Description: (Part 2) Convincing Hurricane Hime to help was easy enough once the truth was told, but now it's time for some planning. Arika and Hime make their way to Eva's cabin to continue the discussion. This is where Eva finds out things are worse than they seemed, Hime finds out who Eva's bunking with (OMGSQUEE!), and Arika is forced into trying to trust others.
Leaving the library is a rather easy feat in comparison to some of the tasks that have been set before the punk princess aboard the Suiryuu. Hurricane Hime at her side, Arika makes her way through the promenade, down across the main deck and to the cabins.
But, she doesn't stop at her own room.
Continuing down the corridor, she heads directly to her teammate's room and raps on the door. Once, twice. It's a little pattern that she hopes Eva will recognize. While she waits for a response, she clasps her hands behind her back and leans back and forth on her heels. Doesn't seem like she's too worried about scouting the hallway for anyone else. This is, after all, just a routine visit by the looks of things.
Easy for Arika perhaps, but for Hurricane Hime it's like leaving home for the first time.. A sad affair. But she gets over it easily enough seeing as she's got quite a bit of a job on her shoulders now!
Hime stands out quite easily, in a short-legged, pink bodysuit and huge scarf, she's loud without even having to open her mouth. There's no confusion as they walk by Arika's room, but she does find it a little odd when she knocks on Eva's. ".. You two aren't roomates?"
She's been sore ever since the fight. It's the one disadvantage of the method she uses to push herself- all that stress has to be handed to her sometime, and, for her, it's after the battle. Sometimes, immediately afterwards, in the case of that fight with Yamazaki. The door is slowly opened, revealing the healing face of one Eva Manzetti. Alive, on the road to recovery with some new clothes, and pretty much ready for the next round. It doesn't mean she *looks* good, however.
"Come in." The girl opens the door wider for the two to come in. "... Is this a friend of yours?" She looks to Arika as she motions to Himeko, but otherwise does nothing to impend Arika's new companion from getting in. Turning to look at Himeko with a small smile, she replies, "... no, my roommate's out for now. It would have been nicer if we could have bunked together, but... my roommate seems alright." (LOL OOC ASSUMPTION POWA)
"Huh? Oh, no. They stuck me with someone named Alan. Ain't really seen 'im much though, s'pose that's a good thing." Arika's not really up on bunking with someone she doesn't know, but she's trying her utmost to consider this as another challenge. (That, and at one of the ports she's purchased a decently sized foot-locker with a heavy-duty lock on it for all her personal items).
Door opens, and she let's Eva invite them in. "This is 'urricane 'ime. Good lil' fighter. Found'er in the library... kind'a told 'er wot's been goin' on." Moving into the room, the punk princess looks around and then just clambers up onto the top bunk. Who -cares- if this one isn't Eva's bed, it gives her a good vantage point to scour the room for hidden cameras. "Still think I should kick the Alan bloke out and 'ave you bunk with me. Could keep an eye that they don't snag ya again that way."
Hime frowns to the mention of Alan. She had a nightmare of a match with him before, in fact come to think of it, she'd better seek him out and beat him up for good measure. Yeah that sounds like a keen idea! "It sure is a good thing, he's rude!" Hime makes clear, "I'm gonna bop him good next time I see him. An- G'ah!"
That's Hime jumping in suprise when she sees Eva and the condition she's in. She's probably seen better days am I rite? "Uhhhhh, hi! You can just call me Hime. Or Hurricane, nice to meet you. Also I am all for Arika's idea, I can help!" She raises her hand excitedly, like a student eager to be picked by the teacher.
"That's good," the more sober Eva replies with an amiable smile and nod. Then, thinking on that a moment, her eyes drift as that smile turns into a soft frown. "You do realize that you may get yourself into trouble, correct? We don't know what will happen. This situation is rather unpredictable." For one thing, she didn't expect to be fighting for the ship immediately after swearing to possibly attempt to make herself be a hinderance, but that's just the way it went during that heist.
It was a case of choosing between two evils.
Belatedly noticing Himeko's reaction to her appearance, Eva offers up an awkward smile. "... It was a lot worse, but, it's healing very quickly. Arika and I ended up fighting two people, one of which was Yamazaki- I'm not sure if you've heard of him, but..." Her frown deepens. "It was a wonder we were able to be effective against him at all."
"Eh." Arika is still intently looking for any hidden camera or audio devices those wily ninjas might have tossed into the rooms. Lord only knows that they're likely making some stupid reality television show. Love Boat meets Big Brother, or some other tripe like that. "Get the feelin' we're all mostly in trouble on this ship any'ow. Normal cruise ships don't 'ave a slew of bazookas layin' 'bout." Pause. "Which, by the way, Eva... Naerose opened one'a the crates and set one off the other night."
Glancing between her two cohorts, she shrugs and tosses the notebook down toward Eva. "Got 'im to leave the ship empty 'anded, didn't we?" Oh, sure. Both of them ended up wounded, the punk rocker's cheek still isn't fully healed. Such are the wonders of makeup. "Both'a them were, according to not very reliable sources, Mad Gear. Both workin' for some woman. Naerose mentioned a name, but I ain't exactly sure if that's the woman that organized the attack on the ship or if that's just who she's workin' for."
"Geez, that sounds like Naerose all right. I can't even begin to imagine why she would have been invited here, that girl is bonkers." Hime says. Nevermind that she's a high school girl pretending to be a superhero, that's completely unrelated! Leaving the look-out for Arika to handle, she looks to Eva once more and just instinctivly rubs her own cheek. "Y- Yeah, I'll take your word for it. Glad it's healing well though, if there's some sort of technique for that I'd like to learn it!"
Hime's never fought people who are as violent as Yamazaki yet, so the reality of it just doesn't fully sink in there. "Yes, I've seen some Taiyo students fight him before. I admit I'm suprised you two managed to get him to leave, that's amazing! But.. Are you saying you think that whatever the witch is up to has to do with someone else she's allied with? That sounds weird.." Hime folds her hands behind her head.
Oh, and as for Eva's question? "Unpredictable? If I see something more unpredictable than myself, I'll eat my hat! She fears not trouble, trouble fears.." she slides into a crouch, and strikes a sentai pose with one hand on the ground, and the other out like a wing, "HURRICANE HIME!"
".... Technique?" Eva rubs her head distractedly. "Well, I got these Vitamin E liquid gel pills... If you poke a needle in them and.... when they leak out, and you put it on whatever you want to prevent scarring..." She trails off as Arika speaks.
.... So that's what that sound was last night. "Bazookas?!" Eva's voice comes out in a squeak. "... Why in the world do we have bazookas on here? That doesn't even make sense! Even if this was a cargo ship, I can think of better things to transport than weapons that fighters could grab onto and shoot at each other!"
Catching the notebook with both hands as it's tossed to her, Eva slowly lowers it, wearing that worried frown of hers. "Well, there was someone with us. He had green skin and reddish hair, and could generate electricity. Could not speak English very well. However, if it weren't for him, I'm sure the battle would have turned into a disaster very quickly."
.... So this is the Hurricane Hime Eva's heard about. Well, at least she's good about self-promotion! "...... Well.... just...." What do you say in the face of such enthusiasm? "... Just be careful."
"Very good question, Eva. Why on -earth- are there bazookas aboard. Quite think if we manage to answer that one, we'll 'ave answers to a lot of the questions we 'ave." Hands set to either side of her and she clenches them firmly into the mattress of the bunk. "Take a look at the notebook. That's me data from the dojo. Two bazookas in there, and Lord only knows 'ow many are in various crates 'ere and there."
Eva's worried frown is matched slightly as the description of the Jolly Green mutant is offered. "'is name is Blanka. Fought 'im before in a team match with Drake. Bloody beast 'as got this electricity attack, 'urt Drake somethin' awful." Now, whether he meant to or not is a whole other story. Arika -did- mean to go back to the woods to find him, but then got caught up in the day-to-day things.
"Look, 'ime... we're liable to get in trouble for tossin' the crates... if we can even manage to do it without someone catchin' on or findin' us. We don't 'ave a crew to provide a distraction for us like those Mad Gear guys did... we'd really like to 'ave a spot of 'elp, but I don't want to be puttin' you into any danger..."
After taking a moment to look extremely and totally awesome (tm), Hime stands up and brushes off her shoulders, then waves her hand dismissivly to Eva, "Of course, of course. While the objective is simple enough, I understand there's caution as well. And while we may not have the distraction like that other group did, what we -do- have is..."
The little Hurricane's eyes narrow and she raises her fist in front of her nose. "GUTS."
Pause. "Wait a minute, did you say Blanka?? Blanket-sans my sparring partner!" the heroine then gasps in suprise. She doesn't even realize she's putting in an image of herself attempting to kick around the Green Machine all day. Who knows, maybe it actually makes her seem more hardcore? "I had no idea that he was on this ship, if he really is, then that means my sensei has to be with him as well! And if there's anything my sensei can do, is cause a commotion!" Beam.
".... Let's just hope that bazookas are the worst of all of it," Eva then says, flipping through the book. "Goodness.... how on earth did we find outselves already embarking on something that's on its way towards paralleling Thailand in seriousness?"
Looking back up finally at the somewhat.... conflicting images of the Jolly Green Giant, Eva purses her lips together in thought, then says, ".... This Blanka... seems to be an interesting person. A little driven, perhaps..." He *did* get confused by all the rigamaroll surrounding those first few minutes of that battle." She pauses a moment. ".... Who is your sensei, then, Himeko?"
Arika puffs out a heavy sigh and shakes her head. "If bazookas ain't all we're up against, Eva... we're in a boatload of trouble..." Whether the pun is intended or not, the punk princess doesn't let on. "As for 'ow we found ourselves in this kind'a mess, you can fully blame that on me not trustin' these ninjas from the start. I -want- the truth... and if I've got to sink the bloody ship to get it... I might just."
Tough words from the 'tough rocker chick', but does someone like Arika even know where to -begin- sinking a ship like this without injuring someone?
"...." Deep blue eyes peer over at Hime and she just stares. "You -TRAIN- with 'im? Can't imagine that's much fun at all... but do you think they'd be willin' to 'elp? I don't want to put anyone in a position they don't wanna be in, and I don't want anyone in trouble with... ugh... Sakura."
"Are you kidding me? It's a blast!" Hime insists, waving her hands. "I mean yeah he's big, he's really strong, but he's got a great sense of humor so it evens out pretty nicely. Though hmmn, yeah getting answers isn't going to be nearly as easy as it originally sounded.. But first things first, right? I mean if we do enough damage, the big cheese has to show his face eventually, right?" Hime has to admire Arika's tenacity though, she must really want to know what's up! Whereas the heroine herself would be pretty fine with an apology. That's also her goal.
"Oh, and my sensei is the master of the Saikyo Ryuu fighting style, Dan Hibiki! I'm not quite sure how those two got on, but it could be really helpful in the end! And besides, what qualms would this 'Sakura' have? If my information is right, she used to be a student of Dan's anyway. A prized one at that!" the girl clearly quite excited about the news. "If either of you meet them and mention my name there probably wouldn't be any trouble. Besides, they like to do what's right too!" Or Dan will pass it off as it being some sort of new training for her to undergo. e_e;
"Well, on my part, it was me not wishing to fight. The rest just stems down from that." Turning to look at Himeko, Eva says, ".... I don't know if 'big cheese' would be a singular entity or not. I hate to say it, but I fear a conspiracy of sorts." A pause, and Eva chuckles awkwardly. "Of course, maybe it's something more orthodox, like a mad scentist..." She then trails off, stopped in midthought by Himeko's next admittance.
"..... D...?!" Eva looks like she's ready to fall face down. "..... that's..... actually my roommate..." She points to a tag near the door, set with the names of the occupants. "Dan Hibiki." My, aren't things coming together? I haven't really met him yet, but, between the incident with the garbage compacter and being in the infirmary from that last fight, I've been unable to catch him, really. He seems nice, though." How can you say that about someone you've never met? ....... An undying belief in the goodness of other people, outside of combat and cultish ships, that's how!
Conspiracy theories abound! Paranoia runs rampant! And Arika just glances between Eva and Hime and chuckles a little. "Well, that settles that then. One of you two can talk to Dan." Furrowing her brow, she pauses. "Wait, wait. Dan -taught- Sakura? The same Sakura that tried to kill us Stars back in Thailand? The same Sakura that's workin' as Chief of Security on this cult cruise?"
Resting her head in her palms, the diva gently rubs at her temples. "My brain 'urts. 'ime, if you think we can trust Dan and 'is jungle pal... talk to them. Don't tell them everythin' just yet. Put a feeler out, see if they'd be interested in 'elpin'. If not, ladies... it's just the three'a us against ship security and possibly a bunch'a wankers from Mad Gear... it ain't gonna be easy." Giving a pointed look to Eva, she hops down from the top bunk. "Looks like Drake's idea of sinkin' the ship ain't lookin' so bad now..."
".. A conspiracy?" Hime repeats, frowning. Again something she's not familiar with tackling- If only Ran was here to give a little advice? But maybe if she were lucky, things would start falling into place in a more natural way. Either way, she doesn't seem to enthused by the theory. However when she's directed to the tag, her eyes widen, and her hair strands practically stand on end as she lets out the loudest, "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAA~AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT???" the world has ever seen! Er, heard! She drops to her hands and knees. "Not fair! That is so not fair, Eva you're so lucky, I envy you so much.."
So! Now that she's done killing the mood, she looks up to Eva, her cheeks puffed for a moment,"There's no need to question it, haven't you done your homework? Dan Hibiki is a legend! . But.. An order's an order, so I'll go ahead and do what you say. In fact, looking for him right now doesn't seem like a bad idea.. Oh, and as for the Sakura thing, that was a real mess. I'd never seen a Taiyo Student take a turn like that before, not really sure what to make of it.."
Looking to Arika, Eva says, "I guess I will; I wish to see what my roommate truly is like." She *still* can't see Sakura as anyone other than a good person, but, she supposes, that may just be the glamour magic of TV. Sakura seemed to be someone Eva could focus on when she first got into fighting; someone she could point to the TV and say, 'I'm not the only one'. Now, reality seems to keep bashing that idea down. Surely, Sakura *has* to have some good in her!
"I have trouble with names..." Eva defends with a hurt look as her gaze drifts down to the fallen Himeko. "The only reason I knew who Yamazaki was is because he seemed to be on the TV all the time." She rubs the back of her head again, as she usually does in awkward situations, and adds, "... I'll take your word for it."
Mutter.
Sakura is a -good- person. Y'know, as much as Arika keeps hearing it, it's yet to be proven to her. After all, Kasugano got herself into a mess in Thailand, and is now involved in all of -this-.
Whatever -this- is.
Yet, there's the truce. A woman of her word, Arika's not about to go back on it. "I'll try talking to Sakura. Got a feelin' she ain't gonna be agreein' with wot we're up to, considerin' she's workin' for these people."
And while the extremely loud, shriekish 'WHAT' causes her to wince, the diva just gives her head a tiny shake and grins at Hime. "You've got Dan then. Eva... can you find out who we can trust on this ship? Scout 'round, maybe get a feel for things? You'll likely 'ave a better time of it than I will. You're a bit better with people than I am." The punk princess can fake the friendly attitude, and the simple trust, but she's come to learn that a lot of the time? The more genuine things are, the easier it is to get people to talk.
"Think that's all for tonight... but we're gonna 'ave to move as soon as we leave port again. The sooner these weapons are off'a the ship, the better we'll -all- be able to sleep at night."
Himeko... Really doesn't have a big opinion on Sakura. Of all the students she admires it's definatly someone else she looks up to the most; but she is also aware that she's sort of a celebrity of sorts on school grounds; and probably one of SNFs hottest card picks. It's clear to her that Eva and Arika are on opposite sides of the card there, but that will probably work out in its own way. She grins as Arika gives her the preferred job, "Ok! But if Eva manages to bump into her first no sense beating around the bush; it's fine if you talk to him just let him know that I'm on board too!" Well, that was obvious but still she felt she needed to make that point clear. Heck, maybe she'll find Blanka first for all she knows.
Hime gets to her feet and dusts off her fanny, "Welp, that's that. I guess the best thing to do is meet up this time tomorrow and report our situations again?"
While Eva wants to believe Sakura is a good person, Arika's opinion is the default by which she goes by here. If she can't trust Arika, she can't trust anyone on this ship; the recent events thus far have made that clear. "I will try." She'd definitely be a good person for the job- she's hardly the shady sort, and she may appeal to some people's sense of justice if they're not already feeling conflicted.
"... That sounds good. I should be able to run into Mr. Hibiki, but it may be that Himeko," she says this while directly her gaze to the girl in question, "will be the one to convince him. He has no reason to trust me, while it seems that he has a very good relationship with his students. However, we'll see what happens." After all, she has yet to face the almighty DAN face to face.
"Right. So let's meet 'ere tomorrow. Try to make it look casual. 'ime, bring refreshments, I'll bring a bag of cosmetics. We'll throw a girl's night." Will this pose a problem for the little Hurricane? Will secret identities be revealed? Tune in next we-- er... right.
Ahem.
Arika makes her way to the door and pulls it open, preparing to leave. "Oh, and Eva? Not sure wot'cha can do with those measurements, but we -might- just 'ave a bit of a logistics issue. I've got the numbers up 'ere," she says with a tap to her temple, "so keep the book for now. You get any ideas, just jot'em down and leave the book in my room..."
And with that, she disappears down the corridor heading back toward her room.
Hurricane Hime blinks once.. Blinks twice. Girl's night? WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG??
"Er.. Ok, cool!" The refreshments part should be easy enough after all! With that note set in her head, and she realizing that she is a little bit tired, a nap isn't a bad option before she breaks out into action! A salute is given to the departing Arika, and she bows to Eva, "It was a pleasure to meet you, looking forward to working with you! Leave it to me!"
And yeah. She knows. Meeting Dan can be quite an experience; a reputation she hopes she can uphold one day. And with that she turns and bails without waiting for a reply, whisking past Arika in the process. There she goes!
A girl's night? ".... I'll see if Dan will mind..." Perhaps this mysterious teacher will be partaking of the comestics and beauty tips?! Does anyone really want to know that Eva sometimes will soak her hair in apple vinegar to make it all nice and shiny and healthy?!
She shampoos it afterwards, you know. Really good.
"I will see what I can do," Eva then says to Arika, giving the Brit a slow nod. "I may think of something while I rest. It's a good time to think about things such as that." After all, you fall asleep! Waving as the two depart, Eva wraps her arms around the notebook and frowns.
What in the world is she in for?
Log created on 21:11:24 09/19/2007 by Arika, and last modified on 19:56:48 09/20/2007.