It's raining, hard today, which suits Jia well enough as she's sprawled out on her bed, window open so that she can listen to the rainfall and phone in hand, clearly waiting on a message back. This lasts for a few minutes, including even sending a message out. When nothing comes back, she drops her arms onto her bed, nudges the phone away from her hand and begins talking to herself in Chinese. Or Meifeng if she's in the room, not that she's sure on that fact at this moment or not.
Sitting up slowly, she looks around her room, using tugs of magic to pull pictures down from her corkboard full of scraps of paper, letters and pictures. Only specific pictures. they're gathered up eventually and put face down on her drawers, followed by a necklace. Then she walks back over and flops face down onto her bed.
Lacrima has been mostly keeping to herself. She hasn't really been talkative since being purified. It takes a while, a long while, for her to recoil from that. On the upside. She is reading horrible vampire novels that make everyone questions her taste in what's a good author or not.
She hears some sort of commotion from the other room. That tingle of magic being used. She decides to investigate and peeks into Jiaying's room.
"Hello." she says. Usual deadpan.
"...is everything alright?" she asks.
Jiaying Maki says something into her bed comforter. Realizing this doesn't answer the question in anything resembling reasonable, she rolls over onto her back and says, "Sora's avoiding me entirely, good or bad. It's not a good feeling."
She slowly sits up and looks at Norie quietly, "I also snapped at some weird girl with a sword going on about noise because she's sure I don't take anything seriously." There's a beat before she adds, "I also am lapsing in how I control myself in fights. This-this isn't health and I think after we get Sora helped, I need to distance myself from everything. I'm afraid I'll lash out."
Lacrima head tilts as she frowns. "Of course she is. She's probably afraid of hurting you... or that dark stuff is in her head and clouding her feelings..." she says quietly. "I avoided all my old.... school..." like she wanted to say something else there. "Friends entirely. When I became this thing." she says.
She walks over and sits on the bed. "I don't know about anyone with a sword or talking about noise." she says softly.
She frowns. "Does that mean me, too?" she asks softly.
"I understand. If that's the case." she says.
"I know many people... don't like my lack of emotion or... excitement to my voice." she says.
Jiaying Maki pokes at the pictures quietly and says, "She's already done that. She tried to do that even after finding out it was me. Even texting would have been preferable to this." She shrugs and crosses her arms on the drawer and buries her face in her arms. "She's skipping school too."
She doesn't protest Norie sitting on her bed, saying instead, "I don't know her either. She showed up at random, acted far too serious and all knowing then left on a helicopter. I didn't do anything, but say something harsh to her- and maybe partially let Meifeng unmask, which was kind of mean I guess."
Glancing back she shakes her head, "Even if I distance myself from... all of this for a while, you're welcome here. I'll at least keep in contact one way or the other. I promise."
Lacrima frowns as she sighs. "I wish you could understand... how this feels." she says quietly. "To go from... happy... and.. 'normal', to... this. I constantly question, sometimes, wether I am the girl I was just turned into this thing... or if... I'm a thing. With this girl's memories." she says quietly.
She fidgets a bit uncomfortably. "I dunno what's happening to Sora right now.. or Shiniko." she says. "But... I wish... I wish I had someone like you...or Ayana or Ikiko earlier in this. I could had.... kept some friends." she mutters.
"Just...please don't. Give up." she says quietly.
Jiaying Maki lifts her head and looks at the small pile of pictures and the necklace and pokes at them a few times without answering. Eventually she says, "I don't know how that feels. Any time I start to get angry, I immediately try to get away from it. That night at the prison is the closest I've come to openly just- just accepting it."
Chewing on her thumbnail, she eventually says, "I want to help her, and I will because that's the right thing to do, no matter what my feelings are." She sighs and continues, "This long though, the last text was just asking not to get in the way. Nothing else really." Looking back, she says flatly, "I haven't completely given up, but I can't follow her to help, I can't even find her to help at this point."
Lacrima frowns. "I stopped accepting texts from my friends, too." she says softly. "I stopped doing a lot of things. I was so confused. And lost." she says quietly. "I just. Whatever Sora's doing. She thinks she has to. It does that... to you. The darkness."
"You /have/ to drain people. You have to hurt people. You have to... anything." she says.
"I'm sorry." she says quietly.
She sort of curls forward a bit, looking down at the ground.
"Not sure it makes any sense to this." she says.
"I wish I could make this better."
Jiaying Maki scowls as she listens. If that's true, she definitely shouldn't, but at the same time, she's frustrated and this leads to a number of thoughts chasing their way around in ehr head. She sits on her bed and flops back, staring at the celing. "You're sure it's the same thing for her?" Maybe just needing some reassurance there.
Then she realizes what kind of place that all must be coming from and sits up, then wraps her arms around Norie and gives her a hug. "I can't make any promises yet, but I will... keep trying for now Norie."
Lacrima just sort of sits there quietly. "I don't know if it's the same thing. When I talked to her. It sounded like.. she had to do it. 'It's for the best'...or something..like that." she says quietly. "She didn't. Sound convinced. She sounded sad." she says softly.
She just sighs. "But I can see how it might be similar. When I gave up. I just...accepted. It." she says. "That I had to hurt people. That..."
"It was for the better.. if I stopped trying to fight it." she says.
Jiaying Maki hesitates as she hugs Norie. "So what would you suggest then?" She asks quietly, "If she's that far gone, would I really be able to help? What cou-... what should I do to help her?" She frowns and considers something, then looks to Norie and asks, "What would you suggest to help her, then to help you?" She means in general mind.
"She didn't sound sad, she sounded determined the last time. Like it would be better even if it was through me and her family" That's how she took it at least.
Lacrima frowns. "I..." she says softly. "I'm going to have a talk with Riventon-san, and see if he won't tell me what he knows about Shiniko. They worked together, for a bit. He was..looking at something for her." he says softly. "I feel he might know what we're missing. At least. Maybe... the cause or..." she sighs.
"Riventon-san might agree that what's happening isn't in Tokyo's best intrest. It's true." she says quietly. "So he may do that." she says.
"Riventon-san." she says quietly. "I know you don't like him very much. I know a lot of people think he's using me. But. He also... talks to me. About. How I can be something better than I am. About control. He helps me with this... devicess and tools for me to help me control my condition." she says. "He teaches me things. Like. How to manipulate energy. How to do basic research tasks, so I can study these Dark Zone creatures better." she says. "And he does all this, with his own... issues." she says quietly.
"It's okay. If you don't approve of him. But I owe him a lot." she says.
"I.. got off topic. I'm sorry. I feel like everytime I mention him. I have to defened my own experiences with him." she says softly.
"Regardless. He may. Help. If I ask, politely. But. I have to be prepared to be told no."
Jiaying Maki eventually breaks the hug, mostly so she can focus on what she's hearing from Norie. "I will... take what you relay from him as useable Norie, but I still worry taht he's using you like you mentioned. This... was after a chat with Kunzite." And the fight and other things. She doesn't trust the guy sadly.
SHe watches Norie as she talks, eventually saying as she tries to defend Riventons' actions, "I understand why you do, I really do Norie. But, I understand why the others think otherwise too. Besides, he may be a source of information to help Sora! "Let me know as soon as you find something out please."
Lacrima did acccept the hug and lightly hugged back, but her hugs were rarely tight. She was also cold to the touch. She always felt bad about hugging because of this. Not that she'd voice it.
"No, I'll share what I know." she says silently. A pause.
"Should.. we tell Ikiko-chan?..." she asks silently.
"I mean..." she trails off. "Family.. n' all..." she mutters.