1397/A Healing Presence

A Healing Presence
Date of Scene:	19 April 2016
Location:	Plot Room #3
Synopsis:	A case of mistaken identity leads Kukai and Daisuke to hang out, talk about their adventures, and commiserate a lot. And maybe flirt. It's not a date if it wasn't planned before time, is it?
Cast of Characters:	Kukai Souma, Daisuke Hansuke

---

Kukai Souma has posed:
The day is breezy and overcast, with a faint, idle, misting rain moistening Tokyo. The day has finished at Seiyou Public School, and Kukai Souma is just leaving the school, wearing his hoodie and backpack. It's been a long, dragging day, especially since the rain has made it impossible for the scheduled soccer practice to happen, so he's decided it's time to head towards the house in as slow and slouchy-annoyed as he can manage.

It doesn't help that he hasn't seen any of his friends in a few days short of sitting in class, so when he sees a flash of purple hair around a corner he stops. It was shorter than he was used to, but maybe that was just a trick of the light. He looks back and forth across the street, then begins crossing quickly, intrigued.

Daisuke Hansuke has posed:
Daisuke Hansuke was at Seiyou High School today to check the donation box for a local food drive. He'd make a mark on a sheet of paper after checking it, and when he was done, it'd let the pickup driver known wether or not to come pick it up, empty it and put the bin back.

This was something that Daisuke did at all the schools, on this particular day, Tuesday afternoon. School gets out earlier for Verone in the day-- because private schools are just /the best/.

Indeed, there's a small flash of purple as Daisuke rounds a corner. He has his back turned and mostly iasn't paying attention to anyone in particular.

He's extremely easy to catch up with, however, it's not like he's running away at a fast clip.

"Let's see.. Infinity. Up the road and.. done for the day..." he says to himself.

Kukai Souma has posed:
It's not hard to catch up with the walking Daisuke, just as he rounds the corner. Kukai runs after him, a little mystified by what he saw. As he rounds the corner and moves up behind him, it becomes less and less likely - but he's got to make sure. He reaches over as he moves in behind Daisuke, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Hey! Is that you?" When and if he turns - even as Kukai gets close - he can tell it's nobody he knows, but he keeps his hand there for a moment, horribly embarrassed.

Daisuke Hansuke has posed:
Daisuke Hansuke has a hand placed on his shoulder. He blinks and stops dead in his tracks as he gently blinks again and turns around to face Kukai. "Hello?" he asks as he head tilts. He squints at Kuaki, nope, doesn't know him.

Then, he notices, the Seiyou School uniform, and a smile. "Oh, were you told to catch up with me?" he asks a moment. "Did I forget something? Sometimes they get confused and think I'm the one who actually picks up the donation boxes- so they send someone to lemme know I forget it." he says.

"It's fine. Someone else will come by tommrow." he says with another smile.

"Unless you apparently thought I was someone else?" he asks. He thinks, how many purple haired boys can someone know?

Kukai Souma has posed:
Suddenly there's a little green bullet on the scene, slowing down and resolving into Daichi, who lands on Kukai's shoulder. "There you are! I was saying goodbye to Kiseki and Temari and everybody and you ran off!" Kukai grimaces doubly, hearing that everyone had gone the other way, and then lowers his hand. "Oh. Crap. Uh. Hello!"

He refocuses, and his familiar, good-natured smile comes back to life, that infamous Jack's Smile, helping him clear the air and repair the moment. "Yes, hi! No, I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else, actually - I know a couple of people with purple hair and for a moment I thought one of them had cut it shorter than I was used to. Please, forgive me for bothering you."

Hesmiles weakly. "I didn't really meant to bother you... wait. Donation boxes? Do you work with the donation groups that put them up all over town? Those are really nice. I try to put a few yen in when I've got it to spare but most of the time it's so tight." He moves his hand down from Daisuke's shoulder to offer it in a handshake. "I'm Kukai. It's nice to meet you!"

Daisuke Hansuke has posed:
Daisuke Hansuke mmmmms? and listens. "Yes, I'm involved with those, and pretty much every chairty I can make time for from here to Uminari." he says with a slight and soft smile. "It's important to me to help as many people as I can. I find this is a better use of some of my free time."

"Some of it, mind you. All work and no play, and all that." he says.

"Oh, right? My name is Daisuke Hansuke. I go to Verone."

Well that's a big smile back, and he's about to continue talking when a tiny green fairy thing rests on his shoulder and he blinks. He has some experience with Guardian Charas, but not much. He opens his mouth, closes it.

"So who's the small one?" he asks politely. Yeah. He can see him. "Does he have a name?" he asks softly.

Kukai Souma has posed:
Kukai ahs and then nods. "Wow. That's really selfless of you. It must be hard, though, spending so much of your time working like that. It's..." He grins. "I mean I've helped with donations and a little work here and there but most of the time I'm tied up helping the people at my school or practicing. And yeah! You can't spend all your time on others and neglect yourself. It drains you."

He nods his head. "Verone, huh? Wow, it must be really cool. You guys get out earlier than we do, don't you? That's how you have time to go around. The classes must be rough to cram everything into the day, though."

And then Daisuke mentions the 'small one' and there's a faint 'oh' from Kukai before Daichi stands up and waves, responding. "I'm Daichi! It's nice to meet you!" Kukai grins faintly. "Soo... you can see him, huh? Awesome in more than one way, huh?" He looks up at the still misting sky. "Aren't you getting wet, though? We should get inside somewhere if it's bothering you."

Daisuke Hansuke has posed:
Daisuke Hansuke hrms. "Oh, I've never minded the weather like this." he says. "It makes me think of things on the edge of my memory I can't quite remember." he says as he taps the side of his chin a bit as he regards Kukai. "Well, you help where you can and that's what's important." he says softly. "It's a choice, it isn't my right to make someone feel indaquate or bad about not wanting to- or being unable to- help." he says.

Then he smiles and gives a little wave to Daichi. "Hi Daichi. You're a---" he searches his head.. "Protection Character?.. no..."

"No that isn't the word.. but it's close." he grumbles. "Guard Character? I feel that's closer. I'm sorry. I've only encountered one like you before." he says.

He says. "But sure. Let's. Get somewhere dryer if that'll be more comfortable for you." he asks as he looks around. What's around here? Daisuke isn't used to this part of town. He taps his chin.

Kukai Souma has posed:
Kukai nods and then shrugs. "Honestly, my jacket is keeping most of the weather off of me, but it's ok. I can walk along with you if you're going somewhere in particular - that is, if you don't mind! I don't mean to impose myself." He grins. "Sorry. I keep forgetting to be more polite."

Daichi laughs and then nods. "I'm a Guardian Chara! And who else did you meet?" Kukai looks over at Daisuke, thinking. "You probably know one of my friends - Amu, or Tadase, or maybe Nadeshiko. Or maybe even Utau or Ikuto or even Sierra."

Daichi is peering over at Daisuke closely as Kukai looks around. "Um. All sorts of stores and cafes and stalls and such. I mean I'm a little hungry but I can hold off for a bit." He shrugs. "Apparently I'm always hungry and I have a black hole for a stomach - at least that's what I've been told."

Daisuke Hansuke has posed:
Daisuke Hansuke ohs! "Tadase and his, yes I've met. I've also met... Ikuto." he says more seriously. "Sad person. Claims to steal dreams." he says softly. "Tried to scare me. Didn't work. Was too worried taking care of the sick cat he brought into the Animal Care Club." he says softly with a sigh.

He places one hand into his school uniform's jacket pocket and rubs another hand across his hair. "Milkshakes. Always milkshakes for me." he spots something that looks like a cafe. "Maybe I can get something like that there. Come 'on." he says.

"They gotta have food too." he says.

"A Black hole for a stomach, huh?" he sort of ehhhs. "Sounds like a friend I know." he says thinking of Usagi. "Can eat like crazy." he says. "Dunno how such a small girl can eat so much. Maybe metabolism."

Kukai Souma has posed:
"Kiseki, right." Kukai nods. "That's Tadase's Guardian Chara. And you met Ikuto? When? We've been looking for him for.. over a month now, I think. It's a long story but we think someone's holding him against his will. It'd help a lot if I knew where he was now."

Kukai perks up. "Ooh. Milkshakes? I haven't had one of those in a while. That sounds good." He follows Daisuke over towards the cafe, and a little green fire lights up in his eyes for just a few moments. "You have to let me pay for them, though. To make up for the confusion earlier. And it's only polite."

He thinks. "I know a couple small girls like that - both of them blonde, funnily enough. One with pigtails, one with odango. I tried to out-eat them at a contest recently and came in just behind them." He laughs. "Funny story - the last item on the menu was milkshakes, and they both refused to continue."

Daisuke Hansuke has posed:
Daisuke Hansuke huhs. "One in pigtails and the other...." he purses his lips. "Usagi. Right." he says with a smirk, even more so when he mentions the refusal of milkshakes at the end because /he knows why/ they'd refuse it. "Yeah. I think milkshakes might be ruined forever for her. I need to ask her." he says softly. "Because I owe her fifty for accidently crashing into her boyfriend one time." he says.

"Need to know if I need to change it over to smoothies or something." he tsks.

He blinks. "Sure, you can pay." he says with a coy smile.

"Ikuto... hrm. Not for a few months actually, sorry Kukai-san." he says. "Usually, he brought hurt cats to me but he hasn't for a while." he says softly.

He walks into the cafe and removes his hands from his pockets. Menu searching....

"Milkshakes....milkshakes.... Milkshakes! there we go. Yeah they have em." he says as he begins making a beeline for the counter. He's expecting Kukai to follow along.

Kukai Souma has posed:
Kukai grins at Daisuke. "Oh, you know Usagi-chan? She's awesome. We danced once or twice. It was great." He blinks. "Oh. Really? You gotta tell me some of this stuff. I went to Mamoru's apartment the other day and played Smash with him." He makes a face. "I'm not good at video games so he sort of, well, smashed me. But there was this Wii Sports game and I..." He grins. "Well, you ask him why he doesn't have any of the top scores anymore."

Kukai catches that smile and grins back. "Cool. And... Aww. That sucks. I was hoping for an easy victory over some of my troubles but I guess it doesn't come that easy anymore. Hopefully I can help his sister and girlfriend find him soon. Well." He looks over to one side, reminded of Utau, and that reminds him that he's currently mad at Utau because of reasons.

He follows along behind Daisuke, heading over to the counter and reading. "Milkshakes, hamburger, french fries, fish, chicken, noodles, teriyaki, tonkatsu special..." He's lost in thought for a moment - appears to be counting. "OK. I can get a strawberry milkshake and some french fries and a fish sandwich. How about you?"

Daisuke Hansuke has posed:
Daisuke Hansuke nods. "I would call him an aquatiance at best, my apologies." he says with a soft smile. "He never seemed too friendly, but I help animals. That's part of what I do." he says softly. "Member of the Animal Care Club, aiming to become a veternarian." he says.

He hrms. "He has a sister?" he wonders, huh. Still he shrugs.

He taps his chin. "Milkshake. Strawberry. Fish Sandwhich sounds good. No fries though." he smiles. Seems he's keeping it relativly simple.

"So..."

He grows a little smirky.

"Did she step on your feet a lot?"

Kukai Souma has posed:
Kukai shakes his head and pats Daisuke's hand. "Don't worry about it. It's ok. I don't know him personally, though. And that's sweet! I don't have a pet, myself. Ought to think about it." He frowns. "Yeah, his sister... she's a brat."

He grins and gives the order to the girl at the counter, paying for the meal as they talk. He looks over at Daisuke for a moment and grins. "Oh, who, Usagi? Actually, no. We were both..." He thinks, then nods to Daichi, who grins. "Fully expressing ourselves."

Daisuke Hansuke has posed:
Daisuke Hansuke has his hand pat. This evokes a bemused respons eof some sort, he softly waits for the food to be prepared as he places a hand into his pocket. He seems to think that over-- 'Fully expressing ourselves'. He imagines spastic mad dancing.

This does, make him smile a little doofily a moment at his own thoughts. This also makes him look odd because he's laughing at something Kukai can't see.

"Sorry. I'm imagining. Mad dancing. You know. Flaililing." he smirks.

"Sorry. I'll stop." he says.

"A brat. ugh. Spoiled too? I know those types. Verone Academy is /full/ of them." he says.

"Sometimes I wonder if there's a single drop of unforced human deceny at the whole school at times. But I know that's not the case. It just seems like there isn't at times." he sighs a bit.

Kukai Souma has posed:
Kukai Souma chuckles. "Well, put it like this. I thought she was a princess, she thought I was a pilot, and we were good. Not great, but good."

He shrugs. "Well. Not too awful, but she's convinced she's doing the right thing." He muses for a second. "There's a lot of that going around. I have some from time to time." He grins. "And it's fine. I like a good joke!" Their food is served, and Kukai picks up the tray, looking for a place to sit. "Where do you want to sit?"

He nods as Daisuke talks about goodness. "I'm sure there's good, decent people there - you just have to search for it."

Daisuke Hansuke has posed:
Daisuke Hansuke hrms. "I see." he says as he taps his chin. He's still waiting on food. It'll come momentarily. Fish sandwhiches take a moment he's sure. As do french fries with it. Milkshakes. Not so long, but the other stuff makes it longer.

Not that he's seeming to mind the wait.

"Yeah there is. Just. I seem to find a bunch of 'prima donnas' or a bunch of rancorus jerks. You know. The kind who think they can do whatever they want because they're rich."

"--and you know, they'll allowed to get away with it. Because they're rich." he says surprisedly. "I shouldn't be talking." he says.

"I'm not there on a scholarship myself." he smirks. "But. I understand social responsbility too." he insists.

"Back when I felt there was something missing through my life I think I dated constantly for a year. Was pretty terrible. Got tired about hearing about new yachts or new olypmic sized pools." he says.

AND THEN food! He walks along and finds a booth. Nice and private, no peeker ins this way.

"That was a confusing point in my life, you know? You feel like something was missing and don't know 'what'. I kept searching."

"Should had left well enough alone, really." he smirks. "Didn't like what I found out when It revealed itself. Not at first." he says.

Kukai Souma has posed:
Kukai Souma nods and sighs. "Utau's kinda like that. She thinks that because she's got the talent and the power she should be... I dunno. Absolved, I guess. And no, it's fine. I mean I don't have that kinda money either - I mean, the fact that you go to Verone means you're probably... y'know." He grins. "But I try not to let it color how I think about people. Too many princesses around to do that."

He winces and makes an oofing sound of commiseration. "Ow. Well, at least the girls were all cute, yeah? I'm new to this whole dating thing. Like super new. I've spent most of my life focusing on sports, and romance..." He makes a motion over his head. His eyes flicker that green fire for a moment. "But I'm learning."

He huhs, sitting down and looking at Daisuke. "Wanna share? Or are you still pondering it?"

Daisuke Hansuke has posed:
Daisuke Hansuke shrugs. "Verone has a lot of cute girls and guys." he says softly. "Looks don't matter to me, really." he smiles a bit.

He listens to Kukai as he takes a bite out of his sandwich. "Utau? The idol?" he says with a blink. "Yeah okay. I get it now." he says as he rolls his eyes a little. "Yeah I know the type." he mutters.

He head tilts a little.

"Well..." he says. "...you know, um. The Sailor Senshi? Tuxedo Kamen? His brothers? How they're all sort of reincarnations of someone from a long time ago? Or something to that effect? Well same deal here, from the same period." he says softly.

"I didn't know it at the time. I'd have strange dreams then I---" he motions to his ring. "Found a staff in the archives in Verone-- since I was given the task of sorting things. I touched it. I blacked out. I dreamed stranger things. That I was someone else."

"Then people who I've never met before started feeling familiar--" he says.

"Tuxedo Kamen seemed to know my 'old name' and called me that once. 'Asclepius'." he says.

"I was a royal physician in Tuxedo Kamen's 'Court' back then." he says.

"I don't even know where to start with that. I still need to talk to him and Kunzite and all that. Things have gotten more straighter in my head though. I think I have about as much information as I'm gonna get at this point maybe. I don't know."

"I know that feeling of something missing stopped though." he says.

"Regardless, I'm not much of a fighter. Healer and all that." he smiles.

"Any other questions? What about you?" he asks. "You have Dachi there, right? Can you do the thing like Tadase can and 'transform'?" he asks.

Kukai Souma has posed:
Kukai Souma just does process that first statement properly. He's blushing quite a bit a few seconds later. He's thankful for the topic change. "Yeah, her." He sighs. "I like her but I don't know if I like her like her, you know?"

He listens to the story of Daisuke's revelation and about halfway through remembers he's holding a sandwich. "Oh, wow. Another one?" He blushes fiercely. "I mean... I didn't mean it like that! Just... there's a bunch of you, aren't there? I'm just glad Mamoru-san isn't mad at me after I yelled at him."

He nods after a moment and smiles. "Well I'd say that if you have things straight in your heart then whomever you were isn't as important as who you are now." He smiles, looking at Daisuke. "And you seem like a good person." He nods. "Man we could have used a bunch of you in the North. Heck, all of the time - I heal fast but I caught half a crystal golem the other day and it took days to heal. If it hasn't been for my friend and his salve I'd have ached the whole time."

He grins. "Daichi. And yeah. If they ever talk about Sky Jack, that's me."

Daisuke Hansuke has posed:
Daisuke Hansuke says. "Kind of." he says. "Well..."

"I'm kind of both? I mean. I'm Daisuke. But I'm also Asclepius." he says. "The North Pole wasn't my place. There were things happening here. Lots of innocent people needed my help here. That's where I felt needed. You guys needed warriors. I'm not that." he says softly.

"Based on what I'd heard... I'd not had been able to save any of you anyways." he says a little grimly. "Healer. Not a miracle worker. Usually." he says more coyly.

"Beryl was a piece of work. I have memories of her- from back then. None of them are good."

"I wish I could say I feel even a little sorry she's gone, but I don't."

He hehs. "Well. That kind of thing can be difficult to figure out sometimes." he says. "Afterall, not all of us can be lucky enough to be born destined to fall in love with someone all over again from a past life." he smirks, leaning forward. "I swear, Mamoru has it so easy in that department." he says.

Kukai Souma has posed:
Kukai Souma nods. "The North Pole sucked. Hard." He shivers. "Bad times. Good times, though, for the effort we put in. And you're right - we needed that back up here. Some thing and some one to come back to." He shrugs. "I never knew her, so I'm just glad she's gone."

Kukai rolls his eyes and grumbles. "It's so complex! I mean.. there's this gu...girl, and I like her, but then there's this other girl, and another one, and more beyond that..." His eyes flash a second. "And whatever I end up thinking about you."

He grins again widely. "Mamoru's lucky in a lot of ways, and that's just one of them."

Daisuke Hansuke has posed:
Daisuke Hansuke hrms, and smirks a little. "Yeah. I can get that. I had a crush on this girl when I first met hefore because she was from that before time- and we shared similar intrests back then, but not so much now. So it was kind of a kerfuffle." he says.

He taps his chin. 'and whatever I end up thinking about you' gets a even coyer smirk from him, in an 'oh really?' manner.

He doesn't push on it though. He seems bemused.

"He is." he says.

He finishes his sandwhich, finally, so the milkshake gets worked on. Delicious, delicious strawberry. He seems to not be affected by brainfreeze.

"Well you need to do what you need to do to figure out your feelings, you know?" he says. "If you just keep asking questions and trying not to seek answers you just end up in this weird frustrating place. Trust me I know."

Kukai Souma has posed:
Another commiserating noise from Kukai. "That sucks. I'm sorry about it. I know how you feel, though." He's finished his food earlier, and is drinking his milkshake as well. He's a little slower about it, though, watching Daisuke with a little surprise. "Wow. ... Natural healing?"

He laughs and nods. "The questions come so much faster than the answers, though! Oh wow so much faster. As soon as I get one question answered I've got four more beating down my door."

He sighs, leaning back, poking at one lonely fry, making it spin on the paper. "I guess it's just nice to be able to sit back with somebody and relax. Everything is so crazy right now. Like, I need to find a mage. And I need to find Ikuto. And I need to keep a watch for crazy plant people. And I have to patrol for all the other bull crap besides that. And everybody I'd normally hang out with all seem to be taking care of their own fires right now. So..." He looks up at Daisuke and smiles softly. "So I'm really glad I mistook you for my other friend."

Daisuke Hansuke has posed:
Daisuke Hansuke smiles. "I don't mind talking. I used to have a lot of emergencies early on because everytime I turned around, I had more questions and more things proping up. Like..."

"Like how all the people I remember from the past time were working for Queen Beryl. I started to wonder if I belonged there too and I started panicing a lot." he grumbles.

"But then I realized I'd be largely useless to them. Also had a few dreams about it that helped." he says.

He shakes his head. "Eventually, you'll figure everything out." he smiles.

He looks at his watch. "Oh! F-- okay. I need to get to Infinity before the office closes so I can do thier count." he says as he smiles. "Thank you for the shake and the sandwhich." he says.

He purses his lip. "I should get your number before I leave." he says. "and I'll give you mine. Deal?" he asks.

Kukai Souma has posed:
Kukai is on brain freeze for a moment. Or maybe brain reboot. He's looking at that pursed lip for a second. It looks so familiar... Finally he shakes his head and grins. "That's how it goes, really. And don't worry about being useful or useless. Everyone has their role in the team to fill."

He nods. "I hope I do. It's a lot to figure out, but I'll get there." He ohs and then stands up, pulling out his phone. "Whoops! Sorry, didn't mean to keep you. Sure, lemme get your digits." He begins typing the contact information into his phone and offers his own from his screen to Daisuke. "And you're welcome for the meal. Thank you for the company. It was nice. We'll have to do this again sometimes!"