1525/Haven't We Been Here Before

Haven't We Been Here Before
Date of Scene:	11 May 2024
Location:	Juuban Ward
Synopsis:	Sunbreaker confronts Ginga Kingu about what happened to Double Trouble. An uneasy understanding is reached.
Cast of Characters:	Sugata Shindo, Hinoiri Kirara

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Sugata Shindo has posed:
This time, Sugata decides to be proactive - as soon as the fight starts, he messages Takuto and Wako, letting them know where he is and what he's doing and that yes, he's going to avoid King's Pillar, don't complain at him.

    Sugata texts: I'm fighting in Juuban. It's fine. I won't use King's Pillar this time; too many small businesses.
    Sugata texts: Picture of Monkey Youma. It's got a microphone with a long chord, and a pair of sunglasses.

The fight isn't one that requires King's Pillar, anyway - the youma is on it's own, mostly causing havoc by training to drain energy with it's horrible musical performances. A sword fight ensues, Ginga Kingu and Star Swordo Diamant vs Monkey with Microphone.

Ginga Kingu wins. The crowd watching claps, muttering about cool special effects and wondering where the cameras are, for this performance to be recorded, because obviously it's a performance, why did those guys get so spooked and faint, anyay?

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara had seen the youma and hadn't thought much of it. While it wasn't one of hers, it likely just meant one of her coworkers were doing that energy drain thing they all did now and again (and again and...)

However, when she saw who responded to it? Wellll... that caught her attention. No. NO. Don't engage. If you engage, it'll only go poorly. Your mood is still sour. She began to do the approved, polite thing. The responsible thing.

Then she turned back around a minute later and came stomping back, her eyes narrowed, teeth gritted. She henshined in a nearby alleyway and...

"HEY! REGICIDE! We need to talk!" she yelled.

Now, while 'regicide' normally meant when killing a royal, it technically meant 'king' and 'killer', so it could be used to describe a king who killed. The other word that might fit was... plebicide and there was NO way she'd call Double Trouble a plebian. Buck that.

Besides, Double Trouble was her future consort and, as a consort to a sovereign, that put them ABOVE kings. Above most emperors, even. So buck him.

She, however, was covered in flames, and looked... pissed. But she didn't blast him. So that was... good?

Sugata Shindo has posed:
After the battle, his phone buzzes - an update from the groupchat. Waving off the civilians, Sugata pulls the phone back out to respond, shaking his head with amusement at Takuto's response.

    Takuto texts: Okay! Thank you.
    Takuto texts: LMAO nice youma
    Sugata texts: It's power was bad singing. Do you think they're running out of ideas?

He was about to drop henshin, when there was a shout -

He frowns at the approaching girl, covered in flames, furious, and he doesn't look afraid, doesn't look nervous, doesn't look... bothered, in the slightest.

"Are you actually Sunbreaker, this time?" Is all he says.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara looked up at him before she flicked out her hand. A small blast of fire traveled past his head. "Yes, I am. Now, I know it's difficult for someone like you, who can't manage to look past what is right in front of their face, but a good guess is if I'm using fire, it's me. If I'm not? Likely not."

"We need to have a chat about what you did to my friend. You know, the one you nearly killed. I hope I'm not interupting anything... except I really don't *care* if I am." She stopped in front of him, eyes narrowed and the flames across her body only growing more wild and furious.

Sugata Shindo has posed:
"The youma's dead, so you're not interrupting," he says calmly. He doesn't even flinch at the fire that flies past his head. "Is it common knowledge that there's a shapeshifter afoot who likes to take your form? If so, I missed the memo, and I'll discuss it with my... colleagues, that they should pass that along. If not, I'll admit I'm not sure how I was meant to know the fire-covered girl with your face, voice, and attire... wasn't you."

He's not apologiizng. He's not flinching, either, and he's not insulting Double Trouble - just pointing out the problem here, in a way that anyone can understand. Of course, it's not the problem that she sees.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara had the smallest lil bit of an eye twitch. "As a matter of fact, yes, their being shapeshifters is quite common. I know you lot have one as well, who apparently likes to turn into me. Obnoxious, that. However, that's not entirely the issue at play here." Oh, yes, it was. "Apparently you seem to not have any idea how power works, in many cases. So, I'm going to give you a little crash course. Excessive force? Can be incredibly dangerous to most creatures. Ma-gic, that's the thing that I've mastered and you, well, passed a rudimentory course I assume, is what allows people to survive such things. However, it can fluctuate. Are you with me so far?" She didn't care if he was.

"It can fluctuate all the time, depending on the day, how much energy a person has absorbed, things like that. What this means, and this is the difficult part, so please let me know if you need me to slow down." Still didn't care.

"What that means is you should try to be careful, measure people. To make sure they can take your attacks and not die. Because while I can take anything you can throw at me any day of the weak and shrug it off? Not all of us can. And if you *ever* do something like that to any of my colleagues again it won't *ever* happen again because your *existence* will end *with it*. Are we CLEAR?" she asked, her body a raging inferno to put even Disney's Hade's to shame.

Sugata Shindo has posed:
Her body is putting out a raging inferno, and Sugata looks her in the eye, and says, "The attack was meant for you. It was calibrated, for you. For what you, very specifically, can handle, and the youma that Sunbreaker-who-isn't, summoned. As you have so astutely pointed out, you are powerful. You are dangerous. You, Sunbreaker, are not to be underestimated. And thus when Sunbreaker-who-isn't appeared in your form, with your flames, to state that they were only getting started, and further chose to create a second youma in the midst of a theme park filled with children - who they had stood among, just a moment before, and were thus highly aware of, I chose to not to underestimate what you, Sunbreaker, can do."

Her fury is significant. He's aware he may be struck for this, or worse, aware that the stinging wound to his hip, healing now but still sore, may be joined by another, worse, wound. But he's not going to pretend, for the sake of her ego and rage, that she is the only one capable of calculating force.

"You're angry because your colleague wasn't able to withstand an attack meant for you. I can understand that. But I am not going to understimate you. I am not going to risk innocent lives, by tossing the equivalent of a water balloon on the off-chance that the person who claims to be you, isn't you."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara felt a moment of rage flowing through her. Then... "You say there were children around," she said, her voice taut as a pulled wire. "But you should know I would never actually endanger children. I would not risk them getting hurt. Don't you dare give me that bullshit about how you couldn't tell. How you didn't know. That you were trying to protect people. You sparkles have tried to kill me in the past, ambushing me and all of that bullshit. I'm not stupid, kid."

"I'm angry because you almost took something that can *never* be replaced. If you had, I would have burned your world to the ground and it's taking every bit of restraint I have now to not tear you to pieces and force them down your throat."

She paused and then sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. Another breath. "If this ever happens again? I will kill you. I don't care if it goes against the rules. If you escalate to that level? I'll win. This goes to all of you sparkles... If you take something, someone, like that from me? There's no more holding back. If you lot can't control yourselves, I will for you. And this little cold war that's going on, sans casaulties? That'll end. Understand?"

Sugata Shindo has posed:
And he frowns at her, cocking his head, because - "Stupid, not. Misinformed, clearly. I suppose when all of your forces are organized under one grand banner, with one payroll, it's easy to assume those opposing you are the same. We're not united under one banner. I don't know you, save by your power. I don't know that you wouldn't endanger children and I don't know who tried to kill you in the past, save that it can't have been Otome or Bishounen, they're against that sort of thing."

He considers her for a moment, and this new understanding. It could be a mistake, to reveal that, but he doesn't need some other hotheaded fool at Obsidian assuming that everyone who kills a youma is bosom buddies with everyone else who kills youma. They aren't organized, those who stand in opposition to Obsidian, and he would have thought that was obvious... but maybe they're just a little stupid. Sugata can also understand why someone tried to kill her. Ambushing was a good strategy, though clearly it hadn't worked. He decides to keep both of these observations to himnself.

And he looks at her, calmly taking her measure.

"I always assumed as much," he says bluntly, of her threat and willingness to kill. "I don't know what rules you're talking about, either. I came to Tokyo because your people tried to kill the people I love, so I intimately understand the position that you're in, realizing that someone you love was almost killed. Your La Crima, your Riventon, both tried to destroy what I love. The cold war you mention so casually may have only existed on one side. I understand the score, Sunbreaker: I will not kill yours, if you do not kill mine."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara opened her mouth, then paused. And blinked. Then...

"You've got to be kidding me. Obsidian is run by idiots and even they have some kind of like.... information network setup. Are you sparkels so incompetent that you can't even manage that? I swear, do I have to do everything? Wait. No. You have..." She trailed off.

They have Usagi. Suddenly the resistance to paperwork makes sense.

She then sighed. This guy... this... this mother bucker...

However... she then cocked an eye. "Riventon never tried to kill anyone," she said matter of factly. "I'm sure you misunderstood whatever he did, but he didn't try to kill anyone." Pause. "La Crima, maybe. She's nuts. She kidnapped me once and she's psycho. But Riventon? No. But if you did that to him, he'd be on the list. And... good that we have an understanding. Be more careful. Now, I need to go take care of my friend and make sure they're comfortable. I bucking swear..."

Pause. "And don't interrupt our dance fight next time! That is INCREDIBLY rude!" Yes, it was petty to bitch about that BUT SHE WAS THE QUEEN OF PETTY! As she stormed off.

Sugata Shindo has posed:
Sugata considers pointing out that Obsidian is actually a multinational corporation with billions of dollars of revenue, with millions more invested in infrastructure, support technologies, and procedural drafting, while their opposing side is composed near entirely of teenagers, the majority of whom have had power for two years or less -

And shrugs instead. Let her have her moment. It's not like he doesn't lament the lack of organization himself.

As for Riventon being on her protection list? He says nothing. As long as Riventon is coming for Wako and Takuto, Sugata will strive to eliminate the threat. The information about La Crima, however, and the fact that she isn't one of those protected? Is a wild card to her own kind? Useful.

"He said the same thing. Next time, I'll let the two of you finish up." And as she walks away, there's no protest.