Tokusatsu musebox

I swallow, having a sense I'm kind of close to impending death. "Sorry?"

Maybe that should be the only word I speak to her.

...how the hell am I going to raise Enter with her.

From:

I watch him warily to see if he means that, then huff and stick the fork into the cake instead. I don't have nearly enough calories in this to deal with sometimes.

From:

"Um. So, um, how're things?" I ask weakly. At least that cake's suffering now instead of me.

From:

"Fine. Why wouldn't they be fine?"

Everyone else has to do their job without special treatment like he gets. Ah, but this is my chance to start figuring out what he and Ryuu-san are up to.

"What about you?"

From:

"I don't know! I know you're competent and you cope with anything!"

I'm really beginning to think Ryuuji should be doing this instead of me. He's more likely to leave this conversation with all body parts intact. "Okay. Just been doing some thinking," I say cautiously. I've been studying how people lead up to things and don't just blurt them out.

From:

"Then why are you asking?"

Then he says he's been thinking. I can practically hear Usada snorting inside my head at the possibility of Mr Sister Complex thinking about anything. "About?"

From:

"Just to make conversation!" It's a stupid question, though. How else would she answer it?!

I gulp. "About whether people can be forced into doing bad things?"

From:

I stab my fork into the cake again, then consider what he's supposedly thinking about.

"I guess they can," I say grudgingly. "But they should stand up for themselves. No-one can make you do stuff you don't want to forever."

From:

I wince as she stabs the cake, wondering which of my eyeballs she's imagining.

Oh, good, okay, that's sort of positive.

"So if someone was being forced, you'd consider helping them?"

From:

"I suppose," I say warily. Although I guess it would depend on the person. "Who are we talking about?"

I'm not going to like this answer, am I?

From:

"Um, someone you know fairly well," I flounder. Why'd she have to ask that so quickly?

From:

My fingers tighten around the fork. It's him, isn't it? Someone's trying to make him do something he doesn't want to, probably holding that sister of his over his head.

I need to talk to Ryuu-san he should know about this.

From:

It's nice to see Hiromu and Youko having an actual conversation that doesn't involve fighting. I'm sure that in a matter of seconds he'll say something tactless and she'll walk out again, but let's enjoy the peace while it lasts.

"Is everything okay?" I take a seat next to Youko just in case she needs to be physically restrained.

From:

"Ryuu-san," I say in surprise. Where'd he come from? I give Hiromu a wary look, unsure if we're carrying on this conversation now. If we're not I'll talk to Ryuu-san about it later.

From:

"I'll just get a drink," I say hastily, getting up. "Back in a minute."

Phew, I need to regroup. And maybe Ryuuji will calm her down.

[ooc: tell me when to come back in, lol]

From:

"There's something going on with him," I say as soon as he disappears. "Did he hit his head fighting the Vagras last time?"

I want to know what Ryuu-san knows before I get into anything else.

From:

"I don't think so," I say as calmly as possible, "why? Did he say something?"

I wonder what Hiromu said to her. He can't have actually told her the thing no one's supposed to know yet (you know, that one, the one we haven't told Youko-chan.)

From:

I shrug casually, poking my fork among the remains of my cake. "Something about people being forced to do bad things."

Asking about his sister would be too obvious, right?

From:

"About that," I say cautiously. We're going to have to tell her about Enter at some point, of course, but it's got to be done carefully. Ideally, in a way that's not going to cause her to do something rash.

From:

...

"You know," I say accusingly. "What's going on, Ryuu-san? What do they want him to do? It's Vagras, right? They have his sister or something, right?"

We'll have to get her back. I don't like her and the way she babies Hiromu but we can't just leave her in their hands like that.

From:

"... Is that what Hiromu told you?" At the very least I don't want her to have that particular worry, "He's fine. Nothing's going to happen to him or his sister."

I place a hand on her shoulder, then try again. "What would you think of the possibility that someone else was being forced to work for Vaglass?"

From:

"No," I say impatiently, "But it's not hard to figure out, the way he was talking."

Then he continues talking and now I'm confused.

"If we're not talking about him, who are we talking about?"

From:

We can't drag this out forever. She appreciates honesty, and I think it's the least we can do.

"Enter."

I give that a moment to add, then sink in "We have evidence that he's a human being controlled by Vaglass."

From:

"EN-" I almost shriek it but tone it down before I can announce it to the entire room. "Enter?" I hiss instead. "Are you out of your mind, Ryuu-san? How can he be human?"

From: