108/A Bitter and Sweet Cake

A Bitter and Sweet Cake
Date of Scene:	29 June 2015
Location:	Mitakihara/Pikarigaoka - King Penguin Park
Synopsis:	Hannah takes a tumble while jogging! It's Nagisa Momoe to the rescue!
Cast of Characters:	Hannah Sharpe, Nagisa Momoe

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Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Penguin Park! Home to both a convenient location for Hannah, as well as one of the better jogging tracks in the local area. Thus it is, that after all of her recent stresses, she's finally found time to get back to her usual post-school routine.

The big, fluffy husky Boris is with her, guiding her along as the tall Infinity student runs along in shorts and a tank-top, the picture of athletic grace. Just another day, really, and her steps are filled with a little more vigor than usual.

Right up until a poorly placed and moved bit of debris catches her foot, Boris having utterly failed to notice! Hannah goes tumbling a bit with a cry of surprise! Oomph! Right next to a few benches. Dazed jogging girls!

Nagisa Momoe has posed:
    Sitting on one of the park benches is a short white haired elementary aged girl, looking at but not really reading a book in her lap. She'd been out of school for the past few weeks for important family reasons, but she would be starting back up tomorrow so as not to fall much further behind where she already was.

    Luckily for Nagisa she's a good student to start with or she may have needed to hire a tutor to catch back up, but a bit of crash course reading should be enough. Only... only it was rather hard to focus on things like math and history when everything was so sad...

    She's dragged out of her thoughts by the sound of a shout and a crash, the girl jumping up suddenly, protectively cradling her textbook. "S-stay away, Ducky-san!" She shouts, only to realize no billed terrors are after her. It doesn't take long after she starts paying attention for her to notice Hannah, and she quickly goes over to her side, "Are you okay, Neesan?"

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
There's a voice beside her, one she doesn't recognize. Hannah groans a little, and Boris gently paw-paws her face. Lick! A little groan, and she slowly sits up.

"...Wh...what just..?" Mumble. A scraped knee and her fading dizziness subside, the bag she's had with her clatters a bit. It's half-open. Seems like a few water bottles, a phone, and a small first aid kit!

"Ow...bloody he..." Thankfully, her near-curse is in english, and she also cuts herself off when she gets a good idea of the age of that voice.

"Oh! Hello, I, apologies! I hope I did not bowl you over or anything. Idiots need to keep the running track clean!" She laments, her hands patting the ground for that bag that's just out of reach.

"I will be okay, looks like just a scrape...can you hand me my bag, Miss?" Right, manners!

"Hannah Sharpe! Nice to meet you. This big fuzzy lug is Boris."

Boris trots forward, and will try to lick Nagisa's cheek!

"You sound pretty young. Out here enjoying the sun with the family?" She offers, good naturedly, the obvious foreigner warm, if a little tense from the fall.

Nagisa Momoe has posed:
    Luckily though Nagisa does know some basic English words none of them are cursing, and so other than pegging herself as a foreigner her near-swear secret is safe! The small girl notices the patting towards the bag but doesn't realize it's a search, at least not until it's asked for.

    She reaches down and grabs the bag before placing it in Hannah's hand, getting a cheekfull of doggy kisses in the process, giving off a short squeal that turns into giggles. "Hi Borris!" she chimes, trying to give the large friendly dog a hug and a pat on the head before standing back up and addressing his owner.

    "Nagisa Momoe; it's a pleasure to meet you Sharpe-san," she offers while giving the foreigner a proper bow, slightly flubbing her name. After a short pause she gives a small shake of her head, "I'm not with my family, no. I'm studying. Well... trying to study."

    Though she tries to keep her voice turns a bit dull and she casts her eyes downward- only to notice the skinned knee. "Oh no, you're hurt!" She takes a couple steps closer to get a better look and asks, "Do you want me to help you? My mom taught me how to put bandaids on good!" It doesn't occur to her that asking someone twice her age about that could come off as condescending.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Boris accepts hugs and pets happily, wagging his tail and soon sitting down near the pair. Seems that Nagisa has one friend already of the duo! Woof!

Then she's handed the bag, and slinging it over one shoulder, out comes the medkit. She pauses, however, at the little girl's words.

"...Momoe?" She repeats, a little surprised, and a little sadness lurking in her eyes. She'd heard, of course, of her favorite Japanese teacher passing away. The woman had helped a struggling foreigner out quite a bit. The last name has her pause.

Hannah looks like she's going to say something, but thinks better of it.

She'll save that one for later. "What a pain, studying, huh? Well, you will get used to it. Nngh...come on." She waves the girl over to a bench, and she sits down. Medkit open, she's just about to start, when Nagisa offers her own services. Some might be insulted.

Hannah is too darn nice. And Nagisa offering is just /cute/.

"Sure. I am terrible with gauze anyway. Here you go." The kit is offered over. Like a lot of things, it's nice and neatly organized. Plenty of antisceptic spray and bandages!

"Thank you, Momoe-san. You seem like a really nice girl. What school do you go to?" She points to herself.

"Infinity! President of the Kickboxing Club, in fact~." Griiiin!

Nagisa Momoe has posed:
    Boris is given plenty more attention once the bag is handed over, Nagisa continuing to pat his head. Her own head gives a little nod as her name is repeated back to her and she follows to the bench when guided, sitting down near Hannah while commenting, "It's a lot harder when you're behind than when you're ahead," regarding studying.

    When the medkit is given to her she smiles happily to Hannah, glad to be able to help- only to open it up and stare into it with a slightly stricken expression on her face. There is way more than just bandaids in there! "G-gauze... right." she says, the nervousness leaking through and probably not instilling much confidence and perhaps testing the older girl's kindness against her sense of self preservation.

    Luckily she's pretty smart, so she goes for the antiseptic spray first, "This might sting a bit..!" giving a couple of good spritzes. As she puts it away she looks up, "You go to Infinity? Me too! I'm in second grade Elementary." She gives a smile to that wide grin, "Maybe some time I'll cheer for you in the Cheerleading Club. I'm also in the Cooking Club." Then something else occurs to her as she's reaching for that aforementioned gauze, "You might know my mom she-"

    An abrupt pause, "was a Language teacher..." 'Was', not is; it's amazing how a single word and the change of tense can change things.

    She's still for another moment longer, before putting the gauze away, "There aren't any deep cuts so I think a simple bandage should be fine."

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Hannah catches the nervousness, and chuckles. "Sorry, I try to be prepared. My, ah...mentor taught me that. Besides, better to learn early abou these kinds of things, right? Never know when you might end up saving somebody with something as simple as gauze and a phone call." From the sounds of things, she's speaking from experience.

No, as it all clicks, Hannah seemingly redoubles her efforts for the girl. If all else fails, she can have Ao rebandage it later.

Wince! That indeed does sting. Thankfully, she's taken worse.

"Oh-hoh! Caught one of the smart ones today, have I? Good job getting in. Those tests were /horrible/, am I right?" She laughs, easygoing and breezy like the american stereotype. The woman might be playing it up a little here.

Then Hannah giggles. "You, my little friend, are welcome whenever you want. We will call it a cross-grade athletic meet! The teachers will eat that one up hook-line-and-sinker." Cue more english at the end, falling into old habits.

The pause. The change of words. Hannah gives a low sigh.

"Yeah. Best to do the bandage." An awkward pause. Then, she offers a weak smile.

"I admit, I was kinda hoping I was wrong. Alright, um...jeez, I am bad at this kind of thing..." Another breath, and she looks away, gathering her thoughts.

"Okay. So, I am not going to dredge up anything horrible by giving you trite words, Nagisa-san." She starts off, gently. Ignoring her knee, she pats the seat next to her. Clearly she's looking to play the Nee-san right now.

"They will not help. But I want you to know, that your mom has helped a lot of people, teaching the way she did. When I first came here I hardly knew any Japanese, nevermind the braille version. So they put me in her class: I had the grades, and the scholarship, but Japanese is a hard language. Your Mother poured out her soul so I could...well, make it in Infinity. Whenever I had a question, she was a call away. Sent me files and extra work so I could learn. Always willing to tutor..." There's a hand being offered for Nagisa to squeeze if she needs it. Hannah smiles.

"She has touched a lot of lives. So stay strong, okay? You have a legacy to live up to. Do something /great/ for other people. I think that would make her proud of you."

Then, she coughs.

"Bleh, sorry, I get weird like that sometimes." She pulls out a card with her number and name on it.

"If you, or your Father need anything, just let me know. Even if you just need to talk. I owe your Mother. And you, for being so nice to a silly blind girl."

Nagisa Momoe has posed:
    "Sorry!" comes the sympathetic response to the wincing, the girl apologizing even if that bit of pain can't be helped. Much better than a chance at any icky infections!

    The mention of the tests has her putting on a reflective expression, "I didn't think they were too bad, but I only had to take kindergarten level exams and was given a lot of help by my parents." Having a high school teacher mother and a university teacher for a father, calling Nagisa's home life 'academic' would be pretty accurate. The mention of coming to Hannah's club briefly startles her, however, "Y-you mean to cheer you on, right?! I'm so small- I wouldn't want to get kicked by someone as big as you!"

    Throughout talking she's been doing her best to fix up Hannah's knee, looking through the supplied bandages and eventually finding a nice flexible cloth one. With a look of intense concentration and a, "Mmmmm..." she removes the wrapper and covers up the wound without touching the bandages pad with her fingers or anything else. "There! ...oh!" That second sound has the girl reaching down to try and help the older girl bend her knee to make sure it's not just going to fall off when she walks, but it seems like it's going to hold! Or at least it probably will until she gets home.

    With that done she scoots a little closer, having made sure to finish that important job first, and listens to what Hannah has to say about her mother. She gets caught up in the story, nodding and doing her best to keep a smile on her face, though her eyes start to get a bit watery, and she takes and squeezes onto Hannah's hand when it's offered to her. When braille is mentioned she blinks a couple of times, only just realizing the other girl is blind. "She was a good teacher. I know because she taught me a lot! I'm glad she was able to help you so much when you needed it, Sharpe-san."

    Nagisa manages to get that out with only a little squeakiness in her voice, nodding again when she's told to stay strong- though that's about as far as she actually does stay 'strong', "Mom was a really amazing. I... I don't know if I can be as wonderful as was. I- I really miss her!"

    Right about then is when the squeezing hand is released, and instead Nagisa latches onto her entire arm instead, momentarily burying and hiding her face in the taller girl's shoulder while crying. She doesn't ignore what Hannah says after that, nodding a bit as she offers to help. After a minute she calms down, "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry! I- I shouldn't do that in public, or with people I don't know." She reaches up to wipe her eyes off, needing to do so repeatedly, and gives a little shake of her head, "You don't owe my family anything, though. Mom loved teaching and if she helped you I think she would be happy just knowing you're doing well."

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Both hands go up, as she realizes her own words. Hannah laughs a little. "Wha..no, no! Hey, I love the sport, but that is what we call 'out of your weight class'. So, yes, I mean to cheer. Or just watch!" She encourages! Training for future kickboxing stars!

Bandages! Hannah finds herself actually decently wrapped up on her scuffed knee. The girl looks a little impressed here.

"Ow." Bend bend bend! Her leg works, and it's on there well! A little red, but that's to be expected.

"Hey, good job Nagisa-san. You sure you are not going to be an EMT or something?" She teases a little.

"Thanks. You really are a good kid."

Boris woofs in agreement! Soon, he's right beside Nagisa, a fluffy thing to pet too if she so desires. What an oddly intelligent dog.

She can't see the watery eyes, but the tone gets to her, as does the latching on. She hardly moves away, a gentle smile plastered on her face for Nagisa's benefit.

"The best. Bloody best teacher outside my mentor that I have ever had." Comes Hannah sincerely.

She's silent a moment, and nods. "Yeah. Not going to lie, but a friend of mine lost her Mom too. It is going to take a while for you to come to grips. There will be bad days. And you know what? It is okay to cry." Nagisa squeezes, and she finally calms, after burying her shoulder with her face.

"Shhhh, shhh. Hey, I offered, right? So no worries. If anyone teases you about crying, or being down, or anything? They get to face me!" There's a clean handkerchief offered. How old school!

"And she definitely helped me. Alright, then. How about this? You come to a few of my matches, cheer me on as a friend, and I help you out when you are down. Friends do that kind of thing! Besides, I have to be a good sempai, and look out for my kouhai. Either way you want it. I hate seeing good little girls cry and full of sadness."

She 'looks' away, and there's a sudden, bitter little frown.

"Way too much of that in the world. Tch." Seems that Hannah herself isn't free of troubles.

Nagisa Momoe has posed:
    Nagisa lets out a small relieved sigh when Hannah makes it known she does not intend to kickbox her any time soon, "I would be happy to cheer you on, Sharpe-san, and it couldn't hurt to watch a little bit, either. Maybe if I talk with Sakura-san we could get a whole group over to cheer for your club as they practiced."

    At the teasing about being an EMT she nods her head quickly, "I'm sure; I want to be a chef, or a cheesemaker!" This gets Hannah one of the brighter smiles yet from the girl, along with a cheerful voice. "Hehe, thanks..." she mutters to the compliment before reaching over to pet the large husky some more now that she isn't focused on the bandaging.

    After she calms down from her little crying fit she sits at a slightly more normal distance from Hannah, though she isn't shy about showering Boris with attention. Pets are therapeutic! The handkerchief is accepted and she uses it to dry her face off better than she can with her sleeves. "Even if it's okay to cry, I don't like doing it in front of people I don't know very well. ...though now you've being so nice to me maybe you don't count for that."

    Despite still sounding a little down she makes an effort if not to cheer up, to keep from sounding gloomy. "I'm sorry about your friend's mom," she offers quietly. "It's a really bad thing to happen to anyone. It must have been hard for you to see someone you care about hurt like that." After giving Boris another hug she looks up to Hannah, "Okay, I'll come and cheer for you. That sounds like it'll be fun!"

    The next things Hanna says has her looking at her own lap in thoughtfulness. "I know. There are a lot of people that are hurting, aren't there?" She looks up and off into the distance, to Mitakihara's skyline, the hospital somewhere in that jumble of skyscrapers. "The Hospital is so big, and so full of patients. Some of them are there for happy reasons, but there's so many who aren't, too. Mom told me not to think about it too much, but I couldn't help it. There are lots of Moms and Dads and Brothers and Sisters and Grandparents in the hospital; I saw them. And a lot of them won't be leaving for good reasons..." She draws her legs up onto the bench, forgetting her manners for a moment, and hugs onto her knees. "If it's something that hurts this much... it's horrible that there has to be so much of it. Even if I had to be sad and alone, I wish it was only me that had to hurt like this."

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Reeeeach! Hannah will attempt to ruffle Nagisa's hair in a friendly manner.

"Great! Sports are as much athleticism as they are showmanship! You should know that better than anyone! Cool, should be good practice for you guys, right? No pressure, not like your coach will be breathing down your neck. A fun time for everybody!" Best to get the girl to think of happier things while she can.

"A chef huh?" Cue a stomach gurgle. She peers at her own belly.

"Quiet, you! Breakfast is /after/ running! Stimulating metabolism here!" She complains to her own body. Weirdo.

"Well then, remind me to share a grilled cheese sandwich with you some time! Just like back home in Kentucky!"

Then there's a softer chuckle. "I guess it /is/ embarrassing. But do not worry. I did not see a single girl cry today." Griiiin. Yes, she's utterly willing to take a shot at herself for this nice young girl's sake.

Boris just facepaws at his Mistress.

Then the young girl proves herself insightful enough to steal Hannah's breath. She audibly gasps. Some part of the woman dies inside, at hearing such words from someone so young.

All of the hatred, the anger, the pure dirtiness of the world seeps deeper into Hannah's soul. Why should this world let a small, kind girl like this suffer so much? Hannah's body stiffens, her fists clench hard enough that her palms bleed. That angry gaze isn't offered to Nagisa, terrible as it is. It's like this woman is trying to offer her hate to the world itself, by the way she stares off sightlessly into the distance.

Eventually, Hannah calms, and just bonelessly leans back. There's an arm gently around the little girl's shoulders like some kind of big sister.

"Nagisa-san, I am so sorry that you had to learn something like that at your age. Tch. No one should have to learn the truth that way. A lot of good people die for stupid, unavoidable reasons." And then Nagisa is putting it all on herself. Hannah doesn't bother masking tears here. No. She will not have this!

"Nagisa Momoe. One girl cannot take on all of the world's problems alone. No one deserves to be alone, sad, or hurt that much. You did nothing. Only real villains have any chance of deserving suffering, and even then, it is way too much. This world is a bit sick, Nagisa-san." Wiping away her own sudden outburst of emotion, she gets on an unwounded knee, and 'looks' the girl in the eyes.

She slowly smiles again, drawing on the goodness in her heart struggling to keep her together.

"But you have friends, right? We might not be able to face such a cruel world by ourselves, but together? Know who your real friends are, hold them tight, no matter who or what wants to get in the way. If you see something you cannot stand, cannot bear to see in this world? Use everything you have in you to fight, to never give up, and most of all, to be true to your own heart. If you can struggle with that kind of power? Things can start to change." She lets those words sink in, then slowly stands up, and stretches.

"Anyway, that is enough heavy things for you today kiddo. Here. Get some ice cream, study up, and get out there and make everybody proud, okay? You have a lot of spirit, to endure like this. So keep your chin up."

She offers a wave, and after giving her a few yen for some ice cream, and packing up, Hannah waves as Boris leads her off to finish her run. Oddly, her heart feels at once dreadfully heavy, and yet at peace.