Description: Ibuki and Cammy finally get to meet up and talk about things - relationships gone awry, masters who will be upset, 'exams' and mental discipline. Maybe Dolls and ninjas are much alike. Maybe not.
Gedo Street is not a place people usually go to relax and have a meal but it's not a terrible place either while the thugish nature of Gedo high's students does make the place a bit 'off the beaten path' there is still businesses that can live with this and actually turn a profit. One such type of venture being restaurants which can be rather lucrative! One such place is noted for it's wide variety of cheap ramen and udon and closeness to the school...
It is also well known for one other fact it is a good place for Gedo High students to take dates as it has a oddly well developed dessert list made of of both native Japanese confections and those from all over the world, even more surprising it's actually won a few awards for these items! The name of this unusual place being an equally odd name...Sugartooth's Cuisine. It is here that Ibuki has made her way today, for three reasons first to have a really tasty dessert, the second is she wanted to look over Gedo High a bit, and thirdly she'd been looking for a friend and maybe just maybe her friend would be here dining on some of her favorite snack, cheesecake.
Stepping into the restaurant with a slight jingle from the door as it slides open and looking vaguely like a gun fighter entering an old west saloon, the ninja girl steps in bathed in the light silohetting her for a moment as she scans the room and it's patrons and they can blinky bleary eyed as they regard her before going back to their meals. With that Ibuki steps fully inside and pulls the door closed behind her...
Cammy has a British voice but does not yet have British teeth. Going to a place like 'Sugartooth's Cuisine' though, she is evidently trying to rectify that 'problem'. And her feeding habits are as predictable as ever. One day someone will leave a trail of cheesecake slices to a nefarious deathtrap and the Killer Bee will just walk right on in to it.
She is settled in a shady spot right at the back, clad in her usual voluminous red cloak. She's normally as neat as a pin aside from that but is looking a little more haggard and shabby than normal, especially with one braid tugged out from under the cloak and resting upon the table before her, next to a plate of cheesecake. She alternates between picking at the cheesecake, and rebraiding the braid, which looks a bit fluffy and untidy by her standards.
Ibuki's quick scan of the place as she walked in combined with Cammy's conspicous red cloak drew her attention and she made her way through the relatively uncrowded place. The ninja quickly gathers in the visual clues that something is up with Cammy due to her unusual behavior of not actually being as tidy and spotless in her self upkeep as she usually is. Nodding to herself Ibuki makes a bee line to the Killer Bee.
Grinning her best smile she pulls out a chair across from Cammy and takes a seat, "Heya!" She chirps easily enough she momentarily debates asking about the problem right away but decides to put it off for the moment, "How's it going? Been a while since I last saw you, though it looks like you're pretty much the same as ever." She looks down at the Cheesecake as she speaks. Though her eyes pause on the hair being rebrading, "So what've you been up to?"
Cammy doesn't seem entirely happy when Ibuki shows up, shifting a little uncomfortably on the chair where she is settled. On the other hand, half of her is quite happy to see her - especially as, for all she knows, this might be the last time. So she does force a Doll-smile. "Ibuki. I spent some time looking for you to see how you did in your exam you kept talking about, but you were hard to find. I suppose it is easier if you just find me.".
At the question, she shrugs, and then eventually admits, "Life could be better. Things are bad. I am leaving Quon alone because he is going mad or something because of me, and I am probably going to get brainwiped again soon because of all my failures.". Yeah. It's been a bad month.
The Teenage ninja notes the smile and then has to sheepishly ruffle her hair, "Yeah...it went okay, things just got complicated and weird during the exam so...I didn't do as well as could've been expected." She chuckles a little downheartedly before shaking her head, "But I still did pretty well, overall I think!" She sing songs slightly before she smirks, "Well I was out of town for a bit so it's not surprising you couldn't find me right away." She winks hoping to at least ease Cammy's mind about that.
Ibuki gives her friend a solid look as she admits what's going on with her and the ninja's smile fades slightly, "That...that is pretty bad." Her eye twitches at the mention of a brainwipe but she doesn't focus on it yet, "...Maybe I can go check on Quon for you and see if he's gotten a little better and get the details of what happened there?" She notes that she'd be far less intimidating that anyone else Quon's had to deal with recently due to Cammy, hopefully he was better off than Cammy thought he was.
Gritting her teeth slightly, "Is it really been bad enough that you'll get brainwiped? Nothing you can do to fix it without it coming to that?" Her brown eyes hopeful that maybe something might come to Cammy in regards to 'fixing' her position in Shadaloo.
Cammy shrugs. "I don't know. I have tried to help Quon in the past but it always goes wrong, or he refuses my help. He is stubborn. And can be very stupid at times... I think the best thing to do is for me to leave him alone at this point, I have given up. If you want to try, you can do as you will of course, but I will not help or hinder anymore... it'll only go wrong if I do." she explains.
"And yes, it's all very bad, botched jobs, failure, borderline disobedience even may be, I don't know.". She shrugs. "Maybe Lord Vega will be feeling merciful. He has his bad and his good days, like everybody else. Maybe he will just reassign me. Maybe he will put Juli in charge or something.". She sighs, and prods at cheesecake with a fork.
Ibuki nods sadly, "I understand, though I still want to check on him if nothing else." The girl frowns slightly, unusual for her, she was mainly worried what had happened to drive him 'insane' and see if it was perhaps an act to make Cammy leave him alone. She shakes her head and refocuses on her friend, "Well it didn't work out, for you two I guess...but you never know there might be another guy that catches your fancy soon." She flashes a quick smile at that thought.
The follow up though makes Ibuki frown again and for a moment she actually has no idea what to say to Cammy. Finally she smiles at her friend, "It's not horrible, you can still come back if you try hard enough and I'm sure you'll suceed if you do." Her tone gets slightly more serious than usual, "...and if that doesn't work you can always leave, you are a person after all you don't have to be mindwiped if you don't want to be." Ibuki may've said too much but it was her genuine belief on the matter and she had to be honest with her friend about that.
Cammy shrugs at that, not exactly carried along by any enthusiasm from Ibuki this time. "No, I don't think so. I'd probably just drive him insane too, I guess. It's probably better not to let myself get attached to anybody. I did talk to Sagat about this, you know, he is a very nice man actually, and old and experienced too. He said I should have left Quon alone from the beginning. He was right, I should've followed his advice.". She then eyes Ibuki for a moment, pondering wider implications. "I suppose you should be careful, too. Maybe it is Lord Vega's power driving Quon insane. I know he didn't like Quon. Maybe he doesn't like you being around me, either.".
And she nods at Ibuki. "Well, being demoted wouldn't be so bad, I guess. Juli and Juni are very nice, either of them would do a good job, I'm sure. Hopefully they will still let me sleep in in the mornings.". The infamously lazy Cammy is slightly wary of getting away with less slacking if she wasn't Doll Number 1. That would be almost as bad as being mindwiped. Worse, even, as she'd remember the suffering of having to do something other than slack off.
Ibuki frowns and then grits her teeth at the mention of what Sagat said, "He's nice like a bag of hammers falling on your head, Cammy." She flexes her hands on the table, "I think you should figure out what you want to do as far as this goes, I don't think you or Vega had anything to do with Quon going nuts from your powers, I think he just got pushed to an edge since Vega and Sagat hounded him till he snapped." Ibuki frowns and pouts, "I make my decisions for myself. I won't be intimidated or stressed out because of him!" Passion dripping from her words as she speaks, "So don't worry about it, we're friends don't let anything on your side change it okay?"
After the intense look she gives Cammy fades, Ibuki sits backand just shrugs at the Doll, "I don't know them so I wouldn't know. If you get demoted, though, hopefully it doesn't change too much for you." She actually manages a small chuckle at the thought of the Doll being put out by being made to get up early.
Cammy arches a brow at Ibuki's outburst. "Oh, you don't like Sagat?" she asks. "I did not know this. He is very nice. I am sure he was only advising you. Nothing wrong with that is there. He gives good advice, I should have listened." she insists doggedly. "And maybe. Quon was always very afraid all the time. I suppose he took it all very badly, especially with his insistence that he not let me help him at all. And with Evil Rust hanging around him, lying to him all the time.".
She perks a bit, thinking of her nemesis, and then asks, "Maybe you could come with me and help me see if we can break Rust's legs? I am sure Dr Senoh would be curious about what sort of pressure needs to be applied, he does have flesh like stone after all from what I've seen. And it would make me feel better now he has finally got his way and I am leaving Quon alone. And it would be for Science, too.".
She nods regarding her future presumed demotion, and suddenly says, "Maybe I should give you a note in case I am mindwiped again that you can give to me if ever we meet after. Maybe not. I am not sure Lord Vega would approve.". After all, it does kinda negate the whole exercise.
Ibuki gives Cammy a bemused look, "No I don't generally care for it when people warn me off with veiled threats." The ninja girl snips back a bit annoyed, "So I'd not call what he gave me 'advice'." She practically grumbles as she says it. Then she raises an eyebrow at Cammy and her suggestion for what to do with Rust and that he was evil...
"Instead of doing that, how about I buy you another piece of cheesecake and we can discuss something like going to see a movie or some such...to blow off some of the steam." The girl offers the Doll a quick smile, "Maybe karaoke?" Hopefully that'd get Cammy off murderous thoughts for a bit.
There goes Ibuki's eyebrow again, "Well you could always just not get mindwiped, but the note might be a good idea as a back up plan." Tapping her chin for a moment before regarding Cammy, "I know you can't defy him but do really not want to be my friend badly enough that you'd be okay with forgetting me without a fight?" Warm brown eyes staring without hesitation at Cammy as she speaks.
Cammy knows Ibuki has a soft spot for Rust for some reason, and she shakes her head with a frown. "You like Rust, even though he is evil. I know this from before." she says, reproachfully. "We could break Ken Masters' legs instead, if you like? More of a challenge? He's not as deserving of it as Rust is, though." she offers, just before she's distracted by cheesecake bribery. "Okay, cheesecake is good. And movies... maybe.".
As to her suggestion, the frown returns, and she shakes her head. "You do not understand Lord Vega. What I want is immaterial. What you want is immaterial. Only what Lord Vega wants is important at the end of the day. You seem to think it means I don't like you or something.".
"I..I don't have a problem with him no, to me he's always been a pretty nice guy. Much like how a minute ago you were saying Sagat is with you." Ibuki counters somewhat smoothly she just blinks at Cammy for a moment, "You're kidding right?" Before shaking off the going after Ken thing and letting the cheesecake bribery do it's magical work on the Doll.
Ibuki shakes her head, "No, I don't buy that Cammy...we're going to have to disagree, to me Vega's desires are immaterial as you put it, but our worlds don't really cross all that much so it doesn't matter...and yeah I do think that's the case cause if you get mindwiped I'm not going to matter to you anymore." The tone absolutely matter of fact at this point.
"Mmmm, well. I'd still be me. I am told that I am similar to how I am before I get mindwiped, a little different but largely similar. So it would be like meeting the first time again but we'd probably end up friends as before." Cammy explains, apparently all totally OK with this. "I just hope Lord Vega would not be unhappy about this. I would ask him I guess, but he does so hate being bothered by his lessers.".
As she's been promised more cheesecake she hurriedly finishes off the slice in front of her, and then she can focus more on her braid. "So aside from exams, what have you been doing? You have been gone for so long after all. It must have been for a reason.".
"Yeah you say that but you can't say for sure." Ibuki mutters a bit annoyed that Cammy can't see that fact and due to the obvious will stripping Cammy had been given to make her a Doll, "We'll see when it happens...if it happens, okay Cammy?" Ibuki then waves it off, "Asking Vega about it is not a good idea. Okay?"
Ibuki tilts her head to the side for a moment, "Well the exams have been a big part of it, then I had to go home for family stuff and for some of my teachers to review me on my performance during the exam...so that took a while to take care of as you might imagine."
Cammy waves a hand dismissively at Ibuki. "You can't be sure of anything in this world." she says with great world weariness for one who only has about one years worth of memories and experience. "Okay, I won't ask Lord Vega." she confirms simply enough.
"Oh. You have a family?" she asks, suddenly curious. "Quon never mentioned such things. What are they like?" she wonders, curious. "I thought you'd have to stay at the school for this sort of performance thing though, and I did look there already.". She smirks a little. "What subjects are you bad at?" she wonders.
Ibuki smirks slightly back at Cammy, "I can be sure of many things, like right now we are friends and that I am myself, to name two." Not pushing it further beyond that as Cammy won't ask Vega about it and she nods her head in acknowledgement of the Doll's own confirmation. Ibuki blinks, "Well I'm not an orphan so yeah I've got family." She chuckles, "Well...they're really good people and they care about me a lot, they have their own thoughts about how I should lead my life but they support my decisions most of the time once I've made them."
A short thoughtful look crosses her features, "In short they're family, I love'em but like all families we do have our disagreements." She shakes her head, "Oh no it was a multi day exam, breaks in between the different tests and they weren't all on the same day of course, so we got to go home in between." Covering her slip up quickly, Ibuki contines with a small smile, "Well I am...not going to tell you that silly." She winks playfully at her friend.
"They sound a bit like my family then, I guess." Cammy says, a little disappointed that everything sounds much the same, really. Maybe thats why Quon didn't ever bring them up, nothing to talk about. "Aside from the decisions thing, but I suppose that is cultural, and it is all for our own good after all.".
She actually pouts, very slightly, as Ibuki gets all coy about the things she is bad at. "I would tell you, you know. If I was in your position, anyway." she protests. "I have told you a lot of things about me after all. Probably too many in fact, though it is good to have someone I don't have to be all secretive with.".
"Well it is. But it's hard to tell you what it's like without you being there...and really it'd be embarrassing to show you that." Ibuki says quickly about her family trying to defend them somewhat from the hint of disappointment coming from Cammy, they're her family after all.
The ninja chuckles slightly, "Would really? You'd admit your weaknesses and flaws in different subjects if I asked hmm?" Giving the Doll a hard long look she suddenly breaks out into another chuckle as she waves her hands defensively as Cammy pouts and complains, "Okay okay...well math isn't my strongest subject but I do alright in it but if you want the one I'm bad at...hmm I suppose that'd have to be history. But I think that's because I just don't likw how it's taught and it bores me to death during class, plus they kinda use it to teach discipline and tradition at my school so that's probably another reason I don't pay attention." Another sheepish smile is given as she admits this.
Cammy hees, smirking as Ibuki finally gives it up. "I thought it would be history for some reason! You mentioned traditions before, and how you didn't like them. I think that is why I guessed such. And teaching discipline, well. You don't seem to like discipline either." she observes, amused by her observational powers.
She puffs up a bit. "I am a good judge of character, see. And as for me, well. It would depend on the question." she admits. "But if I was at school studying subjects that schools teach I would tell you, sure. Why not? As for the physical disciplines to which I assume you allude, you could probably work out a lot of strengths and flaws there from watching old fight footage.".
Ibuki shrugs, "Well it does make sense really." She chuckles lightly. "I'm a very independent person...but..." Going quiet for a moment she waves it off, "Nevermind, I'm just strong willed and stubborn sometimes." Grinning again she regards Cammy.
"I see...I'll have to test you on that in the future somehow." Ibuki playfully teased the Doll, "Oh no I meant, mental discipline, following tradition, doing as your told at all times without regard to your own feelings, and stuff like that...being bound by absolute discipline. Just not my thing, it gets irks me pretty badly. If that makes sense?"
"Oh, it makes perfect sense." Cammy replies, all serious. "You have to be bound by absolute discipline? I did not think that school you go to was that bad, though I know a lot of them have a very martial focus in this city. I am supposedly good at mental discipline. But evidently not as much as I thought I was, hence why now I'm probably getting demoted or something. I did not realise that you had the same sort of regime!". She shakes her head, a little surprised. "I guess we are basically almost completely alike." says the doll, without irony.
"A shame I can't invite you to meet some of my sisters. I am curious what they would think of you. Maybe I could bring one of them to you. You would fit in very well I think!".
Ibuki kinda just blinks at Cammy unsure how to respond for a moment, "No, no I mean I do not like being bound it is upsetting for me." The ninja girl waves her hand, "It can be at times they're pretty concerned with how the village traditions need to live on so it can get annoying at times." Wondering how Cammy misunderstood her the ninja tries to figure out how to correct it, "Well even the most disciplined person can have their umm...resolve shaken at times. It...has some parallels, but I think the difference is in scale and intent of our respective regimes." Ibuki chuckles uncomfortably, "I...I guess so?" Her voice unlike Cammy's full of irony.
"I...doubt I'd fit in that well, I do kinda rebel by nature if you've not noticed and umm I don't think that meshes all that well with your little group." Again an uncomfortable chuckle escapes Ibuki's lips, "Though maybe sometime...I'll meet one of your sisters."
"Oh, I know you don't like it. But you have to put up with it, your interactions with your family are not dissimilar, see. The parameters of your life are not dissimilar either. You are obviously quite different from me personality wise, yet we are more alike than is immediately apparent." Cammy explains.
"And I am not recruiting you or anything. I can't really imagine you fitting in all that well at home.". She can't really imagine Ibuki joining in in the 'Taunt the Trooper' sessions on Sunday after all. "I guess if you really were recruited Dr Senoh's induction process would solve that anyway. But I would like some of my sisters to meet my friends.". A slight pause. "Well, friend, now, I guess. At least I will not have to endure jokes about boytoys anymore.".
Ibuki continues to tighten up in dissatisfaction at Cammy's comparison but tries her best not to show it. "I guess there are some similarities but there are differences as well. I do get what you're saying though, maybe more people are similar than they think they are to other people?" The proposed theory given a moment to hang before Cammy continues.
At the next comment, Ibuki visibly relaxes, "Yeah...I don't think that'd go well..." A pause, "Induction that is. Well I'd not be opposed to that." A brief flash on Juri, "Though the girl I met last time is not on the list to hang out, I don't think she liked me at all." Ibuki shrugs at that, "Well family always teases you about something, at least that's my experience. You'll make more friends in time I'm sure and it takes a few guys before you can find the right one." A hopeful smile on Ibuki's lips as she momentarily thinks about what her dream boyfriend would be like.
"I imagine some of my sisters thought as you did once, they are all my sisters now though." Cammy points out, content in the knowledge that Lord Vega and to a lesser extent Dr Senoh's Science are supreme. "But never mind, lets not talk about that, as apparently you being like me upsets you so." she decides, with another tiny pout, her heart seemingly pierced by the arrows of criticism.
"Oh, Juri. She's awful. She isn't one of my sisters, either. I don't know what she is." the Doll notes, waving a hand dismissively. "Someone who gives far too little respect to Lord Vega. I have no idea why he tolerates her so. My sisters are much more agreeable than she is." she assures. "And no, not for me, I will not drive any future Quons insane again.".
"Yeah, thanks." Ibuki says in reply to Cammy wanting to stop talking about this particular topic since it is starting ot unnerve the ninja girl a bit, and she doesn't particularly want to start a fight with her friend about how wrong that was, maybe someday the Doll would understand her and what it's like not to be a Doll?
"Yeah that girl, she's not very pleasant." Agreement quickly given on that detail of Juri's personality. Nodding her head in response to Cammy saying that her sisters were more agreeable than Juri, "I figured but you never know." The implied 'mistakes happen' being unsaid, "Hmph!" It's Ibuki's turn to pout, "I think you're giving up too easily on the boy thing Cammy, yeah it is not fun now but eventually you'll want to try again." The ninja sounds absolutely sure on this point.
"No... I still like Quon you know. But that is by the by, if I am near him he will just kill himself or something. You know he did threaten to kill himself actually. Because Rust showed up and ruined everything. My plans all ruined. Evil Rust.". She clenches her fists on the table, and is on the verge of fantasising about snapping various body parts that belong to Rust again, only leaving that unsaid with an act of will.
"Anyway. It isn't that I don't like him, but that he does not like Dolls, I guess, and Sagat did say to me that anybody who draws the attentions of the master by being with me would regret it, so, there we are, see. It will not happen again. I should have listened to Sagat the first time, but I was foolish. Now I will be less foolish. I should thank Sagat actually, I suppose.".
"I see." Is Ibuki's one and only comment to that revelation though she has a number of thoughts about how to handle that info now that she has it. Though she frowns at the hatred towards Rust, she does at least understand her friends dislike, much like own dislike for Sagat.
"I guess that is a serious problem then." Frowning again as Cammy brings up the former Emperor of Muay Thai. "I still think you shouldn't listen to that guy as much as you do. I mean he makes some good points but he goes about it all wrong in my opinion and not helpfully at all." She nods to emphasize her point.
Cammy grins a bit at that. "You just don't like Sagat because he's bigger than you, and is a man who likes to be treated with respect. I imagine you were not sufficiently respectful to him is all - he is the true Emperor of Muay Thai you know, one of the greatest warriors in the world, and a teacher of students who have in turn sort of become great themselves, too. If you are polite then he is polite, in my experience.". A slight pause. "And he probably said some truth about Lord Vega that you didn't like and you interpreted it as a threat mistakenly. Lord Vega does not threaten.".
"But never mind, you don't have to like everybody I like, of course. And vice versa, I suppose." she says, a little more mournfully. "And a serious problem, I suppose. I am in the process of getting over it.". Hence the cheesecake and the general lack of neatness.
Ibuki listens carefully for a few moments and then rolls her eyes at her friend since it's obvious this is going to be a Sagat love fest, "I don't have issues with people being bigger than me and I respect those that respect me, hmph." A snort is given as she completely drops the rest of the topic and peers at Cammy...
"Exactly!" Ibuki exclaims, "We can agree on that." Then grinning widely she looks down, "Well when you finish that cheesecake, we'll get some more and then we'll go see a movie to cheer you up, probably something actiony or some comedy to take your mind off things for a bit." The ninja briefly wonders if Dolls get comedy...or if action movies are comedies to them?
Cammy hees, seeing Ibuki needled slightly. But she is sure that she is right, again. "I am good as a judge of character..." she simply says softly, greatly amused. Not that she means anything by it that is insulting, but it's good to know she knows Ibuki that well.
"And that sounds like a good plan, I suppose. Though on second thoughts, no more cheesecake, I have already been told not to eat so much of it anymore. My over indulgence was noticed. And in fairness, I do like being thin, would hate for that to change.". She does have some pride in herself, after all. And a fat doll wouldn't be much use. "So we can go directly to the movie, if you like.".
And on that note she promptly gets up. No time like the present. "Lets go." she declares. "There are some very funny movies on lately, lots of people being shot in them.".
Enough said.
Log created on 05:52:44 06/30/2011 by Cammy, and last modified on 11:09:13 06/30/2011.