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[myturf]

@karinto

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un: magicandmiracles

[priceofmagic]

Good afternoon.

Karin-san, correct? It’s Samantha Fletcher! How are you?

[myturf]

ohh hey, been a little while
doin alright, training
yourself?

[priceofmagic]

Doing okay. Still kidnapped and all.

Wondering if you have a free minute? there’s something I should have mentioned before.

[myturf]

yea but thats all of us

anyway sure. i got time

[priceofmagic]

Awesome. It’d be better in person cuz

I’m a ~secretive~ lady and all.

[myturf]

works for me, prefer my meetings face to face anyway

name a place and i'll be there

[priceofmagic]

Mmmm better avoid public spaces soooo

Wanna come over to my place? I’ll warm up some snacks.

[myturf]

[ .....hm. ]

sure thing

send the address and i'll come knocking soon

[priceofmagic]

[sent!]

Oh and uhhh just as a warning

Ask the spirits to stay outside? I mean, your buddy is probably fine but uh

I’m shy or something.

text

[nightwild]

do you know who empress is

[myturf]

[ she typed 'no' at first. What the hell is 'empress'? It takes her a second, and she remembered that stupid cute contest. ]

i think

why

[nightwild]

shes stalking us
calls you kitten and me foxy
followed us while we bought clothes

who is she

[myturf]

[ enjoy the full, two minute pause, before she responds. ]

a fucking dead woman.

[nightwild]

do i get a name for her

[myturf]

kimiko.

that fucking rotten bitch.

i'll kill her. i swear i'll kill her.

[ She's dragging other people into their mess. ]

[nightwild]

dont
she wants a reaction

[myturf]

she's gettin other people involved in her sick bullshit!
how am i supposed to keep calm after hearing that
shes a goddamn nuisance

the exciting conclusion!!

[myturf]

[ When she says of course, she can feel her willpower skyrocket for the first time in a while.

She wanted to see, so... show her.

Karin swims away, further to the side before turning away from Yayoi. She takes a deep breath before she looks down and undoes the zipper in the front.

She doesn't make a move to turn, instead peeling off the outfit from her sleeves first, to slowly show off her back.

On it, an unfinished tattoo. A phoenix, rising from the ashes, styled just in the way a yakuza tattoo would be. ]

[nightwild]

[She looks.

An unfinished tattoo... It's not like Yayoi was any stranger to yakuza. She hated them. She hates them. They were always pressing their cruelty on the homeless.

... But she knew Karin was like this from the start. Or at least, she'd known since Karin 'introduced' herself that one time. When Karin was talking about 'families', there wasn't a lot of options as to what that could mean.

... Karin was Karin. She wasn't evil, like the yakuza that Yayoi knew. She doesn't need to judge her.

Yayoi reaches forward, to gently touch her back, run her fingers over that tattoo.]

[myturf]

[ Kitano Karin lived by a code that really, didn't exist originally. The fantasy of an honorable yakuza, one that was dangerous but for the right reasons, who put family over everything.

The world was much crueler than her imagination led her to believe. The code barely existed in a world where one family can be wiped away in one shot.

It's why she shed her name, but she can't change who she is. The people she's hurt, before and after she embraced her abilities. The things she did to keep herself busy, to survive, to entertain herself. She was turning into the spitting image of the yakuza that Yayoi would have hated.

Her onee-san saved her from that, and now it was Yayoi's turn.

Of course, Karin didn't know what to expect, so when she feels a cool touch at her back, she shivers and lets out a gasp. The gentle feeling against sensitive skin, reflecting her rebirth into something new...

Her head hangs a little, and she tries to speak. ]

...never got it finished. The old man workin' on it passed before I could.

[nightwild]

...

[She lets out a slow, long breath.]

... Before, when I lived on the streets... I saw a bunch of homeless guys, lived with a few of them. One thing they always warned me about was to never, ever get mixed up with the yakuza.

I saw it from time to time. Sometimes people would vanish. Get "jobs" they couldn't get away from. Get hooked on some drugs and go insane over it. The yakuza I knew about... were scum using the homeless as expendable pawns. We were the disposable pieces in the war between the yakuza and the cops.

[But despite her words, her touch remains soft. Gentle. As though she's afraid she might break her... or as though she's touching something beautiful. A work of true art.]

... But you're not one of those. You seemed... closer, at first. When I met you here, I didn't know you were yakuza. I didn't figure it out until you told me. But you still seemed a lot... angrier. More violent. Willing to use other people.

And then something happened, and you changed. And now...

[She leans forward, and gently places a light kiss on top of that tattoo.]

[myturf]

[ Scumbags. The yakuza that she did detest, wielding their status over civilians like they really owned the place.

--it was a reminder of where Yayoi was before... everything.

When her lips make contact, it's like she's struck by lightning. Karin gasps, trying her hardest to restrain herself. ]

...I met people like you. Someone tryin' her hardest to be kind, but worried about how others look at her. Tryin' to be "useful", with tears in her eyes.

I met people I wanted to protect, that... I'd fight back against the world itself if it hurt them. I couldn't keep bein' as angry an' destructive as I was if that was the case. Cause enough trouble and... it hurts the people around you anyway.

[ She cranes her head back, knowing she wouldn't get a good glimpse of anything but the sky. ]

I realized... if the world was gonna be so cruel t'someone as hard workin' and strong as you... then I'd wanna be at your side when you fight back.

[nightwild]

... Yeah.

[Yayoi smiles. Even if Karin's back is to her... it's fine.]

I can't think of myself as highly as you think of me, but... I think, I want to be by your side, too. You've changed so much already... and you're going to get even stronger, and even kinder, from here on out. I can tell.

I want to be by your side, and see how far you can go... and if I can go there with you.

[myturf]

[ ...it's a lot of faith. More than Karin deserved. One day, she's sure in some fashion, that cruel side of her will come out again.

But she has someone to pull her back.

The dam finally breaks. She turns around, not particularly worried about her figure being exposed as she puts her hands on Yayoi's shoulders, leaning forward to give her a deep, slightly furious kiss.

Most thoughts of whether or not she was rushing things headed out the door when she saw the swimsuit, and right now, as she guides Yayoi back to the side of the pool, she at least wanted to enjoy the sensation of kissing her. ]

[nightwild]

[Yayoi doesn't even seem to mind. She's surprised, of course, but as she feels her back hit the back of the pool, all she can do is wrap her arms around Karin and tilt her head back, returning the kiss with gusto.

Too fast? She didn't know. She never knew what a real relationship was meant to look like. She had no examples to work with. All she could do was follow her desires. What she wanted.

And what she wanted, right now, was Karin. This feeling, this warmth.]