2005/Harm Reduction

Harm Reduction
Date of Scene:	18 October 2024
Location:	School Library
Synopsis:	Ryoko goes looking for Hinoiri to ask how to harm people less using the towers Eudial is sending her out with. She literally cannot have a single conversation without gushing about her girlfriend.
Cast of Characters:	Hinoiri Kirara, Ryoko Gushiken

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Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara was studying! Gasp. Surprising absolutely nobody. Sitting in the library, she had a book open in front of her that she was idly flipping through and not truly reading. It wasn't that the material wasn't interesting.

It wasn't, but that wasn't why she wasn't really paying attention.

The truth was, her mind was more focused on issues of the arcane nature. Namely, why hadn't the portal home opened yet? It had been... well... ages since she had last been able to get home. And she was, admittedly, a little... worried. WHY wouldn't she get home? Had she managed to sever the link somehow? Or was it something else? Was this, perhaps, a defense mechanism? Was something coming? Her mind flickered back to the things Sayaka had mentioned... Walpurghisnight. It soundded... scary. But was it? Or was it just another thing in a long line of other things? Should she be worried? Or was it just... nothing? That they truly had to worry about?

... She wished, desperately, that she had the answers to any of her questions. Sadly, she had none...

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
Ryoko Gushiken was investigating. It was very similar to studying, except it rarely involved books. Right now she was investigating who could possibly be the insufferable know-it-all that participated in destroying that portal tower she'd tried to deploy.

She honestly didn't care who it was, she just wanted the dust emblem that girl was using. It would be more accurate to say that The Grim Queen wanted the dust emblem that Equivalence was using, but her boss's desires became her desires, especially after a particularly brutal dressing down in Hokori-sama's office.

The only lead she had on the girl in silver and gray was that she sure seemed to act like she knew a lot about the technology Ryoko was using on the field. Now, Ryoko had very little understanding of it at all, but she was a very capable field operative. She could follow instructions with the best of them. The only person who knew how the portal machine worked was Eudial, and the only other person Ryoko could think of that would even approach knowing anything about it was Sunbreaker, since she made the towers in the first place.

Ryoko hadn't really seen that annoying firebrand since her big exit from the org chart. She was really looking forward to finding out if she could dig up any leads with her. If anyone would know what magical girl would be going on about her inventions it would be her.

Which was why Ryoko was walking around the library casually looking for Hinoiri. What better place to find a nerd than nerd heaven? She caught the blank look in the other girl's eyes as she approached and so fixed a smile on her face as she sat down on the table next to Hinoiri's book. Impossible to ignore.

"Looks like a real page turner," she says, her voice flat, as if she's not being silly by saying that. She reaches down and lifts up one side to flick it shut, saying, "You should take a break from reading, Kirara. You're radiating exhausted and overwhelmed."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara actually jerked a bit, turning towards the other girl when she was suddenly there. When did--

And she quickly looked around, sitting up straighter, alert, wary, waiting and wondering for what horrific, terrible thing was going to come dropping on her head.

Except, there wasn't any. She slowly slid the book aside before looking towards Ryoko. "Hey..." she said softly, her eyes narrowing. "Long time no see. Should... I be concerned? This isn't the start of another assassination attempt, is it? Because I should warn you, the sparkles have me pretty well watched and the school is probably the most reckless place to try it. There's at least three of them within yelling range at any one moment."

Okay, she wasn't tagged or anything, but the sparkles had been talking about it and, admittedly? She was beginning to wonder if it miiiiight not be a good idea. She'd been almost killed more times than she could count and she did not like the idea of being jumped whenever, whereever....

Especially not here, at school.

She wondered how hard she could hit Ryoko with the book if it came to it...

"... I'm not exhausted, either. I'm annoyed and stressed. Primarily due to *your* organization."

... On the upside, Ryoko wasn't one of the ones who had tried to off her, so she was, currently, not entirely sure how tense she should be around the girl.

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
Ryoko Gushiken scoffed and shook her head. "If I wanted to kill you, Kirara, you'd be dead before any of your friends could stop me," she said calmly, as if it were a simple fact. As if she were talking about gym class or kendo club. "No, I'm hoping you can help me actually, so I'm going to help you."

Ryoko reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. "What's your number? I'm going to send you an eye cream recommendation. If you're not exhausted then you need to start moisturizing."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara blinked a few times and then reached up, putting a finger on the skin under her eyes. "W-what? An eye cream... I don't need eye cream or any of that," she said, shaking her head. "And what do you mean you want me to help you? Help you with what? If this is about... well... my inventions you lot have been stealing and using to open those... whatever they are?"

"I want nothing to do with it. The only reason I'm not stopping you lot from using them is that I don't have magic anymore. They are *dangerous* and *not* a toy to be played with. So instead you lot are doing... buck, I can't even begin to imagine what kind of damage you're causing playing with them."

She did, however, pull out her phone and put it on the reverse camera and... started checking out her eyes. Were... were they that bad? They didn't feel like it but... maybe?

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
Ryoko Gushiken's lips just curled into the most satisfied smirk. Girls like Hinoiri were so easy to manipulate. The nerd had no guile whatsoever and was just as full of herself as ever. It was like a bullfight. All she had to do was wave the red flag, and Hinoiri would charge right in the direction she wanted. It was so much fun.

"That's why I want your help, Kirara-san," she said, sliding off the table and pulling out the chair next to Hinoiri, sitting down in it sidways so she was facing the other girl. "I don't have a choice but to take these things out into the field. Hokori-sama is going to flay me alive if I don't find something she wants, and soon, and she wants me to partner with Eudial to do it. I'm not playing with anything, I'm deploying equipment in the field."

"This is why I need your help, Kirara-san," she pleaded, bringing her hands up palms together in front of her chest, her eyes closed and her head bowed. "I don't understand the tech, but I have to use it. How do I do less harm?"

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara sighed and pulled back. For a moment, she looked conflicted, crossing her arms. On the one hand... If Ryoko wanted to do less harm... then...

"The problem isn't doing less harm," Hinoiri finally said. "I've gotten caught in one of those. They're not designed to *function* like this. I made them to jab into the leylines of this world, that's all. They've done... something to them. Without the capability to know what, I can't..." She then trailed off, looking over at Ryoko.

Finally, she sighed. "Do you mean that? Do you *really* want to do less harm? Because... there is one thing we could do. But it'd be dangerous. Incredibly dangerous. It could get you in a lot of trouble, too. They..." Then she trailed off, cocking an eyebrow. "Wait, what are you even looking for? How are those towers helping you find it?" She tapped a finger on the table, though, already seeming to be lost in thought. "... It's possible we might be able to help each other..."

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
"The thing I'm looking for is called a dust emblem," Ryoko said, softly, lifting her head back up and folding her hands in her lap as she lifted one leg up to drape over the knee of the other. Her back was straight and her shoulders back even though she was sitting sideways in the chair. Posture mattered.

"I had painstakingly tracked down its whereabouts to this shop in Juuban. I planned an entire operation to retrieve it, which I admittedly could have planned better, but it went well enough except that somebody else got to the dust emblem before I did," she said, her voice very calm and quiet like she was talking about working on a school project.

"Hokori-sama does not like it when I fail," she said, barely above a whisper, looking at Hinoiri in the eyes, her own black eyes pleading.

Her voice shifts back to that casual tone. She's just talking about work again. "That's why I'm taking these towers out into the field. Eudial is looking for something with them, and Hokori-sama wants me to piggy-back on the signal to find that dust emblem."

She sighs and then looks at Hinoiri for a long moment. "You know a lot of sparkles. You don't happen to know Equivalence, do you? If she'd just give me what she stole, I could stop working with Eudial altogether."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara blinked a few times. "A... dust... emblem? What's a dust emblem? I don't think that's a magical device type I've had much, if any, experience with. You sure a sparkle skirt didn't find it and then just go all sparkly with it? They do kind of have a tendency to do that. I swear every single operation I did some new sparkle would pop up. It was mind numbingly frustrating."

However, the look in Ryoko's eyes, the pleading, made her feel... just a little sorry for the other girl. A little compassion.

And then, however, she urked when Ryoko said Equivalence. She took a slow, deep breath. "Ryoko, yes, I do. I've met her. But you know I *can't* give out identities. To anyone. OF anyone. I know too many people on *both* sides. I can't give you her identity any more than I could give the sparkles here yours." She quickly looked away, though.

BUCK BUCK BUCK! STOLE?! When did Equivalence ever steal--

Wait, the shop. The shop she was almost eaten in, the little lightning bolt. Oh. Buck. THAT. Ohhhhhh. She'd almost been eaten in that little escapade! THANKS RYOKO! But she bit her tongue, letting out the frustration she felt now... Well...

"... I can deliver a message to her, though. What exactly did she steal? This 'dust emblem', right? How does it work? And what makes it more yours, than hers? I mean... despite what Riventon thinks, just because someone knows of a magical device doesn't mean it belongs to them when someone else is using them."

BUCK BUCK BUUUUUCK!

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
The key to successfully manipulating another is paying attention and being observant. It doesn't matter what words a person says, if they're wrong about where a person's mind is, they won't have the desired effect. Ryoko was always paying attention and being observant.

She saw that hitch in Hinoiri's chest when she said the name Equivalence. She was looking for it. She expected a reaction. She saw the panicked glance away and heard the quick thinking in the offered compromise. She was pretty sure she'd found her mark, and the rest was just execution.

"Whoever she is, she found that dust emblem while I was fighting the sparkles, because I know it was there when I arrived on scene," she said. "There aren't a lot of us dust emblem users around Tokyo. I'd be shocked if Equivalence has received any training on how to use the device. She's playing with things she doesn't understand."

Ryoko took a deep breath and then let it out, smiling. "I really meant it. I want to do less harm. I promised my girlfriend I would. Tell Equivalence that if she wants to surrender the dust emblem, I promise I won't harm her."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara couldn't help it. She gave a light snort. "Yeah, that's *every* sparkle though. Only a handful of us ever tried to understand the magic and all of us were with Obsidian. I'd almost argue that makes them smarter, except they did kind of burn *every* bridge with me they had. And let's be fair, I really was the only one they had who understood magic to this level." On account of coming from a world filled with it.

"... I'll relay the message, though. I wouldn't hold out hope, like it or not? The sparkles see you as the bad guys. She's not going to want to give up her ability to fight evil people off, to give it to someone who's her enemy..."

She then leaned back and crossed her arms. "But... I can probably still help you. I can't give her identity, but I can at least help you use the towers in a way that won't cause as much damage. If we're lucky, they won't cause any damage. But I'd need you to do something for me."

"... I'd need you to bring me one of them. I can't touch them, since I can't use dark energy anymore without trying to blow up your world's sun," Hinoiri said, reaching up to rub her geode. "But if you do *exactly* as I tell you, I can help you access it and find a way to set it so it won't do as much damage. I dread to imagine how many safeties on it their hog-hoofed approach broke..."

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
Ryoko shook her head. "I can't just take one. Especially since the last one I took got destroyed. They're making me submit my operational plans for review before they'll release the towers to me," she said. She pressed her index finger against pursed lips and furrowed her brow in thought.

"But I could bring you to a tower once it's deployed but before I turn it on," she says. "It's really the only opportunity we'd have."

Then she gets a big grin. "How do you feel about Grimm? Have you met any of my Queen's pets?"

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara leaned back and sighed, giving a small nod. "Civilian, now. So not a huge fan. Last time I ran into one I tried to hit it with a broom and the brim lost. So... I do not like them. But if you can keep them off me and do as I say... I can do that."

"... But I'll need to bring someone with me. Someone who can make sure the civilian isn't torn apart. No offense meant, but well... I've kind of had a history with your team and the whole... attempting to murder me thing. I'm not exactly... fond... of the idea of repeatedly doing that. It's a little too dangerous going now that I don't have powers and too many of your people have tried to murder me."

"... But if you're willing to work with that... I'll see what I can do to help you track what you're looking for without putting more people in danger."

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
Ryoko Gushiken smiled like she got exactly what she wanted. Uncrossing her legs, she rose up from her chair and nodded her agreement. "I choose the sparkle, and you've got yourself a deal, Kirara-san," she said. There was only one sparkle she trusted, so it was an easy choice. "Do you know Scorpia? She's one of the Etherians. Took out six Grimm with a chain lightning once, and she gives the best hugs. She'll keep you safe."

Ryoko reached into her clutch to pull out a business card, then she bent over Hinoiri to grab her pencil off the desk, flipped the card over, and wrote down the name of an eye cream. She set the pencil down on top of the business card and then stood up, smiling to Hinoiri. "There's my number, and the eye cream. Seriously, girl. You need to take care of your skin. Stress ages you."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara shook her head. "Scorpia? No, I'm afraid not. I... met She-ra? She stabbed me, though. So I hope this Scorpia isn't as stabby. But you have yourself a deal. Does she know that you're on Obsidian's payroll? Cause, let me tell you, from experience? That rarely works out."

"... You can only break the heart of a sparkle you care about so many times before yours starts to break too." A bit of a warning, a bit of an alarm, a bit of a threat.

Of course, when she took the card she cocked an eye. She then pulled out her phone, bringing up the number. "This stays between you and me, okay? I don't want Obsidian getting a hold of it again and having to change my number. *Again.* Do I really look that bad? Ugh. I'm going to end up having lines like Sora and I'm not even immortal to excuse it," she grumbled...

Somewhere, Sora suddenly felt *incredibly* offended and she didn't know why.

Ryoko Gushiken has posed:
The smile disappears, the corners of Ryoko's mouth turning down. "My heart burnt to a cinder years ago, Kirara-san," she says, quietly, as she looks at the number and punches it into her own phone, then slips it back into her clutch. "And it still broke when I saw the look on her face."

Her eyes meet Hinoiri's and she smiles, her eyes blinking quickly as tears threaten at the corners. "She knows who I am, and she still loves me. She's not like the other sparkles, Kirara-san. She's something special."

She takes a deep breath and then smiles. "I'll be in touch, Kirara-san," she says, and then flips her hair over her shoulder as she turns to walk off.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara gave a small smirk to Ryoko. "Exactly. That's the annoying thing about these girls. They know how to make you care again, no matter how much you try to convince yourself you can't or shouldn't. It's... kind of infuriating. I still... hate being like this. Without power. But they at least make me... not entirely regret it."

"You're going to realize that a lot of them are pretty special, Gushiken-san. That's when things are going to get a lot harder..."

Because that was when she got more desperate. When she pushed past her safeties. When she tried to break herself just to prove she did, in fact, have worth. Value...

"See you around, good luck." Oh, that girl was so doomed. Her heart may have burnt to ash long ago, but that... just made fertilizer for the sparkles to make that seed grow. She wondered how long until the girl realized how screwed she was...