Scene #7687:

Owner	Pose
Hibiki Tachibana	Not long after Captain Hook came to visit, things seem to still have unchanged. At least from the outside. Hardly anyone has been let into Hibiki's room, with Tsubasa taking over watch whenever Chase's incredible girth isn't physically blocking the way, which is actually a good amount of the time as he leaves for an unknown purpose. She's been mostly left alone - other than a masked someone who made a surprise appearance once - with only one certain person regularly coming in and out. Though there is one other that has the a-okay. As far as her condition compared to before, most of the extraneous injuries Hibiki had suffered are mostly healed over. Aside from some remaining bandages and pads, she's actually okay to leave any time she's ready to; her one lasting injury isn't something that'd stop her from doing so. But she hasn't yet. Though not as in as volatile a state after her second visitor had showed anymore, she has too much on her mind to speak much even when Miku does visit her. At the moment, she's sat up in her bed, looking down at her left hand and the stump of her right in her lap with tired eyes. The good one slowly clenches and opens up, over and over again, as if she'll find something out by staring at it. "...Something for me to answer..."
Featherman Neo	Someone lets him in. After all, he's the one other. The one who saved her life. The one who figured out the only person who could have done this, going over old radio logs. It's telling, after all, that the hand that was targeted was the one with Hibiki's Command Seals. Featherman Neo is fully suited as he carefully closes the doors. If there's a security camera (unlikely), he throws a premade little sticky cover (nothing high-tech) over it so it can't watch. And then, as he approaches Hibiki, she'll only really notice him by the belt deactivating, revealing the man under the suit. His voice is no longer security-filtered. It's raw human, as are the emotions on his face. "Hey. How do you feel? I know you're not seeing people, but I needed to make sure you weren't metaphorically killing yourself in here. Do you remember me bringing you back?"
Hibiki Tachibana	No security camera concerns, thankfully for Featherman Neo. Hibiki has been fully entitled to her privacy, other than her set of mysterious visitors and the unlikely scenario of somebody peeping in through the window from a vantage point across Lydian's campus. Her response to the door opening and closing is delayed when it comes to lifting her head. But when she does, the slight surprise on her face becomes much moreso as the suited superhero de-transforms in front of her. She's already seen his face, once. So that's not the thing that gets to her. It's the fact he did it, just like that, when he's otherwise so adamant about keeping it on. It says a lot, without any words on it actually needing to be said. And Hibiki looks at him briefly, before pursing her lips and nodding her head a few times. "Yeah...a little bit. Everything that happened after...that, is kind of big blur. Thanks, Featherman..." She means it, despite how quietly she says it. "...But I wish you didn't have to. Or have to see me like this."
Featherman Neo	Featherman Neo smiles softly. His facial expressions are probably much more reassuring than the cold mask. "You're welcome. I'd always help a friend." Hibiki's words get a soft frown, though. "You didn't do this. You may not be perfect - but you're better than she is. It was Lilian Rook, wasn't it? She was the only one who it could have been." And then, he says something important. "She's probably bullying our blacksmith friend into serving her. I know his type. So, what's your plan?"
Hibiki Tachibana	Featherman gets the smallest, most tired smile back. Hearing that is enough to force that much out of her, and some of Captain Hook's words come back to mind. Though as things cut to the chase, her expression falls. Though she looks almost hesitant to do so, there's a small nod at Lilian's name as her head tilts down. "...Eh?" Only for her to glance back up and blink at him, as if she didn't hear that right. "My...plan? I don't..." She trails off and closes her mouth, swallowing with a conflicted expression. Muramasa, right now... "...I don't know," she ends up admitting after a few moments. "I'm still trying to figure it out. I have...all you guys worrying about me while I just sit in here and try to make sense of everything. I'm not--I'm not strong enough for all of you to lean on me the way I lean on you. I need to be, but..." Her hand clenches, and the way the muscles in the other arm tense up, one would imagine she's trying to do the same with it as she swallows again. "...I'm still so immature compared to her. So many things she said weren't even wrong...and she wasn't even trying. Even if I fought her again..." Her eyes fall to her stump. "I'd just 'push myself to my limits and lose' a second time, wouldn't I? ...She was right. She knew everything about me, and I didn't know a single thing about her...and now Muramasa is..."
Featherman Neo	"Shut up." Is Featherman's immediate reply to Hibiki. It's firm, but friendly - he's not admonishing her, he's making sure she snaps her attention to him, and pays attention. "Who cares about defeating her? That's not our objective. You don't have to kick her ass or knock her out or anything. You have to show Muramasa you're still his partner, even without those seals. You have to cheer up, and realize that winning is not about hitting someone hard enough. How badass you can fight doesn't make you strong." He takes an ungloved finger to his chest, tapping his heart twice, and then his head. "These do." "You're, what, sixteen years old, Hibiki? You're allowed to be immature. You're allowed to discover yourself as you fight for your truth. I was fifteen when I became the reluctant hero. Seventeen when I became the determined villain. And twenty when I decided to try being the hero again, without any of the reluctance." Yep, he's only twenty years old. "So, I'll ask you again. What's the plan? When are you telling the Watch what happened? You have friends. And they want nothing more than to help you."
Hibiki Tachibana	"Huh...?" In the middle of pushing herself towards retreating into her feelings again, those words cut right through to her enough for her entire body to lock up. 'Even if you had won, Rook would still be stronger than you.' 'Until you can exceed that heat, you're just playing catch-up with an afterimage.' All this time... No, even before this happened. She kept comparing herself to Lilian. Trying to make sure she was strong enough to beat Lilian. Wanting to prove Lilian wrong when she said she couldn't protect him. Needing to defeat her for Muramasa's sake...but also her own. And then she lost, and the only thing she could do was stew in how weak she was, at the difference between them, how much Lilian believed in herself compared to how little she did the other way around. "I-I..." It took Captain Hook showing up to remind her that she's not alone and of the power of kindnesses, showing a way forward. And now it took Featherman to remind her of something that should have been so obvious from the start. Why has she been so focused on strength like that, when caring about him the way she does is part of the reason Muramasa valued her so much in the first place? "...You really don't look twenty. You must have been through a lot," she finally murmurs with a completely exhausted chuckle, leaning forward a bit and resting her hand over her own heart before her face tightens. "--I've been keeping everyone worried about me, haven't I? They've probably...been wondering the same thing you were. I owe it to them to let them know..." Her fingers clench in to the fabric of her hospital gown. "...And while I've been laying here feeling sorry for myself, Muramasa has to put up with her. I can't imagine how he's feeling. I...I need to let him know I haven't given up on him."
Featherman Neo	"I have been. But it's alright. I'm back and better than ever before." Featherman Neo smiles brightly, as he nods. "Grab your radio, girl. Tell them how you're feeling and what you're gonna do." "But I doubt Muramasa's somewhere we can just talk to him." Featherman tells her, sadly. "We'll need to find him, wherever he is. I think Chase's been looking for him. And when we do, we're gonna show them the power..." Featherman dabs. "Of TEAM FEATHERMAN'S FRIENDSHIP!" This is absolutely silly and intended to make Hibiki smile.
Hibiki Tachibana	Featherman dabs. Hibiki stares at him, mouth falling open. She looks like she doesn't know what to say, and when she tries to force something out, the only thing that escapes is a tired chuckle. A tired chuckle that keeps on going. And going, ramping up into full blown laughter that she can't hold back even if she wants to. Tears fall down her cheeks, and it's hard to say if it's just because she's going at it that hard or for another reason. Eventually, she wipes away at them with her forearm and the fit dies down, leaving her taking a deep breath to get herself back under control. "That's so much worse than any pose he ever tried to do..." She manages to get out, before finishing drying at her face and sitting up straighter. Hibiki nods at him, a glint behind her eyes she didn't have before. And her voice is more resolute too. "--Yes, sir. Thanks, Featherman. For everything. And I have a whole lot more 'thank yous' to give out, too."
Featherman Neo	Featherman lifts from his dab, grins from ear to ear, and reactivates his belt in quick-mode. "I'll leave you to it, then. When he's back, we'll all pose together. Our friendship isn't that shallow that this is going to destroy it." "We have true bonds." BOND RANK UP - THE CHARIOT - RANK 4 And then, Featherman Neo departs, suit on, through the same door he came in on. He turns his head towards her one last time, though. "Tell me once you have a plan. I'll be there for you." And then, he's gone.