1679/Catboy On A Hot-Tin Dilemma

Catboy On A Hot-Tin Dilemma
Date of Scene:	19 June 2024
Location:	Pikarigaoaka Ward
Synopsis:	Misunderstandings lead to Ikuto getting a little sage advice from the oddest place...
Cast of Characters:	Koji Silvia, Ikuto Tsukiyomi

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Koji Silvia has posed:
It's a nice clear evening for people to be out and about... which means it's also a decent night to be out on patrol.

Some people are going out for a bite to eat. Which could also involve holding hands, even kissing in some cases. They call these mysterious gatherings 'Dates', and usually, the youth of Tokyo are quite enthusiastic about having as many of these as they can while they can...

And then there's Koji Silvia, aka Hanzo.

Lack of a serious social life can sometimes leave him to put aside gaming, homework, and other projects on his plate to swing from building to building as a ninja-styled mahou, searching for the occasional bad thing or three to take care of out of the public eye.

Which is why he's currently on top of the Botanical Gardens, looking down over to where the Korma Chameleon, for reasons that may or may not be related to a friend... but either way... has him taking a quick break to slurp down some decent vending machine ramen, with a bottle of oolong tea balanced between his feet.

It is a school night, after all...

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
"I can't believe I'm doing this -again-. I said I wouldn't, but..." Ikuto was trying to make sense of this. Yoru looked up at him, "But you're worried because you know who that was, right?" The catboy nodded. "It was him, I'm sure of it."

Ikuto was out for a walk, finally able to relax for a moment after having gotten his violin back from Easter. The case was currently slung around his back as he watched through a pair of souvenir binoculars he'd quickly bought at the Botanical Gardens. "...Yeah, that's definitely him. That's the "disguise" he's used out in public a few times. Chiyo-chan, what are you getting yourself into with this guy...?"

Ikuto hadn't planned on stalking Chiyo again, but seeing her, and then noticing the guy she was with had set off an alarm in his head. He recognized him. This wasn't just a guy...this was Phantom, one of the most dangerous guys he'd met. And he was on a date with the person whose heart the catboy had broken not all that long ago. "Damnit. Why him, of all people? I can't just go over there and try to warn her. That would just...she wouldn't believe me, and even if she did I'm pretty sure even the two of us can't beat him."

Koji Silvia has posed:
There's the glint of binoculars out of the corner of his eye that signals to Hanzo that something is amiss up here, and so the mostly empty ramen cup is put away in Storage with the tea for later as he intones softly to his Device, "Stealth Mode."

    << PHANTOM - STEALTH. >>

As he vanishes from view, and throws the rope-kunai out to get purchase on a lower building and pull himself in and down, he swings around to one side to find where Ikuto has settled himself for another night of Chiyo-watch.

The frown can almost be felt as much as seen when he drops the invisibility from around himself, and says, "This is the second time I've seen you around her. Maybe my last warning was too nice."

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Caught. Of course he'd been caught. He was far enough away that neither Chiyo or her date would have any real chance of spotting him, but he'd forgotten about Hanzo. "You're that ninja. Hanzo. Do we really have to fight over this? Now, of all times?" Ikuto was already putting his hand over the key on its chain around his neck, though, and Black Lynx was out to play.

My Heart, Unlock!

Koji Silvia has posed:
"You did this to yourself. Stalking girls on a nice evening... when you could be doing ANYTHING ELSE!"

There's no fancy magic used by the Device Mage this time, and instead, Hanzo goes for a rushing physical attack! A few fast steps in towards Black Lynx, and he throws a kick towards the other boy's head!

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
"What- Gah!" The catboy was really expecting pretty much anything but a kick to the head, and he stumbles backwards into some bushes. "Can't let him take the initiative here...!" Ikuto thinks to himself as he charges out of the bushes, leaping at Hanzo in a rather cat-like manner and swiping with his claw. He was slow, though. His mind wasn't here, in this fight. It was down the street at a date between someone who deserved happiness, and someone who he only knew as a destroyer of such things.

Koji Silvia has posed:
Just because you've been doing this for a little over a year, doesn't mean someone doesn't always get a little over on you. And when that lunging swipe with the claw comes, Hanzo sidesteps, but comes up short and part of his scarf gets hit, along with one slash on his cheek!

However, it does let him use some of the enhancement that comes from being in henshin to twist away from the worst of it, and then duck to throw out the rope-kunai... and this time instead of him trying to strike for harm, he sends it out to try and bind up Black Lynx's legs.

"You're fast... but you're sloppy."

And he might accidentally be using the same tone his mother used with him during her own hand to hand combat training sessions with him...

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
"Whoa!"

*Thump!*

Ikuto turns to look as he feels his claw connect, and then meets the ground courtesy of a rope-kunai. This time he thinks quickly, and slashes at the rope with his claw. The catboy is on his feet a moment later, glaring at Hanzo. "I don't want to hurt you, but I have to make sure she's okay! She's been hurt enough, and...and..."

Ikuto is barely paying attention to anything now, lost in his thoughts. "She's still my friend and deserves better than to get hurt again."

Koji Silvia has posed:
The rope-kunai immediately retracts when it's struck by reconnecting to the uncut portion and whizzing back to the spot under his forearm.

It's the words that cut harder than the slice on his cheek, which is already beginning to fade a little, just leaving some trickling down his cheek which vanishes under the mask without actually bleeding into it. Hanzo adjusts the scarf back over his back, and he crosses his arms.

"I'm not so easily distracted... but you are. Honestly, I could beat your butt up and down this alley and I think I'd win. You can't be out here without your head in the game, Ikuto. That's what your little friend called you, right?"

Holding his hand out, he says, "Boost Shield."

    << BOOST SHIELD. >>

He hops up onto the small glowing hexagonal piece, and says, "Lets go talk on the roof."

And that small thing flashes and he goes soaring up onto the top of the Botanical Garden once more!

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto watches Hanzo, sighs, and leaps up after him. Quietly landing nearby, he looks over to the ninja. "Yeah. Ikuto Tsukiyomi. I don't like explaining myself, but it seems necessary this time. I didn't come here expecting to sit on a roof spying on the girl whose life I made a mess of for a while. If stalking were the plan I'd have brought better equipment than this." He waves the cheap plastic souvenir binoculars around a bit in one hand.

"Before I say anything else though...I need to be sure that you won't say a word of this to Chiyo-chan. This is a lot more serious than you seem to have any idea about, and I don't mean that in a condescending manner."

Koji Silvia has posed:
The pose is picture-perfect from manga. He's standing slightly sideways, the night breeze blowing the scarf and his hair, head turned to look at you as he crosses his arms over his chest.

"So why don't you lay it out for me, then."

Hanzo's head tilts slightly to look past and towards Korma before he adds, "And... if I think it's worth not telling her, then I won't tell her. However?" He adds with a sigh, "It sounds more like you need to say it."

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto sits. Just right on the rooftop. He sits down. "Look..if her date was damn near anyone else, I would have just shrugged and been happy that Chiyo-chan was still dating and hadn't become a recluse after the first two disasters. But that guy..I've met him before. He's...like us, but. He's also not, because he serves, you know..."

The catboy nods his head in the general direction Obsidian Tower was in from the roof. "Them. And he's pretty good at his job, to the point that it's a bit scary. If he were the kind of guy I, or Chiyo-chan, or both of us together could handle I would have just gone over there and said something. But he's not. He's dangerous."

Koji Silvia has posed:
The move may seem uncharacteristic, but Hanzo moves over to sit down next to Ikuto, and then holds out his hand and says to nothing 'Storage', and suddenly a can of iced caramel coffee appears in his hand. He holds it out towards you to crack and drink as he then leans back and plants his hands on the rooftop, "Alright, so let me say two things to you..."

The slightly younger Ninja-dressed Mahou takes a breath, "First off... don't. Don't do that. Don't tell her or get in the way of it. I can tell you from personal experience... that sometimes if one of their side gets to meet and actually SEE one of our side... it can change how they feel. Sometimes enough that they might even decide there's enough to leave it behind. Sure, it doesn't always work, but, that's for them to decide and not you."

Koji brings out his oolong tea from earlier, and somehow gets sipped through the mask, "Second... I have to ask if you're mad at him? Or are you jealous of him. Seems to me that you want to be the one down there with her."

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto accepts the can and takes a drink after opening it. He listens, and then he quietly laughs. "No..nothing like that. I'm with someone now. Someone really great. I saved Yuki-chan, but she saved me too. Maybe in more ways than one."

"I regret how things went with Chiyo-chan, but not because I want to be down there with her. I regret it because she's a good person and didn't deserve that kind of heartbreak. You know, she even came to visit me in the hospital when I was stuck there after I saved Yuki-chan from that Sunbreaker girl. Even after everything that went down between us, she still tried to help me. My own -sister- didn't go to see me but she did. That's why I was sitting out in the dark with a pair of binoculars like a creep again; I owe her that much."

Ikuto shakes his head. "That's also why I don't want her to find out who her date really is. She doesn't deserve to get the rug pulled on her a third time. I mean...that'd be pretty bad to have her find out, right? 'Sure Chi-chan I know your first date got stolen from you by some bratty girl and then her brother ditched you at prom, but hey it could be worse! The guy you look pretty happy with right now could actually be an incredibly powerful villain who traps Cures inside mirrors!' Chiyo-chan is strong but everyone has a point where they break, right?"

Koji Silvia has posed:
"He does... what now?"

Another sip is taken by Hanzo, who then says, "Actually... no never mind... Okay. So... your reasoning is valid, however... all you can do is be ready to support her when she discovers it for herself, or someone who she doesn't think will just be trying to win her back is saying something to her to ruin her current happiness."

Almost flippantly, he adds, "And don't sell her short either. She's smart. She's also strong, and she has a lot of good friends to help. So maybe it's time you learned how to... maybe... BE a friend. Be happy if she had a good night, be consoling if she didn't enjoy herself... and be ready to kick some butt when she decides to drop the hammer."

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto thinks. Then thinks some more as he drinks. He looks to Hanzo as though he just unveiled a secret of the universe to him. "You know, you're right. I've been pretty dumb about this...again. Focused so much on trying to solve a problem without considering that it's not really a problem at all right now. Sure it might, and probably will become a problem later. But that's...kinda how it goes."

He nods and says, "If something does go down later...just make sure I find out, yeah? Here's my number, and I can usually be found at Radiant Heart, hanging around Yuki Hoshino's room in the girls' dorm. I have a dorm too over in the boys' dorm, but that's really just where I keep manga and other stuff. Yuki-chan's room is a much better bet for finding me." He smiles, offering a bit of paper with a rather poorly written phone number on it. "I keep running into magical types so it seemed like a good idea to keep a few of these on me."

Koji Silvia has posed:
Looking at the number, 'Hanzo' records it for Hanzo, and then he stands up and stretches a little, "I don't know who you know, so I won't give you any names... but I know most of the major figures on our side. If I contact you, I'll be letting them know as well, Ikuto."

The person before you seems to waver a bit, and it seems like while you were distracted with your thoughts, the illusionist Device Mage swapped himself with a fake Hanzo! But fake-Hanzo adds, "Meantime... You and your little friend should find someplace better to be tonight. Try Gullwing coffee. The beach view on the bay is nice this time of night. Later."

The image of Hanzo becomes little paper-shreds that get caught up in the wind and vanish, just like that... leaving Ikuto sitting there with a free drink, and his offer of the number still in his hand...