A New Power! The Ultimate Persona Appears!?

[unbroken_chain]

Who: Kotoha and Fumi
Where: Leo Ward, outside JP's Hinoto-Ri Branch
Summary: Kotoha and Fumi fight a dude and get MORE POWER.

Another day at JP's is over, and Kotoha has managed to talk Fumi into patrolling with her - for the past few days she's been trying to chase down a particularly elusive demon, and she could use Fumi's scanning abilities to drag it out into the open. Kotoha's got her full loadout ready for tonight - samurai helmet, Golden Mantis Charm, tac vest, stun baton, heavy jeans.

She's developed a habit of overpreparation.

"You picked anything up yet?"

Comments

[terminally_clever]

[Fumi rolls up the sleeve of her jacket, exposing an interesting looking watch - an odd fusion between steampunk tech and more modern computerized fare.]

I'm not sure, but I'll find out.

[unbroken_chain]

Kotoha looks at the watch curiously.

"...that looks new."

[terminally_clever]

It is. Agatha and I developed it together. It's a wrist-mounted monitoring device that continually records and remotely transmits all of my vitals to a centralized data bank.

[unbroken_chain]

The mention of Fumi's vitals causes Kotoha to sober up. Wiping the palms of her hands on her jeans, she glances at Mitra before bowing deeply to Fumi.

"I'm sorry! If it weren't for this happening we might have died and it would have been all my fault!"

Just for an instant, she remembers seeing Fumi cough up blood and represses a shudder, keeping her head lowered.

[terminally_clever]

No. It would have been my fault too.

[Fumi is more irritated than afraid right now.]

[unbroken_chain]

Kotoha straightens up but keeps her gaze averted from Fumi's.

"...I still should have been more prepared."

[terminally_clever]

Pouting over it isn't going to change what happened. If you want to be stronger, then work harder. I'll be doing the same. The important thing is to learn from setbacks and use them to grow.

[As close to a pep talk as Fumi gets.]

[unbroken_chain]

Kotoha nods in response, looking between the staff weapon in her hand and the hovering form of Mitra behind her.

"...yeah. If you get defeated, just pick yourself up and try again. That's common sense even back home."

There's a slight pause before Kotoha bursts out laughing, using the staff as a cane to prop herself up.

"Ahahaha! Oh man, how long has it been since I was pushed into a corner like this? Comeback victories like this used to be my specialty, you know! It's been so long since I've had a real challenge I almost forgot what it was like. It's good being strong, but the tradeoff is losing this thrilling feeling of accomplishment..."

With that, she looks directly at Fumi, smiling happily.

"Let's keep getting stronger together, okay? Climbing up to the top is even more fun with a partner to keep you company."

[terminally_clever]

There you go. Worrying and frowning really don't suit you.

[Fumi cracks a smile.]

Yes, that would be an acceptable arrangement.