Description: After Jiro is beaten up by Dante, Mizuki comes upon him and gets some of the story... and makes a promise.
~He must have had his fight...~
Mizuki had come upon the beaten, bloodied Jiro, perhaps not even moments after Dante had left him a wreck... and though the sight was very nearly stomach turning, she steeled herself and hauled him up. Still unconscious... so she brought him to the first place she thought of, the shrine. It was very tough to get him inside the shrine; Mizuki is not -all- that strong. But she is strong-willed.
That done, she arranged him as best as she could--buying a cheap blanket from a nearby convienience store--she actually bought two, one for use as a pillow. And then she began praying. Praying, and applying her healing ability in slow measure. She -can- heal a lot but it takes a lot out of her, so healing slow is easiest when there is no urgency...
The Stray Dog had been unconscious for some time, bleeding, hurting, and unable to do much. He had been undergoing a restless slumber, just tormented by the words that Dante left. It's not the best thing that the Stray Dog had done, chasing after him, but it's something he didn't regret.
However, the more important things are running in his mind. Alma, who is being pursuited by now, and Hotaru, who will be saved after his death.
While covered and given the application of the healing, the Stray Dog is groaning out. "Alma.. warn... Alma. Alma... Hotaru... damn you Dante."
~ "As punishment for your weakness, it is Alma who will die..."
He turns once more.
~ "Hotaru... Mmm. I'm not sure what I'll do with her. But I'll save that for when you are dead, at the very least." ~
The Stray Dog immediately jumps off from the pillow with a frantic shout of, "ALMA! HOTARU!" His eyes are like an animals; bearing that same slit that a cat would have. The animalistic side of the boy out, he is panting until he realizes where he's at.
The shrine...? Mizuki?
The eyes return to its normal look and Jiro shuts his eyes, taking several deep breaths.
"..Ugh.."
"I take it you found this person you told me about," says Mizuki, quietly; the outburst frightens her but she doesn't let it scare her away from the Stray Dog. Her face is composed, serious, worriful.
"I also take it that you weren't able to stop this person... and that he, or she, intends to kill Alma-san and this Hotaru..." A nice, easy sum-up, really.
"I guess it's lucky I found you when I did, Jiro-san... you might have died otherwise..." Healing him was no small thing; especially for a man of Dante's power, that poisonous, venomous chi is difficult to counteract. Mizuki looks quite tired, herself.
"Jiro-san, will you tell me what this is all about?"
The arms cross together while Jiro gazes at the ground, shaking his head. "...Something like that." He shrugs, bringing his hands apart once more, trying to bring himself up. With the body still weakened, the Stray Dog grimaces, "Son of a..." He stops moving, growling under his breath. "How annoying."
He looks back at Mizuki, then he narrows his eyes at the ground, "I would have lived. It would take more than that to kill me." He shuts his eyes, then he looks at Mizuki, "... This isn't something you want to get yourself involved in. Hell, just hanging around me---..." He pauses, then he shakes his head, throwing his hands in the air.
Screw it.
"I used to have a teacher who taught me how to draw chi from hatred. I drew from it and nearly alienated all of my friends until this one girl had a big help in me driving away from the teacher." He shrugs, "Now? He has a new student who wants to kill me to progress himself. It is my fate that we fight, or some kind of bullshit."
Mizuki looks stern and gentle all at the same time, her blue eyes focused on her subject.
"Don't try to move too much, yet. That chi... it's still affecting you a little, plus the wounds you took... I can heal them, but the process isn't complete yet."
The rest of the story is chewed upon, mentally, for a moment.
"To draw your chi from hatred... I don't want to sound too melodramatic but that sounds like a very bad path to go down. Whoever this girl was, she certainly did the right thing..." She might guess it's this 'Hotaru' girl... but she doesn't know.
"And now he wants to kill you... but why also Alma and this Hotaru girl? Surely if this is some sort of private feud he should only be going after you...?" Ah, inexperience of depravity. Mizuki doesn't even really understand the feud as it is, adding new people into it doesn't help.
Grunt. The Stray dog -hates- not moving. Under such instructions, his eyes narrow and he grumbles under his breath. The young man leans his head forward and he brings his hands together. "...Egh." The boy looks at Mizuki, "I fought against the poison before. I can fight it again some more."
The Stray Dog shrugs, "It gave me power. That was what I wanted at the time." His eyes narrow a bit, then he sighs, "Perhaps." He shrugs dismissively a moment later, bringing his hands to his lap.
"He brought them into the mix to get me to fight. And since I refused the fight in the first place, he plans to kill Alma as punishment." He snarls, "See, this is why I should not have told you. You're probably going to do something insane such as try to intercept him, aren't you?"
"What? Me? No--" Mizuki shakes her head and smiles a little. "Not a chance, not without someone else... I'm not a strong fighter like you. I know my limitations... even when I'm trying to surpass them." Her smile fades, though.
"... I wouldn't run away, either, though. I wasn't taught to do that. So if I did encounter him... I guess I would have to fight him if that's how things ended up... but you already fought him. Why didn't he--"
She pauses, then says, "I'm sorry, but--if you already battled him and he won, why didn't he kill you this time?" She really doesn't understand cruelty...
"...Right." The Stray Dog looks up at the sky, shaking his head a little bit, growing more and more frantic. Alma -needs- to know. The Stray Dog, unfortunately, cannot move worth a damn right now. It doesn't help much considering that his body is weaken. He focuses his gaze on Mizuki, giving an exasperated sigh.
"I doubt it'll come to that. He has no reason to go after other folks now other than Alma." Pause. "If---..." Nah. That's practically -TELLING- her to get into danger. He shakes his head, "Nevermind! As for why he did not kill me, we have a scheduled fight two weeks from now, where everything is on the line." He shuts his eyes, "He plans to kill me in front of my old teacher to show his worth. I will just have to kill him." He shrugs, slowly trying to bring himself back up to his feet.
"Got... to warn... Alma."
"If?" Oh no, Mr. Stray Dog, you aren't getting out of it -that- easily.
"If what, Jiro-san?" And her eyes flash, and Mizuki gets stern.
"_Don't_ _move_. If you are fighting him in two weeks you will need to be at your best, and moving around before you're healed will NOT help matters!" Geez, and she barely knows him.
"If it's that important, then I'll find Towazu-san and tell him myself. But--"
"--I don't think you should kill him. My sensei told me that taking a life... it's something irrevocable. It will do something to you that shouldn't be done..."
"Ignore what I said earlier. I almost told you to put yourself in danger for Alma." The Stray Dog staggers up slowly, glaring at the girl as she is -telling- him what to do. This causes the boy to roar out at her with vehemence, "Do not /underestimate/ my resolve!" The Stray Dog pants, slowly falling back on his butt.
Son of a...
"Fine, you warn him." He shuts his eyes, "Someone has to before Dante gets to him first. Alma may be a queerbag, but he's my best friend." He shrugs, then he narrows his eyes at Mizuki's statement.
"I already killed once. I already done something irrevocable." He shrugs, "Dante won't be missed much. There are some things you don't understand, so it's really best if you don't jump any further into things than you already have."
Mizuki shows no joy in being proven right when Jiro can't stand. In fact, she even looks worried about it.
"I may not be a great fighter, Jiro-san. I may not have power or strength like you; I can't draw upon my hatred for that, and I'm not an experienced warrior. But don't underestimate -my- resolve, either!" She practically snaps this, then rises to her feet.
"Here, I bought some food for you. It's pretty simple stuff, but it will help you get your strength back." Mizuki picks up the bag that was just out of sight until a moment ago, then...
"So you've already killed... I see..."
Standing, unfortunately, was no easy task. Already, Jiro is showing signs of weariness and those eyes have reverted back to a more animalistic nature in the form of slits. While not actually blooded of an animal, his traits of acting like one shows more. But, calming himself once more, the young man looks back at Mizuki. "Meh."
The Stray Dog looks at the bag, then he kneels down to reach for it, "Thanks."
He looks at the food while talking to Mizuki, "My old teacher got me to do it. Kill the weak, the foul, the rapists, muggers, murderers.." He shrugs, "But the price is that you'll end up a murderer yourself."
"Your old teacher was not a very nice person, then," she replies.
Mizuki faces Jiro, hands on her hips. "I want you to stay here until you're -completely- rested, you got that? If that guy is out there and he's as awful as you say then I guess he might try to come after you again and weaken you before your fight. I'll go tell Towazu-san to be careful and ask him to tell Hotaru-san as well."
Mizuki gathers her things and heads for the doorway of the shrine and pauses in the entrance.
"If I am caught up in this, Jiro-san, it is because I chose so. I don't want you thinking that I'm doing anything against my will."
Log created by Mizuki, and last modified on 00:51:48 04/26/2007.