[It's night time, still! You guys have just re-reached the ranch (not the dressing) and are doing whatever it is you're doing.] [Mini Start For The Love Of God!] * Millie waits till they're out of earshot of Kojiro and everyone else gets into the cabin, she tugs on Mikoto's sleeve a bit. "Psst. Mikky, can I talk to ya for a sec?" They probably haven't even gotten in the ranch yet. * Mikoto blinks, a little blearily, but nods and follows. "Alright." * Millie sighs and walks out to the front of the ranch, looking at the night sky. Pretty night sky. Especially when there's no threat of flying undead FREAKS...ahem. "There's just something that's been bothering me...it clicked an'...well, I know people don't like ta listen to my crazy ideas so..." * Mikoto follows along, then finds some nice unoccupied ground and has a seat on it in an ungainly sprawl against a sealed barrel of water. "Well... one man's crazy idea is another's stroke of genius," he says through a yawn. "What's on your mind, exactly?" Well... * Millie settles slightly and shifts her position. "It's about Kojiro." * Mikoto tilts his head to the side. "What about him?" Don't it strike you as a little odd that someone who supposedly has some link to the tablet we're lookin' for would be so open about these ol' legends an' such?" * Mikoto gives that a minute of thought, then sighs and shuts his eyes. "I don't know that it's for that particular reason, but I don't trust him, either. He seems... a little too perfect." * Millie rubs her forehead. "Tell me if I'm thinkin' too hard...if I'm makin' a link that ain't there...but...it jus' struck me when he said it. I remembered why we were goin' after him in the first place an'...it doesn't really fit.." * Millie frowns. "Like.." She shakes her head. "Nevermind. That's stupid." * Mikoto opens one eye. "No, say it. You never know." * Jinx is now known as Grysar * Millie sighs. "No. It's not a revelation. It's my own..." She fumbles for the word. "Insecurities I guess ya could say...I don't like ta talk about it.." * Millie rubs her head and sits on the bench. "I'm jus' all for spillin' my guts t'night. First Fanny. Now you. Must be the place." * Mikoto frowns in confusion for a moment, then shrugs his shoulders lightly. "It's up to you. What happened before we came to the surface, anyway?" * Millie shrugs faintly. "She acted about as I'd soon expect. Didn't want anything to do with me. Then Kojiro explains it better than I ever could an' that was that." * Mikoto blinks, sitting up a little. "What did he say? If you feel like sharing." That we're pretty much all at fault. In Sakura's death? * Millie nods. * Mikoto seems to think that over a moment. "It's a reasonable enough argument." She was already dishonored. Her opponent showed her mercy. We shouldn't have interfered by healing her but even if we didn't, killing Eri would have been just as bad. * Millie frowns. "I don't see how it's not worse, but I guess I'm jus' not Shomuran enough." * Mikoto laughs a little and gets up, dusting himself off. "That's the problem with dwelling on the past and assigning blame. How far back do you go? How far around do you draw the circle? It's easier to accept that we all had a hand in it, and what's done is done." * Millie shrugs. "I go as far back as I need to. Some things still ain't resolved...." * Millie stands. "I'll talk to ya later, Mikky." * Fanfan peeks out from a corner. "--oh." * Mikoto tilts his head again. "Alright..." He pauses. "Actually, wait one moment." * Mikoto glances at Fanfan briefly, then at Millie. "I just want to say..." He shuts his eyes a minute. "If it gets to the point where you have to point your rifle at my head and pull the trigger, don't hesitate." * Millie stops short. "Hmm?" She notices Fanfan. "I--" She lets it drop and doesn't look at Mikoto, just walks silently into the house. * Fanfan pointedly but blankly avoids Millie as she comes out. She's carrying a mug of tea and a travel blanket. "Her father let me bring these out." (He did? @_@ Harold's that tolerant?) ( By "let" I mean "didn't stop", y'realize. ) * Mikoto glances at the items, then smiles faintly. (Basically. Slot-eye.) ("And by didn't stop" I mean "I killed your father and took it over his dead body.") Somehow I think you might need them more than I do. How are you feeling? (*Sneaky* slot-eye. ) (Sounds better than "I think he said somethin' 'bout "Nasty slot-eyes should sleep on the porch.") (Greg: Yes.) (Nah. He let Mikoto and Tairan sleep inside, remember?) * Fanfan looks away as she places the mug and the blanket before Mikoto. "...confused. A little frightened." (But Fanfan's a harlot! Or something.) (He must have been delusional at the time.) (A harlot whose total exposed-skin-count comes out to face and hands, I think. Oh well. ) ( I punched him inna face.) * Mikoto takes them and walks toward the porch, where there must be the traditional wicker or wood chairs like you see at Cracker Barrel, and has a seat. "Understandable, I think." * Fanfan glances at Mikoto out of the corner of her eye. She hasn't really looked anyone straight in the face since hearing about Sakura. "Aren't *you* worried?" * Mikoto has a sip of the tea and makes a face. "He can't make tea to save his life," he mutters, then glances up at Fanfan. "I live in a perpetual state of worry nowadays. You'll have to be more specific." I mean...what if... * Fanfan waves a hand somewhat vaguely. "They didn't have to *kill* her! What if they decide that we are too different too? That we think too differently?" (* Jinx points at Fanfan. "She's a witch!") (Burn her!) ( Nooooooo!) * Mikoto raises an eyebrow. "At last check," he says dryly, "none of us are borderline psychotic." After a moment he looks into his mug. "I admit, part of it tugs at the back of my mind every time I hear the word 'sloteye'." * Fanfan swallows, looking down. "They said...it would be like this. But everyone had been, well, all right. I didn't think they would...I..." * Fanfan trails off, looking small. * Mikoto takes a deep breath and leans back in his chair. Hey, Millie was right: Stars are pretty. "But do you think that Sakura died because was Shomuran?" * Fanfan sighs. "I never thought she was that bad, as everyone said." * Mikoto mms. "Maybe. You and she are... were... closer to the definition of a 'real' Shomuran than Tairan or I, heavily tainted by the west..." That's why I am afraid. (Actually the real reason I'm afraid is 'cause this icky bug with like a trillion and three legs is crawling around where I can't get to it.) (*TWITCHES MADLY*) (Pfft. You're a dancer. Dancers should be flexible. Especially when they have swords to cut off the legs.) * Mikoto glances at Fanfan carefully. "Then let me ask you this. How do you think they felt in Shomura?" (It's between the wall and the AC unit. There's like two centimeters of space. ) * Fanfan frowns. "What do you....oh." But...I do not think...I do not recall them having received as...frightening...a reception. Did they face such persecution before I met them? * Mikoto nods. When we first arrived we were smack in the middle of the Takame feud with the Iwahara... with the son of the Takame daimyo travelling with us. * Fanfan winces. "Oh." Did they kill him? The Iwahara fighters, I mean. ( *not quite that paro yet* ) * Mikoto sighs and looks out at the... desert? Scrubland? Lights of Vegas? Whatever's out there. "No... well, not in front of us. A samurai of the Arita clan took him into custody as a hostage. We never saw him again." ...I am sorry. ( He was rescued by ninjas ) (If it was the ninja who showed up after he left, he was probably accidentally beheaded by ninjas. c.c) (Only to be slain later by *other* ninjas) * Mikoto shakes his head. "It was Suzunosuke's decision. None of us agreed, but he felt it was the only honorable thing to do." Ah. But do you know who was the most strident objector? Who was one of the saddest to see him go? ...no. ( Did he say saddest? He meant sadist. :P ) * Fanfan says it like she doesn't really wanna know." (Both!) * Mikoto says, calmly, "Millie." * Fanfan snorts. "It is not about her." ( It's about me! XD ) ( Look Brett, behind you! A Kirby!) ( 'Cause Shan rules the world! ) * Mikoto leans back. "Then who is it about?" He glances at Fanfan out of the corner of his eye. "John and Jinx, the egalitarians?" No, I...I just... I *didn't* expect them to do something like this. I was afraid when I met them, but then...I thought everything would be all right. Even when we first came to Teck, I did not want to go, but I...trusted them. * Fanfan sets her chin in her hands. Aww, how angstycute! "Now I do not know what to think." * Mikoto nods. After a pause, he asks: "Have you had many friends die on you before?" * Fanfan shakes her head. "None." * Mikoto nods again. "So..." He pauses. "I don't think you necessarily are concerned about what they've done more than you are concerned about filling the gap that Sakura occupied, emotionally." (...oh my god, Thren and Mikoto really were separated at birth.) ( You're just now realizing this? :P ) (*snicker*) * Fanfan sighs. "...I...perhaps." ( She was always... the best friend...she knew how to glare silently in the most non-menacing way at me. ) * Fanfan clears her throat. "But--my problems must be trivial to you, right now. Do you even know what it did to you, yet? What spell it was?" (Yeah, through the creepy mask that covered her entire face she showed me her SOUL.) (Hee!) ( *love* ) * Mikoto shakes his head. "All I had was a brief and terrible vision of... of the truth of death. There's a certain power in it, but..." (Awww, a confession from beyond the grave.) ( Wah. *single lovely tear* ) * Fanfan shudders. "You bear too many burdens. You should not have that as well." ( Now the ghost of Sakura can haunt Fanfan! ) ( Faaanfaaan. Staaab Millie in the faaaaace! And I'll give you caaaaandy. ) * Mikoto can't help but laugh a little. "It's just primacy. In a week I'll have forgotten all about it, perhaps." (Hahaha!) ( Ghost candy. ) * Fanfan half-grins. "Perhaps." * Fanfan puts her arms around her knees. "...thank you." * Mikoto leans back in the chair. "It's no problem." He closes his eyes. "Just... don't give up on them yet." * Fanfan sighs again, quietly, but doesn't say anything. She tilts her head on her arms so that she can see these pretty stars everyone's raving about. [And thus the slot-eyes slept in the jungle and in the morning they skinned and ate the Teckians, except for Jinx who was retained for cost accounting purposes. Mini end!]