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Kaname Chidori, age 16, has been living on her own ever since her father and younger sister moved back to New York sixteen months ago. Part of her figured she'd live alone in her apartment until she got married or something. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever imagine that she'd be forced to live on a military base.
Say goodbye to sleepovers with Kyoko. This whole moving business was something that she didn't even want to begin to explain to her best friend. She didn't bother to even try and explain it to her father. Instead, she just told him that there were problems with packages being stolen at her apartment complex and provided him with a PO Box to send letters to instead.
It was probably better if he and her young sister, Ayame didn't know what was going on, anyway. If they knew she was in sort of danger, they'd only worry. Her dad would probably move back to the US, and moving to this base was bad enough. She was still trying to come to terms with all of this, herself.
Goodbye, perfectly normal high school life.
Kaname shifts the box in her hands. Most of her things she had shipped off; they should already be in her room. But this box is filled with things that are special to her. Old family photographs -- especially ones of her mom. A few photo albums. Her childhood blanket. The Bonta-kun plush toy she's had ever since she was a baby. The box isn't exactly heavy, perse, but it's certainly large and unwieldy. That's part of the reason why she's having such a rough time carrying it.
Still, she's been walking around this base for ten minutes now, and she's still completely lost. And unfortunately for Kaname, her usual shadow, Sousuke Sagara, wasn't around. Thankfully, though, there's a figure up ahead.
"Hey!" Kaname calls out, as she quickens her pace. "Do you know where the dorms are?"
Say goodbye to sleepovers with Kyoko. This whole moving business was something that she didn't even want to begin to explain to her best friend. She didn't bother to even try and explain it to her father. Instead, she just told him that there were problems with packages being stolen at her apartment complex and provided him with a PO Box to send letters to instead.
It was probably better if he and her young sister, Ayame didn't know what was going on, anyway. If they knew she was in sort of danger, they'd only worry. Her dad would probably move back to the US, and moving to this base was bad enough. She was still trying to come to terms with all of this, herself.
Goodbye, perfectly normal high school life.
Kaname shifts the box in her hands. Most of her things she had shipped off; they should already be in her room. But this box is filled with things that are special to her. Old family photographs -- especially ones of her mom. A few photo albums. Her childhood blanket. The Bonta-kun plush toy she's had ever since she was a baby. The box isn't exactly heavy, perse, but it's certainly large and unwieldy. That's part of the reason why she's having such a rough time carrying it.
Still, she's been walking around this base for ten minutes now, and she's still completely lost. And unfortunately for Kaname, her usual shadow, Sousuke Sagara, wasn't around. Thankfully, though, there's a figure up ahead.
"Hey!" Kaname calls out, as she quickens her pace. "Do you know where the dorms are?"
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no subject
[Kagura's enormous hand catches Kaname's box with ease. It may be unwieldy for a tiny Japanese girl, but the major has hands the size of microwave doors]
YOU WANTED TO FIND THE DORMITORIES, CORRECT?
THIS WAY.
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"Y-Yeah."
And with that, Kaname wordlessly proceeds after the giant robot, wondering all the while how weird it must be if this giant robot pilots another giant robot.
"Uh, do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"
A beat, and if Kagura gives her affirmation, she goes for it:
"What, uh... exactly, are you?"
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no subject
[Kagura guides Kaname through the corridors. Despite its obvious weight, the robotic frame moves with surprising agility - and people get out of the way instinctively]
I AM MAJOR KAGURA, OF THE EXECUTOR GRAVEYARD. [Depending on whether she's into either the news or conspiracy theories Kaname may have heard of those guys. Public unspoken consensus is that they're shady as shit and probably going to try to take over the world or something some day, but for now they're the only ones who can kill those mechanical monsters that appear every now and then sooooo...]AND IF YOU'RE GOING TO ASK HOW I WORK, DON'T. NOT EVEN I KNOW.
WHICH REMINDS ME. THE PERSONNEL AT GRAVEYARD LAB ASKED TO ASK YOU IF YOU WOULD ACCEPT SUBMITTING TO SOME TESTS ABOUT THOSE POWERS YOU SHOWED.
I RECOMMEND YOU SAY NO FOR NOW.
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"I wasn't gonna ask anything like that," Kaname says, hands raised in front of her in surrender. The blunette's usually a little more feisty than this, but Kagura's intimidating -- even when she doesn't intend to be.
It probably comes with the whole being an eight-foot tall robot thing.
"Uh, I don't know what you're talking about," Kaname says shakily. "I'm a totally normal high school girl."
If she keeps saying it, maybe it'll actually stay that way. Wasn't there some guy on a late-night infomercial lecturing about the power of positive thinking? Maybe she should have bought his CDs. They'd definitely come in handy now.
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"Well, yeah, who doesn't want to live a perfectly normal life?"
Aside from this military base's many bizarre residents, anyway?
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A LOT OF PEOPLE SACRIFICE THEIR ENTIRE LIVES FOR EVEN A REMOTE CHANCE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. TO BE MORE THAN WHAT WAS EXPECTED OF THEM. DEPENDING ON WHAT THOSE POWERS ARE YOU MAY HAVE HAD THIS CHANCE DROPPED ON YOUR LAP AND YOU WANT TO WHAT, RUN AWAY FROM IT IN CASE IT DOESN'T LET YOU GO BACK TO STUDYING FOR A CIVICS TEST?
[Kagura's voicebox doesn't allow for a sarcastic tone, but she probably would be using it a bit right now. In any case, they arrive to Kaname's room and Kagura touches down the box near the door]
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1 of 2
It's not until they hit the door of her room that Kaname finally loses it.
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2 of 2 - I'm going to totally assume this happens before the Ken thread
"Well that's good for you and for everyone else, now isn't it?! Everyone in this base is following me around, going 'Ooo~ you have secret powers', but you know something?! I don't care! Because none of them actually know what went down down there!"
With a swing of the arm, Kaname directs a single pointed finer up at Kagura's face. "Those terrorist freaks threw me in some giant tube and had me watch these weird videos with numbers and letters that I didn't even understand! You know what kind of people try to do that? Do you?"
Kaname doesn't wait for an answer.
"People who are trying to brainwash you, that's what! And yet everyone acts like I should be happy and grateful for being so damn special! Well, I'm not!! I'm not at all!"
Kaname folds her arms over her chest. "It must be great," she says, "to be able to sit up there in your ivory tower and cast judgment over the rest of us for not using our special powers however you dictate, but has it ever occurred to you that I might not have powers at all? That all that technobabble from earlier was the product of brainwashing by the enemy and not some SUPER SPECIAL POWERS? That maybe the reason they've assigned Sergeant Sousuke to guard me isn't for my safety, but for everyone else's?"
Once again, Kaname doesn't waste time waiting for an answer. Any normal person would probably be breathless by now, but not her.
"But I should just be happy, shouldn't I? Happy that my perfectly normal high school life has been suddenly and unceremoniously upended so that I could spend the rest of my days sitting in a military base, so assholes like you could tell me that I should be happy about the whole thing! Give me a break!"
Kaname snatches her box and kicks open the door of her room. She's had enough of this.
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no subject
DO NOT PRESUME TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT WHAT I KNOW, BRAT. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF WHAT IT IS TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR HUNDREDS OF LIVES. OR TO BE USELESS AND BROKEN AND KNOWING YOU ARE NOTHING BUT TRASH.
YOU WERE KIDNAPPED BY A GROUP THAT WANTED TO KEEP YOU ALIVE. BIG FUCKING WHOOP. HERE IS A TIP. THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THIS BASE THAT HAVE NEARLY DIED A DOZEN TIMES. WHOSE ENTIRE FAMILIES AND COMRADES HAVE BEEN KILLED. WHO HAVE HAD TO CLAW THEIR WAY UP FROM THE MOST ABSOLUTE MISERY. I CAN GIVE YOU SOME FILES IF YOU WANT TO SEE WHAT TRAGEDY ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE. SO QUIT THE WOE IS ME ACT UNTIL YOU HAVE SOMETHING ACTUALLY HAPPEN TO YOU BEFORE SOMEONE SETS YOU STRAIGHT.
[And with that the hand lets go]
YOU TALK ABOUT IVORY TOWERS AND LOOK DOWN ON US?
GET A MIRROR, KID.
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Kagura's words strike a nerve with Kaname and she doesn't like it. Because the fact of the matter is, everything Kagura is saying is perfectly true. She should be grateful that one kidnapping is the only thing she's had to worry about. She should be glad that all her friends were rescued safe and sound.
Her suffering was nothing in comparison to plenty of other people, including the people stationed here at this base.
But the truth is, she can't be happy. Because the one thing she really wanted, the one simple thing she wanted for herself was a perfectly normal life.
"You chose this life for yourself! And so did everyone else here! You could have run away or said no, and who could have stopped you?! You're big and strong! You don't have to worry about anyone hurting you because you can protect yourself!"
Kaname can feel her fists trembling with anger at her side.
"I never even had a choice!" Kaname shouts.
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YOU REALLY KNOW NOTHING.
IF YOU WANT TO PROTECT YOURSELF, TRY TO LEARN HOW. IF YOU WANT TO BE STRONGER, TRY TO FIND WAYS YOU CAN DO SO. IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY THIS IS HAPPENING, TRY TO LEARN ABOUT YOURSELF.
NOBODY HAS A CHOICE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS TO THEM. ALL YOU CHOOSE IS WHAT YOU DO ABOUT IT. YOU CAN LET THE WORLD HAPPEN TO YOU OR TRY FIND WAYS TO TAKE CONTROL BACK, BIT BY BIT.
AND. A TIP FROM A CONCERNED FRIEND. DO NOT REPEAT WHAT YOU JUST SAID TO ME TO OTHER PEOPLE IN THIS BASE. BECAUSE MANY OF THEM GOT, IN FACT, FAR LESS OF A CHOICE THAN YOU HAVE. AND NOT ALL OF THEM WILL UNDERSTAND THAT YOU ARE NOT THINKING CLEARLY AS I DO.
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She does have every right to be upset. She knows it, even if no one else agrees with her. But that doesn't give her the right to take her anger and frustrations out on somebody else.
Even if that somebody else was completely unable to understand what she was feeling.
Kaname lets out a long sigh, then briefly presses a hand against the side of her head.
"Look," she says, lifting her box again. "I know that you mean well and everything, but..."
Kaname looks down at the top of the box. The lid is pried up a little, just enough for her to see half the face of the plush Bonta-kun inside.
"...forget it."
She steps inside her room. Her other boxes, delivered by DHL earlier in the day, are already there. The place is pretty dingy; the decor outdated. It's nothing like the apartment Kaname called home.
So this was where she was going to live from now on.
"I'm sorry."
And with that, Kaname steps past the threshold and into her new room.
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I WILL SEE YOU AROUND.
[And with that, she leaves.]