Akabara-san's techniques. I suppose teaching non-energy versions of it might not be a good place to start, however. You might be best finding some people with similar talent to teach first." She walks up to the door, pauses. "Is there any way I can help in your dinner preperations?"
Jira giggles and nods. "Yes, I will. Akabara also wants me to share this. He says a true master is 'always a student, constantly improving themselves'. I suppose that sounds about right. I could give you a few basic techniques of his, that -I- am confident in enough to share." she mentions.
Jira gives a brief pause. "How are you with a knife?" she asks.
"I... know which end to use?" Miki looks away, and scratches the back of her head. "My theory has always been that weapons can break and be taken away from you. Therefore, rely primarily on your body. The strongest martial artists seem to mostly rely on their bodies, too. Thus, my weapon training is minimal."
Jira giggles politely, shaking her head. "I meant for cooking." she teases. "Besides, Akabara projects into a weapon when I fight. Helps me focus a little." she explains. "Nevertheless, please join me." she unlocks and opens the door with a key hastily fished out from her sleeve and steps inside, quickly unstrapping her sneakers and stepping out of them.
"...Oh. Of course I know how to cook to that extent." Miki is a young lady trained at Seijyun, after all. "I just don't know how to stab people beyond the basics."
She follows Jira in, and steps out of her geta, and walks over into the kitchen, looking down at her long impractical sleeves. "...Maybe I should've changed." A slight shrug. "What dish are we making today, Kasagi-sensei?"
She peers at the calendar. "Tuesday, rice and nori on a bed of beans." she muses. "I think red beans will work for today. Maybe I'll dye the rice blue." a mischeivous grin on her face. "There's also some fish I need to use too, why not layer it and make it look like some kind of aquatic scene." she's artistic about her meals if nothing else.
Miki tilts her head a bit to one side at that, staring questioningly at the calendar, and then at Jira. She's never heard of that meal combination or dying rice blue, but then again, she doesn't eat common people food outside of Namie's bentos that often. "...Do any of those things need to be chopped?" She walks around the kitchen, a bit perplexed that she doesn't quite get the setup.
Jira chuckles, heading into the kitchen herself. "Other than the seaweed and the fish, no." she states. "I have a weekly plan for meals, basic enough that variations can be done on the fly.." she pauses. "Aka's right, blue rice does sound silly. People don't eat a lot of blue foods." she murmurs, already taking down the wok and a pot, as well as fetching the rice cooker in the central island of the kitchen. She draws out a pair of cutting boards and fetches two kitchen knives. One knife per board, cooking vessels set, next is ingredients!
She fetches the beans and rice from the pantry on the left of the main counter, immediately going to prep the rice and sets some water to boil. After giving her hands a hearty, hot washing she picks up two trays and skirts to the other side of the counter to grab the fish filets and seaweed, each one on its own tray and setting them next to the cutting boards. "Cut the seaweed to bite-size strips, and dice those filets for me?" she asks of Miki kindly, another heated wash following the request.
"Mmm. Perhaps. You could do Trouble in Paradise themed meal if you also gave the fish tiny bikinis or something." A slight shrug of Miki's shoulders, although she vaguely follows the show because it involves fighting, she's not too fond of the more over the more reality show-like aspects.
Miki walks over to wash her hands as well, mimicking Jira's movements in duration if perhaps not efficiency. She walks back to slice through the seaweed, and slices through it slowly, piece by piece, until it's bite-sized strips. Her movements are very careful, and each piece is almost the exact size of each other piece - almost square rectangles - except for a few that aren't quite even enough to make this perfectly, and these are set off to the side by her.
She slowly continues on to the fish, using the same basic idea, if a bit smaller since the word 'dice' was said - just off-square pieces, those that aren't the exact right size are set aside.
Jira's got an eye on Miki's performance and herself chuckles. "Fish chunks with bikinis? You just continue to outdo me." she muses, having the pot to boil she rinses, then dumps the beans to boil and adds a dashing of spice from an unmarked shaker, stirring it and setting on the lid, lowering the heat and oiling up the wok. With practiced, fluid movements she procures the diced fish without disturbing Miki and cranks the heat up. The oil quickly begins to bubble, and sizzles excitedly with the fish being added in. Then she works her magic with the wok.
"Of course." Miki ceases chopping, and looks over to Jira blankly. "Seijyun is a better school than Taiyo is, and it's home ec is more focused on decoration than Taiyo's is, I'd imagine. And unlike a lot of students, I take whatever I'm learning seriously." Apparently she's taking that comment at face value. "Outside of preperation, decoration, and following recipes to the letter, I can't do much, however. Your practical skills in cooking are higher than mine." She returns her attention to the task in front of her, and resumes chopping.
Jira smirks. "I wonder which of us would make a better wife." she teases. "That's probably irrelevant in your goal. It is part of mine." she murmurs, giving a brief pause in her stir/frying of the fish chunks.
She's quiet and collected in her cooking, slowing the pace down and casting glances to the rice cooker. "Mother transferred out of Seijyun to be with my father in Taiyo halfway through their highschool days. Her family was a little upset, but he got along with them. I hear there's a history of exemplary romance and marriages in my family, I want to contribute to that legacy in my own time."
Miki stops again, raising an eyebrow - she can't seem to cut properly and also talk to Jira at the same time. "Don't you think that'll get awkward, since you also share your body with Akabara-san?" She pauses, then shrugs slightly. "I don't have any issue with romance, but there's no one I'm in love with and I don't believe in continuing traditions just to continue traditions." She returns to her chopping.
Jira has noticed, and chuckles at Miki's minor 'setback' whenever she talks. It's cute. "I asked him about that, and he told me; 'I don't understand intimate interpersonal relationships, and have no place interfering with that part of your life' and even told me that would be.. wrong for him to stop me from finding love." she replies, peering over to Miki's progress.
"Can you add the strips into the wok?" she asks. "The rice will be ready to stir in soon."
Miki swipes with the dull side of the knife, carefully adding the strips into the wok without tearing any of them further. She then places the cutting board and knife back down. "Well, some form of romance is a pretty common thing for normal people." She tilts her head a bit to one side. "I suppose I should try it out sometime to see if it's the sort of thing I might like."
Jira nods. "If you're looking for classmates, you'll probably have a hard time finding a boyfriend." she notes. But this is obviously a joke, and her smile shows it's meant to be one. "I don't think I've had a relationship beyond friends myself. Bit late for me to have a highschool sweetheart, though." she smirks. "Let me know if I get too far on a tangent for you, Murakami-chan. I sometimes get carried away."
More sizzles and crackling come from her wok with the seaweed addition and the extra water added to the mix.
"Mmm. My classmates don't have that many strong people anyways. And I definitely am not going to fall in love with someone who isn't strong. Then they'd become a weakness." Miki shrugs. "I just don't really understand things like romantic love, I guess. To some extent I wonder to what extent it's a social construct - it wasn't a primary concern for large periods of human history." She looks back over to Jira. "Still, if you want to find it, I wish you luck in that endeavor, Kasagi-san."
Jira chuckles. "A strong partner that one can love.. that actually does sound nice." she murmurs, mainly to herself. "I wish you luck too, Murakami-chan. But I doubt you'll need it." more stirring and frying occurs.
After a bit more progress with the even heating and searing, Jira opens the rice cooker and slowly adds in rice to the wok, about half the volume added in for the final stir and mix. "The rest of the rice is for those that'd opt out of the mix." she notes.
Miki considers this for a moment. "I... might need some luck. It's not something I really looked into, so I have no knowledge of what to do. Putting that aside, I have no prospects. The strongest and kindest man I know at the moment also wants to kill off humanity, though, and while being friends with him is fine, becoming lovers seems like a bit much."
"Opting out of the mix? How rude of them." She pauses. "I suppose you /do/ have some foreigners here." You can't really expect too much from them, her tone implies.
Jira eyes Miki curiously. "You know, nobody says you have to only consider men." she notes. "And yes, the gaijin are sometimes picky, and I think one of the longer staying tenants has problems with seafood." she comments. A few more minutes oof working the fish and seaweed with the rice and she cuts the heat on the wok and the pot of beans. She procures the serving tray and dishes, strains the beans and layers them evenly on a flared casserole dish, then sprinkles a dusting of salt and sugar, and layers the rice mix atop of it. A quick trip to the fridge for a tasteful sauce pattern over one side, and a few outlying wasabi balls (also from the fridge) completes the centerpiece. On the side of it, she deposits the plain rice on its own with a small vessel of soy sauce, then puts an equal amount of extra beans on the other end of the tray, in their own, seperate serving bowl(identical to the rice) and dusts it with a salt and sugar mix.
"All ready to be put out. Are you eating with us again?" she asks Miki.
"The rules of society say I have to only consider men." Miki nods after a moment. "But, I only have to keep on pretending to care about them until I get stronger." She ponders this. "The bear I know isn't /that/ stong either, although he's stronger than me, and besides, he already has someone he likes. I can't even imagine a romantic relationship with the crow I know...." She stares off into space, trying to imagine this with furrowed brows. "I don't know. I think I'm more interested in humans or semi-humans. They tend to be the strongest, too."
After a moment, she turns her gaze back to Jira, ponders this question. "Eating now would certainly cut down on the need to eat later." She bows slightly to Jira. "I would be delighted to eat with you again, if it's not too much of an intrusion or a burden."
Jira shakes her head bemusedly. "Society shouldn't interfere with who you can love." she comments. After the pondrous pause, Jira offers a bow. "A friend is never a burden." she states. "Besides, you brighten up the atmosphere. Not enough young or female guests, you can -feel- the testosterone in the air." the last comment has a note of disapproval. "Come, let's get this out." lifting the serving tray on her own, Jira heads out through the western door and into the dining area. She quietly sets the tray out onto the table.. it's a bit early, so to announce mealtime, she heads over to the slightly dusted dinnerbell(or gong in this case) and gives it a couple smacks with its mallet.
"DINNER IS READY!" she calls out upwards, and takes her seat. Already a few tenants are slipping from the divisive wall that leads to the living area, and take seats. Her parents and other guests come down in a matter of minutes.
"Shouldn't, but does. I have to keep my head down a little until I'm strong enough to crush societies at least a little bit." Miki tilts her head a bit to one side hearing Jira's disapproval for the group being filled with men, then follows her.
She sits down next to Jira, and softly greets the guests who's names she's picked up from the last time, and Jira's parents, playing the part of the demure Seijyun schoolgirl once again, otherwise keeping her eyes lowered and her speech minimal.
She waits for Jira to start taking food and eating before taking any action of that nature.
Jira waits for her parents to arrive and serve themselves before she does, and the guests seem to be eyeing Miki expectantly. Her parents don't raise a question this time on Miki's presence. "See, no problems." she quietly murmurs, enough that nobody not immediately enar her would hear.
Miki isn't quite sure what the guests expectant looks have to do anything, so she pretends not to notice them, which she is amazingly good at pretending. At Jira's words, she nods slightly. Once Jira serves herself, she serves herself as well, taking roughly the same amounts. She eats very carefully, but just slightly faster than she was here last time - she's in a bit of a hurry to go butcher-hunting.
Jira's pace is very steady, out of habit.. that and rushing would be rude. The other guests and tenants serve after Miki does, the guest prominant of the table. It's probably safe to assume that the spot next to Jira is oft vacant. Jira's quiet as she eats, but the sweet beans and 'marine rice' dish of hers is inventive, certainly.
Miki's eating pace isn't /rapid/, by any means, more 'less slow' - she wants to keep her fangs hidden and not appear too rude, and there's no point in finishing before Jira does, after all. She'll wait until Jira's done, then trail after her to the kitchen, if she does in fact go there.
Jira hums quietly as she eats. She finishes and gazes up at everyone for a moment, and grabs about half an extra serving, and continues without pause. If they are going to fight someone, she's gonna need fuel... and she may have forgotten breakfast. When she does finish, she takes a few moments to center herself and get her sense of home in.
Miki remains silent, and having finished her food, but not seeing Jira leave, just sits quietly at her side. The easiest way to keep people's attention off you is to not do anything particularly notable or interesting is her theory. Although even silent, a Seijyun student wearing a kimono with ridiculous sleeve length visiting twice probably raises questions.
Questions which may have Jira's mother casting curious, curious looks between the pair on the other end of the table... But before it turns to probing, Jira stands up slowly. "Everyone, please just leave your dishes in the sink, I will get to them when I return." she states, giving a bow and slowly exiting off back into the kitchen with her dishes... a quiet set of 'boin's bounce off of her as she leaves the room proper.
Miki's senses note that Jira's mother is casting curious looks at her, and she looks up to meet her gaze blankly, then smiles at her politely with just a bit of warmth before lowering her eyes again. As Jira gets up, she also gets up, bows, and follows Jira out to the kitchen with her own dishes. Although she lacks the sound effects, moving quite quietly.
Jira sets her dishes in the sink and rinses out the cooking vessels, then stretches. "Shall we head out now?" she asks.
The series of stretches is rather thorough, leading to most of her joints cricking during the process, and maybe a grunt or two as she presses on a few. "Should I keep my weapon ready or are you unworried?"
Miki looks over to Jira stretching, wondering if it's a regular habit of hers after dinner, then nods slightly. "Let's." She heads towards the door, then looks back to Jira and raises an eyebrow slightly at that question. "...We shouldn't run around Southtown holding weapons, that just looks strange and hostile. Besides, I don't want The Butcher to assume I'm a threat before I talk to him."
Jira nods, heading down the east hall back to the front door and slipping into her shoes, refastening them and waiting on Miki before heading out. "Yeah, I suppose it'd be threatening if he can see it." once they're both out she'll shut and lock the door, then follow Miki's lead.
Miki... pulls out a map of Southtown with some red Xs on it - The Butcher's known attacks - and starts to wander through town in a semi-random pattern somewhat based on guesswork and instinct. She has no real plan here, just some vague information. "Hmm. Kasagi-san, I just had a thought: can you ask Akabara-san if he's ever met The Butcher before? They've both been around for a while, so there's some chance their paths have crossed."
Jira follows quietly, relaxed in posture and eyes scanning around for new appearances. "No, he hasn't. He actually didn't know about the profession until I told him about it when you mentioned Butcher prior to today." she explains. "So we're in the dark on the topic. He also seems to have a few facts wrong, but doesn't question my corrections. But they're small and silly so I don't pay much attention."
Miki continues to lead Jira on a wild goose chase of sorts. Or an immortal mass murderer chase, which is the same thing, really, only you aren't exactly sure if you actually want to find them. She glances back to Jira at those last words, having led her up some stairs to an apparently abandoned house. "Oh? What facts did Akabara-san have wrong?" She looks back in front of her, and moves forwards suddenly, hitting the door of the abandoned house with a palm strike so as to break it open. "Possible base of operations."
She chuckles. "Major world leaders and superpowers, fighting celebrities, wanted criminals.. his news facts were a bit off. And some historical points." she murmurs. Oh, hey, burglary... "If you say so.." she murmurs questioningly, wishing she brought a light. And not wanting to make her own either, really.
Jira sighs. "So, are we.. sweeping the building?"
"That makes me wonder if he's as old as he thinks he is. If he was created by someone to /think/ he's ageless...." Miki's voice is little more than a whisper. She leans forwards, peering into the dark, her nostrils flaring. She looks back to Jira as she sighs. "Ah, you're probably not good at this part." Her voice is still barely a whisper. "Don't worry, I can dig around and see if there's any suspicious traces alone."
Jira smiles. "Or if he's even from this planet." she jokes in equal tone. But rather than letting the dark prove an obstacle, Jira forces out a gathering of energy into her palm. A soft but luminous pink that would shed light, albeit fuzzy and warm and groaning horrible ambiance, into the immediate area. "I suppose I'll sit out of sight.. mostly." she murmurs.
"I'd expect entirely incorrect information from someone not from this planet. Unless he got all earlier information from TV or something." Miki swings her sleeves around her arms, ties them in place, then falls onto all fours as she moves off through a door to explore the rest of the house. For a little while, she leaves Jira alone, emitting that pink light.
Jira seems okay for a couple minutes. Very slowly a pained expression creeps its way onto her face, she idly pokes and plays with her glowing ball with her right hand, keeping it aloft over her upwards left palm. The sphere groans and whines at the manipulation her bare digit gives it.
Finally, Miki returns. "Dead end." A short pause. "I mean that there's no sign of The Butcher, not that we're going to die now." She looks over to Jira's expression, tilts her head a bit to one side as she straightens back up. "Are you all right?"
Foreboding, ghostly sounds of displeasure from her energy aside, Jira looks like she might've been suckerpunched in the gut.. maybe twice, by her facial expression. "I understand the phrase." she warmly replies, voice shaky. "I'm fine, it's.. Akabara's energy is fuelled by pain, and it kind of.. hurts to use it. My hand's already a bit numb." she admits. "No actual damage, just that the body interprets it as painful." with a quiet chuckle. She extinguishes the ball, which bellows a quiet sob into the air. "Ready to move on?"
"No, we're good here." Miki stares at Jira for a long moment with a blank expression. "...Yeah, let's buy you a flashlight." She shakes her head a little as she walks out the front door. After a moment, she glances back. "So you get nauseous with other people's power, and your own power hurts you? That's some serious downsides." She continues on, after glancing on a map - on to the nearest convenience store!
Good, they can move on! Jira pales on hearing about a flashlight. "No, it's fine really.. I can stand and look scary at the entrances, really. No need to get me a torch.." she murmurs, embarassedly. "I have very little tolerance or guard against chi, and feeling it and Akabara's energy eat at each other is.. unpleasant." she explains. "I'm getting used to using his energy though, I used to cry every time I used one of his techniques." she looks proud of that fact that she's improved.
"Being inured to pain is good. But do you hope to be able to withstand constant agony while you train people? When you use your own energy, does it hurt?" Miki sounds more curious than concerned. "That sounds unpleasant." She calculates Kasagi's past actions again with this new information. "You know, if you don't want to hunt The Butcher down, you don't have to. I won't hold it against you, Kasagi-san."
Jira offers a smile. "If I have a purpose beyond just handling the energy, I don't feel it." she replies. "Making my own requires a certain frame of mind. Usually comes with being hurt, but it's balming to use my own." she chuckles. "I said I'd come along and spend time with you, Murasaki-chan, and I wouldn't want to leave my friend alone when I said I'd be with her." she gives Miki a smile. Beyond being polite.
"Ahh. Well that's good to hear. I guess punching or kicking someone hurts a little too." Miki stares into Jira's eyes with a blank expression for a long moment, and completely drops the polite tone, talking as if she's saying Facts. "I don't mind being alone, and I don't need your help with The Butcher. If you want to come, come, if you don't, don't. Having you by my side doesn't make this any safer, since I'm better at escaping than you, and if you have no personal desire to meet The Butcher, you're probably better off not doing so."
Jira gives a shrug to the first comment. The change of tone certainly catches her attention. "I came along because I wanted to spend time with my friend, whatever activity that entailed. I am capable of handling myself, and doing drills in my room doesn't improve me in any way that I can't do while with someone anyway. If you're really uncaring if I come with you, then let's not bring this up again. I came willingly and that should be proof enough of my wanting to be here." she replies, though her polite tone doesn't fade, nor does her attitude seem to shift.. she's probably very scary when she wants to be.
Miki smiles at Jira. A 'you are a good friend and I like you' smile. The emotions on her face flowed from polite to cold to friendly so easily that either she has extremely good control over it or she has extremely fluid emotions. "All right. I just didn't want your death to be on my hands if you were just coming because you felt obligated to." ...implying that otherwise she's okay with it? She looks back to the map, and turns, taking a new route towards the next closest promising destination.
Jira flashes a bright smile back. "I'd rather it be me than you, you're younger." she comments, offers a shrug, and turns to follow Miki. "How often do you go out on these trips?"
Miki blinks at that question. "Oh, pretty much every day now. I used to run around helping people and attacking people to see how I felt about it, but I think I mostly figured out what's going on there, and The Butcher might only be around for a limited time." She looks over at Jira curiously. "Did you or Akabara-san ever go through a phase like that?"
Jira shakes her head. "Not me, or with me, no. Before Akabara, I wasn't a fighter, just a regular girl.. I've improved a lot in a few months." she answers. "He says he stopped that kind of thing once he realized that being portrayed as a violent person limited your pool of sparring partners greatly."
Miki nods. "Yeah, beating up weaklings for no reason isn't particularly fun. But there's only one way to figure out that sort of thing out for yourself." She shrugs. "Some people seem to be really into it?"
Jira starts to nod in agreement, but that finishing question has her look forward and a little rosy-cheeked. "I suppose.." she's not going to comment if she can get away with it, really.
Miki glances over to Jira non-comprehendingly, then looks back ahead. "Anyways, I wore masks for it so as not to immediately trash my reputation, and I didn't do anything /that/ amazingly bad or good. It'll be a bit before anyone figures it out for sure, I think. Well, one person might have figured it out, but if so, he's keeping it a secret on purpose."
Jira is glad no questions on that were asked. "That's good.. I suppose." she murmurs. "Well, I've kind of figured it out." she teases, peering to see where they were.
Miki laughs. "Being told doesn't count." They're coming up to the high fence around a dump - not too close to a gate. Miki runs up to it, jumps up onto the fence in one bound, crouches, holding on with one hand and her feet, looks back to Jira. "Are you any good at climbing or jumping?"
Jira gazes at the fence and.. sighs. Her shoes pick up a pink glow and she crouches down, and does a high hurdle-jump that clears the fence, landing solidly and kicking the glow off of her feet. "Okay enough."
"Why do you keep on sighing, Kasagi-san?" Miki jumps down beside her into the junkyard, landing in a bit of a crouch, then straightening up. She starts wandering along past the stacked lines of rusted cars.
Jira hums. "It's... a reaction I don't think much about, I hardly notice it." she replies. "And I'm not too good with jumping.. and climbing is hard, my chest gets in the way."
Miki looks back to Jira's breasts, nods. "Yeah, having a big chest seems like a disadvantage. You could always get surgery for that, though. Or maybe Akabara could morph it smaller? I'm not sure if his energy is inherently male though, or if he's just masculine from being made out of so many men initially."
Jira peers down herself, and then gasps at Miki. "No way, I love them!" she murmurs. "They're my best physical attribute, and that's where I put my energy." she adds, matter of factly. "Wait, is that -seriously- where I put it all?"
"Really? I can't think of techniques with them that aren't better suited to another body part, but I admit I haven't looked into it." ...Yes, Miki's focused entirely on their use for combat. What else is there? She tilts her head a bit to one side. "...Really? Did they get larger after you and Akabara-san became partners, then?"
Jira chuckles. "They make me feel content in my physique. I like them as they are." then the question. "You know, I haven't checked.. or haven't noticed, atleast." she murmurs, glancing them over.
"Well, if they make you happy, that's what's important." Miki sounds like she genuinely believes this, although she then stares off into the distance thoughtfully for a moment. She shrugs, opens up an old washer and peers inside it, sniffing it. She closes it softly, looks back to Jira. "Maybe Akabara-san would have noticed something like that. He seems to pay a lot of attention to your development."
A smile beams out, expressing Jira's being content. "That sounds... pervy, but I wouldn't put it past him to have mapped out every cell in my body." she notes. "Must be -boring- just sitting in my head.'
Miki shrugs. "You're sharing a body and fighting together without either of you trying to seize permanent control. There's not a lot of relationships that are more intimate and trusting than that." She continues to wander through the junkyard, peering here and there. "Where would you hide if you were a immortal serial killer with distinctive features, Kasagi-san?"
Jira blinks. "I.. suppose.. that sounds right." she murmurs. She hadn't thought about it like that. "Well, I'd be hiding where my namesake is the least suspicious." she states.
"So... no butcher shops." Miki is silent for a long moment. "...That doesn't help us up much." She smiles. "Ah well, it was a foolish line of reasoning." She walks a bit further, sniffing at the air. "I don't think there's anything in this junkyard, either. Wherever The Butcher is, there's going to be the smell of blood or detergent almost for sure. Unless he has some sort of chi or... whatever your energy is... that lets him absorb it or cover it up."
Jira chuckles. "We could check a dry cleaner's." she offers. "Hardly any butchering done there. And there's the opposite of messes, too." she offers. It's serioous, but a little joking as well.
Log created on 01:09:12 02/10/2015 by Jira, and last modified on 07:11:57 02/11/2015.