Description: Sakura Kasugano - chief of security aboard the Suiryuu. But does she know what's going on? Does she know the true purpose of Jinchuu? Deep in the hull, deep within the great ship, she encounters Riko Koganei. Words are exchanged, accusations leveled. And revelations are made. But what Riko says...can't possibly be the truth. Or can it?
Cruise ships are supposed to be bright and shiny places. Really. They are. It's part of the definition, part of the charter, a universal natural law.
Of course, the Suiryuu isn't exactly a pleasure craft, so it's hardly bound by those rules. Yes, there are passengers aboard, and yes, there's lots of luxurious amenities. But it is more than that. It is the mighty water dragon, it is the fighting craft of the people, it is the vessel of judgement. It is, above all, two hundred and fifty feet of industrial metal construction that's been modified so far on the outside envelope of maritime technology that it's postmarked from another planet.
Which means that the lower levels are...an interesting place. Deep within the hull, well below the waterline. Obviously devoid of portholes, so dark and vaguely dank - humidity in the air, moisture beading off pipes and conduits running over the ceiling and bulkheads. But there is light, all the same. This particular stretch of compartments has been strung with what appear to be electric lanterns - of the festive Chinese paper variety. Or at least they'd be festive, if they weren't the wrong color, a cool icy blue rather than cheerful red.
That blue light casts odd illumination over the passageways - glinting off the steel walls, the steel floor. Especially highlighting the weird runic etchings that cover almost every square inch of exposed vertical space down here. And some horizontal spaces too. Spidery tracings of intertwining lines. And in the light, they seem to reflect and flicker.
Not really a cheerful place. Not at all.
Still, that isn't stopping /someone/...
Isn't stopping them from singing.
A clear voice, a high voice, a girlish soprano, echoing through the hull in a simple refrain:-
"o/` Yooo-hooo, yooo-hooo, a pirate's life for meeeeee... o/`"
Riko Koganei lies on her back, stretched out on the deck - peering at the underside of a massive bulk-scale ballast tank, one of the many chambers welded to the ship's structure. She appears to be accompanying her song by hitting something metal with a monkey wrench. Repeatedly.
There may be some reason for this.
Odd lighting schemes are only one of the things keeping Sakura Kasugano curious about this ship. Where the two got the ship from in the first place was one of the concerns, of course, but what they plan to do with it... that's probably the most pressing concern. It's certainly got some... unusual engineering, but the reason for it is... well, fascinating to someone with a shot at putting some reason to this rhyme.
The ship, not Riko's rhyme. There's no hope there.
Kasugano's here as part of her security patrol -- or at least she's taken it upon herself to expand her mandate to include this part of the hull. She could tell the voice was Riko's even before setting foot in the room -- not many have such a high pitch, after all. But still, she's been unable to get any answers out of =asking= Riko, so she figures... it certainly couldn't hurt if she were to approach quietly and get a better look of what it is Riko's doing. Actions speak louder than words, after all. Banging on something with wrenches usually means one of two things -- random noisemaking, or crudely forming metal into another shape. Kasugano steps close, looking at the room like someone trying to be stealthy without actually, y'know, exhibiting that whole bent-over, tiptoeing, 'I'm being stealthy and failing!' pose. Nope, just looking around... and rather blatantly staring at Riko and her work with a bemused smile.
If she's spotted, her smile would grow rather large.
Spotted? For a few moments, it doesn't seem like she is. There's no reaction from Riko, at least not immediately. The song and accompanying "instrumental" proceeds clear through another verse and tune--
"o/` Yo, ho, haul together, hoist the colors high! Heave ho, thieves and beggars... o/`"
--before it slows, then stops. The impromptu percussion also ceases, the repeated sound of a wrench head hitting another metal surface fading to just a miscellanious clatter.
Riko scoots out from under the ballast tank, sliding smoothly over the deck.
She's dressed simply, in the black top and matching bottom that - for her - pass as a formal ninja outfit. Her forehead protector, her hitae-ate, is tied with particular military precision, the cloth band actually encircling her head, keeping her hair tightly bound down and back, out of her eyes. She'd look almost business-like, if it wasn't for the impish grin on her face ... and the fact she's still wearing her usual stereo headphones, iPod, and chunky in-line skates.
She doesn't get to her feet. She just props herself up on one elbow, so she can look Sakura in the eye. Peering at her from floor level.
In a deadpan voice, Riko finishes the song:
"Never shall we die."
Then she blinks. Just once.
Kasugano's heard the song before... but like most things that don't involve fighting, she usually forgets them shortly afterward. But that's irrelevant to the emotions conveyed by the singing itself -- a cheery number, meant to help make boring work less so. So it's a little disappointing to see the song dwindle to near-silence in such a fashion, as if Kasugano slammed a door in the face of a retirement luncheon's guest of honor.
"Eh-heh..." she answers with a broad smile, scratching at the side of her cheek with no small degree of guilt.
First stage: dilute the issue. "Just, uh... doing my patrols of the ship, like y'brought me on to do!"
Second stage: bring it up again. Kasugano doesn't always think -logically- after all. "... Need any help? Can't imagine those noodle arms are much good at manual labor..." she adds, smile turning into a more confident smirk, as if to say, Yes, I'm curious about what you're doing here!
Riko blinks again. She's smiling, that she is. Which is to say, her mouth is slightly open, and the corners of her lips are slanted upwards, her cheeks dimpling - all the necessary components for her expression to be classified as a smile. But...in the end, that's just a simple movement of facial muscles. A physical state of being, a matter of positioning, nothing more.
Her eyes glimmer in the dim light, shining in the electric blue illumination cast by the string of lanterns overhead.
Riko's lying on the deck, half sitting up, leaning on one arm. Her other hand comes up now, gripping the wrench she was using, her slim fingers wrapped around the haft.
It's a -very large- wrench, an exceedingly massive length of galvanized metal. It's almost as long as Riko is tall. That thing has to be heavy, but Riko doesn't seem to notice the weight. She just waves it around like it's nothing, swinging the big steel-jawed head at Sakura - sketching a large circle in the air.
Sakura's first thought is that Riko was answering her question of 'Can I help' with 'I'm drawing circles in the air'. ... Because there's a lot of that going on in the ship, really, arcane symbols that Sakura doesn't understand yet undoubtedly have a very significant effect to the operation of the ship.
It's only after a moment or two that Kasugano realizes Riko was responding less to the intended question, and more to the throwaway diss that followed it. Noodle arms they may seem, but galvanized metal is not really that light! Kasugano's face actually grows a bit pale -- and even if such a thing can't really be noticed in the blue light, her drooping shoulders and widened eyes ought to convey her surprise quite effectively just the same.
"Ah, right, then! S-sorry, didn't mean to interrupt you or nothin'." She turns to walk away, pausing for just a moment -- deliberately, in the poor melodramatic way she imagines big-shot actors to do when they're about to make a point -- before turning back partway.
Really, she needed the pause to gather her thoughts, also. And from her giant smile, it's quite obvious she's being =honest= in her praise: "I really gotta say this, Riko, you and Sei have done an =amazing= job here. I can't =wait= to fight in a place like this... I don't even know if anyone else will ever be able to appreciate it, really! Just having so much..." She struggles with the words, but conveys her excitement well enough by shaking tightly-closed fists. "It'll be pretty phenomenal, so yeah!"
And yet... despite being 'done', Kasugano still stands there. Like she wants to say something else... but doesn't know what to say. ... She's really not had much opportunity to talk with Riko that hasn't involved bodily injury of some kind, so she's... at a bit of a loss for the the usual pattern of conversation. Kinda like how cheerleaders and nerds don't really 'get' each other... but just a little different.
With a loud /clang/, Riko grounds the wrench. The adjustable head and jaws slamming into the deck with a sonorous boom, a vibration that travels through the deck and bulkheads. Above, the string of lanterns sways, stirred by the force.
Riko rises, getting off the floor, using the oversized tool as an impromptu bit of support, her hand riding the end of the grip like a walking stick. The wheels of her skates touch the deck, and she rocks back and forth for a moment, before her balance perfectly stabilizes.
She gives Sakura another look, her eyes half hidden by the pattern of shadows cast by the dim light. That same smile is still on her face. Frozen, in fact. Her muscles haven't budged so much as an inch.
She still hasn't -said- anything.
Riko blinks again.
Then, finally, her lips part.
"If you want us to build you an Ansatsuken ship," Riko says, "the answer is no."
Kasugano jumps back at the sudden clanging, instantly on alert like a startled rattlesnake. Her fists were already clenched before, but now her knuckles are white, her senses on edge, and her adrenaline rushing with the paranoid, fight-or-flight response. It's a physical response she knows well, and in many cases enjoys greatly.
But not now. Because she's trying to have a conversation with someone who's not really saying anything. Kasugano likes normal people, they say what's on their minds. Seishirou always frustrated her for saying as little as possible. ... And in a way, Kasugano sees this whole trip on the ship as a =challenge= to her, a test... to see if she can start to understand how ninja think.
All's it gotten her so far is frustration. And that's even =before= Riko speaks.
After, Kasugano actually dials up from 'cautious' to 'angry'. "I... that's not what I =meant!= Geez, I'm here trying to give you props for building this ship and you think I just want one for my =own?!="
Lies rarely flow so quickly unless they're practiced and planned out. Kasugano is not one to plan things out. Ergo, she's probably serious when she says that.
"Geez..." she mutters, finally easing her nerves away from the edge, her stance relaxing. "I mean, geez, you were all happy a moment ago. Look... I was curious, okay? Maybe, y'know, it's in my best interest =and= your best interest to know a little bit more about what you folks are planning, so I can keep the folks in line, y'know? But I kinda get why you might wanna stay quiet on it, an' that's fine too, okay? Just ... man."
Sighing sharply, she narrows her eyes at Riko. "I halfway think you two just get your kicks scaring the bejeezus out of me, sometimes!"
"We do," Riko replies, blandly. Without missing a beat. Or even batting an eyelid.
She twists her wrist, dragging the handle of the wrench to the side - scraping the head over the deck panels with the motion. Not a nice sound, a piercing shriek - rather at odds with her voice and casual pose.
"Of course," she continues, in a pleasantly neutral voice, "you -could- call it psychological tactics, or the maintaining of a certain aura of requisite ninja-ness..."
She smirks, eyes glinting.
"Or," Riko says, "I might be lying. But then...maybe I'm lying about lying. Who's to say?"
Kasugano's lips twist into a distasteful smirk at her being made fun of. And her left eyelid shuts, her left side shrinking away from the horrendous sound of metal grinding upon metal. It's not a nice sound at all!
Kasugano twists her pinky finger about in her ear for a moment, more for the show of the gesture than necessity. That is to say, it's a body-language equivalent of 'ow, was that really necessary?'
But at least Kasugano gets some measure of confirmation that her hunch was correct. Probably. Perhaps.
"Y'know, I always =did= wanna punch you and your Seishirou-chama in the face, but I s'pose it 'builds character' or somethin' for me not to, huh?" She runs her fingers through her hair for a moment, quite clearly tense... but getting rid of the aggravation. Slowly.
Rolling her eyes, she takes another step backwards, as if she finds it futile to say much more! "Just... y'know, =if= it fits your schedule for world domination and all, it'd =really= be awesome if I could get in a few fights here. I don't think I've ever been in a place this interesting before, an' all." She smirks a bit, canting her head to the side for a moment. "Oh, wait, I'm sorry... I was being totally serious there! I forgot, you don't speak that language."
She pauses, sticking the tip of her tongue out for a moment. "But really. Thanks for having me aboard an' all. I appreciate it." Pause. "Really!"
Riko pouts, sticking her lower lip out. She rests her free hand on her hip, cocking her head to one side.
"Now, now," Riko chides, mock hurt throbbing from every word, "you're just flattering the ninja girl so she'll totally turn a blind eye to your insidious plot to take over the ship and seduce Seishirou-sama."
She lifts the wrench, waggling the end at Sakura.
"World domination is /your/ schedule! Don't think I don't know!"
Riko leans forward, spine arching, hackles raised. Giving a little feline hiss to the emphatic accusation.
Okay, words. Lots of words! Kasugano's got a lot more to work with now -- she always did enjoy a little trash talking. A lot of truth is expressed in jest, after all -- her subconscious usually sorts out the difference while she's doing something else entirely. But she has to have raw material to work with -- which Riko's given her, thankfully!
"So what if I am, huh?" Seduce Seishirou, huh? That's a laugh -- but one Kasugano can work with! Brushing bangs out of her eyes with an overly confident stance, she adds, "It's obvious we're a perfect match for each other, y'know! He's got the brains, and I've got the brawn, and yeah, it's true -- we =do= usually manage to equal each other out. Rather =nicely=, I might add!"
Glancing off to the side with a boastful smirk, she crosses her arms confidently. "I mean, it's not like =I= have to =prove= myself to him, going to all these lengths --" -- at which point Kasugano gestures a hand to indicate the ballast tank she was just working on -- "-- just to impress him. All it takes for me to stay on his number-one list is just being my awesome self, right? So yeah, sure, I'll take over the world." Gesturing wildly, she waves her hand dismissively, even turning to walk =away= from the tiny girl with the giant super-sized monkeywrench. "Y'know, be the public front, and he can keep running the show behind the scenes. It'll be awesome!"
Step, step, step. She plans to step right out of the room as soon as she delivers this final line: "But first, wow. I can't believe he =asked= me that..."
Kasugano can be catty... in her own way.
Riko's face is...unreadable.
She's still smiling, certainly. But that in itself means little. The smile hasn't left her face since this whole encounter started. And now, her expression...simply doesn't change.
Her eyes might say more. But they're still cast in shadow, hidden by her hair and the irregular light in the compartment.
So. Just a perfect smile, precise and unchanging, cast from stone.
She moves back, straightening. She faces Sakura as the older girl moves away.
When she speaks, her voice is bright as well, high and light, singsonging into the upper registers with bell like clarity: "Ooh, asked you what, exactly?"
A smile can be used to express one's feelings... or it can be used to mask them. Words, being another form of communication, share that same duality.
In this case, the smile was creeping Sakura out rather mightily! It's hard to focus on someone's words when they're blaring a thousand-watt smile aimed straight into your eyes. Which was part of the reason Sakura turned to walk away.
The other... was to see if Riko was really interested in the conversation. Seems she is.
"Oh, nothing special," answers Kasugano, stopping to glance over one shoulder. "I figured he would've told =you= of all people, with something =that= huge! But if not..." She turns back to Riko, with an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I've said too much already!" Palms pressing to her cheeks in embarassment, she turns away from Riko, taking small, hurried steps out of the hold, she stammers, "I-it was supposed to be a secret... I thought you knew..."
"Oh," Riko says in a small voice, "-that-."
Her head droops. She looks down at her feet. Her skate boots shuffle on the deck as she shifts her weight back and forth, body language suddenly awkward. Her entire mein changes, the smile evaporating into complete nothingness, her face going slack. Shoulders slump. The wrench, held loosely in one hand, now slips entirely from nerveless fingers, bouncing noisily as it hits the metal flooring. Riko pays it no heed.
"-That-," she repeats, shuddering.
She inhales, then, drawing a shallow breath. Letting the air into her lungs.
"I didn't know," she says, in a hesitant voice, "he already asked you."
Riko shakes her head slightly.
"It's too early..."
She looks up, at the darkened expanse of the ship's hold.
"I haven't built the chapel yet!"
There is a moment during Riko's response where Sakura feels: yes, that's it, that's exactly the reaction she was hoping to achieve. That maybe, just once... she'd be able to out-ninja the ninja.
That moment was a little bit after Sakura once again nearly jumped out of her skin from the clamorous sound of a wrench hitting flooring, and managed to collect herself afterwards.
And then Riko announces her failure to complete the chapel -- a sign that either (a) Seishirou really -was- planning to ask Sakura to marry him, or (b) Riko's on to her little game.
The first case is extremely unlikely.
A moment passes, as Kasugano stops to consider those words, scratching at her cheek. Crap. The best possibility here... would be to simply acknowledge defeat.
Kasugano's never felt right about walking home with tail between her legs though. "Ah, yeah..." she states, glancing back over her shoulder. "Well, you'd better get crackin' on that! We got a schedule to keep and all! Chop chop, and all that!" She thrusts up a hand into the air, waving back at Riko as she steps away again.
Kasugano smiles, just a little bit. She may not have gotten any answers out of her, but at least she feels better than just being a =brainless= pawn in whatever game of chess Seishirou and Riko are cooking up.
Because Sakura's feelings are /clearly/ the most important thing here. Yes, absolutely and utterly critical, totally central to the grand master plan. Indispensible, Sakura is. Obviously Riko thinks this. Obviously she does.
The little ninja girl doesn't acknowledge Sakura as she exits the chamber. She doesn't even seem to /notice/ Sakura's departure. She's too busy wringing her hands and looking terribly frantic, a distinct twitch developing in her muscles, a shrill note of panic creeping into her voice.
"Nonononono, too soon! Too soon! And the cloning chambers! Those -definitely- won't be completed in time if he's changed the schedule! And we'll need precisely controlled laboratory conditions if we're going to ensure proper combination of Kasagano's potential with the key Ryouhara genetic traits..."
Riko's cry spikes up a note, climbing up into hysterical registers. The entire hull resonates with her anguished exclamation. "And nooooooo! We haven't yet isolated the markers that make Seishirou-sama's blood cursed! Nonononononono, I -know- he's all antsy because he's the last of the Ryouhara, but we'll never rebuild the clan like this! The schedule, the schedule! We'll have to step up the experiments at ONCE!"
Flail. Flail. Flail.
... Well, that catches Sakura's attention. Kasugano was pretty sure Riko was making fun of her a moment ago. Pretty sure. ... Wasn't she?
But Riko sure is acting pretty high-strung about it all, waaay beyond what Kasugano would consider to be the 'end' of the joke. If that's what it was. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Sakura really does think Riko's just overblowing the theatrics, not unlike Sakura herself was doing a moment ago. But the truth is... she =doesn't= know.
Pausing, she returns to the doorway separating Riko's hold from the rest of the ship, leaning against the doorjamb and watching with a faintly bemused expression. She's curious to see what else Riko will say, if nothing else!
Riko continues to ignore Sakura. She maintains her fluid tirade of complaint and panic, finally smacking one small balled-up fist into the palm of her other hand.
"Time, time, time," Riko mutters, "there's not enough -time-. If he's moving the schedule up, we're going to have to make sure everything -else- gets completed."
Riko jerks, then, lifting one hand. Snapping her fingers. A sudden look of resolve slams in place upon her face. A surge of blue chi suffuses her raised hand, sparks of spirit-forged power dancing down her wrist and arm. The bulkheads, floors, and surfaces of the hull chamber /thrum/, a dull bass sound trembling through the compartment as the mystic sigals engraved on the metal surge. Activity increasing. There's a distinct change in the atmosphere, a chill passing through the area.
The ninja girl nods, sharply, then spins on a heel. She picks up the dropped wrench, then starts rolling deeper into the ship's belly, gliding on her skates. Sakura ignored. Sakura forgotten.
Kasugano scratches her right temple for a moment, continuing to watch as Riko launches her frantic preparations. In her own mind, Sakura can only think one thing: Riko's going to =waaaaaay= too much effort to make fun of her. That is, Kasugano thinks she's just making it all up as she goes, knowing full well the Ansatsuken fighter is positioned right at the threshold listening to every word, and in fact, =making= such a huge production of it simply because she has an audience.
She believes this more with every passing moment, simply because that's what Sakura herself =just did=. It's all an elaborately crafted joke, see?
... Until that surge of chi rumbles throughout the bulkhead, chilling Kasugano straight to the core. It's, frankly, a bit scary! Curling her arms about her for warmth, Sakura starts to second-guess herself -- is this in fact what she =wanted= to trick Riko into revealing, after all? With a gulp of the now-chilled air, she braces herself, trying to ensure she'll remember what she can about the nonsensical blathering's Riko's spewing out here. It really is nonsense, right?
There's really only one other thing Kasugano wants to see -- and that's Riko's expression. The same face that more-or-less lied to her a moment ago with that saccharine-sweet smile, true... but the =eyes=. Kasugano may use words as a weapon, but eyes are the window into the soul, the spark that gives credence to those words.
The fighting fangirl is also very impatient, so she probably won't wait that long!
But Riko's already vanishing deeper into the ship's hull. Her face is hidden from Sakura's view. All she sees is the ninja girl's retreating back. Slipping into the darkness, into the labyrinth of passageways and interconnected spaces that make up the lower levels. And then, not even that. In a matter of moments, she rounds a corner.
She's gone.
Somehow, Kasugano figured that'd be the case. The more words pass between her and Riko, the more confused she's left herself. But it's just like a good mystery novel -- you want to put it down, get it out of your mind, but you just =can't=, you have to keep reading.
Which is why Kasugano stays there for another good while, waiting for signs of Riko to emerge from the depths of the ship.
Just waiting, her heart pounding, half-expecting Riko to pop back out and mumble something else. Or maybe she's expecting Riko popping down from the ceiling with a jack-o-lantern head or some such. The fact is, Kasugano =doesn't know=, and that drives her blood pressure up a bunch!
Frustrated, after about thirty seconds of this she slams a fist into the bulkhead, a disappointingly weak bass reverberation announcing her presence, and heralding her subsequent retreat from the scene. The chief of security goes off to resume her never-ending patrol of the ship, with plenty to think about... yet the only thought really coming to mind being how much of a fool Riko has played her for. The nerve of that little girl!
The nerve indeed. Down below, deep within the ship...
...Riko smiles.
Log created on 09:30:54 09/02/2007 by Riko, and last modified on 16:18:05 09/02/2007.