capeandcowl | [Four Rose Petals];;[Video; English]

[Four Rose Petals];;[Video; English]

[The communicator is shaking and at first the camera isn't really focused - there's a shot of rubble and the ground and a black-gloved hand; half a second of a rose colored machine and a ghost-white scrap of paper shining like a mirror on it in the pink-tinged light. Then it focuses, sort of, on a redheaded girl whose gaze is still somewhat clouded. Her hands are shaking for a moment before she finds something to steady them. Her voice is plaintive; she sounds like a lost child.]

Someone. Please? Please be-

~~But even if it was not everyone would-~~

Please, what happened? Did... what happened? Did he win? ~~Please say it wasn't for nothing, please say I wasn't for nothing, please say something-~~ I... I can't see much from here and....

[He'd knocked her out or she'd been knocked out or something had happened, she wasn't even sure any more. Had that really happened? Was it even possible? All that Aki did was destroy, and here for once she hadn't been the one who had been causing destruction, she'd been the one-]

~~Say it did-~~

I don't know what happened. Did I we do anything?

[[ooc: The crossed out stuff is what she starts to say or almost says or doesn't really say or whispers in Japanese or something. Basically her talking to herself or not at all.]]

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...hey. Aki? That you?

Yes. ... did- do you know what happened?

Not the details. Godzilla's...yeah, it's over. They got him. I don't know exactly what they did, all I know is the whole city was shaking like L.A. on a bad day.

Do you need a hand? I've got a bike at the moment.

[She still looks lost. Honestly she has very little idea what's going on or what she did or how it happened, just that things did and this was the result.]

Maybe. Yes I think. So he was-

[The communicator swings out of focus again, moving somewhat strangely. Aki has one hand briefly over her eyes, the other swinging up automatically before she remembers what she's holding.]

~~I'm sorry but I-~~

I- I'm glad I could help.

Hang on. I've been sitting at an intersection trying to get my bearings, but I'll come find you. Leave your comm on so I can trace the signal, I bet there aren't even any street signs left in the war zone.

Don't try walking around. Sit down, rest.

[quicklog?]

All right.

...

Thank you.

[[ooc: Yeah, sure]]

*there isn't much left of the streets, either, but Alastair is used to slightly off-roading his bikes. He searches as quickly as he can, stopping to check the ping off the comm until he zeroes in on where Aki might be...and roars up with a little bit of a flourish*

Hey... *taking helmet off, now* Hey. You okay?

[Aki is a wreck. She's been waiting, arms wrapped around her knees and sort of huddled up, for Alastair to come up. In a way it's because she can't quite grasp what she just did, in another way it's because she gets it all too well. It's a relief when he comes. He'll find her still in the pink bubble shield which had popped up; it was probably reacting to what remained of the radiation. It was lucky that she wasn't in an area that held much, really.]

I'm not hurt.

*he knocks down the kickstand with his heel and gets off the bike, going to her - at least as far as the shield allows. Resisting the temptation to poke at it*

You sure? Did you get knocked out at all?

...that's a pretty handy power you've got there. Is that from a card?

[She shakes her head, her left hand going to grip her right forearm, where there is something shaped like a claw glowing through the glove. The only odd thing in the motion isn't something that most people would know was odd at all - the motion was light and reflexive, not angry as it normally would be. The shield staggered and then Alastair was in it too, which was doubtless useful as a help against any radiation remaining in the area.]

No. I didn't play one. It's got something to do with this... mark.

*his eyes go to it, and then to Aki's face... just like the Seal.*

Weird. But I'm not gonna knock it. It might have saved your life.

*looking around, his face twists a bit. It looks way too much like home, now*

Ready to get out of here? They've got emergency services set up, if you need...

I... don't think I do.

[He seems unnerved by her, or is that just her expectations at work again? It was easy to see someone as scared when so often they were. Her hand goes to her head, where there is a bit of blood, but for the most part she honestly is all right. It's almost certainly because of the shield that this is the case, however.]

*shaking his head quickly, trying to banish the flashbacks*

Positive? Wait, you're bleeding. That's it, I'm taking you somewhere you can get healed up. *tossing his head toward the bike to demand that she follow, he won't do anything rude like grab her arm*

I was only knocked out, I'm sure that there were many who were hurt worse than I was.

[She shakes her head a little and might be a bit dizzy, but she's coming anyway, more because she doesn't quite know what to do.]

Then you might have a concussion. Better safe than sorry, okay? C'mon. Us red-headed duelists gotta stick together, right?

*he heads to the motorcycle and swings a leg over, offering the helmet to her* Just make sure to hang on, it's going to be a rough ride. The streets are all shot to hell.

... all right.

[Aki is feeling rather non-confrontational right now; how odd. The bubble flickers off again, because clearly it needs to, and Aki takes the helmet almost hesitantly. She'd already taken the hairclip out for the fight, naturally, so she didn't need to worry about that.]

I'm sure they are.

[She hesitates for a moment and then puts on the helmet and climbs on behind him, hanging on as he'd told her to.]

*he starts up the motorcycle and revs it before starting off, rolling slowly at first over the uneven, cracked streets, and then zipping off. He'll get her to safety, focusing on that so he doesn't notice the war zone*

Were you in the middle of all that?

I... I helped to fight him.

Are you okay?

I'm not hurt.

Good.

And Alastair's...good...

I'm glad you were able to help, Izayoi-san.

I... I am too, but I- he-

[Yup she's a mess at the moment.]

Miss Aki!

Ruka?

Yes.

I'm so glad you're alright. Rua is, too.

I don't think I ever met him. And yes. I'm all right. I don't know about everyone else yet, but in the end it looks like he... didn't win, so it's not as bad as it could be.

In passing. You didn't notice either of us then, I think.

We're... somewhere else, right now, but... I could feel you fighting.

It... it was Godzilla. He attacked. Apparently he's been defeated.

Yes. That was why we left. I just...

I wish I could have helped you, Miss Aki.

...

It's probably better that you weren't here.

Why?

[Aki is refusing to look at the lens.]

... it was bad, Ruka.

[And then she hesitates for a moment before climbing on top of a nearby chunk of rubble and holding the camera out, letting Ruka see what Aki was surrounded by. She starts talking without the view pointed at her.]

I... I don't think this was the worst. It can't have been.

[Something between a hiccup and a gasp on the line, and silence. It is a long moment before Ruka speaks.]

This was victory?

It probably got worse, as this was the result of managing to delay him. It wasn't anywhere near winning, not here.

So much...

... something so terrible

[The view drops but nothing else really happens. Aki is all sorts of mixed emotions right now.]

I—

I...

I should have helped.

... the fact that you weren't here just means there were fewer people who could get hurt.

The fact that I wasn't there means that people I could have helped ... could have protected... weren't. That, maybe, someone got hurt who didn't have to be, or worse...

...

Ruka. You weren't. There's nothing you can do about that, so... so you can't... focus on that. In the end we won.

[Were they closer friends, Ruka might argue further — but now is most assuredly not the time for such behavior, especially from the way Aki looked in the broadcast. Instead,]

... please be safe, Miss Aki.

[Yes, Aki was something of a wreck. One of the reasons was that in some important ways Godzilla had reminded her of herself, and here she was one of the ones who'd helped to kill him. And then there was the shock of doing something like this at all and the horror of the ruin all around her and.... She'll probably need a long, long time to get herself sorted out after this.]

It's over so I'm not sure how much I need to worry any more. Or you. Not much will probably happen except for the dust settling.

Sometimes the dust settling is when the ceiling falls, too.

... I think that already happened.

... just, be careful?

I will.

Thank you

Thank you, Miss Aki.

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[Four Rose Petals];;[Video; English]

[voice, muffled as if through a helmet]

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[voice: Japanese]

video unless specified otherwise; Japanese

same only voice~

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If she wasn't talking in Japanese before, she is now

I'm assuming they only speak to one another in Japanese since, you know, that's what they speak.

I sorta do too, but you know. Just in case.

It would be silly for them to do anything else.

yes WELL

well why did questions need to be asked?

/combos suddenly

;SADKLG;JADFFl;ksjdf >>>>8[

:] confusing you is the most fun! 8D

I hate you in a deep and abiding way

/moves into your house, eats all your food, steals your bedroom

haaaaaaaaaaaaate

/nests

/calls pest control

/bribes

... what with?

/bribes pest control to leave. with money. duh.