awashlogs | May Catch All for Kaoru

[Emma laughs a little at that.] That's true. My uniform used to be all white. Boring and it got dirty so quickly!

[Of course, she didn't really think that way until she got out and tried out different clothes. She dresses like a kid that never had to coordinate colors though. The outfit she arrived in was a yellow jacket and green checkered shirt...

She pulls a chair up to the table and gestures to the small collection of needles and threads she has scavenged.]

Nope, you can use whatever you want! Do you know how to thread a needle?

[Does she even need help when she can just psychic the thread through the hole perfectly?]

White can be cute too. It has that sort of innocent feeling to it. But it's definitely hard to keep clean!

[And well, Kaoru still preferred something more colourful herself.] What was your uniform for?

[She;'s going to take a seat too.]

Yeah, I can do this much.

[Also, using psychic powers to thread a needle is harder than it looks, Emma! But it is part of her regular training regime for improving fine control so she actually does thread the needle with her psychokinesis.]

[Considering how nice and open Kaoru is she feels like honesty is the best policy rather than sugar coating. She wouldn't want to feel like she was lying through omission to someone who has taken care of her.]

It was the uniform of my orphanage. [While she talks she sets up her own tools, threading her needle the old fashioned way. Her tone is casual, but the smile is strained. It's always hard to admit without knowing how the other person will react.] It wasn't really an orphanage though. It was a farm where we were raised. The white made it easier to notice any injuries or if we were dirty so that Mama could make sure we stayed healthy. We're premium grade meat after all.

[That is something a few people have already assumed thanks to the identification number tattooed on her neck.]

You had a uniform before too, right? What was it for?

[Oh orphanage--wait. Farm? She stares for a moment, but quickly turns her attention back on the needle she's going to...pick up as she tried to process what she just heard. (Meat...?)]

That...sounds like something out of a nightmare. [Was the best she could think of at the moment.] Is that related to what the furniture was talking about?

[But even so she was...having trouble wrapping her mind around it. How was such a place possible? And Emma was...what? Eleven? How could anyone do that to such a sweet girl? Luckily, she was allowed a distraction in the form of a question about her own uniform...which wasn't something anyone had asked about so far.]

It's my work uniform. [Her work wasn't something she was supposed to talk about but well. When Emma's been this honest how could she answer with anything less than honesty.] Where I come from, people with powers like mine, especially when our powers are strong, will end up working for Babel. My powers awoke early and they're strong so I've been apart of Babel since I was really little. The uniform identifies that I work for the government. It's supposed to be a secret though which is why I don't talk about it much...

[Okay, Emma actually laughs at that. Just a little, but it's there. To busy herself she grabs one of the skirts to lay it out and note how long it is.]

If felt like a nightmare at first. [At first because she had to wake up to the reality or die. She doesn't want to frighten Kaoru that badly though.] Mm, yeah. I didn't realize until I was eleven. That means all the children who were "adopted" before me died. And I couldn't bring everyone with me when we escaped...

[Even though that was the one thing she aimed to do. She can't dwell on that or she'll get stuck second guessing her plan again. Every month here is another month she isn't working towards rescuing them... The discussion of Kaoru's work sounds like the best distraction from thinking about that.]

Was it like secret missions since you couldn't talk about it? I bet with your powers you could solve all sorts of problems.

[She could fill in the unspoken bits well enough.] That's not your fault. You're only a child, Emma. I'm sure you did everything you could.

[An echo of something Minamoto used to say to them. You're only a child, so you don't need to deal with everything yourself.]

Well, the missions weren't secret, but they always modified the footage afterwards. In order to protect us from anti-esper groups, the identities of all special duty espers are kept from the public. But it's also so we can live normal lives. I wasn't able to go to school or anything before I was ten, but if my identity had been revealed I probably wouldn't have been able to go at all.

[That hits surprisingly close to home. Her fists ball up on the fabric before letting go and smoothing it back out. With much quicker movements she grabs a pair of shears and cuts off a sizable chunk of the skirt fabric.]

That's true of the past but I can always do better in the future. I won't make the same mistakes ever again.

[Not her fault is technically true but it's hard to really internalize that. If she wasn't just a weak child... She pushes the extra fabric aside to join the scraps. Emma nods along to Kaoru's explanation. It makes perfect sense to her how the secrecy could protect tem even if it means being isolated. But one phrase really sticks out to her.]

Anti-esper groups? Would would anyone be against such useful powers on principle? [She could understand why someone wouldn't want to go against them personally but the name suggests they are against the power itself. Which is just strange when it can do so much to help everyone!]

[God. Was this what it was like to be confronted by your past? She knows those eyes, remembers those words and she almost wished Minamoto were here with her.]

It's good to look to the future. But you don't need to take on everything by yourself, you know. There must be people who can support you.

[And even if there weren't any now, she would surely find people. She is watching her cut the fabric! She's supposed to be here to learn after all. Even if she remains a bit distracted.]

They think psychic powers are a threat to humanity and that espers aren't human. One of these groups calls themselves the Normal People...even though there's nothing normal about terrorists.

[She'll just...leave out all the parts where she had been nearly killed by people like this. So she tries to sound perfectly neutral when she brings them up. And she's not even going to touch the subject of Black Phantom with a ten foot pole.]

That's why my job is so important. The more people see us using these powers to help, the less people will be afraid of us! And the less power these groups will have.

[That goes both ways because Emma can't help but wince at the mention of taking everything on by oneself. That's a criticism she has heard more than once. It's almost weird to hear it from someone completely new though and not the routine lecture.]

O-Of course... I trust my friends to help- They wouldn't let me anyway. [She finally cracks a smile after saying that.] And that goes for everyone I've met here too! Really.

[Adding that 'really' on to the end makes it look like she doesn't trust them completely. Which might be true since she doesn't know everyone but she would like to think everyone is working together. Although, given what Kaoru is discussing right now humans really do have a penchant to disagreeing over the silliest things.

Sorry, but she drops the scissors after finishing the cut and Frowns at that information.]

Something little like that and they want to get rid of all of you? They want to fight over that?! You're all human! [She crosses her arm. Thankfully(?) more annoyed than sad compared to before.] Well, I think you're doing a great job. Anyone who can't understand something so simple has to have a lot of problems.

Good. [She says with a nod and then a smile.] I know it can be hard. When I was your age I hadn't wanted to rely on anyone and there really are terrible people but there will always be people you can trust. You just have to find them and give them the chance. And if you all band together, then you'll become that much stronger!

[It was nice to hear Emma declare that. She knew it and believed in it strongly but it was still nice when someone agreed.]

Right? There's totally something wrong with all of them! How can someone even so arbitrarily decide someone isn't human anyway? That's so stupid.

[A well meaning lecture from Kaoru is kind of out of place. Except the smile on Emma's face only strengthens. It feels nice, to know that Kaoru cares about her enough to say all this.]

Mmyeah... Everyone has their strengths. There's no one person that can do it all alone. Thanks, Kaoru.

[Emma goes back to working on the skirt, to keep her hands busy, and now that she wasn't so agitated.]

It is. That's definitely the talk of someone who hasn't really met an actual monster. Trying to turn normal people into enemies.

May Catch All for Kaoru

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