1606/Swords and Other Strengths

Swords and Other Strengths
Date of Scene:	14 June 2016
Location:	Uminari City - Verone Academy
Synopsis:	Hinote, Seishi, and Hokuto deal with a different kind of sparring in the wake of the Nightmare: a kendo match. And, of course, discuss their other lives afterward, and the troubles that the Nightmare woke.
Cast of Characters:	Hinote Kagari, Seishi Tamashige, Hokuto Minase

---

Hinote Kagari has posed:
There was a rousing Kendo Match here. Hinote 'Knockout' Kagari never got a chance to fight Seishi because he was kicked out of the small skirmish rounds too early to reach that point. He isn't called 'Knockout' because he knocks people out, rather- there's still this silly rumor that his old Kendo captain at Seishou when he went knocked him out repeatedly--- 'because she could'.

Well they're not rumors, they're true. Doji-san was a hard driver on kendo skills.

REGARDLESS, the match is over and Hinote has spent the last bit of the match warming the bench until it was over and he got up and crossed his arms a bit as he sighed-- a hand running up his face a bit.

Look, either way, it's a nickname that can be taken in a cooler direction than 'Hinote 'Really Lame' Kagari or something. He shakes his head. "So." he says as he meanders on towards Seishi, scanning the stands a moment. "I bet you caught up on a lot of sleep last night, yeah?" he asks with a wry tone as crowds begin to disperse.

Seishi Tamashige has posed:
Seishi didn't get all that much further in the rankings than Hino did - a past life as a samurai only goes so far, it seems. Lowering the water bottle she was drinking from, she cracks a lopsided smile and dips her head to Hino in confirmation. "I could've slept all day, if it weren't for school. Nice to get a good night's rest again."

She reaches up and scrubs the back of her hand across her forehead, then lets her hand drop and looks to Hino again. "How are you doing?"

Hokuto Minase has posed:
Hokuto sits in the front row of the audience, right near the Verone bench. She's been cheering on her school's team the entire time, especially all of Seishi's bouts. With the formalities over with, she walks over to join them.

"Well, you're looking a bit more energetic, sempai. Glad to know that that's taken care of?"

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari sort of wilts. "Ugh, yeah tell me about it. Stuff like that...." they're in public. He's vauge. "Always makes me tired." he says. Being 'Secretly a Knight' doesn't make him any better with a sword himself. He's learning though. For reasons.

"But you seemed to be pushing yourself. At least you could sleep finally." he smiles.

He looks over to Hokuto. "How about you?" he asks to Hokuto. "You doing okay?" he asks. He smiles a bit.

"So, big dumb and ugly is dead, right? He isn't going to like, regenerate, right?" he asks.

Seishi Tamashige has posed:
"Yeah." It's an answer to both Hokuto and Hinote, and Seishi offers her kouhai a smile that definitely speaks of relief. "--Sorry for the bad timing," she tells Hino ruefully. "Honestly, I'd forgotten all about this match today, with everything else going on."

She takes another brief swig from her water bottle before adding, "Anyway, he's definitely gone. The dreams he stole should've returned to the people they belong to by now." For a moment, her mouth twists at the corner. "The ones that weren't already eaten, anyway." Nothing to be done about those.

Hokuto Minase has posed:
"Mmm. Eaten.. glad that didn't happen to us. You said once that there was a bigger one it was working for?"

Hokuto seems a little unsure about that. Perhaps hoping that the one was the end of it. She sighs and stretches out, one hand high above her head, the other bent over it to grasp the arm.

"This one was... well." She flexes one hand. "I don't like things that mess with my head."

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari grimaces a bit. "Sorry." he says softly. "I did the best I could." he says with a sigh. "At least it's gone now." he says. "At least that one. There's more... right?" he asks. He frowns at Hokuto. "Yeah you and me both. Something else got in my head once. Wasn't fun. Almost hurt someone really bad." he says.

He places his hands into his pockets as he shakes his head. "I'm sure the Princess was happy to help too. It felt good to help you!" he smiles. "Considering what you did for Waldia." he nods.

"Never be afraid to come for us to help or even if you need someplace to hide, Seishi. We put aside a few safe rooms in the home to host people. Considering what Runealy went through on her arrival here- she doesn't want someone to have to go through that again."

He smiles a bit and nods. He turns to Hokuto again. "What'd that thing do to you?" he asks.

Seishi Tamashige has posed:
"...right." Seishi's head bows, gaze falling to her feet. "The Eater of Dreams - my true enemy."

She doesn't elaborate, mostly because Hinote's apology has her looking up in dismay. "You don't need to apologize," she puts in quickly, with a little shake of her head. "You did everything that could be done. It's because of you guys that so many people were saved."

There were a lot of stolen dreams released the other night when the Dream-Stalker was defeated. If there were more, in the past, that didn't get saved... that doesn't mean this wasn't a victory.

Seishi's eyes turn towards Hokuto, but she stays quiet now. That question is the other girl's to answer.

Hokuto Minase has posed:
Hokuto looks down at the floor, for a long moment, then releases a soft sigh.

Thinking back to what happened when the Stalker came into her dreams... It isn't that it's painful, really. It's more... disturbing.

"It showed me a side of myself that ... I don't particularly like," is her final answer for Hinote. "Had to spend some time thinking about things."

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari frowns at Hokuto. "I don't know what happened the one time I had my head messed with. I blacked out and woke up in front of a nearly dead Puella Magi being whisked away by Tuxedo Kamen yelling about getting me away from her." he shrugs. "Aparently I was screaming about her being a threat to Runealy or something though. I dunno." he sort of taps his forehead a little.

"Luckily we found out what caused that. Meh." he says.

He frowns at Hokuto. "We all think a lot of bad things." he says softly. "I sometimes have dreams of screwing up or being controlled again and hurting Runealy in the process." he grimaces. "That first time messed up really." he says.

"I dunno if it's just circumstances or if I'm a liability. At least it only happened once and I fought the second attempt." he smirks.

Seishi Tamashige has posed:
Seishi listens quietly, first to Hokuto and then to Hinote. What they say brings a faint frown to her face, an expression of troubled sympathy.

"You definitely weren't a liability the other day," she points out softly. "Going through something like that and coming out of it in control of yourself takes a lot of strength. I'm just sorry that both of you had to go through such unpleasant things."

Hokuto Minase has posed:
"If we wanted to avoid unpleasant things," Hokuto muses, "We wouldn't be in this business." She flashes an impish little smile at Seishi. "You don't think we're going to walk away now, do you?"

She hmms softly and mutters, "I could go for a coke, though."

Then she looks back over to Hinote. "We all have our dark sides. Our fears, our anxieties. It's never fun to get a close look at them."

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari nods matter of factly. "I chose this." he says softly. "The Princess gave me a choice when I came aboard and I could had refused it. I didn't." he smiles some. "Mainly, because of my own silly dreams." he insists, in his own impish way.

He closes his eyes and shakes his head. "Yeah. I'm just glad that thing got out of my head at the mall." he admits softly.

"Anyways, you'll sleep better tonight too, I'm sure." he smirks.

He looks around. "You guys have vending machines on campus here?" he asks. "Seiyou only has them in the cafeteria. Not sure about your rich hoity toity school over." he winks a bit, at his own teasing terms.

Seishi Tamashige has posed:
Glancing from one to the other, Seishi has gone a little wide-eyed. "What," she says, "you mean there's a choice?"

Only a beat passes before she shakes her head, letting out a breath of a laugh. "--no," she corrects herself, not waiting for either Hino or Hokuto to answer. "There's always a choice. It just comes down to what consequences you're willing to accept. Right?"

Straightening up a little, she grins between them. "There's a couple," she offers brightly in answer to Hino's question. "We could go hit them up if you want?"

Hokuto Minase has posed:
"And which ones you're not," Hokuto adds. Some of them are just plain unacceptable to any honorable person, as far as she's concerned. Like 'allowing peoples' dreams to be eaten'.

"My choice was made a long time ago." Admittedly, it was more 'master the art, or live with the shame of failing your parents' memory', than something like Hinote's choice. It still nearly broke her, once.

She hmms softly and considers it for a moment, then nods, and looks over to Hino to see his reply.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari nods. "Sure, let's go to a machine." he says as he prepares to walk along. He purses his lips as he looks over to Hokuto. "My choice was, help my new friends save thier world... or do nothing." he says.

"I admit... the first attempt at that wasn't the best of choices." he says. "It was people like Seishi here who made it possible." he says over to Hokuto.

"Right. My friends, are not from Earth. Runealy- Princess Waldia- is from another world. I'm from Earth. But I consider myself Waldian." a pause.

"I..I wonder if Tuxedo Kamen sees that as traitorus..." he says with a wry grin.