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[1]
[It's late at night at Sakihama base. And the only people up this late should be workaholics, and those with active night lives.
So who then, is that you catch out of the corner of your eye?]
Hm... Must be around here somewhere...
[One of them is clearly female, a woman likely in and around her late thirties, but in remarkable physical form. The other...]
Did we really have to do this at night dear? If it were the day, we could at least track him back to his quarters.
[The other is practically her male counterpart, similarly aged, equally fit. He bears something of a resemblance to a certain young pilot...]
Or perhaps...
[Suddenly, he turns on his heel, and throws out a quick series of shuriken, aimed to pin an unfortunate eavesdropper to the walls by their sleeves!]
We could ask them?
Sounds like a plan. Where is Kentaro Torao's room?
[2]
(OOC: Feel free to enter this prompt from the previous by changing the prompt number when you wanna timeskip)
So... my baby boy really has become a man...
Be honest, we surprised you didn't we son?
...
[It's late at night at Sakihama base. And the only people up this late should be workaholics, and those with active night lives.
So who then, is that you catch out of the corner of your eye?]
Hm... Must be around here somewhere...
[One of them is clearly female, a woman likely in and around her late thirties, but in remarkable physical form. The other...]
Did we really have to do this at night dear? If it were the day, we could at least track him back to his quarters.
[The other is practically her male counterpart, similarly aged, equally fit. He bears something of a resemblance to a certain young pilot...]
Or perhaps...
[Suddenly, he turns on his heel, and throws out a quick series of shuriken, aimed to pin an unfortunate eavesdropper to the walls by their sleeves!]
We could ask them?
Sounds like a plan. Where is Kentaro Torao's room?
[2]
(OOC: Feel free to enter this prompt from the previous by changing the prompt number when you wanna timeskip)
So... my baby boy really has become a man...
Be honest, we surprised you didn't we son?
...
Tags:
From:
2
... It's you...
I've never... met a Solaris pilot from the war before...
From:
no subject
And neither have we had the honour of meeting a noble being of the Void before. But its certainly quite pleasing.
W-Well? Ken? Are you going to say anything? Maybe introduce us to your friend...?
...
[Ken pauses, blinking a few times...]
WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!
[Yep, he's pissed.]
From:
no subject
... Honestly he deserves answers. Me too.
If not for Solaris he wouldn't have had anything to fall back on when you two up and vanished.
From:
no subject
That should never have really been the case. There was more than enough hidden under the floorboards-
I HAVE A BANK ACCOUNT!
And he's been left in charge of the house before.
FOR TWO WEEKS! WITH WARNING!
You make it sound as if we were gone for any longer than that.
[...That brings a pause to Ken's angry roars.]
...Explain.
We were home after a few weeks - you weren't.
I got that. What I mean, is what exactly kept you away? Just up and left without leaving a note?!
...Knew I'd forgotten something...
WHAT WAS THAT?!
W-What I mean to say is... We decided to call a conference. Of all the branch families - both clans. Our little feud... had made clear what had lingered in the background for some time. This isn't a world for our kind anymore. Think about it - I was hired by Solaris to do the exact opposite of what one expects of a professional assassin. Really, I was fighting interdimensional monsters, like some kind of ki-wielding superhero. The Kohakuryu clan hasn't slain anyone for a century, and only come close because of the old feud. Political rivalries are settled by media scandal and television debates, not by eliminating the competition - and anyone who wants to can hire some fool with a gun. And when we tried to raise you in this new world, to keep you safe from the conflict we had been part of... you were torn between the two. You couldn't be a modern day boy... and the son we expected to raise either. Similarly, we couldn't go on under the delusion that we could continue living in this world, and still be the clans that were founded over a thousand years ago. So... we talked. Debated. Discussed on how we might finally bury the hatchet, and... maybe not abandon the old ways, but learn to embrace the new.
[Ken... stares, not entirely sure what to say.]
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
D-Dido, when did you-!
[Gah. Dammit Dido! Back to the stuff with Ken's parents!]
No matter... you did this for him?
From:
no subject
In part, yes. Ultimately, it was for all our families, but... Ken is of the first generation to benefit from this. Certainly, he will be the most affected - he won't have to worry about clan politics as we did, even as clan head for both. The cultural ties will still be there, as will many of our arts... but I suppose we shall become 'ninja' more in name, than in purpose.
Most of the elders balked at the idea, but we asked what they even did anymore. Certainly not fight, so they had no stake in the discussion. Their 'hatred' of each other proved more to be because they themselves had been told to hate each other, as we had by them. No true reason to it.
...That's... not what I'm wanting to hear.
I imagined that might be the case... something closer to sorry, right?"
You're damned right! Even if you didn't mean it, you left me no clue of where you'd gone! I didn't know about any floorboards! And because I didn't know that was exactly what you were trying to resolve, I thought the clan elders were going to try and off me so they could go back to fighting each other! So I had to run, with nothing but clothes and my allowance!
[Tears start to well up, Ken hunching over as he clings to himself.]
The nights were cold! I never ate a full meal because I had to save money for the next one! I had to steal of stow away to get anywhere, and I didn't always know where I'd end up! It wasn't till I remembered where you said Solaris was... that I had any idea of where to go! And you know what?!
That suuuuucked too! They wouldn't even give me a proper job because of the budget restrictions! Do you know how many times I've almost died out there?! I had to go out so many times in one of those stupid genoaces, and even when I wound up piloting Solaris' first new machine in a decade, you know what? Some bad guys were still too strong for it! Sometimes I was so scared, even if I couldn't admit! I've never had a girlfriend - not even kissed a girl! The only paid job I've had is as a janitor! I've lost friends because of death and betrayal! I wouldn't have to worry about any of that if you had left the damned note!
From:
no subject
You two do have a lot you're going to need to make up for. We're lucky that Solaris was undergoing a rebirth of sorts, otherwise even then he wouldn't have been able to get any help from us.
So saying something that isn't just "closer" to an apology, but actually is one would be advisable.
From:
no subject
Agreed, Miss Onodera. Then, I shall begin: Ken, my son, I am so sorry for leaving as we-
Dear? Is something wrong?
Oh, just thinking... Miss Sybil may be a few years older... but if Mizuki could get around the compatibility issues... there's a possibility for a cute, caring couple here!
...
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
She snaps her fingers. "Wait! What if we spliced their DNA together and grew a baby in a tank...!"
From:
no subject
I like Miss Sybil's line of thinking...!
Dear!Mum!
Fine. It was just a thought anyway...
Anyway... We're sorry, Ken. We should have better informed you of what was going on - and at the very least, done better to make sure you were prepared in case we ever disappeared as we did. You've gone through a lot because of a few missteps and ignorance on our part... which will make it hard to do something to clearly make up for all of it. But we have to try... I mean, we're family.
...
...I want a hug.
...
...
...I think we can do that.
[And they do.]
From:
no subject
For what it's worth, I'd imagine Solaris wouldn't mind seeing you guys come back, even if just for an advisory position. Things have... gotten complicated since the Savior Team got formed.