Kaede "meddlesome minstrel" Akamatsu 🎶 赤松 楓 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
gotyourbach) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
balance_rpg2019-09-14 11:17 am
gotyourbach) wrote in balance_rpg2019-09-14 11:17 am
video; un: akapassionata
[When this message gets sent out, it's around one in the morning. Kaede has clearly been exerting herself, her breath coming hard through her nose, her normally-cheerful expression pale with a sick worry. It took her several minutes to calm down enough to even begin to figure out what she wants to say, and it doesn't feel like enough.]
A-Arisato-kun is missing. He was right here with me like always, but-!
[No, wait, back up. That doesn't make sense. She's standing in what looks like an ordinary employee breakroom, empty save for a soullessly cheerful "ACHIEVE! aim higher!" poster meant for decoration.]
We... we were trying to figure out where the employees all go, because this breakroom is always empty, even when we follow someone in. He tried running his gem into the red, 'cause that's how a lot of the people working here end up working here, but now he's gone!
[Her bracer-less hand goes to her heart, clutching tightly at her armor as her other hand gestures frantically around to pan over the completely empty breakroom. Her voice pitches higher.]
I can feel him with my Paladin's Oath, but he's not here! Please, we have to find him before something terrible happens!
A-Arisato-kun is missing. He was right here with me like always, but-!
[No, wait, back up. That doesn't make sense. She's standing in what looks like an ordinary employee breakroom, empty save for a soullessly cheerful "ACHIEVE! aim higher!" poster meant for decoration.]
We... we were trying to figure out where the employees all go, because this breakroom is always empty, even when we follow someone in. He tried running his gem into the red, 'cause that's how a lot of the people working here end up working here, but now he's gone!
[Her bracer-less hand goes to her heart, clutching tightly at her armor as her other hand gestures frantically around to pan over the completely empty breakroom. Her voice pitches higher.]
I can feel him with my Paladin's Oath, but he's not here! Please, we have to find him before something terrible happens!
UN: Deku [Video]
Just hold on! I'll come to you and then we can find him together.
video;
[It's not like her to try to convince someone not to charge in blindly, but when her best friend vanishes from her side in a heartbeat, she can't risk it.]
I just don't know what else to do... do you think my Oath could be all messed up, and he's somewhere else in the park...?
no subject
[His smile is confident and easy. No hint of his usual shyness.]
And if it’s that we can figure it out together and find where he is. Just tell me where you are in the park.
no subject
[He seems so confident. She wishes she could sound like that right now. She can't even think of a song to help her calm down, too sick with gnawing fear that Minato's gone, that she's lost her friend again, this time for good.]
I-I'm in the casino. You already missed our show, b-but... maybe if I tell her you're here to see the setup, Maria-san will let you in?
M-Maybe if we just wait here, he'll come back out like normal...? I tried waiting for a really long time for him, but he hasn't come back yet...
no subject
[he sighs through his nose. He needs to comfort her but he doesn’t want to lie either.]
He might but.. I’m not sure that’s what’s going to happen, Kaede-san. That’s why you should wait there for me and if he’s still not back, we’ll go and look for him together.
no subject
[She doesn't say that Maria would probably be happy to have a violinist to replace Minato. She won't say that, she won't even think about Minato being gone for good. She already watched him die once, she can't, she won't imagine him being gone forever.]
I-I can't let you in the breakroom no matter what, o-okay? Please, you have to promise me you won't try to go in there. Honoka-san is coming, too.
[And Shuichi will definitely be there by then because Action Cop Detective runs first and checks the network not at all.]
->Action?
[And he's off as fast as he can go, pushing One for All as far as it will take him here. It's not good enough, it's not fast enough. But he pushes himself without a second thought.
He makes it to the casino with record timing and an aching body. He keeps his head down, avoiding gazes as he makes his way towards his fellow bard. When he gets closer to where she is, he murmurs her name.]
Kaede-san?
no subject
[Kaede rests a hand on Shuichi's arm briefly as if to wordlessly reassure him that this soft-looking boy is a Good Boy and can be trusted to help them.]
S-Stay here with Saihara-kun, okay? I'm gonna... I-I'll talk to Maria-san.
[She gives him a shaky smile, doing her best to look more confident than she feels.]
Don't go in there. Either of you. Promise me you won't.
no subject
M-Mmm... [He nods, speaking in a soft voice:] I won't...I promise.
[He had like...zero intention of doing so. His own gem is a healthy green but he's not an employee, so who knows if the rules are the same for him. Disappearing into the void might be the fastest way to find Minato, but then he'd be just as stuck as the other Sad Blue boy and that wouldn't help anything.
no subject
[He nods along with Shuichi's comment but doesn't verbally agree. He can't. If it seems like Minato is in that breakroom, then that's where he'll have to go.
Then he turns to the other boy and gives a little bow.]
I'm Midoriya Izuku. I'm a bard like Kaede-san.
...And Arisato-kun. We have to find him.
no subject
Saihara Shuichi, I'm, um...a chemist. [He's a little wrong-footed to have to include that. Deku is actually the first person who's bothered giving their class as part of their introduction. Useful to know, though, he's definitely tucking that little bit of information away.] I'm...sure we will. If Akamatsu-san can still sense him with her oath, then he must still be somewhere were we can reach him.
[Though where exactly that "somewhere" is...he hasn't the foggiest idea.]
no subject
As he straightens, he frowns at the mention of the oath.]
There must be. I'm just not sure it's possible to avoid things getting dangerous. Even if I know that's not what Kaede-san wants for us.
where* jfc how did i miss that
[He looks back at Deku, a slightly stern frown on his face. Kaede may not have noticed, but he definitely noticed how Deku had skirted around her request not to go into the breakroom.]
For now, it's best not to do anything that will upset Akamatsu-san further. We can't do anything for Arisato-kun without more information so...we need to do what we can for her until that changes.
[Shuichi, you're biased.]
no subject
O-Okay. It's fine for you to be here for now, Midoriya-kun, b-but probably not for too long... And I can't let you in the breakroom, not unless you sign a contract.
[And, like, while Kaede doesn't think there's really anything wrong with the Night Show, after everything Sans and the others have said, she isn't exactly going to encourage him to join, either.]
S-So... where else should we look, Saihara-kun? [she looks to him, slightly pleadingly. Give her a direction, detective-kun.]
no subject
[He gives Kaede a reassuring smile before glancing back at Shuichi. Izuku isn't sure of what he can do. But it seems like Kaede-san trusts him, so he'll follow his lead for now.]
1/2
[Oh my god why are BOTH of you looking at him like he has any idea what to do here. He has ZERO ideas. Whenever he's done missing person cases, the person in question has been on the same plane of existence. They didn't just vanish magically! Magic had no involvement whatsoever because magic wasn't real.]
I...uhm...
[Kaede can probably feel his helplessness and brief stab of pain that goes through his heart when he meets her eyes. Brief because he can't actually maintain said eye contact, not when she's looking at him so pleadingly and he's so completely useless. So he looks down at the ground instead, sweating slightly as he whispers something that sounds suspiciously like "I don't know".]
no subject
[No, okay. He can't lost his head too. Only one person at a time can do that and Kaede actually HAS a reason to do so. So Shuichi shakes his head a little, as if to clear it. When he next speaks, his voice is at least slightly more audible.]
Did...Maria-san have any ideas? You told her what happened, right?
[Let's just...start there. Start with the person who logically probably has the most information. She's been working here for a while, after all.]
no subject
[She frowns at Deku, shaking her head. She appreciates it, she really, truly does, but if being a part of the casino is part of why Minato's vanished, sending someone else right after him seems... well, it doesn't seem like the right thing to do.
But she does feel that brief stab of pain, wincing and bringing a hand up to clutch over her heart. She said something to hurt him...? Her eyes flick over his face in search of an answer she can't find, sensitive ears picking up a quiet whisper without really being able to make out the words.]
Saihara-kun...? [she asks, but he speaks up again and she just forces herself to nod, hand still clutching her chest.]
Y-Yeah. Maria-san and I looked... we looked all over the break room. She couldn't find anything, either. Umm...
[She pulls her hand away from her heart and holds up one finger as if to indicate a sudden thought.]
D-Do you think... if I go back in there and show you guys a video feed from my bracer... that'll be the same as if you followed me in, right?
no subject
[He's not usually like this. Izuku is a trusting soul. He believes in the best in people and will fight for that best. But something about all of this just doesn't sit right with him.]
Do... Do you think Maria-san is being honest with you?
no subject
[It...probably can't hurt, right?]