2026-06-26: Maybe It Really Is a Curse
- Log: 2026-06-26: Maybe It Really Is a Curse
- Cast: Yuuki Hoshizora, Misato Fushihara
- Where: Renegdai, Sumaru City
- OOC Date: June 26, 2026
- IC Date: November 30, 2012
- Summary: Yuuki and Magus meet up for a sparring match in Dark Hour. While sparring, they discuss why they're doing this -- and find both things in common and some very different motivations.
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
When they last met, Yuuki and Magus reached an agreement: they would meet in Renegdai in the same place in a week's time.
Yuuki has been anticipating it ever since then. She would hesitate to say that she is excited -- but that doesn't make it less true. She can say, and she can tell herself, that she wants to get stronger and it ends there. But, the truth is, somehow, Magus is so... intriguing.
She says what comes to mind. She hides behind a mask, in more than one way.
But if she is excited, why is she also so nervous? She can hardly stand still -- and keeps glancing down the street, waiting for Magus to appear.
She arrived early, of course. Yuuki is leaning against a brick wall, with Dark Hour having just set in. She has already brought about her transformation -- a sleek black and silver top, sleeveless and cut short; her skirt and cape; and her bright blue hair. Bright green eyes peer out, as she waits.
And her left foot is tapping, a nervous fidget while she waits.
<Pose Tracker> Misato Fushihara has posed.
Misato found Yuuki Hoshizora interesting enough when she was just a transfer student with a rare, dedicated hobby. A break from the norm, like a rock tossed into a still pool. But the more she learned, the more she wanted to investigate. There's something mysterious and fascinating about her. She seems so focused and dedicated. Why did she move here? What is it that she feels she has to do? She wants to peel the mysteries away layer by layer to find out what really makes her tick.
It's been a while since she's felt so motivated by... anything. She has to pursue this feeling while it still lasts.
...And it's that feeling that leads her to camp out in an alleyway not far from the agreed-upon location, staring intently at her watch and urging the hand to tick forward faster.
There's a voice in the back of her mind that questions - is Yuuki even going to show? She gave her word, but there's no reason for her to keep it. If anything, that'd almost be the smarter play... She's a stranger, hiding her face and her name.
She's the only one of them who needs this.
Slowly, the minute hand draws closer to twelve, and Misato holds her breath as it ticks over...
...and as the Dark Hour falls across the land, Magus emerges, making her way to her destination.
And sure enough, she arrives to see... that Yuuki is here, her transformed appearance shining bright against her dreary surroundings.
Magus exhales. ...Time to put her face back on.
Shehe steps out, her expression as confident as ever. The featureless porcelain half-mask conceals all but her mouth, and the hooded cloak obscures the rest of her.
"So... you're true to your word, Yuuki Hoshizora. How nice to see you again." Magus greets.
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
Yuuki's back straightens as Magus steps out. She turns to look at her, trying her best to look confident -- and maybe a little fearsome. She brushes some bright blue hair to the side; when she does, it makes her hair shimmer and it leaves faint afterimages in its wake. She looks at Magus, thoughtfully, for a moment.
"O-Of course I am," she says. "I wouldn't lie about that. Why would I do that?"
Her head tilts. Then, though, she nods.
"...You, too," she says. She hesitates as she looks Magus over for a moment. "I'm, um." There is a hint of nervousness in her voice, then.
"I'm ready when you are," she says.
<Pose Tracker> Misato Fushihara has posed.
Magus observes Yuuki as her stance shifts, picking herself up a bit.
"Why not?" Magus replies. "It costs you nothing. You had no reason not to."
To her, it sounds like the most logical thing. She can hear the nervousness in her voice... and she can hardly blame her for that. She says she's ready, though.
"Very well." Magus replies. From within her cloak she draws her saber and her parrying dagger before offering Yuuki a respectful bow.
"Do you have any ground rules you'd like to set before we begin?" Magus asks. "If not... I'm ready, too. Come at me whenever you'd like."
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
"I wouldn't do that. I don't want to lie," Yuuki says. She glances to the side for a moment -- then her eyes shift back towards Magus. "And... besides. I want to be stronger, too."
She cracks a small, brief smile at the bow. It's endearing, in a way. She draws out her rapier, lifting the blade in front of her in a salute to her opponent.
"We stop if one of us says to," she says. "And... no causing lasting harm, of course."
She tilts her head. "...I don't think we need a reward for the winner, but if you have an idea..."
<Pose Tracker> Misato Fushihara has posed.
Magus studies her for a moment. She doesn't want to lie, hm?
"How noble of you. I hope you can hold yourself to that." She replies, and pauses for a moment. Wanting to be stronger, though... "...That reasoning, I can understand."
She notes that smile, however brief - and notes, approvingly, when she echoes her gesture.
"That sounds reasonable." Magus agrees. They're just here to test each other, after all - they can take it seriously, but that doesn't mean they need to wound each other. As for a reward...
"Hm. Well... this is only our first match. I imagine at this stage we'll largely be feeling each other out..." Magus considers. "Perhaps we'll save that for later down the line, once we're past the opening stages."
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
"I... I don't plan to stray from that," Yuuki says, her voice hesitating for a moment. Is there something about honesty -- or a lack thereof -- that bothers Magus? There are a lot of mysteries here. She wants to be stronger. But why?
Then, she nods. "All right," she agrees. And she notes what Magus says -- that there will be future matches. She exhales, trying to keep the fact she feels some satisfaction at hearing that from being too obvious. "That makes sense to me. Then... let's start!"
She takes a step back, then throws her hand out to one side.
"Galileo!"
Behind her, four rings of light appear. They solidify into clockwork rings; each with numerous gears tht connect them and make them interlock and rotate. Each has a crystal orb on it, glittering and catching the light as it moves. Her eyes are on Magus.
Waiting, but growing tense -- ready to strike.
<Pose Tracker> Misato Fushihara has posed.
Magus 'hm's to herself at that insistence - but whatever thought is running through her head, she doesn't voice it aloud. Instead, she nods back at Yuuki's agreement. She seems to accept that, even though she had decided it on her own...
"Indeed, let's." Misato agrees. Yuuki declares the beginning of the match - and as she calls upon her Persona, Magus follows suit. She grasps her mask, drawing upon its power.
"Nitocris." She entreats. For her, a woman in Egyptian royal garb appears, her bearing regal and self-assured. She eyes the battlefield carefully and so does Magus, taking in Yuuki's Persona as well as Yuuki herself. Sizing them both up, running calculations through her head -
- and then she lunges forward suddenly, swishing her saber toward Yuuki with a pair of quick, testing thrusts to gauge her reflexes.
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
Misato lunges forward. That saber thrusts out -- and Yuuki's saber swings out quickly to meet her blows. She beats them backward, sucking in a sharp breath.
Then, she pushes forward. She doesn't thrust with her rapier; instead, parrying the second of Magus's strike, she locks her blade into place. Galileo, behind her, spins around with a gleam in those four crystalline orbs. Yuuki reaches a hand out.
And she grabs Misato's forearm, for a second.
A second is all she needs. Suddenly, for both of them, gravity shifts. Instead of being drawn to the ground, they suddeny both fall towards the wall of the nearby building. Its bricks become the ground -- the street becomes a long, endless wall, and horizon is perpendicular. It might be disorienting.
Yuuki is used to it.
She does a quick spin, then she kicks at Misato's midsection.
"Hyah!"
<Pose Tracker> Misato Fushihara has posed.
Blade meets blade as Yuuki's rapier flashes out to meet hers. They're locked in a parry. The parrying dagger soon joins Magus's saber, crossing over it as she moves to try to overpower Yuuki -
- but Yuuki only needs a second. Before she can complete her motion, gravity shifts. Magus's stomach lurches as they both fall - not down or up but toward what was, just a moment ago, the side.She lands, cat-like - but her body lurches at the new, jarring point of view. She noticed the way Yuuki had accelerated her own movement before, but she hadn't anticipated she could use it like this.
This, however, is Yuuki's domain - the experience makes a difference. Before she can fully reorient herself Yuuki's foot slams into her midsection and knocks the wind out of her, sending her reeling back several steps. Her saber lashes out as she regains her footing - but it's not the blade one has to look out for, but the directed command.
Nitocris holds her hands out in front of her, and something begins to gather between them. She casts her hands outward and streams of water rush out toward Yuuki as Magus manages to straighten up(in a relative sense, that is).
"You're honest... but I see that doesn't mean you don't have tricks up your sleeves." She notes with an approving grin.
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
Water explodes out towards Yuuki. She ducks underneath one, then launches up over another, before a third catches her in the side. It sets her into a spin; she yelps, feet hitting the glass window of a convenience store. The rubber soles of her shoes squeak across it. She looks at Magus, her rapier pointed towards her.
She cracks a brief, small smile. "I was taught well. Shadows don't play fair... so I can't, either."
She launches forward. She goes into a leap, shooting straight forward, with her blade thrust at Magus.
When she gets closer, she finds herself speaking -- her expression serious, even as her own words take Yuuki by surprise. "Why do you want to get stronger?"
<Pose Tracker> Misato Fushihara has posed.
Magus watches Yuuki carefully as she recovers, eying the tip of her radar. She stands at the ready, saber and parrying dagger in front of her.
Yuuki smiles - and Magus grins.
"Is that so... Good. Then I won't restrain myself, either." She replies.
Yuuki launches forward and Magus crosses her blades to meet her, gritting her teeth as she tries to hold the rapier back.
"Hm... How to... put it..." The words come out a little strained, from the exertion - and then she forces her blades to the side abruptly, trying to push the rapier away and Yuuki herself along with it.
And then, Nitocris snaps her fingers and the air ripples. Something, some illusory force, tries to take hold of Yuuki, casting visions before her eyes. One Magus dodges to her left, thrust with her dagger. One dodges to the right, swiping with her saber. One recoils back, and drops to her knees.
But only one is visible in the reflection of the glass underneath their feet, behind Yuuki. Saber and dagger both swing down in an X-shaped slash.
"It's not really a 'want'. It's a need." Magus corrects. "I simply have to. There's something I have to do - something I have to see through. ...Sound familiar?"
Yuuki's own words, back from when they first encountered each other.
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
Their blades meet again. Sparks fly as the blades scrape along each other. Yuuki hears the exertion in her voice -- and then her rapier is thrown to the side. She makes a surprised noise, her feet stepping backward with an almost-clumsy stumble. She recovers, but not before the air ripples.
Her bright green eyes widen. She inhales, sharply. One Magus comes from her left -- and she side steps, before the dagger can touch her. One, to Yuuki's right, slashes with her saber -- and Yuuki's rapier swings in to catch it, but the mirage parts around her blade.
Another drops to her knees, before her -- and Yuuki freezes. Did she hurt--
Movement in the glass. "Wh--" She turns, quickly, and she brings up the rapier just in time. Saber and dagger strike into the blade with a loud ring of steel on steel, and Yuuki is pushed back -- against the street that is a wall behind her.
She looks at Magus over the crossed blades -- at the shape of her lips, at her eyes behind that mask, and she wonders who this girl is. She grits her teeth, with the strain of holding her blades back with her own.
"Yes," she agrees, quietly. "What is it, then? Someone you're trying to save? Or... or is it something else?"
<Pose Tracker> Misato Fushihara has posed.
Yuuki catches her blades. Steel scrapes against steel. It's Magus, now, who has the advantage. She meets Yuuki's eyes across their blades.
Yuuki remembers her own words. What is it, then? Magus wonders why that's where her mind goes too first - the idea is so far out of her mind, it's a bit surprising.
"...Oh, no. It's far too late for that." She replies with a shake of her head. She grins mirthlessly. "No... there's someone I'm trying to hurt, is all."
She flourishes her parrying dagger, trying to catch the hilt of Yuuki's rapier in its curved guard to free up her saber before jabbing her saber forward.
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
"Someone you want to hurt?" Yuuki replies, her voice hesitant. The idea makes her--it makes her sad, it surprises her, and it angers her. Did someone hurt her? Or is it something else?
She makes a surprised noise -- the basket hilt of her rapier is caught by Magus's parrying dagger, and her blade is thrown askance. The saber is thrust for her, and she can't quite find a way to dodge it. So she reaches out, briefly touching Magus's shoulder.
And then gravity shifts. Suddenly, Yuuki is falling towards her -- because the walls of the building on the other side of the street are now down, instead of up. Yuuki swings her sword, but to knock the saber aside.
Because she is falling, too.
She lands atop Magus, with a loud grunt. They're face-to-face and Yuuki stares down at her, with eyes that are wide and sincere, like they were in the bakery.
But unlike the bakery, they're worried.
"...You say it so easily, but--but it can't be easy, can it?"
<Pose Tracker> Misato Fushihara has posed.
"That's right." Magus confirms.
The saber is thrust - and Yuuki reaches past it. Magus has seen what she can do now, but this close there's no room to pull back in time.
The world turns on its head once more. It happens too quickly for her to reorient herself. They fall together, and as they do Yuuki swings her rapier. Magus's saber is knocked aside - and when she lands with a grunt of her own, both from landing on the ground and from Yuuki landing on her, it goes clattering away out of her hand to the side.
Magus looks up - and she finds Yuuki staring down at her. Those eyes... She remembers them. She hadn't seen them from this close before, though.
...They're...
...No, she has to focus.
Still... in the face of that wide-eyed sincerity, she finds it difficult to stare into them for long. She looks away, her expression faltering as a hint of guilt creeps in.
"...Of course it can be." She insists - forces out. "...You just have to want it enough."
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
When the saber falls away, the rapier falls with it. They clatter across the metal garage door of a closed electronics shop -- blades laying crossed over each other, in an X-shape. Yuuki can't even spare a glance for them. She keeps looking at Magus.
Even when Misato looks away from her.
"Anything that makes you want it enough can't be easy," Yuuki insists, her expression screwing up. She is, after all, stubborn. Even if--
Even if it isn't her business.
Even if she isn't sure why she cares.
"...I'm trying to find my parents," she says, quieter. "And--and right now, if I find them... it won't be enough. I won't be enough. So I... I have to become stronger. I've got to burn away everything else, until..."
She is still pressed against Magus, still close to her, and those bright green eyes are still bearing down into her. "...Until I'm strong enough to have them back."
She swallows. "That's why I'm scared of cutting loose. That's why I'm doing this."
<Pose Tracker> Misato Fushihara has posed.
The saber and rapier fall away - and she must've lost her dagger at some point in the scuffle, too. It's just the two of them here, now.
Magus looks away, but she can still feel Yuuki's eyes on her.
"It gets easier." Magus retorts, as Yuuki's stubborn streak rises to the surface again. She opens her mouth to follow up - and then Yuuki's words stab at her just as assuredly as her rapier did, causing whatever she was about to say to die in her throat.
She thought she'd prepared herself for everything. Hardened herself against the blades the world bared at her.
...But nothing, it seems, is more frightening than such open sincerity. She wanted to know what drove her, but now that that she's seen a peek of what lies within... She's terrified.
She has to become stronger. She has to burn away everything else.
...The words, the sentiment... is so familiar. Too familiar. That wound Yuuki feels... is all too much like her own, tearing at scars she thought had long since healed over.
She doesn't say anything for a moment.
"...Do you think you can do it? If you're afraid to cut loose..." Magus asks. She's usually not afraid to say what she thinks - but here, her voice is quiet.
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
Yuuki stares at Misato when she says that. But she doesn't question her more -- even if she isn't so sure that she believes that. She stares at her with those too-bright eyes.
And she flinches at the quiet from Magus, at her words. She can hear the quiet in her voice, a tone that's different than she heard before. She opens her mouth for a moment at the question. She almost says that she absolutely can do it.
Sincerity, though, is a sword that cuts both ways.
Yuuki turns her head, looking to the side. "I... I don't know," she says. "I'm trying so hard. But then I..." She hesitates.
"...I find things and I meet people, and I feel my resolve waver," she finishes quietly. "And I wonder if... if I've really become who I need to."
<Pose Tracker> Misato Fushihara has posed.
It'd be easier if she insisted. Declared that yes, she thinks she could. But hearing Yuuki admit that she doesn't know, even though she's trying so hard...
Magus swallows.
"...And who do you need to be, that's different than who you are now?" She asks. "Do you think that's enough? That if you push everything away, it'll make you stronger?"
Behind the mask, she shuts her eyes for a brief moment.
"...Maybe it really is a curse."
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
"I..."
Is it enough? Will she be stronger if she pushes everything else away? She keeps looking away, but she closes her eyes too. She feels a shudder go down her spine as she she contemplates that question. She doesn't like any of the answers she comes back with.
"...I don't know if it's enough. If it will make me stronger," she says. "But I know I couldn't forgive myself if I can't save them."
She blinks, then she looks back at Magus. Her green eyes are back on her, insistent and sincere.
"I wish it wasn't," she says very quietly. "I wish... I could still be the girl who looks up at the heavens and wants to go there. And I wish..."
She gets quiet. She whispers the next part. "...that the girl who saved me didn't have to want to hurt someone."
<Pose Tracker> Misato Fushihara has posed.
Magus listens. Yuuki doesn't know... but she couldn't forgive herself if she can't save them. She opens her eyes again, looking back up at those insistent eyes staring down at her. She sounds so... vulnerable, like this. Whispering her quiet wishes.
"...I wish it was that way, too." She replies. "...I wish it was that easy... but it isn't."
...It never is, as much as she might want it.
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
Yuuki is quiet, as Magus answers. She hears what she wishes for -- the sincerity that she is surprised to hear. The doubts that prove at odds with the masked, dashing figure. The words that her mask can't hide. At her side, just out of Magus's line of sight, she starts to lift her fingers -- then they curl.
Then, they fall back down to her side.
"...I know," she says. She is quiet for a moment more -- and then she steps back. She takes Magus's hand. "Step forward, when I do."
The direction of gravity shifts, but it's slower. Which gives Misato the strange feeling of stepping off the wall, then onto the street. The ground, once more, is the ground.
Her grip on Magus's hand lingers for just a second. "I, um." She glances to the side. "I... think I owe you another sparring session, don't I?"
<Pose Tracker> Misato Fushihara has posed.
The silence hangs between them for a moment, and then Yuuki steps away. She takes Magus's hand and Magus freezes, for just a moment - but she nods, and when Yuuki steps forward, she follows suit.
Once again, she's back on solid ground. She reels, a little, and has to take a moment to stabilize herself.
...She feels a little awkward, now. She's acutely aware of how close they'd been. This certainly is a new experience - but she got more than she bargained for out of it.
"Ah..." She starts. She has to take a moment to realign her metaphorical mask.
"...You don't owe me anything." Magus insists... but hesitates for a moment. "...However, we do have a... mutual interest in getting stronger. So it might be... beneficial."
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
It starts to dawn on Yuuki, too, how close they were. Her hand pulls back -- and she nervously dusts off her skirt, before she looks back at Magus. She watches her realign herself -- and then she blinks, at the way that she says she doesn't owe her anything.
But...
She still seems interested. And somehow -- even though her heart felt heavy, still, with their conversation -- that agreement makes Yuuki's heart lift up a little. She smiles, the hand that was awkwardly at her side resting over her heart instead.
"Then... let's meet again, in another week?"
<Pose Tracker> Misato Fushihara has posed.
Magus steps back, letting her own hands return to the safety of her cloak. She's starting to feel back on center again. And Yuuki actually smiles a little, when she agrees. Magus smiles just slightly despite herself, too - but she forces that serious expression back on.
"Yes, that should be acceptable." She confirms. She starts to turn away, but she pauses. "...I'll see you then, Yuuki Hoshizora."
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
Yuuki watches her turn. There is a moment of brief hesitation, even worry. Did she push her away? But then, she pauses.
She smiles a little more -- and then nods. "Mm. Until then, Magus."
She stays there, watching as the masked girl steps out of sight.