[07] move along, move along just to make it through

[judicialassistant]

Who: Susato and anyone
Which: Open catch-all log for September + network option
Where: The Wild Harvest garden, but open to other locations.
What: Yujin Mikotoba has left Songerein.
Warnings: Will add if needed.

🌸 A. an apple a day keeps the doctor away.

Sender: Susato Mikotoba
To: Everyone
Subject: Reverein's clinic

[ It's short, and to the point. Susato doesn't use the journal often to broadcast like this, but now that she is, she feels it prudent to be as direct as possible. ]

To whom it may concern:

For the past couple weeks, the Reverein communal clinic has been without a proper doctor to run it. If you are in need of aid, please be patient, as the volunteers are doing the very best they can.

If you have medical experience and would like to help, please let me know. Thank you.

Regards,
Susato Mikotoba

🌸 B. move along, move along, like i know you do.

[ Within the garden of the Wild Harvest, among the faint hissing of snakes and the lull of the waterfalls, Susato closes her journal and tucks away her pen. She takes a deep breath as she moves to stand from her favorite bench, and she walks with purpose into an area littered with stars that look like stepping stones upon the ground.

For a moment, she stops and simply stares. There it is. A blank star, waiting for a name. Perhaps it appeared some time ago. Perhaps she simply ignored it, but after digesting recent events, she has no time to wallow in the remaining stages of grief. He's not even dead, but she wonders if that doesn't make things worse.

Either way, she doesn't even need a pen. She slowly bends down, spending another moment feeling the rough surface of the starfish with her hand before she commits with her pointer finger.

The strokes appear in a glow, and the end result looks engraved. ]

御琴羽 悠仁

🌸 C. wild card.

[ If neither of these fit! ]

(( ooc: Feel free to write your own prompt/starter, or if you'd like me to write a personalized starter for you, hit me up at yammdere or via PM!

Side note: I would love to incorporate Quest #902. Hug it out if you hit prompt B. uwu ))

Comments

[judicialassistant]

[ Probably. Admittedly, she doesn't know for sure what would be worse, but at the very least, Kainé seems to understand. She's willing to bet that she is right.

At this point, Susato doesn't even know if Kainé has ever met her father, or whether she even knows that that's who she's talking about, but she will open up just a little bit. ]

I think it was easier when I was too young to remember.

[shithogs]

[While Kainé isn't certain of exactly who it is that Susato has lost, she knows the heavy feeling hanging in the air quite well. Susato's own mannerisms are enough to tell her it was someone close, someone important to her, though all loss weighs heavily in its own ways.]

You've lost this person before.

[She frowns, her brows drawing slightly downwards. Poor kid can't catch a break, can she?]

... I'm sorry.

[judicialassistant]

[ "This person." Susato looks at Kainé, and perhaps it's the first time she realizes that she doesn't know. That perhaps she hadn't been quite as forthcoming as she thought. ]

It's... my father. I don't know if you ever met him, but during his time here, he worked at the clinic and helped save many lives.

[ She regards him with pride despite everything. He wasn't even there to see his own daughter born, but she couldn't well hold that against him now. His studies abroad were very important...

At least, that's what she kept telling herself. ]

[shithogs]

[It was family, then— the fact that Kainé hadn't realized is certainly no fault of Susato's; the woman has gone out of her way to keep to herself in many circumstances. She'd never had the pleasure of meeting Susato's father, but she's sure she'd heard him spoken of— there had been another 'Mikotoba' somewhere.]

Can't say I ever had the chance. That's important work, though.

[Even if she'd never made use of the clinic herself, relying on her own reasonably quick healing and some occasional dreamotion instead, she has a hell of a lot of respect for the people who work there.]

Lot of people depend on folks like him. I'm sure... they'll remember him fondly.

[judicialassistant]

[ Susato softens. The thought that he will be remembered fondly is a comfort for sure, though that doesn't make him any less gone. ]

In a way, I feel it is my job to ensure he is remembered that way. Though perhaps "job" is not quite the right word...?

[ Definitely an obligation, though. Even if it's a self-imposed one. ]

Either way, I will make sure his work is in good hands, even if it can't be my own. [ If only Rei were here. ]

[shithogs]

Duty, maybe?

[She frowns to herself; this definitely isn't her area of expertise, but she gets it.]

I want to make sure people remember the younger Nier well, too. We weren't from the same world, but he was still important to me. To a lot of people.

[So she understands what Susato means, what she feels she needs to do.]

If anyone's gonna make sure he's remembered that way, and that his work isn't forgotten, it's gotta be you. Nobody could do it like you could.

[judicialassistant]

[ Duty is the perfect word for it, though whatever she would have said in agreement is quickly forgotten when Nier is mentioned. She doesn't know what to say either, when Kainé continues. Susato totally understands that it's meant to be encouraging, though it also comes with a fair bit of pressure.

There's a nervousness as she responds, ]

...Thank you.

[ Hopefully that suffices. ]

His name is here too. [ Nier's. If it is Susato's job to make sure Yujin is remembered, surely the same can be said of Kainé when it comes to young Nier. ] I hope it helps.

[shithogs]

That’s…

[She trails off for a moment before offering a faint smile, followed by a nod of thanks.]

It’s nice. … thanks. I never would’ve thought of something like that, but nice to know someone thought to put it here.

[A lot of this is cold comfort for them both, she knows. There’s little that eases the sting of loss.]

Losing people is shit, no matter the circumstances.

[judicialassistant]

[ If only she could drink to that--

Perhaps one day. Susato can't help that small smile of amusement, though Kainé's words are harsher than she herself would have used. ]

Aside from Nier, have there been others?

[shithogs]

[Kainé gives her a wry smile in response, shaking her head.]

Not from here— not anyone I was close to, anyway.

[That would require her to allow people to get close, and she's never been good about that.]

But I've lost people back home the old-fashioned way, same as anyone else. It's never easy, no matter how it happens.

[judicialassistant]

Ah...

[ Just a quiet hum of acknowledgement. Susato hesitates to ask what she does next, as it's somewhat personal, but she looks up, sparing a glance at the Lunar tear in her hair. ]

How did you cope?

[shithogs]

[Kainé lets out a short, mirthless laugh, her gaze dropping to one side for a moment.]

Not fucking well, I'll tell you that.

[It's a long story, one she doesn't think it would benefit Susato to hear right this minute— and not necessarily one she's ready to tell, but she can share what she took away from it all.]

I was angry. All I thought about was revenge. Spent all my time focused on how pissed I was. Turns out that kind of thing eats you up inside.

[judicialassistant]

[ Vague though it may be, the response strikes a chord with Susato. She seems to wince, being reminded of Kazuma and the way his thirst for revenge rendered him nigh unrecognizable to her and the person he called his best friend. ]

Yes... It doees.

Where I am from, we call them "demons." [ Strong. Insatiable. ]

[shithogs]

[There's a moment of silence before Kainé nods her understanding.

Demons. Whether Susato means literal or figurative, doesn't much matter. The result is the same. People end up hollowed-out.]

It can really change someone. Not for the better. I don't recommend it. Don't think you need that warning, though.

[Sadness is only natural, but it seems like Susato is already finding a healthier way to grieve.]

... sounds like you've seen it happen yourself.

[judicialassistant]

[ Just twice, really, and a third before them that started it all. Still, that is three instances too many that she can recall at the top of her head, and her silence speaks volumes. ]

It is not easy to go back once the change takes hold of you. But I'll admit that I am trying.

[ Present tense. Call it a... "work in progress"? ]

[shithogs]

[Silence has a way of saying a lot without a single word ever being uttered. Kainé is pretty damn familiar with that phenomenon herself, and gives a brief nod of understanding.

Whatever Susato has seen, felt, it's heavy. The kind of thing that changes a person for good, quite literally.]

Sounds kind of familiar.

[Not that she has enough information to make a direct comparison, but it's an attempt to show empathy, something she has more of than she gives herself credit for.]

The kind of fight worth fighting, yeah? Most things worth doing are pretty goddamn hard.

[judicialassistant]

[ Susato looks at Kainé, and she is surprised to see in her expression... a quiet understanding. The younger Nier never told her much about the world they shared, but she got the impression that it wasn't a pleasant one. Perhaps one day they would both know exactly what the other was thinking about in this moment, but for now, it doesn't appear to be a conversation they are ready to have.

There's just a gentle smile in appreciation. ]

You're right. Not only that, but... it is a promise I made. To fight for it.

[ His happy ending. ]

It is a promise I intend to keep.

[shithogs]

That's good.

[She nods again, firmly, folding her arms in front of her. In general, Kainé hasn't met a lot of people who are good to their word— or she hadn't, until she came here. She can tell that Susato means it; the young woman in front of her is openly earnest, and that's something she can certainly appreciate.]

Promises are meant to be kept. Some people seem to forget that. You don't seem the type, though.