1136/Swimming in the Shallow

Swimming in the Shallow
Date of Scene:	19 February 2024
Location:	Plot Room 5
Synopsis:	Kaori takes Katsumi swimming. And things get confusing as they discover each other's secret in the most awkward way possible.
Cast of Characters:	Kaori Jira, Katsumi Cora

---

Kaori Jira has posed:
A bag changed over, a swimsuit worn, the taller girl wearing the dark one-piece that hugged her features and her hair left free to rest heavy all the way down to her backside. She waited, her offer indeed having been followed through on, for Katsumi to emerge and join her, so she could take her time enjoying the water.

Katsumi Cora has posed:
Having walked with Kaori, Katsumi made a few attempts at small talk to learn more about the taller girl that was with him, his little cane clacking on the concrete as a guide. Kobo was left in his room for the night, the assumption that the dog would not be needed because Kaori is with him.

Once they were at the pool, he went back to the boy's changing area, and when he comes out, he's wearing the standard school swimsuit, a mid-thigh pair of boxer style trunks. His skin is pale, but it's easy to tell that he had gotten a lot of exercise, his small frame trim and fit without being overly muscular.

Tapping the cane as he comes towards the edge of the pool, he chuckles softly. "Marco." he announces. Though he's pretty sure that she won't get the reference.

Kaori Jira has posed:
"Kaori," she corrects, very much not getting the reference but still serving the purpose as she makes to guide him over. Her touch was firm, even untransformed she was freakily strong and there was little chance she'd let him stumble over the edge...but at least she wasn't accidently hurting him, as she had others in the past.

Guiding them to sit down, she moves to settle down and allow her legs to sit in the water, for him to do the same lest he get freaked out.

Odds are, the Kaori that first arrived here never would have bothered with assisting or comforting a 'weakened' creature, but well....he'd given her cookies.

Katsumi Cora has posed:
There's a little laugh, as Kaori 'corrects' him. "It's a game." Katsumi offers. "Someone has their eyes closed, and they say Marco. Everyone else says Polo, and he has to find them. Clearly I was always Marco." he starts to saym when she feels her touch and strength and for a moment he gets little goosebumps as she guides him over to the edge of the water.

As they sit, he closes his cane, setting it to the side. Her warmth is near him and he considers her, his hands on his own knees, not quite touching her. "So, where are you from, Kaori?" he asks her curiously. "If you don't want to tell me, that's fine. But I'm curious."

Kaori Jira has posed:
"Somewhere very different," she offers, helpfully unhelpful, but he'll feel her move to slide off the pool edge towards the water and the splash of her form slipping into the pool. Stretching out a little, she's resting near his legs. A kaiju safety-net of sorts. "So you hunt each other by sound for fun?" she questions, a little soft 'huh'.

That was the most relateable things she'd heard from humans in a while.

Katsumi Cora has posed:
That is unhelpful. Katsumi frowns a little, but tries to figure out his approach. Hearing her splash into the water, her presence is noted near him when she approaches again and is floating in front of him. "I don't know if you'd call it hunting... but yes, the same concept. Trying to catch each other, and well. I don't know what when you finally caught one. Usually they became Marco."

He glances in her direction in thought, biting on his bottom lip, before he asks. "How would you describe yourself to me?"

Kaori Jira has posed:
Short? Soft? Weak? Missing a tail? Scales? She trails off, considering for a moment and then extending her hand to offer him a guide and something to help him float if he looses his footing or place while they float and move around. It was slower, gentler than she'd do on her own. Less diving underwater than Kaori would usually prefer. She sinks down, enough to bring the water to her neckline and then clearing her throat.

"What do you wish to know?"

Katsumi Cora has posed:
When he feels her hand on his, Katsumi accepts her guide, letting her pull him in. There's a sharp draw of breath as he enters the water, almost as if he thought he would go under. But instead, when his feet touch bottom and he's bouyant, he lets out the breath he was holding.

And again, she dodges the question. Well. What does he want to know? He's not sure. His hand has not left hers yet. If anything, he's the short, soft, weak one, compared to her. "Softball question. What color are your eyes?" That's a good place to start. "And you know, you can ask questions too."

Kaori Jira has posed:
"Blue," she speaks, perhaps a little too matter-of-fact in her answer, but at least it was an answer as she moved through the water. She was taller, tall enough that she would be under after him if she walked them towards the deep end, and so they stayed where both could stand easily if so desired, resting comfortably for the time being and just soaking in the comfort of the water in their school swimsuits.

She could ask questiosn too? What else might she ask? The thought hangs for a moment before she asks something decidedly less 'softball'.

"Are you scared? By not being able to see when this place is attacked by monsters?'

Katsumi Cora has posed:
"Light blue? Dark blue? Blue like mine?" Katsumi asks as she starts to move around a little before settling down again. He's trying to get more used to the water. And then, suddenly she asks a question that he was not expecting. He's caught off guard. She can see the brief moment of surprise on his face.

"What do you mean by monsters?" he asks. But he's not doing a very good job with that, judging by his reaction.

Kaori Jira has posed:
How to explain the cherenkov blue orbs that were currently fixed on him? She considers for a moment but her answer was probably pretty lame.

"Very blue,"

"The creatures that seem to attack places in this...city," she asks. "This school, the libraries, the food places...at times it's almost like the people here are besieged."

Katsumi Cora has posed:
Very blue. Katsumi will just have to accept that. But as she continues on with what she is talking about the monsters that attack. He draws in a little breath. And his other hand grabs hers, so that they are joined together. "Are we alone?" he asks her, just to make sure that they are. Once she tells him that they are, he asks.

"Are you a mahou shoujo?"

Kaori Jira has posed:
Are they alone? She raises an eyebrow at that question, but what comes next brings a legitimate noise of confusion from her lips before she holds him at arms length, the only real sound given being their little ripples of movement against the surfac of the water.

"A what?"

The question seemed genuine, the answer confused...and it was. Kaori might technically be able to transform, but the words he'd used were literally foreign to her.

Katsumi Cora has posed:
Well. Katsumi's messed up. "It's nothing... nevermind." he offers quickly. And he releases her hands as she pushes away. And while she may be retreating - she's not alone in that retreat. There's a small flail as he moves backwards.

He's reaching for the wall of the pool, trying to find his way towards what he is hoping the side of the pool so that he can pull himself to the stairs. With no idea where to look, he mutters, "Sorry." even if he's not sure what he's apologizing for.

And without Kobo here, he can't transform to show her what he's talking about.

Kaori Jira has posed:
She wasn't going to abandon him to fail and sink, he'd quite easily be able to feel her moving nearby and sinking down to the point where the water was tickling at her noise. Eventually she'd come to surface enough that she could speak once more, she'd still be moving by. "I do not know what that is," she begins speaks, but now he was retreating and she was just left tilting her head. It was her question now, right?

"Are you...scared of Mahou shoujo? Is that what those monsters are supposed to be called?"

Katsumi Cora has posed:
"No, I'm not scared of them..." When Kaori returns to him, Katsumi draws in another breath, trying to shake off his fears. The way she's moving is leaving him nothing to focus upon, and he closes his eyes, even if it does nothing, it helps him focus.

"They're the ones that are fighting the monsters. Humans and others that... change to defend." he finally offers in explanation. Hopefully she understands that. Hopefully she's not one of the monsters. His hands settle against the back wall of the pool and he waits for her.

Kaori Jira has posed:
Eventually she'd surface properly, the wash and the ripple of the waves helping her be more 'visible' before she comes to speak up again. "The ones who do the glowy lights and attack the monsters that rampage?" she repeats. If he was truly alone with one of the Youma or similar? Well, he was probably in quite a lot of trouble. Still, she comes to lean against the pool wall, the slightly older girl coming to cross her arms under her bust and pressing her feet against the pool floor to wedge against the wall.

"Are you one of those? Are you able to fight, with your eyes?"

Secret identity? She'd never heard of the concept.

Katsumi Cora has posed:
As Kaori makes her presence known, practically next to him, Katsumi draws in a breath when he hears her question. Well. He's opened the Pandora's Box. All he can do now really is be honest with her, and see where this goes. Leaning against the wall, he turns his head to look at her. He's as sightless as ever. "Yes, those are the ones that I am talking about." And then there's the other part of the question.

And before he'll answer that, he has his own question for her. "You have avoided telling me anything tonight, Kaori. Before I say anything else... who are you? Really." he asks her quietly, resolutely. "I can see the dark energy that surrounds those that are in trouble." Her own aura isn't dark, but it's primal, raw... and he feels that. And she can probably sense the light quickening of his breath. A prey reflex? Or something else.

Kaori Jira has posed:
He could lie, he could shrug it off, interpersonal skills might not be the titan girl's best aspect. After all, socialization wasn't really important among the creatures of her world and Katsumi was probably lucky he didn't run into her in her first week here. She stands, up to her full height which might not tower over him while the water beads off her skin and hair. Not quite as dramatic as in her henshin'd or titan form with armor and scales...but still. Her gaze was hard, her hands come to her hips, eyes focused down on him.

"What am I?" she repeats, his own words, his nerves earning a hard stare for a moment. "I am less than I was."

"You are not a normal human...I was once not human at all."

Well, she was being honest, but that didn't mean the moment didn't radiate an aura of danger.

Katsumi Cora has posed:
As he told her, honestly, his visiion is mostly gone. But what he can see is auras. When Kaori rises to her full height, reminding Katsumi exactly how much taller and more power than him she is, his eyes lift up to face somewhere near her full height. She may look very intimidating. It's not what he sees though, no matter how hard she glares.

And then she speaks. She's sussed him out, and all she offers is her honesty in return.

He could try to run away. She'd probably let him go, truth be told. It might even be what she expects, all things considered.

What happens, instead is that Katsumi reaches up. His hands cradle her face lightly, his fingertips exploring the shape of her face, the feel of how she might 'look' in his hands.

"You are human now." he responds to her, looking up at her, his eyes scanning about to figure out what the next step is.

Kaori Jira has posed:
To see Kaori in her human form compared to her henshin was like seeing a fireplce compared to a building fire, intense but one was notably more 'contained' than the other. And that's what her human form was meant to be: controlable containment.

It hadn't worked great if one was honest.

Most would run, should run, if they had even the slightest idea. After all, in her own home there was only one creature she regarded as scarier than her, and that was her mother.

But he doesn't, instead her reaches up towards her face, slow enough not to be seen as an attack but still enough to have her confused and taken aback.

Maybe it was simply because he was blind that he didn't find her intimidating, but then even those least sensitive usually felt an echo of the titan she once was beneath.

"It seems so..."

Katsumi Cora has posed:
He's totally intimidated. He's scared to death. If she could sense it, his heart's racing. But with all of that fear, he's intrigued. She made the decisions that led them to this point. Katsumi can sense... something. Those lingering tendrils of dark energy that are part of her. That strong, oppressive aura that overwhelms his common sense, and tells him that he could run, but he'd not get far.

Once he's done searching her face, from the curve of her cheeks to the shape of her nose and chin, his hands lower back down to his sides, "I said you were pretty. That confirms it. Yes, it's scary. Yes, it's... intimidating. But you are." says the smaller boy that looks up at her.

He folds his hands in front of him for a moment, and draws in a breath. "When I am in henshin, I can see. As well as anyone. But only then. Once I come out, I am plunged back into the eternal twilight. It's feeling freedom for just that moment, to have it yanked away. But I want to make the best of the situation I am in."

"...I want to think you are the same, Kaori. You are terribly beautiful. Frighteningly fearsome. But at the same time, I heard your smile when you ate the cookie. I felt your warmth when you touched me." He lets out a breath.

"The question is... what do we do now?" he asks her. "If you want this to go no further, I will keep your secret and will be your friend. You will be welcome to visit anytime I'm cooking. I will be happy to see you."

He doesn't give the other option. That's on her to figure out.

Kaori Jira has posed:
Why would he change back? She would ask him, but then one might ask the same of her after she first became able to access that sliver of power that made her the Kaiju Hime. Instead there's a low noise from her throat, frustration maybe, or a growl, it would very well be taken for a warning or have one wondering if Katsumi was about to meet his end here, murdered in a swimming pool of all places.

Yet he doesn't meet his demise today, instead the Kaiju girl in human form exhales a small breath and folds her arms again, turning her gaze to look away from the self-confessed hero towards the door even as she speaks. "I suppose your cookies were good...and others were in need of them," she speaks, only to clear her throat. "But if you tell anyone and they come after me? I'll crush them, then you, then anyone else I feel like just because!"

Well, it was as close as she'd get to taking the complement and accepting the friendship. Plus, cookies!

Katsumi Cora has posed:
"Why would I tell anyone?" Katsumi asks her honestly. And before she can say anything else, he stand up on his very tip-toes and presses a light kiss to her cheek. "Thank you for taking me swimming." he offers to her quietly as he drops back down to his flat-footed self and leans against the pool wall.

Kaori Jira has posed:
Kaori.exe has encountered an error. Humans were weird, new affection gestures were experienced...she didn't know what to do, didn't know what do say...and so she just sinks down into the water once more. From towering intimidation personified down to just eyes peeking out of the water and her long black hair spread out over the surface. Was the Kaiju hiding? Well...at least he couldn't see it.

Katsumi Cora has posed:
When that aura suddenly shrinks, Katsumi is confused for a moment, before his cheeks warm as he realizes a little what might have just happened. "Come on." he says, holding out his hands for the kaiju-girl. "You promised you'd take me swimming." And he intends to make sure the girl keeps her promise. Because yes, she's scary. But also really cute in her swimsuit. If only he could see her.

Kaori Jira has posed:
She was still down in the water, still not surfacing for a few akward moments...but eventually, her arm would rise out of the water, offering him a point of contact to follow her as she comes to guide him and gently coax him along in the water. After all, she might be smaller and soft than she was, but well...she was royalty, and thus she really should keep her promises!