Post by princessz on Feb 5, 2024 1:50:31 GMT
KASHIMA: <You never arrived for our consultation.>
Tomoe fidgets in her seat, everything around her increasingly causing aggravation. The ill-timed clink of glasses. A child shouting excruciatingly loudly to his mother. That horrible canned elevator music piped in over the speakers. Just a little property damage would go a long way toward making the restaurant more pleasant. Instead she remains seated, the itchy polyester of her IZANAMI tracksuit grating on her.
TOMOE: <They made Tomoe go to Reeve-san’s office after the show. She thinks she can tell Tomoe what she can and can't do!>
Her chest puffs out with an indignant scoff, but her eyes drift from Kashima’s stone cold face to the amber pint before her.
TOMOE: <’What are you thinking?’ ‘You will not ruin your health while you're my trainee!’ ‘If we catch you doing those things again, we'll pull you from competition until you clean up!’>
She drops her voice and does her best ‘American’ voice, arms flailing around wildly. Kashima is unmoved.
TOMOE: <They'd stop Tomoe from reaching her d->
The clink of Kashima's ring tapping the rim of her glass cuts Tomoe’s tirade short.
KASHIMA: <Then maybe you should do what they ask.>
Tomoe groans loudly enough that the girl in the booth behind them jumps a little.
TOMOE: <I can't just stop!>
Anyone else Tomoe would wave off or threaten when they criticize her. Something about the coldly unflappable older woman gives her pause.
KASHIMA: <This is the only dojo that would accept you so easily. Besides, didn't you say you hate alcohol and cigarettes? It should be easy.>
Such a suggestion is far more loaded than Kashima could ever know. Tomoe puffs her cheeks out forcefully, face all scrunched and pouty like a miscreant child caught in a disgraceful act. Not that Kashima’s pointed out anything Tomoe herself hasn’t said.The familiarity of those words taunts Tomoe, promising something better if only she could break the inexplicable draw of harmful substances. Her eyes flit down to the glass in front of Kashima.
TOMOE: <Don't you just assume what is and isn't easy for Tomoe. My inner spirit demands those things.>
The tempting amber beverage slides away, denying Tomoe the satisfaction of partaking in it even as she lunges forward over the table to try and catch it between her hands. Were this any other person she’d be up in their face demanding satisfaction. A quick look up from the prohibited drink and the older woman’s cold eyes make her rethink that.
KASHIMA: <You can't waste this opportunity to fulfill your purpose just because of that spirit. You’d do well to find some way to channel those desires into something more productive.>
Tomoe’s posture straightens up at the stark reminder of her destiny. Since she awoke in that hospital, face packed tight with bandages, it’s been one of the few things she’s had to cling to.
KASHIMA: <But Reeve-san did give you another match this month?>
TOMOE: <Of course. Tomoe admits Kasuga Mitsuko-san is a skilled fighter; she certainly wouldn’t have had the chances to earn a shot at the Pride of Izanami championship if she weren’t. Despite her talents she chooses to limit herself because of - honor, maybe?>
As she speaks, she catches movement out of the corner of her eye. Someone standing outside the restaurant’s window, and the tiny glow near their lips.
TOMOE: <Honor is for losers. She’s wasting her time breaking her back to do things the right way while her sisters run off to play celebrity with the Black Dahlias. She’s lost contendership matches to three other girls, but this will be her most painful! She can even bring her entire Mitsu-army to this fight, but they’ll all fall to the House of Matsuzaka. A woman who's been touched by the devil will not lose to a smiling idiot.>
Tomoe scoots to the edge of the seat, desperately trying and completely failing to not look out the window. She swings one leg out of the booth as thoughts of atrocious acrid smoke filing her nostrils become overwhelming. Suddenly her whole body jerks back as Kashima unceremoniously pulls her back into the booth.
KASHIMA: <I will not allow you to indulge in those vices, Tomoe-san. Too much has been invested into your training for you to throw it away because you want to smoke in an alleyway like a trashy delinquent who looks up to Nita-san.>
Despite the admonishment, Tomoe’s gaze immediately drifts to the window - the glowing ember of the man’s cigarette grows tinier as he walks away. Yet that sensation of smoke filling the air around her doesn’t cease at all. She can just barely make out the outline of a man’s face in her mind’s eye. Tears roll down his cheeks, and his expression is a twisted tapestry of agony; soon a scent of something burning mingles with the smoke. Tomoe sees a woman with short hair grinding a cigarette into his arm as he begs for mercy. His screams fill Tomoe with a sudden onrush of excitement - something far better than the buzz from a beer or cigarette. Just as quickly as it manifested, the scene is gone.
Once again it’s just Tomoe staring across the booth at Kashima. Yet the sensations she just felt linger on, as real as if she’d been present in that moment herself. A sinister smile plays across her lips as she imagines the stupid smiling face of Mitsuko’s forced into a mixture of terror and pain.
TOMOE: <Channel it into something else, huh?>
Her eyes flit down to the beer on the table, and she shakes her head. Its awful taste does nothing for her compared to the ecstasy of these new thoughts. So she instead looks back up at Kashima and widens that smile.
TOMOE: <I think I just found a way, Kashima-san, one that Kasuga-san won’t soon forget.>
Without another word, she raises a hand to her mouth and lets loose a hearty, aristocratic laugh.
