[Kaede manages to catch up with Shika 'cause she has to wait for a red light.] * Kaede takes in a deep breath. "You're going to get kicked out again." [Shika turns towards Kaede and glowers. "What are you doing here?"] I could ask you the same question. ["Yeah, well... I'm checking on something. You?"] The same. Except, I happen to notice they kicked you out. What happened anyways? ["Erm... Let's just say things didn't go as well as I'd hoped."] * Kaede folds his arms across his chest. "Maybe we could help each other. If you go in now, though, you're going to get us *all* kicked out. Then we're back to square one." ["Right, right. Well, what do you suggest?"] If you tell us what you're looking for, I'm sure we could help. As long as it's not too illegal. Frankly, I'm surprised you're even listening to me. [She shrugs. "Not like I have a lot of options. I'm looking into those drugs going around town."] * Kaede nods. "Actually...it's the same here. In fact, we had a friend inside. Well, sorta. I'm not sure if you'd call her a friend." ["What is she, then?"] Someone unwittingly involved in this whole mess. She's not even Arcana. She just saw an easy opportunity and took it. * Kaede shrugs. "People are that way a lot, I've noticed." ["Yeah, well... Funny how things work out."] So why are you looking into this anyways? [She glances at the police station again. "For a friend. What about you?"] * Kaede takes a deep breath. "Actually, we've been trying to look into this for a long while. We've got a couple people who've been affected by it." ["Yeah, who isn't affected by it?"] [She folds her arms, still observing the station. "This whole thing sucks. It's a city wide problem, and most people don't even know about it."] * Kaede snorts. "Normal people." ["'S as much their problem as ours. They just don't know it yet."] City wide? This whole thing is bigger than that, I think. But at least that's a good place to start. They're not the ones that can do anything about it though. ["Yeah, well... That's why I'm here, I guess. Got dragged into it."] * Kaede cocks an eyebrow at her. "By?" ["Nobody you'd care about. Besides, what does it matter? I'm here now; that's that."] * Kaede snorts. "You certainly have a predetermined opinion of me, don't you?" If I am asking, I feel it matters, at least for the time being. I do not waste time on petty words. ["Your friends tried to kill the guy she likes, so yeah, I guess I do."] For good reason. Although, even I didn't really agree with their methods. * Kaede sits on the curb. "Though I guess him attempting to rape my younger sister doesn't mean much." ["You know Natsuko's mother has cancer?"] * Kaede stares at Shika. "No. That's a tidbit of information she failed to mention. Mostly because she came in hating our guts." [Shika shrugs. "Yeah, well. Natsuko's not exactly rich. Guess who's been paying for her mother's chemotherapy?"] * Kaede sighs. "You're going to start telling me he's a saint now? I'm not buying it. He can't control his powers, sure. But he *can* control his reaction to it." And before we start telling sob stories, you can save it. My father died in a car crash when I was still young. My grandfather is dying. My mother ran away from me to fulfill her habit of acquiring more booze. Of course, I know that doesn't matter to you, but bear in mind, my sister is about the only thing solid that I have. [She shrugs, sitting down next to Kaede. "I just thought you should know."] ["Let me ask you something. Suppose your sister told you suddenly that she loved this guy. What would you do?"] If she were serious? Nanami's never been serious about anyone in her life. But I don't know. Do you mean before or after he was caught feeling her up after she'd just happened to "catch" part of his band performance? Or maybe before or after he managed to kidnap one of *my* friends, just to get me to go after him? Because he was acting on a whim. A whim which happened to get her hand chopped off. ["All of them. Say all of this happened... er, minus the hand part. And she still told you she loved him. Then what?"] Then I'd tell her she was out of her fucking mind. Did I forget to mention the second kidnapping? I think I did. ["And when she left you for him?"] * Kaede looks at Shika. "Does all this have a point? Have you been listening to a word I've been saying?" [She leans towards Kaede. "I'm saying you don't have any idea what I've had to go through, so shut the hell up!"] Right. So what you're saying is you don't like what the hell he's doing either. ["I'm saying you're pretty damn lucky life is so perfect for your sister that you'd never had to accept something you didn't like or be rejected by her."] * Kaede blinks at Shika. "...what?" ["You heard me."] Just what *planet* are you living on to call my life "lucky"? * Kaede frowns for a bit. "You love her, don't you?" [She blushes. "W... what the hell?"] It's true, isn't it? Otherwise, you wouldn't be so off-basis. You hate the hell out of Tenjirou too but you can't do a damned thing to stop it. Because I'm pretty sure it's not her doing "something she didn't like." [Shika sighs. She stares up at the building for a good long minute, then says. "... Yeah, maybe I am."] But you don't know what to do about us either. If you have any shred of decency, you can at least see where we are coming from. But you can't show that to Natsuko. Because to her, we're this big evil enemy. * Kaede takes a deep breath. "Actually, I'm glad I got a chance to talk to you. It makes things easier." [Shika crosses her legs and sighs awkwardly. "Yeah, well..."] * Kaede reaches in his coat for a crumpled piece of paper and hands it to Shika. "Someone's trying to kill you. We think." ["Wouldn't be the first time."] You're not surprised. Actually, it sounded like an assassination. We tried to tail one of them, but he got suspicious and went up off the bus. One of the Kings is involved. [She takes a look at the note. "Well.... shit."] The whole thing with the Lovers kind of got things mixed up for a while. If you'd like, you can talk to someone named Soleil Cardinaux. She'll back it up. Unless you actually believe me now. ["Soleil? What kinda weird name is that?"] French. I think. She's nice enough. Though...I think you might not want to use your usual greeting method on her. I already told her as such. ["Oh." She mutters under her breath, almost inaudible, "Bastard." Then she nods. "Alright, maybe I better see her anyhow."] * Kaede nods and sighs. "I hope they've found a way in by now." [Shika r.... doesn't do anything ._.] * Kaede has joined #Shika [Shika leans back. "Well, they didn't get kicked out yet, so whatever method they used must be better than mine.] And that method is? ["Erm..." She pokes her fingers together. "Sex appeal."] * Kaede just stares. "You tried. To seduce. A cop." [Shika throws her arms in the air. "Well, what else was I supposed to do?! He's not just going to give me what I want to know if I ask nicely. And besides, it works for Akemi all the time!"] * Kaede snickers. "Because she actually likes the people she's seducing." [Shika folds her arms and glares. "Well, how am I supposed to know how to seduce a man?" She pouts. "Stupid men. They suck."] * Kaede just eyes Shika strangely. * Kaede takes in a deep breath. "Well, you can start by acting like you're not going to rip their head off simply for speaking to you." ["It didn't start that way. I thought I was being pretty nice."] What were your exact words? (Kaede is teaching Shika how to seduce people.) (This will end in blood and tears.) (Tears from laughter though.) ["I don't know. I tried to make the guy feel like he was the greatest thing in the world, then showed a little cleavage and told him it'd mean a lot to me if he could pull up some certain files ..." She blinks a few times, and stares at Kaede. "Why the hell am I talking to you about this, anyhow?"] Because you realized you might actually not hate me as much as you thought you did? ["Why? You got a lot of experience seducing older men?"] No. I just thought it'd be funny to hear you talk about it. * Kaede says that with a straight face and starts cleaning off his glasses. Besides, there's no guarantee the cops actually know that much about the drugs anyway. [She frowns. "Yeah there is."] * Kaede glances at her. "There is?" ["Tenjirou said so. At least one of the cops is in on the whole thing. That's why the police haven't been able to make any headway on the issue. Someone's working for the druggies on the inside."] Which means one of the police is Arcana. Excellent. That means there is information to be gotten after all. * Kaede stands up and dusts his pants. "I guess that is my cue." [Shika stands up, too. She shakes her head. "No, I don't think so."] ["I think the drug lords have connections outside the Arcana."] ["Think about it, it wouldn't be hard for one of us to manipulate other people with our powers."] I'm not sure why they would need much. I mean the dealer was, but she said the bags just appeared. [Shika shrugs. "Even so."] Besides, the main focus of the drugs is to control Arcana. [Shika frowns. "I wonder..."] Either way, we'll find out. If you have any information, it'd help. Otherwise, we'll just go on what we know. [She shrugs. "I've got Tenjirou."] A fact you should not keep reminding me of. Especially when we've actually had decent conversation. ["Well, he was working for them. And he also managed to escape. That says a lot."] We know. He had one of my friends chained to the pipes in a cellar while he was dealing with them. [Shika rolls her eyes. "You want me to bring up my sob stories, too?"] No. I want you to stop trying to defend every action he makes. He is not Natsuko. He is not innocent. And there's no way you are going to convince me of that. [Shika glares at Kaede. "And your friends tried to kill him. They're not much better."] (Technically, Natsuko isn't innocent, either. *ducks*) And yet we go back to that point. Personally, I think you wouldn't mind so much if Natsuko didn't idolize him so. ["Murder is murder. It doesn't matter who does it or for what reason. It's wrong. Period."] But I will tell you this. Dead or not, we do not want him to hit us again. And that goes for me too. ["And I'll tell you, if you come after him again, I'll stop you. Don't think I can't do it single-handedly."] Yes. I've seen your powers. Do you think inflicting massive pain and leaving someone writhing like that is much better than killing? ["At least they're alive. If I wanted to, I could rot their limbs and eyes, kill the nerves in their body, or just make them pop like a balloon. My power affects the human body to a cellular level."] * Kaede shakes his head. "Two wrongs do not make a right. Part of me wishes I had brought it to an end earlier, rather than call an ambulance. But that's not the person I am. ["Yeah, well... If people would stop doing stupid shit, I wouldn't have to use my powers, would I?"] * Kaede looks at Shika for a moment and chuckles mildly. Then laughs. If people would stop doing "stupid shit" as you put it, then people would not be people. Arcana are just kids who happen to have powers. Never forget that. ["Whatever."] We would have to deal with it even if we didn't have powers. Don't try to delude yourself into thinking powers and might are the only answers. Well, I have done my good deed. Do what you will with the information. If you'd ever like help, you can give me a call. Just remember, though, it's too easy to do something you might regret later. ["Give me a break. I'd almost prefer that. Then I'd have an excuse not to get involved in any crap: because I'm not strong enough. Instead, I get to be one of the most powerful of our kind, so I keep getting stuck in situations like this."] Right. It certainly sucks to be you. I'll talk to you later. * Kaede walks off before she can add another word. [She yells after him, "Bite me!"] ( Shika always gets the last word in :o ) [And unless you wanna continue.... Session End!]