1502/The World is Full of Devils

The World is Full of Devils
Date of Scene:	08 May 2024
Location:	Okujoo Ramen
Synopsis:	Kyouka treats Kyouko to some ramen and asks for her help.
Cast of Characters:	Kyouka Inai, Kyouko Sakura

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Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka leans back in her chair at the table in the rooftop ramen restaurant, her bowl in front of her, steaming and fresh. She hasn't touched much of it yet, but it's only just arrived and there's plenty of time. She regards the girl sitting across from her over the top of her ever-present sunglasses, though she is sans-jacket today as it is quite warm in Tokyo this evening. "So.. I wanted to fill you in on some stuff. Because it's possible I'm going to need to ask for your help before too long."

    She has preceded this by ordering Kyouko a large ramen on her dime, which should go a long way in making sure the younger redhead at least listens to her.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
There are many who would claim that Kyouko is a simple creature, and that she is extremely food motivated.

There are many who are half right.

Kyouko does not stand on ceremony, she's already got her chopsticks into the bowl, fishing out noodles when Kyouka opens with the actual reason for the conversation. Which is not ramen.

"What sort of stuff?" Kyouko asks, plainly enough, peering up and over the steaming bowl towards her mentor.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Well," Kyouka says, picking up her own chopsticks and stirring the bowl with them a little bit, "You know a bit already, right? About how I used to be a magical girl like you, but I wiggled out of the Fade by accepting this whole Arbiter gig. And you saw Corona, that wolfy bitch who showed up claiming Fuyuko and I are dangerous failures and who has been, by the way, trying to make our lives difficult since then. I assume you don't need me to re-cover any of that ground?"

    She takes up a mouthful of noodles, transferring them to her mouth with the chopsticks and slurping them down.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
"What is is with fuzzy assholes?" Kyouko grumbles as she stabs a mushroom that is, perhaps, today's stand in for Kyubey. Or Corona. Possibly both.

"As if there's anything wrong with being dangerous." Kyouko contiues her general grumblings as she bites into the mushroom. Dangerous! Rawr!

"So are we taking out Corona?" She asks, as if that's even a possibility.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "I think it's less that fuzzy people are assholes and more that a lot of aliens seem to be fuzzy, and the assholes are the ones who like messing with people's lives." Kyouka says, with a shrug, slurping up some more noodles.

    "We are not," Kyouka says, firmly, "Taking out Corona. At least, not yet. If it ends up being necessary, fine, but I am not going to countenance murder for a series of insults and minor inconveniences."

    She sighs. "No, what I'm more concerned about is that the series of insults and minor inconveniences are just a screen for something a lot more serious. Did I ever tell you exactly how I got into this Arbiter gig?"

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
"I dont' think I know any fuzzy people that aren't assholes?" Kyouko has to think about that. She slurps her noodles while she does and then shrugs. She doens't get out much. At least not with other people.

"Harmph." There's at least no actual arguement about not taking out Corona, not yet at least.

"No." Kyouko shakes her head as she scoops up soup broth on her spoon. "I figured it was like what Koobs does. Preys on desperate girls to get what it wants."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "The ones who aren't assholes are probably living peacefully at home, content to mind their own business and not mess with other people's lives." Kyouka says with dry humor.

    She shakes her head. "Originally, with Aurora, maybe. We became Lux Tenebrae in that same sort of way. Made an offer of power in exchange for service, and we took it. But neither of us regret that one.. I think for both of us it was the best thing that ever happened to us. But the LT deal didn't involve the sort of negatives that the Puella contract does. Though we also didn't get any kind of wish granted, other than the power itself."

    "But the Arbiter thing.. that happened later. When we were approaching the age when we should be Fading and losing our powers and memories. Both Fuyuko and I were approached separately by.. a being. A god, maybe, I'm really not sure. A voice out of nothingness, at least. Which made us a different offer. We could keep a portion of our powers in exchange for further service, training younger mahous to keep the fight going. It meant accepting a reduction in power, limitations and restraints, but we got to keep our connection to magic and our memories of it. We both took that deal."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
"Wishes aren't all that and a bag of chips." Kyouko continues with the darkly muttering at her ramen trend. Another mushroom gets stabbed, a little more forcefully this time.

"So.." Kyouko looks up at Kyouka with a squint. "A voice out of nowhere just whispered sweet nothings in your ear about power and you were 'hell yeah, sign me the fuck up'?" She considers. "I mean.. legit for powers, but seriously? Voice outta nothing? And it didn't seem like a scam?"

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka doesn't comment about wishes. Much like a lot else in life, she perhaps feels that wishes themselves are neither good nor bad- it is how they are used which makes the difference. But she is wise enough not to voice such an opinion in front of her hot-headed young friend.

    She gives the girl a Look. "Hey, if you were about to lose everything you'd fought for, everything you were, all your memories such that you would hardly even be the same person anymore, wouldn't you make a deal with a devil to save yourself? I won't say I wasn't desperate. I absolutely was."

    "And I don't think, in the end, it was a scam. He came through on his end.. goes by the name of Balance, by the way. Some cosmic entity who believes that the Universe will stagnate and die if the struggle between good and evil ever has a winner. So he makes people like me and Fuyuko to train and indoctrinate young kids like you so that the war keeps going, so that neither side gains an advantage."

    She shakes her head a little. "I don't mind the work itself. I don't agree, in that eternal war sounds like shit to me, but the way I look at it, the war is happening anyway and if I can keep my powers and help prepare kids for what they're going to face then that's something worth doing regardless of the motivations of my boss."

    She chews her lip. "Thing is.. its been five years since then. And things are starting to seem.. like some stuff just doesn't add up. I think Fuyuko and I are both starting to realize that what we've been told isn't the whole story. Its not surprising, I know, and I don't think I would have made a different decision anyway. But that doesn't mean we don't want to find out the truth, either."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
"I've already made a deal with the devil." Kyouko answers almost absently, a bare shrug as she scoops up noodles with her chopsticks.

There's an arch of Kyouko's brow at being called a 'young kid'. She can accept kid, sometimes, but 'young kid'. She might not make much of birthdays, but she's hardly the youngest of the mahou around. Still, she lets it go. Mostly.

"Aannnnnnnd here's the scam part." Kyouko nods as Kyouka gets to the 'not the whole truth' part of it all. "So how are you finding out more? I'm guessing Balance doens't meet for tea."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka is eating steadily too, between speaking, as there's no sense in letting good ramen get cold. "The world is full of devils, kid. Sooner or later most people need to make a deal with one. Just gotta pick your poison."

    "No, it's nothing that overt, it's just.. some things Corona has said. Some of the terms she uses, some of the buzzwords. It never really occurred to me before but they're awfully similar to a lot of the things that Balance says. Not.. exactly. They're not using the same phrases, not quite the same meanings. But it's similar."

    "And thinking back.. those were a lot of the same things Aurora used to say too. And.. there's no connection between the Statera (that's Aurora and Corona's people, who gave us our original powers) and Balance, who offered us this loophole to avoid losing those powers. There isn't supposed to be a connection. We were mahou doing our thing, Balance offered us a new gig to avoid losing our powers."

    "That's what we've always believed. But if there is a connection.. if this whole thing is some kind of.." She waves a chopstick, "Setup. Arrangement. That changes things. I'm not sure how it changes things, or why. But I don't like feeling manipulated, especially not in ways I'm not aware of. Neither does Fuyuko."

    "But pushing this line of inquiry.. looking into it. It's going to ruffle feathers. And that's why I might need your help. Yours and other friends', too."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
There's not a lot that Kyouko can argue about deals with devils. There is a lot of it going around. Always has, probaby always will.

"Hmmph." Kyouko grunts a little as she listens. About coincidences, and similarities. And setups. She lifts her bowl in both hands, to slurp at the soup.

"If there's a connection, then it feels like you're being ganged up on too." Kyouko points out. "Which also sucks." She gives a shrug. "You need my help, I'll be there." There's no hesitation. No questions. No pause.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "I don't know if it counts as ganged up on." Kyouka says, with a shrug. "And look.. I don't know what's going on. Not really. I'm not really happy with this arrangement with Balance anyway, just there don't seem to be any good alternatives currently. Either I do my job or he takes my powers and my memories. Well, not him personally, but he steps back and lets the Fade do it. I don't want that."

    "But more and more I just.. want to know what's actually going on here. Who's working for who, and exactly how far back this whole rabbit hole goes."

    "Problem is, Balance isn't a fan of questions. Neither is Corona, it seems, based on what little I know. So there may be some... pushback."

    When Kyouko says she'll be there, Kyouka gives her a little grin. "Thank you. That means a lot. You know it frustrates me being limited to defense only but if I can't fight myself, at least I want some skilled fighters on my side so if shit does get violent I'm not left helpless."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
"Yeah well. I'm generally crap at defense." Kyouko points out. "So you keep me from getting more dead, and I'll stab on your behalf." It's a basic arrangement, but it's a pretty darn good one.

"So how ARE you going to shake information out of them?" Kyouko asks as she puts down her now empty bowl, tucking her spoon and chopsticks into it.

Kyouko looks like she's about to say something and then changes her mind, looking to Kyouka about Balance, and Corona. "Betting the rabbit hole is obnoxiously complicated. Nothing about our lives is straight forward."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "We can work on your defense." Kyouka says, with the instincts of a teacher. "You have the reflexes, you just need to be more willing to use them defensively as well as offensively. But yes, that aside, keeping you alive is high on my priority list."

    She shakes her head a little bit, slowly finishing her own bowl. "I don't know yet. I have to sit down and talk with Fuyuko about it but as you might guess our conversations like that have to be.. arranged and we haven't had time yet."

    "I'm sure it's complicated." She sighs. "I've never been good with puzzles. But I dunno that we really have a lot of choice. And I have some smart friends now who might be able to lend a hand."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
"The best defense is a good offense." Kyouko counters with a fangy smile. Even if it is perhaps a little insensitive to OG Kyou.

"You dont have to be good at puzzles." Kyouko points out. "You gotta know people who are good with puzzles. You bring defense. They bring offense. Just brain style."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Even if that's true," Kyouka says, with a quirk of a smile, "That doesn't make other forms of defense worth ignoring entirely." She waves her chopstick in the air. "We'll work on it."

    She places the chopsticks down, her bowl now empty. "That is a very wise thing you just said, Kyouko Sakura." She says, with a more open smile. "Perhaps you're not an entirely lost cause. C'mon.. let's get out of here."