2026-02-01: Isabeau Joined Hazuki's Party Without Asking!
- Log: Isabeau Joined Hazuki's Party Without Asking!
- Cast: Isabeau Fontaine, Hazuki Nakao
- Where: Aoyama-Itchome Station
- OOC Date: 2026-02-01
- IC Date: Tue, Sep 18 2012 (Dark Hour)
- Summary: See title.
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
Hazuki found a message pinned to her locker, today, during school.
'OUTSIDE STATION HERE. 11:60PM. BE ALONE.'
There's no such time as 11:60 pm, and the katakana (it IS katakana, not kanji) isn't exactly what anyone would call 'artful'. Maybe whomever sent this message is... misinformed?
Or, maybe...
Tick, tock. Tick, tick. Tick...
Tock.
The world turns green with shades of blood-red accent, anywhere water was dripping down. The street outside Aoyama-Itchome Station goes silent; a man who had been desperately rushing to catch the last train becomes a coffin, slightly tilted in his full-tilt sprint. (He is destined to catch the night bus home. Greatest tragedy.) It is dark. It is worse than dark: it is Shadowy.
But it is not a Shadow which strides out, towards the entrance.
Isabeau Fontaine, in her Hunter's regalia, wears a bronze vest buckled tightly over her breast; one of her arms has escaped her longcoat, and her big and muscled arm is quite visible, there. Her legs are not so easily-seen: tights cover them. Her belt holds several pouches; her hands, in fingerless gloves, hold a long spear tipped with a long, knifelike ruby point, with a masked targe held in the other.
"If my calculations are correct," she announces, to the emptiness, "here you have come, Hazuki."
She still isn't using any kind of honourific...
<Pose Tracker> Hazuki Nakao has posed.
Hazuki, for all her eccentricity, is not dumb. '11:60' could only mean one thing, and if she's wrong, well, she can put in some training. But who could be a Persona User trying to target her...? Katsuko has her phone number, so not her.
Hazuki grabbed her baseball bat just in case, and currently, is clad in her Transmutation, appearing like some sort of... magical girl. Her hair is orange and ash-grey, and her outfit is a mixture of whites and oranges, with a giant armored wing pauldron on one shoulder.
Her gilded and transmuted baseball bat is leaned against her free shoulder, as she waits at the location amidst the green, when Isabeau shows up.
"...hello, uh... do I call you Isabeau back, or Fontaine-san?" Yes, even in this moment, she's unsure of HOW TO HANDLE THIS. The plight of the British exchange student...
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
"Tch... you have to ask? It is normal to call people your age by their first name. Normal!"
She rests her targe-bearing hand at her hip, as she rests her spear on her shoulder. She takes a moment to size Hazuki up: Skirt, frills, wing and heart.
"So I was right," Isabeau reflects. "But are you any good?"
Springing with the balls of her feet -- encased in leather boots, of course -- Isabeau leaps up, that spear flourishing forward as she dives with the clear intent to land right on Hazuki!
(It may take some experience to realise she is aiming her spear just a shade to the left of her rather than looking to skewer her wholesale.)
<Pose Tracker> Hazuki Nakao has posed.
"...yeah but people get mad!" Hazuki retorts immediately, more confident here than gloomy by far. As the targe is raised, with spear, Hazuki takes a moment to size her up back...
And then, Isabeau moves to lunge at her. Hazuki has a few options in her head. She could dodge roll, but she doesn't know how many i-frames she has in real life... she could try to parry, but the window is probably insanely tight. Therefore, the only option...
Hazuki jukes right, darting forward *into* the dive and swinging straight at Isabeau's spear. Offense meets offense, but she has no interest in hurting Isabeau. The main problem is that while both have fought with similar amounts of experience, Hazuki has *far* less discipline, more about vibes and flow than some deep combat strategy.
"I'm plenty good, Isabeau! Also I really like your aesthetic... very old-timey-slash-Dragoon vibes...!" hazuki stop complimenting the enemy
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
"Who cares?" Isabeau sniffs, nose turning upwards. Harrumph!
(Isabeau not caring is one of a long list of crimes which make her one of the least popular girls in school.)
Clang! The spear, evidently, is metal; Hazuki has the right idea, getting in close and knocking it away, and if it were just a spear she'd have the advantage.
Here's the problem:
It's a spearknife.
Isabeau's hand slides up the grip, and triggers a latch release; the long pole of the polearm zwoops up into the handle, leaving behind a ruby-bladed knife. "You have a good eye," she remarks, as she turns in a sharp circle, "but is it good enough?" One boot comes parallel with Hazuki's own, as her knife swings forward -- and stops right at her shoulder, just shy of her neck.
How she responds to an up-close assault like that...
<Pose Tracker> Hazuki Nakao has posed.
Hazuki's eyes widen as that spears turns into a knife, and moves to swing. She's in too close of a range for her bat to be very efficient, but she can't just assume Isabeau won't hurt her, even though she's pretty sure she won't. She doesn't *understand* why she's being tested (inducted into a secret order? being prepared for the incoming Shadow invasion of 2013?) but...
Feel, not think. That's what comes to mind, so she empties her thoughts, and.
Hazuki's right elbow swings out at Isabeau's least visibly armored spot, her left hand going for a punch. She's no boxer - hell, she's no unarmed fighter - but her Persona-enhanced strength and her sheer determination have to count for something, right?
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
Punch!
Isabeau's least-armoured spot happens to be her face -- the rest of her's quite covered up -- though her elbow might at least find purchase at that part of her vest which isn't also covered by that thick longcoat. Her head snaps to the side with the slug, and she hisses, through her teeth.
"Tch... you will do."
With that, she steps back, sheathing her knife at her belt. "Something is wrong with Kazusa," she states, bluntly. "I do not know what. You spoke as if you know. You will tell me, now."
<Pose Tracker> Hazuki Nakao has posed.
As the hit impacts, Hazuki's pulling back, taking a breath as Isabeau steps back herself.
"Oh... is this about the Homunculus?" she asks Isabeau. "You could have just asked!"
Placing her bat against her shoulder, she considers.
"She's been possessed by a supernatural parasite. It takes over her Atelier, which seems to be like a natural sort of supernatural place connected to you? It grows stronger until it kills her, taking over her body entirely as its own."
Hazuki frowns a little, waving a hand. "There's good news, though. If you kill the Homunculus inside the Atelier before it fully... is the word gestates? Anyway, you can save the host. I did it once before with some help... my friend is still doing well to this day."
Determination lights up in her eyes. "I'm gonna save her... and everyone else who's been affected by a Homunculus."
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
"I could have," Isabeau says. "I could not have known if you were a -- how do you say -- ugh, `liability` by asking."
How arrogant is she that she assumes Hazuki would be the liability!? ... having forgotten the word in Japanese, she goes to English, instead, and Hazuki may note that her pronounciation of that is much better than her stilted Japanese.
Apparently she's not so arrogant a Frenchwoman that she won't reach across the table to learn their base tongue.
Still -- a supernatural parasite. Isabeau folds her broad arms, and scowls. "That is why Kazusa is more monster now than last term." More of a monster?! Rude.
"Hrm. A beast feeds on her, wears her skin. I do not," abide, "accept it." She forgot the word again... "I am a Hunter; beasts who feed on men I hunt."
Isabeau shakes her head, looking to Hazuki. "This 'Atel-ier'," she echoes the word Hazuki said, a touch imperfectly, "how do you find it?"
<Pose Tracker> Hazuki Nakao has posed.
"Aren't you the one asking *me* for help?" Hazuki says, still a bit light, but also a bit incredulous.
"...yeah. I wonder if her unhappiness had something to do with it..." It's mostly speculation, but she could always tell, and the convention cemented it for her.
But about a Hunter... "Oh! Isn't that a Mazes & Monsters class?" she asks, eyes bright. "That explains the outfit! Very cool..."
She shifts, though, as the important question comes up. "So, there's two components. First, you need the 'thread'. This is something significant to the person, a personal memento of some sort. Then, you need to find the 'eye'. This is a lonely place that is significant to them."
Hazuki places her hands together in a gesture. "Then you take the thread to the eye. Once you've done that, you need to take the thread to somewhere you can be 'alone together'. There's a magic website we use at internet cafes... I can give you the URL, or Igor can at the Velvet Room."
A pause, and a frown. "It's real dangerous, though... my friend's Atelier was a circus... killer clowns, rollercoasters of death, and uh... we nearly died fighting the Homunculus. I'd be careful if you take a look..."
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
"Tch... technically!" Isabeau huffs, tossing her ponytail as she looks away sharply. "I could just go back to beating it out of you, you know! It is not like I need your help, you only -- know things I will take from you, one way or another!"
"What did she have to complain about?" She scowls, in turn, when Hazuki talks about how unhappy Kazusa was.
(Better not ask about how happy Isabeau is, she still has a knife.)
Her toughness, though, is a touch taken aback when Hazuki compares her calling to -- to -- "It is not a matter of some game!" Isabeau abjures the nerd stuff, hands planting upon her hips. "Our Quarries feast on the victims of men who have collapsed into their desires, called, trapped into their escape! We capture these beasts to save all those trapped into it!" Capturing them? Not killing them...?
"Hm." She frowns, as Hazuki talks about the method. "So I suppose, must now kidnap her -- her -- you know, her `sychophant`!" Isabeau, stop speaking English just to put people down!! She sounds awfully frustrated not to have the word in Japanese, though. "Difficult... I could not only cut her hair?"
Isabeau's... just assuming that Wakana is Kazusa's Thread, huh?
... well, she rarely sees them apart.
"'Danger', though," she shakes her head, "this does not fright me. I Hunt with adults, not simple children. We are stronger than you know. In another time, I handled that Foraine with Kanae of all people," and she spits her name like a curse, naming her as Supernaturally-inclined in the same breath, "so I do not think I will be -- in pain to enter here."
Seriously, she's much more eloquent in French.
<Pose Tracker> Hazuki Nakao has posed.
"You don't seem that bad, Isabeau!" Hazuki has gotten Isabeau's number. In her deep unpleasantness, is Isabeau... a tsundere who doesn't know how to seek friendship?!
(Hazuki, no.)
Hazuki does consider, though... "Her father made a big public scene... he was really mean to her. I wonder if she's had a difficult home life," she says.
"Ehehe, sorry. I really admire games," Hazuki says, a touch apologetic.
Isabeau immediately goes to kidnapping, though. "Don't kidnap Oosaka-san! We don't even know that she's the Thread, after all... I mean, maybe she could be? ...can they be people?" She has no clue. "My friend's was his lucky bracelet. I know she's apparently into cosplay and stuff... maybe she has some stuff in her home? You could always break in during the Dark Hour..."
Hazuki why is that better than kidnapping
"Or we could ask Oosaka-san..." Hazuki says, the we meaning she's definitely recruited Isabeau. Welcome to the Save Kazusa Party, Isabeau.
But about Kanae, Hazuki's eyes widen. "Fuyuki-san is like us?" She does not say what she's thinking, which is 'maybe she can help'.
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
Kanae would have you know that Isabeau is not a tsundere, but that the word instead starts with 'b' and ends with --
Well, let's be fair, Isabeau gets a hell of a lot of usage out of baka now she's learned that word.
What Isabeau would have Hazuki know, of course, is: "Do not dare sympathise with me! Do I look so weak to you?!"
SERIOUSLY THOUGH
She scowls, though, when Hazuki talks about Kazusa's father being cruel to her. "Hmh. So it is like that... it is not what I would think of first." Isabeau's never had a bad home life, after all, even if it was sometimes... well... have you ever had the most irreponsible mother in existence or is that just her like --
Isabeau promptly jumps off of that thought like a burning building.
Hazuki admires games, though, and Isabeau hums, with a still-scowling nod. "All right." She isn't so cruel that she'll cut down something someone admires, apparently.
Not tonight, at least.
"They are not people?" Isabeau wonders. "I see... so an object can replace it. Tch... but I do not care to know an unpleasant girl like that. I would not know for what to look." She folds her arms, again, fingers drumming. "Wataba would not tell me, I think. You will ask her. You are," likeable? Actually nice? Personable? "... not threatening."
Isabeau makes a frustrated little noise, as she taps her boot against the ground. "Unfortunately, Kanae has some talent here as well. I keep with her so that I can make sure she will still be an all right... grindstone," she actually finds the word, this time, which, horror on horrors, means she previously learned it. "I decided she is my rival, you see."
Did she -- did she ask Kanae at any point or did she just tell her -- oh god, she just told her.
<Pose Tracker> Hazuki Nakao has posed.
Hazuki is, somehow, not put off by Isabeau immediately pushing back. That's just more evidence!! Though it says a lot about Hazuki if she's the type of person who'd see a bear and go 'I want to befriend it' more or less...
"You don't look weak at all!" she insists.
But about Kazusa and games separately, she nods to both, before turning about the Thread. If they're to ask Wakana, Isabeau would prefer she ask (or more accurately is demanding it), so... "I'll ask, then. I'll let you know what I find."
Kanae is mentioned, too... "Oh, then I'll talk to her. I won't try to intercede on your rivalship, of course, I know there's like, a code there?" wait what
"I hope that works out for you, by the way! Rivalries are really cool."
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
Did you know that Isabeau's Persona wears the skin of a bear? An itty-bitty bear. Maybe it's a fairy bear...
"Then you will know I do not need your sympathy," Isabeau hmphs, when Hazuki says she doesn't look weak.
Still, Hazuki -- understands her role. (Seriously, how arrogant is Isabeau? Is -- is it possible to be this arrogant? These might be new, as-yet undescribed levels of arrogance.) "Good," she nods, curtly.
"Ugh," she huffs, when Hazuki says she'll talk to Kanae. "You do not need her. You have enough strength with you when I am here!" Isabeau jerks a thumb to her chest, creating a new element in the periodic table for her sheer levels of arrogance in the process.
"You would not interfere, in any case," she claims, arms folding again. "I am the one who will defeat her." Is... is Isabeau saying she'd stab Hazuki if she tried to get in the way --
obviously she's saying she'd stab her if she got in the way.
<Pose Tracker> Hazuki Nakao has posed.
"Sympathy is a good thing!" Hazuki says, before sighing and nodding, letting it drop.
Even with Isabeau's arrogance, she assumes there's a reason that a bullied girl is like this. She's probably not actually that bad! Just like Ren and Katsuko...
"I'm rooting for you!" Hazuki says, having lost the plot somewhere. Then, she pauses, looking around the Dark Houred station .
"It's getting late," she says cheerfully during the hour where time stops. "I'll contact you once I have more information."
Possibly through locker note again. Maybe they'll get a system going.
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
"I do not need something like that!" Isabeau -- Isabeau is absolutely someone to insist on getting the last word.
Oh, but Isabeau would eat Ren for breakfast, and, indeed, needs to get revenge on them soon...
"I accept your admiration," is what she says, when Hazuki insists she's rooting for her. Did... she not understand the word, or...
why is she like this.
But Hazuki insists it's getting late, and so, Isabeau turns. "You know how."
It's only after she leaps up onto the awning of a building and subsequently to the roof that she realises just what she's done.
Isabeau is really fucking horrible at reading Japanese and she just told Hazuki to leave a note.
Any reasonable person would double back and give Hazuki her number...
... but Isabeau, too proud and too distant, just retreats in her super-cool fashion while the Dark Hour is still giving her the extra power she needs to be that cool.