2285/Delinquent Moves

Delinquent Moves
Date of Scene:	01 February 2025
Location:	Sports Pavilion
Synopsis:	Hiniori is the bat.
Cast of Characters:	Emi Hoshino, Hinoiri Kirara

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Emi Hoshino has posed:
Sitting in the long skeletal shadows cast by the scaffolding supporting the bleachers was exactly one Emi Hoshino. Exactly ninety minutes ago, she had concluded a long running chase against a shadowy entity she'd taken to calling a 'Light-Hunger'. Fear of the dark is perhaps one of the most primal and common fears amongst humans, particularly children, and countless nightmares took some similar form as a result. This one thrived on consuming light, both the kind cast by sodium lights as well as the inner sort.

She had chased it away from a boy named Rinji's dream, but beholden to the child's nightmare as it was to give itself form and purpose, it was inevitable it would return and when it did Emi had been ready. This time, the chase played out across first the borderlands of Rinji's dreams before spilling out into the neon glow of dream-Tokyo's city streets for the second time. This time, it would not get away from her. Snagging it with her webbing to prevent its flight at long last, she had forced it into brutal melee, and while she stood victorious in the end, the throbbing and aching in her hands were exceeded only by the damage to her side. She had already been wounded there once by the creature's shadowed fists, and this time it had focused on exploiting that injury to weaken her. It had almost worked before she put an end to it.

Now Emi had worked her way to the bleachers for a celebratory cigarette, the acrid smoke clinging to her while her ribs burned with each breath. Fortunately, her fingerless gloves would conceal just how bruised her knuckles were for the moment. She's gotten fairly good at concealing her injuries. She'd have to, and it's just second nature by now.

She exhaled a slow, trembling plume of smoke into the evening air.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara had actually caught sight of Emi heading towards the rafters and... well...

She'd been confused, at first. Why would someone go to the rafters like that? It seemed... off. But ehh, she was sure it wasn't... Well. The first thing that came to her mind was the idea, the notion, the unmitigated gal that in tall those silly movies she'd seen, there were a lot of 'delinquients' who had smoked behind the bleachers. But pfft, okay, as much as she snapped at the girl, it wasn't like she...

Like she...

"Oh you have GOT to be bucking kidding me," Hinoiri said when she stepped into the shadows. and before Emi could escape, a hand was on her arm and Hinoiri had her. Uh oh.

"Okay. I'm trying to be nice these days and sometimes I even succeed. So I'm going to give you a chance to explain what the buck you're actually doing. Because it *looks* like you're filling your lungs with toxic, burning gases. But I'm sure you have a reasonable explanation that won't make me want to force feed you them. So go ahead, I'm listening."

You know, for a girl without actual magical powers, she certainly had a 'Magical girl about to throw down' energy about her that was quite strong.

Emi Hoshino has posed:
Oh no.

That's the first thought that crosses Emi's mind. It's not like she hadn't calculated the risks (but man she is apparently bad at math) and knew there was a halfway decent chance she could get spotted, but she had a feeling Hinoiri would be one of the very last people she'd want to spot her right now and, well, the worst case scenario has now arrived. Fighting monster? No problem. Somehow, that wasn't as worrisome as the firm grip on her arm held by an upset ... unicorn. That last bit is still taking some difficult to accept, which is funny in light of all the things she can accept.

"I'm smoking a cigarette," she says, striving to keep her tone loose, but its easy to see her voice is a little thinner than its usual self and that perhaps her breathing is not quite as deep as it ought to be.

"And besides, as an actual delinquent, smoking cigarettes behind the bleachers is *extremely* on brand."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara narrowed her eyes and then reached out with her other hand, flicking the cigarette onto the ground. "I see. I *see*. So you see yourself as a 'delinquent'. You think you're 'super tough' and 'above the rules' and 'too cool for school', right?"

Her eyes narrowed and she leaned in, before grinning wide. "So then... miss delinquent. Why don't you tell me about what other things 'delinquents' do? Since you're so much the expert on them?" she asked, her voice... just... a hint too... excited about this. And she stepped in, to stomp out the cigarette... but she didn't let the girl's arm go. Oh no, that'd be far, far too easy.

"And tell me, why, exactly, you want to be one? I feel I should know considering jsut how many loops I had to spend figuring out how to protect you." Sure, Emi wasn't the cause of those loops... but well... she could suffer for it all the same.

Emi Hoshino has posed:
"Vandalism? Smoking? Sleeping through class? School fights? I already do a lot of fighting, though, so maybe that's not the best idea. I'm super tough," says Emi, a whisper of a smile appearing upon her pale face. She did observe her cigarette being flicked away with some disappointment. It's probably going to be a while before she gets to enjoy one of those again with the way her lungs burn right the moment. That's no good. The way Hinoiri leans has her right in her face and it feels very ... worrisome. Yes. We'll go with that.

"Can you let go of my arm?" she asks.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara stared at her for a few moments, narrowing her eyes... but then, finally, let her hand go. She sighed and shook her head. "... There's nothing wrong with getting in the occasional fight or vandalising some old abandoned stuff to blow off some steam. I ge in fights all the time, heck, first few months I was here I got into so, so many fights. Shoved a lot of girls in lockers. But hey, they started it."

"... But that right there? That's going to get you killed. Smoking and stuff is dangerous. Incredibly dangerous in a way that other stuff just isn't. Especially when you're out here, fighting for your life and the lives of... others and..." She narrowed her eyes on the girl. And she could feel it. Hinoiri... suspected there was something up. She was looking the other girl over. Looking... for wounds... aches... pains... Uh oh.

Emi Hoshino has posed:
Oh no.

Emi has not known Hinoiri that long in the grand scheme of things, but she has certainly able to intuit a few things about her in that time: like the fact that she is presently in deeper trouble than she was mere moments ago from the cigarettes. She puts on her best, most winning smile up at her. It's the only immediate thing she can think to do, and honestly, it's definitely not about to help her.

"I'm okay," she assures the unicorn lurking behind those searching, evaluating eyes. A mournful look at her cigarette, though.

"In my defense," she offers, "it's the only occasional one." Not as occasional as she'd like anyone to believe, but you know, it's not exactly easy to find safe spaces to do it *and* get them in the first place.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara sighed and then... finally... she let Emi's arm go. "You ever ride a motorcycle?" she ever asked. "Come on. You and I need to have a talk. If you weren't a sparkle, admittedly, I might not care as much." She'd still care, but... "You know, back home? I did what you're doing sometimes. Acting out. Trying to get attention. Get notice. And before you say you're not, it's pretty obvious. Delinquent is something *other* people call you. You calling yourself that? That leaves me to suspect that you're trying to be that. And, frankly? I want to know why. Because most... well... 'I want to be the bad guy'... yeah. I walked down that path. Almost got myself and a lot of others killed."

Emi was free to not follow her. It just meant Hinoiri would come back and drag her out.

"I made a whole bunch of excuses. 'I'll get ultimate power, then make up for it.' 'Well, if the only way to do this is to be the bad guy, then fine, I'll be the bad guy.'"

"... I always made so many, many excuses. Cigarates aren't that different from dark energy. They screw your body up. And so me, in my eternal wisdom, decided to *eat* the stuff. Jam it into my body, work up my tolerance. Nearly got myself killed. She-ra stabbed me with a sword and almost killed me after a mishap. Fun times, that."

"... But I get the whole... self destructive behavior, thing. You're trying to play the delinquent role... but you... know they hide behind the bleachers because they don't *want* to be seen. If that's how you're intending to smoke? Whoever you're hoping 'notices', isn't going to. Well... unless you're hoping I will. In which case, congratulations."

Emi Hoshino has posed:
Emi Hoshino hesitates, but one look from Hinoiri that does in fact suggest that she will be dragged out is enough to get to her feet. Admittedly, it's painful, but she's able to keep a game face on at the moment. She'd bow deferentially but that seems like a bad idea at the moment.

"Mmhm. Okay. W-- stabbed? For real? Sounds painful and who the heck is She-Ra anyway? What kind of--"

"...someone thinks rather highly of themselves," she mutters under her breath. Grumble. GRUMBLE. Why is she so annoying?!

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara gave a small nod. "Oh, of course I do. I mean, I'm kind of a big deal, you know? And yeah, it hurt. The only reason I don't have a scar is because Yuxedo Mask ran in and saved my flank. She managed to not skewer any of my vital organs but, well... that's the fun of magic. And worst part? It was kind of my fault. I'd made dark energy cookies and hadn't taken enough care when I accidentally mixed them. If I'd been a bit more careful, I wouldn't have nearly died. but, well, that's the joys of magic for you."

"But, my point still stands... who are you hoping to see you lighting yourself on fire? Cause I've got to tell you. If you have to light yourself on fire to catch their attention... they do not care. And probably never will."

Emi Hoshino has posed:
"... I guess I should have figured you for the motorcycle type with the leather jacket and all," muses Emi, definitely focusing on that while she initially avoids a direct anser to Hiniori's queries. "But I though the age for that was sixteen? So are you flagrantly violating the law, Hinoiri?" she asks, innocently, a slightly pained grimace on her face for a moment during the walk. Before too long into it, she starts to falter a little, but is able to keep up. It's pretty clear she's wiped out, though.

"In my defense," she says for the second time at hat is likely Hinoiri's intense scrutiny, "I *did* win pretty handily."

"Dark... energy ... cookies. While I suspect you might be able to cook a mean batch of cookies, that's probably putting too much emphasis on the mean."

Sje stops a moment to let out a before starting forward again.

For a moment, she isn't sure what to say next to what Hinoiri's saying. Explaining anything is tantamount to letting someone in, and of all the things she's good at it, this is very much thing sje's not, and that withdrawal, that difficulty, is written all over her face for a moment.

"Lemme tell you a story," she finally says.

"The first time I met the Salarymen was back in Kyoto." Talking is getting a bit painful, but she pushes through anyway.

"They're fairly ubiquitous as nightmares go, you know? A testament to the endless office hours we work. I saw a group of those faceless jerks taking a very tired looking dreamer out to 'drink', only he was the beverage, right? They spend weeks in a victim's dreams, running them ragged, harvesting their ambition, their drive, their hope, and leaving nothing in its place but ashes and despair. Sure, burnout happens here and there, but the next time you see some office guy who's just staring at the window, completely burnt out and empty, it might just be their work. I've been keeping an eye on your dreams. To make sure they don't come back for you."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara shook her head. "Actually, I arrived in this world with the leather jacket. Not sure why, seemed kind of weird when I found otu what leather was. Wasn't really leather, though. And yeah. I got my license by lying about my age," Hinoiri said with a shrug. "I wasn't the only one, either. I followed all the rules, aside from the age thing and I was going to ride, either way. But I always follow proper procedures, make sure anyone with me has a helmet, all of that. I've never really been dead set on following the rules, anyway."

She stopped when she saw the other girl falter. She turned to look at her, crossing her arms. "Though, I drive a bit intensly, now isn't going to be a good time for that. Do you know why I ride a motorcycle, even if it's technically against the rules? Because I *like* to. I enjoy riding. It's fun. It reminds me of ome, in a weird way. Since like... you're leaning forward, nose to the ground. It's nice."

She listened to the story and then smiled. "And you're doing it for the wrong reason. So... why smoke? What about it do you enjoy? Other than because you're a delinquent?" She turned and veered away from the parking lot. Instead? She was heading towards... one of the gardens. One of the gardens with a bench for Emi to sit on.

"Thank you, for protecting me. I uhhhh... yeah. I've always been a lot ambitious. I even tried to walk in my mentor's shoes, as it were... frankly, it was probably a bit unreasonable. She literally raised the sun and the moon every day. I was just some filly abandoned in the woods. But... I've been there, burned out. It's rough. And it's going to happen to you, if you keep trying on this path. Why are you so desperate to avoid being helped?"

"... Are you that scared of being seen as weak? As not good enough? Because I'll tell you flat out. Asking for help doesn't make you either of those."

Emi Hoshino has posed:
"Cool. I wanna ride a motorcycle," says Emi, nonchalantly, veering to the bench to have hrself a seat. Instinctively, her hand goes to her right side for protection. Phew. She's sweating. That took a lot out of her. Probably not a great sign at the moment.

"I like being a delinquent," she tells her with a bit of a smile, but then sort of stares at her at the rest of it. A shrug.

"While I do need to get better, and stronger for that matter, it's not like I'm not asking for help." Except right in this moment, she's not. "Like, when I tried to bring you to the dream world. If I want help, I have to be able to do that and *not* fall into the middle of a group of salarymen because I messed it up. And any of this *can* go wrong at a moments notice and I might not make it out. So I smoke. Dreamworld's dangerous. I obviously don't need to tell you that since you saw it yourself. It's also *unbelievably* beautiful, Hinoiri. All shimmering skies and neon-painted skyscrapers, and its new each night, born again by the dreams that are sloughed off as new ones struggle to be born -- always a cool turn of phrase, that."

Her face screws up in discomfort for a moment.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara sat next to her, on the side that was hurt. But didn't make it worse... yet. Instead, she smiled. "Yeah. Motorcycles are pretty fun. Maybe I'll take you sometime. AFTER you heal up."

She then nodded, putting an arm on the back of the bench as she listened. Slowly, a grin grew on her face. "It sounds beautiful... and I can't blame you for wanting to go back there and see more of it. But, there's something important you're forgetting. You can be a delinquent and still not reckless, or hurting yourself. I... do get that."

"... When you see something so beautiful... and you think to yourself 'No, I can't... just have this. I have to earn it.' And you end up getting more and more hurt, see more and more amazing things. And you start to think... the only way to be good enough for this, to deserve this... is if I just keep pushing myself harder. Just keep getting more hurt."

"... But that's... not how it is. The pain and the good don't have to be intertwined. There's a lot of people here who'd help you... and I'm one of them."

"The key difference is? The others are really nice. Me? I'm not so nice. I don't have the sparkle and whatnot in me. So if I have to? I'll pin you down and make you accept help. And trust me, as someone who has had bruised ribs and gotten stepped on by a hydra? You don't want to have self care *forced* on you in your state. Much easier to just accept it."

Emi Hoshino has posed:
"Aw, the cute little apparent world ending terror says she's not nice and yet wants to help me. Sounds pretty nice to *me*." remarks Emi, a sly smile appearing on her face as she stares off into the distance.

"They're not broke, they're just brusied."

They're totally broken or at least fractured.

"I heal a little faster than most. A little rest, tape, and I'm sure I'll be fine." That's not how it works, Emi. That's not how any of it works.

She lets out a pained sigh. "All right."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
"Well, of course I sound nice to you. You didn't know me when I was mean. Probably for the best, to be honest. I'd likely be..." she trailed off. Blinked. Then coughed into her hand. "Okay, you know what? Let's just... leave that... there. You don't remember those loops anyway and I'm certainly not going to make you relive them. Lets get you to the nurse's office." She got to her feet and held out her hand.

"And... I know you heal faster than normal people. I heal faster than normal people and I'm not even magic here. But that doesn't mean you hurt less. Besides, you know... I kind of care about you. Believe it or not, you're my friend. And I don't want my friends to get hurt. It sucks. And you really don't strike me as the 'listens to advice' kind of person. What's the saying? Carrot and the bat? I'm the bat. I'll introduce you to the carrot later. Her name's Madoka, she's a sweetie and knows a lot of first aid."

Emi Hoshino has posed:
"We're friiiiiiends?" says Emi, elongating the word with faux-surprise largely as a gesture to force Hinoiri to confirm it a second time, or just glare at her. One of those two will make gher laugh and wince immediately because laughing with injured ribs is not the best idea. At least she didn't sneeze again.

And then, a moment later...

"I guess you're pretty cool," she concurs, "Maybe not as cool as I am but ... all right. I think I'm good to move again. Let's go. Ow." She says, keeping her hand to her ribs. At least, she thinks, Hinoiri can't get in the way of her dreaming!

...oh no. She's probably going to think of that too.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
"We better be, my leg was broken half a dozen times trying to save your stupid life from that librarian monster," Hinoiri said in a flat tone. "I doubt I'd do that for jsut anyone." Pause. "Okay, I guess I would, but like. I didn't. I did it for you. And yeah, yeah, you're the coolest. Nothing quite as cool as some idiot who can't take care of themselves and yet still insists they try to protect others."

"You know, back home? We had a story about a dream weaver. An alicorn sovereign who'd frit about, from dream to dream, maing the night sky and all of that. However, she ended up turning into a mosnter at the end. So try not to do that."

Hinoiri would walk slowly, offering a hand if the other girl wanted it, to help lighten her burden. "... Because trust me. The more hurt you get, the more people are going to try and protect you. And the more hurt they'll get trying to save you."

Emi Hoshino has posed:
Emi Hoshino stares at her for a moment. Not *quite* the response she as hoping for, but there's a whispered 'Sorry'. She truly can't comprehend something like that for a moment and eyes go downcast.

She does accept the hand, however, after a halting moment. Just to help lighten her burden, you see. The pain makes her eyes water, even if she's clearly going to deny it. Even though she is accepting the help, it's not hard to notice the tension that radiates from her as she does. It's difficult for her. Magical girl bad about accepting help? No, that never happens.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara smiled and... "I need you to get better, Emi. After all, I can't use magic right now. What am I going to do if those things attack me in my dreams? I don't know if you noticed, I wasn't the most effective against them. If they come after me again, who's going to protect me?"

"So, if you think about it, it's entirely in my own best interest that you take care of yourself. And that you don't try to give yourself lung disease with smoking. Because then wha am I supposed to do? Ask Sailor Moon to become the girl in my dreams? She'd laugh me out of the room."

Emi Hoshino has posed:
Emi Hoshino makes a face at her. That means the guilt trip is working!

"I won't get lung disease," she mumbles. "But there are a lot of things out there. It's not like I meant to get hurt, you know." She mumbles, glancing down towards the ground. "I'm *trying* to figure out how to get help, though. Mamoru made it into the dreamscape, but just barely, but nobody else has yet and when I tried to drag you into it, well... we saw what happened there. And it's not like I can bring dreams together. I tried that onec, and it went ... poorly." Why is this unicorn so infuriating?! She huffs with annoyance.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
She could ask a dozen different people in RHA that question and get a dozen different answers. The fact was, Hinoiri was just... obnoxious to everyone.

"Oh, that's good!" Hinoiri said quickly. "I mean, not that you haven't had success with it, yet. But that you're trying. I'm sure you'll get it. But, until you do? Let people help you outside the dream."

"It's not going to ruin your street cred letting the sparkles like... heal you back up. Mamoru loves doing it, you'll make his day. You can even make up some stories, if you like." Pause. "Don't ask him about the jacket, though. It's a tale of grave robbing gone wrong."

... She didn't look like she was joking.

Emi Hoshino has posed:
"Yeah, he insisted on healing me after the library but I wasn't ready to let them until I had a better sense of them... and so I could see if it worked in dreams too -- my hands were all ripped up from the fight that I had to finish before I could check Gin out." How much fighting does this girl do?! "Fortunately, they're not ... usually as strong as the thing you also have apparently seen and I am really sorry you had to go through that for my sake. It's ... inappropriate. I'd give you a formal apology I think I'd fall over if I tried to bow at the moment." She looks down at her other hand.

"Funny, though. I thought I'd beat that one down too, but it came back the next night too, just like Gin's did a few hours later. Worries me a bit."

So that's what was up with her hands.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri was pretty relaxed, all things considered, as they walked towards the nurse's office. That was until Emi mentioned that the dreams came BACK.

"Wait, it came back? The librarian? But I utterly wrecked..." Pause. "Oh. On another... night. If they're coming back? That's not good. They mgiht require a bit mroe force. Especially sicne I don't know any magical girls other than you who can go into dreams to deal with them. It's one thing for you to ask someone to help when they come into the real world, but if you're in dreams, fightin them alone? That's... a lot rougher... maybe we should try you pulling me into dreams again. Once you're healed up."

Emi Hoshino has posed:
"So," explains Emi taking a reassuring tone for Hinoiri, "So," he repeats, trying to find the words.

"What happened is, I had soothed Gin. Not all nightmares are defeated physically. Sometimes, I just nee to give a dreamer a little nudge. In these two cases, I had thought I had done enough, and in fact, the nightmares had dissipates. The next night, I felt, eh, *something*, andn went to check one out, and it turned out his nightmares were back, and ten times worse and this time it wasn't going down without a fight. That's pretty unusual! Usually when I break something up, the energy doesn't accumulate again that fast, if at all."

She looks down at her hands. "So I was fighting this big bad monster and it sent me sliding back. I as gonna crash out hard if I didn't stop myself, and given the direction I was doing, my hands were the best thing I had available to me, not enough room to use the webs to cushion the impact. So... fucked up hands. I finished it off, though, and then I felt something wrong. Like, Gin was in trouble too, like you saw, so I went to her dream... except her dream was ... gone. There was just this..." She lets sout a breath, at a loss for how to explain what she saw for a moment.

"...black hole, I guess, that was pulling her dream into it and I just kind of knew her nightmare had broken through to *here*. Cue me running to the library with a bat."

An awkward smile flits across her face.

"They're mostly not as strong as all that. Mostly." The hand in Hinoiri's grasp twitches, fingers flexing a moment in remembered burning pain.

"So, when KenKen eats a nightmare, what she's really doing is consuming the energy that makes up the monster and then releasing it to reform into something not so twisted up with darkness." She glances over at her.

"So... that's the story," she admits. It's not something she'd really fully disclosed before.