May Catch All for Kaoru

[queenofminiskirts]

WHO: Kaoru and whole bunch of other people
WHERE: Various locations
WHEN: Throughout May
WHAT: QUESTS
WARNINGS: Fire-Breathing Geese On Premises

Specific prompts in the comments! Ping me via PM or on Plukr (orangecrates) if you want to plot out anything!

Comments

[keeneye]

[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.

[queenofminiskirts]

[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.

[keeneye]

[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!]

[queenofminiskirts]

[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.

[keeneye]

[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.

[queenofminiskirts]

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.

[keeneye]

[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.