2026-01-18: The Treachery of Images
- Log: The Treachery of Images
- Cast: Yua Ijuuin, Miho Ijuuin
- Where: Aoba - Penthouse
- OOC Date: 2026-01-18
- IC Date: Wed, Sep 12 2012 (Dark Hour)
- Summary: After teleporting Remi home, Yua and Gretchen appear back in their penthouse, during the Dark Hour after they investigated Sudou's artistic vision. Luckily, Miho's already back from her own mission, so she's able to catch her and help her find her way back to sanity again. She briefs Miho on what happened... and manages to be very cute as Miho cares for her.
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
Everything is painted in shades of green, and Yumi, the Doomed Bride, needs to take their escape by degrees. First, she takes Tsurugi to the base level of Tartarus -- a brief walk outside -- and she can take them across the bay. Then, a slight recalibration: a turn towards Sumaru. A third stop, perhaps another, and in time --
She goes to Tsurugi's apartment, first, on a lower level. Gretchen clips through the ceiling in her size, both present and non-present. Yumi renders what aid she requires -- and then, Gretchen takes her away.
The elevators don't work, during the Dark Hour. Gretchen is an apt replacement.
But what Gretchen cannot help with, as the Doomed Bride slumps forward in her living room, is the problem of divesting her disguise.
Let alone catching her.
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
Miho's mission went more smoothly, to be sure--but she preferred to go alone, so that her allies (Yua and Remi are many things, but they are also allies) could look into a matter for her. Now, because it went more smoothly, she has retured to her apartment in advance of Yumi and Gretchen. Thus, it is not Miyu who meets her there--
It is Miho, and Miho catches the Bride in her arms, gently guiding her towards the couch. "It is all right," she says.
"I am here. You must be very tired..."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"Oh!" Yumi exclaims, as her forward motion is gently arrested before she hits the ground; Gretchen fades, behind her, as Miho takes over. For worrying moments, she is limp in her grasp, though she at least manages to keep herself upright once she's sitting. "Oh..."
She takes a breath, and she is still swaying, a little. She fumbles, at her veils, as if half-remembering something important. "La Trahison des images," she starts, and does not realise she is speaking French; no, she is remembering. "He allows the old space of representation to rule, but only the surface, no more than a polished stone, bearing words and shapes: beneath, nothing. It is a gravestone!"
It's Foucault, Miho would know, speaking on the works of Magritte.
But is it, really?
This is not a reference.
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
Miho does worry; but she helps with the veils, starting to slowly remove them so that Yua can breathe better. But she listens. In French...
"What did you find out there?" she wonders. No, it is not a reference. "Let me help you out of these things, and then you can tell me."
"Only the surface... Is this to mean you found something illusory, shallow?"
Hmm.
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
She wears several; they are not a perfect disguise, but coupled with her shrouding abilities, they've served her well enough thus far. When Yua's freed to look to the woman who should have been her wife again, it is with that disconcerting gaze, three pupils to her eye, sweat marring the eyeliner on the other side of her face.
(The skin beneath her eyepatch... it's bare. Darker, presently, though her skin's slowly gaining back the colour which was washed out for the wedding.)
"There he dwelled -- a painting of him -- a depiction of the thing, a painter, Dimitri Tachovsky -- leashed and bound there, to madness, he saw me, and such a creature, a synergy which saw what cannot be seen, I told her, I told her, Mimi, look to the edges, the way it occupies space, gaze not to the heart of it, burning me to the heart of it--!"
And she must still be seeing... too much.
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
Miho is not disturbed by this; Yua is Yua, regardless. The strange marks in her eye are part of her. ...Right?
Gently, Miho removes the rest of the veils and places an eyepatch upon Yua's face, in preparation for the end of the Dark Hour. She then begins to unbuckle and remove armor.
"I see... A painter was there. Bound to madness... Did our Joker seek to express himself?" she wonders. It makes sense to her, anyway.
"And there was another of your power..."
"It is all right," Miho says. "You are here, now, with me."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
To remove the Mark upon her Eye would be to gouge out a part of her, the visible signs of her blessing.
But mold spores appear on food only once it's been thoroughly colonised, did you know?
By the time it is written on her flesh, there is no removing it.
And there is no escaping it.
When Miho pulls the eyepatch back over Yua's eye, at least, her expression grows less strained; she sighs, and gains enough thought about her to be able to shift and turn in order to make Miho's work easier. "... it's so heavy," she remarks, sidelong, as she watches Miho lift it away.
"Mm... I think he wanted to spread the Mark, Mimi," Yua says, and says it with more sense to her, now her Eye's been locked away. She's even able to strip away her gloves, all on her own, and unbuckle her boots to put them aside. "But it didn't work... he was just making everyone terribly upset. When they freed him, he was terribly upset..."
Freed from the clunkiest parts of her disguise, Yua sinks in against Miho, still clad in that grey wedding dress. "Mm... she's a student at Gekkoukan," Yua says, of Fuuka. "She went missing, but they found her... she's a good girl. And she's powerful, even though she's still young in her power... I think she'll be able to help them save him." She pauses, a frown crossing her face. "And... there was a woman...? She and I, he said we'd both shown ourselves to him, but he needed more... he wanted to see everything. Mm, but she was mad at me... though I don't know what I did." Yua makes a small, sad noise. "I must have done something..."
It's a decent default assumption, given who she works for.
Miho's prescience in caring for Yua is revealed, then, when the green abates -- and all at once, the lights flicker back on. "Ah," Yua murmurs, grasping at Miho's shirt, as she lifts her head to look at it. "We crossed back over..."
Many men would fall into unconsciousness, going from the supernatural world to reality in Yua's condition; she just grasps Miho's shirt, for a moment, before she looks to her again.
"Mimi," she says, with a small smile. "I made it back... I got Recchi back home safe, too. Your mission... did it go okay...?"
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
Miho knows. She knows well.
"I understand," Miho says of heavy, and then, considers... Hmm. "I see," she says. "I can see where he would think to try..." But it sits wrong with her as a plan. "So they freed him, then."
Miho holds Yua, and listens. "To save him?" she wonders. "So he can yet be saved."
"Well, I do not know," she says. "But we have indeed crossed over."
Miho smiles back to Yua. "You did well. You did well for the both of you. My mission was fine."
"...It was hardly a challenge."
Nevermind that she did take a mild injury--sometimes it is necessary to expose a weakness to strike at one.
"I will need some rest, but..."
"Not yet."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"Mm," Yua hums, nodding. "We were just examining it, you know, aggressively, but they wanted to save him... well, it's not like we told Sake-san we'd protect his project, so I thought it was fine to let it play out."
(Is that the most bizarre nickname Sudou's ever gotten? It's gotta be up there.)
"Oh!" She recalls, now she has more room for her thoughts. "And Ryouhara-kun was there! He was trying to protect me, too... mouuuu, but he got hurt, and insisted on walking out with his own power..." Yua sighs, clearly concerned. "He seemed interested in that woman who didn't like me, too, but there really wasn't time to ask him about her. But... he tried to help me. I was just very, everywhere at once..."
She smiles, though, when Miho compliments her work. "Mimi!" She chirps, happily. "Memimi's the strongest, hee hee! I'm glad you were okay on your own," she reaches up, with a hand, to brush her cheek. "You were right... I would have been in lots more trouble if it was me on my own out there. Especially in Tartarus... oh, that tower can never decide on anything!"
(The ever-shifting nature of Tartarus is a constant source of grief for Yua, who sees so far and so keenly. It drives her to distraction.)
"... I'm really tired, too," she admits, with a pause. "I thought fighting for real would get easier if I did it more, but it's just like it was, before... like I'm really unstable. You're amazing, Mimi, you can go out and fight and still be strong enough to catch me after..."
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
"Of course," Miho says. "We made no commitment." It just makes sense to her, anyway. Sake-san.... Unfortunately, that also makes sense.
It's very cute though.
"He's very proud," Miho opines about him. "As to the woman... anyone who can't see your charm is a fool regardless." He tried to help, but... everywhere at once.
"Thank you," Miho says, and smiles down at Yua. "That is why we can always rely on our friends. ...Our real friends."
Remi.
"But I see... the tower is strange," she agrees.
"Thank you," Miho says, "But battle is more my talent in any case. ...You need not fret."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"Exposing flaws in his design so he can do better next time isn't mean or anything!" Yua decides, cheerfully. "Anyway, making everyone blame themselves and stuff was more mean... mouuu, I even felt like a failure as a mother! But I won't blame him for that," she says, though she's pouting. "Since I did engage his monster and all..."
Yua thinks that if someone opens a bag labelled 'dead dove, do not eat', it's really on them if they eat the dove.
"Well... let's be fair to him, too, he has a lot to be proud of!" Yua supposes, in her endless well of consideration which this time gets drawn on for Shiryuu. "I just wish he'd let me help him more, too... but I guess he'd say that's not what he said he'd do, right?" He said he'd protect the Ijuuins, there was nothing in there about accepting rides.
She shakes her head, though, thinking of the woman she didn't recognise as Umie. "Moouuuu~uuuuuu... it's okay, Mimi! They're allowed to be mad at me. That fierce boy, too! After all, the stuff they make us do isn't very nice." Your wife just killed a man, Yua, it's a hair beyond 'not nice'.
"Recchi made sure I was safe," Yua smiles, to Miho. "And she told that fierce boy we weren't going to give him answers so I didn't get tricked into telling him stuff I shouldn't, too. We even tried a really big spell this time! When I gave her earth power, she was able to hit it really hard!" That's... one way to describe fusions, certainly.
"It's strange," she agrees. "And bad! Strangebad. It has a doctorate in strangebadness. It's Dr. Strangebad." Yua huffs, nodding, firmly, to herself...
... and then breaks down giggling at her own joke. Luckily, Miho's cultured enough to get it.
Shaking her head, she smiles, again. "... but it's okay, I know that. That's why you're the strongest, Mimi!"
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
"You are kind and generous," Miho asserts, when Yua doesn't want to blame him for making her feel bad. "...I suppose you did, at that. But you will be wonderful."
And, well--"He does," Shiryuu that is, and Miho says, "It is not what he said he would do, no. ...Perhaps there will be a chance for us to; perhaps not."
But they're allowed.. Miho scowls. "I suppose," she says. "But still."
Remi helped! "Good," Miho answers. "Is that so...? Perhaps I will try this, one of these times."
Strange and bad. Dr. Strangebad. "I do not think we will learn to love the bomb," Miho opines.
"But..."
"Of course." She leans down to kiss Yua on the forehead. "Let's get you more comfortable, yes? ...And make sure you're not hurt."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"Mmm... so you don't think it's bad if I go and fight?" Yua asks, clearly still worried. (It was an effective monster, at that.) "I thought... I must have totally failed at protecting Hiroki! Though I guess everyone was feeling bad, after that attack..."
She hums, thoughtfully, head tilting this way and that. "I hope so. He's really a kind boy, you know?" Yua, he just killed a lot of people...
(It's fine, Yua doesn't know about that. It's better if Yua doesn't know too much about murders, anyway... if she thinks about something like that, she gets upset.)
Yua strokes Miho's cheek, again. "I know," she soothes her. "You don't like when people are harsh with me... you want to protect me, too. I love that about you," she says, as she leans up to prove her warmth with a kiss. It's followed with: "I love you!"
She is still warm, as she smiles, to Miho. "Let's try one together, Mimi! I bet no one would be able to fight against that!!"
But Yua's in no state to try a fusion attack with Miho now, leave aside that she'd need to wrack her body to do so now that the Dark Hour's passed.
Instead, she smiles, as Miho kisses her on the forehead, all grasped by her own warm feelings. "Okay," she says, straightening up in her seat. "Can you help me up...?"
Taking Miho's hand, it's much easier; and Eiko helpfully left her nightclothes laid out on her bed before the end of her shift, so it's all ready for her. She'll need Miho's help to get out of her dress, too: it zips up in the back, and Yua is famously terrible at things which secure from behind. (Did you know she latches her bra and then pulls it on over her head like a shirt...? It's just too hard to do the clasps up when she can't see them. If they knew, they'd excommunicate her from bian club at once...)
Luckily, Miho will find, with efficient scrutiny, that there are no bruises on Yua's body; it seems Gretchen leapt to her defense again, tonight. "Do I look okay...?" Yua asks, turning around to try and see; of course, she can't see, so she just ends up turning, and turning, and --
-- and then, of course, she gets dizzy and trips again.
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
"Gretchen can protect you. Obviously, it would be better if we were not obligated to fight... But within the constraints of our lives, you do the best that you can." A pause. "It sounds as if it was an attack of that nature--of bad feelings."
A kind boy... Well.
"I love you, too," Miho answers with a smile, kissing back. But then, "Yes, let's. But not...right now."
Miho does help Yua up; she helps her out of her dress, into her things... she knows Yua's bad at that, and isn't going to kick her out of the club anytime soon.
But there are no bruises. "Yes," Miho says. "You--"
Miho laughs gently as she catches Yua. "Now, now. Be careful."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"I had a lot of bad feelings," Yua sighs. "But Gretchen was good... she didn't let me get hit, not even one time!"
Of course, Miho knows better to check... but Yua passes visual inspection, too. She'll call Sachie tomorrow, of course, just to be sure, but...
"Oh!" Yua exclaims, grasping at Miho as she catches her again. After the alarm of almost falling, she laughs, too, a touch embarrassed with herself. "My heart skipped a beat...! I'm lucky you're here, oh... I got dizzy!" With Miho's help, she sits herself down on the bed. "I get dizzy lots more, now I have Hiroki... but they said that's normal, right?"
Yua does tend to fret. That's why it's so lucky they have a nurse!
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
"That's very good." Miho smiles. She does check--and indeed, she will also be sure that Sachie is called.
But Miho laughs a little. "So I see." A beat, "That is normal, I am told. But it is especially normal when you turn to and fro..."
Miho thinks about it--and then picks Yua up outright in a princess carry.
"No more falls. I will take you to bed properly."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"Oh... I was turning around and around... and around and around and around... ohhhh," Yua sways, a little, "I feel dizzy just talking like that..."
But then -- Miho scoops her up! "Oh!" Yua exclaims, though this time it's in delight; she wraps her arms about her shoulders, her smile warming the room. "Mimi, even after you were fighting, you're still so strong..."
She giggles, her head tilting merrily. "Okay! Gotta... brush my teeth and wash up, right? Right!"
Yua needs help with these things, sometimes... but Miho's always been here to take care of her.
Well.
She's here to take care of her now, and that means Yua doesn't need to worry one little bit!