Okay, I'll stop saying it. [ He snatches up the lemon flavored chu-hi. The tartness if the citrus overrides the sweet just enough. ] But you can't stop me from thinking it~!
[ He crack the can open, taking a small sip before setting it down carefully beside him. Then he's crawling up to the T.V. so he can insert the rented film into the gaming console. Finally with the controller in hand, he shimmies back up beside her. ]
It's kinda hard not to drink with HOMRA's headquarters being a bar.
No, it should be the other way around I think. [She picks up the peach-flavored chu-hi that remains.] I should honestly try to be better about any compliments you'd like to give me.
[Seems like she didn't miss the mark. Youko balances the cold can against her knee to crack it open, taking a long satisfying sip of it before settling back against the pillows, holding the can in both hands and watching Bandou set things up, tilting her head slightly at him.]
HOMRA... is that what you call your 'clan'? [There might be a little bleed of airquotes in her voice, but there isn't any ill-will in it.] You're barflies?
Yup, HOMRA is the name of the Red Clan. And the bar's called Bar HOMRA.
[ The menu to the film comes up, but Bandou hesitates to hit play just yet. She's asked a question about his group and he's honestly glad she'd like to know more about them. ]
Kusanagi owns the place. He's Mikoto's right hand man and one of the original members. So we all just end up hanging out there. You should come there and meet everyone sometime. Anna would love your hair.
[Kusanagi, Mikoto, Anna — an expanding cast of characters in what she knows of Bandou Saburouta's universe, but they just pile up the questions in Youko's head. It seems it isn't quite the boys' club she had pictured from how Bandou spoke about them, not with an Anna in the mix.
Maybe the chief question amongst them is one she'll come to regret delivering so breezily —]
Red clan? Do you guys have a rivalry with a blue clan?
[ She's dead on with her guess. The immediate scowl he gets on should answer that well enough. But that doesn't keep him from verbally expressing his opinions on the group. ]
Yeah, and they're a bunch of assholes! The Blues think they control the entire city and can just show up and interfere in our business. The Blue King's lucky Mikoto likes fighting him so much, or he would've taken them all out by now.
[The vitriol in his voice almost has her spill a little of her drink, a narrowly averted first disaster in Castle Taiyou. She stares at him wide-eyed, voice pitching up in surprise.]
Wait, really? There's really a blue clan?
[She had been joking, but business? Fighting?]
Saburouta, what is HOMRA? You've used clan and your friends, but...
[ For a moment he just looks at her confused. He can understand maybe not knowing his clan's name, especially if this is her first time being directly involved with them. But he's pretty sure everyone knows about HOMRA. Or at least Scepter4. The Blues work directly alongside the government of the city, often times even having say over them. And even if that wasn't known, there's no way she's never seen one of the Kings' swords appear in the sky and not asked about it. ]
I told you, that's our clan's name. HOMRA, we follow the third and Red King, Suoh Mikoto. The previous Red Clan was called something else, though. I don't remember what. But they all got obliterated when the former Red King's Sword of Damocles fell and created Kagutsu Crater. That's when Mikoto got picked as King. We slowly started to join him after that.
[And she sits there looking back at him even more bewildered. The sense that this was her neighborhood, but a little to the right hangs even heavier on her shoulders. Her brain is taking mental notes — Kagutsu Crater, Sword of Damocles — but it is all gibberish and she doesn't know where to begin picking it apart. Maybe the one that seems to sit at the forefront.]
I don't... this is the first I've heard any of this. Mikoto is the Red King? What do you mean he 'got picked'?
The Dresden Slate picked him, like it does with every King. I can't believe you don't know any of this.
[ But okay, she somehow missed all of this happening around her (or so he thinks must be the case). Maybe he needs to explain more thoroughly. He grabs his drink and turns towards her, sitting cross legged. ]
Okay, so the Slate's this big...slate thing. They found it in Germany a long time ago. Somehow it can give people supernatural powers. Right now the Gold King has it locked up in his tower since he seems to be the only guy who can control it from just handing out powers to everyone.
Kings get picked by the Slate. There's only seven of them, and they can decide to share those powers with members of their clan. They all kinda do it differently, but the way HOMRA works is, when you wanna join, you have to shake Mikoto's hand when it's on fire. If the fire doesn't burn you, you get this marking on you.
[ He lifts his shirt up a bit to show off the marking on his stomach. ]
And then you can summon fire, just like him. It's pretty awesome.
[The way Bandou delivers the information clues her in that this is basic knowledge she should have. And that this is nothing like the world she left behind. A truth about herself she supposes she has to both confront and tell him, especially when they're — well, whatever they are? How to go about that, how to even begin, gets swept right out of her head with that last revelation and she leans forward, eyes brimming with curiosity as she stares at him.]
Mikoto can summon fire? You can summon fire?
[Because of the mark? Because of his king? Because of a slate? Not fully thinking it through, she reaches out to touch him, to touch the marking, to feel the warmth again underneath her fingertips.]
[Don't mind the little noise he makes at the end of his answer. The mark's sensitive!]
Did you wanna see?
[Under her touch, a glow starts to emit. The slowly, a translucent red bubble starts to spread out around them. The edges of it flicker and spark like an odd mixture of flame and electricity. The heat in their confined space begins to rise slowly.
The smile Bandou has on shows just how proud he is of himself being able to have gained this ability.]
Suddenly, you saying your friends would win against me in a fight makes sense...
[As his power spreads out, the red encompassing them and the heat following, she watches with pure, openmouthed wonder, marveling at what he can do. Right up until she watches the flicker next to the cloth surrounding them and she panics, turning back to Bandou, pressing against his mark hard, fast, and with too much of her weight —]
[Seeing her with such wonder in her eyes over something he's capable somehow makes him feel even warmer inside. She's proud of him. Despite all the others in his gang calling him insignificant in his abilities, he's still been able to impress her.
Until she pushes him down in her panic. He topples backwards, somehow avoiding spilling his drink everywhere. The Aura surrounding them dissipates, bed sheets and pillows unscathed.]
It's okay, Youko. I wasn't going to let it burn you.
[With her heart in her throat, she looks all around them for any lingering sparks, ready to beat them out with a pillow if need be, and finding none stares down at Bandou, amazed.]
No, I didn't think you would. You wouldn't hurt me.
[Youko. She should move, she knows that, but she wants — if she might stop being 'Youko' to him with the next words out of her mouth — she wants to kiss him one more time. A souvenir for the worst case scenario. She slips her hands off his chest, down to rest on blanket-covered floor, and presses a quick kiss to his mouth.]
[She cuts him off with the kiss and he blinks up at her, a bit surprised by its suddenness. Not that he's complaining!]
I figured everyone in Shizume City knew about us. Even if it was just a rumor or something. [He laughs a bit stupidly before his next comment.] I'm glad I get to be your first with this, too.
[She rolls her lips, wishing she could hold the warmth for a moment longer, before ruining anything. Sitting back, she moves away from him, giving him space to sit back up himself as she finds where she hurriedly set her drink, and takes another long sip of it. For courage.]
Saburouta. I, uh... do you know Alice in Wonderland? How— no, that isn't quite right—
[Her fingernails rap nervously against the aluminum surface.]
[ Bandou sits back up, pulling the front of his shirt back down now that the mark has stopped glowing. He resituates himself, taking his own drink back in hand. ]
Oh, that makes more sense. So, you're just here on a vacation or something?
[ Mid-way though a sip he suddenly chokes on it as a realization comes to mind. ]
Wait, does that mean you're gonna be leaving soon??
No. I shouldn't be here, the place I should be is... really far from here.
[Every word feels like a struggle at untangling a ball of yarn. How to explain this Japan not being her Japan? Or the time discrepancies? How to explain how she even got here? It's such a mess. She doesn't even know what she'll do if she tells him who she is and he takes her for a threat. That seems farfetched, but she doesn't doubt Bandou would go to great lengths to protect his friends, and what is he supposed to think if the kings fight and an empress shows up?
His choking and sputtering couldn't interrupt a better train of thought, really.]
I don't know. I don't know how long I'll be here for.
[The tapping resumes as she tries really hard to keep eye contact and takes a deep breath.]
Do you remember a bad storm awhile back? It was out of the blue?
[ Having no knowledge of Youko's true identity, her real life away from him, all he can associate her words with is how his own world works. Hearing she might be leaving at an unknown time has his face drooping. The excitement of the evening fizzling out like his flames had when she tackled him in a panic.
He pretty much just met this amazing woman, who was more than accepting of him, and now she might be gone before he knows it. There's no anger towards her, but he's greatly saddened by the news.
He's set to ask her if there's any way they can stay in contact, maintain a long distance relationship, whenever the time for her to leave comes about, when she asks a question that's seemingly out of nowhere. ]
[Each syllable of that admission comes in careful measure.
She is well-aware how hefty a revelation she is beginning, and she wants to give Bandou time to process what she is telling him. She plays with the pull tab on her drink, judging it quieter that tapping her fingertips up the side of the can, and maybe, just maybe quiet will ease this. Will make the next steps steadier.]
For lack of any other, better example, I got here like... Alice down the rabbit hole. And I know that doesn't make sense—
[Explaining this to someone else, someone unfamiliar with her new world, was never supposed to be on the books. Certainly not wearing an enormous t-shirt in a pillow fort with someone she really likes. She shifts, sits up straighter than she feels like she should, continuing on.]
But I'm stranded. Until someone comes for me again.
['Someone' catches in her throat, the word coming out just a little thick, something she has been trying not to think about since the beginning.]
There's more, but...
[But she wants to know what his reaction is first, wants to see how much she has broken in his face and if any of it can be repaired.]
[ He quietly takes in what she's saying, expression slowly shifting from solely heartbroken to more perplexed. Like he's trying to piece it all together. What she just confessed with how he misinterpreted her previous statements. He stares at the empty space on the blanket between them as if looking for the right words to say. Finally he regards her again. He pulls those new red framed sunglasses from his face, folding the arms in so he can carefully place them to the side. He wants to see her properly for this. ]
So, like a dimension hopper?
[ Perhaps not the reaction she was expecting. If anything, his sadness for the moment has switched to curiosity. ]
[It definitely isn't the reaction she expected. She watches him willingly remove his sunglasses to regard her. Facing her straight on and barefaced, and once again — for the last time? — she is reminded how pretty his eyes are. But then his questions, his familiar curiosity, take some of the tension out of her shoulders, if not the caution she wants to hold tight to.]
Uh... huh? I guess... neither? Both? Shoku are like a destructive portal, I suppose...
[That isn't the point though. Gods, if she was going to willingly give this sort of spiel, she would give it to him. Who else has she trusted as much here? She takes another deep breath.]
When I was sixteen, I was taken from my hometown in Japan by a man I didn't know at the time. The details of what happened next are... messy. But the outcome, I can tell you, is that I — [Here goes nothing.] — was enthroned. My birth name is Youko, but my regnal name is Sekishi, and I'm the Empress of Kei. It's... it's the country I was meant to be born in.
[ Watch him just blink at her with each new bit of information she dumps on him. It's a lot to process, and most of it slips away before he can fully register it. The one word that sticks with him through it all is 'empress'. He tilts his head, as if it will somehow make the pieces fall into place in his mind. ]
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[ He crack the can open, taking a small sip before setting it down carefully beside him. Then he's crawling up to the T.V. so he can insert the rented film into the gaming console. Finally with the controller in hand, he shimmies back up beside her. ]
It's kinda hard not to drink with HOMRA's headquarters being a bar.
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[Seems like she didn't miss the mark. Youko balances the cold can against her knee to crack it open, taking a long satisfying sip of it before settling back against the pillows, holding the can in both hands and watching Bandou set things up, tilting her head slightly at him.]
HOMRA... is that what you call your 'clan'? [There might be a little bleed of airquotes in her voice, but there isn't any ill-will in it.] You're barflies?
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[ The menu to the film comes up, but Bandou hesitates to hit play just yet. She's asked a question about his group and he's honestly glad she'd like to know more about them. ]
Kusanagi owns the place. He's Mikoto's right hand man and one of the original members. So we all just end up hanging out there. You should come there and meet everyone sometime. Anna would love your hair.
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Maybe the chief question amongst them is one she'll come to regret delivering so breezily —]
Red clan? Do you guys have a rivalry with a blue clan?
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Yeah, and they're a bunch of assholes! The Blues think they control the entire city and can just show up and interfere in our business. The Blue King's lucky Mikoto likes fighting him so much, or he would've taken them all out by now.
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Wait, really? There's really a blue clan?
[She had been joking, but business? Fighting?]
Saburouta, what is HOMRA? You've used clan and your friends, but...
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I told you, that's our clan's name. HOMRA, we follow the third and Red King, Suoh Mikoto. The previous Red Clan was called something else, though. I don't remember what. But they all got obliterated when the former Red King's Sword of Damocles fell and created Kagutsu Crater. That's when Mikoto got picked as King. We slowly started to join him after that.
Did you really not know about us?
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I don't... this is the first I've heard any of this. Mikoto is the Red King? What do you mean he 'got picked'?
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[ But okay, she somehow missed all of this happening around her (or so he thinks must be the case). Maybe he needs to explain more thoroughly. He grabs his drink and turns towards her, sitting cross legged. ]
Okay, so the Slate's this big...slate thing. They found it in Germany a long time ago. Somehow it can give people supernatural powers. Right now the Gold King has it locked up in his tower since he seems to be the only guy who can control it from just handing out powers to everyone.
Kings get picked by the Slate. There's only seven of them, and they can decide to share those powers with members of their clan. They all kinda do it differently, but the way HOMRA works is, when you wanna join, you have to shake Mikoto's hand when it's on fire. If the fire doesn't burn you, you get this marking on you.
[ He lifts his shirt up a bit to show off the marking on his stomach. ]
And then you can summon fire, just like him. It's pretty awesome.
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Mikoto can summon fire? You can summon fire?
[Because of the mark? Because of his king? Because of a slate? Not fully thinking it through, she reaches out to touch him, to touch the marking, to feel the warmth again underneath her fingertips.]
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[Don't mind the little noise he makes at the end of his answer. The mark's sensitive!]
Did you wanna see?
[Under her touch, a glow starts to emit. The slowly, a translucent red bubble starts to spread out around them. The edges of it flicker and spark like an odd mixture of flame and electricity. The heat in their confined space begins to rise slowly.
The smile Bandou has on shows just how proud he is of himself being able to have gained this ability.]
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[As his power spreads out, the red encompassing them and the heat following, she watches with pure, openmouthed wonder, marveling at what he can do. Right up until she watches the flicker next to the cloth surrounding them and she panics, turning back to Bandou, pressing against his mark hard, fast, and with too much of her weight —]
Wait. N— Not inside! I believe you!
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Until she pushes him down in her panic. He topples backwards, somehow avoiding spilling his drink everywhere. The Aura surrounding them dissipates, bed sheets and pillows unscathed.]
It's okay, Youko. I wasn't going to let it burn you.
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No, I didn't think you would. You wouldn't hurt me.
[Youko. She should move, she knows that, but she wants — if she might stop being 'Youko' to him with the next words out of her mouth — she wants to kiss him one more time. A souvenir for the worst case scenario. She slips her hands off his chest, down to rest on blanket-covered floor, and presses a quick kiss to his mouth.]
I didn't know any of that. Does most everyone?
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[She cuts him off with the kiss and he blinks up at her, a bit surprised by its suddenness. Not that he's complaining!]
I figured everyone in Shizume City knew about us. Even if it was just a rumor or something. [He laughs a bit stupidly before his next comment.] I'm glad I get to be your first with this, too.
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[She rolls her lips, wishing she could hold the warmth for a moment longer, before ruining anything. Sitting back, she moves away from him, giving him space to sit back up himself as she finds where she hurriedly set her drink, and takes another long sip of it. For courage.]
Saburouta. I, uh... do you know Alice in Wonderland? How— no, that isn't quite right—
[Her fingernails rap nervously against the aluminum surface.]
I'm not from Shizume City.
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Oh, that makes more sense. So, you're just here on a vacation or something?
[ Mid-way though a sip he suddenly chokes on it as a realization comes to mind. ]
Wait, does that mean you're gonna be leaving soon??
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[Every word feels like a struggle at untangling a ball of yarn. How to explain this Japan not being her Japan? Or the time discrepancies? How to explain how she even got here? It's such a mess. She doesn't even know what she'll do if she tells him who she is and he takes her for a threat. That seems farfetched, but she doesn't doubt Bandou would go to great lengths to protect his friends, and what is he supposed to think if the kings fight and an empress shows up?
His choking and sputtering couldn't interrupt a better train of thought, really.]
I don't know. I don't know how long I'll be here for.
[The tapping resumes as she tries really hard to keep eye contact and takes a deep breath.]
Do you remember a bad storm awhile back? It was out of the blue?
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He pretty much just met this amazing woman, who was more than accepting of him, and now she might be gone before he knows it. There's no anger towards her, but he's greatly saddened by the news.
He's set to ask her if there's any way they can stay in contact, maintain a long distance relationship, whenever the time for her to leave comes about, when she asks a question that's seemingly out of nowhere. ]
...Maybe? I guess?
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[Each syllable of that admission comes in careful measure.
She is well-aware how hefty a revelation she is beginning, and she wants to give Bandou time to process what she is telling him. She plays with the pull tab on her drink, judging it quieter that tapping her fingertips up the side of the can, and maybe, just maybe quiet will ease this. Will make the next steps steadier.]
For lack of any other, better example, I got here like... Alice down the rabbit hole. And I know that doesn't make sense—
[Explaining this to someone else, someone unfamiliar with her new world, was never supposed to be on the books. Certainly not wearing an enormous t-shirt in a pillow fort with someone she really likes. She shifts, sits up straighter than she feels like she should, continuing on.]
But I'm stranded. Until someone comes for me again.
['Someone' catches in her throat, the word coming out just a little thick, something she has been trying not to think about since the beginning.]
There's more, but...
[But she wants to know what his reaction is first, wants to see how much she has broken in his face and if any of it can be repaired.]
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So, like a dimension hopper?
[ Perhaps not the reaction she was expecting. If anything, his sadness for the moment has switched to curiosity. ]
Or, more time traveler?
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Uh... huh? I guess... neither? Both? Shoku are like a destructive portal, I suppose...
[That isn't the point though. Gods, if she was going to willingly give this sort of spiel, she would give it to him. Who else has she trusted as much here? She takes another deep breath.]
When I was sixteen, I was taken from my hometown in Japan by a man I didn't know at the time. The details of what happened next are... messy. But the outcome, I can tell you, is that I — [Here goes nothing.] — was enthroned. My birth name is Youko, but my regnal name is Sekishi, and I'm the Empress of Kei. It's... it's the country I was meant to be born in.
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Empress like how we call Mikoto King?
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Empress like... I approve laws and hear petitions and control the military...
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[ He blinks some more, dumbfounded by all this. ]
...and you're dating me??
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