885/At lunch with the T-Radiance

At lunch with the T-Radiance
Date of Scene:	14 December 2023
Location:	Cafeteria Plaza
Synopsis:	Takuto tries to cheer up a dispirited Klarissa.
Cast of Characters:	Sayaka Miki, Takuto Tsunashi

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Sayaka Miki has posed:
Students probably come at the cafeteria to relax, a long-awaited break from the intensive school hours as they stock up again on energy with the food on offer.

That's not really the impression one would get from looking at a certain table. At a first glance it's nothing especially alarming, just two twins in school uniform eating through their picks while a koi mermaid plushie rests on the table close to the trays.

A lengthy observation would however reward the watcher with some unusual details: one of the bluenette seems rather in a hurry to get lunch over with, while the other gives her worried glances, and uh, so does the plushie? That must be a trick of the eyes.

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
It's not quite suddenly, but it might seem so -- a tall, gangly redhaired boy swings into the seat opposite the twins alone at their table. "Hello, Miki-san! Miki-sans? Wait, which one of you is the one I've met?"

Takuto's expression is bright and warm, and there are a lot of croquettes and some shrimp tempura on his tray, and his shirt is untucked under his blazer and his tie is loose, top button unbuttoned. He lowers his voice, but only a little bit: "And where's that rude mascot? Did you ditch it?"

Sayaka Miki has posed:
The honest answer would be both of them, but that's not something neither of them feel inclined to say. One, the girl at the left, is because she'd rather say nothing altogether, intent as she is on demolishing her food. The however, because she doesn't want to spread the voice they are half of a person. That wouldn't help at all with her twin's mental state depending on the person's reaction, so she just keeps it close to herself. It's an unnecessary risk.

So the second one, who is playing the part of the actual Sayaka Miki, just smiles at Takuto and says "Hello, Tsunashi-senpai. That would be me. It's awesome seeing you again. The specular image next to me is my twin sister, Klarissa."

When she is named, the other bluenette looks up from her dishes and waves and Takuto. "Hi, Tsunashi-senpai, nice to meet you. As Sayaka said, I am Klarissa. Good to know you have recovered from the mall, we were worried about that. And Kyubey, he is just a liar of the worst kind."

At this point, Ula speaks up. "Hello, I am Sayaka and Klarissa's companion, nice to meet you, Tsunashi-san. My name is Ula."

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
"Oh, nice to meet you, Klarissa-san! Both of you, please call me Takuto-- haha, all three of you. Nice to meet you too, Ula-san," Takuto says, and then takes a big bite of croquette while he listens. He also nods emphatically at the note about his recovery, and answers after he swallows, "The mall--? Oh! When I had Wako's plague? Yeah, I'm fine now, I completely forgot about it actually! Too much stuff's happened since then, like--"

He mimes holding up a rifle and shooting it at nothing. "One of those heartstealers. Wow that was a terrible experience, do not recommend, zero stars. I'm definitely gonna falcon-punch Riventon next time I see him."

Then his eyebrows go up. "Kyubey, right, I forgot what he was called. I just thought he was rude. He's a liar, as well? Really glad you ditched him, then! So-- both of you are magic? That must be really cool, having a sibling you can share all of this with."

Sayaka Miki has posed:
"Wako's plague? She had come down with it too? That sounds harsh. The important thing is you are both fine."

She bites her cheese bread and gets it down. "I wonder how long the "Punch Riventon" queue is. It feels like he is everywhere. He isn't content with just stealing people's Heart Crystals, he is interfering with our Witch Hunts now. Gave La Crima some task to gather data about Witches, I think. Or she did that herself, maybe. Either way, they are planning something with them too. They even took the Grief Seed. Next time I will do more than just put a slash on his car."

"We did throw a greatsword at him", Klarissa reminds her, and Sayaka follows up with a nod. "Right, yeah. And La Crima scorched us deeply for it."

Klarissa looks at Takuto scowling. "Kyubey has more secrets about the gift he gives than anyone would expect. For one, exhausting our magic kills us, and if he wasn't enough, he strips us of our humanity. You have seen a Puella Magi's Soul Gem, right? That's literally our soul, extracted and trapped into a nice rock, so we can use this body remotely. Isn't Kyubey just great? We are rocks now!" Klarissa grits her teeth.

Sayaka and Ula alike put a hand over hers in response. "She took it very hard as you can see. We are both really mad at him, but she feels like a weapon just for hunting Youma now", Sayaka explains to Takuto.

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
Takuto blinks, setting his food down. "Hopefully everyone who wants to punch Riventon gets to," he says, "and also Lacrima, who wanted to eat Wako's crystal--"

He shifts in his seat. "But I don't understand how having a removable soul makes you just a weapon? I mean... at least you're still awake, right? And you can still fight? When La Crima took Wako's crystal out, Wako just... she couldn't use magic. She wasn't there anymore. When Riventon took most of mine out, I couldn't even henshin for a week, and... I didn't want to die, but I was so upset I couldn't fight, I couldn't help, I couldn't stop youmas from hurting people. It's what I'm for. Protecting people, fighting for the powerless. It's what I was raised to do."

He looks down at his hands, turning them over to look at his palms, then at the backs, and then just folds them and leans over them, face earnest and voice serious and quiet. "You're not just a weapon," he tells Klarissa. "You're a thinking, feeling, loving person -- or you wouldn't have wanted to be a magical girl in the first place, would you? Maybe Kyubey lied about a lot, but he didn't lie about you being able to fight to help people now, did he?"

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Klarissa grimaces as she looks at Sayaka first. "I didn't ask for a translator. It's great that you feel optimistic about your life, but things are just not the same for me, and I would like to be left alone with myself."

Sayaka shakes her head. "You know that's not going to happen. You are important to me, Klarissa. Kyubey could have made use poisonous to each other, and I would still want to be near you."

Ula interjects. "Everyone believes that you are worth much more than that, and I will never leave you behind either."

Klarissa ignores them and looks at Takuto. "That's right, I am still awake and I can still fight, because that's what this contract set us for. That's my purpose, and nothing else. Sadly, I know the message is clear in their case, but let me spell it out to you too. This", she says, turning her ring into the Soul Gem, "is the real me. The body you looking at is just nothing more than a corpse. I am dead, and only the Soul Gem is there to give me a semblance of life."

"Want to know what happens if our Soul Gem go over a distance of 100 meters from the body we puppet? It drops dead, like a marionette with its strings cut. No vital signs whatsoever. We Puellae are just rocks puppeting a corpse around and making it feel alive. This is ehy I shouldn't bother actual people with my presence, and force them to spend time with someone who is dead."

"You shouldn't have to be close to someone so impure. Unfortunately, these two drag me here everytime, or I would never subject everyone to my presence. "Helping people has always been what I wanted to do. I believe in righteousness, justice, that fairness is there as we push back against the darkness. I still believe in that, but it's all I am good for. Not a person anymore, just a rock. One you shouldn't care about. I don't get why you all do."

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
Takuto props his head up on one hand, tilting it a little as he watches Klarissa, glancing at Sayaka as the two interact.

"I didn't mean to start a fight between sisters," he says with a grimace of apology, "but if that's how you feel about you, isn't that also how you feel about Sayaka-san? If you still care about anything, you're not just a rock, I'm sorry. But listen--"

He straightens up again, sitting up, and smiles a little crookedly. "Once upon a time, I had a best friend, and he told me-- when what you want to do is what you have to do, you can hear the voice of the world."

He stops smiling, now, and he's serious without being grave. "You used to want to fight, and you still want to push back against the darkness, right? So what if you found out you have to do it? Let your heart sing with the voice of the world."

Then he lifts his hands and shakes his head. "If you want me to go, I will, but... you feel powerless, don't you? Like no matter how much magic you have, you can't make any decisions that haven't already been made for you?"

Sayaka Miki has posed:
"We have been quarreling long before this, you didn't start anything", Klarissa specifies. "Our viewpoints just don't match, and it's something neither of us is backing down from. I don't want her to get involved in this, I want her to leave me to my own devices, so she can be as happy as can be and leave me alone. But I know, that's not possible. And the fact is I am just unnatural, I should just be focusing on what I do best, instead of things I used to enjoy. But she is in my head and won't let me do that."

She scowls. "And what does that accomplish, really? I am already doing what is right, but that's the extent of my life. It starts and ends there. The fact that you all take issue with how I am dedicating myself to that? Please, go spend your efforts somewhere worthwhile and leave me to use myself how I see fit."

Then she stares at him bewildered. "That's the contract I have with Kyubey, he gave me the power to do what matters, and now I am free to do that, free of everything in my life, in fact."