2026-07-01: The Worst Girls You Know
- Log: The Worst Girls You Know
- Cast: Isabeau Fontaine, Kazusa Motojima
- Where: Shujin Academy
- OOC Date: 2026-07-01
- IC Date: Mon, Dec 03 2012
- Summary: Kazusa interrupts some bullies gossiping about Isabeau, and the two of them get to talking. Somehow, Isabeau's able to open up a little more to someone else with a bad reputation... and Kazusa shares some chilling details of her own about her Atelier. Somehow, they didn't destroy each other?!
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
The last bell rings, and classes let out. Isabeau walks ahead of her peers; her broad frame has no one beside her, unlike the two girls from her class who chatter together behind her.
"Hey," a bob-headed girl from 2-A whispers, to her pigtailed friend. "How low do you bet that White Witch's scores are gonna be this time?"
"Oh, she's definitely right at the bottom," the girl with pigtails -- Sakuri Gaman -- replies. "Did you see how she panicked when the teacher called on her today?"
"I can't believe she said 'do not ask me'!" Koshina Muroichi, the girl with short hair, giggles. "It's like... how long have you lived here?!"
"She's so disrespectful," Sakuri sighs. "The least an exchange student can do is to learn our language. I have no idea how she even qualified to study here when she hates it so much..."
"I heard it's her father," Koshina whispers back. "He's this big, important professor guy in the University of Tokyo."
"You're talking about the Witch?" Maron Tsuchiji walks up beside them, as they amble down the hall. "No, it's way worse. Are you guys ready for this?"
"Ready!" Koshina giggles.
"She's not even Laurent Fontaine's legitimate daughter. She's a bastard! I heard it from a boy who moved here from Mikage-cho -- just a few years ago, she was Isabeau Taikou!"
"Whaaat!" Sakuri gasps.
"Get out!" Koshina laughs.
Isabeau takes a breath, and stomps a foot down, whirling to face them. "You are very too loud!" She yells, even though she's the one making a scene, louder than any of the Japanese girls she's yelling at. (And that, in turn, is why she's the one viewed as the bully.) "It is annoying! You are like little birds who chatter, chatter, chatter!"
"Sorry, Fontaine-san. We'll be quieter," Maron promises her, raising her hands in placation.
"We didn't mean to disturb you," Sakuri says, quite politely.
When they're speaking to her face, they're perfectly reasonable.
And they pretend she can't hear what they're saying about her.
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Isabeau is not the only one walking alone today. Kazusa, too, is also by herself--she hasn't been seen with her long-time best friend around her for a couple of months now. But more importantly...
She's been in the position of Maron, Koshina, and Sakuri. Making all those snide little comments about people who didn't conform. Trying to knock down anybody who stood out for the wrong reason.
Taking out her resentments on those who got to do what they wanted more publically while she had to hide everything.
A pair of cold purple eyes watch the scene unfold. She doesn't particularly care for Isabeau, either, except... she did show up to help fight off that creepy Homunculus.
... and she kind of hates the reminder of the type of person she used to be.
Kazusa sighs. She already feels aggravated and she hasn't even talked to Isabeau yet.
Kazusa peels away from the wall, stepping up to the group. "Tch. And do you have any proof of that? Or do you want to make accusations about a highly-respected professor?" She flicks a wrist. "Besides, I have business with her, so get lost."
She is arch and condescending, the same way she's been for most of her year and a half here at Shujin. Save for that weird month after Summer Break where she had her own rumors flying around about being caught out at a con... and she became a weird, soft pushover, too.
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
Isabeau stood apart from the people who banded together to rescue Kazusa from that Homunculus. She ascended the Tower on her own, and assaulted rather than assisted the helpful Shadows dwelling there; blowing bubbles with the Chewing Souls which gave her back the energy to spam her outrageously powerful Megido spell even more, she made her own way, even when it would have been more effective to cooperate.
... the Thread she took reappeared at Kazusa's little hideout, eventually, but Isabeau made sure she didn't drop it off when anyone was there.
Still, despite being such an aggravating personality that few of Kazusa's rescuers would have anything nice to say about her...
... Isabeau did try to save her, didn't she?
She certainly hasn't tried to follow up, which means she hasn't spoken a word in her defence, either.
But of course, that leaves the ball in Kazusa's court -- and here, now, she volleys it.
"Motojima-san?" Maron asks, looking to her. It wasn't so long ago that Maron, Sakuri, and Koshina were amongst the girls who were trying to appeal to Kazusa, currying favour with her with an eye towards connections for the future, just like half the students at Shujin -- though they did think her sudden personality shift was quite odd. They're some of the people who distanced themself from her, when she started being weird. In this moment, the underlying tension is whether she'll go back to normal, someone worth appealing to, or...
"I'm sure it's normal in Europe," Koshina is at least willing to acknowledge what Kazusa's replying to, at least -- if only to explain why their gossip is totally okay, actually.
"Ah, and I'm not sure Fontaine-san is someone who wants to associate with us, so..." And Sakuri is delicate, as she advances that perhaps Isabeau doesn't want to talk to them -- so they're not being cruel, you see, they're being polite! -- but she's cut off by Isabeau, herself.
"Defend someone who cannot defend themselves," she snaps, still quite ornery. "Perhaps you will find them downstairs. Go!"
"Ah, she's scary...!" The gaggle of girls yelp, as they scurry off, leaving Isabeau to turn to the girl from 2-E.
"Bah," Isabeau folds her broad arms, her weight rolling to settle on one hip as her head tilts the other way. "All right, then. Your business, you will speak it to me."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Kazusa wasn't privy to just how Isabeau traversed her Atelier and arrived to fight the Homunculus. She would probably find it very tiring to know, in fact. And she's not going to claim some amazing change of perspective on the other girl.
... But she was there, and there was mention of talking at some later date.
Whether this is that day, remains to be seen.
Kazusa once relished that standing. Having others approach her, to be the examplar, to hold herself beyond reproach, or, indeed, suspicion by one particular person... unfortunately she doesn't really want any part of that now. "Tsuchiji-san," she replies, calmly.
Normal. Well she's ditched the headband the Homunculus preferred, she's back in her silver bracelets and nail polsih. But normal...
She looks at Koshina next. "And have you been to Europe?" Well, Kazusa hasn't, but that's not relevant.
But she doesn't get to retort to Sakuri before Isabeau interjects and sends them scurrying. Kazusa sighs, turning to face Isabeau. She brushes some hair behind her shoulder with a hand and then lets it settle on her hip. She stares down Isabeau for a long moment and then sighs. "... You came and fought that thing." Pause. "... and you said something about understanding me. What was that about?"
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
"Our family has a summer home in Italy," Koshina mentioned (bragged), and since it's her family, she doesn't really need to mention how it's her more successful uncle who owns it.
That's kind of how things are, in Shujin. The people who are here are going to be somewhere in ten years, because they're going to be somebody. Or, in the case of Kazusa and Koshina and the other girls, they're going to be somebody's husband... but that hardly means they can slack off.
No one wants to end up 'Christmas cake', and that means the clock's always ticking.
Isabeau defies that natural order -- downright implicitly, there's a reason they'd call her a white witch, she sticks out so obviously it's even in her skin. Unlike some Japanese students with European ancestry, Isabeau doesn't treat that variation as something to overcome so she can fit in. No --
She's the sort of person who would discuss the secret nature of Persona right here, in the hall.
"You are not like some of those girls who wanted to save you." Some of those girls. Isabeau's still holding a grudge against Yukari. "You are cruel. You do not care for the feelings of others. You are like me, in this way. It is because we do not care for others so kindly that our Personas see to it, I think. Both these things we do not care to do, and these things the world does not care we do... they are not hidden in Persona."
She scowls. Her gaze is green as jealous, as it lands on Kazusa. "... to you, I will apologise. I was too late. I know that I have failed you, because you understand this thing I say. I... regret that I was unable to shield you from the hidden hour." The Dark Hour.
... she seems to be genuinely trying to apologise, even if she feels so awkward about it.
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Kazusa isn't looking forward to that outcome--not the least of which because that blasted Homunculus practically encouraged such talk.
She has bigger things to worry about, in the moment, than a far off ticking clock. Like surviving her current high school life.
Kazusa had only meant to introduce the topic, and then move to someplace more private. She feels a twinge of frustration as she realizes she should've done that in the other order. "You really want to do this in public and give them more things to talk about?"
... But still, Isabeau isn't exactly wrong. And it's the end product of some soul searching--and a month spent in a Cocoon with her worst impulses blasted at her--that allows her to take those words with some measure of calm.
Cruel. Kazusa narrows her eyes a little but doesn't raise her voice. "... yeah. You're right about that. Partly right, at least. It's not like I don't care about anybody." She turns. "Come on, let's find someplace more quiet to do this."
But then she pauses, blinking widely as she turns back to Isabeau. At the apology. There is a startled silence for a moment, as her own purple eyes regard Isabeau intently. "... I think you mean that," she says, and there is an uncomfortable shifting as she folds her own arms low in front of her.
Awkward or not, it's still genuine, and maybe a touch vulnerable, and, well, that makes it even more awkward in turn. But maybe that's what lets her soften her own tone some, even if this is Isabeau she's talking to.
... She's probably used that nickanme for Isabeau herself.
"... Look. I... I appreciate the sentiment. That extra hour is freaky and I'd rather not deal with it. But I don't think there's anything you could've done to stop that thing from hijacking my body, so..." She lets her gaze drift awkwardly off to the side. "... it's not your fault."
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
"I do not care," Isabeau insists, on the gossip. It's half of a lie, of course; the truth is, she knows she's going to stand out regardless of what she does, which means that trying to hide is a fool's errand.
She isn't the kind of person who can be forgotten so easily.
Still, she'll walk and talk. "Of course. When I talk about 'others', I do mean these, comment dire," she lapses into French, as she searches for how to say 'sycophants,' "flagorneuses, euh... too agreeable people in these uniforms. Obviously, I care still for my father and my mother, and the team my father has made."
She stops when Kazusa does, and she frowns. "I have no reason to lie to you." Not that she wouldn't; just that she hasn't.
Kazusa excuses her, though, and Isabeau shakes her head, as she starts walking again. "All right. I did not cause this. Still, I was not strong enough to bear this burden for you. This, I will continue to regret. I do not know if there is an antidote to knowledge... I do not think you can return to the life you had. Unfortunately, that world has changed you without mercy, and with no hope to go back."
It's... a particular view of change.
"This means you have a choice, I suppose," she goes on, as they get to a more private area. "You will develop your strength and become a steward to safe the world still innocent, or you will allow that world to damn people who do not know what they ask for as those powers seduce you, or you will place your head into the sand and pretend you see no green moons or cursed railways."
She glances back, to Kazusa, half-turning to face her again. "I am curious which path you will follow."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
"Of course you don't," Kazusa says to Isabeau's not caring with a roll of her eyes. "But unless you'd like your personal business spread around, humor me on this one thing?" She pauses and frowns. "... unless you really don't care," she mutters to herself.
It's not like Isabeau was in a hurry to dispel the notion of being illegitimate.
There is an arch of her eyebrow as Isabeau lapses into French. "Sorry, I don't speak French. I do speak English, though." But there's a nod at the 'too agreeable' girls. "Mm. I think I cared a little too much what they thought, before."
No reason to lie. "I know," she says simply. "... you don't have anything to gain from me by lying, and it's not really how you operate anyway."
She'll resume walking as well. She considers and then slowly shakes her head. "I... I don't think I would've gotten out of there without changing somehow. Once I was sealed in that Cocoon... I either had to change, or..."
She leaves the alternative unsaid.
"... you can't put the butterfly back in the caterpillar, I suppose."
When they get to that private area, Kazusa leans against a wall to listen to Isabeau as she presents the options. "Part of me would like to do the last one--but I don't think Mina Harker would let me." Kazusa takes a long, slow breath. "Out of the other two... I think the first one is the only way I can go."
She studies Isabeau for a moment. "So what option did you pick? And what's this 'team' you're talking about?"
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
"Fine." Isabeau will humour her.
(And no, she did not dispel the notion, speaking of lies she hasn't told.)
"In English you say this, sycophantic," she explains, and despite her stilted Japanese, she pronounces the English word perfectly well. ... she's too proud to ask Kazusa to switch languages, though.
But Kazusa insists that she had to change, to escape her Cocoon. "I should have torn it apart to retrieve you," Isabeau says. "However, even Megido was not enough power. So I will reach a level beyond Megido, and I will no longer be thrown from helpless girls by Shadows which take advantage." Her hand tightens to a fist, as she reflects, half to herself: "That girl..."
She's worried, but worry translates to anger just as well as anything else.
Isabeau brought them to the stairwell leading to the roof -- given that the roof is, itself, off limits, no one really bothers coming up here. She leans against the railing of the stairs, looking off to the side, for a moment. "Donc... you are not a coward, then. This is good. I also fight to protect that innocent world. It is abomination to use higher vibrations to force those who cannot defend themselves. To hold this power is a responsibility... to be swayed by Shadows or Demons is weakness which ends in death."
She looks back, to Kazusa. "We are the Wild Hunt," she explains. "These Shadows, these Demons, we Hunt. Greatest of our prey is the Quarry -- beasts which trap humans in a fairground of their desires called 'Foraine'. We preserve those people with my father's technique, claiming that Quarry to help its victim return to this world."
With a sceptical, "bah," she clicks her tongue. "Quarries are the same as any lesser Demon drawn into its Foraine. It cannot be reasoned with. It cannot be befriended. The only answer which keeps its victims safe from the transgression," why does she know that word?, "of forced revelation is its defeat. That Kanae, she will tell you another story. She will tell you to negotiate. Her head to the sand, she knows nothing!"
No one mentioned Kanae, Isabeau...
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Well, at least Isabeau went along with it. But she nods as Isabeau mentions the word in English. "Ah. Then the word you were looking for was 'sycophantic.'" She says it in Japanese, of course, because that's obviously the langauge she's speaking.
"I know everyone tried," Kazusa comments about Megido and other efforts. "I think it helped." Kazusa crosses her arms, a subconscious defensive gesture. "I couldn't believe so many people had come..."
"I think... knowing there were people there... it was the wake-up call I needed. I couldn't just-- I couldn't stand by." She rests her head against the wall to glance upwards. "... but I think I had to be the one to open it, maybe."
But she looks down again. "... what girl?"
There is a small shrug to the idea of not being a coward. She doesn't exactly feel brave, sometimes. She's never managed to stand up to her father, after all. "... it's what Nakao-san would do," she remarks quietly.
Oh, that's a complciated set of emotions. She immediately tries to school her face into something less conflicted.
"At the very least, I'm going to step in to fight any Homunculi I see." Her voice is firm enough on that point, and that' her personal resolve.
But she's listening as Isabeau explains. "Quarries... and Forraines. Okay, more weird stuff to learn about. Wonderful."
"Forced revelation... you mean Awakening?" Given Isabeau's regret about not preventing her from Awakening earlier, it seems like a decent guess.
But she remembers something Kanae said, after she'd Awakened. "... so what happens to the victims afterwards, then?" she asks, casually. "... and what's Fuyuki-san got to do with this?"
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
"'Sycophantic'? Very well." Isabeau's pronounciation leaves something to be desired -- a touch too deliberate, in a way which betrays how she still has to actively think about her translation, because she's still thinking in French -- but she manages well enough.
... but she couldn't believe everyone came to save her, and it's a thought that leaves Isabeau feeling something she doesn't appreciate, either. At least until she realises that it doesn't matter if no one her age would care or not -- because she has her allies in the Wild Hunt!
"That is the impression you had? I wonder." Isabeau scowls. "That man and woman," androgynous individual, "who wields two Personas, they carried themself with the air of someone used to this Hunt. I think they would know more on this. Their peacock abomination, I think it is connected to the store called 'Peacock Silk'... I have heard this is a boutique which is exclusive with its clients. I will scout this, too, in my time." A light pause. "I have not yet done so."
isabeau you're not SCARED to go into the FANCY BOUTIQUE are you
(... look, she can just tell when someone's powerful, and she just thinks she's going to need all her wits about her to box with the likes of Saika and Yanagi and Tsumugi and THAT DAMN FUNNY PEACOCK WHO IS SO QUINTESSENTIALLY A PEACOCK IT'S A SHAME SHE HAS TO MURDER IT FOR THE GOOD OF HUMANITY.)
But, the girl... "The Palace called her Futaba," Isabeau says. "A girl so in despair she would kill herself. She caused her mother to die, and felt regret for the guilt weighed on her. The Phantom Thieves stopped us from defeating the Shadow which stole her face with my father's power, determined to force her to change her behaviour through an unknown process called 'Change of Heart'. I do not know if Futaba survived their naivety... I was unable to assault the Palace a second time." The fist beside her tightens. "Another failure, then."
She will choke on it.
For all Isabeau's cruelty, though, she at least doesn't needle Hazuki.
Still. "It is good to fight Homunculi. It is unacceptable for an abomination to replace its human victim." And it's not just Homunculi --
"A Quarry represents its victim's defences," Isabeau explains. "It is part of them, a part which now threatens the whole of them. Those things a person must not face is protected by this beast, and this complicates the Hunt. To defeat a Quarry is delicate. You must find the victim's 'Silver Bullet'... evidence of the truth which the victim cannot face. I am told this can be argument or item both." Isabeau's only actually faced the one Foraine, after all. "Forced to face what the victim cannot face, the Quarry may be cornered and laid low. Here, my father captures them."
Isabeau scowls. "It is then that Kanae defied his experience to try something else." She obviously doesn't think very highly of defying her father. "Through her negotiation in the Foraine de l'Étape, Himeki," Himeki Itabashi, that is, one of Kanae's friends, "was altered in reality to become a person who did not gossip. Because of this, she has become more alone. Is this 'better'? I think Himeki should have been allowed to do this herself, instead of going behind her back to the part of her Shadow which became a Quarry."
She shakes her head, though, when Kazusa tries to figure out what a revelation is. "No. Or, to be clear, not always. In your case, the change forced on you gave you this Persona. However, a Quarry will not grant its victim a Persona... though it is possible for men to Awaken when they are trapped inside another person's Foraine." She scowls, looking down at the stairwell. "... as I did. Most normal people who are trapped this way, they will suffer Apathy Syndrome, eventually. Some... do not accept being prey. The people who become predators are called 'Hunters'. This is where Kanae has to do with this. Because I was made prey, and she did not accept it, donc, I did not accept it." The fact that donc is the particular filler-word version of 'so...' which means therefore rather than then is perhaps lost to translation. "In this way, we became Hunters. She did not accept my father's way, and so she is alone. She chose her own end."
She clicks her tongue, as she looks back to Kazusa. "I think it is wrong to force Persona on people. I think it is wrong to force people to confess to sins they gleefully committed, too." The infamous Kamoshida. "To go behind a person's back and make change through the parts of themself they cannot see is not the right way. There is a reason the subconscious is not conscious. It can only lead to ruin."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
At least she tried. Kazusa doesn't really feel like putting up a fight about the pronunciation. Besides, at least she knows they can use English as a bridge language, if need be.
Kazusa had a lot of time to reflect on how she acted while trapped in that Cocoon. So no, she didn't believe.
"Who?" Kazusa arches an eyebrow. But then-- she frowns. "Oh. The peacock. Yeah, he... works?" Her face scrunches up at the absurdity of that thought. "... at Peacock Silk. Annnd he talks. It's really weird." Selective. "... yeah. When I-- I mean, when the Homunculus went they kicked her out. But apparently now I'm allowed in. And they were looking for something in my Atelier, I guess..."
A thoughtful frown. "... though I still don't know what, exactly. But anyway, good luck, if you go. I think... how did she put it... I think if you're Awakened they'll let you in?"
"A Palace, huh..." She's at least heard of those. Even if she doesn't really understand them yet. Or been in one. "... So you went up against the actual Phantom Thieves? I didn't even think they were real. I mean, like, obviously they were real, or-- someone did something, but I just figured it was some weird blackmail thing."
But she's listening, as Isabeau describes the Quarry, what it protects, the 'silver bullet'... and then an action Kanae undertook. Himeki Itabashi, changed through negotiation with the Shadow? And now alone... but also not gossiping.
Kazusa's frown deepens as she considers this. This is definitely something she's going to ask Kanae about. They spent a pretty decent day together recently, and if Kazusa's going to help her, then she needs to know what she's getting into. "... I see. I didn't know about that."
So not an Awakening, in this case. "I don't think the people who went through what I did always Awaken, either... Nakao-san had a friend, that I don't think did." But... Apathy Syndrome, or... becoming a 'Hunter.' "... so you both Awakened near the same time, then." That's interesting.
And yet they seem to fight so much... Is it just over what happened with that Quarry? Honestly, it wouldn't surprise her if Isabeau was just Like That.
"You really look up to your father, then." Just an observation. She, of course, has no love for her own father. Or her mother, really.
"Yeah, I don't know. It was... really weird seeing him break down like that, if I'm being honest. I don't know how that whole 'Change of Heart' thing works, but..."
She stares up at the ceiling, thoughtful for a moment as she rests her head back against the stairwell , one floot planted against the wall beneath her. Isabeau did provide at least a decent explanation of the Forraines and Quarries. At least, more of an explanation than she had. So maybe... she can share a little bit more.
And it's something to contemplate--how 'change' can be both salvation and condemantion, depending on the perspective, on who it happens to and how...
She lowers her head again, looking at Isabeau. "I'm guessing someone already explained the Homunculi to you. Was anybody able to tell you what being in the Cocoon was like?"
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
"So if I go to Peacock Silk, I can deal with it... good." Isabeau nods, as she comes to a decision, and the gavel of destiny falls with a grave impact.
(She will carry out her father's Judgement, huh?)
"The Phantom Thieves are quite real. I fought a girl who was called Ogre, and a boy who was called Fox. They were very stubborn and rude. That boy, he asked why the Palace was a memorial, a tomb... not that this bothers me." It definitely bothers her.
Isabeau blinks, looking back to Kazusa as she mentions Hazuki's friend. "So it is possible to get through the experience without changing?" She asks, hopeful.
(And grunts affirmation, when Kazusa asks whether she and Kanae Awakened together.)
"... those girls did not 'make accusation'," Isabeau quotes Kazusa's demands of those bullies earlier, her fingers drumming on the railing. (She really wants to just flip over this thing and get down the stairwell the stylish way...) "My father did not know I existed until earlier in this year. My mother did not marry for a long time, and enjoyed many short relationships before then. It was only after me that she undertook this a little more responsibly. She is dear to me, but she is not a very responsible person." 'Is', she says, and it's not that Isabeau thinks she's still alive.
She's just determined to fix her mistake, and she doesn't want people to make unnecessary comments, anyway.
"Du comp, she is not capable of caring for me any longer," is how Isabeau describes it, instead. "For a time, I stayed with my stepfather. I was not satisfied with this. Donc, with these two hands... I searched, for years. I would find him. I found him. I have always known my father was an important part of my life, because he was missing. Now we are a family. I will not disrespect him by insisting I have found a solution he could not see despite fighting these Quarries perhaps as long as I have lived."
She frowns, thinking of Kamoshida. "... he wished for me to join his team," she says, perhaps because she's already shared more than she usually would. "I did not like the way he looked at me, so I said I did not enjoy sports. Mais non, this is the lie! There is no member of Tennis Club above me. Leaving this at my lie, I also regret. Disons... I felt caution, and... this is not dishonourable by itself, but..." She trails off, and shakes her head. "... ben, when he charged in to confess all those bad things, I could not believe he would do this. The man who begged on that stage is not the man who leered at me, I think. There is no justice to replace a sinner with a decent man. He should have changed his own mind."
She looks to Kazusa, with some curiosity. "I have not heard this," she says. "I would ask you tell me. I am always looking to improve my scouting reports."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
"The worst they can do is turn you away, but... I think so."
"Ogre and Fox... Those can't be their real names..." Kauzsa muses quietly. "But I guess I might not want people to know who I was if I were in their shoes..." She looks at Isabeau curiously. "... why was it?" she prompts. She's not sure if the question was rhetorical or not...
Kazusa considers and then shakes her head. "No. I think it's possible to survive without Awakening, but... I think something of the process sticks with you. You... have to be..." Kazusa hesitates, almost flinching at her own words. "... in a pretty bad way for the Homunculus to get you. But going through that process... I think it gives you a better idea of who you are. At least, it did for me, anyway."
There is a surprised, startled blink as Isabeau just flat out admits it. "... I see." she huffs softly. "... that figures, that they'd talk about that, then."
"Mmm. Must be nice, to have that kind of faith in your father, then," is all Kazusa can say on the matter. "... I hope he appreciates your loyalty."
No she's not bitter, why do you ask?
"Hey, I'm not going to fault you for steering clear of him." She frowns, her crossed arms hugging herself for a moment. "... I'm just glad his Olympic medal wasn't in gymnastics." Not that there would be a Men's medalist in Rhythmic Gymnastics, of course, but still.
"You've shared some information with me, so..." Kazusa shrugs a little, trying to play off the exchange. She takes a deep breath and tries to steay her nerves, but that hug to herself tightens just a little bit.
"... it's horrible," she starts, her voice subdued. "It just feels so... tight, and cramped. You can't even move, you can't even think, hardly. And the whole time, you're being bombarded with... all of the awful things in your head, all the things that you criticize yourself for, every bad impulse, every harsh word that's ever been spoken to you... just..." Kazusa's voice wavers for a moment. "... non-stop. Trying to wear you down, until..."
It's here that Kazusa stops. She came awfully close to a precipice, she's sure, and even while Mina Harker was challening her, it was hard to shake off some of those lingering thoughts.
Suddenly she shakes herself out of it. "... a-anyway. You can probably guess the rest." There is a long beat, and then she says, "... for me, a lot of it sounded like things my father has said to me."
She pushes herself off the wall, letting her arms drop. "So... yeah. That's what you're fighting against, when you're 'hunting' a Homunculus or whatever."
"Look-- I need to get to practice." Kazusa takes one step as she starts the process of turning to head down the stairs. But then she pauses, looking back to the other girl. "... if you want some help studying for finals? I'll give you my number. And I'm not offering because of those other girls, just... if you want it for yourself."
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
"Euh... it hardly matters! The Palace is gone." Isabeau, of course, is bluffing -- it definitely matters. She just doesn't have an answer for Fox.
"I am not sure knowing more of who you are is always a good thing," Isabeau thinks.
And of faith: "I chose to have it," with a closed tone; if Kazusa is bitter, Isabeau is judging that, at least a little. She still thinks the story she heard in the Atelier was very one-sided.
Kazusa, Isabeau thinks, is lucky to have had her father in her life the whole time.
She does not see the vulnerability in her own assumptions, or the way Laurent's appreciation might also be expressed as whether he is worthy of that loyalty. ... neither does she know about the danger looming long along the balance beam, but then, what danger could possibly remain at Shujin, now Kamoshida's gone?
No: the only danger Isabeau is attentive to, presently, is the account of the Cocoon. She scowls, though, when Kazusa says that her confronting experience reminded her of her father, and... she might be misreading the situation, but... it's still difficult, isn't it? Isabeau wonders what life would have been like, if her experiences at school were transplanted to the home. And then she stops wondering, because she doesn't like how that feels.
"... I cannot imagine such a thing," she admits, looking away. "My father is kind to me. What I have fought so hard to find is good. I... will take this into account," she settles on, a touch awkwardly. "I will apply every haste to tearing those Cocoons apart."
Her gaze falls on the railing again. "It is not the material," she admits, without looking at Kazusa. "It is how it is given. I do not... read quickly."
Ugh! Ugh, she just admitted she WASN'T GREAT AT SOMETHING! What's the matter with herl?!
At once, Isabeau grabs onto the railing -- and flips over it, dangling precariously, knees hooked around the bars. "Watch this, gymnast," she challenges her, as she parkours down the stairwell, catching herself on the wrong side of the railings and descending in entirely the wrong way!
SHOWOFF!
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Kazusa really hopes Isabeau is happy twith her dad. She just can't escape her own experiences. "Look, if you're happy with him, that's great. Really." She's trying to sound like she means it, and she does, just a little.
And maybe, if they actually keep getting along, Isabeau can ask her for the other side of that account sometime.
But she regards Isabeau for a moment, as she admits... "Oh. Right." She's frowning in thought. She, herself, is fluent of course. But she's honestly not sure how to boost literacy in a short amount of time. "Well, maybe we can--"
But whatever she was about to say is cut off when Isabeau is sitting on the railing. Kazusa stares, mouth agape for a moment. "What-- what are you doing!?"
She runs over to the railing and looks down, and more staring ensues.
Kazusa starts going down the stairs the normal way, muttering to herself. "Ugh. What is wrong with her!?"
She'll put Isabeau out of mind, as she prepares herself for her soul-crushing practice. That's a problem for later.