Description: Hotaru was praying at the Shrine and Jiro was on his way to try to control his powers enough to fight Dante, as he only has a month to train and find himself. They meet again, but the reunion was not so warm as to be expected.
The time is night now, not too late, but the sun has long since dipped below the horizon and the stars are out, though slightly obscurred by the lights of the surrounding city. Hotaru is here, the first time in over a year. Even though she's been back in Southtown for two weeks, she hasn't made her way back to this spot since, perhaps nervous of running into faces from the past, or perhaps just not sure it was where she needed to be anymore.
But things have changed, and now she is here, kneeling by a tree, her hands pressed together, her head bowed as if in prayer. Itokatsu is nearby, though not immediately obvious, as he is asleep on a branch in the tree.
Step... Step...
The sound of boots clattering along the stairs can be heard as the presence of a young man is moving up the stairs, looking up the torii with a fixed gaze. He is actually smiling in satisfaction over his match up. Something he hasn't been able to do: Get satisfaction.
It's been only a day since the Stray Dog had left the temple in his stay for the entire three days to await his death. It probably would had been nice to actually die. Unfortunately, the death did not come, only just gives him a chance to improve, but will continue to torment.
So, Jiro has to do something: Kill the pain.
~ "You want to find yourself? Then I will give you the chance. One month from today, fight me before Kain's eyes. Gamble your future against the shadow of your past. To lose is to die. For both of us. ~
That has an interesting ring to it, actualy. A gamble for his life. That's something that the boy can do.
The blond hair is caught by the wind's breeze, the flow of a strand being kicked off causes his head to shift over as a petal flies up before his tone becomes dull, "One month from yesterday... Well, guess I could try to control my fury."
He turns to face the direction that he is taking for his training, approaching the cleared field until he stops. He stops dead on his tracks as he sees a familiar face. He is growing pale and quite silent.
~ ...Eghn. No. ~
He shuts his eyes once more, then he decides to tuck his hands into his pockets while he speaks. It's loud and crisp enough to get her attention.
"Found him yet?"
The praying girl's eyes open wide and her hands, still pressed together at the palms, are lifted up to rest her fingers at her closed mouth. Not facing Jiro, Hotaru is frozen in that position for a long moment. The short, little gasp when the boy first speaks indicates that she clearly heard him, yet it is a number of seconds before she stands up, hands finally parting from their steepled position and Hotaru turns around to look at him. Her own complexion has paled just slightly, the mixture of emotions that well up suddenly leaving her a little overwhelmed. She thought she might run into him here. Him or Alma. But expecting something to happend does not equate to being prepared for it.
His question is lost at first, unsure of what to say to him now, after so long. "Jiro..." Hotaru murmurs, looking him over, seeing how he has changed in the last year, looking for an indication of the person he is now. "I thought I might find you here eventually." She could have tried the house, but she just wasn't ready. Not yet. She hasn't even talked to Mimiru yet.. She should get to what she knew she wanted to say next, before losing her nerve, "I- should... I mean- I'm sorry." she states. Sorry for running away for the last year. "Sorry for never telling you where I was," she finishes, her voice fading out. She knew where to find him, yet never made it possible for him to reach her.
Oh good. When she gasped, Jiro could see the indication of a jumpy movement. Both eyes shut a moment, allowing her time to resettle herself, standing in full position with a bored look on his face. One. Two. Three. Those three seconds are up before Jiro re-opens his eyes, fixing the girl with a calm look.
As for the way that Jiro is now? He's actually better off considering how he was the last week or so. If the Mini Warrior match broadcasted indicated of what Jiro's obsession for 'Dante' had done to him, he now looks a little more mellowed out and back to his original form, just more bored like. He folds his arms for a moment, "Eh, I really wasn't coming back here. I spent too much time waiting for an ass to show up." He shrugs.
Furrowing his brow at his apologies, he just lifts his hand up and flicks the wrist to the side. As if activating his personal shield and perhaps freeze what emotions are running in his hand, the tone states dully. "Meh, forget it." He shuts his eyes, "Really, Alma told me why you left. It was cool. As for not telling me, I suppose I deserve it for not telling folks where I usually go when I leave back in the past." ...Though, he did tell /her/ he was leaving before his trip. He pauses.
"So, you haven't been visited by a guy with blond hair and a black trenchcoat who wields dark flames, have you?" Pause. "Not sure if he knows you're here or not, but he likely would."
She thought Alma might have said something, and when she had told Alma it was the truth - at the time. At least, mostly true. But since then, so many things changed her path that her original reasons were lost before long. She wants to explain to Jiro, but now doesn't feel like the time. He's removed, defensive without seeming so. He might not even listen now anyway.
He says forget it, but Hotaru doesn't think it is as simple as that. "What I told Alma..." she thinks out loud, remembering that conversation. Shaking her head, she disagrees, "You didn't deserve it. I wasn't just going to search for my brother, or find my path. I was also running from the path I was already on, Jiro." The honorifics that flavored her speach a year ago seem absent now. Some things have changed for her too. The girl leans her head to the side a little, still studying him, maybe looking for something that isn't there anymore. She isn't sure.
She doesn't remain silent though, as she does respond to his question finally, "I have been visited by no one like that," she replies, averting her eyes as she ponders the question for a moment longer before fixing him with an expression of visible concern, "This is someone you know?" The description alone makes him sound like real trouble, not someone /anyone/ should be associated with.
Perhap seeing Hotaru was a bad idea. Seeing her in this state is -really- a bad idea. Then again, seeing her in the other conditions would had likely been worse. Who knows what Jiro would had done to -her- in his obsession for the power back. Then again, seeing her as he is currently was probably not a bad idea, all considering. But still, there is like a barrier between both Jiro and Hotaru, especially when he has a lot of things on his mind. He is really fumbling around for what to say, and perhaps something in his pocket. That song he made for her when he returned. A song he -never- got a chance to play.
...Meh. Forget it.
The Stray Dog pulls his hand out, narrowing his eyes before they shut. Sterner, the Stray Dog says, "It's /fine/." He shrugs a moment later. "Besides, a lot of things change and other stuff started happening. Anyway, welcome back to Southtown. Don't mind the fun happy crazy Yamazaki. He's likely eating babies somewhere." The Stray Dog pauses a moment, then he is asked about knowing Dante.
"Met him, his name is Dante. Kain's new pet project." He shrugs, "And the said student wants to use me as his stepping stone, so I'm in his pet project. So, that means he'll be going after folks I know. I'd like to intercept him if I can."
Pause. "At least until next month."
The flippant warning about Yamazaki elicits just a faint smile from Hotaru. Southtown has always had its loons. Then again, so has just about anywhere else one might try to live as she's found. She quietly takes in the information about Dante - sounds like a real swell guy. 'Pet Project' sounds about the right way to describe Kain treats those who would be his students.
"How would Dante know about me?" she asks, her mind trying to digest how she could possibly fit into what is transpiring in Jiro's life now. Was he stalking her? Stalking Jiro AND her before she left? Did Jiro say something? If so, what? Shaking her head, she asks the other obvious question, "And why one month? What happens then?" The worry she always had before is in the forefront now. If she thought about it harder, she may question if she even has the right to ask, to know, to worry, but she isn't thinking about it that way. Not yet.
Pausing for a moment, the Stray Dog states, "Not sure. Dante likely pulled up information on all the people I would have known some how. He went after my sister and went to meet with Alma." The Stray Dog narrows his eyes, "I have my own little stalker that I /really/ need to squash." He looks more and more agitated, slowly feeling that ebb of anger filled hatred kicking up.
He calms himself a moment, looking at Hotaru. "Anyway, in one month, he and I settle a score." He doesn't go any further from that. "But, considering that you didn't find him, figured you'd come back to Southtown to paint a new life for yourself again?" He asks. Perhaps it was a change of subject.
She detects the change in topic, and for the moment, asks nothing more about the score to settle. That doesn't mean she won't pry, only that she senses that she won't get too far by prying right /now/. Thus it is that she accepts the shift in conversation. One arm rests mostly at her side, while her other hand reaches behind her back to clasp the first near the wrist.
"Sort of..." she admits, searching her own feelings now to figure out what to tell him. "I- I stopped looking after a while. I ended up in America for a while... I lost my own direction. Too much running, not enough thinking," she says. "I came back because this is where I felt alive. This is where it all ended once, but it is also where so many things began." She looks away, off to the side now, eyes raised to the stars, "I had to come back here, to try again, to know my purpose and reach for my dreams. I haven't given up, but I needed to rethink what I was doing and how."
She breaths in then exhales slowly, looking back toward Jiro, her expresion a little apologetic, "I'm sorry... It's hard to explain," she finishes, her voice fading. She looks a little lost, a little fragile. Stronger in some ways, but less certain than she used to be. Seeing no progress made toward a life defining goal year after year has taken some toll on her confidence.
It's really hard to say, 'hey, I'll likely die if I lose'. But, probably best not to even say that. Not now. Maybe the day before. Or have someone tell her afterwards. Who knows? THe Stray Dog is blinking a few times, "Huh, so you had no luck and was lost in America." His eyes shut, repeating the situation in general to get the idea. "Well, you only live once, so experienced a bit of traveling and soul searching in a way." He shrugs.
Pause, "And that dream is?"
At this /again/, his eyes furrow in the sense that he is losing his patience with the apologies. He shuts his eyes and shakes his head, "Meh, don't worry about it. You can explain later if you want." Should he have time.
She shrugs a little at his summary, grinning slightly at his typical brusque responses. "Yeah..." she states. "I guess everyone has to do something like that at least once." She looks at him pointedly there - After all, what exactly happens on Jiro's on training sojourns? "Yeah," she repeats, nodding her head now, "Sometime, I'd like tell you more about it. I want to know more about your time as well, Jiro... If you will let me," she asks. She can tell there is a barrier between them now, created by the passage of time. It will take time to get through it, perhaps for the both of them. "Ano... thank you for worrying about me... about Dante." That she would come up as someone Dante might go after in order to attack Jiro indirectly means there is at least something still, and she'll cling to that much for now.
"Or twice, or three times until he finally finds something." That is the story of Jiro's life, after all. Especially when she looks at him pointedly as far as Jiro's journeys go. His hand reaches to his pockets once more, then he nods, "Perhaps." The Stray Dog slowly starts to turn back, shutting his eyes as a familiar voice echos in his heard, causing his eye to twitch in its closed state.
~ "So you're that far down. You don't really care if you die, and you're entering fights where killing someone is a 'so, now what?' thing to you...it won't help you, I imagine. And then just to top it off, you're latching onto the idea of power to give yourself some kind of motivation...maybe a meaningless one, but a motivation all the same. What if..." ~
~ "Even though I'm screwed long term... What I walk, it's my life. I was already on my own months ago, I'm better off on my own now." ~
The conversation between Megumi and himself ended with a bitter taste, and just having those sudden thoughts earns another distaste to come up in a bile. He shakes his head, slowly turning back, "Perhaps another time. I have training to take care of for a while. We'll probably run into each other." He smiles faintly, then he walks off with a wave. "Take care."
Pause, "Oh, and if you see Alma before I do. Tell him that I said that he's still a ****ing fruit." He shuts his eyes, walking off.
"Take care, Jiro..." Hotaru calls after him, before being left in quiet thought. Once he is out of sight, she glances over her shoulder, up into the tree to look at Itokatsu. The ferret has been awake for some time, but stayed quiet and still, leaving the people to do their people talk. But now that Jiro is gone, the girl seems to consult him for his thoughts. Both animal and girl nod at each other, both of them sharing concern for this 'score' Jiro claims to be settling. They will have to find out more. "Maybe Alma knows," she ponders out loud. Maybe he knows who this Dante is too.
Log created by Jiro, and last modified on 15:39:44 04/04/2007.