Boom Boom Boom Boomba

[freshprints]

Who: Kyouko Kirigiri (freshprints) and Kiyotaka Ishimaru (ardent)
Where: The Violet City Pokemon Center!
When: August 29
Summary: In which two super solvin' teenage crimebusters attempt to figure out what a Moomba is. Now contains SPOILERS for Dangan Ronpa.
Rating: G
Log:

[There is a Moomba in her PC.

That's the gist of the situation that Kirigiri's in right now, but while it's certainly the most significant detail of her current circumstances, it's also of course far from the only one. Some of those others include things like the fact that she's standing in the Violet City Pokemon Center at the moment — having finally made it to the city where her friends classmates friends have been waiting for her — or the fact that it's a rather nice day outside (albeit hot), or the fact that the tied-off end of her braid is brushing lightly against her leg as she unconsciously leans forward to examine this strange phenomenon she's been presented with. There's the chatter of the surrounding NPCs and other trainers filling the air, and the white noise of it all is doing its part to drown out the exhausting repetitiveness of the background music, which is assuredly appreciated by now. There's the faint beeping of machines, the clicking and clattering of shoes on flooring, and she is aware of all these things but it's not stopping her from fixating on the enigma that is the PC screen in front of her.

Or rather, the contents of her box that the PC screen is so helpfully indicating.

You see, it seems there is a Moomba in her PC. She is reasonably certain she did not put it there. She is likewise reasonably certain she has no idea what a Moomba is. Her PokeDex has been surprisingly unhelpful; presumably a Moomba would fall neatly between Monferno and Mothim, alphabetically speaking, and yet there is no sign of such a creature in the Dex at all.

Yet here in front of her, the PC is indicating that there is a Moomba inside.

She does not know what a Moomba is.

She does not know how it got there.

And therefore, this assuredly is a mystery, all right.

(Realistically speaking, it's one she might well stand there contemplating all day, should a timely intervention not arrive.) ]

Comments

[freshprints]

Enough to make me think that something like that would've been successful at making you leave me alone, Ishimaru-kun.

[ardent]

[He just bristles at that.]

That was uncalled for. Especially since the one request I've made of you is to leave us alone.

[freshprints]

[Meanwhile, since we haven't checked in on Moomba lately—

...Nope, he's still pretty much not giving a fuck, we're good.]

"Us".

[ardent]

[...well, that's good to know; it'd be a bit of a shame to look back and realize that someone's now got an arm off.]

My brother and I.

[freshprints]

Not just "him", but both of you. And if I don't, you'll divide our classmates fighting me over it.

[Her shrug is faint, but there.]

Fine. That sort of outcome isn't something I want.

[ardent]

...What?

[Good lord, you didn't just jump to that conclusion, you flat-out pole-vaulted over to it.]

I don't see why this matters so much to you - it doesn't sound like you care outside of a personal need to know everything about everyone else, in which case you can't always get what you want.

[freshprints]

I said we're done, Ishimaru-kun.

[ardent]

[He pulls back from Moomba then, brushing himself off a bit because he is most certainly covered in fur by now; the gesture is tight, angry, though the way he's doing it is clearly more just to give his hands to do than anything.]

I'm not an idiot, Kirigiri-kun. I may not always see it right away, but I do understand what you were doing - don't try to use that against me again. Is that understood?

[He shakes his head before she can answer, however; there's no point in getting upset over this, never mind that he fairly obviously sort of is.]

I have to get back to work, anyway.

[freshprints]

...

[What Ishimaru likely won't see is the fact that this exchange has bothered her — moreso than some of the other altercations she's gotten into since her arrival here — and as yet she can't put her finger on why. Maybe it's the disparity in their levels of experience that's making her prickly; useful though it might be in some instances, it still doesn't sit well with her when other people know something she doesn't, or when they have a better handle on the situation than she does, or they prove to be more competent than she was anticipating.

And it bothers her because some of his digs had actually landed. Togami-kun's backseat driving had been obnoxious but tolerable because she'd been full aware that he didn't know any better than she did at the time. If Ishimaru's attempts at authority had just been that sort of posturing, it would've been fine as well.

But he had the advantage, and it bothers her. Not knowing things bothers her. Being told (as she interprets it) not to find them out seems as intolerable as it is insulting.

And what surprises her most about it all is that his remark of "us" had hit her harder than expected, too. She's never begrudged her classmates their friendships; most of the time, she's been content to refrain from that sort of attachment. She likes being alone. It's what she knows.

Something about the way this conversation went — accepting Celes, defending Mondo, singling out her — has just made her realize that it's only fine to be alone when that's her own choice. When that division is coming from someone else...

...

Evidently she cares more about her classmates and their opinions than perhaps she'd let even herself realize.

But she'll have time to pick that apart later. For now, her expression stays blank, and she decides not to dignify what he's said with an answer.

Instead, she withdraws from the dog herself, offering him one last pat before activating the Pokeball's retrieval mechanism and watching as his tufts of fur and lolling tongue disappear in a flash of red light. When it's done, she pockets the ball and leaves, picking a direction that will take her away from the Pokemon Center so they don't have to trouble with the potential awkwardness of saying goodbye and then failing to actually part ways.

Not that she bothers to say goodbye, either.]