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(no subject)

Who: Kyouko Sakura and Mami Tomoe
What: Kyouko chose poorly. Mami comes to help her.
When: September 2nd.
Where: Inner Wildwoods
Warnings: Injuries and blood?

[Kyouko had severely underestimated her quarry, and had paid the price. The Spiritomb shifter quickly turned the fight against her and only the intervention of one of her Pokémon had saved her life, at least temporarily.

Pain.

Both physical and emotional. She could barely move, and it was all she could do not to tear up as she shifted her limp arm, twisted at an unnatural angle, in order to access her warp band. Each little push caused her to wince anew, typing her message slowly. It was just two words, but it felt like it took an eternity to send the message, both due to her physical state and her reluctance to admit defeat.]

I failed.

[She sagged back against the tree she'd been sitting at the base of, glancing up at her Talonflame, keeping watch over her. She was still alive, but...why? She still couldn't kill that monster, even after becoming so strong. With a shaky sigh, she closed her eyes and waited.]

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Because I thought you would do something... something like this!

[...oops that wasn't what she wanted to say]

Woulda happened training or not.

[Although it's likely only because of said training that Mami didn't find a corpse.]

[She frowns. It's true. Mami falls quiet after her outburst and looks away. She doesn't want to say anything, now. But she doesn't want to leave, either. So she slumps, looking away from Kyouko.]

You're a selfish person.

[But it doesn't come out angry. It comes out... sad.]

You'd throw your life away. No matter how much it hurts others.

That's the way the world is. You just haven't realized it yet.

[Every man for themselves. Kyouko honestly believes that.]

Why should anyone else care what I do?

It shouldn't be.

[It comes out angry, rather than with conviction. Mami knows it's the way the world is. She just can't quite accept it. But the next part...]

[That's what makes her tense. She turns and looks back at her, eyes wide.]

Because I care about you! Because--because when you sent that, I thought you might have been dead, and I--

It ain't ever gonna change.

[Kyouko accepted it a long time ago, and she hasn't really seen much to change her opinion of that. When Mami turns to her and speaks, she goes silent, her expression practically saying 'why?'.]

[She stares back for a time, quiet and unhappy with Kyouko's statement. In the end, Mami looks down, biting her lower lip. Her eyes don't quite meet the other girl's.]

You were the only friend I had for the longest time. That's worth more to me than...

[Than everything else, really.]

[She remains silent for several moments. Mami had been her only friend, too. While she won't admit it now, the time she'd spent with her really had make Kyouko happy, and she did occasionally feel guilty for just up and leaving the other girl. But...]

I can't forgive the valkyries.

Because they wouldn't go after it?

[She frowns and looks down. It feels like it shouldn't be all that's between them... but there it is. And Mami won't give her place up in the Valkyries, either.]

And they were too late.

[If the patrol had been a bit more vigilant, maybe they would've arrived in time to avert the disaster.]

[She doesn't have a good argument for that. She's thought it before.]

...We could make them better, though. What does going it alone accomplish?

I want no part of that.

[Unless she can dismantle them.]

[She opens her mouth and starts -- just starts -- to ask a question. The thing people have wondered about her, since shortly after she joined the Valkyries. But... she can't. She falls quiet.]

[Instead, after a moment:]

Kyouko. Look. I...

[She doesn't meet her eyes, looking down.]

I know we won't see eye to eye. But I--I miss you. When I thought you might be dead, I... regretted everything. I don't want that. You're my best friend. So...

[She hugs her knees against herself.]

...so please don't throw your life away. It's valuable to one person.

[Kyouko doesn't interrupt her. While she certainly could, part of her wants to hear what the other girl has to say. If she starts getting preachy, she can always cut in then.

What comes next actually surprises her to an extent. She...wasn't expecting that.]

After all that, why would you...?

[Or how could she still consider Kyouko her friend?]

Who's the selfish one now?

You knew what it was like. [...] ...know what it's like. To lose your family. How it hurts.

[She pulls her knees up to her chin, putting it on them, and hugs her legs tighter.]

How it doesn't stop hurting. Do you think I could forget that?

Knew? I still know what it's like.

[It's something she recalls almost every day.]

You've got friends in the valks now, don't you?

I have subordinates and comrades. It's... different.

[She likes them, but they're not friends. They're not people she's close to. She's made friends in Union, and the difference stands out.]

What's the point then, just gonna play the part of the good little soldier?

[That's another reason Kyouko isn't interested even beyond her little grudge. She doesn't take orders well.]

Because I can change things. I can win their respect. I... don't need friends, to do that.

[But she doesn't sound happy about it. She would far prefer having friends for it.]

Yeah? What've you changed so far? The valks were pretty damned powerless against that fire thing.

Have they killed Walpurgis?

I did a better job alone than they ever did.

[And she wasn't even really trying to help people.]

It takes time, Kyouko. I can't change them overnight. I can't...

[She glares, but then she looks away. She's snapping now, though, and saying things she'll regret later.]

I'm trying! Not that my efforts ever mattered to you!

It's been a lot longer than that.

[She pauses, looking away herself.]

It was your efforts that let you find me and not a smear on the forest floor.

[She frowns, then she looks down, her eyes feeling heavier. It may not matter. She doesn't even know what she wants to change anymore, after coming to Union.]

...I did do that. Will it matter? If you just throw your life away...

[The inhabitants of Union seem good enough at changing things on their own. ~~All Kyouko's changed is the number of items in their pantries.~~

She doesn't have a response for that. Kyouko just hangs her head in silence for the moment.]

Don't do that, Kyouko. I know I can't make you. But--but...

[There's a moment where Mami goes quiet. Then, abruptly, she hugs Kyouko tightly against her, and shakes her head against her.]

...come to me, first. Please.