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(no subject)

Who: Kiyotaka Ishimaru (

ardent) and Mondo Oowada (

diamondo)
Where: Pewter City
When: August 3rd
Summary: Mondo has a lot of issues that result in him fighting his Pokémon. Ishimaru plays Team Mom. Spoilers for chapter 2/episode 5 of Dangan Ronpa.
Rating: PG-13 for Mondo's horrible language
Log:
[The theft had gone off without a hitch. Pewter's museum had been robbed blind and Mondo felt awful about it. Already there had been at least one post to the network about it, and he had decided not to follow the network any more for a couple of days. He doesn't want to think about it, and so he's simply going to avoid it. That's probably not the best way to deal with things, but he doesn't know how else to handle it. It's the same way he's been dealing with Fujisaki's death. He doesn't know how to handle it, so he just ignores it.

There is one thing that's come from talking with Fujisaki though: Mondo needs to get stronger. Fujisaki is already incredibly strong and looking to get stronger, and Mondo refuses to allow himself to be seen as weak. Those moments where he's slipped up and harmed his friends - those are moments of weakness. He refuses to let that happen again. His solution? Training non-stop with his Pokémon. He can really only fight with two of them, Ryder the Scrafty who is a bit on the short side but she doesn't take it easy on him, and Pierce the Lucario, who is more of an even match. At least he knows how to reign in his power, it seems like Ryder doesn't. Either that or she just likes beating her trainer senseless.

Mondo's been keeping an eye on Ishimaru ever since the heist. Ishimaru was pumped full of tranquilizers for his act and Mondo's been trying to look out for him ever since. Of course, he can't just sit in the room all day and hover around Ishimaru, so he finally left a couple of hours ago to get some fresh air and train a little.

And by "training a little" he means "beat the shit out of his Pokémon."

Pierce has long since been exhausted, so Mondo is currently fighting Ryder, who as usual, isn't taking it easy on him. Since Pierce evolved he's tried not to fight Ryder - there's definitely something wrong with her but he's not sure what it is; either way, she doesn't seem loyal to him at all and will take any opportunity she can get to disobey him outside of battle. Now would be the perfect chance for her to really screw him over, but the most she's done is throw him against a tree. Repeatedly. He's definitely going to have bruises forming, but he gets back to his feet and charges her again. She's much faster than he is, and she uses his momentum against him to throw him head over heels yet again.

At this rate he'll be lucky if he gets out of here without breaking something, but Mondo shows no signs of stopping either. He has to get stronger and this is the only way he knows how to do it. If he can defeat his Pokémon in battle, he'll be practically unstoppable. That's how he's going to increase his strength.

...This would work better if Ryder would at least go a bit easier on him.]

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[Ishimaru is much better today, in that he's much more lucid and isn't so full of tranquilizers that he no longer has boundaries; he's managed to get in contact with his teacher and apologize for yesterday's...incident, and the rest of the day has been spent making sure that he's reasonably functional again. Mondo had hovered around him for a while before going off somewhere, presumably to get his space; as usual, Ishimaru had waited until his brother was no longer in the room before sending Aiko off to look after him - the Misdreavus that Ishida had managed to catch during that odd weekend had been incredibly helpful in that regard, and she seemed fond of Mondo besides. So there wasn't anything to be concerned about, as far as Ishimaru knew; he'd remained in the room and dedicated himself to writing a few things down - getting some thoughts out of his head, nothing more.

There was nothing to be concerned about, anyway, until Aiko actually comes to get him.

He just sort of stares at her for a moment before he realizes what she's doing there; while he still can't bring himself to run in the hallways, it doesn't seem to negatively impact his time any when it comes to getting out of the hotel. Aiko is able to lead him to Mondo quickly enough; for a moment Ishimaru watches as Mondo gets up and has another go at Ryder, but the force with which she throws him actually manages to horrify him enough to signal to Aiko to interfere.

...she's at a type disadvantage so this really just means she's going to annoy the hell out of Ryder and then refuse to remain tangible when she tries to have at her, but whatever works, right?]

Kyoudai!

[Ishimaru's voice is sharp and highly agitated; it's not a nice tone, though it's likely a familiar one. You know, the "you are in so much trouble right now" tone.]

Aiko came to get me - is this what you've been doing this whole time?!

[Aww man, Aiko he thought you were a sis! Mondo gets to his feet (admittedly a bit slower than he would have liked) and rolls his shoulders. There's a bit of pain there, but the majority of the pain is in his back rather than his shoulders, so he figures he's fine. He recognizes Ishimaru's tone, and he knows better than to ignore his brother. He does take a moment to return both Pierce (who is merely watching Aiko dodge Ryder's attacks) and Ryder.]

Hey. Yeah, I've been training. What about it?

[His tone is defensive because he knows what he's doing is reckless and probably stupid, but it's the only way he can come up with to strengthen himself. Ishimaru wouldn't understand.]

[Ishimaru just bristles at that.]

That wasn't training, kyoudai - I don't know what I'd call it, but it definitely wasn't just training!

Are you injured?

Yeah it was! I think I'd know what I was doing better than you would!

[The question catches him off-guard though, and Mondo opens his mouth to protest. Of course he's not injured; he's just fine! He certainly doesn't feel much pain, at least! But then again, that could be the adrenaline; he's always been able to ignore pain when he's running on adrenaline, which isn't necessarily a good thing. He shuts his mouth and shrugs instead.]

I feel fine, kyoudai.

Well, if you aren't injured now, then you would have been before long, at the rate you were going!

[Aiko has taken to hovering just over his shoulder, making quiet worried noises once in a while; Ishimaru just gestures at her again, agitated, and she's quick to fade into invisibility again. She's still around and he knows it; just staying out of trouble and keeping an eye on the area.]

I would've gotten her eventually!

[He sounds frustrated.]

Look, I get that you're trying to look out for me and all that, but I'm fine, kyoudai.

[Mondo isn't the only one.]

Someone has to look out for you, because clearly you're not going to do it on your own! What made you think that was a good idea?!

I've gotta train somehow! Pierce was tired out already and Ryder wasn't, so I figured I'd just train against her! It's not a big deal! I can take care of myself!!

Would you have stopped before she managed to break your spine?!

'Course I would've! 'Sides, she wouldn't do that!

[He realizes after those claims are out there that he literally has no idea if he's right. It's entirely possible that Ryder wouldn't have stopped. She's shown signs of disobeying his orders before, so even if he had managed to tell her to stop, would she have?

More concerning than that is the thought that he wouldn't tell her to stop. That he'd keep going until something happened. His expression falters a bit and he glances downwards, folding his arms. Okay, so maybe he's not sure about that, but surely if she had shown signs of seriously injuring him he would have returned her, right? He wasn't that far gone where he couldn't even acknowledge the potential for danger, right?

He doesn't know. That scares him.]

[Ishimaru isn't exactly known for his ability to read social nuances, but he's more than aware of that shift in Mondo's demeanor; he isn't entirely sure what to do with it, but when he speaks again, some of the harsh edge to his voice has lessened, at least.]

...What made you decide to start training so aggressively today, anyway?

I need to get stronger.

[It's said like it's the most obvious thing in the world.]

I won't stop until I'm strong enough to defeat her. It shouldn't be that difficult; I've got a height and weight advantage on her and yeah, she might be really fucking powerful, but one of these days I'll beat her.

What...?

[Hang on, hang on, you've lost him.]

You're very strong already; I don't see what's causing you to think you need to work on this to that extent.

Yeah, but I'm not strong enough. I have to get stronger, kyoudai!

[He sighs, frustrated. He's not sure how to put this into words. It'll sound like he's blaming Fujisaki for being strong, and that's not exactly it. He's jealous, yes, but he's not blaming Fujisaki for being stronger than he appears.]

That kid - Fujisaki - wants to get stronger and it made me realize that I'm not strong enough, alright?

[...oh god.

There is absolutely nothing about that striking him properly; Ishimaru flinches a little before trying to find a way to word what it is that he's thinking.]

I had a discussion with Fujisaki-kun recently, actually - about secrets.

You didn't happen to discuss something similar, did you?

[Mondo nods, but his eyes immediately go to the ground.]

Yeah, we did. He told me his secret. I couldn't tell him mine. He wants to get stronger and I--! I--! He's so much stronger than he realizes and that--!!

[He runs out of words though, sighing again in frustration.]

I don't know. I wanna support him y'know? But it kinda pisses me off 'cause it makes me see just how fucking weak I am.

[...see, this is what keeps throwing him.]

Kyoudai, you're one of the strongest people I know.

Of course I am! I'm stronger than he is!!

[He's bordering on hysterical and at this point he's not talking about Fujisaki anymore, but rather Daiya.]

I've always been stronger than him, it's not my fucking fault they didn't recognize it!! I am strong! I'm strong I'm strong I'm strong I'm strong--!!

[And with that, he whips around and slams his fist into the closest tree. He remains where he's standing, facing away from Ishimaru because he knows he's going to have to answer for that and how the hell is he going to do that? How is he supposed to answer for his little breakdown, huh? Hell if he knows.]

[That gets Ishimaru to back right the hell up, so quickly that he's surprised he doesn't trip over himself; he doesn't bolt outright, but for the time being he's strongly considering. He has no way of knowing whom Mondo is referring to; if he's talking about Fujisaki, however...

...it's not that he doubts Naegi's word, exactly, but he does have to question exactly how truthful Mondo was when his motives were revealed to the rest. It sounds like he murdered Fujisaki to spite the others somehow; the thought stings, and he can feel himself edging back a bit more before he says anything.]

...I-I never said you weren't, kyoudai - just...try to calm down, all right?!

Edited 2013-08-04 00:20 (UTC)

[Calm down? Calm down!? When everything's going to shit around him, Ishimaru wants him to calm down!? How the hell is he supposed to manage that? This is why he's been so keyed up lately, he just needs to hurt something and he'll be fine. He can't hurt Ryder because she's too fast for him, but he might be able to properly spar with Pierce once he gets him healed--

Right, right. He needs to focus on Ishimaru. The thought of hurting Ishimaru never once crosses his mind and it takes a Herculean effort for him to turn around and face his brother. He doesn't notice the space Ishimaru has put between them.]

...alright. Alright, I'm trying. I'll be fine. I just need to get some of this tension out, y'know?

I-I know!

[Only he really, really obviously doesn't know, and all this is managing to do is make him anxious.

He takes a moment to breathe; he doesn't move to close any of the space between them.]

What were you, ah, talking about? Just now. Being stronger than somebody...?

[Mondo is silent for a moment, staring down at the ground.]

...My brother.

[As badly as he wants to leave it there, he knows that he can't do that. Ishimaru will want to know more and with the way he carries on about how great his brother was, it does make sense that Ishimaru would want to know more about it.]

...My brother founded and led the Crazy Diamonds for awhile before handing the gang over to me. Only problem was that the gang members didn't think I'd do a good enough job. They were fucking wrong of course 'cause I am stronger than he ever was.

[Ishimaru takes all that in without interrupting, folding his arms tight against his body as he does so; none of this is really making sense to him, and if anything Mondo is raising more questions than he's answering.]

Ah - and I'm sure that was difficult, of course! But no one is comparing you to anyone here, not like that...

[Mondo glances up at that, but he already knows the answer to that, doesn't he? No one is comparing him to Daiya except himself. He bites his lip and glances away again, shifting a bit uncomfortably.]

Yeah, maybe not, but I'm always gonna be comparing myself to him. 'Specially after... what happened.

[Ah, that's right...Mondo's brother is dead, isn't he? Ishimaru twitches a little where he stands; he's tempted to move forward, to approach his brother, but at the same time he can't be sure if that's something Mondo wants - and if it's not, he doesn't feel confident that he could handle the potential consequences. He hates the fact that he doesn't trust Mondo to not harm him right now, but the fact is that he can't.]

...do you want to talk about it?