Description: Shoma returns to Headquarters after multiple savage beatings. Kurow decides to check in on one of his...latest projects.
The upside of being a mastermind is that very often, everyone works for you -- at least, for a little while. The downside of being a mastermind is that some are more difficult than others, and need routine checkups. Especially when the challenges of the day are that much more hectic than simple 'get food, study, sleep.' And right now, Shadaloo needs everything it can get.
Such is what forces Kurow to spend a little more time than he usually would working with a few select fighters. The man called to an empty room in the barracks today: Shoma Sawamura.
Shoma Sawamura looks like he has had better days. His body is a collection of cuts and bruises, and is limping slightly as he heads for his assigned quarters. The bat is still on his back, however, and his mind is reeling in the aftermath not only of the prison break, but also getting ganged up on by three people at the Saturday Night Fights.
Hayato had attempted to succeed with Shoma where he had failed with Sakura. He was closer to succeeding this time than anyone would care to admit; he had the boy subdued and in the Nurse's Office at Taiyo High. Depending on who you asked, it was unfortunate that Kurow's hold on Shoma was strong enough to impel the Slugger to sneak out and make his escape the first chance that he got.
He stops short when he sees Kurow at his door. "Oh. Hello, Kirishima-san."
Kurow was always quite good at wrapping people around those clawed fingers. The primary thing that gets him is hubris -- very often he just assumes things aren't as big of problems as they are, and even that's a trait he's starting to curb... a little, tiny bit, at least.
The little slugger isn't the only one who's had a run-in with Hayato lately; Kurow, likewise, has seen more of the business end of that shinai than he'd ever hoped to lately. (With good reason.) However, he doesn't know of Shoma's encounters, and as such is simply as pleasant as a man still waiting for the bone-cracking impacts of Guile's boots to heal can conceivably be. "Shoma, hello," the youth says, gesturing inside. "I'd just like to talk to you for a moment. How have you been?"
Shoma blinks once or twice. Something, something quiet in the back of his mind screams at him to smack this fool out and run like the winds. You don't BELONG here, the voice says. You should be with back at Taiyo, resting.
Shoma can't seem to hear this voice well, however. He looks a bit fuzzy in the eyes before answering, "Sore. I'm still not sure how exactly I got back here." He blinks slowly, "And you, Kirishima-san? How are you today?"
Fuzzy memories /should/ trip Kurow up, should tell him he needs to do maintenance, but for once, he's not doing it. There are too many things nagging at him. Shadaloo looks like a sinking ship to him, right now -- who would fault him for being preoccupied?
"You probably took a few too many hits to the head -- you never did know how to protect it, after all," Kurow says, with a little smirk. "As for me -- acceptable." That's his entire answer -- 'acceptable'. "How have you been feeling lately, overall, other than 'sore'?"
Shoma tilts his head to the side, looking somewhat subdued as he mulls the question over for moment that Kurow could classify as 'disturbingly long.'
The moment passes as he looks up at the ninja teen, "Confused...I think?" Shoma looks like that's the closest he can come to describing the mess in his head, "...and I have a headache, but Nekketsu-san /did/ wallop me with that shinai of his last night."
Under /normal circumstances/, Kurow would instantly take 'confused' as a red flag -- especially if Shoma hadn't added any qualifiers. However, adding that perfectly logical qualifier that does a /fine/ job of explaining 'confused, sore, and have a headache' means that Shoma dodges a potentially deadly bullet.
"Nekketsu has been on a rampage lately," Kurow says, massaging his face a little, remembering his nose breaking. "I can't say I blame him, given the circumstances. I'm glad to hear that's the full sum of your worries."
The look on Shoma's face says that's not all of it. He never /was/ good at keeping his emotions in. He's...strangely silent, even for the way he has been since that first 'talk' he had had with Kurow.
Silence? From Shoma Sawamura? That sets off a couple of warning bells in Kurow's head. "Did he say anything to you?" comes the inevitable question. Even a preoccupied Kurow is still better at picking up on some cues than most.
Shoma scowls, "He said I wasn't making a mistake, working here. That someone else was making it /for/ me." He ponders for about half a second, before speaking again, "I...saw Roberto and Futaba-san the other night. At...at the prison break," he says.
Futaba is really getting to be a problem; perhaps it's time to deal with her a little more forcefully, Kurow tells himself, before refocusing on the conversation with Shoma. "Nekketsu has been very -- cryptic lately. It'd be best for you just to ignore him," he says, waving dismissively, before addressing the other topic. "What happened at the prison break?"
Now Shoma looks pissed off, "I had to work with the Seven Days' leader, that Khamis jerk?" Shoma punches the wall very hard, "He tried to kill me. Just for talking to Roberto and Futaba-san. I got lucky when he tried to explode the entire corridor on us, and then he tried to kill me a /second/ time..." Shoma frowns again, "And she said everything Shadoloo is doing here is wrong. She...asked me to help her and Roberto out. I... I /wanted/ to...but you know how it is. I work /here/, now." Shoma looks pained; he's revisiting the true source of his headache, even if he doesn't realize it.
If this were Kurow working for his own goals entirely, something like this would result in immediate harsh, crushing 'maintenance,' asset management, and other euphemisms for the young man's cruel techniques. However, here and now, things are a little different... Kurow simply feels he has less /time/, since Vega so often pushes forward at strange times. He has to use his words rather than the raw force of will against will. In a situation like this, it's a bandage at best... but in a tight situation, sometimes a soldier simply bandages a wound rather than getting even the most basic battlefield surgeries done. It's a simple question of expediency.
"You're learning quickly, Sawamura," Kurow says, with a smirk. "You're right; you do work here now. It's only natural to want to return to your old life, of course -- but you're here to help Kasugano. Keep that in mind."
Shoma nods grimly, "It...felt kind of good to watch Khamis go down," he admits with a chuckle. "But...I don't..." Shoma frowns deeply, "I don't remeber what happened after that...I remember going after Futaba again, and then..." He looks up at Kurow blankly, "Nothing."
"Futaba probably knocked you unconscious," Kurow says, shaking his head. "As for Khamis... the Seven Days are all loose cannons. I take every opportunity I can to snipe at Douyoubi," the youth admits, with a shrug. "It's probably nothing to worry about. Vega simply... has less than discerning tastes in elites, at times."
The video evidence, if there is any remaining, would clearly show Shoma was /not/ knocked out by Futaba. Shoma took two further hits, and simply...stopped. He fell, and balled up.
Shoma frowns as he nods, "And if that jackass tries to kill me a third time? What should I do then?" And since when did Shoma seek ANYONE'S advice?
Ah, here we go. Easy questions. Better. "Hit him in the face with that bat a few times and see if he persists," Kurow says, flatly. He knows /he/ could get away with it, since he's certainly gotten away with injuring Douyoubi a few times in the process of getting results. Maybe /Shoma/ would have trouble, but then, that's hardly Kirishima's problem. "If he does and there are other operatives there, relieve him of his command. If he doesn't, well, that's certainly solved the problem."
Shoma seems to process that for a moment before nodding tiredly. He yawns.
"...Could use a nap," the Slugger comments. His head feels a /little/ clearer now.
"That might be a good idea," Kurow says, with a nod. "You seem like you could use it -- your head seems like it's been shaken up a lot." In more ways than one, but Kurow doesn't say that. "Give it a few hours -- let everything settle back together. There's only so much that can really get knocked too far out of place."
Shoma nods, and staggers into his room. The door closes, and Kurow can hear the potentially troubling sound of the metal bat clanging around, the thwump of a body hitting a mattress, and then snoring.
Log created on 15:22:40 07/02/2007 by Shoma, and last modified on 00:07:34 07/08/2007.