Scene #8266: Why are our friends in need of help?

Owner	Pose
Ishirou	Ishirou called ahead to let Biki and Miku know that he wanted to come over to deliver leftovers that he had from the party...and talk about some things. Once he got the go-ahead, Ishirou shows up carrying a small tray with some of the food he managed to save. Some also went with other people, and S6 is likely to have a lot. Once knocking at the door and being let in, he sets the tray down where they point to. Though Ishirou looks...a bit concerned about something, and obviously he has a lot to talk about. "I don't know where to start...but I think about Petra first, because it's...critical. She's using type green powers to...perpetuate her wounds and hurt herself a lot and I'm..." he pauses. Instead, he lets POD project the image, showing both of them what he saw.
Hibiki Tachibana	Much as Hibiki can't turn down free food, she can't turn down leftovers either. Though besides that, if Ishirou has something to talk about, then neither of them are going to turn that down - and it can be narrowed down quite a bit what the subject matter likely is. The apartment is, of course, the same as the last time he stopped by. Things might have gotten a little busy lately in Hibiki's neck of the woods, but home life is home life. Plenty of space has been made on the table in front of the living room couch, if he happens to need it. Good space to have projections hover over, at least. "Petra...? Um, wait. What do you mean by 'Type Green' exactly...?" "What are you...actually, way back when, didn't I hear them use Type 'Black' a couple times for...?" Of course, a picture says a thousand words, and the result is Miku bringing both hands to her mouth in a mixture of silent shock and mortification, and Hibiki's eyes going wide for several seconds before she starts piecing together exactly what she's taking in. The leg is one thing. The lungs are another. "Ishirou..." She starts slowly, when she finds her voice again. "...You're the smart one here. So tell me what exactly I'm looking at right now."
Ishirou	"Remember how I'm not an android anymore..? It's the same power, Persephone let me borrow from her to reshape my body...and the same power that kept us from dying against Lilian. Used this way...well she's made these injuries half-real. They're not actively bleeding, but they're...I believe, actively hurting her." "I don't know if she lets them get more real when she wants to...but I'm concerned that she is.." he says, trying to explain the situation the best that he can. "Imagine a phantom pain, but this is way more real, but also somehow way less real than people who can't see as I do can perceive." "That's why...I was in shock last night Miku, and maybe why my words were less than perfect when you followed us out. I didn't want to just...reveal all of that in front of everyone without thinking about it, asking some people...and talking with both people who are her friends and comrades." He sits down, exhausted. "I'm...not heroic enough to fix this all by myself. Lilian or Dimo could likely just handle this way better, but I'm...not that. Even if I want to be that, so...I figure you two might have an idea."
Hibiki Tachibana	Explaining the source of this, Miku seems to lapse into a sort of muted understanding, while Hibiki has several puzzle pieces click into place all at once. The both of them lapse into another momentary silence, with the blonde brushing her bangs out of her eyes with a grimace. "...So that's what it was about." Miku murmurs back to Ishirou with her hands clasped together, before lowering her voice further. "...You really aren't being kind to yourself one bit..." Hibiki has to inhale through her teeth, then do the same in an exhale. "N-No, it's okay, I totally get why you'd want help, it's just...this is a lot all of a sudden. I know Petra has had it rough, I just didn't think it was anything like...this." She brushes back her hair, which was already pretty messy, and makes it even messier in the process. "I...hah. Okay...so she's using that same sort of power, but instead of...what happened with you, she's using it to do this to herself. Which means...she probably /wants/ to do that to herself, huh...?" The strain of thinking deeply about this is apparently already hitting her. "...I know it's nowhere near the same thing, but I can't help but think back to...you know. Everything leading up to when we did that big thing to help out Lilian. How wild things were going with her and her power..." A long look is given back to the hologram. "...So you're stumped for ideas all on your own, and want our input...?"
Ishirou	Ishirou looks at Miku and shakes his head. "Maybe a little, but at the same time I...if I don't ground myself then I try and think of overly complicated ways to try and solve a situation. I look for ways on how I can...do it. But I'll try and be kinder to myself...just things have been really bad lately." He rubs his face, he doesn't know if Miku has found out about exactly everything that happened at Indus or not, but decides it's not about him. Taking a breath, he continues on. "She needs help, people who can talk to her, and a good long time with a therapist." "I tried to suggest this already, but she said the therapist she was at prioritized her so lowly, and that she didn't need it. I think she's...either afraid of it or her opinion of herself is too low. And yes, I am sure it's intentional. I don't know /why/ but I know that it is.." "There are ideas already going, but I think that if it comes from me or the Paladins it'll cause some really bad blood, and the situation could spiral. On the other hand, I figured coming to you two might work better. Mostly because Hibiki is both her friend AND a comrade in the Watch. Working in the watch would probably be better, instead of working outside of it.." "Though if that fails, Lilian's plan is plan B...and I'm not sure if that's more horrible than what she's doing now to herself or not, but I know it'll likely cause a /lot/ of problems with the Watch. If this causes larger problems, I think it'll make things worse in the long term."
Hibiki Tachibana	"Oh, um...I'm sorry, Ishirou. I wasn't trying to say that about /you/...though I do think you could stand to be nicer to yourself too," Miku's tone is a very respectful level of chiding, before she frowns. "...I was just remembering what I said to Petra yesterday. I could see how she treated herself written all over her, but I had no idea it went this deep..." Hibiki exhales. Again. "Therapists aren't gonna help with this, I'll tell you that right now. But if this is something she's doing to herself, consciously or unconsciously doesn't matter...she does need help. Help from..." Her eyes fall down to the floor for a moment. "...Friends," Miku intones seriously, with a hand on her chest. She still looks like she doesn't have the whole picture, but there are some things you just know. "Thank you for coming to us, Ishirou. When something like this is happening...everyone who cares has to come together to help." "...Mmn." Hibiki slowly starts sitting straighter, though she's still grimacing. "Yeah, especially with how Petra is, I can't...I definitely don't want her having even more strained relationships with anyone, especially if it might make.../this/ worse. Ugh, I'm getting some awful flashbacks." What they are, she doesn't elaborate, but shakes hr head and continues. Or she would, if she didn't glance up to Ishirou with a slightly raised eyebrow as she asks carefully. "What's...Lilian's plan, exactly?"
Ishirou	Ishirou shakes his head, "It's alright, and it's true. Don't worry about it too much," he says with a strained smile. This whole situation is...bad. "She will still need to see someone, someone specialized in it. It won't be /the entire solution/ but it's important that she gets real help from a real doctor. But...you're right, friends are part of the equation. People to support her." Ishirou agrees with the straining relationships. It'll have to be avoided at all costs. He's working things out in his head. "I want to get more people in this. I think Rita and Remee should know at the minimum. I think you have a better feel for who would be good...and I can talk to Phony about this too and see what she feels about it. She or the doctor might have a good feel for it?" "She suggested.." he says with a sigh, "To put a curse on her, break both legs, and knock her out. Then drag her to a special hospital for elite injuries who will charitably fix everything else wrong with her that they notice it. ...So basically get her committed."
Hibiki Tachibana	One can see the expression on Hibiki's face take a downturn, letting out a soft groan as she looks off to the side. "That sounds like she was joking." A long moment passes. "...I really, really hope she was joking. I don't think that'd help, anyway. The same reason I don't think a doctor or a therapist would really help." Slowly, she slumps back in her seat against the fluffy couch cushions. "...Doing anything like that, even just taking her to a hospital period, would be treating the symptoms instead of what's actually wrong with her. They'd fix her up as best as they can, and then what? Have her try to open up to a therapist she doesn't care about? She'd just do it to herself again. Probably worse, for whatever she'll be feeling in her head after all of that," Hibiki murmurs, closing her eyes. "Nobody knew until now, and she doesn't look or act like she's ready to keel over anytime...so I figure it's nothing like her life being in danger. Not...right now, anyway. I think she might just be doing it mostly to...hurt, maybe. ...And when you're already suffering in that sort of way, it's easy to think you deserve that hurt. And more. You keep going down and down until..." Miku, who has been uncharacteristically quiet, gives Hibiki a brief look - one that she seems to feel even with her eyes closed, prompting her to sit back up some and open them again. "...Yeah. Rita and Remee are good ideas. Besides them, I'm not...entirely sure right this second." She looks Ishirou straight on. "...If you do end up telling Persephone, not that I can stop you if you want to, please don't let her tell Petra that she knows. I don't know what's going on between those two, but it's not...Petra obviously has something against her, and I haven't figured out what yet. So I'm worried that might do something." She lets out a heavy breath. "...These things usually get worse before they get better, and I hate that. And I don't want to see it happen again."
Ishirou	"This hits too close to home, doesn't it?" Ishirou says, looking between the two of them. "And I'm guessing Miku is the one that helped," Ishirou says after thinking about it. "...Sorry, sometimes I can't help myself.." he admits, wanting to know is hard sometimes. "You're right, about not telling Petra if I ask for Persephone's help. I think Persephone will agree to that. She might seem out there sometimes, but when it comes to people's hearts she's probably the best at it. I...also worry that it might hurt her too, and if I do that around her she's going to give me the 'you're not allowed' speech again." He sighs, "I know we don't see eye to eye on everything, but I trust your judgment on this. Okay, Hibiki?" he says, and stands up. "Let's warm up some leftovers...because we're only halfway through this. And I snuck us out one of the chocolate pies." "...I wanted to talk to you about Go and Chase too. Because that's...big. Go wants to fix the injury he caused, but Chase is...well Chase. I wanted to talk to you guys about it and maybe figure out how to help them reconsile."
Hibiki Tachibana	"Yeah," Hibiki replies simply on this being a touchy subject. "...I was there once. If you want to know part of why I'm always doing things the hard way, it's because I was as bad as it gets at one point too, and Miku...still somehow pulled me back from that. If I give up on someone, anyone, especially if they're hurting inside...what does that say about me?" A pause, before she shakes her head. "...Sorry. This isn't about me," she echoes the exact thing he was thinking earlier. "I'll tell you the whole story sometime if you really want." Sitting back in her chair, she adds on in a very half-hearted attempt at sounding a little more casual, "I snuck out of the hospital twice back then, for the record, so that's also why I'm not advising that." "...Anyway. I know Persephone has the best intentions with what she does. I just don't want Petra to get hurt by her on accident, with whatever's going on between them. And Persephone already...takes way too much on herself," she murmurs, as blatantly hypocritcal as Hibiki Tachibana being the one to say that is. "...So I totally get why you're worried about her suffering in all of this, too." With a bracing inhale, Hibiki starts standing up alongside Ishirou - just to gently pushed back down by the shoulder. "Why don't you two let me handle the leftovers? You just stay nice and comfortable. I'll put everything on proper plates, too." Miku is already moving to take the tray that Ishirou had brought off towards the kitchen without waiting for a reply. Hibiki grimaces, but metaphorically throws her hands up and accepts it for the moment. "...Well. Go and Chase is...complicated in its own way. I really need to talk to Chase to try and understand what he's feeling about all of it. He's not the most expressive guy - you know exactly how he prefers talking. So if something actually got him caught up in his emotions for once..."
Ishirou	"A-alright Miku. I guess it /is/ your kitchen..ha ha.." he says, with a small laugh. "If you need help let me know, okay?" he asks but does as he is told by the Biki tamer and sits down across from Hibiki. "I know, and you have everyone's interests at heart too.." he says with a sigh. Though hearing Hibiki escaping so many times. "I'm guessing it was Miku that convinced you not to?" he asks, "...And only share if you want. It's fine. We all have some scars that are hard to look at." Back on topic with Chase and Go. "Go's been...like a brother to me. He's done everything to try and save me from what Indus had done to me. Honestly, I can't imagine what I'd be like without him taking me in. Hearing that story I've put together how bad he feels. More than that though, his answer to my question was..." "Thoughtful. I agree with him too, giving up the belt would be running from it, I think. It'd be much harder to redeem himself..but here we are, with him killing himself to do it." "If you go to talk with Chase, I want to come. My perspective on things might be good to get through to him...and if there is something else at work my eyes can see more than most. Go did say that his father did a lot of bad things to the Roidmules, so...it might be good to come along to see." "Also...you shouldn't have to take everything on yourself. ...Who am I kidding, the first chance that I get I do the same thing...haha. No wonder we're good friends," he smiles at her. Sure a BIT self-deprecating, but not in a harmful way.
Hibiki Tachibana	"Mmn! Sure thing, Ishirou!" So the Hibiki-tamer says. The Hibiki-tamer does not, in fact, ask for assistance. She disappears into the kitchen, and the sounds of plates being taken out, silverware being brandished, and preparations to reheat being undertaken come from within. "...Eheheheh," Ishirou's self-depreciation does get a genuine chuckle out of Hibiki despite the heavy subject matter they've been going over. Pretty hard not to when it's something neither of them can disagree with. "Easy to tell other people not to, but it's pretty hard to take your own advice." Mulling over what he had asked at first... "Don't worry. I don't really mind talking about it these days. Back then, I wanted Miku's help...and didn't want it at the same time. She sure wouldn't let me do any escapes these days, that's for sure." And taking a steadying breath, she addresses the actual problem they're faced with. "...Everything I told Go is what I seriously feel about it. I also think he's right to not want to throw away his belt - because Kamen Rider is what he makes of it. And I think he's the only one who'd ever be able to convince Chase it's more than just a tool for murder." "I can't say I'm sure what Chase will think about it...or how willing he'll be to talk, or 'talk'..." Emphasis. "...But with how close you are with Go, I think you have plenty of right to know what's going on, too. Maybe between the two of us, we can figure something out...or help give him the push he needs to figure it out himself." "I'll try to get in touch with him as soon as I can. See what he's doing, and how he is. If I'm the one asking him, I'm at least pretty sure he won't say no."
Ishirou	"She's not going to ask for help, is she?" Ishirou asides to Hibiki. "Wanting help and not wanting...I think I understand that. When your mind and your heart are in conflict. Stuff like that can be the worst.." he says with a nod. "I'm glad you're not trying to run away anymore...you two are cute together," he says with a sunnier smile. He nods, "Yeah, you definitely have the right of it. That's...I think something he's going to have to answer himself. But until then I'll support him and be there to listen. He's been...really bad off lately, and I really want to get him smiling again. He's really something else when he's not burdened so much." "To be honest, we better be ready for a fight if we do talk to him. I hate to say it, but uh...boys, especially the ones with belts, are more talking with a fist than words. As much...as I really hate to, I'm ready to at least try," he says rubbing his face. "So if we do I'm counting on you, and in turn, you'll get my best support."
Hibiki Tachibana	"Not a chance she'll ask either of us," Hibiki confirms that they're both going to have their butts parked here in the most matter-of-fact tone imaginable. At them specifically being called cute together, she tugs up on the collar of her shirt (in absence of the scarf she'd usually be doing that with) and glances off to the side, with more than a little red in the face for such a casual comment. Still, she's entirely genuine in what she murmurs after. "...Miku is the sunshine that broke through all the rainclouds." And making a /loud/ clearing of her throat to segue away from that, she both sits up completely straight and makes several nods. Back to business. "Yeah, I already figured if we do go to Chase, there's a pretty good chance he's not just going to talk about his feelings over burgers. We might have to fight him. And it might hurt, in more ways than one." Her head dips for a moment, then tilts back up. "But if that ends up being what it takes to help him sort things out, then that's that. I need to know what's going on in his head, and in his heart. So...I'll be relying on you for that support, Ishirou. I've seen a lot of the Roidmudes by now...and seen Heart, and his friends. So I want to believe that there's a day that all of them and Go can call each other siblings for real." "And as long as you believe and work at it, then it definitely will." Miku chimes in right on cue, stepping back in with a pair of steaming plates of yesterday's cooking to set down in front of the both of them. After that, she rises back up and brings her hands together with a smile. "So even if it gets rough, whether with these two or Petra, don't give up. I think both of your bests are plenty enough to get over any problem." "...Oh! I'll go bring out the pie too. And my own plate! Eat up while it's still hot!"
Ishirou	Ishirou smiles at Hibiki's comment. It's so cute, but also so heartwarming. "I hope you let her know every day then," he continues to smile. It... definitely was something he needed to hear. Some of his faith in humanity is restored. "Yeah...I know. I'll make sure the R.E.S.C.U.E. Unit is ready. We'll...do this. Burgers might have to come after though. I'll even offer to make them," Ishirou says with a chuckle. "He'll do it, I know he will," is all he says about Go. Ishirou's head turns to Miku. His smile widens, and he nods, "You're right. Thanks, Miku," he says, and then frowns at the comment about pie. "You get your plate first, /then/ pie. Don't try to be like us! We have a trademarked claim on it.." he says with a grin. Ishirou does as he's told and starts eating.