[The room is still slowly getting darker and Taki, Katie, and Kaede are sitting around each other. Kyon's still off in a corner, maybe finishing up what he's doing.] [Haruko's been in the other room sewing and checking on Kyoko on a regular basis.] [Taki is asleep.] [Start!] * Haruko walks out into the living room again, somewhat self-consciously not really looking over at the three by the couch, she clasps her hands behind her back and brisquely walks over to Kyon. * Kyon looks up at Haruko from the floor, and pushes himself up to a standing position against the wall from his crosslegged seat in two quick motions. He says in a low tone, "Hey." * Haruko responds in a similarly low tone. "I think we should talk. Your bedroom work?" ( Nah, it's broken. ) * Kyon smirks, and gestures curtly towards the door. * Haruko heads over to the room, she looks briefly in the direction of the rest, but then decides not to say anything as she enters. * Kyon stretches a bit, then follows her into the room. He looks around with some disgust on his face, but then looks back to her. "So. What's up?" ( The ceiling! ) * Haruko gently closes the door behind them as she turns to him and starts speaking. "First I've been keeping something from you, I doubt you'll care but I should stop anyways." * Kyon looks at her coolly and shrugs. "Worked out so well the last time you did it, too. Of course you'd want to try again." * Haruko sits down by the bed and checks on Kyoko, she continues to speak fairly quickly, as if afraid she'll stop. "I take joyrides in other people's cars sometimes, I always fix them up.. but that doesn't matter. Anyways I'm cautious and I've been trying to stop, but it hasn't been easy." * Kyon looks at her sidewise. "Ever get caught?" * Haruko shakes her head. "Never even left prints." She then gestures to the robes. "And if I used those and some handwoven gloves I never would be caught. The police wouldn't care about a puddle." * Kyon nods quickly. "And you never touched my bike?" * Haruko shakes her head. "Never been near it without your permission." * Kyon smirks. "Right. So, what's the problem?" * Ciara is now known as Aaron * Haruko looks away for a moment. "I just thought you should know." She then looks back, "Second, if it turns out in the future that I'm more of a burden to the group than an asset, would you be willing to continue offering myself and the people I care about protection in exchange for healing?" * Kyon shakes his head bemusedly. "Haruko, the practical one. There's a change." * Haruko looks down. "That's the problem." She then looks up again. "But would you?" * Kyon looks at her sidewise. "Have to do a hell of a lot to be more of a burden than an asset, Haruko." * Haruko blinks and smiles. "Perhaps it isn't quite as bad as I feared then, particularly if you're addressing me by name now." * Kyon inclines his head slightly. "Recognize my debts. You nearly died defending me in a fight I wouldn't have won otherwise. Didn't even try to get away." * Haruko keeps the smile. "Well then, maybe you will say yes." * Haruko checks Kyoko for a moment and then adopts a serious expression and gets off the bed and kneels in front of him. "I'd like you to consider taking me on as a lieutenant. I'd have three, well two now, conditions if you were willing, but they are limited ones." * Kyon raises an eyebrow, but doesn't say anything. * Haruko lowers her voice a little. "First, that you don't use me to hurt or kill anyone without explaining yourself to my satisfaction, or are certain I will accept your reasoning after the fact if conditions don't let you explain yourself." * Haruko bites her lips and watches Kyon closely. * Kyon looks around the room again before returning his gaze to her. "You need to accept that violence is the best solution sometimes." * Haruko nods. "It is sometimes, and I'm willing to fight if you tell me to, but while killing may be necessary at some points I don't think our standards will ever be the same." * Kyon shrugs quickly. "Don't take the decision lightly, but if it needs to be made, I'll make it." * Haruko nods. "I believe you." Her tone then softens further. "Yours is the more practical approach. But if I'm to be your lieutenant, I need to be able to obey without hesitation. And if you're using me to kill except in the most extreme cases, I can't do that." * Kyon smirks. "Wouldn't be my first choice if I needed an assassin." * Haruko grins. "If I was, this probably wouldn't work, but since I'm fairly offensively useless..." She then drops the grin. "Shall I move on to my other condition?" * Kyon shakes his head quickly. "One thing. I can talk with you if you have questions. But you need to follow me in a fight if there's not time beforehand to decide. Have to have the trust." * Haruko nods. "That's why I insist on that condition, not so much for the first part, but for all the times when there isn't time to talk. If you agree to that, then I won't ask for explainations when time is a factor." * Kyon waves a hand tersely off to the side. "Right. Next?" * Haruko grins sheepishly for a moment. "Well, you see." She then frowns. "I don't like that I'm not willing to tell my parents about the joyriding, that's why I want to quit, but it'll be hard, particularly because I know I can't get caught now..." * Haruko pauses to take a breath. * Kyon smirks. "Cocky." * Haruko grins again. "Well... I could use rides or some other form of help, when you aren't giving one to Chikako or something. I can afford my own but my dad says no, and I don't want to give false hope to the mechanics by becoming a regular passenger." * Kyon snorts, and shakes his head bemusedly. "You want me for my bike." * Haruko grins wider. "Well, it's a nice bike, but." She then looks serious. "Even if you are cold at times, you're the one who gets things done, you're the one that actually protects and helps people, you're the one I need to follow if I want to do the same." * Kyon looks at her sidewise. "Really are being practical." * Haruko glances up at Kyoko to make sure she's still breathing and then looks back at Kyon. "I saw it with her, we were useless, by stopping Remi maybe I was worse than useless. And I realized today that there's a good chance I'm not making it out of this alive, Isao-senpai won't always be there to protect me." * Kyon looks at Haruko for a few moments, then breaks into a hard smile. "Mortality. Strange thing. Fine, you need rides, you get them. Not every time, but if it works." * Haruko nods and then bows from her kneeling position. "So do you do me the honor of accepting my offer?" * Kyon smirks. "Acting that way, should really have a sword to pledge." * Haruko doesn't look up, but her voice adopts a bemused tone. "I swear my tire- iron, water bottle, and the rains themselves to your aid." (That is the best pledge ever.) (That should probably be her next quote.) * Kyon barks out a laugh. "Right, then. We're good." * Haruko smiles as she stands up, gives another brief bow, and then walks over to check Kyoko. "Oh, I talked to Akemi the other day, she's willing to get you Kaede's books." * Kyon moves a hand in front of his chest. "Already got it." * Haruko looks surprised. "Well done, and thank you." She then nods at Kyoko's continued life and looks back to Kyon. * Kyon shrugs disinterestedly. "Said I'd do it." * Haruko continues in a rather low tone. "I'm not sure the other three are going to be enough for Katie to recover in the near future. Takeuchi-san is doing his best." Haruko continues with a puzzled voice, "And doing fairly well, but he's not you." * Kyon looks at her sidewise. "You want me to talk with her." * Haruko keeps the quiet voice. "I think the people that can best help her are the ones she respects most and cares most deeply about, and at very least you're a match for Takeuchi-san." * Kyon smirks. "I'm more than a match for the bike salesman." He looks off towards the window. "She knows what she can expect from me." * Haruko laughs briefly at the first comment, she then looks more serious. "She's putting on a show of strength, it'd probably hurt her too much to have to ask." She then stands up and puts her hand on the door. But you doubtless know better than I. Anyways I've kept you here long enough, wouldn't want to start rumors. ::grin:: * Kyon looks back over his shoulder with a smirk. "No one thinks that about me. Got Chikako, after all." * Haruko nods with a smile. "Well if you don't have any instructions or don't need more healing, I'll get back to sewing." She re-opens the door, careful not to make too much noise while doing so. * Kyon waves curtly back over his shoulder, and keeps looking out the window as Kumaguro pads over to rub against his legs. [Ok]