Description: May Lee had to, ultimately, decline the invitation to Ladies' Team--so now Rose seeks out another. One who has striking similarities to herself. But will Miu Kurosaki accept?
Miu has been in an odd mood ever since her... encounter... with Chris. That young man terrified her to the core. There was just something, off, with him. Not just in how easily he had managed to evade her attacks, or in how powerfully he'd hit her back. There was something predatory in his eyes. Something she couldn't shake. She had done her best to put it out of her mind, but it haunted her, and it was the reason she hasn't been back to her favorite place in Southtown ever since.
She's still not crazy about hanging around the dorm, though. So, she's out searching for another place to be alone. Her journey has brought her to this disgustingly polluted river, and, right now, the young Seijyun girl is staring down into it. A river of filth, man-made and walled off for the protection of the city's inhabitants. She can't help but think it is poetic, on some level. A sad reflection on the state of affairs of mankind, as she looks down into the befouled water.
Two crows are keeping the girl company, though she just looks dispassionate down into the river. Her expression quite neutral, though inside, she's still struggling with her emotions. Should... she try and do something about Chris? But, what? Who is there to warn, and what should she say? She let him goad her into a fight, and then he beat her up? It isn't exactly world-ending stuff.
Think she's alone with her crows? Think again. Rose has been watching the girl for a little bit--watching her struggle with something, though she's not sure what exactly. She'd sensed something about the Miu, the dark-haired student of Seijyun also on a list that Rose has... in her mind. May Lee was the first, most responsive choice--but then Kaphwan claimed her, as was, she admits, his right. And now Ladies' Team needs a new fourth member.
Without saying a word, gliding from the small, withered copse of trees that couldn't possibly really hide someone, Rose's footsteps whisper along the ground until she's maybe five feet from the young psychic. "You look troubled," she says, without preamble, without explaining herself or even introducing herself.
Though she carries a mysterious air, as does Miu, Rose also projects a warm, silent confidence and sense that she can be trusted. But can she?
Miu's eyebrow quirks at Rose's words. The girl turns, and gives the woman a long look up and down. Obviously taking in what is there. She, somehow, feels like she can trust Rose. Truth be told, Miu is a veritable font of Psycho Power. It's just... bottled up inside, at the moment. Rarely allowed to shine out to its fullest extent because... well, she doesn't have much experience. She is, when all is said and done, just a kid.
Still. Rose definitely has her attention. If only because the girl's bland demeanor was something that very few people ever looked beyond. Her inner turmoil is just that, inner, and it makes her wonder just what Rose is looking at. A third crow descends from the heavens, to peck at, something best left undescribed, attached to the railing nearby.
"... Do I?" She asks, sounding for all the world as though she couldn't care less. "It's nothing." She lies, "Troubles, with school." In a manner of speaking, at least, that much is true. Kind of.
Miu has great experience in keepinmg that power under wraps. But Rose has even greater experience in recognizing it. She doesn't say anything about that, though she admits that Miu's control is very, very good. Impressive, even. Instead, she just lets her gaze rest on the girl. "Mmm. When I was your age--" -- if she ever was -- "--school problems certainly were quite the thing to deal with. But I don't think that's what it is, is it?"
Her lips curve in a little smile. "'Normal' girls don't come down to this toxic stream because of school problems," she notes, turning to lean against the railing, facing away from the river, her head turned to regard Miu. Her next words could be interpreted in any number of ways, really, which should be amusing:
"Is it a boy?"
Miu's look of utter impassivity hardens even further. Her face is a mask, through which nothing passes. For a few, long moments she just meets Rose's eye. Many people find her behavior, irritatingly precocious. She just doesn't seem like she /cares/ about anything, and the way she looks at you, it's like she's looking through you. Creepy to the extreme. After that awkward silence has lingered on just a little bit longer, though, Miu deigns to speak up.
"The person who has me concerned is a boy." She confirms. Letting that hang there for a split second before she continues.
"He almost beat me to death, and I could not lay a finger on him in return. I tried my hardest, and he turned my attacks away as though I was moving in slow motion. He seemed to... enjoy, hurting me. It was disturbing."
All of this is said in that, frustratingly neutral tone of voice. As though she's discussing the weather, or what her dinner plans were for that evening. But the substance of the statements is absolutely true. She had been beaten, humiliated, by that young man. And it had shaken her confidence badly, no matter how good her control might be.
"Well," says Rose, after hearing this all out, her tone going from that somewhat-light, 'this could be me teasing' tone to a more serious one, as befits the nature of the conversation, "then it sounds like you need more practice, Kurosaki Miu." Oh yes. She does in fact know your name. "But," she adds, after a brief pause, "not to deal with this 'Chris' fellow. He is but one thing... you must see past him. I'm sure you're capable..."
Rose shifts, smoothly, turning to face the river. "This river, Miu, is.. a metaphor for this city. For the world, in some ways. As people come here to dump their toxic wastes, so do the people who control this city. This isn't something you need concern yourself with now, of course; you're still young, and you have your own problems..."
Once again, that side glance. "But I feel that you will, someday. You say you were beaten by this 'Chris'. Have you looked at why he beat you? How?" Her questions are delivered mildly, but with a penetrating tone.
"I'm getting ahead of myself; I apologize. Kurosaki Miu, I came to you today to bring you an offer. An offer of training... and of experience. I want you to join my team for this King of Fighters tournament that is coming. My other teammates--*our* other teammates, if you accept--are the kind of women who can show you exactly what strength and power are about. You could learn much."
Miu's eyebrow quirks upwards again as her name is mentioned. It, takes her by surprise, really. She hadn't been expecting this woman to know who she is, let alone throw her name down casually like that. This is about as close to bare-faced shock as Miu tends to get, so, really, Rose should take it as a complement! She's managed to completely stun the girl, and take her by surprise.
Miu is a good listener, though. As good a listener as she isn't a talker, really. She lets Rose speak, taking it all in, listening to everything the older woman has to say. She had thought a lot about how Chris had beaten her. It wasn't because she lost her temper; she'd stayed as calm and collected as she always did. But he had to be reading her style somehow, to keep so far ahead of her moves. That was the only logical explanation, and it wasn't something that she could easily just fix. She did, as Rose said, need more practice if she was going to fare better next time.
Still. There's so many other questions to ask than ones about that fight, or indeed about the city and the metaphor. She'd been reading something similar into it, and to have Rose confirm it was, strange. But comforting. It's nice to know that others think along similar lines to you, and Miu is starting to suspect that Rose wields a similar kind of power to her own. She couldn't know. Not with absolute certainty. But ... it made sense.
"The King of Fighters Tournament." Miu repeats, standing up straighter, which sends the crows scattering, flying up into the air in a flurry of activity and wings. Small, black feathers drift down around the girl, and Rose.
"... Who are you?"
Lips curl, and the Italian woman's hair is swept back, only to spring back to its normal styling. As Miu straightens, so does she; her heels clicking on the concrete as she stands, facing Miu, somehow having distanced herself from the girl by a good three feet in the process.
"Me?" she asks, repeats really, her voice again tinged with that lush amusement, as she creates spheres of purple-blue energy, Psycho Power--or, in her case, more properly, Soul Power--floating over her hands, sliding over the limbs, crossing in front of her, then grounding out, dissipating.
"I'm Rose. If you accept, Kurosaki Miu, be at the YFCC in... oh, three days." After that... she turns and walks away, to let Miu think on the offer.
Log created on 19:16:45 11/18/2010 by Rose, and last modified on 20:20:30 11/18/2010.