1773/If I Hurt Her...

If I Hurt Her...
Date of Scene:	29 July 2016
Location:	Mitakihara - Downtown
Synopsis:	Lacrima meets Sky Jack while he's on a patrol. They have a talk. Lacrima has Sky Jack make her a promise.
Cast of Characters:	Norie Okana, Kukai Souma

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Norie Okana has posed:
It's dusk. That time of the day when you can look off to the horizon over the ocean and still just barely see the sun peaking away... while it gets darker. It was a hot breezy day today, a good day for kite flying and the keeping it from getting just too hot in the summer.

Standing on the edge of a rooftop of a large building, though-- not a skyscraper- is Lacrima-- full outfit today-- the dress with the bat motif-- as she seems to be enjoying the breeze and incoming night. She doesn't seem to be 'hunting' right now. (But anyone who knows her know that can change in a heartbeat) Or doing anything except standing and staring at the horizon and peeking at what she can see of the ocean between two slightly further off skyscrapers and Sunset Tower.

She seems to be pondering. or searching her thoughts. Sometimes it looks like she's talking to herself as she taps two fingers together in front of her occasionally, as if counting off things.

She seems unaware of her surroundings. She isn't paying attention and that much is sure. She's distracted with something.

Kukai Souma has posed:
It's been a hot, muggy day, but now with the sun disappearing Kukai Souma has finally gotten out of class and practice and has just enough energy to do his evening patrols. Walking down the street, holding onto a bottle of water and keeping his eyes open, he is in normal street clothes, and the crowds are sparse, which is good.

It's not a busy day today. He's got a small mark on his forehead that seems to be healing, but it's still there. Kukai turns to move down a small alleyway, looking back and forth. Daichi, riding atop Kukai's head, suddenly tugs at his hair. "Kukai, do you feel that? Kukai stops for a moment, looking around more carefully. "...Yeah. I feel something..."

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima closes her eyes.... "Maybe if...." she shakes her head. "No... but... what if I...."

And this goes on for a bit as she suddenly hears a voice nearby that isn't her own. She blinks and opens her eyes quicker and looks around. "Huh...?"

She frowns and looks around more urgently. No one up here...

She peeks down over the edge of the building and---

"!..."

She leaps down from the top of the building, letting herself just fall as she lands with a strangely gentle footfall somewhere to the side of Kukai.

She doesn't move to attack. She just blinks once.

"Kukai." she says regardingly. Also. Her right arm exists again now since you know last time. She didn't have that when she left.

A pause. "Where's your friend from last time?" she asks.

She frowns and darts her head left. right. up. and even down. As if she expects some stupid excited chara to pounce her face again.

Kukai Souma has posed:
Kukai feels the magic. He can't feel if it's dark magic, he can't feel if it's light magic, just.. there's magic nearby. Unfortunately for him, he's not paying attention enough to anything else but the magic sense to notice Lacrima landing nearby until she alights. The leap he makes is practically comical, jumping away from her towards one of the nearby walls. "HOLY~ Lacrima!"

The change is practically automatic, a bright flash blinding her for a second before Sky Jack is standing in front of her, crouched and ready to go. "What the hell do you want? I'm not attacking right off but this is not going to be a good day for you!"

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima blinks and looks away, eyes wincing a bit when Kukai transforms into Sky Jack. She frowns a bit as she lowers he arms to her side as she frowns and shakes her head. "If I wanted to attack you, I would have done that first." she says matter of factly.

"Considering you didn't even see me. It'd had been really easy." she insists.

She does look down though. "Do you really mean to kill me...?" she asks more quietly.

"Is that what you want...?" she asks.

"....will that make you happy?" she asks as she looks up, still wearing a frown.

Kukai Souma has posed:
Sky Jack is still in his fighting stance but he stands up a little straighter now, looking at Lacrima. "I... guess that's right. You didn't jump me for no reason, so..." He frowns. "Yeah, but I felt you, which is a first. I just didn't.... know what I was feeling."

Jack sighs, then rubs his head. "No, I don't really want to kill you. I want to shake the living crap out of you and try to find out why you did what you did and maybe shake you some more until your jaw dislocates, but I don't want to kill you. That won't help anything. I want you to not be working with Riventon and not be attacking the good guys and be working with us and find a way to live without hurting anyone any more than you have to, but even that doesn't mean killing you. And killing you would make me the least happy of any of this."

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima looks down. "What I did? You mean. Drain Sachiko-chan." she frowns. "Sachiko-chan let me feed from her." she says frankly. "You, and her pink girlfriend, interfered. That caused problems." she says. She walks past Kukai and frowns as she wraps her arms around herself a bit.

"I didn't even feel bad after. I always used to feel.. even a little bad, about draining anybody. That stopped that night..." she says silently.

"I'm really sorry, but I can't do any of that." she says. "Riventon-san's been the only one helping me in any meaningful way. Others are trying but... they're just throwing spitballs and seeing what sticks." she says a little disdainfully.

She frowns and turns to face Kukai again.

"'Norie' ran away." she says matter of factly. "Because I didn't want to hurt my brother. because Jiaying-san found something nasty he'd written about me online on some forum. Because I almost charged home and did something horrendous to his head."

A pause then. "Kuaki. What does love feel like to you?" she asks, out of the blue.

Kukai Souma has posed:
Jack growls. ".... Look. I'm not gonna argue about what you were saying and doing that day, but as far as I'm concerned it's still up in the air." He watches her walk past, turning to follow her, then hmphs. "...What if it was someone you cared about being drained? Wouldn't that make you hurt? You have to remember almost everyone has someone who cares or has cared about them."

He sighs and shakes his head. "As for Riventon.... look. Fine. If you refuse to stop working with him, just understand that he's going to stab you in the back eventually if he thinks you're in his way. That's the nature of evil like him."

He nods after a moment. "I'd heard you'd run away. I figured... honestly, I didn't know what was going on, but I knew something was going on. But that makes sense. I'm sorry for everything. You did the right thing."

He blinks at the sudden question. "....Love? I... mean. I don't know. It feels like... warmth. Happiness, in its purest form. Like always having a happy thought to fall back on, like always having a smile to fall back on. Like always having a place where you can be hurt, but not caring, because it feels so good to have that place."

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima frowns at Sky Jack harder when he talks and shakes her head. "I don't belive that about Riventon-san." she says softly. She frowns and looks down as she seems to wilt a little bit more visibly.

"....do you remember Natsumi-chan...? Goes to Seiyou... Astrologer?" she asks softly.

"I'd talked to her a lot." she says softly. "...and she offered to dance with me." she says softly. "So we danced. In the auditorium. Then I asked her to the Charity Ball that happened recently. Because I didn't wanna go alone and just... stare at people."

"...and she kissed me." she mutters. "...and I blushed." she says. "I hadn't... blushed. Since this whole thing. Happend to me. It felt so warm.. like burning." she says.

"When I think about her...I feel. Sinky." she says. "Like warm quicksand." she says. "I dunno. Ayana-chan says that's love. I guess that makes sense. I can feel 'negative' feelings. I can't make sense of it so...." she shrugs.

"...and she wants to be close to me. and doesn't mind that I'm a monster....or I'm cold... or...." she just shakes her head.

"I just know... I'm going to mess it up somehow. I'm going to do something stupid and mess it up." she says quietly.

Kukai Souma has posed:
Jack keeps his eyes on Lacrima for several moments as she wilts. Good. A little wilting isn't bad. Then she mentions Natsumi, and he reaches up, rubbing his chin. "...Yeah, I remember her. I know her." He listens to the story about the dance, then grins a little. "You danced with her? That's... good, I guess. And she kissed you, huh? And.."

He ooohs. "Hmmmm. This is really good! I mean, as good as things get. Love is the most powerful good magic of all. And yeah, that sounds like love. I mean, it makes me think of love. If you were going to have any positive emotions, it would be love. As long as you can still feel that, there's hope for you!" He leans forward, a wide grin on his face.

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima kind of shakes her head. "It's confusing." she says softly. "I mean." she says. "I care about Natsumi-chan... but everytime I try to tell her..." she shakes her head. "I can't and it turns into something else..." she says quietly.

She frowns.

"Look..." she says quietly as Kukai leans forward.

"....Next time we meet...we're gonna be fighting I bet." she says. "I'm..... not looking to feed tonight.. I'm fine on that front so you don't need to worry about me attacking anyone tonight...."

"But..I..."

"I want to ask you a favor..." she says quietly.

"If you.... ever hear that... I hurt Natsumi-chan. Like. If I attacked her...."

"...I want you to come after me." she says quietly.

"I want you to-- to grab anyone with that stupid 'healing power' and come after me." she says.

"Okay...?" she says quietly.

"...you have to promise me... okay?" she asks.

Kukai Souma has posed:
Jack nods, then grins. "Do you want me to tell her for you? I can be annoyingly direct yet subtly oblique about it, if you want. She won't know what I'm talking about until I open my mouth."

He looks into her eyes for a moment, listening. "Hopefully we won't be fighting anytime soon..." He leans back, standing up, as she asks her favor, then nods. "... OK. If I ever hear that you hurt Natsumi-chan, I'll bring every Prism Keeper and somebody who can trap you here so you can't flee into the Dusk Zone. But hopefully it never comes to that, not again. You... just do what you can to keep it to a minimum." He lets out a slow breath and stands up. "...Better?"

Norie Okana has posed:
Lacrima frowns at Sky Jack.

"No... we'll be fighting." she says softly. "You know it and I know it." she says quietly. She softly rubs her right arm. "I still need to drain people and I refuse to stop helping Riventon." she says quietly.

"....and besides. I still... did that to Sachiko-chan." she says quietly. "I may not feel bad about it..." she says.

"But it worries me that I don't." she says.

"But.. feeling bad... about not feeling bad. That isn't the same as feeling bad for the act." she says quietly.

She just shakes her head. "Yeah... better. Thank you ... Kukai." she says quietly.

She turns around and looks toward's an alley.

"I outta... go or something." she says.

She begins to walk toward's the alley. If Kukai doesn't stop her, she'll step in and let herself vanish into the shadows, literarly.

Kukai Souma has posed:
Jack watches her for a moment, then sighs. "Yeah, we probably will be fighting. I'd like it if we weren't, though. And... yeah. You still did that. Which is why I wanna shake you like a paint can. No, it's not the same, but it's close."

He sighs and then nods. "Yeah. You're welcome Norie. It's a good thing." He then nods and looks up. "Yeah. You should get going. .... Be good to her, Natsumi, I mean. She'll be good for you in return."

He hums and then stands up straight, ready to continue his patrol. All in all, much calmer than most encounters with her he's had.