re_alignment_logs | Chasing a lie I thought I believed in

WHO: Kay and whoever stumbles upon her.

WHERE: Junkpile

WHEN: Today

WHAT: Kay's exploring the Junkpile for some items. If you cross her path and talk to her she'll most likely find an item for you.

WARNINGS: She's a little grumpy after being embarrassed in front of Alpha Trion. Feel like cheering her up?

There's nothing worse than being made a fool in front of your idol. And Kay had learned that all too quickly. Cliffjumper had not only pranked her into thinking he'd been turned into a guitar (a guitar that was now gone, whether by Trion's correction or her own disposal), but some things, like your own competence shouldn't be called out on. At least that's how Kay saw it. But bottling yourself up in your room was getting old, so she took it outside, trekking all the way to the Junkpile to relieve some teenage-girl steam. Although this didn't keep her from her promise to Kagerou either. She sent a text to the robot saying she'd meet him there if he was well enough to go.

From pile to pile she leapt, searching for anything and everything. There wasn't much to find that didn't get scavenged earlier, but it provided a great distraction from everything. She sat crouched, examining what looked to be a whisk before tossing it to the side, scanning this pile once more.

"Stupid."

Whether she was talking about the whisk or something else was to be debated. She flipped her hair out of the way, giving a big sigh before hoisting herself to her feet.

Maybe the next pile would have something.

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Once more, he holds perfectly still as she climbs around. He doesn't want her to fall. Not that he couldn't catch her. But still. Instead of saying anything though, he just watches. No need to discuss this.

Not any further.

"What is it?"

She points to the area where she sees the item, looking back at him.

"Can you set me down over there? I'm not sure what it is...but...

It looks important."

He steps over to where she's pointing, moving delicately for someone of his size. Once he nears the spot, he crouches, lowering his hand all the way to the ground.

"Be careful."

Once his hand is lowered, she hops off, racing through the junk pile towards the item. It has a handle, so it should be easy to pull ou-

...it's stuck.

She starts tugging it as hard as she can, but it must be really lodged in there tight.

"Stupid thing..."

He watches her. If she can get it out of there, he won't need to step in at all. But the more she struggles --

"Here."

His hand extends.

"Let me."

Once she sees Kagerou's hand extend, she lets him do the work. She backs up slightly to get out of his way, fiddling with her scarf.

The ninja should have no problem pulling it out, revealing itself to be a Firefighter's Axe.

He holds it pinched between two fingers, blinking at it. He can tell it's a weapon of some kind, but not one he's familiar with. Absently, he turns it over into his palm, studying it.

"An axe."

Thank you, Captain Obvious.

"Oh wow, that's perfect!"

She hurries over to Kagerou, her arms up to take the axe from him.

"Perfect?"

He holds his hand out to her again, offering the weapon. He certainly has no use for it. If she can do something with it, why not offer it over?

She takes the axe in her hands, bouncing it slightly in her hold as she tests out the weight. It wasn't too heavy, but it would take some getting used to.

"I need a weapon. Just in case I get into trouble."

He watches her with it. Watches her bounce it, test it. Numbers and readouts scroll past his scanner, unseen to any but himself. After that brief assessment, he shakes his head.

"It's too top heavy for you." Delicately, he reaches forward, tapping the head of the axe with a fingertip. "You need a better weapon."

...She bounces it again.

"I can get stronger."

This was all she had for the moment, and you had to work with what you had.

"Until something better comes along."

He shakes his head again, moving his hand away as she bounces it.

"That isn't what I mean... The top is heavier than the bottom. It's unbalanced. Even if you got used to the way it swings, it still won't be a good weapon. You'll take too much time swinging it."

He sounds very sure of this. More than he typically sounds. But, then again, this is something familiar to him.

Teaching. Training.

"We can keep searching the pile. Even a blunt weapon would be better, if it had balance."

Now that she looked at it again, she noticed what Kagerou was talking about. And...well, she assumes he'd know better, as he seemed like he'd been in battle before. Still, she kept that axe with her.

"Most of the stuff here is just..junk, though..."

She wanders to another pile, slinging the axe over her shoulder.

"It can't hurt to look."

If she was going to work to protect herself, he wasn't going to take issue with that. So much the better. He simply wanted her to have a good weapon in order to do that with.

"Start with a pipe, if nothing else."

At least that wouldn't have a massive weight at one end, and... nothing at the other.

Her hands dig through that mess, pulling out item after item, tossing it over said shoulder. "A pipe...gotcha."

She looks back at him after a moment.

"Could you...train me? I..I mean just the basics."

"Maybe we can find a blade, later."

He's much more familiar with how to handle those, anyway. He steps up behind her again, crouching to better peer over her shoulder. Though his head tilts, a little taken aback by the question.

"You... would want me to?"

She notices his presence behind her, tilting her head back all the way.

"Yeah, i-if it's okay! I mean...you said you'd protect me, so you must know how to fight."

He's once more surprised by her. Honestly, he hadn't expected this sort of faith from... anyone. No one here, at any rate.

"... Yes." He nods. There is a very slight, almost invisible smile. "I do. And yes... it is."

...You'd think she'd just won the lottery. She nearly squeals in joy as she spins around in a hop, hugging that leg again.

"Thank you, Mr. Kagerou! You'll be the best teacher ever, I know it. And I'll be your star pupil."

She backs up, putting on her most serious of serious faces. Sensei, she will be ready.

He makes a surprised little sound at that, his hands hovering awkwardly as he peers down at her. One of them eventually settles at her back.

"I... I'm not that good," he says, finally. "I've only ever trained Shadowmaru..."

And that was a special case.

She leans against that hand fondly.

"You said Mr. Shadowmaru surpassed you, though, right? Obviously he had the best of the best for a teacher."

"He was made to do that," he admits.

But he doesn't pull his hand away. He's... beginning to get used to this. At last. Maybe it's good he's started befriending someone so physically affectionate.

"I'll try to do my best for you."

At that, her face splits into the biggest smile she can manage.

"I know you won't let me down."

It's very hard to retain his usual stoic expression. The look on his face flickers.

He smiles.

"I'll try not to shake your confidence."

Chasing a lie I thought I believed in

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