Post by Hana Uta on Mar 2, 2015 0:02:02 GMT
This was all getting to be too much for Hana. What had ever possessed him to hope things could possibly be different for him? Now fate itself had had to step in and punish him for daring to step out of line and try to make so much as one human friend. Not only was the girl Marina surrounded by her actual traveling party, his left shin was now host to what was sure to become a large, unsightly bruise. Hana just wanted to crawl into the deepest, darkest corner of hell, or at least the nearest handy closet, and wait for the entire Pokémon Center to clear out so he could go back to how he was before. Lonely, but not miserable; isolated, but on a mission with his Pokémon.
Waiting for the searing pain to leave him and return his ability to walk, his mind vaguely processed a loud, high-pitched voice calling out "Hey!" above the background noise of the crowded Center. What caught his attention was when the youthful, feminine voice rang in a second time, not only closer and unquestionably pointed in his direction but also nearly level with his currently kneeling form. "Hey, are you okay?" He almost felt stupid as habit drove him to look away from the voice and check for an intended recipient that wasn't him. Sure enough, he was met with naught but the booth he had just left, shooting him the best mocking glare the inanimate object could muster with empty seats instead of sneering eyes.
Finally looking towards the source of the voice, Hana found himself face-to-face with a spry, young girl, irises a shining pink and long hair a bright green. Another Trainer by the looks of things; perhaps another traveler passing through. Clutching a Mudkip in her arms like a stuffed animal, she was the very picture of the "Cute Little Sister" Hana had never had. He didn't have a chance to attempt to read her facial expression before the familiar twinge of eye contact anxiety struck. Just the normal anxiety this time; thankfully nothing extraordinarily discomforting like before. His gaze fell down and away from her. Had a normal person taken this action, it would most likely have been interpreted to be out of embarrassment due to their current predicament. And as this girl was, in all probability, a normal person unlike Hana, her next words bespoke such a conclusion. "It's okay, I'm always bumping into stuff and getting hurt. My Mama says it's because I don't pay attention, but..." All right, an attempt to cheer me up. Fine. But why-... Hana's train of thought was cut off as the girl spoke up a third time. "I'm Kai, and this is Kappa! What's your name?"
*Click*. Hana's brain briefly shifted gears at the mention of the Mudkip's nickname. Kappa. Mythological creature that lives underwater and likes cucumbers. There was probably more to it than that, but Hana couldn't be bothered to call it to mind as he remembered his previous train of thought. This whole situation was just weird. Why was this girl even talking to him? He's not supposed to exist; one does not just initiate a conversation with Hana Uta. He was pretty sure that was a basic human instinct or something. He forced himself to look back up at the girl; her arms were now stretched towards him to hold Kappa in front of his face and she was peeking out from behind it with a tilt of her head, looking at him expectantly. What...? Had she asked him a question? ...Name. Yes, that was probably it. "I-It's...Hana, but...um..."
That was as far as he got before a ruckus from the other end of the Pokémon Center turned both their heads. Hana quickly tuned in to the conversation, and his body went rigid at what he heard. The red-haired young man was no "traveling companion"; he was a Team Rocket admin. A dangerous criminal who would just as soon gut you as look at you. And the rest of the group as a whole was clearly not happy with him. Hana's skin crawled as the sinister voice seemed to sink down through his ears into the core of his being. He recognized it as one of the two voices he had noticed earlier coming from the same source, a source he now knew by name as Youta. Apparently, this Youta was good at impersonations, and had been using that ability to pose as a SWP member. That thought alone was almost as terrifying to Hana as the thought of how much more depravity this dark, twisted individual was capable of.
Hana stayed rooted to his spot near the ground, eyes glued to Youta, not daring to move lest he draw the barbarian's attention to himself. His heart sank into his stomach, however, when the girl Kai spoke up. Not only that, she was actually speaking in defense of this maniac?! Apparently, not only was she yet another member of that group, she had also been completely taken in by Youta's guise and refused to believe the truth that was now being revealed to her. Hana began to wonder if the poor girl was simply too young to possess any instincts for avoiding people that should rightly be avoided. That would certainly explain her willingness to talk to the Hana Uta of all (un)people. The tragedy of the realization hit him all at once as out of the corner of his eye, he noticed her timidly inching closer to him, squeezing Kappa for all it was worth.
The pitiful sight of her turning to his presence for comfort awakened something powerful inside Hana; a burning, heretofore unknown determination. Though he was obviously a no better source of comfort than a sociopathic criminal, he was also not about to take someone hostage or rip their legs off or skewer them in through one eye and out the other. If this girl truly had yet to learn her basic avoid-this-person instincts, then perhaps if Hana kept her close by, he could at least help keep her safe from people like Youta who were out to get her. And he'd even know exactly when she had finished learning those instincts and could fend for herself, because then she'd start avoiding him. Really, he was the perfect one for the job. But isn't this just me trying to come up with an excuse to beg for her company, even knowing how short-lived it'll be? How well did that work out last time, again? And besides, how does that make me any better than-...
Hana's internal argument with himself was cut off when his eyes darted to the foreign object the instant it began rolling down Youta's sleeve. He cursed his lapse in attention. Even not having used one himself before, he immediately identified the Item as a Smoke Ball. While its ostensible purpose was to aid one's escape from a difficult wild Pokémon encounter, more nefarious types had more nefarious uses for it. And this cowardly villian was about to make a cowardly getaway with it. Hana very nearly called out a command out of instinct, then another, his brain swiftly reminding him that his team had not a sufficiently clear line of sight for one nor sufficient practice for the other. In milliseconds, his mind was made up. All pain in his leg was forgotten as he moved to squat behind Kai. With a swift jerk of his right arm, he shook a sleeve down over his hand. Retracting his arm further into his sleeve and stretching out the excess fabric as much as he could with his other hand, he then wrapped it around Kai's face to cover her nose and mouth, pulling backwards. The girl meeped in surprise as she suddenly found herself being clutched tightly to Hana's chest, closely mirroring her and her Mudkip. "Deep breath," Hana muttered just before sucking in a sharp breath of his own. "You'll be all right." If the girl answered him, Hana couldn't tell, it only came out as another muffled meep.
No later did a sharp hissing sound announce the Smoke Ball's detonation. Hana winced his eyes shut against the noxious fumes as they rapidly spread throughout the Pokémon Center. Youta announced his exit with a few tactless parting words before presumably disappearing out the front entrance. Hana was starting to struggle to keep his breath held, but he could occasionally feel a brief rise and fall from Kai's chest, seemingly able to continue to breathe without too much difficulty. For that, he was grateful; he could only hope poor Kappa was faring just as well.
Fortunately, the smoke cleared quickly after that, the Center's emergency ventilation systems aided by a quick-witted Trainer ordering a Flying Type to use Defog. The entire Center was in an uproar, filled with the shouts of Trainers freaking out or at least quite vocally wondering what the hell just happened as the Nurses fought to subdue the swelling panic. Hana greedily gulped in a much-needed rush of cool air as soon as he felt he could do so without choking. He then released Kai and turned her to face him, affirming that no harm had come to her or her Mudkip. Hana watched the girl work her jaw wordlessly for a few seconds, perhaps still attempting to take in everything that had just happened. He decided to take the initiative to break the ice and break the news. "Look, um...Kai," he began; "There are some people in this world that you just shouldn't talk to. At all. That guy Youta is one of them." He had no way of knowing if what he was saying was getting through to her, but he continued regardless. "...And I'm another. You're just...better off not talking to those people. Because if you do, you'll get hurt. I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is. You'll understand someday."
Waiting for the searing pain to leave him and return his ability to walk, his mind vaguely processed a loud, high-pitched voice calling out "Hey!" above the background noise of the crowded Center. What caught his attention was when the youthful, feminine voice rang in a second time, not only closer and unquestionably pointed in his direction but also nearly level with his currently kneeling form. "Hey, are you okay?" He almost felt stupid as habit drove him to look away from the voice and check for an intended recipient that wasn't him. Sure enough, he was met with naught but the booth he had just left, shooting him the best mocking glare the inanimate object could muster with empty seats instead of sneering eyes.
Finally looking towards the source of the voice, Hana found himself face-to-face with a spry, young girl, irises a shining pink and long hair a bright green. Another Trainer by the looks of things; perhaps another traveler passing through. Clutching a Mudkip in her arms like a stuffed animal, she was the very picture of the "Cute Little Sister" Hana had never had. He didn't have a chance to attempt to read her facial expression before the familiar twinge of eye contact anxiety struck. Just the normal anxiety this time; thankfully nothing extraordinarily discomforting like before. His gaze fell down and away from her. Had a normal person taken this action, it would most likely have been interpreted to be out of embarrassment due to their current predicament. And as this girl was, in all probability, a normal person unlike Hana, her next words bespoke such a conclusion. "It's okay, I'm always bumping into stuff and getting hurt. My Mama says it's because I don't pay attention, but..." All right, an attempt to cheer me up. Fine. But why-... Hana's train of thought was cut off as the girl spoke up a third time. "I'm Kai, and this is Kappa! What's your name?"
*Click*. Hana's brain briefly shifted gears at the mention of the Mudkip's nickname. Kappa. Mythological creature that lives underwater and likes cucumbers. There was probably more to it than that, but Hana couldn't be bothered to call it to mind as he remembered his previous train of thought. This whole situation was just weird. Why was this girl even talking to him? He's not supposed to exist; one does not just initiate a conversation with Hana Uta. He was pretty sure that was a basic human instinct or something. He forced himself to look back up at the girl; her arms were now stretched towards him to hold Kappa in front of his face and she was peeking out from behind it with a tilt of her head, looking at him expectantly. What...? Had she asked him a question? ...Name. Yes, that was probably it. "I-It's...Hana, but...um..."
That was as far as he got before a ruckus from the other end of the Pokémon Center turned both their heads. Hana quickly tuned in to the conversation, and his body went rigid at what he heard. The red-haired young man was no "traveling companion"; he was a Team Rocket admin. A dangerous criminal who would just as soon gut you as look at you. And the rest of the group as a whole was clearly not happy with him. Hana's skin crawled as the sinister voice seemed to sink down through his ears into the core of his being. He recognized it as one of the two voices he had noticed earlier coming from the same source, a source he now knew by name as Youta. Apparently, this Youta was good at impersonations, and had been using that ability to pose as a SWP member. That thought alone was almost as terrifying to Hana as the thought of how much more depravity this dark, twisted individual was capable of.
Hana stayed rooted to his spot near the ground, eyes glued to Youta, not daring to move lest he draw the barbarian's attention to himself. His heart sank into his stomach, however, when the girl Kai spoke up. Not only that, she was actually speaking in defense of this maniac?! Apparently, not only was she yet another member of that group, she had also been completely taken in by Youta's guise and refused to believe the truth that was now being revealed to her. Hana began to wonder if the poor girl was simply too young to possess any instincts for avoiding people that should rightly be avoided. That would certainly explain her willingness to talk to the Hana Uta of all (un)people. The tragedy of the realization hit him all at once as out of the corner of his eye, he noticed her timidly inching closer to him, squeezing Kappa for all it was worth.
The pitiful sight of her turning to his presence for comfort awakened something powerful inside Hana; a burning, heretofore unknown determination. Though he was obviously a no better source of comfort than a sociopathic criminal, he was also not about to take someone hostage or rip their legs off or skewer them in through one eye and out the other. If this girl truly had yet to learn her basic avoid-this-person instincts, then perhaps if Hana kept her close by, he could at least help keep her safe from people like Youta who were out to get her. And he'd even know exactly when she had finished learning those instincts and could fend for herself, because then she'd start avoiding him. Really, he was the perfect one for the job. But isn't this just me trying to come up with an excuse to beg for her company, even knowing how short-lived it'll be? How well did that work out last time, again? And besides, how does that make me any better than-...
Hana's internal argument with himself was cut off when his eyes darted to the foreign object the instant it began rolling down Youta's sleeve. He cursed his lapse in attention. Even not having used one himself before, he immediately identified the Item as a Smoke Ball. While its ostensible purpose was to aid one's escape from a difficult wild Pokémon encounter, more nefarious types had more nefarious uses for it. And this cowardly villian was about to make a cowardly getaway with it. Hana very nearly called out a command out of instinct, then another, his brain swiftly reminding him that his team had not a sufficiently clear line of sight for one nor sufficient practice for the other. In milliseconds, his mind was made up. All pain in his leg was forgotten as he moved to squat behind Kai. With a swift jerk of his right arm, he shook a sleeve down over his hand. Retracting his arm further into his sleeve and stretching out the excess fabric as much as he could with his other hand, he then wrapped it around Kai's face to cover her nose and mouth, pulling backwards. The girl meeped in surprise as she suddenly found herself being clutched tightly to Hana's chest, closely mirroring her and her Mudkip. "Deep breath," Hana muttered just before sucking in a sharp breath of his own. "You'll be all right." If the girl answered him, Hana couldn't tell, it only came out as another muffled meep.
No later did a sharp hissing sound announce the Smoke Ball's detonation. Hana winced his eyes shut against the noxious fumes as they rapidly spread throughout the Pokémon Center. Youta announced his exit with a few tactless parting words before presumably disappearing out the front entrance. Hana was starting to struggle to keep his breath held, but he could occasionally feel a brief rise and fall from Kai's chest, seemingly able to continue to breathe without too much difficulty. For that, he was grateful; he could only hope poor Kappa was faring just as well.
Fortunately, the smoke cleared quickly after that, the Center's emergency ventilation systems aided by a quick-witted Trainer ordering a Flying Type to use Defog. The entire Center was in an uproar, filled with the shouts of Trainers freaking out or at least quite vocally wondering what the hell just happened as the Nurses fought to subdue the swelling panic. Hana greedily gulped in a much-needed rush of cool air as soon as he felt he could do so without choking. He then released Kai and turned her to face him, affirming that no harm had come to her or her Mudkip. Hana watched the girl work her jaw wordlessly for a few seconds, perhaps still attempting to take in everything that had just happened. He decided to take the initiative to break the ice and break the news. "Look, um...Kai," he began; "There are some people in this world that you just shouldn't talk to. At all. That guy Youta is one of them." He had no way of knowing if what he was saying was getting through to her, but he continued regardless. "...And I'm another. You're just...better off not talking to those people. Because if you do, you'll get hurt. I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is. You'll understand someday."