It's a relatively quiet evening. In a city like Tokyo, no evening really is "quiet" per se, but at least by their standards it is relatively 'quiet', all things considered.
It's the kind of evening that plenty delinquents and gangers of all ages roam around -- not necessarily doing anything beyond loitering or being generally loud throughout, but still, their presence is obvious enough.
Amidst them, in the kind of more tightly-packed, business-filled district of the city where they could, in theory, be getting up to something considerably less subtle-- a faint trace of dark energy lingers among the masses, somewhere. But no immediate signs of any trouble anywhere is apparent. No noise of fights, no people running around. This might be concerning in it's own right.
There are places that a certain trio is checking, tonight. Places that a few years ago, a certain angry teenager might've come on the off chance of being able to fight till he could settle down and get a decent night's sleep for once. Places that, more recently, a certain other angry teenager might've come in the hope of finding a Witch drawn to their darker aspects.
Places that Naru Osaka probably really, really wishes they were exploring more slowly. But it's been days, and they want results sometime this year.
Kunzite lands on the Nth roof of the night, and for the Nth time the impossible drop lands impossibly lightly, the impact rarely so much as jarring Naru in his arms. For the Nth time, his power pulses out, a barely-visible bubble of shadow created solely by his tasting of the light from windows and streets and stars. For the Nth time, he --
No. For the first time, he does not shake his head and move on. "Something," he says. "Can't be sure what. Could be a Youma; probably not a Witch." After the last one, that might be a good thing.
Really really REALLY wishes they were exploring more slowly. Naru practically is wishing for a fight, just so they will stay on the ground for longer than a few moments and not be jumping all over the place.
Hyalite had started out worried, but fairly zen, and is mostly a bundle of stressed out nerves that hides her face in Kunzite's shoulder as they jump around at this point.
The mention that Kunzite has found something, anything, even a youma is met with a strangled 'Oh thank god.' from the miserable Hyalite.
A moment later, Apatite lands on the rooftop next to Kunzite, equally lightly, skirt and cape fluttering around her as her spear slides back against her shoulder, a casual stance that belies the gravity-defying manner of her arrival. Red eyes flick over to Kunzite, her face impassive, but as he notes what he senses, she nods. "Yeah." A faint turn.. a scenting at the air. Just as Naru had teased her for the other night, but some habits are hard to break. "Not a Witch." She confirms this. She knows the smell of Witch.
She hears Naru's strangled exclamation, and her grin is part sympathetic, part just absolutely too amused. "Aw, c'mon babe, he didn't drop you, did he?" But she refrains from any further teasing, because she (probably rightly) senses that she might end up with a pencil through her hand or something if she did.
The 'scent', as it might be, lingers ever-so-faint-- it's small, faint. It's not a purposeful one, but it still hints at something there, not that far off.
And then something shifts.
A silhouette, next rooftop over, a few stories higher than the one the three are on-- there for just a split second, and then gone again, disappeared off past the edge again.
For all anyone can tell, possibly fleeing from the three for that matter.
"We'll catch up," Kunzite says to Kyouko, matter-of-fact -- or as likely as not to Kyouko's wake. And to Naru, the renewed warning: "Hold on."
And then he's moving again, the bastard. Just aware that, when she's on the hunt, Kyouko moves faster.
There's a groan from Naru at the reminder to 'hold on' again, which means that their quarry is moving. Which means that /they/ are going to be moving again. She holds on tight to Kunzite, hiding her face again. She is not even a tiny bit of any sort of help in spotting anyone, or anything.. she's too busy trying not to be actively a problem rather than just not terribly helpful.
"Don't puke on his cape." Apatite asides to Hyalite. "That's a major faux pass." Then she's leaping off in one smooth motion, towards the rooftop where that silhouette had recently appeared. And Kunzite is right- Apatite on the hunt moves like a pack of wolves compressed into a single, red-and-white-clad form.
She lets her senses guide her. Dark Energy is something she can feel. More than she'd like to- memories of an unpleasant past mistake. But in this case, useful.
She makes sure not to get too far ahead, but not letting the quarry get away is formost in her mind.
Kyouko's the one who sees their quarry first, surely. The instant she gets on the rooftop, she's greeted to the sight of the back of a figure in a hoodie-- leaping off of the opposing edge.
After landing on the next building, it's obvious enough even with the hood flipped over the person's head that they are peeking back-- and then decisively setting into a sprint. There's a more obvious surge of energy, and suddenly, the figure goes *faster*. And the leap to the next building is that much longer, more powerful, too.
It's anyone's guess how that hood stays over their head with that kind of speed-- but either way, the intention apparently is to not give an easy chase.
But even then.. This is someone who isn't really that used to moving like *this*. This becomes apparent enough in the occasional, stumbling rolls that follow landings on rooftops, and slight miscalculations on the angles of leaps into following landings that cost them precious milliseconds.
Apatite, on the other hand, is very used to moving in this manner. Hell, she gets to work by building-jumping most days. She lands smoothly after her jumps, barely interrupting her sprint, leaping from one building to the next like she's skipping down the street. The hooded figure is fast, no mistake, but those little mistakes allow her to gain, bit by bit.
Until she's finally close enough to whip out her spear. She thrusts it forward, and it fragments, splitting into a whip of haft-and-chain that curls through the air towards the fleeing figure with a 'snap'.
The goal is to wrap around one or both of his ankles and send him sprawling to the rooftop.
Smooth arcs, for Naru, almost a constant motion now. Kunzite doesn't stop to orient; he's searching for his next landing spot still on the way down form the last, keeping moving. Conserving energy even in this. Still, he loses ground against Kyouko, and even against Kyouko's target, for all that he's more sure-footed than either.
That's all right. As long as he can keep the flashes of white in Kyouko's outfit in sight, he won't lose them. And as long as he keeps moving -- sooner or later, he'll catch up.
Smooth /does/ help, it's true. Naru can almost pretend that they aren't jumping off perfectly good buildings in their pursuit of The Hoodie. The 'snap' of Apatite's whip cuts through the night sounds and she winces a little. That generally isn't good for /someone/.
There's a sudden leap from the figure-- not forward, not for the next building. But rather, just a small - relatively speaking - bounce upwards and to the side, to a large air-conditioning unit. Against this, the figure kicks his boot against to send him bounding back and a bit further high up, with enough force to dent the metal cover inwards.
This sends him into a somersault through the air, going head-down back towards the landing of the roof, met with a hand thrusting against the ground first and sending him to motion further with the sheer intention of moving just past and around the whipping chains of the spear. Even after, when he gets back to his feet, he goes into a rapid sidestrafing-- perhaps working off the assumption that the spear isn't just going to stop *there* like normal objects would. PHysics are hardly part of the equation with these things anyway.
But then, suddenly...
He just stops, where his heels are set to just by the precarious edge of the roof.
"Tch," can be heard from underneath the hood, and the figure brings his hands up, high on either side of his head -- and in the shade, with the hood tugged as close over him as it is, just his chin is barely visible. "No way to tell if I could keep dancing around you and make an opening to get out," a voice murmurs -- vaguely familiar, but somehow different. Blank. Hollow. "But even if I could, it wouldn't be quick enough to be out of here before the other two got here. And I don't really want to do anything more drastic."
He would be quite correct that the spear does not just stop when it hits the ground- like a living thing, it coils and snaps through the air, snaking and whirling in a storm of metal and wood that seems to respond to silent commands, instinctive commands, hunting its prey. And yet, he manages to avoid it- his nimble leaping keeping him just barely ahead of the would-be-entangling chains.
Until he comes to a halt. To her credit, Apatite does not take advantage of his stopping to snap the chain around him anyway. She recalls it, and it snaps back into being a solid spear, gripping in her hands. Tightly, but not too tightly. Wary, more than actually threatened. She comes to a stop a few feet in front of him, crouching atop a vent, a mild frown on her face.
"We ain't gonna hurt you. 'Less you try somethin' dangerous." She says, in what passes for reassurance.
Smooth arcs, almost regular, not quite but close. And then --
Stop. Just so. Impact absorbed, momentum swallowed. Another infinitesimal trace of recharge.
Kunzite does not speak; he waits till Hyalite's eyes are open till he swings her down gently from the princess carry, feet safely on the rooftop, himself between her and the nearest edge.
It takes a moment for Hyalite to legit actually believe that they are settled and not abouto to jump again before she opens her eyes. "Oh my god Alexis, if you make us do any more jumps, I swear I will make a liar out of Apatite about the hurting." She mutters crankily as she regains her bearings, or tries at least to push her own freak out down to sane levels.
The figure doesn't say anything in response to Apatite. He just stands there. THe silence lasts for a good measure of time longer, too, even after Hyalite-bearing-Kunzite lands onto the rooftop, the and the former makes her threat.
There's silent consideration, and complete stillness.
"Yare yare..." He eventually sighs out, shoulders visibly slumping underneath the hoodie. "You must have been looking for me specifically if it's that obvious." With that said, he reaches one upraised hand down, slowly, to the top of his head, and to tug the hood back.
A slow turn of the head, there, and the lights of the city below are brought to shine along the figure's head. And there's the familiar, european features, and green eyes staring back at the trio, even if the boy's expression is decidedly *neutral*, now.
"So," says the dull-toned Alex. "Where do we go from here?"
Apatite doesn't say anything. It's not her place to say anything. That doesn't usually stop her, and chances are she'll be throwing her two-cents into the bin before too long, but she seems content for the moment to let someone with a more even keel and a more personal investment take the first crack at things. She is mostly here as insurance.
As such, she remains where she is, crouched on top of the vent, resting her spear back over her shoulders and looping her arms around it. Her expression is neutral, impassive, but her eyes stay locked on Alexis. Waiting for him to make a move that requires a response. Until then- still.
Kunzite, likewise, is stll, neutral, impassive. Watching Alexis. Most of what moves of him is his hair, his cape, the parts the wind can toy with and the stars silver. And his expression stays the same when he speaks.
"Is Lacrima taking care of you? Teaching you ways to cope, without drawing too much attention?" -- or plain drawing too much. He leaves that unspoken. Considers Alex more closely. "Whatever happened, it's not quite the same with you as it is with her, is it. Your eyes." His lack of jewelry.
It takes another moment or two before Hyalite has settled enough to actually look like she's gotten her wits about her again, and she takes a slow breath, held a moment before let out softly. "Yes. We have been looking for you." She confirms with a nod. "I was worried about you. And about Lacrima."
"How novel," mutters Alex. Though his voice and expression are considerably deadened in comparison to his usual behaviour, there's still a faint hint of annoyance present in those two words alone, and in his eyes when he turns his head to just briefly glance aside.
"You must have talked to Lacrima, so you would already know how she is doing," he goes on. "And as for me..."
His tongue clicks against the roof of his mouth.
"She teached me well enough. And I'm even more careful than that, just because I don't fully trust myself yet..."
"... And because I just want to be alone. Does the rest matter enough to worry about?"
But then, something Kunzite says catches his attention. Enough that he turns his head back facing forward, and setting one of his eyes onto him.
"What of my eyes?"
There's a faint 'tsk' from Kyouko as Alex speaks. Her opinion of Lacrima is low, and everyone here knows it.
But she really has nothing to add to the rest of it. She'd have an issue if Alex was running around attacking people. He doesn't seem to be, or at least he's claiming not to. And she doesn't know how to 'fix' him, if such a thing is even possible. So what can she say?
She just sits, and waits for Kunzite to answer. But she doesn't let her guard down.
"They're still green." Kunzite's fingers twitch, a gesture upward toward Alexis's face. "And Lacrima would have told you how much energy it takes her to change her looks back to what they used to be. You're hiding; you have no reason to spend that much. So it seems likeliest they're genuinely still green."
How precisely he can tell what color Alexis's eyes are in this little light is an excellent question. But he seems convinced. And seems to think it means something.
"Having met Lacrima when she was still new to things, careful doens't always come easily." Naru leaves off details about /that/ draining. "Alone wasn't doing her any favours any more than it'll do you any favours."
Naru pauses then, looking over to Kunzite as he explains about Alexis' eyes and she blinks and then looks back to Alexis. She has trouble seeing in this light.
"You're not wrong," says Alex after a few seconds of silence on his part, and his nose can be visibly seen wrinkling. "She tells me I'm still... at least nominally human. I breathe. My blood is red..."
"But that doesn't make me feel human, right now."
His lips twist slightly, then, corners tugging downwards.
"I don't feel excited by anything. Nothing seems interesting. I can't bring myself to smile or laugh-- I don't even *feel* like smiling or laughing."
"And there's... something *inside* me." A hand lowers downwards, now, slow enough to make it clear enough that he isn't actually intending to do anything drastic, rather just grasping at the front of the hoodie. "It's not something just lingering there. It's *part* of me now. And I can feel it... leaking. Every second. Even when I'm not doing anything. And every little bit that leaks out, makes me hungrier. Not for actual food... I don't feel hungry for actual food anymore."
"It's small at first. It doesn't bother me. It's just nagging at the back of my head. But more leaks out and it gets more urgent. I start shaking. I can't think as straight as I do usually. I start looking at things... people, like they're not *people*. I cna still... sort of ignore it then."
"But it keeps going, until... Well..." Slowly, his head tilts slightly back and to the side, angling his neck and throat in a nearly impossible way. "I'm sure you have heard this before already from someone else so I won't go through *all* of that."
Kyouko doesn't look impressed by Alex's words. He speaks, explaining his situation, how it makes him feel, and she just watches him with those ruby eyes of hers. Sharp eyes. The eyes of a predator. She understands this- not exactly the same, but similar. How it feels when people stop being people and start looking like obstacles.. or resources. She doesn't feel that way anymore. But she remembers what it's like.
"I like you, Alex," She says from her position on top of the vent, still wary, but relaxed. "You're a good kid. But if you start hurting people, I ain't gonna let that stop me from putting an end to it. That's a fair warning." She glances to Hyalite, but her tone, her expression, remain set. "If you want help, we can probably find people to help. But you gotta want help."
"Its easier when you dont wait until you're /starving/." Naru points out. "Easier to keep control and not drain them dry. I .. don't know if you care about that right now, but I hope you do." There's a brief glance to Kyouko and then back to Alexis. "If you're not starving, and can actually stop before you drain someone dry, then its easier to offer energy if you need it."
Apatite glances sideways at Hyalite. Her lips thin. She glances back at Alexis again, then leans sideways so she can murmur something into Hyalite's ear. It doesn't sound particularly pleased.
"Oh *really*," Alex says, sounding dinstinctly unimpressed in spite of his current condition, while his eyes turn to regard Apatite.
"Then shouldn't you have put an end to me a *long* time ago?" He asks, with a slow arch of his brow. "You know very well how often I get into fights. How often I've already *hurt* people. Thugs and gangers they might be. It sure didn't take being full of dark energy for me to go and put shitheads like that in the hospital, did it?"
He tsks then, and forces his eyes away from all three of them. "I know what you are going to say," he growls. "So don't bother. You're afraid I'm going to go and kill someone because I get *too hungry*. Because I forget to *hold back*."
"As if though I'm fuckin' not afraid of it too."
"As if though I *want* this."
"Unless you have some magic 'undo this whole shitty situation' button over there, you're not doing a whole lot more than annoying me. Apparently *that* I can still feel."
"Fuck you," Apatite snaps back at Alex after this little tirade. "You know what I meant. I ain't no pansy who's gonna go around claimin' nobody deserves a beatin'. Hurting people for a good cause is my job kid."
"Where I draw the line is hurting people who don't deserve it, and who ain't never done nothin' to anybody, just because you can, or you feel you need to." She jabs a finger at him. "I ain't afraid you might kill someone. I'm afraid you might kill the wrong someone. If you're afraid of it too, then do something about it, because Naru would be sad if I had to gut you and making her sad isn't high on my list of priorities."
She scowls. "I don't have a magic undo button. But magic is sort of our trade, and there are several people we know that might have a button like that. We just gotta go ask 'em to look into it and until we do, there ain't any more I can tell you."
Kunzite regards Alexis for a lingering moment, but when he speaks, his tone is matter-of-fact. "As for me, I've been looking for you for some time before whatever happened with Lacrima, happened. Your trail is slightly easier to pick up now, that's all. And your condition more worrisome, yes. But I've stood somewhere very close to where you do now."
He shakes his head. Quick; short; sharp. "If we gave up on friends just because things like this happened, I'd be either still there, or dead."
There's a deep breath from Naru, both at Kyouko's rather pointed commentary about being selective in your hurting of people, and Kunzite's very valid pointing out that there's a rather storied history in not abandoning people just because things have gone weird. Very weird.
"Yes, you got into a swack of fights before." Naru nods in agreement. "And yep, that is a lot of what we're going to say.. but I also know that it is a whole lot easier to get a grip on things, and figure out what the hell is going on, when you're not alone."
"So it's fine if I kill someone who, quote unquote, 'deserves it', huh?" Alex distinctively *snorts* to Kyouko's way. "That supposed to make me feel a whole lot better?"
Slowly, his foot turns along the edge of the rooftop there, but otherwise there's no movement there on his part.
"You seem to be under this impression taht I don't know what's happening to me," Alex mutters, then. "I know well enough. And you and me both know well enough there's only one sure way to 'fix' this shitstain inside me."
"So unless you're going to do that, I'd rather not have the rest of this completely pointless talk."
"It's not fine, but it's a helluva lot better than you killing someone who doesn't deserve it. And no, I ain't here to play therapist and make you feel better. It's supposed to give you an option that doesn't end with my spear through your chest. You can be happy about that or not, really don't give a damn."
She rolls her eyes slightly at Alex's continue insistance that he knows what's best. "We can't make him accept our help." She says to both Naru and Kunzite, then adds, "But if you want me to subdue him, just say the word." Her eyes flash back toward Alex. "He might not accept it, but that don't mean we can't still give it whether he likes it or not."
"Easy, Apatite." Kunzite makes a brief gesture of one hand between himself and Kyouko, as if to smooth something down. Something gentler in his manner for a moment, maybe, but not much.
He turns back to Alexis. "That there's only one way," he says, "is precisely what we don't know. A year ago, I was an obligate energy vampire. Now I do have a choice in the matter. Lacrima does not, at present; she can choose how to manage her hunger, but not whether or not to feed. There is at least one person who believes she has evidence that that might be changed. And as I said. Green eyes. What's happened to you is not, precisely, what happened to Lacrima. Neither you nor she nor we understand what your condition is yet."
His mouth tugs downward, just at one corner. "Except, of course, that it's doing what dark energy always does, and interfering with your ability to process interactions with other people. You're doing better than most, but it's still there. So. If you decide you want to try to figure out what happened. Or if you decide you want people to talk to. You know where we are. You know it's neutral ground. I hope you know you're still welcome there. And if you don't know it -- remember this, for when the time comes that you need it anyhow."
Naru lets Kunzite do the talking. She is quiet, watching and listening and mostly watching. She takes another slow breath and nods to Kunzite's reasoned reply. Which inevitably not what the dark energy really wants to hear, and likely not what Alexis really wants to hear.
"And if you'd prefer that I not be there, that can be arranged too." Naru points out, pragmatism winning out over anything else.
There's a shake of her head to Apatite's suggestion of providing help no matter Alexis' opinion on the matter.
If there was something Alex was going to say to Apatite - and it sure looks taht way with how he's looking at her briefly - he silences himself in favor of allowing Kunzite talk, instead.
There's silence for a long moment after that, too, broken only by the faint sound of an inner-city train in the distance.
"Tch," he sounds out eventually, though, and turns his gaze off away from the trio. Still...
"...I understand," he says, finally. A sigh leaves his lips. Shoulders slump. He doesn't move otherwise, or say much more.
Apatite glances sideways at Kunzite as he tells her to take it easy. She looks like she might snap something back at him, but after a moment, she just shakes her head slightly and looks away again. But she keeps her mouth shut, settling back on her haunches, her spear still in that 'not quite ready, but ready to be ready' hold over one shoulder.
Now she's watching Naru.. then everyone else at once, as best she can. If she says anything else, it'll probably just make the situation worse, and she knows it, so she stays silent. But doesn't look terribly happy about it.
The sideways glance, or sideways glare, is accepted without comment. She's got good reason to be angry. At 'I understand' and nothing thereafter, though, Kunzite glances to Naru too.
Everyone's watching Naru who's watching anything at all.
There is a moment when Naru realizes that everyone's looking at her, and she's looking at Alexis and she pauses, and a little blink. Clearly someone wasn't expecting to be handed the spotlight, so to speak.
"I'm not much of a fan of unwilling interventions." Naru comments quietly after a moment. "You're not alone, no one /actually/ knows all of what's happened.. no matter what your brain is screaming at you.. and there's people willing to help fix, or manage. That being said.. you're still you, and forcing it upon you is going to work not even a little." She takes a slow breath. "The hand is extended, in a variety of ways. Please be willing to come visit."
"Mrf."
Alex still is looking off away from the three, but there's at least some line of thoguht running rapidly through his head, for those who can study expressions well enough to see such from him, now, when everything otherwise should be deadened about him.
"Later," is all he says about that, with his nose wrinkling visibly enough even in the shade of hte night. "You'll have to excuse me if I'm not feeling... sociable."
Apatite, apparently, has had enough of the passive-aggressive BS, because that last line is followed within half-a-second by her snapping, "Fine! We said our piece, he clearly don't want help right now and you don't want me to tie him up. So can we leave? Because I'm getting sick of this 'wah wah I'm so miserable' bullcrap."
The lack of sympathy is really rather distressing in and of itself, but it's more frustration coloring her tone than actual antipathy- she doesn't hate Alex, it's the situation she hates, for numerous reasons. But Kyouko has never been the best at expressing herself. At least with words.
"Yes." Just that, calm and straightforward. Kunzite puts a hand out toward Naru -- but doesn't touch, not on his own. Her choice about whether she wants to stay a moment longer than the other two.
Naru watches Alexis thoughtfully, quietly and then she nods. "Later then." She repeats, although she doens't move just yet. Not even with Apatite's impatience, or Kunzite's agreement.
Naru looks as if she's going to add something else, but she just shakes her head and turns to be able to take Kunzite's hand as its offered to her.
"Did I ever really strike you as the type to talk about my feelings, Kyouko?" Alex says, with a slow, steady raise of his brows. "WEll. Whatever. Ain't my place at all to tell you how to think."
His foot shifts along the edge again. "I don't promise anything about that," he says, with a slow shake of his head. "But I never wished to kill anyone to begin with. That never changed."
"Somehow, I'll survive. That's what I always do."