1041/Help me, Inai-senpai!

Help me, Inai-senpai!
Date of Scene:	25 January 2024
Location:	Mitakihara Ward
Synopsis:	After running away from home, Hotaru and Yochu reach out to the first person who they think can put an end to the threat she is. Kyouka, however, isn't quite so quick to accept such a solution. (TW: Suicidal discussion.)
Cast of Characters:	Hotaru Tomoe, Kyouka Inai

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Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe was walking through the city, clutching Yochu to her chest. The 'doll' was now limp, having tired itself out during the uhhhh... devouring of Hotaru's captor.

It was fine, Youma weren't actually sentient so she didn't feel bad.

What she did feel bad about was going against her father's orders. He told her to stay home. But...

But she'd hurt people. She'd hurt TAKASHI. Worse, she didn't have Luminous Titan anymore to help her.

Daddy said he could help her. He believed he could save her. But she couldn't anymore. She knew that. She was losing this battle and she needed help. She needed...

She needed someone with magic. With power. Who could stop her before she did something truly terrible.

But she was lost. She had no phone. She had no senpai. All she had was a doll and adults giving her weird looks. After all, wasn't she a little girl? Shouldn't she be in school?

Finally, she dipped into a small, empty alley and just took a moment, tears welled up in her eyes. Who could she even go to? Who did she know? Darien? If she went to the school, well... They'd be looking for her the moment they realized she was gone. And he didn't deserve that. Takashi? He was in the hospital thanks to her.

... But... there was one person.... one person she knew who... could help. But could she help with this?

She pulled out a card and thought to herself. Mentally calling out while she held it.

Help me.

Save me.

Stop me before I do something terrible.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka is there, before it seems any time has passed. As always, there's no flashy effects or sounds. Just a faint pop of distorted air. She's dressed in her usual attire, black and red with her jacket and sunglasses, and her eyes move around the alleyway automatically, seeking threats. She'd been called, after all. Something must be going on.

    It takes only a moment for her storm-grey eyes to find Hotaru, to settle on the scared and weepy-looking girl. Her expression becomes one of consternation, her brows drawing together. "Hotaru-chan? What's the matter? Did you call me?" She asks, still with her attention half on the alleyway around them, still waiting for some kind of attack to come or enemy to reveal itself.

    She walks forward a few steps, placing a hand on the girl's trembling shoulder. "What do you need?"

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe was expecting Stellar. Was NOT expecting Kyouka to appear herself. She gulped before shaking her head. "I-Inai-senpai... I... I did call you. But... but I was trying to call... s-someone with magic... I..." She squeezed the doll a little tighter, though it hung limp in her grip.

"Please... I need... I need someone powerful. Someone who can... s-stop me... I... I don't want to hurt you... I don't want to hurt anyone else anymore..."

She certainly looked frightened. And tired. And a bit cold. But she hardly looked like she could hurt anyone, other than herself.Well, except maybe emotionally.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka doesn't even particularly register the fact that Hotaru doesn't seem to equate her with her magical alter-ego. She's still trying to process the situation... to figure out exactly what is going on here.

    "You can't hurt me." She tells the girl, reassuringly although perhaps with false confidence. "Who did you hurt? Why do you think you need to be stopped?"

    She stops short of saying 'then just don't hurt them' despite that being the first thought to come to her mind- she doesn't understand the situation yet, and she recognizes that much at least.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe shook her head. "No, you don't understand. I... I might. I really might. I might do a lot worse t-than hurt you..." Hotaru said, hugging the doll ever tighter. "P-please. Inai-senpai. I... I think I've... already killed someone. I know I've hurt people. And... I can't stop it anymore. I don't have Luminous Titan anymore. I-I hurt Riventon-senpai so... so much..."

Tears were in her eyes and she was struggling to keep them from falling. "I... I can't stop it anymore. I-I know d-daddy thinks... thinks he can s-save me... but... but they can't. I'm going to k-kill someone... I'm going t-to kill a lot of people if... if they don't stop me. If someone doesn't stop me. P-please..." she pleaded, a few tears starting to fall. "Please... I don't... I don't want to hurt anyone anymore. I know t-they won't give up on me.... I need.... I need someone to stop me... someone w-who's powerful enough *to* stop me..."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka's frown deepens slightly as she considers the girl before her, and what she says. "You don't have to worry about hurting me. I'm a lot tougher than I look." She tells the girl, and even if that's not actually true in this case, she says it like she believes it. Which might actually be true, at the very least. After all, as far as she knows Hotaru is just a magical girl- albeit one with a lot of dark energy she can clearly sense.

    "You killed someone?" She asks for clarification, but she doesn't move away, keeps her hand on the girl's shoulder. "And hurt Riventon." She knows that name. She refrains from congratulating the girl, as this is neither the time nor the place, but mentally she chalks that one up to the win column. "What is Luminous Titan?"

    She crouches down in front of Hotaru, with her hand still gripping the girl's shoulder. "You don't need to hurt anyone, Hotaru-chan. I'm not sure you understand what you're asking... or maybe you don't understand your own power. I can feel it in you. Its wild, unruly. But if its really yours, then you can learn to control it. I'm sure of it."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe shook her head. "You may be tougher than you look, but I'm far, far more dangerous than I look. Please... Inai-senpai... get... help. I don't... want to hurt anyone... anymore..."

"And... I don't... know. I didn't... I don't remember it. R-Riventon-senpai and... Darien-senpai... said... said that it was an accident... that... that Cyprine d-did it to herself... but then... S-sailor Moon said I-I did it. I... I got angry..." More tears were going down her face.

"I... I'm Firefly... I thought... I thought I-I could control it. I thought I could... s-stop it from taking control. B-but I can feel it. It's not *my* power. It's not *me*. It's... inside me. A-and it wants out... and it'll k-kill everyone when it gets out..."

"... Daddy... Takashi-Senpai... Riventon-senpai... they all... they all thought they could... they all... they thought they could s-save me. S-stop it... L-Luminous T-titan was helping... but... but I think... I think... I broke it... when I... hurt people..."

"Please... I don't... know how much longer I have... and I can't... I can't... s-stop this on my own... I can't fight it much longer... please... Inai-senpai... help me..."

"... Find someone... anyone... w-who can... s-stop me for... for good... Like... S-sailor Moon... She... she hates me... she'll do it... please... tell her I'm... I'm hurting people. T-that I'm evil. T-that I'm a monster. Just... please... s-stop me..."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Some things fall into place for Kyouka at these words- things she had already been suspecting, but which are now confirmed. She had been present for the whole Cyprine incident, after all, even if she wasn't close enough to get a full picture of what happened. And some things Usagi had told her... but she doesn't even need to guess. Hotaru just comes straight out and says it; "I'm Firefly."

    No surprise from Kyouka, just affirmation. But as Hotaru goes on, talking about how its not her power and how it wants to get out and kill everyone, her expression grows steadily more grim. She remains where she is, crouched with her hand gripping Hotaru's shoulder. "No." She says after a moment. "I wouldn't put something like that on Moon."

    And suddenly she turns, standing, and lifts Hotaru bodily off of the ground. The girl's sleight weight seems to be no impediment to her at all as she turns and slams the girl into the brick wall of the alleyway- not hard enough to actually do any damage, but certainly hard enough to startle.

    And equally as suddenly she has something in her other hand. A knife, which she produced from... somewhere. Unclear where, really. It's made of bluish metal with a pink iridescence, quite pretty really. More than sharp enough.

    "If you really need to be stopped, Hotaru-chan," She says, her grey eyes like steel as she holds the knife up in front of the girl's face. "I am more than capable of doing it myself."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe let out a gasp when she was pushed up against the wall. Her eyes went to the knife and she shook her head. "I-Inai-senpai! P-please!"

"I-I'll kill you! I-I've tried that!" she said, the fear evident in her voice. The fear for Kyouka. Before... She slowly reached down into her pocket... and pulled out a grief seed.

"... They... they need to be strong... if they aren't..."

She let out a low, startled gasp, giving a small whimper and dropping both Yochu and the grief seed. She could feel it. Stirring inside her. Sending danger to its host.

Preparing to act. Could Kyouka? Could she do it in time? Could she be faster than whatever... this... was?

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka doesn't look scared, even if she can feel the magic roiling inside the small girl. Whether or not her stoic expression reflects her true state of mind or is just a good act is impossible to tell.

    She glances down at the grief seed, brows drawing together in consternation again. "What's that got to do with it?" She asks, confused about what the seed was supposed to accomplish- though a moment later Hotaru just drops it anyway.

    She makes no move to actually bring the knife to bear on the girl, though it's close enough that she could do so easily if she chose to. "Why don't you stop it, Hotaru?" She asks quietly. "You say you can't, but I don't buy that. If it's in you, it's yours. People don't always understand that. They think that control is something that can be taken away."

    Her grey eyes are steady as she looks into Hotaru's face, calm and cool like the surface of a mountain lake on a winter's day. "You are strong, Hotaru. I can feel it, even if you can't. Control yourself. If the power is in you, it's your power. You say you've tried, but I don't know if you have."

    "People have been telling you that you're sick. That you need help. People tell you that long enough you start to believe it. Well, I'm telling you something different. You don't want to kill me? Fine. Then don't." She's gambling. But she's always liked her luck.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe stared up at her. "I-I have been! I've been stopping it for years!" she screamed. "I-I can't anymore. They've tried to help a-and it only delayed the--"

And then her hand flashed out. Right hand was just there, smacking the wrist and sending the knife into the air. A split second later, her left hand moved and she shoved Kyouka across the alley way, so hard it would have likely left a crater in the wall.

Hotaru's hair was so, so long now. It wasn't a henshin. Or... maybe it was. Something different? But Kyouka likely didn't have time to consider that. As the girl was stepping forward, her hair having plucked the knife from the air... And then stabbed it forward. Dark energy coating the edge of the blade, amplifying it for even magic defenses...

Aimed at her heart.

Kyouka would be able to feel the power. The might. The raw, primal ferocity and hatred in that strike. A merciless, cruel attack. Aiming to extinguish her life in a moment. A brutality so different from the soft, gentle Hotaru she knew so well.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka's eyes widen as that hand lashes out, knocking the knife away, and then hurling her across the alleyway. It seems to take her by surprise, and surely the impact of her body against the brick, strong enough to crack and crater the side of the building, would have done enough damage to make the knife unnecessary.

    But no, as the dust clears, it's Stellar who is standing there- back to the cratered wall, wincing in pain from the impact, but largely undamaged. Of course, it seems like it's unlikely to remain that way for long, because even by the time said dust has cleared, Hotaru- or whoever is now controlling Hotaru's body- has grabbed the knife and is stabbing it for her heart.

    Stellar's reflexes, her instincts, are no joke however. Her arm snaps up so fast it's hard to track, intercepting the knife as golden-yellow light crackles into being on her forearm, stopping the knife in mid-air. The knife, edged in dark energy, seems to sink into the shield of light, just overtop of Stellar's forearm. The block has deflected the blow so that the tip is no longer pointed at her chest, but at her face- which isn't really much better.

    Stellar grunts in effort as she brings up her other arm, adding it to the first in a crossed motion to reinforce the shield. Even then, the knife seems to keep creeping forward, a tiny bit at a time.

    "Hotaru-chan." Her voice sounds strained with effort, her arms trembling, as the knife creeps closer but she holds it at bay for a moment, then a moment more. "I don't want to kill you."

    The sheer audacity to say that in this situation. Somewhere, somebody is facepalming at her sheer temerity.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe just grinned up at her, a cruel, merciless, cold grin. The kind of grin she'd likely only seen on some of the more sociopathic dark magical villains she'd encountered...

And as the knife grew closer and closer to her face... the tip... so, so close to an eye... And Kyouka could see it. The way 'Hotaru' Moved the knife. Juuuust a centimeter.... away from the cheek and over the eye. Cruelty wasn't a bonus... in many ways, it was the point.

Closer, closer, the hair clutching the knife pushing ever further and--

And then the knife was dropped and Hotaru stumbled back, hugging herself and trying, desperately, to pull away from her. "S-stop it... d-don't... I don't.... w-want to... to hurt a-anyone..."

"D-do it... p-please... I-Inai-senpai... K-kill me... I can't... I can't h-hold it b-back much.... l-longer... I-it's getting s-stronger... every.... e-every d-day..."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    To her credit, Stellar never flinches. The knife creeps closer to her eye an inch at a time, and she just stares at it, as if daring it to actually make it through- and it was going to. Her shields are incredibly strong, but the force behind that knife was stronger, and it was getting through a bit at a time..

    Until the knife suddenly flies away. It's close enough that it nicks her cheek on the way, leaving a thin red line underneath her left eye- a scratch, but one which shows just how close that knife actually was. Her shields extinguish in an instant, and her arms drop.

    "Hotaru-chan." She says standing there, breathing heavily but not otherwise appearing injured besides the scratch on her face which oozes just a bit of blood down her cheek. "I knew you could do it." She doesn't seem to view this as a failure, but as a victory.

    "If I felt there was no hope for you, I would do it." She says, sincerely. Respectfully. "It would be my duty to do it. But I don't feel that way. You are stronger than you know. I know it's hard, but you need to hang on. There are people who want to help you. Who really, actually want to help you." The person who gave her that knife, for one. She bends to retrieve it.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe shook her head. "I-I haven't d-done anything," she said softly. "I... I can't hold it back m-much longer... p-please..."

"I've... I've been h-holding it back f-for so long b-but I can't anymore. I-I need help..." she begged her senpai. Struggling, desperately, to make her understand. She wasn't strong, wasn't fighting it off. This wasn't a battle she had waged and made the enemy retreat.

The enemy army had crashed into the walls and bounced off them, but were gearing up for round two. And she didn't know if she could do it again...

And she was genuinely scared she'd hurt Kyouka if she did. So she did the only thing she could. She tried to run. It was... less than effective. She kind of... stumbled... wobbled... slowly away. Arms around herself. Her heart feeling like it would explode, as if there were spines under her body, trying to break out...

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Stellar picks up the knife. She looks at it for a moment as Hotaru speaks, then spins it around her fingers and it just- vanishes. She turns back to face the girl again. "I understand." She says, softly. "That you're tired. And that it's difficult."

    Hotaru rises and starts to stumble away at a not-very-effective pace. Stellar doesn't let her. She easily catches up, her hand landing on the girl's shoulder again, stopping her. "The thing you have to understand, Hotaru-chan," She says softly, "Is that just because something is difficult, and we're tired, doesn't give us the right to give up. Life is hard. It's a battle. But there's nothing to be gained by surrender."

    She turns the girl around slowly to face her. The cut on her face is still leaking a trickle of blood down her cheek. It drips off of her chin onto the collar of her white coat, but she doesn't seem to notice. Her grey eyes are soft, like a blanket of clouds on a cold autumn morning.

    "Do you know what it is that's inside you? That wants to kill people? Can you tell me what it is?"

    Because you can't fight an enemy you can't identify.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe shook her head. "Y-you don't understand... if... if you understood you'd s-stop me... it's not... I-I can't just m-make it stop! I tried! I've tried... I'm... I'm dying... Inai-sensei... Every day I'm a little closer... And... and I thought... I could d-die and this thing would... would stop or... or they'd... make it stop or... I thought..."

"... I thought I-I was just bad... I don't... know what it is... I don't even know if it's... even... something else... but... but I hurt... R-Riventon-senpai... It felt like I... it felt like I was someone else and I couldn't stop it... he ran..."

"I-I can't... I can't die... I can't run from this... They can't stop it..."

"What can I do? Help... me... please... Inai-senpai... h-help..."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Stellar's eyes narrow slightly as Hotaru claims she doesn't even know what it is that is within her, fighting for control of her body to do such heinous acts. She's not sure she believes that entirely, but at least she believes that Hotaru doesn't have a name for it. "I'm sorry, Hotaru-chan. I don't have an easy answer for you. I'm not a big-brain like some of the other people you know." She refrains from naming names.

    "If you're dying anyway, then this problem will solve itself. But there's no need to hurry that solution along. You say you can't stop it, but you stopped it just now. I see you stopping it."

    "I don't know what the solution to your problem is. But I do know that miracles can happen. I've seen them. I also know that dying isn't always the release you might wish it to be."

    She straightens up, taking her hand away from Hotaru's shoulder. "I'll help you Hotaru-chan. But you need to hang on a little bit longer for me. You're a strong girl. I know that you can. I happen to know some people who deal in miracles."

    She dismisses her henshin... returning to just plain old Kyouka Inai in her leather jacket and sunglasses. "If you can find out anything else that might help, please tell me. It's easier to fight an enemy when you know their nature. In the meantime, just hang in there. And if you feel yourself losing control, you can call me. I'll come." Despite what just happened. Either she's really not afraid to die, or she's really as convinced of her own immortality as others have accused her of being in the past.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe nodded but... But there was doubt. It shown in her eyes.

She didn't believe Kyouka. She'd heard it so often. 'It'll be okay. Just hang on a little bit longer.'

But it never matter. 'Okay' never came. For a little bit... she thought it had. For a little bit, she'd been happy.

But Kyouka didn't understand. She didn't stop it. She delayed it. Kyouka had antagonized it and now it was trying to burst through the surface, to take. To destroy. She didn't know if she could hold it back. How long...

She wanted a miracle, but she... didn't see how she'd get one. She'd had her miracle already.

"I... I will..." Hotaru said softly, trying to placate the counselor. 'Find out anything else'... The only one who knew more than her daddy was possibly Takashi. He'd made Luminous Titan. He'd helped her manage the dark energy. He...

She looked down. Yochu was... in her arms again. She hadn't picked her up, though. Why hadn't--

Oh. OH! She'd... forgotten. She held the doll a little tighter and began to, gently, feed dark energy to it. Holding her fingers to the doll's mouth as it pulled it away. Was it as good as Luminous Titan? No. But it helped. It made some of the pain... dim...

"T-thank... you..." Hotaru said softly. "I'll... I'll hang in there as... long as I can... I... I should go..." she said softly, taking a small step back and trying to walk away.

She thought Kyouka would be the solution... but... what if there was none? What if she was doomed from the moment it all started?

She wished Riventon were here. He'd know what to do.

... Someone should probably do something about that grief seed she dropped, though.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka seems to understand that Hotaru doesn't trust her. She knows the feeling- she's seen it before. That there's no way out. But she didn't believe it then and she doesn't believe it now. The problem is getting Hotaru to share that feeling.

    As the girl starts to walk away, Kyouka calls after her. "Hotaru-chan. I'll take you out for ice cream soon. Maybe we can see a movie. Alright?" She flashes a smile. It's only a bit ruined by the blood still dripping down her face from the cut under her eye. "If it gets really bad, just think about that. I've promised you ice cream.. I can't die until I make good on that. And neither can you."

    She turns then, as Hotaru walks away, walking over to the fallen Grief Seed and picking it up. She eyes it for a moment.. then it too vanishes with a twist of her fingers, just like the knife. She knows what to do with such things.

    Kyouka Inai may not be good at being anybody's solution. She considers that, as her hand reaches up to touch the blood on her cheek, smearing some of it away. Her fingers shake just a little bit, recalling the strength of the force driving that knife. How very close it had come.

    She's not good at being a solution. But she's very, very good at being a problem. She just has to figure out who for.

    Abruptly, she just disappears.