星野アイ | Hoshino「AI」 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
liedol) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
yumemigaoka2023-12-03 07:58 pm
liedol) wrote in yumemigaoka2023-12-03 07:58 pm
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★ my genius, flawless idol for life
⭐ Who: Ai and you!
⭐ When: its fucking dember
⭐ Where: Mostly in Yumemigaoka, with some planned Hunts and stuff in the Dream Sphere
⭐ What: Wow, that was pretty decidedly awful!!! Unfortunately, there's no rest for the wicked OR the DU's idol so even though she's a little running on fumes, Ai's still got a busy December ahead of her...! With DU work and idol work and holiday obligations all on her plate, the real question is: how does she ever find time to sleep???
⭐ When: its fucking dember
⭐ Where: Mostly in Yumemigaoka, with some planned Hunts and stuff in the Dream Sphere
⭐ What: Wow, that was pretty decidedly awful!!! Unfortunately, there's no rest for the wicked OR the DU's idol so even though she's a little running on fumes, Ai's still got a busy December ahead of her...! With DU work and idol work and holiday obligations all on her plate, the real question is: how does she ever find time to sleep???
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[ Now that's a quick recovery — you could almost believe she hadn't been in trouble for even a moment. Her eyes sparkle and readjusts her stance, hands now braced on her Sandglass like she's holding a mic rather than a weapon. After all, if Hanako's all graduated and leading Hunts by himself, then... ]
Why don't you take the lead this time, Hanako-kun? I'll be your backup instead of duetting with you for a change. [ ⭐ Wink! ] You think you can handle them on your own?
[ Not that she's going to give him a chance to say 'no if the music kicking in is anything to go by. ]
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He's quick to reign those emotions back in, though, and instead he merely gives her a playful pout, twirling his Sandglass idly between his fingers. Two can play at this game...!!]
Aw, they're gonna be disappointed if it's just lil' ol' me on the stage, though!
[But it's clear that the grousing is just for show, though, as he neatly catches the handle of his knife, smirking as he angles it at the ready for battle. Even if he didn't want to, how could he ever say no to his Senpai...? It didn't help that the music was already starting to get him hyped up for the fight, either.]
But... I guess I have no choice, do I? Better to live up to their expectations, then!
[And at that, he dives back into the fray, his blade slicing another deadly swath among the Torments and shattering them into so many fragments of ice. With Ai's song, it was easy enough to dodge and weave around along to the upbeat melody, timing his Hakujoudai attacks to hit along with the rhythm. Thankfully, for as nasty as they were, they went down about as easy as one would expect from the critters in this area, although given their numbers, it wasn't going to be a speedy battle, either. But Ai put her faith in him, so he was going to do his best...!!]
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Hanako's come on as a Dreamer so much faster than Ai ever expected him to. It seems like just yesterday that she'd heard the news of his Awakening and barely five minutes ago since the DU had recognized him as experienced enough to class him as a full fledged Striker. As it often does these days, a wave of some complicated, tangled up feeling washes over her — pride and sadness and nostalgia all blurring together like watercolour paints left to bleed out across a palette. They're all growing up now, aren't they? So much faster than Ai had expected they would.
It's lovely to see, of course. All she's ever wanted out of any of her trainees is to see them soar as high as they can. But it always makes her feel a little lonely once they leave the nest. ]
You've got it covered! Just a little more!
[ The music picks up, struck through with soaring violins and pounding drums, excited and triumphant, driving and powerful. All of Ai's pride and encouragement poured out into music, the best that she can do it. Even if it makes her feel a little sad to be left behind, she wouldn't give up being the one pushing them along their paths to take for the world. ]
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But just a few left, huh...? His grip tightens upon the handle of his blade, bracing for the final push of the battle.]
Gotcha!
[It feels like even the melody is urging him along now, the rhythm syncing up to the beat of his heart and the arc of his blade. How can he give it anything but his all when Ai had her confidence in him? As the music soars about him, his Hakujoudai go into overdrive, ping-ponging among the Torments at a dizzying pace and smashing them clean through, leaving the grass littered with the shards of the broken creatures. He leaps up to face the final monster, well-timed to the climax of the song, slashing it clean in two with a decisive swing of his arm.
As he touches back lightly upon the ground, he spends a moment or two of surveying the scene, to make sure no other critters had escaped his melee. After determining the coast was clear, he throws his arms up in the air triumphantly, practically leaping for joy.]
Wahoo, we did it!! That'll teach 'em not to try to get past security!
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She wonders how disappointed they'd be if they knew what they were missing out on. ]
Would you look at that...! I should get you to do security detail on my next live show.
[ Grinning at him, she dissipates her Sandglass so she can hold up both hands for a high five. ]
I'd grade that an A+... if I was still grading you, that is.
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[Said entirely in jest, of course-- because they both know all too well that Amane would probably be as useful as a dry, brittle stick in the face of any real threats Ai would face in the Waking World. Still... he was just happy to be able to give her some peace of mind here, at least, where it mattered.
He happily takes her up on the high-five, though, slapping his hands enthusiastically against hers and laughing merrily all the while.]
But it's still an A+ from you, so I'll take it!
So... what brings you out here anyway, Senpai? Were you here on patrol too?
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She can probably tell Amane, right? He's just taken point against a whole group of Torments with only her backup and come out barely breaking a sweat. Not just that but he's coming along in leaps and bounds in what it means to be a Dreamer, too — he's getting sharper and smarter and quicker in all sorts of ways. He's starting to grow up. It'll be just a year and some months until he's the same age she was when...
She finally turns to face him. ]
Hanako-kun... do you remember what happened to this place just before Mio-chan vanished?
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... hmmm?
[He blinks for a moment, eyes round and pensive, trying to recall the incident from last summer. With everything that had happened over the past few months, it was almost too easy to have let it slip from his mind, but finally--]
Oh... it disconnected, didn't it? That was when the other locations started going all wonky and we had to go and make sure they didn't start drifting off, too.
[AND HE HAD TO FIGHT A FUCKING DRAGON TO BOOT.... although Ange gave him a special shout-out afterwards for all of his troubles, so the effort hadn't been entirely in vain! Still, he can't help but feel like Ai was hinting towards something here, something that he hadn't exactly considered before, and his brow furrows in mild disbelief.]
But... that couldn't have been connected to what happened with Mio-chan, right? That Disturbance of hers popped up after we got everything else anchored down. Unless...
... you think it could have been related, somehow?
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[ Which isn't something she loves to say on most days and especially not to one of her trainees. But there's no point in trying to cover up for what she doesn't know right now. ]
But... it's too much of a coincidence, don't you think? Two things we've never seen before happening in the Dream Sphere within months of each other. I don't know if one caused the other or exactly how it all happened but... I can't tell myself it's completely unrelated.
[ She lets out a sigh. ]
The problem is, I just don't know where to start when it comes to trying to put the pieces together.
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Mm... come to think of it, the Vale didn't reattach itself until after Mio-chan was rescued, either. Maybe it was just how it all timed out, but... you're right, that does seem a bit too convenient for it to be all a coincidence.
[A small detail pops into his head as he continues to think, however, and he glances up at the grey, frosty sky. Maybe it was too insignificant to even comment upon, but...]
Actually... call it a hunch, but... there were a lot of intense storms during the summer, weren't there? I mean, more than we'd usually expect in Yumemigaoka, anyway. Considering how the Vale usually is... it couldn't have bled into the real world, could it?
[Considering there were earthquakes when both Mio and Ango disappeared, it's not like these Disturbances hadn't influenced reality in one way or another. Though on the subject of Ango...]
It's weird, though... aside from the earthquakes, nothing out of the ordinary happened when that old guy went through all of his stuff. Heck, October was pretty normal after everything that was going on.
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It's... possible. But summer this far north can turn that bad just because the air's a little wrong — it could be connected but I don't want to start chasing shadows. Not when there's already so many things that're strange as it is.
[ Like the absence of strangeness when it came to Ango's Disturbance. Or maybe there had been something strange and they'd all failed to notice it. There's so many unknowns and too little information to establish a pattern.
With any luck, things will stay that way. ]
... You were there fighting the Night Terror with everyone else, right? And you remember how that Disturbance felt. Did you ever feel anything like that before the Disturbance opened up?
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That's true. We probably don't want to start going all "Crimson faked the moon landing" about this if we can help it.
[But then Ai mentions the Night Terror, and his posture stiffens ever so slightly. He took great pains keeping certain things off of that report (and making sure the others did the same), although there was no telling what may or may not have slipped through the cracks. Thankfully, though, it seems that she was more interested in Ango's overall Disturbance in general, and after a heavy moment of silence, he finally responds, voice quiet and tentative.]
... yeah, I was. And yeah... I do.
[It had been something he had been meaning to discuss with her for a while, ever since the first Disturbance, although with everything going on, he couldn't find the right time-- until now, that is.]
You know about how I was on the one mission to find Crimson, right? Where she went and kicked us all out and told us not to come back? Well... I noticed something. In both Mio-chan's and the old guy's Disturbances. It felt a whole lot like how it did when we stumbled upon that weird gazebo place she was hiding out in. That weird... super-real but not-real feeling.
The old dude and I had wondered if maybe what we've been running into with her is her own Disturbance, possibly. It definitely feels the same, and if Crimson's as good at working with the Dream Sphere as they say, then it explains a whole lot about why no one's noticed it sooner.
[And Hanako and Ango were going to look into it further, but then SOMEONE had to have a midlife crisis and send their demonic sakura waifu against folks!!!]
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It doesn't mean anything concrete, of course. Just that she and Hanako have been working with the same sorts of theories. It makes sense, of course — she's been in his life for so long even before she was ever his mentor. That kind of synchronicity in thinking happens between people all the time. It doesn't mean anything more than the fact that she and Hanako think alike.
But her stomach turns all the same. Because Hanako has a number of different puzzle pieces to work with in comparison to her and yet... they ended up with the same image.
So what does that mean?
Ai lets out a shaky, disquieted exhale. ]
... I think if anyone could do it, Eliza-chan could. [ it feels like she's been saying that a lot lately. ] That doesn't mean she is. But if she wanted to... I think she could manage it. ... we don't even know what happens when a Disturbance goes undetected, let alone just left to itself for as long as Eliza-chan's been gone.