398/Strange Bedfellows

Strange Bedfellows
Date of Scene:	22 September 2015
Location:	The AM/PM Mini Market
Synopsis:	Miss White stops by Kyouko's conbenie. Surprisingly, no one dies.
Cast of Characters:	Hannah Sharpe, Kyouko Sakura

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Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    It's the early evening-traditionally a busy time in the conbenie business. People running in to grab dinner, or just grab a few things for dinner, or on their way home from work. That said, it's not a particularly busy evening- Kyouko has been ringing out customers for the past few minutes, but the little corner-store is not packed or anything.

    The redhead is currently dealing with the last customer in line, putting the man's purchases into a bag and handing them over after he has paid. "Thank you sir, please stop by again!" She says, flashing her trademark one-fanged grin, and the man laughs, "I'll be sure to do so, Kyouko-chan!" He says, on his way out.

    Looking satisfied with herself, she begins tidying up the counter, humming a little bit. Working ain't so bad!

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
When you've had as terrible a past few days as Miss White, you get forgetful occasionally. Having won her new status as the top of WPS, and yet having harmed her dearest friends as well as nearly killing herself with grief seeds (again), it's a particularly poor looking Kasagami White that walks into the front door of the conbenie.

She rather roughly pushes open the front door, golden cane smacking the ground gracelessly as she finds her way about. No big russians today. That golden tie of hers is missing too, her usually immaculate suit rumpled and a few buttons undone without a care.

"Hey." She calls out with a weary voice.

"Tell me you guys have aspirin, the strongest cheapest most crappy coffee in the world, and some fried chicken."

When in doubt, some comfort food does wonders.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko has just about gotten everything set the way she likes it when the door opens once again. "Welcome to the P.M.!" She sings out the rote store greeting while arranging her little bucket of paper clips, before she looks up.. and nearly chokes on her tongue at seeing who exactly just walked in the door.

    "W-hat-" She starts to say, then bites back anything more. She's an employee of P.M. Minimart, after all, and she needs this job! She wouldn't know what to do with herself without it. Plus, she's supposed to have a truce with Miss White. If the woman is here to attack her, well.. there's not much Kyouko can do about it, honestly.

    Still, it's with a somewhat strained voice that she answers, "We don't serve fried chicken.. unless you count the microwavable TV dinner sort, in which case I'd look in the fridges in the back.."

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
It might be to Kyouko's glee that Miss White pauses at the sound of that familiar voice, trips, and goes tumbling to the ground.

She seems fine, by the way she's snarling and getting back to her feet.

"K...Kyouko!?" It's honest surprise, before her mind catches up.

Riiiight, she got a job at a conbenie.

Mutter mumble head-rub.

"Bah. Of course it would be you!" She huffs before waving her hand.

"You can drop the store act, Kyouko. Hostility suits you better. Ugh, and add a bandage to that." She's bleeding a bit. She'll shuffle over in the vague direction of what she hopes is the medicine aisle.

Still, her irritation fades a bit.

"...Any improvements?" She means, of course, her soul gem. The girl might not realize, but Kyouko remains a person of interest even with the truce. In some ways, the truce helps her. Should she get her powers back, it might be good leverage to keep her out of conflict with her company.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    "A good employee doesn't let personal feelings get in the way of the customer service." Kyouko says, her voice still sounding tight.. but without any of the usual whiplash anger that might have colored her tone in the old days.

    She comes out from behind the counter, frowning slightly as she observes Miss White, who doesn't seem to be in particularly good shape herself. "Nothing's changed, if that's what you mean. I've been living a delightfully stress-free life, with nobody trying to kidnap, experiment on, or kill me.. I hope." Her eyes narrow slightly, but she does walk over and grab a box of bandages, turning to press them into Miss White's hands. "Here."

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
A brow rises.

"I'm actually impressed. I didn't think you would take to an actual job, Kyouko."

Then she's over and helping, the bandages taken. Kyouko's answer has her frowning.

"Thanks. Hey, calm down. I might be an evil wench, but when I give my word, I keep it." Comes MIss White, irritation seeping into her voice.

She'll also pick up some of that coffee. Hopefully the bold kind. Which she then utterly ruins by adding tons of sweeteners and cream, and those little 'extra caffeine' pods. Better to lose sleep with jitters than with nightmares.

"Still, at least they're leaving you alone." 'They' being anything magical.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    "So far.." Kyouko agrees, frowning slightly as she turns to walk back to the counter, after having helped Miss White to gather the things she came in looking for.

    "What, you think I got a problem with authority, or something?" She smirks slightly. "Maybe I do, but a chick's gotta pay the bills somehow, don't she?"

    After a moment's hesitation though, she shifts behind the counter, frowning again. "Listen, I got a favor to ask you." She doesn't pre-amble this with anything, except to add, "I figure you owe me one anyway, for all the hell you put me though." No mention of the hell given in response, of course.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Miss White grins after sipping some coffee. 5r
"Yes, you do." She answers almost immediately, then raises both hands.

"Hey, hey, I understand that. I am the last person you are going to hear say things like 'money is bad' or 'hard work sucks'. You just surprised me."

She's leaning over, inspecting a few candies with vaguely frowning results, before Kyouko speaks again. She almost bumps her head. Again.

From the looks of her face, she's trying to decide if she either misheard, or Kyouko is screwing with her.

Thankfully she's too tired to not bite.

"A favor, huh? Kyouko Sakura is asking /me/ a favor? I think I just felt the underworld's air drop about ten degrees."

Snarking aside, she crosses her arms.

"But, I guess you do have a point. Alright. Whose face am I introducing to pavement?"

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    "It's not like that. Although.. well, I can't blame you for guessin' that, since it's not like I can do it myself these days in most cases, but." Kyouko shrugs her shoulders a little bit.

    "Listen I.. well, recently, like you said, I started to become a little concerned about my ability to defend myself in case.. well, in case somebody comes after me like they did after Homura. I can't use my magic.. nothin' I can do about that right now. But that don't mean I gotta be helpless, either."

    She frowns again, a pensive expression. "I've started taking some martial arts classes.. I mean, I know how to fight. I can't use magic but a lot of that stuff ain't magic is it? It's muscle memory and practice. But I don't wanna get rusty. Still, there's only so much that classes can do."

    She takes a deep breath, setting her expression. "So I was wonderin' if you'd spar with me, sometimes. Non-magical only. I figure.. if I'm gonna beat on somebody, it might as well be somebody I'd enjoy beating on, right? And.. well, I know you won't go easy on me. Sometimes I feel like other people are. As if they're afraid I might break now, or something. I don't like that."

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Miss White listens, sipping her coffee and 'looking' the other girl over. She tilts her head, ponders, and eventually she straightens up. After a long, tired stretch, she finally flashes a warm smile to Kyouko.

"Despite all the evidence to the contrary, you are not an idiot." She proclaims, as if this were some great discovery.

"Alright. What martial arts have you been taking? I don't do the eastern stuff, but kickboxing and boxing I can do. Good old fashioned brawling too. Ever gotten into a fight? I mean without your henshin."

The girl slips into her role as an instructor, honed from being Infinity's Kickboxing Club President.

"As long as I'm not out getting things done, any time. I know a good gym or two that has some nice equipment for it, too."

Then she just laughs.

"...Break? You? You are the kind of person who breaks when they die."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    "I dunno," Kyouko mutters in a low voice, "Maybe the fact that I'm asking you for help is proof enough that I'm an idiot." She chuckles though, and shakes her head slightly.

    "I been in fights. Ask Mami. Or.. don't, actually," She winces slightly, "Last thing I need is those stories getting around again, but the point is, yes, I've been in fights that aren't of the magical sort."

    "Sayaka-chan has gotten me into her Kendo classes, and I've been going to this local dojo near where I live, but.. well, it doesn't really matter." She shrugs. "I want to spar with you. Where I'm standing, that means you come at me and I come at you and we fight till one of us don't wanna fight anymore."

    "Witches don't care about what style your usin'. Don't see why I should either."

    At that last bit, she smirks. "I guess we'll see about that, won't we? All I can say is, I ain't ready to die yet. Not by a long shot."

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
There's an awkward look. "Yeeeah...I think I will leave old wounds closed. Something something Pandora's Box."

Moving on!

One eye closes.

"Huh. You are really serious about this. Alright. Good. That means you won't complain."

Really, by now, Kyouko has her grinning.

"So we beat each other up until we both learn something. Great! You have no idea how much I am going to enjoy this. So. When are you thinking? I'd like to just kick you to the pavement right now, but that might get you fired, and I'm recovering from nearly killing myself with my little ah...inventions. Long story, don't ask."

"To Witches, sure. But if you know a little about styles, then you can have some idea of what your opponent can do."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    "I'm just saying, I don't care what you use. If I can learn to beat it, that's what's important." Kyouko says, on the subject of styles.

    As for when, she shrugs her shoulders. "I tend to be off in the late evenings.. after 9pm. I'm good pretty much any day around that time, so.. we'll just have to find a day when you aren't caught up in.. corporate shenanigans."

    She smirks a bit as she rings the other woman out. "Anyway.. I got some work to do, so don't let me keep you. But here.." She writes a number down, and sticks it into the bag with the other purchases. "I put my cell number in the bag. Have Ao read it for you later."

    She turns then, and starts to walk back towards the store room at the back of the store. "I'll be seeing you around, Miss White."