165/A Visit from Kyou-chan

A Visit from Kyou-chan
Date of Scene:	12 July 2015
Location:	Mitakihara - Downtown
Synopsis:	After her draining, a certain Puella Magi comes to visit Miss White.
Cast of Characters:	Hannah Sharpe, Kyouko Sakura

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Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Thanks to Ao Karina, Boris, and Takashi, Miss White is at least somewhat on her feet. She's no longer constantly crying, or having flashbacks whenever she goes to sleep. But the usually confident woman is a shadow of her former self. Her eyes are dark with sleeplessness, and stress is writ all over her face. She's gone far paler than usual, as well, and generally looks unwell. Sitting in a hospital bed, the nearby machinery reads her heartrate. At her side, a brunette sits, gently clasping Miss White's hand.

For once, Ao Karina looks the one in better health. The injured magi is donned in her barrier jacket, though missing the suit bits. The rest is all hospital gown. Luckily, Eclipse pays to have people not ask questions.

The big russian man that is Viktor stands outside of her room, glaring at anyone who gets too close that isn't a doctor or nurse. She's had no unauthorized visitors thus far.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko keeps her ear to the ground. You have to, if you want to operate in an environment like this. The doings of the other sorts of magical girls, their trials and tribulations against various evils concern her very little. However, every once in a while she hears a bit of something that does concern her. In this case, word has reached her ear that Miss White has suffered an.. unfortunate occurance. Quite separate from the one she suffered at Kyouko's own hands (and vice versa). It really doesn't take too much effort for Kyouko to figure out where in the hospital the woman is being kept- just look for the room with the guard stationed outside. It takes a bit of circling the hospital, peering through windows and vents, but she figures it out.

    Why is she even here? She's not sure, herself. Maybe she wants to take the opportunity to finish Miss White off, and lay their dispute to rest once and for all. That would certainly be the pragmatic reason. But she's not really convinced herself, even as she crouches in a tree, shadowed by the leaves and mostly hidden from sight, watching Miss White and her companion through the window. It does put her off her game a bit, seeing someone actually looking concerned about the woman.

    She waits for a while to see if Ao will leave. When she doesn't, Kyouko decides it's time to act, or else she'll just waist the whole evening. So what if there's a witness.

    So it is that Miss White finds a shadow falling across the room from the window. It's Kyouko, in full Puella Magi getup, although perhaps tellingly, sans spear. (She could call it out in a moment, of course, if needed, but for the moment it is nowhere to be seen). She sits on the windowsill, her legs dangling into the room. "You look like sh_t." She comments, in her rather coarse way, her tone holding just the slightest hint of mockery, but no real menace besides that.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
There's a sound from the windowsil! Miss White's head moves, and she frowns at first.

"Who..." She starts. Odd, that she doesn't seem to know who Kyouko is at first! At least until she speaks.

Ao, for her part, backs up and 'ahhh's!'. A little gasp that she quickly covers up. She clumsily clamors over the bed in between Miss White and Kyouko. She's managed to snag the other girl's cane.

"If you're here to hurt White-san!" She tries to menace. Her arms are shaking, though.

"Ao. Calm down. She is..." Not a friend. An enemy?

"Just a concerned competitor. Come on. Sit down."

One leg pulls Ao back across the bed.

There's none of her usual bluster.

"Yeah. I feel like it too. Ever had magic drained out of you? I do not recommend it." She tries, good lord does she try, but the woman can't really muster up some sarcasm in her voice. Miss White sounds hollow. Weak. It's pathetic. And from the way she grips the sheets, she knows it. It's frustrating, but her heart, usually so shining, just doesn't seem to be all there.

"So. Here to finish me off?"

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko seems amused by Ao's reaction, a little smirk touching her lips, that one fang peeking out the corner of her mouth. She shakes her head slightly, long red ponytail swaying, as she reaches out a hand and pushes the cane to the side casually. "Calm down, chickie." She says, her tone as confident, as arrogant as ever. There's a bit of a shadow behind her eyes when she looks at Miss White though- not that the blind woman can see it. But maybe Ao can.

    Her next words are for them both. "I ain't here to finish you off. I do a lotta things, probably lotsa things no 'good girl' would ever consider, but stabbing somebody layin' helpless in bed ain't one of them. I just heard.. about this. And I wanted to come see for myself. Never know.. you coulda been putting out false info to lure me into a trap." She casts her gaze around the room. "Don't seem like that's the case though."

    She slips to the floor inside the room, boots making a soft 'clack' on the tile floor when she does. "Still, it's a bit unsettling, I admit. I gave you most of what I got, and you didn't end up like this. Means there's somebody out there stronger'n me.. or luckier, maybe. So which is it?"

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Ao doesn't seem to relax much even /after/ Kyouko makes her intent clear. For a moment, there's a spark of life to Miss White, as the two girls fight to see who's going to play protector.

"Brown Kitten stops horseplay or Viktor picks up by scrubb of neck! White Kitten needs rest!" Booms the voice of the big russian from outside. Thankfully he doesn't step in.

"So you /do/ have a bit of honor." She sounds honestly surprised, does Miss White. There's no suspicion in her voice. She just sounds tired.

"Bad luck on my part, and cheating on hers." Answers Miss White vaguely. She pauses. Remembers the pain, the fear, the pure anger she felt as she was betrayed and drained. It plays openly on her face, her teeth gritting, and then she slams a fist into the wall. There's no cracks this time. She's still recovering.

"That little two-bit wench went and used a debt against me! Lured me out like a fool, talking about 'what I'll do to you will make you a hero'! And not even the decency to tell me /why/!" Rages the girl. It's more emotion than she's shown all day.

Ao seems torn between relief and fear.

"She calls herself Princess. Pink hair, somewhat tall, wields a wand. Either of us could take her out easy. But she used some kind of crystal...she called it poison...that filled her with dark energy and made her insanely strong. Bluntly, it reminded me of a grief seed."

Tch. "Even then, she got lucky. I almost had her!"

"Long story short, she knocks you out then steals your magic with a crystal." A hand raises out, and she shows her linker core. There's only the tiniest of light in it, green ball of magic shining far less brilliantly than before, not that Kyouko would've seen it.

She shudders, and goes silent, reliving the moment. Ao's arms are on her, hugging tightly. It takes a force of will to not break down again.

"That...that thieving little /wench/! I worked for everything, and that damn cretin goes and..." Ao shakes her gently.

A deep sigh.

"Be careful, Kyouko. Draining abilities like that could easily kill a Puella."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko has wandered over to where there might be a tray with leftovers from dinner pushed to one side of the room, waiting to be removed. As Miss White is speaking, the redhead (completely ignoring both Ao and the voice of Viktor from outside) is picking at the remains of Miss White's meal.. hmm.. why, this apple is only half-eaten! Waste! She picks it up and unashamedly bites into the un-bitten side, chewing as she listens. "Honor is for suckers." is her first reply, swallowing a hunk of apple. "You just don't kick somebody when they're down, right? You just don't."

    She listens to the tale of Miss White's betrayal and defeat, but she doesn't recognize the description of the attacker. (She doesn't even know Madoka yet, so the pink hair thing doesn't ring any bells at all). She frowns a bit (around another bite of apple) at the mention of some kind of Grief Seed-like thing granting power. That's now how Grief Seeds work, but it's interesting anyway. Kyouko does not show any real reaction to Miss White's outburst of emotion, observing with flat eyes. She's felt the same way herself many times.. she knows how to hide it.

    "You're right. You know more about it than I thought." The Puella Magi responds. "If somebody sucked out all my magic, I'd just be dead." She doesn't know the /whole/ truth about the nature of Soul Gems, but she knows that if she uses up all her magic, she dies, so that conclusion is easy enough to come to. "Thanks for the warning." That sounds genuine. "Still, I don't see how it's any of my concern, if she ain't goin' after Grief Seeds. You probably just stuck your nose someplace it didn't belong. You got a habit of doing that, it seems."

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Kyouko is scavenging her food. Sigh. Miss White doesn't seem to mind too much.

"We'll agree on half of that." On the 'kicking them when down' bit.

But being around Kyouko, without murder involved, is oddly refreshing. She's so blunt. And she's /here/. Miss White goes silent, pondering. A hand reaches over to the flowers by the bed. A finger runs along the card from Mister Black (likely in braille!).

Ao was here. Boris was. Even Kyouko, a girl she fought, is here with the tiniest amount of giving a damn. Maybe she's weak. Maybe she's useless.

But people /care/. Miss White stands up a little taller. Inside, her linker core slowly brightens just a little more.

Her face, so hollow, perks up as she seems to come to some realization. "Heh. I cannot have you dieing before I hire you." Prods the girl. It's a little weak, but still a jab. Ao looks to her. She smiles. /That/ is the Hannah she knows.

Frown. Time to take a risk.

"...You see, if it were /you/, I could understand it. Thing is, the only times I met her, she either opposed me during Witch fights, helped me kill them, or...helped keep Ao safe."

"So she had something against me from the start, or there is more going on here." A sigh.

She slumps back into her bed.

"Mmm. Just be safe, okay? I have a bad feeling about this one." She trembles a moment. This is pure fury.

Slowly, she grins, a tiny version of that bloodthirsty one she gave back when they fought.

"After all, I am going to break every single dream she has for stepping on my accomplishments like that! I have no problems dieing. But letting a little pathetic thief using a cheap crutch get away scott free will not happen!" She roars suddenly.

There's a laugh outside.

"Kitten is feeling better! Good to hear. Shave little bandit girl bald when catch."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko had no intention of coming here to cheer Miss White up. But, she doesn't think like that anyway. Kyouko doesn't consider /why/ she does things. She just does what seems like the right thing to do, and usually it is. There's a keen intelligence to her, but it's not the conscious kind.. it's more like instinct. She just knows what to do, and today it was to come here. She wanted to know if it was true that Miss White had gotten taken down so severely, wanted to see it for herself. If her visit happened to cheer the woman up at the same time, well.. she didn't come here expecting that. But she means everything she says.

    "In your dreams, lady." Kyouko replies to the comment about hiring her. She grins a bit, gnawing now on the apple core, leaving not a speck of digestible, unspoiled food left. "I'm not renouncing my claim. Grief Seeds belong to Puella Magi, and I'm the strongest Puella Magi, so they belong to me. But we can talk about that again when you're feeling a bit better." After all, in this state Miss White isn't going to be interfering in Kyouko's hunting, so why should she worry about it until it becomes an issue again?

    As to speculating upon the motives of the attacker, Kyouko has this to offer: "Sounds like she was doin' what she thought she had to. If it's true that she doesn't seem to have had a grudge against you or nothin', she probably was after something else, and you were just a convinient source of power." She shrugs. "I can understand that. You do what you gotta do, and if people get hurt, well.. people get hurt. They'd do the same to me if they needed to to survive right? That's the law of the jungle, and even if it's made of steel and concrete, we still live in a jungle. Only difference is, if it was me, I woulda finished you off."

    "Cause I have no doubt you're gonna make her pay. Her leavin' you alive after all that was a mistake. You should make sure she knows it." No offers of help here- Kyouko isn't going to involve herself. Why would she? But she knows exactly what /she/ would do in Miss White's place.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
The old banter, that old conflict too sparks more life into her. She belts out a laugh.

"Yeah. When I am stronger. It will be fun to go against someone where at least I know where they stand with me. None of this cloak and dagger business." There's a thumbs-up. Miss White can't help but look forward to it. Death doesn't scare her.

And the slowly returning magic to her body is a boon.

Several nods. It fits. The Princess seems far closer to the idealistic sort. Could she have been twisted into doing something against her will? It would explain why she couldn't tell why she was doing what she was. And all that hero talk...maybe she really did mean it.

"Heh. More the fool her, huh? She utterly refused. ...The little pansy actually got Ao on the scene. Apparently she wants to use her to keep anyone from dieing." Another tremble of anger. That, more than anything else, burns her. Someone is using /her/ Ao Karina for their own ends, benevolent though they may be!

Ao's own eyes darken a little. She too isn't happy about it, as much as she likes saving lives.

Miss White smirks.

"She is going to regret the day she did. Heck, maybe I will video tape it, get you some interesting footage. Could be fun, right, watching a pathetic little weakling cheater learn to respect those more powerful than them?" She's liking how Kyouko thinks. Her core darkens...but not with the lack of heart. Rather, dark intentions. Corruption, but useful corruption in a way.

"...Heh. This is going to be /great/!"

A small look to Kyouko.

"Stop by whenever I end up in the hospital if you want. Believe it or not, you actually make a good conversation partner. Same here. No tricks. No funny business. Just two fools who strive for way too much."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    "Don't get me wrong.." Kyouko clarifies, because she really isn't the type to say stuff she doesn't mean. "If it was me or you, I'd shank you in an instant." This may alarm Miss White's guardians, but she's just being honest. "So I can't blame this chick for doing what she did, if she had a good reason. But I also can't blame you for makin' her pay for it, since she did a poor enough job to leave you able to." She shrugs her shoulders.

    "But it really ain't my way, y'know? Not unless I don't have a choice. Anybody can stab somebody when they aren't looking. Only the strong can win a fair fight." At the offers of videotaping the whole thing though, she gives Miss White a look. "Uh.. I ain't into that sorta thing, sorry. After all, she ain't done nothing to /me/, so what do I care? You have fun though. See.. I don't think there's anything wrong with being weak."

    She tosses the apple core, thoroughly gnawed, into the trash can with a metallic 'clang'. "So long as you know your place. Weak people can be good people too. And sometimes, later, they become strong people." She stares off into space for a moment, then glances back at Miss White. "Might be a bit awkward, cause next time, it might be me who puts you in here."

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
That bit about shanking has Ao scowling, and standing up! She's about to say something, before Hannah pulls her back down.

She doesn't need to say anything, as a big, meaty arm enters the doorway. There's something in his hand.

"Hah hah hah! Kittens always like to bare claws! Red Kitten is good kitten or I use this!"

Spritz spritz! Is that a spray bottle!?

Miss White shakes her head. "I have no doubt you would. And you know what? That is the kind of think I like. Do not get my wrong, I want to live and all...just that if I /have/ to die, better by the hand of someone who is honest and straightforward. A real fight! Like out of the old arthurian tales! Real Lancelot versus a dragon! Heh. Alright, then. No backstabbing if we go at it. Fair fights. I can do you that much, Kyouko-san."

It's a promise, with a grin.

Miss White's head tilts.

She's silent. Kyouko explains. Weakness...is good?

At the end of it all, she groans.

"'Good', maybe. But let me tell you this: the only thing that matters is strength in this world, Kyouko-san. Good, evil, right, wrong? You have the right kind of strength for the situation, then you can win every time. That is what I believe."

Arms go behind her head, cushioning herself as she yawns.

She raises her arm, the one with a long, jagged scarr. She shows it off, proudly. A badge of honor.

"Great! I need a matching one! Looking forward to it, Kyou-ko-chan~." She ends mockingly. Then she's just giggling.

"....Morphine is /great/ stuff, you know!?" This might be Kyouko's time to escape.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko didn't say /weakness/ was good, she simply said that being a weak person doesn't make you worthless, or bad. "I know strength is what matters." She says, vehemence in her voice, a scowl suddenly on her face. "All I'm saying is just because somebody's weak, doesn't make 'em without value, y'know? You can be a weak person and still be a good person. But you're still weak, and the weak are ruled by the strong. S'just the way it is."

    "Why do you think I'm the strongest, huh? It ain't because I was born this way. I worked for it, because nobody is going to rule me. Nobody, never." Not again. She shakes her head slightly, hair swaying again. "But I think we see eye to eye, Miss White, on the way to do things, if not on what to do. If you start comin' after my Grief Seeds again, we'll fight. And I ain't gonna go easy on any of your goons I find stealin' whats mine. But I won't stab you in the back." Not unless she has to. She's smart enough to leave that part unsaid though.

    She shakes her head then, as Miss White seems to go a bit off the deep end.. and turns back towards the window. "Anyway. I got stuff to do. See ya around." And then she's gone, leaping effortlessly from the window as if she could fly (although she really just crosses back to the tree).