194/The Best Interests Of Everyone Involved

The Best Interests Of Everyone Involved
Date of Scene:	02 August 2023
Location:	Sports Pavilion
Synopsis:	Kyouka wants to warn Kazuo about Darien. Kazuo is still not convinced Kyouka isn't a cultist. This is going to go well for everyone! Well, maybe for Vice President.
Cast of Characters:	Kazuo Saitou, Kyouka Inai

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Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Vacation is weird for classes that aren't, over vacation, formally classes. A lot of people just aren't there. Other people left early. Other people are lingering to practice something just once more.

Kazuo Saitou, who isn't even in this class, is lingering because there is a fox in sunglasses on his head. Again.

He also looks a little more sleepless, a little more haggard, than he did last week. Probably the fox is not snacking on his energy, though.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Saitou-kun." Kyouka is there, quite suddenly, slightly behind and off to the side of him. Just a moment before she had been halfway across the room helping a pair of girls work on their technique for breaking free of a wrist-hold. It didn't seem like she had time to cross the distance, but maybe it's just his tiredness making it seem like less time than it ought to be.

    "Can I talk to you for a minute?" There's something very un-Inai-like about her demeanor. A slight hesitation. A mildly furtive mien. It is distinctly different from the casual, brash confidence on display in their previous conversation.

    Vice President is given a glance, but not otherwise addressed. That lack of reaction may be construed as odd in and of itself, but Kyouka has met the fox before and clearly does not consider its presence to be a threat.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
A single blink is all the reaction he gives to Kyouka sneaking up on him via LIGHTNING TELEPORT, or maybe just a micronap. "Do I get written up again if I say no?" he asks, before that easy smile and a palm-up silent invitation gesture indicate that he was just teasing. Probably.

(He does not try to shake his head. Small foxes still have teeth. And claws. And for all he knows possibly knives.)

"What's on your mind?"

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "I didn't write you up last time." Kyouka snaps, defensive, before she schools herself with an indrawn breath and visibly settles her expression into one of calm stoicism. "Listen, I... know you don't trust me. You don't really have a reason to, I get that. Not trusting people without good reason, that's an outlook I agree with, generally."

    The way she's talking, it's not like a teacher or a counselor to a student. She's talking as if she's addressing an equal- maybe not a friend, but someone whom she does not have authority over. It's in her tone and her demeanor. "But I need you to understand that I'm going to tell you something, and I have the best interests of everyone involved at heart. That includes you."

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
That palm-up gesture shifts smoothly - not to a calming one, precisely, but to one that hints at the slight bow of apology he can't give without sunglasses clattering to the floor and a critter climbing back up his leg. "I know you didn't," he says. "And I'll stop joking about your predecessor."

Worth it, if that hint was right and she hasn't read his file yet.

He exhales, quiet and slow to match her inhale, with no frustration or irritation evident. For once. "I'm listening."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka glances down and to the side, visibly dismissing the statement about her predecessor. She might revisit it later, but it's obviously not her priority at the moment and she can't spare the brainpower to consider it right now. She knows she has to tread carefully here, especially after what happened with Usagi. And treading carefully has never been her forte.

    "Listen," She moves a bit closer, her tone low. As if she doesn't want to be overheard, although nobody is near enough for that without some serious trying. "I know you're going out to some steak dinner thing with Usagi Tsukino and Darien shields, among others." The others, apparently, aren't important to this discussion, at least right now.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
... he wants so much to tilt his head accordingly. But there is fox. Maybe there's a tell; Vice President scampers down to his far shoulder, peering inquisitively around his face. Kazuo steadies fox and sunglasses, then tilts his head toward Kyouko to listen better (and turns his head to keep his nose out of fur).

"Tsukino's roommate asked me to provide her with some sanity for the occasion," Kazuo answers, voice easy and low. "I am, for the record, only sometimes bribable with meat."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Yes. Osaka-san is a smart girl." Kyouka confirms, almost as if this should be obvious to anyone. "And ordinarily I would think it a fine choice and wish you all a good time but.." She hesitates, clearly searching for the words to make this all sound reasonable and not helplessly convoluted and steeped in secrecy and half-truths.

    "Darien is going to try and make friends with you." She says, after a moment. Hurridly, almost as if rushing to head off the same protests Usagi made, she adds, "And you should! Be his friend I mean. I think you should. I think it would be good for him. But." Another but, this one much more firm. An emphasis, not a hesitation.

    Ash-grey eyes peer at Kazuo earnestly. "You cannot trust him. I believe he is in over his head and if he tries to grab onto you, and you're not ready for it, he's going to drag you under with him instead of climbing out."

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
There is a brief pause from Kazuo while he considers that. Maybe at face value. Maybe doing internal arithmetic on 'not trusting people without good reason' and 'you cannot trust him' - giving him a warning not to do something she just indicated she didn't think he was likely to do anyway.

"Do you have reasons for that belief that you can share?" he asks finally. Without any impression that he's come to a conclusion one way or another.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka considers. She really does. Kazuo can likely read the conflict on her face. She's never been any good at really hiding her feelings, not when they're strong. On the other hand, if Kazuo really is just an uninvolved civilian, than he'll forget anything she says anyway, right? That's how the Veil works. She could shout at him about magic all day, and he wouldn't put any stock in it, wouldn't believe her.

    Unless he's just involved enough that he hears and understands- and just thinks she's crazy. That's the worst possible outcome, because it means her words will likely have the opposite of their intended effect. After all, would you rather trust the crazy lady spouting hysterics about magical dilemmas, or the perfectly nice and ordinary seeming guy trying to be your friend?

    After a long hesitation, she says, somewhat haltingtly, "He is... corrupted. Infected, maybe, is a better way to put it. Tainted by an energy that compells him to act in ways against his nature. I believe he's fighting against it. I believe you can help him do that. But I also believe if you try without knowledge of what you're attempting, the only result will be losing you to it as well."

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Which reaction is she going to get? Is he going to back away, this being a bridge too far even for a guy with someone else's fox on his shoulder? Is he going to lean in increased concern? Is he going to explain earnestly that he didn't think he heard her right, or that this must be a joke?

No.

No, he is going to let his brows twitch upward, eyes laughing silver, and give her that smile that hints on more laughter suppressed. "Inai-sama," he says. "Are you saying that you think I can help him with my depths of experience at breaking rules?"

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka stares at him for a moment, not in shock or anger or anything like that. Just like she's just heard something that has absolutely taken her off guard. And after a moment, she smiles, the corner of her lip twitching upwards. "Yes. Actually. I think that is what I am saying."

    She glances away for a moment, then says while still looking off to the side, "Just watch for the traps. You can trust who he wants to be, but not who he is. And you can trust Usagi Tsukino."

    She looks back at him, grey eyes somewhere between flint and steel. "She will help him. But you can help her help him. But not if you lose yourself." A pause. "And... try to keep Osaka-san safe. I don't think you will be able to keep her out of it. But that girl is too curious for her own good. She is likely to step off the pier without realizing she needs to hold her breath."

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
... she's telling him who he can trust, when she's acknowledged he doesn't trust her. Leave that looping maze alone for now. Instead-

Instead, he smiles again, aiming it out at the room this time. "The way things are going," he says, "who knows? She might turn out to be a mermaid."

She's a lot more likely to need artificial respiration.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "That," Kyouka says, much more grimly than perhaps could have been anticipated, "is what I'm afraid of."

    A moment more hesitation. Then she turns away. "Just.. don't let your guard down. Watch for the pitfalls. And if you need help, call me. I mean it."

    With her back still to him, she says more quietly, "I have a lot of debt to repay." Then she's walking away, back towards the other students, calling out in a jovial tone, "Very good, Aoi-san, but you need to work on the wrist movement more!" As if this conversation had never happened.