January Is a Tough Time for Theater Kids (Catch-all!)

[thestarknows]

⭐ Who: Junna Hoshimi... and you!
⭐ When: Throughout January!
⭐ Where: Yumemigaoka and Dream Sphere
⭐ What: A January catch-all for Junna! Ping me if you want a thread outside the top levels, too.

Comments

[thestarknows]

That's... that's worse than I thought. [Junna does wonder for a second. Sometimes people need help but won't say it. Sometimes they really want others to butt out. She wishes she knew what she wants, but--

No, no.

She looks up and her eyes widen a little. She swallows, and then she nods.]

...Yeah. I... I just wanted to think that maybe... maybe I didn't understand. I want to believe in her, since...

[She sighs. She glances to the side. She never talks about this much, anymore. Part of it is that if feels inappropriate, now; if Dreamer Crimson is drawing them into the Dream Sphere to experience Disturbances, that isn't someone to look up to it. But part of it is personal, too. It feels embarrassing.]

I met her, when I was little. Just... a public event, where I got her autograph. I always looked up to her.

But... [She looks down.]

[hanamane]

[He's quiet for a good long moment after that confession of hers, hand idly playing with the handle of his spoon. It's not exactly surprising-- Shinsha had told him a while back about their own admiration for Crimson when they were younger, after all-- but now he's really wondering if he said too much. It's not like he has fond feelings to spare when Crimson was involved, but it did feel a bit cruel to shatter Junna's personal vision of her, too.]

... I mean. To be fair, a lot of people probably still look up to her, too. I was more on the Ai-Doll train than the Crimson train as a kid myself, but...

[That was largely for personal reasons!!]

Whatever is going on with her now doesn't take away all the good she's done with RAY and the DU in the past, either. There's nothing wrong with admiring who she was, but... if you're expecting the same woman to be there in the Dream Sphere, you're setting yourself up for disappointment.

[He reaches over the table (albeit a bit awkwardly) to give her what he hopes is a comforting headpat. No one ever likes to find out that their heroes were flawed, and especially not to such a disastrous degree such as this one.]

... sorry. This probably wasn't what you wanted to hear, huh?

[thestarknows]

Mm... no, it doesn't take that away. But... you're right.

[That hurts to admit. And part of her wants to say there must be some kind of mistake -- but Amane's one of those people who was pulled into a Disturbance, and she can't fault him for being unhappy with her. Or anyone, really. Something huge changed.

And whatever her reasons... those people were hurt.

Even if Junna wants to help her, that's something to reckon with.] I'll remember that. I just wish I...

[She blinks -- then smiles at the head pat. Then, she smiles less and looks down.]

...not really. I wanted to hear that... that there was some reason, some misunderstanding. I--I wish I knew how things got so bad for her. Or how to help her, or...

But it's not that easy, is it?

[hanamane]

[He can't help but give her a rueful smile as he pulls his hand back a little, eyes sympathetic. It would be easy to tell her to just forget about Crimson, to leave her to whatever twisted path she had set herself upon, but...]

... it's not. But you're a kind person, Junna-san. And who knows? Maybe a kind-hearted person like you might be what Crimson needs to come back to her senses.

[A beat, and then he shrugs a shoulder, before adding:]

... or not. I can't really say. But it's not a bad thing to want to help somebody you looked up to, within reason.

[He returns to his bowl, scooping up a bite of curry rice to munch upon thoughtfully.]

This might all be a moot point, anyway. I don't think anyone's run into her since that emergency in Slumbering City last year, as far as I know. Even the place she was usually in looked trashed, according to reports.

[Of course, there was Hibiki's Disturbance, but... she hadn't mentioned anything about encountering Crimson, so whether she actually triggered it or not was still up in the air...]

[thestarknows]

Maybe so... I'll try, at least. If I ever see her. I think I could live with that, with whatever happens, as long as I tried to reach her.

[She looks down for a moment again, before she nods. Within reason. She can agree with that -- even if it's painful, she can't let herself be too clouded.

She looks up, though, and blinks. The place she was -- the Gazebo. Junna hesitates for a moment, before she nods.]

...Yeah. It does make me wonder where she got off to. I...don't think... [She hesitates.] ...Maybe it's that she's someone I look up to, but I imagine she's strong enough that she wasn't hurt.

Physically, at least.

[hanamane]

Mm... you got a point. And if she's lasted in the Dream Sphere for this long, I doubt she'd be taken out as easily as that. [A beat, and then:] Although we don't really know what else is lurking in the Dream Sphere right now, either...

[Like that inexplicable thing that Junna and the others had fought in the city around that same time... or the bizarre chamber Hanako's group had stumbled upon a year ago, the very details of it blocked and scrubbed from his mind. Though, come to think of it... Crimson had pulled them out of there before... whatever that was went and spotted them. Was everything connected, after all...?

Carefully, he plucks out one of the hard boiled eggs from his curry with his chopsticks and plops it into Junna's bowl, a silent means to cheer her up. He can't take back what he had said in regards to Crimson, but he can do this much, right?]

Whatever you do, just be careful, okay? She's a stubborn one, and more powerful than she looks. I have faith in your abilities as a Dreamer, but... I also don't want you to get hurt, y'know?

[IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE.....

He turns his attention back to his curry, dunking one of his fried shrimp into the sauce, a bittersweet smile lingering upon his face.]

... haaa, listen to me. I'm starting to sound like a mother hen with the way I'm coddling you guys...

[thestarknows]

That's true. I... still remember what we found. And we don't have a good explanation for it.

[She frowns a little bit more as she thinks about it -- though she gets distracted by the egg being put there. In a good way. She's a fan. She takes it in her chopsticks, then has a bite.]

Mm.

[Then she smiles -- and Junna nods, seriously, at him.]

I understand. I'll be careful, I promise. I don't want to, either. And... I don't want to worry you, either, Amane-kun. [She's quiet for a second.] It's okay. I don't mind if you're looking out for me.