Scene #8972: DGP Encounter II Social

Owner	Pose
Hamada Haru	IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE PREVIOUS DGP ROUND... The restaurant that Haru drags everybody to is a dim sum restaurant that is well-suited to the task of handling a large group, whether they actually have a particularly enormous group or not. There's a reason for that, though. He gestures towards a long booth for parties in a far corner, says that they're going to need one of everything, and that it's fine if it takes a while. The group is escorted by a mildly flustered waiter to the indicated area. The tables around them are hastily set up for a group, and drink orders are taken before they're left alone for... a while. The first batches of food aren't too slow to come, with raw cuts of meat and mini-grills to cook them on. In addition to pitchers of water, Haru requests black tea. It's only once everyone's settled in and that he himself has a cup of tea in his hand that Hamada Haru surveys the group at large and asks, "Conditions. How is everyone holding up? Physical injury and current morale are important to address. Also... you may not be in a mood to eat, but if you can keep it down, you need to. The kind of fighting we were doing is not something you can do while on a diet. If expense is a concern, don't worry about it. I'm the heir to my world's rider system, so I'm never going to run out of money. It's handled." An additional invitation has been extended to Tsumuri and Girori, though Haru doesn't draw particular attention to that. His concerns for them has to do with the isolation they appear to exist in, appearing mainly in the transdimensional space occupied by the DGP. His contact with the other sponsors has been... passing, and unpleasant. He wouldn't want to be confined to interacting only with that set of people, either. He's not going to hassle them to show, though.
Phantom Thieves	Restaurant food! Yes! Principled Phantom Thievery doesn't really provide for regular income, Clover and Robert are both on fairly restrictive scholarships/allowances, and St. Barbara's campus cafeteria gets a bit old after a while. "Doing just fine!" Clover's in good spirits, even more so with food in front of her. If you didn't know that the group were just fighting waves of zombies attacking a hospital and dealing with multiple people being injured or dying - you wouldn't know it by looking at her. "Not injured either. Actually I'm feeling like I'm going to be the one to beat in the final rounds, so the rest of you had better watch out!" She's not actually doing as hot on points as she claims, and anyone who's looked at the rankings can confirm that. She did well, but she also ate a hefty points penalty - not that anyone besides her would know why. She doesn't seem inclined to volunteer that information. "Good on you for setting this up - certainly appreciated!" Clover practically inhales her share of any precooked appetizers, and impatiently waits for the meat to finish cooking.
Odette Raskins	Too much happened in the last round. Zombies? More dying people? Wait, no. Regular people caught up in these are brought back at the end. That's of little comfort to Odette, but even a little is better than nothing. What's more comforting is just the presence of food and so many familiar faces, and she even takes a moment to turn to Haru specifically as he reassures her that money isn't going to be a problem. "For real? Thanks, Mister Hamada! I-I mean, the zombies were pretty gross, but... That's three waves down, right? So we don't have to see them again?" Beat, and then a groan. "Wait, no. That was only two... S-so we've just gotta get through one more, then. One more, and everyone that got caught up in all this..." The EMt inhales deeply, both to calm herself and to savor the scent of cooking meat. Between that and Clover's upbeat tone, it's actually hard for Odette not to find herself perking up more than not. "I'm not expecting to get all the way there, but.. Um. I'm not planning on going down that easy, either!" She replies with a light-hearted chuckle, glancing around a few times before finally noticing someone missing among their number. "Huh... Did Mister Ginpen take off already? That's a shame... This stuff's pretty good." She comments with one more clueless glance around the seating area, then throws some more meat onto one of the mini-grills while taking an equal amount to munch on.
Shinmyoumaru Sukuna	Shinmyoumaru was happy, more or less, to accept the invitation. Invitations are fine by her. She feels vaguely like she should be bringing something for the host, like a bottle of sake or something, but one, she doesn't have a bottle of sake with her, and two, the fact that it's a restaurant confuses the issue. And eating after a battle is not really a problem either. People were dying, but... mostly people she didn't know, and at least some of them were people who signed up for this, so her conscience (such as it is) is pretty clear on the matter. She tried to help the civilians, right? She's doing her part! She does feel an obligation to pay her own way, though, which is why she produces a koban and plants it on the table as her share. A koban is a historic Japanese coin; oval-shaped, traditional... and gold, or at least gold-ish, as this looks like a later minting with less actual gold in it. You could probably get a couple hundred thousand yen for it. Either Shinmyoumaru doesn't know what it's worth or she doesn't care. Shinmyoumaru looks, despite her hopes and dreams, like the kid at the table; her feet don't reach the ground and so she swings them absently while she learns about dim sum. She orders tea, too. "I'm okay," she says, after a few moments' thought. She is certainly okay physically - just bruises, and bruises heal quick - and though she's a little worried about some things it doesn't show much. Her morale is good enough to try to swipe something before Clover gets it with a slight grin, at least.
Desire Stars	Conditions. "I don't know how I should be holding up," Neon Kurama admits. With the bout over, her DGP uniform has been swapped out for a canary yellow blouse, a navy floral print skirt, and a matching set of flats. Filing into the booth with a frown, she folds her hands and leans forward in her seat. Did Mister Ginpen take off already? "He's gone," Neon softly answers. "And Kanato..." The spot on her neck where Kanato bit her is an ugly shade of purple, the veins visible beneath the skin. "Yuri saved me. But I feel like I'm... on borrowed time, right now." Ace looks up from a moment of quiet thought. "The rest of you pile in if you want to," says Morio, with a suspicious frown on his face. "I'm not about to sit elbow to elbow with a zombie." Neon flinches. "She's not a zombie yet. Even Kanato hadn't turned all the way." Tsumuri and Girori don't appear to be present--although both seemed genuinely grateful to have been invited, there are evidently responsibilities they both need to tend to, in the time right after a match. Maybe another time.
Hamada Haru	Haru regards Clover for a moment, and then inclines his head a little. "I'm glad that you came out of it better than most," he says, coolly. Whether or not that's just him being... himself, or more deliberately chilly, is unclear. It's actually the former, he wasn't in the viewing area for most of the match, and Da-Paan had him significantly distracted when Gin-Pen died. His attention swings to Odette. "It wasn't by any sort of merit that I have the money that I do. Using it as a Kamen Rider does their other powers is only fitting." A piece of very old currency is placed on the table. Although he already reassured everyone that he's paying, Haru reaches out and slides it towards himself with a single extended finger. After examining it closely, Haru unthreads his necklace for a moment, adds the old coin to it, and re-ties the cord. It rattles against the other object on the necklace as it's returned to its place. "Thanks," he says, simply. Shinmyoumaru gets a little, evaluating look. But instead of prying, Haru nods. "Some people handle these things better than others. Sometimes the impact lands later. For me, it's a bit of both." Which was his way of saying it was fine to be okay now and then to not be okay. It's also, at least in part, a response to Neon. In response to Morio getting nasty at Neon, Haru stands up with his teacup and saucer. "Fine. Take my seat. It's obvious that somebody has to act like Kamen Rider on your behalf, since you refuse to," he says, passing through the table and taking the spot that Morio was refusing to occupy beside Neon.
BB	'Conditions' Jinako Carigiri doesn't respond, the soft-edged woman in a large pair of jeans and a grey hoodie with pink draws and ear-silohouettes droopingly framing her face. From behind, there's a whole vertically sitting elephant picture, complete with the peak of the hood falling in a soft fluff-proboscus. Stuffed into a seat and having selected a big bowl of rice and a tiny cup of tea, just stares at an otherwise empty table. Now and then when things are served she reaches out or considers something, but each time she reaches up, her fingers shy and curl in, returning to her lap. Her face hangs down, hair poufed up around the sides of her neck from being stuffed into the hoodie, and her large glasses reflect the artificial lighting, opaqued and glared to outside views. The 'gamer glasses glare' was a shield against showing her true face, and so, the morose woman relied on it now. 'Did Mister Ginpen take off already?' "Yeah." Jinako cracks a croaking word, and then coughs, and takes a sip of scalding-hot tea. Her cheeks pinken to red and then Jinako quickly hyperventilates to not burn her poor mouth, momentarily more angry at tea than actually wetted, and clears her throat with a 'ch-hem' and swallow. "... I asked him if, he could stay longer." Jinako's eyes don't rise. "But he couldn't."
Hamada Haru	"Drink water before the tea," Haru advises Jinako, without explaining himself. He thinks she's probably been doing some crying, even though he doesn't come right out and say it.
Odette Raskins	What should she eat first? Appetizers? Meat? Drink instead? There's so many options, and everything smells so good, but... All that walking and fighting did work up quite a thirst, and Odette's not going to make a fool of herself choking just because she didn't drink anything for four hours. Thus, she sips some of the black tea first, and then it's time to actually nibble on things. She also asks for some milk and sugar on the side for her tea. Neon's answer first gets a slightly disappointed sigh from Odette, and she still misses the implications even after glancing around again and realizing that Kanato isn't there, either. Jinako's own response still bounces right off Odette's general denseness in the moment, only drawing another light sigh from the EMT as she munches on some more of that deliciously grilled meat. Unlike Haru, Odette really hasn't noticed anything yet. She can't blame Jinako for being hungry after all that excitement, or she'd have to blame herself for digging in already! "That's a shame... They're really missing out on some good stuff! B-but I'm sure we'll have more chances to eat this kind of stuff, so we'll just catch them after the next round." Clueless as she is, Odette still notices Neon's injury, and she gets up quickly. "Borrowed...? Oh heck. H-hold on, this might-" She hurries over to Neon, then hurries right back to her seat in quick succession to get little handheld doohickey from her bag that kind of looks like a supermarket self-checkout scanner. Morio's comment draws a brief glare from Odette, and then her attention locks onto Neon as she go right back to hold the scanner over the purple spot on her neck. "Are you feeling feverish or hurting anywhere? Ah, geez, I know there's... Um. I-if this was back on the station, there'd probably someone that could..." She mumbles, already going through several scenarios in her head while she stares at the scanner to see what it can pick up about the infection. "A-at least if it's viral. But if it's a magic thing..."
Shinmyoumaru Sukuna	The situation is, indeed, deeply fucked up! Shinmyoumaru is just treating it as if it wasn't. Immaturity or hard-heartedness? Her feet swing again. She's never seen anyone put the money she provides on a necklace before, but she doesn't comment on it, though she's clearly curious. She does nod when Haru explains that it's okay to have the impact land later, though she's not entirely sure it applies to her. (It does.) It appears to be hitting Jinako harder, but Shinmyoumaru isn't sure what to say to her, so she doesn't say anything at all, instead shoving a bun in her mouth. The whole thing. It makes her look a bit like a chipmunk. Shinmyoumaru also didn't know Neon was ... bit. It takes her a good half minute to actually get down the bun so she can talk clearly: "Does it turn you into a zombie?" she asks, worriedly even though she wasn't bit. "I thought that was vampires..." But that does look pretty gross. Fortunately, they have a doctor, and Shinmyoumaru pushes herself out of Odette's way so as to let her get to Neon easily. Shinmyoumaru also does not mind sitting near Neon if it comes up. Neon's not going to bite her.
Phantom Thieves	Clover's eyes are immediately drawn to the koban, and she has a hard time looking away from it until Hamada or someone else takes it. Some of what Odette pulls off of the grill gets ninja'd onto Clover's plate. Her grill etiquette seems to be lacking somewhat. And then to Neon: "Oh." Pause. She should probably say something teamwork-ish or hero-ish about this. "Uh - that sucks?" There. Requisite display of empathy, accomplished. Clover is great at pretending to be good.
BB	Jinako doesn't nod at Haru, nor does she vocally acknowledge the advice. There is a water at her place, though, and so she puts down her teacup and leans forward with both grey-hoodied arms. There are fake elephant-marks around the elbows and the wide sleeves end in several arched 'toes' in paled grey, evoking legs and cartoonish 'nails'. One of these soft grey 'feet' slides from the cross as the conversation sways to Neon, and scoops back a water for Jinako to just sort of head down on and tilt back via face motion to drink, making a 'buruururururugh' bubblenoise after being emotionally bombed repeatedly by Odette's questions and wondering-hopes. She can't say it. Don't ask Jinako to say it. She can't admit it, she can only... Reaching her 'idle' elephant leg down off the table, Jinako's hand seekingly reaches into the depths of the right hoodie pocket, rummaging deeply until an importantly-mixed-louder-than-usual plastic ker-click of interaction. The kind that cuts through the ambience of a resturant of clinking plates and distant-diin voices. Jinako removes her hand from her pocket after a fidgiting moment, tilting chin back and righting water as she does. Sitting back and wiping chin with left wrist, she leaves water class, and Armed Dagger buckle at her place, besides the rice. Another audible mixed-to-the-highest-priority soft ker-click, buckle to table. This, as she tilts back, she stares at with watery eyes. "No, Odette. Check the ranking on your phone. He--..." A raggedy-choked beat. "--saw his son?-" Jinako swallows, lip trembling. "-in the hospital."
Desire Stars	Fine. Take my seat. It's obvious that somebody has to act like Kamen Rider on your behalf, since you refuse to. Morio takes Haru's seat, but crosses his arms and shoots him a sour expression. "And what's the problem with that? Look at what happens to the people who try to play hero. No thanks! I'm just here for my wish, buddy." I asked him if, he could stay longer. But he couldn't. Ace frowns, and forces himself to look at Jinako. Something turns behind the dark pools of his eyes, but it doesn't escape his lips. Are you feeling feverish or hurting anywhere? "It itches," answers Neon numbly. "And it's sore." Does it turn you into a zombie? "That's what was happening with Kanato," explains Neon with a muted nod. "He got me and Yuri alone in the substation, and... his mask looked different. There were these vines, almost, spreading across his lenses." Uh - that sucks? After a few chaste, uncertain bites of food, she heaves a shaky sigh. "It does. I feel like an idiot, and there's nowhere for me to go." "That's not true," says Ace. "I don't want to be told that everything's going to be okay." Ace shakes his head. "There's no guarantee that it will. But when you have no place to go, you can always go forwards." says the veteran rider, before indulging in a sip of tea. "If we clear the last wave, then the mission is cleared. That means no more zombie Jyamato--and no more infection. Do you have it in you to keep fighting, even if it's only until then?" Neon is quietly reflective.
Hamada Haru	Hamada Haru holds in a sigh. The spread of reactions isn't unpredictable to him. There are people who are strong-- his eyes flick to Ace-- or at least good at obfuscating what's happening underneath. There are those who it won't hit for a while after, and those who are barely holding themselves together-- or aren't, effectively. Having things hit you once all the adrenaline wears off is, he thinks, largely the most natural path. He turns the training he gave to Neon and Keiwa over in his head, and wonders if it would've helped Gin-Pen. "... What's your assessment of the game so far, Mr. Ukiyo?" He asks Ace. To Shinmyoumaru, he asides, "They are kaijin, so I would not expect them to have perfectly reflective properties of their theme. But I would be concerned about either 'zombie' or 'vampire' jyamato being able to convert others into thralls or allies with a bite." After a few too many deliveries in which Jinako visibly hesitated to actually eat, he says, "If you can keep it down, have some anyway. They might be willing to do some okayu for you, if that would be easier." His eyes flick back towards Clover. "... I don't care if you're only here for the free food, but even strategically, it's better if nobody has to know that." In answer to Jinako's prompting, he fishes to an interior pocket of his jacket and withdraws a distinctive tablet. It's got a bit more of a detailed read-out of the scores than most do. He taps on Gin-Pen's readout, but then gets distracted by Mori and puts the screen to sleep so there's not an extremely long opportunity to look at the Sponsor view of things. "A wish in exchange for heroism... still requires heroism," Haru says, simply. He finally turns his head to examine Neon's neck. An agitated noise rumbles in his throat. "I'd like to talk to you in private later, Ms. Kurama." "And you did not commit an error. Sometimes that's how it goes." His attention flicks back to his tablet, which he brings back online to the rankings screen. There is a HISTORY tab, which he selects and starts going through to see various times-of-change within the scoreboard.
Shinmyoumaru Sukuna	Shinmyoumaru pretends she doesn't see Clover shooting glances at the gold coin. It's not her coin (anymore), after all. "They're mysteries?" Shinmyoumaru, of course, is fluent in Japanese, but not always modern uses, and she takes kaijin as the literal 'mysterious person' that it is - like kaiju, but people, not beasts. "Well, we knew that much, but... I didn't know zombies did that." It is likely this is Shinmyoumaru's first experience with zombies, or at least humanoid zombies. His mask looked different... "So it got into the suit too?" Shinmyoumaru seems slightly alarmed at that, mostly because she wasn't entirely aware they were linked quite that much. She's not sure what to make of it. "Do you need to..." She digs in her brain for ideas. "...pour holy water on it?" Shinmyoumaru, being nosy, cranes her head around to try to look at Haru's special pad. Shinmyoumaru, also being a ways away around the table, does not actually get a very good look at it and gives up a few seconds in, returning to dealing with closer people. Like Jinako. Shinmyoumaru pulls out her own phone when Jinako brings it up, something she still doesn't do very often unless it makes noise or otherwise alerts her - she's just not used to having one around. She pokes at it for a bit, and then: "Oh," she says, very quietly. She sets it down afterwards, reaches for another bun, and once again shoves the whole thing in, chewing fiercely.
Phantom Thieves	> "I don't want to be told that everything's going to be okay." "Well, great news, because it isn't." Clover takes Neon's statement literally? "You ate dirt. It happens. Sometimes it happens a lot. And now things are gonna be harder. It sucks and it's gonna suck more. Maybe this is the single disadvantage that's going to keep you from realizing your dream, and you aren't gonna know till you put in the effort to find out." "But as far as I can tell, you're still ticking, and so you have the choice of if you're going to pick yourself back up again and again till you can't anymore, or if you're going to lie down, accept defeat, and make my odds better." "Except if you're gonna get up again, you'd better go in eyes wide open that it's going to suck. That way it won't hurt as much when you eat dirt again." > "... I don't care if you're only here for the free food, but even strategically, it's better if nobody has to know that." ... Oh. Oh, she's let the mask slip too much. "Ah- sorry, I guess I am being a bit greedy," she says. "It's just - you know how it is, broke college student on a budget, suddenly dragged out to AYCE, might have gone a little bit overboard. Sorry!" "I actually really am glad to be invited out here. It's nice to get to know everyone. It's a nice reminder that, while I'm trying my hardest to win, it doesn't all have to be cutthroat competition." She fistpumps. "Go Team Kamen Rider!"
Odette Raskins	"Does it turn you into a zombie?" "If it's anything like the cases I heard of back home, it should." Odette murmmurs as she finishes her checks and already starts preparing ointment and painkillers from her bag. She doesn't apply nor try to feed Neon any of the stuff yet. Instead, she just bundles up the topical and edible medicine up in a tinier paper bag, complete with a bright pink heart sticker on the front to hand to Neon. "Take the painkillers every four to six hours for the soreness, and put the ointment on an hour after that so it doesn't itch as much." She offers with a reassuring, if still somewhat anxious smile. Shinmyoumaru's lack of worry around Neon's bite certainly helps to keep her from freaking out too much about it as does Neon being more somber than actively freaking out herself. "It does. I feel like an idiot, and there's nowhere for me to go." "But when you have no place to go, you can always go forwards." "You're.. Here, aren't you?" Rubbing her hands together lightly, Odette leans over to gingerly pat Neon's opposite shoulder while squeezing in from the other side in a hug that's definitely too light to be smothering, but just a little too firm to be merely polite. "M-maybe it will, maybe it won't, but Mister Ace is right. We'll worry about it then, and... We'll be ready for whatever happens. I'll get you something else for the next time we meet, too, okay?" Only then does Odette finally settle back down into her seat, turning to Jinako and noticing more of those familiar signs. Something's really upsetting her, and it's far more than the usual sort of upset that she's used to seeing among her colleagues at work. The normal amount of work-fatigue upsetness doesn't leave someone tearing up like this, right? "No, Odette. Check the ranking on your phone. He--..." "--saw his son?-" "-in the hospital." Some of the color drains from the EMT's face already. "Oh... Oh no. But I thought the hospital was sav..." She starts to speak while yanking her PDA off her belt, then pulls up the rankings. A quick skim later, and she freezes as she sees that darkened marking over where Taira's picture should be. "No... TH-that's not... So even when we finish this, he'll be...?" She asks through shaky breaths and hunching forward on her legs, staring closely at her PDA as she keeps scrolling through. "Mister Ginpen... A-and Dapaan, too? this is..." Her teeth start chattering a bit as she lowers her PDA, staring at the floor and just trying not to let herself freak out this time despite how much she truly wants to. With this kind of mortality rate, just how long could she last in all of this? How long could any of the others? "A wish in exchange for heroism... still requires heroism," Odette's eyes still have that vacant look to them as she listens to Haru, finally leaning back after what feels like a solid minute of imagining the worst already. "Is this... Really gonna work out? A-are any of us still going to be alive to see the...?" She starts to ask, stopping herself shortly before finishing that though out loud. It's clear from the look on her face, though, that she's already starting to spiral again. The fact that there's less food on her plate than when she got up doesn't even faze her. Clover's in the clear!
BB	Sniffling and dirtying her hoodie by snarfling her nose while running the sleeve across her face to 'clean' it and wipe around her wetted nose, Jinako nods a little at Haru, the indecisive 'you decide' variety of dissociation from the question in the barest positive sense. For once, she wasn't hungry, and it was so notable she felt worse, but the senior Rider was right. 'Go Team Kamen Rider!' calls Clover, and Jinako's glasses perk up and look over. "... Yeah. This is the kind of game that could go really badly, right? It's already been thirty people, and I--" Jinako struggles to move on from the topic of death even without wanting to say the 'D word', and finds a paper napkin to blow her nose into loudly. Noticing Odette's accellerating-to-meet-her-own-mood reaction, an elephant hoodied arm snags the Armed Buckle off the table and repockets it. "Can't we all promise each other we'll try to keep each other alive?" Jinako asks, a negative-aimed question more at the table than anyone. "Aren't we all 'Kamen Rider', a hero? Isn't it... o-out of character to not try? So--" She has to justify it, trembling in her voice, because it's not quite so real to her. There's already been a lot of death, and she hadn't even seen Morio's maneuvers. "--if we just get through this one, someone who hurt their allies will have the least points. Definitely. Can't we?" Is this the kind of death game with co-op? Did it even work like that? "Is this really how the DGP is, Ace?" Jinako asks, before uncertainly moving to scoop a little rice into her mouth.
Desire Stars	... What's your assessment of the game so far, Mr. Ukiyo? "Na-Go, Leffa, Zumine and Tycoon are picking things up quickly. Buffa and Mary aren't team players, but at least one of them will probably make it. My money's on Buffa, since he does more than the bare minimum." Ignoring Morio's noise of offense, "Ka-On and Ochiba think fast on their feet. The real test is yet to come." "What are you, some kind of pro?" scoffs Morio. "It's not like you've fought in one of these before." "Sure have." "Since when?!" "Since the dawn of the Common Era," Ace smilingly replies. "HAH! Should have known better than to expect the truth from a fox." "If you're not going to believe me, don't bother asking." In any case, Haru has his answer--'things look good, but are also far from over.' I'd like to talk to you in private later, Ms. Kurama. Neon startles from her meditative stare into the distance, nodding her head. "S-sure." Sometimes that's how it goes. Except if you're gonna get up again, you'd better go in eyes wide open that it's going to suck. That way it won't hurt as much when you eat dirt again. "It's hard for me to get a straight answer from the people in my life. So, in a way... I'm kind of grateful to the both of you for saying that." They're mysteries? Ace smiles, evidently amused by the double meaning. "They are," he answers. "We don't know much about them at all. In this era, that word has another meaning, but the literal meaning isn't strictly wrong to use for the Jyamato." Take the painkillers every four to six hours for the soreness, and put the ointment on an hour after that so it doesn't itch as much. Neon takes the proferred bag with a meekly murmured thank-you. A soft exhalation of surprise escapes her, when Odette hugs her. Her instinct would be to freeze up, under normal circumstances. With everything that's happened recently--her efforts to stop a war, a plea to keep love alive, and the ever-shrinking walls of her home--that instinct has no foothold. Neon wraps her arms around Odette in turn, the paper bag crinkling in the embrace. Her eyes shut tight in that moment of refuge, her mouth pulled into a tight, near-tearful frown. When it passes, a little sigh follows, her head dipping once in unspoken gratitude. A-and Dapaan, too? this is... "He was retired. From what I understand, he would have been disqualified even if he didn't have the lowest score. There's a limit to how many violations the production will tolerate before you're outright disqualified."
Desire Stars	Is this really how the DGP is, Ace? "People are quick to say that life isn't fair. I'm sure everyone at this table has heard that at one point or another." "Probably because it's easy to say. What's less easy to internalize is that fairness and unfairness, even life itself, comes from people. Each of us has an ideal world that we're after. In chasing it, we can step on those around us or offer them a hand up." His eyes fix on Morio, who blinks in mild confusion at him. "How we respond to the kindness around us says as much about us as how much we have to give." Ace slides something fried and savory Jinako's way.
Hamada Haru	"Mn. No. Kaijin refers to any one of a number of usually-human-derivative subspecies with supernatural abilities. Orphenochs, Greeed, things like that," Haru explains to Shinmyoumaru, picking up on the misunderstanding right away. "Sometimes they're 'just' cyborgs or remodeled humans in some biological ways, sometimes they're aliens. The particulars don't matter much." //So it got into the suit too?// "Self-evidently, yes," he says. //But as far as I can tell, you're still ticking, and so you have the choice of if you're going to pick yourself back up again and again till you can't anymore, or if you're going to lie down, accept defeat, and make my odds better.// "The disadvantage of preying on your fellow players, and being known for that... is a worse liability than taking a minor loss early on," Haru interjects, raising his pad into the air. "I was curious what had such a negative impact on your score, so I checked the scoreboard history. You suffered a major loss of points shortly prior to Gin-Pen's Loss-state, which corresponds with the point penalty for sabotage. Attacking another player directly is a higher point loss, as we can see in close parallel with..." He shifts the view to show Da-Paan's point loss. "Mr. Sumida." There is a faint shimmer in the air as Haru shunts the sponsor tablet into his hammerspace. "But you're welcome for the invitation," he concludes, simply. //Mister Ginpen... A-and Dapaan, too? this is...// Haru replies, "Mr. Sumida was disqualified purposefully. If you are lamenting his subversion, go ahead. But don't feel bad for his exit. He's a retirement, not a death, at any rate." //Is this... Really gonna work out? A-are any of us still going to be alive to see the...?// //Can't we all promise each other we'll try to keep each other alive?// "I am trying to keep you all alive," Haru says. There's not enough of him to go around, though. His expression remains dull and difficult to read, even though Ace's assessment. Haru does glance to the side as he files through his own assessment of things, and then glances towards Mori in particular. "You're being cautious about evaluating that one, if you're rating him parallel with Buffa. Can't tell if he's secretly good at fighting yet?" This is something that Haru incorporates into his own mental calculus. He'd been so irritated with the man that he hadn't considered it yet. //It's hard for me to get a straight answer from the people in my life. So, in a way... I'm kind of grateful to the both of you for saying that.// "People can't be right all the time. But sometimes being right isn't enough. Sometimes the parameters just don't line up, and you can't overcome the situation the way you want or need to. That's not your fault. It just is. If I don't tell you the truth, you won't know how to improve, or if you even can. You have ways to improve, but... trusting that guy's turn-around isn't one of the ways you need to do that," he explains. "You are a Kamen Rider. Giving benefit of the doubt to people who aren't trustworthy is sometimes a part of the job."
Phantom Thieves	You suffered a major loss of points shortly prior to Gin-Pen's Loss-state... "... Ah?" Clover stares at Hamada for a second. Think quick... he can see the point change history, but he can't have visibility into everything that was going on, otherwise he'd have a lot more than words for me. Think. What's a half-truth that'll salvage this as much as possible? "I was trying to lock and barricade doors, create obstacles," says Clover, leaving out how she was doing so, phrasing it as if she was manually pushing boxes in front of doorways and such. "Keep control of areas so I can rescue people and score points and parts. Competing. I thought that's what we were all doing, while also saving the world?" That's the half truth. "I didn't think it rose to the level of sabotage." And there's the other half. It was absolutely intentional sabotage. "I guess it was over the line according to the game organizers, though? And it made someone get hurt, which - wasn't what I intended." "I stopped as soon as I got the notification. And obviously, I lost a big chunk of points as a result, so it's not like I wasn't punished or I'm not paying for it, but..." She looks around the table. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again. Can you all forgive me?"
Odette Raskins	Odette's only caught a little bit off guard by Neon returning that hug as firmly as she does. She doesn't question it, though, and she just holds it as long as Neon needs it, patting her back and just letting her squeeze it out until the moment passes. She doesn't say anything afterwards, just smiling lightly in return in understanding before returning to her seat and eventually getting hit with the rest of the terrible news. Also, she jots down a note in her PDA to get several somethings stronger prepared for Neon for next time. ". . . it doesn't all have to be cutthroat competition." "Go Team Kamen Rider!" Odette's never heard all of that from Clover before, so hearing it now boosts her spirits up a little bit. She's still looking down in the dumps as she tries to process the news of Taira's death hitting her right this moment, but... "... Even if we came into this knowing the risks, it still sucks to see it like... Like this. Go team." She mutters quietly with the barest attempt at a chuckle, hunching further forward in her seat until her head's almost underneath the table. "He was retired." "If you are lamenting his subversion, go ahead. But don't feel bad for his exit. He's a retirement, not a death, at any rate." "So he's not dead?" She asks, head still hung low for a while longer before she brings her PDA back to her face. Another look at the rankings, and Odette sits back up with a mild sense of relief evident in her posture. At the very least, the weight on her back shed a few fractions of a pound. "That's... Ugh. S-silver lining, I guess. But... " She pauses, recalling all those odd announcements during the last round while she was facing off against the zombie waves. "So those were all him? Wh... What was he doing to get that many violations stacked up and booted that quickly?" She asks, both sounding like she really doesn't want to know while also being curious enough to even ask. "Can't we all promise each other we'll try to keep each other alive?" "Aren't we all 'Kamen Rider', a hero?" That's what they're all here to be, aren't they? Sure, Morio's kind of off-putting, and Kanato certainly has his share of everyone that seems to dislike him, but she could never see herself ever wanting anyone here to die. "... Promise. I-I might not be the... I mean, I don't really..." Her words come out shakily, and she has to calm her nerves with some more water, then tea, then meat, then more water. Somehow, eating really does seem to settle Odette's nerves a little. "I'm not the best fighter, or the fastest runner or the strongest whatever, but... I can make sure nobody else dies." She looks over at Jinako sympathetically, breathing out a small sigh of relief at seeing her eating finally. "If I promise that, can all of you promise me you'll do the same for everyone else? W-we gotta get through this alive as many times as it takes, so we all get our wishes, and so nobody has to die like..." Dammit, she reminded herself that Taira's dead again, and she's already feeling her eyes starting to burn.
Shinmyoumaru Sukuna	"Oh!" Shinmyoumaru accepts the corrections in stride - she is aware that sometimes words mean different things outside of Gensokyo, and that makes sense to her. It helps that there's not really any word she can think of that's the same; at home she'd probably default to youkai, but technically not everything is a youkai. She's not. "...wait, are inchlings kaijin?" Now she's going to be thinking about that for a while. Most of them don't have supernatural powers, but... Brow furrowed, Shinmyoumaru thinks about that for a bit because it's a lot less uncomfortable a topic than the rest of it. She can't distract herself forever, though. "I already help," Shinmyoumaru says, which is true - she's come to a couple other Riders' defense before, or at least given them the assist, and she's taken assists from them too. "But... I really do want to win, so I'm not going to give that up. But I'm not going to stab another Kamen Rider in the back either! There's enough actual ways to get points and whatever... not sabotage." She looks at Clover after that, given what she's said. It's not a very happy look. She likes the part where she's described as thinking quick on her feet. She's just going to keep doing that, she decides. Maybe she can keep surprise on her side! "So, I can promise that." Shinmyoumaru also likes being treated like she can be depended on. It makes her feel a whole lot better.
Desire Stars	Wh... What was he doing to get that many violations stacked up and booted that quickly? "Friendly fire. His reaction to what Neon's going through now was to try and drag her and Yuri down with him." Can't tell if he's secretly good at fighting yet? "Better than he lets on. Not as good as Buffa, but he takes actionable advice, if not necessarily in the spirit it's given. You don't always need to be the best fighter in a literal sense, anyway. Bighorn rams only butt heads for a fraction of the year, and they don't have a 'leader,' per se. The successful ones wait for the fighting to start and then go after what they want. Right?" He flashes Morio a smug smile. Morio doesn't look nearly as pleased to have been fursona cold-read as he was to do it to Ace.
Desire Stars	You are a Kamen Rider. Giving benefit of the doubt to people who aren't trustworthy is sometimes a part of the job. I'm sorry. It won't happen again. Can you all forgive me? I'm not the best fighter, or the fastest runner or the strongest whatever, but... I can make sure nobody else dies. So, I can promise that. "Recently... I told someone that there are things worth keeping alive, that all the money and power in the world won't hold onto." Neon smiles sadly. "He thought that that we were trying to take that from him. Can you imagine?" "So, I had to let him know that wasn't what we were trying to do--and I wasn't alone. He listened to us." She takes a shuddering little breath. "Or at least, he stopped fighting. I don't know what it's like to be torn between an ideal world and the person you want to share it with the most. I hope I don't have to find out. He... left, and I'm not sure which he's going to choose. That hurts, a little." Ace offers her the red handkerchief from the pocket of his blazer. She dries her eyes, and continues. "But... hearing this, from all of you, makes me sure that I did the right thing. That's why I promise, too." Ace grins. "No argument from me. I can win without it, anyway. You'll see that for yourselves, when I get my wish." Only Morio is silent.
BB	Slid a bit of something savory-fried by Ace as she eats plain rice and dissappointment, the general agreement at the table - of even competitors promising to look out for each other - brings Jinako more calm than speaking her truth out or trying to explain to Odette. Actually, explaining for Odette had been quite uncalming! Dragging katsu over her rice and parting the slice with further pinches, the youngish woman remembers how to eat and that she hasn't eaten in a while by salt and fat and fry and goes back into her rice with more power. 'I am trying to keep you all alive,' Haru claims, but Haru had been in a different area. 'Retiring' DaPaan by force, for attacking their fellow competitors. Looking up from her rice at Shinmyoumaru's insistence that she's a competitor trying for her own goals, Jinako's false smile is still familiar, a grimace that's almost pleasant. The inchling reminded Jinako of someone else, though the Gensokyo native had several more key character items and traits than a certain 'extra protagonist' they had come across. "Thanks. It's hard for us with the Shield buckle," Jinajo's opaque-reflecting glasses glare at Morio. "-to fight if we're watching our backs, too. So I'll thank you again for me, in advance." Finally, Jinako's direct gaze over the rims of her glasses sees the Thief and blinks slowly. "Clover, right?" She knew from her Spider Phone. "I can't forgive you, since you didn't do it to me." And the one who Clover did it to wasn't with them to accept or reject the apology. "But I won't hold it against you if it doesn't happen any more. Since you've promised."
Hamada Haru	//I didn't think it rose to the level of sabotage.// "The enforcement of rules within the DGP has a low ethical bar. For instance," Haru gestures towards Mori. "Luring jyamato towards civilians seemed perfectly acceptable, and I am forced to assume based on the points history, does give appropriate bonuses as would be expected. In other words, the system is already giving benefit of the doubt that an average person wouldn't. Whatever it decided was sabotage is, based on current evidence, is almost certainly going to constitute actions that the average person would not agree were an understandable mishap." "You'll be fine," he adds, dully. //So he's not dead?// "Retirement isn't death." //...wait, are inchlings kaijin?// Haru considers that for a moment, and says, "It would not be strange for inchlings to be evaluated in that way. Whether it is strictly accurate or reasonable, I'm less willing to comment on. The lines are blurry. Orphenochs are practically indistinguishable from humans unless they choose to transform. I believe the term is prone to error and discriminatory conduct." //Better than he lets on. Not as good as Buffa, but he takes actionable advice, if not necessarily in the spirit it's given. You don't always need to be the best fighter in a literal sense, anyway.// "The strongest fighter doesn't always win," Haru agrees, with a faint nod. "Actually... if you don't mind, when I talk to Ms. Kurama, I'd like you along as well, Mr. Ukiyo." //But... hearing this, from all of you, makes me sure that I did the right thing. That's why I promise, too.// To this, Hamada Haru simply smiles. There is a distinct sense that he doesn't do so very often. Morio's silence makes his bright expression evaporate. Evaluating the current crop of Riders... too many of them are sabotage risks. He was split between them in the past mission, and he'll be split between them in the future. As previously promised, he speaks no further warnings. If he has to deal with Morio, it's going to happen abruptly and as decisively as he can make it. There's no helping it, he decides.