Haruna Kurosawa has arrived at Karou's Donut Stand and setup shop with a tiny wave to Karou. Corvus flew off behind the stand and put on a chef's hat and got to help make donuts. Karou was kind of used to the craziness of the Precures who visited his donut stand so the former Secret Service Agent seems unphased by 'seagull helping me make donuts'.
Haruna herself taps taps taps at her phone.
Text: Ami-chan. I'm at the donut stand in the downtown parks area. I'd like to talk to you for a bit! Donuts on me~
Text: Oh. Right. This is Haruna! um. Cure Gull!
Then a text that is a picture of a box of donuts that seem to be steaming and covered in chocolate with heart shaped holes.
Receiving a random text from an unknown number is becoming par for the course in Ami's life. It's just not weird anymore. But having them call her not only 'Ami', but by the incredibly familiar '-chan' is a whole new level of weird for her.
Especially when the texter identifies themself as someone Ami is quite sure shouldn't know who she really is.
For at least five minutes, she just stares at the text, then looks up at the pile of textbooks scattered around her, then sighs. "I hate you, Agera," she mumbles under her breath, then starts cleaning up the mess she's made at her little cubicle in the library.
Once she's done cleaning, Ami realises she's resolved herself to going, and so she texts back hastily:
Text: I'll be there in about 20 minutes.
And then she catches a bus.
Twenty minutes later, Ami is approaching from the nearest bus stop, dressed for the hot day in a blue-and-whtie striped tanktop and a pleated blue skirt, with tall white stockings beneath her saddle shoes. She doesn't look happy, as she makes her wa y towards Haruna, but neither does she look violent, at least. Of course, she also doesn't quite look like she knows exactly whom she's looking for, either, as she casts her glance to and fro in search of Haruna.
Haruna Kurosawa is sitting at the table with a box of donuts sending random smoochy texts to Hannah, sending pictures of the donuts to her Gull blog. (Which then promptly get liked and reblogged by Miyo. Also, directly below that picture in the blog is a picture of Corvus trying to eat a giant baloney sandwhich and looking caught off guard mid bite. The caption note is 'He's already full of the stuff, silly seagull!')
She stands up and waves waves at Ami with a smile.
That smile falters a bit when she realizes Ami looks unhappy, but she still waves her over.
"Hey, have a seat..." she says as she turns the box toward's Ami. "Donuts." she insists. "The best in town. I promise." she insists. She lets this sink in.
"Hey um. I just. Wanted to make sure that you're okay n' stuff." she says quietly.
When she's waved over, Ami takes a good long look at Haruna, then sighs and moves to join her. Green hair, effervescent smile, blue eyes. Sometimes the fact that it's so easy to miss things like this drives her up the walls.
Ami moves to join the pretty cure at her bench, and slides into her seat across from her. "I'm fine," she mumbles, though it's so clearly a lie. "It's completely fine having someone who shouldn't know my name texting me to come meet for donuts."
Beat.
Ami reaches up to grab a donut quickly and shoves it straight into her mouth, either stress eating or just starving.
Haruna Kurosawa frowns and shakes her head. "I didn't come here to rub that in your face, Ami." she says softly as she looks down. "You helped save my sister... I won't forget that." she says softly.
DShe watches Ami shove a donut into her mouth. "I mean."
"I'm here to talk about. Well..."
"Riventon." she says quietly. "Takashi." she says. "Since that cat's out of the bag and all." she says quietly.
"You know.... Hannah Sharpe. Right? Miss White...?" she asks softly.
"Lots of people were upset I was dating her. You know. My sister.... Tadase.... Kukai...." she shakes her head.
"S'why I left Virtue. Because Tadase tried to make me choose one or the other." she says. "It hurt a lot." she says softly.
"I just...."
She sort of rubs her right arm. "I just wanted to know how it was going for you." she says more concernedly. "Because I know how that kind of thing goes." she says.
Ami finishes the donut faster than ought to be humanly possible, then goes for another. "Differently," she says in between. "Very ... differently." She studies her second donut a moment, then eats it in its entirety before offering a faint shrug. "Partly because I'm not apologizing for what he does, and I'm not defending him, either. And ... besides, 'dating' is sort of a loose term for what we're doing right now, since I've got too many other stressors for us to even work out the terms of our relationship."
Haruna Kurosawa purses her lips and listens to Ami as she head tilts.
"Yeah. What... He does isn't your fault. It's okay to get upset at him. I get upset at Hannah all the time." she looks down. "Riventon is important to me too." she says quietly.
"...do you remember when I was Scorn?... when I was. Over there. I had... two people watching over me. Riventon.. and Hannah." she says.
"I stick by Hannah... because I know eventually, she's going to realize she's doing the wrong thing. Or the people she works for are going to run out of uses for her. Or any number of things. I /have/ to be there when that happens." she says.
She finally eats a donut, but only a bite. She's not shoving donuts into her mouth.
"Stressors...?" she blinks once. Like she's asking what are the stressors. Then she's sort of deftly and sneakily trying to look up the word 'Stressors' on her phone.
Yeah this is /totally/ why RivenRuna would had NEVER worked out.
"Oh. Um." she clears her throat. "Well what kind of biological agent, enviromental condition or extermal stimulus or event is causing that?" she asks. Yeah she just read that word from word from the phone screen.
She's failing at looking smart.
Corvus has a gigglefit from the donut truck.
Ami glances sidelong at Haruna as she clearly looks up the word on her phone. She waits a moment, then shoves the second donut in her mouth before she can say something mean. It's gone as fast as the first was.
"Not your business," Ami points out gently--perhaps a little unfairly. "It's not that I'm not fond of you, but it's ... deeply personal, and I'd rather not discuss it. Suffice to say, my life isn't great right now, and most of it is either directly, or indirectly, Takashi's fault."
She sighs, then says, "And while Miss White may someday manage to figure out that villainy is wrong, I don't have that luxury with Takashi. I'm not sure how well you know him, but his condition is far different."
Haruna Kurosawa head tilts at Ami. "That's fair. You don't have to talk about." she says softly. "You mean that he's brimming with dark evil energy?" she asks softly. "Speaking as someone who was once brimming with enough of the stuff to steal souls-- yeah I know about conditions like that." she says gently. "I know how that stuff gets into your head. Kind of talks to you. Promises you things it can't give but takes everything." she says. "But-- I wasn't born that way." she says. "I was just tricked into it." she says softly.
"-and even then--- I had to actively reject it... but it took... a lot of people helping me to do that." she says quietly.
"How would you even help someone who'd been like that from the get go..?" she asks more rhetorically.
Here is where Ami's hard expression softens some, and she shrugs almost helplessly. "I don't know, yet," she admits to Haruna. "But with the other Senshi, I've saved four generals and a prince--one of them required direct resurrection. I'm sure if I can just get access to the notes on his condition that I'm sure he's keeping, I can figure something out."
She looks up at Haruna, then notes, "But he's probably going to consider that a betrayal. He doesn't want me to save him," she points out. "He doesn't think there's a problem, which of course is ludicrous."
Haruna Kurosawa shakes her head. "That's the darkness talking. Of course it doesn't want him to be saved. When Corvus was in my head when he was the raven. When I was tied to him, I didn't want to be saved either. But the fact of the matter is. He might be upset at you if you were to find his notes n' stuff..."
"But when you save him. He's going to want you to be there. I know it." she says softly.
"Um. Is there a more. Roundabout way to get what you need?" she asks sheepishly. "Like anyone similar you can study?" she taps her finger to her bottom lip. "Or have met?" she asks. "I know that the Phantom Empire generals have been basking in that Dark Energy Marinade for like at least 300 years but... I don't even know if they're human anymore..." she purses her lips.
Ami shrugs. "I don't know, but it doesn't matter anyways," she says. "He's going to hand me the notes himself," she explains, all too confidently. Yeah, and he's totally not going to hide any of them.
Yeah right.
"That's part of the agreement for us getting back together," Ami explains to Haruna quietly. "I get full ethical oversight on all of his projects. That means I need the notes. But first ... he has to take me to see the dusk zone." She shivers a little at this idea, then reaches for another donut. "And we can't do that until I'm not an emotional wreck."
Haruna Kurosawa blinks. "Oh! I see." she says softly. "Well. That's good then." she says softly. "I mean. With the agreement. Not. Going to the Dusk Zone." she shivers.
"You. Be careful there, alright?" she says. "I was never there. Even as Scorn, but I heard enough about it from Kami-sama and from Hannah-chan's Lab reports." she says softly.
She kind of folds her arms around herself. "I wish I could help you with this, Ami." she says softly. "But if you ever need to talk to anyone." she says softly. "I'm listening." she says.
"It may not be the same thing. But I'm entirely used to Hannah-chan doing the stupidest stuff. Usually right when I've convinced my sister she's a good person at heart..." she says sheepishly.
"Then she does something stupid like grab a dark energy sword... or steal a heart egg... or punch a bank... or geeze." she says exasperatedly.
"God dammit, what does this say about my taste in women." she says placing two fingers to the bridge of her nose.
"That you're too forgiving," Ami points out gently to Haruna. "Which is why you and Virtue got in a disagreement, too, as I understand it." Then she holds up both hands, "Sorry, I'm not going to judge you on it. That's between you and Virtue. But if Takashi did half the things you just described, I'd kick the crap out of him. That's just not okay."
Haruna Kurosawa huffs a bit. "I kind of slap Hannah everytime she does something stupid... and she knows I'm upset, and she knows she fucked up again then she hugs me and apologizes and just... meh. You're right."
"Hannah gave her arm to save my life. She risked the one thing that makes her happy to protect me. I know that doesn't cancel out any of that garbage. But....." she sighs and shakes her head and shoves the rest of the donut into her mouth because two can play at that game.
Corvus finally flaps on over and lands on Haruna's shoulder. He still has the tiny chef's hat. "Well. To be honest. I could had worked through the whole... Tadase being upset at Hannah thing." she admits.
"It was Kami-sama's stupid rule that tipped me over the edge." she frowns.
"'Pretty Cures can't fall in love.'" she hrmphs. "Stupid!" she spits out.
"So does that mean you're not a Pretty Cure anymore?" Ami asks with an arched brow, as she turns to regard Haruna. "Or did they let you keep your powers anyways?" She frowns in thought, then notes, "You know there's a reason for that rule, and sometimes I wish Senshi had the same. Negative emotions lead to channeling dark energy, even unintentionally, in any heart. And channeling dark energy can lead to poor decisionmaking. To not being an actual hero, with these gifts."
Haruna Kurosawa places her hands on her hips. "Kami-sama can't take the power back. If he could, Cure Fortune wouldn't be a pain in his butt!" she says matter of factly. "Nah I still am. Me and Kami-sama came to an agreement on the matter, anyways because I'd rather not have you know... god upset me. Well. A god." she says with a sigh. "Mainly, I have Cure Spark watching me to make sure I'm not making stupid decisions either." she says softly.
She head tilts. "It's...."
"I think I've felt strongly negative enough in my life that I don't wanna feel like that again." she says. "I mean. I spent... two... three? years? Alone? On purpose just... being hopeless and yelling at anyone that tried to get close." she says quietly.
"So if you're still a Cure," Ami says, "and you don't want those negative emotions agin,a nd you still care about doing good ... what's your plan to save Hannah?" she asks curiously. "Because last I checked, she's been up to some pretty awful things, lately. And yelling and hitting her isn't going to stop her; in fact it's more likely to encourage her, with her attitude."
Haruna Kurosawa softly shakes her head. "I don't know Ami." she says quietly. "Theoritically, I can't. I can't prove to her what I feel. I can tell her, but I can't... make her choose." she says quietly. "I have to wait and bide my time. I'll get a chance to strike. I know it." she says softly.
"I just need to wait patiently. I waited three years to see my sister again and went through hell for it. I can do it again for Hannah's sake if I need to..." she says quietly.
Ami sighs and frowns at Cure Gull. "She's never going to change if you just wait," Ami points out honestly. "And it's dragging your reputation down with her--not something I think you should want. I would be the last person to tell you to break up with her, but you should at least try to come up with some sort of plan."
Haruna Kurosawa sighs and shakes her head. "I'm not..." she says and just kind of wilts a bit shamefully. "I'm not good at plans." she says silently. "I mean. I can try to come up with something but it'd probably be rude goldberg levels of stupid. Maybe...maybe I can ask my sister for help... she'd be better at this stuff." she says a littler miserably.
"Making things better. That was kinda her speciality." she says.
Corvus nods matter of factly. "...and I'm not exactly the best person either for the job. Considering." he says, eyes shifting a little to the right.
"Mmm," Ami replies quietly, then picks up another donut. "Interventions are a thing," she points out gently, "as are friends willing to help with interventions. People who actually care about you and Hannah both. They do exist," she points out gently.
Haruna Kurosawa mmmms and nods. "Yeah... if I do that I'd want... Tide there... and... Mamo-kun..." she says softly. "If I could convience Boris to join in... or Ao-chan..." she seems to tap her chin and sighs.
"I just don't want her to feel ganged up on." she says.
"The..."
"...look." she says softly as she looks down. "Do you know why Hannah does the things she does...?" she asks quietly.
"I know that she believes might makes right," Ami replies, "and that she needs power for something; she wants to change hte world, I'm sure, as does Takashi. But guns which steal the hearts of children aren't the way to do it."
Haruna Kurosawa shakes her head. "Look. What I'm about to tell you... it's between you... and me." she says softly. "And... a lot of this is me trying to remember. So...."
"Hannah is blind. I know it's easy to forget that sometimes, because magic lets her 'see' and 'read'. But she didn't always have that. She used to be just 'blind'. But she perservered through that and became a star kickboxer, just like her grandma..." she says softly as she fingers the locket around her neck for a moment.
"She had a friend. Ao-chan." she says. "And one day.... Well. A Monster attacked and she tried to fight it because it'd taken Ao-chan. Well. I mean. You've seen 'unpowered' folks try to fight monsters before, right?"
"It doesn't really work. Ao-chan got really sick from it, permenantly. So Hannah blamed herself. She felt powerless and weak like never before." she says.
"...so some jerks took advantage of that. They gave her 'power' so she could prevent that from happening again. For a price- and promised her more of it. If she'd play along." she says. "The world she wants, is one where friends don't need to worry about thier friends being carried off by monsters they can't fight back against..." she says quietly.
"It doesn't help that people who could help arrived too late to help Ao-chan and she blamed them, too." she says. "I ... I think she's mostly over that." she says.
"That part at least." she says as she rubs her far arm.
Ami listens intently, though another donut vanishes in the midst of the story. Where it's gone is unclear, but there are suspicious crumbs on her lips that she's cleaning off with her tongue when Haruna finishes the story.
When she's sure Haruna's done, Ami looks up to her again, then says, "That sounds tragic, and I hope someday Hannah will trust me enough to let me see her friend. There are ... medicines I'm still remembering from the time before time. I don't know if I can help, but I know I won't hurt," she points out. "But all of that is reason for Hannah to fight against the very monsters she enables. Takashi is busy creating the very monsters she is trying to save the world from, and he's not even the greatest threat. Sure, he wants to 'save' the world, too, but he's hurting a lot of innocents just like Ao in the process."
Haruna Kurosawa nods. "I can talk to Hannah-chan about it." she says softly. "I planned on helping Ao-chan... though Hannah doesn't want me to." she says quietly. "When Pretty Cures defeat a 'powerful dark force'..." she says. "Sometimes our companions are able to generate Precards...." she reaches into her pocket and produces a set of two translucent cards that looks more at home on some kind of dress up paper doll. They depict A nurse maid's top on one side, and skirt and hat on the other.
"This is a Nurse Precard. S'let's me do minor medical care with a first aid kit and also lets me sneak into the hospitaldon'ttellanyone." she says suddenly quickly at the end.
"Anyways. These cards are put into a PreCard Decor when they're not being used. Basically a big binder." she admits.
"When a Pretty Cure aligned with Kami-sama fills the Decor... we're able to activate it and recieve a wish." she says, ",and Healing Ao-chan is definitly in it's scope and that's what I intended." she says.
"The wish would also effect me in some manner." she says. "Which could either good... or bad." she says softly.
"But if your medicine could help Ao-chan. I dunno what I'd wish for." she says meekly.
Ami shrugs just faintly. "I don't know if it can," she admits quietly. "I've raised a man from the dead, though, so ... there may be something I can do. Or it may be beyond my ability. But I owe Hannah anyways. So tell her I'll try as much as I can." Around the eighty million other projects she has, including keeping her own boyfriend out of trouble.
Haruna Kurosawa nods and gently smiles. "I will." she says softly. She does kind of reach a hand over and places it over Ami's a moment. "Look... I just..."
"I just knew what it was like when I started dating Hannah and I got all this crap and... just...."
"I wanted to make sure you weren't getting the same treatment." she says quietly.
"This has moved me so much I'm even writing a book on the subject." she winks.
"But...It's a work in progress...."
"...Just. If you need help. You let me know." she says softly. "And..."
"Thanks for talking with me, Ami-chan." she says softly. "I think... I think I know what to do now about Hannah." she says softly.
"No, I'm not getting the same treatment," Ami replies quietly. "For me, it's worse," she explains quietly, then sighs and rubs her arms. "I should probably get back to my studies. Good luck with Hannah."
Haruna Kurosawa shakes her head. "Well. If you ever want to talk about it, Ami." she says softly. "Text me. Or drop by my sister's apartment. My sister could always talk with you if you don't feel comfortable about me." she says.
"Anyways.. yeah. Oh! Um..." she closes the box with the last of the donuts and lifts it up at Ami. "Here, for you!" she beams.
Regardless of wether she takes them or not, she'll get up and get ready to leave. Same smile as always!
Ami accepts the donut and takes a sedate bite, then shrugs. "It's not about comfort," she says. "It's just ... private," she explains as she slides out of the bench. "See you later," she says, as she turns to head back towards the buss.