2476/A valentine's day miracle

A valentine's day miracle
Date of Scene:	15 February 2017
Location:	Earth Court Frat House
Synopsis:	Yuzuki visits Unmei in her recovery.
Cast of Characters:	Unmei, Yuzuki Amemori, Kunzite

---

Unmei has posed:
Unmei Tama was being, well, herself. Likely to Kun's chagrin. She was sitting on the couch besides him, her knees hugged up to her chest. She'd wanted to watch Yo Yo Bura la Cont, the anime about continent themed magical girls versus the evil oceanites. It was silly, girly, and she'd seen all five seasons, used to have the toys and had seen all three movies too.

Instead she was watching the history channel and pretty much digging her body into his side. She occasionally seemed to have issues breathing, panting a little bit, but for the most part she was doing much, much better. It'd probably be a while before all the pain faded.

"Are you sure this is okay?" she asked, probably for the fifth time as she clung to him, staring up at him with worry. He knew about her, now. He could probably read it on her face, she was worried he'd reject her for what he was. But he hadn't, at least not yet. Which made her all the more needy and clingy, making her hold onto him as if he was the only flotation device in the middle of a hurricane.

It likely didn't help that her stomach felt as if it was devouring itself. At least getting hugged and coddled didn't seem to count as a glutonous thing.

Kunzite has posed:
Kazuo is settled on the couch, mostly ignoring the television (though he did promise that they'd record her magical girl show, and she could watch it later; and he did look up at one point to mute the TV during a set of commercials and tell her a story about some of the details of something covered earlier, so he must be paying some kind of attention). His posture is pretending that there is no Unmei trying to meld with his ribcage, true, but he hasn't evicted her. He's reading a book in English -- Michio Kaku's _Physics of the Future_ (How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100). His phone is lying on the arm of the couch next to him, the better to be able to catch and answer text messages (and Mamoru's moves in the Go game that Kazuo is slowly dooming him in).

And like the four previous times, he lowers the book to glance over in her direction. "A reasonable amount of television should be okay, yes," he says. "Moderation seems to be doing well by you."

-- he's intentionally misinterpreted the question every time it's been asked.

Yuzuki Amemori has posed:
Yuzuki Amemori got a strange text from a strange guy about a strange girlfriend. SHe's not going to keep using the word strange in her head even if it is appropriate. She makes her way to the apartment, only vaguely remembering how to get to the place, she makes her way up and knocks on the door. Sure she could have jumped up there, but that's not as much fun. Or is more fun. She's not sure, this is a new thing for her!

Knocking on the door, she rests her hands in her hoodie's pockets, music blasting at a comfortable 'loud' from around her neck as she waits.

Unmei has posed:
Unmei Tama smiled and closed her eyes, leaning against him, listening to them talk about some ancient coin or other. "Can ummm... can you... teach me that, too? That game you're playing? Go? I saw it in an anime once. It looks fun. A lot like chess, I hear. I used to be pretty good at chess. I-I beat a tournament winner, once!" she said happily, then blinked. "Though he was retired. And he only told me he was a tournament winner. He was one of my friend's dads. He was..." She trailed off. "I'd like to learn, if you'll teach me. If that's okay."

And then there's a knock. She jumps and grabs his arm. "It's them they're coming for me please please don't let them take me, please," she begged, gripping his arm so tight that, were she not weak and exhausted, there might have been a decent chance of her hurting him. As it was, it was just a gentle, but desperate, squeeze. She stared up at him with those terrified eyes that he'd probably been seeing a lot of lately.

Kunzite has posed:
"I'd be happy to teach you," Kunzite answers Unmei. "There are some other students at Infinity who play, too." Further conversation along those lines is cut off by the knock and the grabbing. He pauses for a moment; then, without a change in expression, he puts down the book.

"There are a lot of people who come here, Unmei," he says. "If the conversation sounds like it's someone coming for you, you can slip out of the room, down the connecting hall, and go looking for one of the others; if you want not to be found, it can be arranged. But I need to answer the door in any case."

Prying her hands off his arm is gently done, at least. But he stands up, and eventually (there may be another disentanglement or two first) he comes to answer the door.

"Good evening," he says to Yuzuki, then. "Thank you for coming. She's watching television just inside, or she was ten seconds ago; please do come in."

Yuzuki Amemori has posed:
Yuzuki Amemori doesn't hear most of this conversation. Instead she looks awkward standing there at the doorway. When the door opens up, she waves to Kunzite and asks, "So uh... what happened?" lShe looks mostly confused to even have to be here. Then she leans to the side where Unmei's watching TV on the couch. "What's going on?" she calls out to her, stepping in past Kunzite to ask additionally, "Why didn't you answer your phone?"

Then she looks to Kunzite and says, "Thanks, but seriously, what did she do?" while trying to make her way over to the couch to give the girl a hug!

Unmei has posed:
Unmei Tama froze when she saw her. She opened her mouth to speak, then stopped and lowered her eyes. "Yuzu, I... I just... I..." She gulped and... Kind of retreated into herself as best she could. Which meant hugging her knees tighter to her chest and burying herself as best she could into the cushion.

"I... broke it when you... broke up with me. I haven't been... g-getting your messages and I... and I..." And then she got hugged.

And then, a moment later, she hugged her back and started bawling, again. "I-I-I'm so sorry y-you were right all along I-I was so wrong I'm so so so sorry I-I'm so sorry," she wailed, hugging her and sobbing into her shoulder.

"I-I don't want to be b-bad or evil o-or a h-horrible person o-or die! I-I want to be me a-and be happy a-and have friends a-and go to school a-and... and do something, I don't know! b-but I don't want to be a bad guy a-and I don't want to be k-killed in battle a-and I don't want to have to g-give up what I-I've got a-and M-Mamo and K-Kun a-are working to get me free a-and... and make sure I don't... d-die and lose who I... am. Anymore. And I... I just want to..."

She looked up at her and... "C-can... can we un-breakup? Please? I-I'll be better this time. I-I will... I-I'm sorry I... I caused you so much grief..."

Kunzite has posed:
"Something happened not entirely in her control," Kazuo answers Yuzuki. "And spiralling further out of her control. She ran into Mamoru and asked for help; she's been here since. She broke her phone." The last is unnecessary, ultimately, given that Unmei gives more details shortly thereafter, but at least it's a warning. "She's, ah, more delicate than usual emotionally just now. We have towels if necessary." And a box of tissues on the coffee table. The place smells of fairly-recent baking and some of the evidence is still on the counter, in the form of half a pan of brownies. But, well --

Most of what he can do, just now, is stay out of the way.

Yuzuki Amemori has posed:
Yuzuki Amemori looks confused and says, "Break up?" Before stopping. Maybe she should pick her words better. She scowls for a moment and says, "You... did something that I couldn't defend even from the whole bad girl thing." She sits down next to Unmei and gives her a hug, then adds softly, "What are they doing to free you?" Seeming confused. She looks to Kunzite to ask, "Because she wouldn'-" she stops. No complaining or anything remotely close, crying girl and all!

The mention that she's more delicate than usual gets a confused look, then she shakes her head quickly and squeezes Unmei tightly. "If I can help, I'll help. That wasn't... a break up Unmei, it was." She shakes her head and sighs, "Too late now."

Unmei has posed:
Unmei Tama blinked a few times. "Is this... about kissing those people? I-I'm getting better at it! I-I mean, I'm doing it less. I-I think it's dying down." She paused for a moment, then sighed, slowly pulling back. "It hurts. It really... really hurts. So much," she whimpered. "B-but... But Kun is helping me. He's making sure I don't... don't revel and give in." She did look miserable. Her body quivering a bit, very sweaty, hair all wild. Like someone just getting off drugs or something. "I... I'm so hungry but... but they say it's getting better. T-the less I revel, the more it... goes away. I-I think the pain will... will disappear soon."

She then hugged her tightly again. "I'll be better this time. I'll be a better person. A better girl. I-I'm so... so sorry..." She was shaking a bit, too. Though Yuzu might begin to notice it wasn't just because of emotions. The girl did seem to be suffering from... something. "They're going to try to... get me out from under Eclipse. From... Umbra. S-so they won't own me anymore...."

Yuzuki Amemori has posed:
Yuzuki Amemori shakes her head and starts to say something, then stops and says, "Part of it." She then sighs and adds, "I meant the stabbing with a fork." She then shakes ehr head and adds, "That was more... you're going too far kind of thing." Then she looks confused while asking, "The pain?" Sounding concerned, what with the crying shivering girl mentioning it and all. "What kind?"

She holds her breath for a moment, then gives her another soft squeeze, "I know you are, I thought you would... eventually." She trails off again after, clearly trying to watch what she says to avoid further upsetting her. She then nudges Unmei and asks almost playfully, "When I suggested it, you said no, these guys do it and you do it?" she tries to put on a fake pout, then stops quickly. Might not help after all!

Unmei has posed:
Unmei Tama blinked and then... "W-what? Stabbing that pink haired guy? He deserved it! He tried to steal my gem! He had his fingers around it, if he'd managed to tear it off, I would have--" Then... Her eyes went wide. "Oh. Oh my gosh. I didn't... I just stabbed him a few times with a fork. He's not... dead... is he? I-I didn't think I stabbed him that hard, I-I mean, there was blood, but I didn't, i-it's hard to focus and... and I..." She shuddered. "H-hungry. I'm so... so hungry. And I just want to.... to eat and eat and eat. But... but it makes it worse. So I eat more and..."

She shivered and whimpered. "T-They're rich, though. They might actually be able to do something. Without getting hurt. And they know about..." She trailed off. "They just might really be able to... help me... and.... and give me a new life here. Too."

Yuzuki Amemori has posed:
Yuzuki Amemori pinches the bridge of her nose and says, "I don't know why a pink haired guy would try to steal your gem or why you were showing it off." Then she leans back and tries to chase those errant thoughts around in her head to try and put the ideas together. "I don't think he's dead though, no" she adds off-handed. She didn't hear anything about that. Death may have made the whole breakup thing a reality right?

"Money doesn't always matter." She points to Kunzite while saying, "And he's fought with me before, so it's not like the whole getting into a fight with evil's a hard thing to believe." She huffs and mutters, "I'm glad you're okay though."

Kunzite has posed:
"What we're doing right now," Kazuo says, finally answering one of Yuzuki's earlier questions now that the first burst is dying down, "is helping her get control of herself back. She'd very nearly lost it entirely, but time is helping, and so is moderation." Speaking of which, he steps over to retrieve the remote and turn off the television, then to fish his book and phone out of the couch before they're lost forever. "Unmei, it will make more sense to her if I can explain how the feedback cycle works in a little more detail. But it's your decision whether you want her to know that. As for the 'pink-haired guy,' yes, I can confirm he's all right." How he knows that when he has practically not left the apartment since Unmei arrived is an excellent question."

And 'money doesn't always matter' gets an inclination of Kazuo's head to Yuzuki, silent agreement.

Unmei has posed:
Unmei Tama nodded. "G-go ahead, explain it to her. I... I'm not sure I could right now..." she muttered. "He didn't. I kissed him and... err... well... he tried to grab it and... err... s-sorry..." Then... "Wait, you fought him? Why? Were you evil at some point? Why didn't you tell me? I told you!" ... Not... really same situation.

She nestled in a bit to Yuzu and nodded. "Right. Money can't buy everything but... it can buy some things... they have... power i don't have. I-I can't really... fight it and... b-but they can... and... and they said they would. For me. I-I don't know what they want from me but it... they seem... nice and... and..." She chewed on her lower lip before kissing Yuzu.

And kissing Yuzu. And going still. And kissing her... Okay, they were probably going to wanna put a stop to that. That was gluttony right there.

Yuzuki Amemori has posed:
Yuzuki Amemori tenses up briefly at the mention of Unmei kissing yet another random person. She doesn't say anything though. That's something to come later. She puts her hand to the bridge of her nose though. "I didn't fight him, I've fought with him." Then she tilts her head and adds, "Well sort of. We got told to stop beating up a giant tin can." Beat, "I don't remember if we've done anything else like that?"

Looking back to Unmei, "Money buys plenty, that doesn't change that we can't do anything to them." She glances to Kunzite again. Then she's about to say something else when there's a kiss. She quiets quickly and returns the kiss. Though when it starts to linger, considering the excess comment earlier and the not-so-subtle elements he had just done, she instead gently pushes the other girl away.

Kunzite has posed:
Yuzuki wasn't evil. "I was," Kazuo says deadpan, "but that was some time ago, and Mamoru's had me swear off."

Kazuo regards the kiss for a moment, then lets out a slightly relieved breath as Yuzuki puts a stop to it before things can go too far. He crosses to a chair opposite their couch and seats himself, rather than looming over everything, even from across the room.

"The gem that Eclipse gave her," Kazuo says, "appears to feed off acts of vice. The classical vices, apparently, gluttony included. As she said, the more she ate, the hungrier she became. Other kinds of gluttony, too -- we've been keeping her away from direct use of the Internet, and limiting her television exposure. The kisses seem to be connected; I don't have a complete story, obviously, but they seem to have been more frequent, more ill-advised, and less under her control as she grew hungrier. By the time she found Mamoru, she felt constantly as if she were starving to death, and she was unable to keep herself from draining energy from everyone and everything in her vicinity. By the time we figured out the problem, the gem appeared to be approaching some kind of threshold. We don't know what would have happened if that threshold had been crossed; we weren't inclined to experiment, since her employers aren't known to be overly concerned with its lower-echelon employees' sanity, well-being, lifespan, or retention of their own souls.

"Mamoru isn't certain what we can do for her, where Eclipse is concerned. But we'll try. We might be able to find a way to replace her gem with some other magic; Mamoru might be able to negotiate for the gem; there might be other options. There are a couple of people there that we've been able to conduct talks with in the past. We can try."

Unmei has posed:
Unmei Tama was, eventually, forced off. It probably took a few seconds, but she pulled back with a sad, puppydog look. "R-right," she said softly. Within moments the shaking was starting again, and the occasional panting. "H-huh? Oh. Y-yeah. It's like... t-that. Pin was... there to. For most of it. But... I-I thought... he was trying to help. At first. But then he..."

She took a slow, deep breath. "I... don't know what Pin wants. Ever. And I don't think I can trust him. But... but I'm certain I can trust Mamo. He promised me. He promised that they won't let anyone take... the gem from me. At least, not without something to replace it. Something so I can still be... me," she said with a little smile.

"Its... been hard. But... But Kun has been there. For me. And Mamo too. W-when I can't sleep. So I don't relapse. I couldn't... I can't. Do this. Without them. It... it'd be impossible. For me. I'd have fallen apart so... so long ago."

Then... "Wait... l-lower-echelon? I-I think I'm at least middle management material!" ... Ah... ha ha... no.

Yuzuki Amemori has posed:
Yuzuki Amemori drums her fingers on her knee, then looks to Kazuo and asks disbelieving, "You guys have experience with this?" beat, "Or just in general since as you said, evil." She twirls her finger and mutters, "Seems to be a running theme. Hakuhrk." She stops and catches herself. ANYWAY! She looks back to UNmei, then to Kazuo, "Did you let her adopted family know she's alright?" beat, "Or does she actually have one?" She never fully confirmed it, but she's going on the side of 'making sure the police aren't called'.

At the mention that she was about to flip, she doesn't say anything for a few moments. She had kind of suspected it and wasn't sure what she could have done, so there's some luck there at least.

"Midboss? I'd have thought you'd try to avoid that kind of nickname." Beat, "And I did kind of warn you, didn't I?"

Kunzite has posed:
"You aren't running a lab or a team," Kazuo says to Unmei. "That makes you lower-echelon for the moment." Material, he doesn't address. Eclipse has a lot of material. They burn through a remarkable amount of it.

Kazuo shrugs back to Yuzuki. "Not with this specific gem," he says. "But with the effects that dark magics tend to have, yes. Four out of the five of us who live here did a few years under enforced corruption and mind control. Every type is different, but there are some common themes."

Annnnd then Yuzuki asks an important question, and gets a demonstration that Kazuo is not, necessarily, quite up to date on his general humanity certification. Namely: she asks about the adopted family thing, and he gives her a blank look and blink, as if he were having trouble figuring out the relevance. "You were the first person she mentioned wanting to contact," he says.

Unmei has posed:
Unmei Tama blinked a few times. "The Tamas? Ummm, well, no. I mean, I never... told them I was going. I haven't even seen them since I... since what happened at school. I... i hadn't been sleeping much until I came here and... Eclipse gave me the money for food, with my card. I was just... I was gone for days. I doubt they even know I'm gone. I... would be amazed if they even care," she mumbled, her arms wrapping around her stomach.

"I... I wanted him to tell you... because... y-you're the only one here who... who cares about... me... or what happens to me..."

Then blinked a few times. "Wait, you have? W-when I feel better, I want to know the stories! That sounds really... interesting!"

She blushed. "I-is that your way of saying 'I told you so'? And I'd make the BEST mid boss. My attack pattern would be impossible to memorize."

Yuzuki Amemori has posed:
Yuzuki Amemori drums her fingers again, then just shakes her head and says, "Did they work with Eclipse?" Wanting to see if they're in on it or not. Because she's certainly not going to check in if they are! She runs her fingers through her hair, then says to Kazuo, "Can I help out at all here? I'd rather her not lapse since uh. Fork stabbings are a bad thing." She nudges Unmei at that, "And yes it kinda was I told you so, but not really."

Listening curiously, she says to Kazuo, "And are those common themes possession? That's the only one I've encountered." Beat, "Well and the giant tincan in the dream." Beat, "And I guess the dream eaters." . . . "Right."

Kunzite has posed:
"You're welcome to help any time you like," Kazuo says to Yuzuki. "And have a better right than we do. What she needs most seems to be someone to stay with her and let her lean on them when she needs it -- and to help monitor her intake. We've been giving her the same portions most of us eat -- there are a couple of people who have gluttony trouble themselves, but we're discounting them for the purpose -- and helping her measure them out in a reasonable way. Female assistance is particularly valuable, though; there are a couple of girls lending a hand, Naru particularly, but for the most part it's been the residents, and I'd rather err on the side of caution with whether Zoisite is feminine enough for her to feel comfortable with him keeping an eye on her in the bath."

'I told you so' from Yuzuki is probably completely warranted.

Common themes? Kazuo glances back to Yuzuki again. "Possession, mind-control, memory tampering, perspective tampering, slippery slopes and feedback cycles. Small sins paving the way for great ones. Slow losses on moral understanding, on consequences, on entitlement, sometimes on connection with reality. Defensiveness over them."

Unmei has posed:
Unmei Tama nodded. "Yeah. That's the only reason they adopted me. Eclipse needed someone to take care of me. Sorta. Mostly I just tried to stay out of their way and not make them angry..." Her eyes lowered and her arms wrapped around her stomach. "They... didn't like me very much but... it wasn't like I could live on my own. I'm just a kid still. And my real parents aren't..."

She gave another shake of her head. "They needed me to be somewhere. this was just easier. They gave the people a bonus. A-and I haven't done a-all of that! I-I mean, I ummm... I... m-my memories haven't been tampered with! I think. Probably. And..."

Her cheeks flared red. "A-and I can take a bath on my own, thank you very much! I-I only took one bite out of that bar of soap!" Okay, so she was REALLY hungry!

Yuzuki Amemori has posed:
Yuzuki Amemori shakes her head and gently reaches up to poke Unmei's head while saying, "I told you how many times about that slope?" in a teasing tone again. Trying to make some light of the overall tone. Then she looks back to Kazuo, then over to Unmei and back. She actually looks embarassed! "Uh, I wonder if it might not be a good idea for myself to try and help her bathe." She holds a finger up as she says this, then mouths the word 'kiss' in a way that Unmei can't see. Then she stops, facepalms and says, "We'll figure something out."

At the mention of eating soap, Yuzu facepalms again though. "Really?" she asks, then glances over to Kunzite, "Maybe uh. Liquid soap on a loufa already?" Beat, "Unmei you won't try to eat a loufa right?" beat, "I shouldn't ask that out loud should I."

Kunzite has posed:
There is the smallest nod back to Yuzuki at that mouthed word. "Liquid soap doesn't solve the water-from-the-tap problem," Kazuo answers Yuzu. "But we'll manage, one way or the other."

He considers Unmei a few moments longer. Something glitters behind his eyes at the mention of her real parents, but whatever it is doesn't emerge into his voice. "I know three people who've managed to get legal permission to live on their own as teenagers; but all of them had access to money for support, one way or another. That's a bridge to cross when we come to it. The gem and Eclipse are the hard parts. After that, as your lady says, we'll figure something out."

Unmei has posed:
Unmei Tama squirmed. "I-I really didn't have much choice. I-I didn't think anyone could really get me out of it and I didn't want to be a bother for you a-and then they found out and they s-said it was okay and they told me they could help me a-and they were going to purify me later, too." Her cheeks turned even redder. Then Yuzu kept going.

"I-I won't try to eat a loofah oh my gosh why would you even think that I-I'm not crazy! I-I only took one bite and ummmm... um um... um... Yuzu you know I'm not... insane, right?" she asked, staring up at her.

"I-I'm getting help now. Like... like you wanted... right? I'm d-doing the good things now, right?"

Yuzuki Amemori has posed:
Yuzuki Amemori sighs and says, "Right.. that's uh, right." She then shakes her head again. Glancing to Unmei she says, "I don't think you're insane, no. I think that you're going through someting where the fine not-evil folks are concerned you might slip and I'd like to avoid that." Beat, "I shouldn't be joking like that, but that's true still."

Then back to Unmei where she gives the girl a tight hug and says, "I'm worried about you and trying to make sure you're taken care of, that's all."

Kunzite has posed:
"I don't see any reason you shouldn't be joking like that," Kazuo says, absolutely deadpan. "If you'd like to inspect her room for any subtle and malicious magics, or check the kitchen just in case, you're completely welcome. Someone made brownies earlier, if you like that sort of thing."

This would be meaner if not that (a) Unmei has already had one and (b) if Yuzuki opts for one, Unmei will also get another half.

Unmei has posed:
Unmei Tama nodded and gave a nod. "Okay. As... as long as you don't think I'm crazy. A-and Kun is taking great care of me! He's distracting me and keeping me from focusing on the worse things. He's going to teach me how to play go later, too. He's really nice and awesome. The best person ever."

Then she glanced to him. She chewed on her lip. "Y-you should have one. They're good. Really good. Just... ummmm... d-don't... eat it in front of me. Please. I-I'll wait out here. With Kun. U-until you finish, okay? A-and I can show you my room. Their other room mate brought me some clothes, too. Y-you should see him. He's really, really pretty."

Yuzuki Amemori has posed:
Yuzuki Amemori looks to Kunzite and says, "The joke was the not-evil thing. You haven't marked me as particularly evil, fighting style aside." She shrugs while adding in an undertone, "I fight with a giant black sword though, which was never fully explained to me." She tilts her head and asks, "Can you think of why a sword would be called the Midnight Festival anyway?" Beat, "Uh...."

Looking to Unmei, she says, "I'll wait to have a brownie. It's impolite." Especially when trying to break the gluttony programming and all. "You're not good at reading humor." Beat, "I'm not good at doing humor either, but that's besides the point!"

Kunzite has posed:
Kazuo opens a hand, expression faintly wry. "Why wouldn't it be?" he says. "Bear in mind that my powers were shadow for a very long time before I was lured into error myself. So a giant black sword seems as reasonable to me as any other kind of giant sword."

There's a pause. He was about to start explaining that nobody's good at humor when they're as tired as Unmei's been getting ... but his uncertainty about whether that was the joke is enough to produce just the faintest hint of a comical expression in itself. Every kind of humor fail at once.

Yuzuki Amemori has posed:
Yuzuki Amemori shrugs and says, "My powers are breaking things and spectacularly breaking things I think. Haku was apparently a failed brewer, which... I have distinct memories of the taste, but not the making of. I think he finds it all amusing. All of it."

She then shakes her head, "How long do you figure this is going to take? I can probably bring her homework or even miss a day or two if I'm careful." She frowns, "I'd have to make sure I'm not missing any work too."

Kunzite has posed:
"I don't know," Kunzite answers, honest enough. "There's too much we don't understand. If you give any sign you know where to find her, there's the chance you might be followed -- there's someone in Eclipse who has an idea where she is, but someone and everyone are two different things. Take care of your own work, first, please. If you can find out what she'll need to do to make up the time she's missed, we can start working on that, at least. It'll give her something to do."