Semi-Open ♔ Tu est belle

[priforprince]

Who: Hibiki, Lavi, & Maria; Hibiki & you
When: July 18
Where: Apollo's temple and thereabouts
What: A camp ex-villain wakes up to the knowledge that she's up three new shinki...and down one old one.
Warnings: MORE MURDER. Or, well, its aftermath. Hibiki's proclivity for very large font.

[ I. Morning, July 18 - Lavi, Maria ]

VENUS!

[ The front door bangs open, revealing Shikyoin Hibiki striding out into the early morning sunlight. She frowns. ] Where could she have gone?

[ This is...troubling. Truly terrible timing for Venus to have wandered off, with Hibiki having awakened in a cold sweat, gripped with certainty that catastrophe has befallen one of her shinki. Such a concept is, of course, a laughable lie, the latest torment inflicted by an incomplete Heaven. Hibiki is merely confirming its falsehood.

Except Venus isn't around. What does that woman think she's doing? Even the usual burbling fountain of love she causes in the pit of Hibiki's stomach has fallen still.

Hibiki wanders all over the temple grounds, taking her time, but no errant shinki appears. She speaks to an unseen audience. ] Hopefully she hasn't strayed into an errant mango grove...

[ Something is lying a ways back from the path, here on this road leading to her temple. The goats that tend Hibiki's grounds (and, when they so desire, the surrounding area) won't go near it.

Hibiki frowns. Hibiki's chest clenches up. She's tempted to just keep walking.

But willfully preferring ignorance isn't Shikyoin Hibiki's style. Hibiki's face sets. Gritting her teeth, she walks forward.

A splash of blood dyes the brilliant grass. A teacup falls off where some child had left it precariously perched two days ago, shattering against the hard castle floor. A meteor, hurtling towards the planet, extinguishes all life in an instant.

Hibiki's eyes widen. ]



VEEEEEEENNNUUUUUUUSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!

[ There's an echo. ]

[ II. Evening, July 18 - Open ]



[ If you helped a little girl with silver roll curls over the past two days, you will receive a bouquet of purple and gold flowers this evening. The card accompanying the flowers bears simply a small crown emblem upon it.

If, spurred by this, you go back to the little girl's castle temple, the door will be slightly ajar. But no one will come when you knock. ]

Comments

[priforprince]

It's an arrangement. [ You keep them together, the way they came. Obviously.


....and this has her realizing, though, that she owes an extra something to someone she probably hasn't even met. She knows their title, but that's all she'd been looking for when sending the flowers... ] Who is your god?

[sweetdeath]

Yeah, but...

[It was a very nice arrangement but it worked better to re-arrange them into ikebana trays! And there's only so many flowers he can put in one of those before it starts looking crowded.

He smiles, after a minute. Okay, so now she's open to actually listening. That's good.]

Konohanasakuya-hime. Uh, she goes by Sakura.

[priforprince]

Konohana---

[ wait

the pieces click in hibiki's head and she realizes she had not one but two bouquets sent to your place

because your god is

your god is

Hibiki manages not to drop this particular teacup, but she does spit out the mouthful she'd just sipped. And then double over coughing. She'd - she'd -

she's done something unforgivably discourteous ]

[sweetdeath]

[Tsuzuki almost drops his teacup at the spit-take, and barely manages to get it set down on the table instead. Crap, and he got rid of the towel! He hurries to thump her helpfully on the back.]

Hey, are you okay? Do you know her?

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki coughs harder at the thumping, but manages to sit up and produces a handkerchief, which she uses for fancy daubing at her mouth like none of this just happened. ]

...Guide me to your temple. Immediately.

[ For any other person, the flowers would have sufficed: she has, after all, undone the slight. But Shikyoin Hibiki is the perfect Prince. There are certain debts due to Princesses, and certain respects paid upon which she has, albeit in a moment of inadvertent youthful indiscretion, infringed. ]

[sweetdeath]

... Okay? Um, why, though?

[She's not one of Sakura's enemies, is she? Can Sakura have enemies? It's hard to imagine, but Tsuzuki doesn't know much about her past, and all he knows about Hibiki's childhood is that she had longer hair and a fear of floating fruit.

He's eyeing her with real concern, waiting for an answer before he makes any moves.]

[priforprince]

Flowers cannot assuage some improprieties.

[ She stands, pocketing her handkerchief and looking decidedly ill at ease. She named a Princess's shinki. A singing Princess.

Curse this world for allotting her such a fate, atop her other troubles. ]

[sweetdeath]

... You want to apologize?

[Oh. Well. Sakura's probably gonna have to find out about this sometime, anyway, isn't she? No time like the present... he swallows, nods, and heads for the door.]

Right. Okay, I'll show you to the temple.

[priforprince]

Make haste.

[ Most of the time, Hibiki can't be bothered to rush herself. This is not one of those times.

On the bright side, she's no longer acting depressed? ]

[sweetdeath]

Right.

[Is that a plus side? Her shinki was just murdered! Tsuzuki's not sure that the fact that her sadness appears to have vanished is a good thing at all.

He's not going to complain, though, considering. Off towards Sakura's temple it is. Posthaste.]

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki will follow, a bundle of tension and overly-dramatic scowls. ]

[festal]

( It's a quiet day at Konohanasakuya-hime's temple. Then again, it's often quiet here. Sakura is at the front of the temple today, turning over some of the ofuda charms to read the latest prayers and wishes from her followers. There are more today and they're starting to build up. )

Maybe I should ask Tsuzuki... ( As soon as she says his name, she hears guests arrive and turns to greet them. The first peson she sees is Tsuzuki. ) Welcome home--

( And a girl? Who is she? She looks vaguely familiar but Sakura can't quite put her finger on it. )

Hello. ( She bows in greeting to the girl, ) Are you... a friend of Tsuzuki's?

[priforprince]

Princess Sakura.

[ The girl had called herself a princess upon their first meeting. Even if she hadn't, however, nobility cannot remain sequestered forever. True celebrity always shines out.

Hibiki bows, deeply, a hand over her heart. One errand silver curl swings in front of her face - the same curl that no one could ever manage to make cooperate as a child. ] I am deeply in your debt for yesterday's ministrations. Had anyone performed for me as sweetly as you did at that age, my life might have taken a very different path.

[ She likes who she ultimately ended up being, but, it had been...nice. To be sung to while scared. ]

[sweetdeath]

[That's actually kind of sweet. Tsuzuki clears his throat, nervously (why is Hibiki that much smoother than he is on his best days? It's not fair) and rubs a hand over the back of his neck.]

Sakura-hime, this is Hibiki, Hibiki, Sakura-hime.

Uh... it's a long story, but I helped her out when she was a kid the other day....

[festal]

( Sakura has no idea what's going on. She's nothing but patient as she waits for an explanation and. Oh, she's bowing rather extravagantly. She feels like she should have done better herself... But what's this? Yesterday's ministrations? A perfor-- )

O-oh! ( She covers her mouth in surprise, ) Y-you're ( This is Hibiki. ) Hibiki-chan!?

( The frightened little girl. But she'd been so timid and frightened and the person in front of her now was... cool and confident. )

Oh... oh, no! ( She holds up her hands, cheeks beginning to turn pink then red, ) P-please, don't mention it!

( Really, don't, she'll die from embarrassment. )

Please.

( She's whispering... and looking at Tsuzuki like she has a long story of her own she hasn't shared and doesn't want to right now, please. )

i'm so happy that i actually have an icon that says "hibiki-chan"

[priforprince]

[ Ah, it was a private serenade. Hibiki can abide by that. She'd rather not discuss the time she spent as a child any more than necessary, anyway.

And she might be feeling a little bit pleased that she knows something about Sakura that Sakura's shinki doesn't. ]

Apologies for my earlier rudeness. And yet, I fear I was unintentionally ruder still...

[ ....which is her her actual reason for being here. ]

[sweetdeath]

... I mean, not really. You were a kid.

[Oof. Time to make his confession, here, even if it feels weirdly like he's confessing to cheating on Sakura somehow. Not that it's like that! With either of them! But, well.

It's just weird, that's all.]

Anyway, Sakura, she wouldn't let me help her when she was a kid unless she gave me a name, so I said it was okay just for a little while. She revoked it, but she wanted to come apologize for the whole thing.

[festal]

N-not at all! You were just a child s-so it's okay! A-after all, I know what it's like to be y-young and afraid...

( She's fidgeting now, looking away as she tries to just forget everything. It's Tsuzuki that manages to snap her out of her fluster. That's right, she was just a kid! A little kid...!

But now he seems serious and she's concerned. )

Ah... ( Wait, ) She named you?

( And though it's subtle, she holds her hands a little tighter and her posture straightens. She's a timid girl, that much is obvious, but for a half second, she looks ready to act on Tsuzuki's behalf before he adds the second name was revoked. She looks at Hibiki, calm and patient, )

... Is that why you're apologizing?

( She wants to hear it from Hibiki herself. Tsuzuki is her shinki and her responsibility, even if it's because of a child, she won't let anyone take advantage of him. )

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki lowers her head. She doesn't look entirely well. Doesn't feel it, either. ]

I deeply regret the imposition.

[ And the circumstances that led to it happening. But for it to have happened to a Princess's shinki! This Princess's shinki!

Not to be borne. ]

sorry about that sting, Sakura....

[sweetdeath]

[Tsuzuki ducks his head in a nod, swallowing. This is the first time he's really seen Sakura angry, and guilt settles like a stone in his gut at the way her shoulders go back and her chin up, just a little, at the admission.

It'd seemed a little wrong, but not seriously wrong, when he'd reluctantly agreed so a frightened kid would have someone to walk her back home. Sakura's reaction, though -- and how seriously Hibiki's taking it, all of a sudden -- make it seem much worse.

He hadn't meant it like that! But what he'd meant doesn't matter as much as what he did. He stays quiet, nervously interlacing his fingers as Hibiki ducks her head in apology.]

tsuzuki why

[festal]

( She flinches at the sudden sting she feels, recoiling some within herself as she tries to figure out where the pain was coming from suddenly. It doesn't take her long to put everything together. She's a healer and one of the first things she'd made sure to do here was study the symptoms of the conditions in this world. She's being stung, she realizes and she quickly glances towards Tsuzuki sadly. She'd been angry but not at him, only on his behalf, and now he feels bad (guilty?)
for it.

She doesn't linger on Tsuzuki, turning her attention back to Hibiki, )

Y-you were scared. ( She manages to keep the pain out of her voice but she's quieter and stammers more anxiously than usual, ) And T-Tsuzuki-san just wanted to help b-because he's a kind person. That's w-why you named him a-and h-he let you... It... It was a difficult decision b-but it was the r-right one to make.

( I'm not angry she tries to say without putting the words out exactly. )

The o-one who deserves an a-apology isn't me, however. I m-may be his goddess but the one who made the decision a-and had to live with it was Tsuzuki-san e-even if it was only for a l-little while.

( And she takes in a breath, swallowing her nerves like bad medicine and turns her attention on Hibiki, )

I won't accept your apology. ( She says it plainly. Strongly. ) Not... not until you apologize to him first.

He's ( You are ) my shinki b-but he's ( you're ) free to make his ( your ) own decisions freely. That means when he wants to, n-not because he feels like he has to.

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki is surprised by this, but nods after Sakura has finished. ] Wise words. You're a kind goddess.

[ She stiffens a bit when she has to turn to Tsuzuki, however. Apologizing to Sakura is one thing. Apologizing to Tsuzuki, who occupies a different doll box space on the power structure in Hibiki's head....

But the Prince is gracious. She, who has bestowed bouquets upon a sentence ender user and shaken the hand of an idiot, can do this wholeheartedly.

Even honestly. If she tries.

It will take. Some trying. ]

...I treated you poorly. Your patience is greatly appreciated.

[ hibiki that's not quite a

oh, okay, she's pausing for time effect ]

If you cannot excuse me, I'll understand.

[ IT'S THE THOUGHT THAT COUNTS ]

[sweetdeath]

[Oh.

Sakura's firm defense -- not when he feels like he has to -- leaves Tsuzuki blinking, straightening up as the guilty weight lightens a little. She's... not mad at him? She's mad because he had to?

He doesn't entirely understand, but she'd said it wasn't wrong, and that's enough for him to cling to. He waves a hand at Hibiki in an attempt at reassurance.]

You were a kid! Seriously -- it was just a mistake. Of course I'm not going to hold it against you.

[He lets his hand fall, and glances back at Sakura. He's not going to say anything like are you disappointed in front of Hibiki, because that's the kind of thing he should probably talk over with her back home, but he... kind of wants to ask.

Later. Anyway: he rubs the back of his neck, and looks back at Hibiki with real worry.]

Are you going to be okay?

[festal]

( It's not the most direct of apologies but she doesn't mind terribly. If it's good enough for Tsuzuki then it's good enough for her. The apology is accepted, the stinging pain she feels lessen, as she watches the two of them carefully to see how it's carried out. She catches his eye and gives him a small, reassuring smile. She isn't sure what he's asking... but whatever it is, it's fine, really. )

Yes... will you be alright?

( She remembers how Hibiki had been as a child. Despite her quiet offense earlier, she's more than willing to help still. )

[priforprince]

[ ...how did this get turned around on Hibiki? She feels like she's lost track of the scene. It was supposed to be simple - enter Prince, obtain the maiden's blessing, exit Prince - but now...

How had the script twisted to having both of them worried about her?

The look on her face is not the expression someone who is used to people caring about her makes. For a moment, she can't even think of a reply.

But she isn't an expert ad-libber for nothing. And...both of them...they've been like this before. Honestly. Caring for someone they just met yesterday. The height of recklessness.

Hibiki sniffs. ] I'm hardly so pathetic as to cause a lady distress.

[ Someone might still be the little girl who says "don't come closer" while wrapping herself in the cover you gave her. ]