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Post by Karina Wallis-Kline on May 19, 2015 20:32:41 GMT -5
It had taken some convincing, but Tori had managed to get Merry AND her big sister to go to the range with her one evening after school. Unfortunately she wouldn't be practicing her shooting(and with Gabe almost definitely better than her at this point, that was NOT good), but she still really wanted her family to meet the two girls and the range was the easiest place to catch most of them.
Also, the little Kuma had mentioned to Merry that Gabe was at the range pretty often, so that had helped the white haired girl's decision in coming. Kotori had noticed the girl's response to finding out the two were practically family, and she didn't think there was anything wrong with using that to sway her.
Karina walked with the two younger teens, staying just a tad closer to her little sister than she usually would. She knew nothing would happen, of course, but the constant paranoia that the elder sister was usually good at hiding started to mess with her more than usual at the thought of going somewhere where guns were commonplace. She knew she'd be fine, Karina was fast and seemed to have a natural instinct when it came to those types of situations, it was just Merry that she worried about.
Breaking her from her thoughts was Kotori's voice as they came up to their destination. "Here we are!" She announced proudly for the sisters. "Don't worry, I talked to my Papi and made sure we came on a slow day." She wanted to make sure everything was perfect, she never got to bring a friend here before, and Gabe and Anya ALWAYS had friends here, so it was only fair. "Now come on, let's go!" The brunette called cheerfully as she reached for the door to open it.
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Post by Meredith Wallis-Kline on May 19, 2015 22:10:47 GMT -5
Merry managed a smile as Tori cheerfully informed them they had arrived. At least they were here now, right? And Gabe was supposed to be around, and while her sister didn't quite know about her infatuation with the Kuma, it wasn't like she was hiding anything... And besides, she'd really wanted to see him, even if he was... probably as oblivious as her sister was. But that was fine! Seeing him was plenty.
She hurried in after Tori, eager enough to follow her friend, but not so much that she didn't glance behind to try and urge her sister to come along just a bit faster, please?
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Post by Karina Wallis-Kline on May 19, 2015 23:06:40 GMT -5
Karina laughed as Merry looked back at her. "I'm coming, I'm coming." She wondered what got Merry so anxious to go inside, but she didn't think on it too much. Her sister was in a cheerful mood, and Karina wouldn't dare mess with that.
As the three girls were walking in, Gabe just happened to be heading to the front of the range with a couple of others, ear muffs sitting around his neck since there was no use for them at the moment. The blond had graduated just a couple of weeks before, so pretty much all his time had been spent either with Fei or at the range(though to literally EVERYONE'S relief he was willingly taking breaks from his gunslinging lessons. That was mainly because he was satisfied enough with how he was doing, he'd surprised the others with his progress at least.)
Gabe was extremely grateful not to have school to worry about anymore, which actually reminded him of something. He glanced down to Satoru as they walked/wheeled their way to the front of the range with Kiyoko. "Hey, deal was I could get a job here after I graduated, right?" He wasn't so much as asking as he was reminding because hell, a girlfriend meant dates and dates meant money. They had talked about it a couple of times, but it had been a while and he was starting to worry his stepdad had forgotten.
Kotori grinned and nudged Merry as she spotted Gabe not too far off. He was with Toru and Kiyo(who she always thought looked super pretty with that makeup she always wore; apparently it was to cover some scar on her face, huh) and none of them had noticed the three girls just yet. While the little gunslinger in training WOULD announce themselves to get their attentions, she wanted to wait and see Merry's face at seeing Gabe first.
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Post by Meredith Wallis-Kline on May 20, 2015 0:20:38 GMT -5
"I'm not so old I forgot, kid," Satoru replied. He knew full well what Gabe had actually meant by that question, and thankfully the kid had eased up on his fanatic need to improve. That had been a secondary measure that Satoru hadn't mentioned when they first made the deal, but he was grateful that he wouldn't have to bring it up now. "You're on the payroll starting Monday," he informed as they made it into the front-room proper.
Merry's face tinted pink as Gabe stepped into the room, both hands coming up and clasping in front of her chest, as if she was holding onto a locket or a good luck charm just above her breast. It could have passed for a nervous reaction to meeting new people. The fatal flaw, of course, was that she already knew Gabe, and that she had no necklace to speak of...
She ducked her head just a bit in an attempt to hide her blush behind a curtain of snow-white hair.
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Post by Karina Wallis-Kline on May 20, 2015 1:10:16 GMT -5
Gabe grinned at the answer he got. Perfect, he officially had a job now. He would have said something else had he not looked in front of them and seen the three girls. "Well look who it is!" He called out, keeping his grin as he picked up his pace just a little to reach them. That was Merry beside Tori, even with her face a little covered(and why was that anyway?) there was no mistaking that hair. Considering the other teen that was with them had hair that was just as white he was going to bet that Merry's sister she had told him about.
Tori giggled at Merry's reaction and waved at the others as Gabe made his way over. "These are the friends I told you guys about!" She said quickly, more to Toru and Kiyo, she'd introduce them properly when they got closer.
Kiyoko glanced over at the newcomers, though as her eyes came to two heads of white hair she nearly froze. That- no, no they couldn't be. They couldn't be, they weren't in New Tokyo, and Jun was old, if not dead at this point there was just no way. Maybe these kids bleached their hair or something, she knew that was a trend, but even then that hair was too perfectly white to be artificial.
On the outside there were only small hints of Kiyo's nerves, most people would assume she was just being as quiet as she usually was around strangers, but Satoru knew the signs. She looked down at her brother(they called each other siblings these days, and they even looked enough alike for it to pass) to see if he'd notice the same thing she had. After all, the Ghosts had only been rumors for the longest time, she never even saw one herself until her last year in New Tokyo. The kid had been so much younger than herself, but she still remembered how scared she had been.
Karina smiled when Gabe came over to talk to them, though she felt someone staring at her and quickly brought her attention to the two brunettes in the background. She didn't like the feeling she was getting from them.
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Post by Meredith Wallis-Kline on May 20, 2015 2:26:32 GMT -5
Merry perked up more out of surprise than excitement. Now that he was here she was just kind of flustered and oh wow he still looked like a knight in shining armor oh wow. She smiled shyly up at him and bowed just a little bit in greeting. "H-hello," she stammered out before she looked up a little more properly. "It's nice to, um, to see you again," she managed. "Thank you, for last time..." She fiddled with the fabric of her skirt for want of something to do with her hands.
Satoru glanced up to Kiyo, raising a brow. He knew those tells. He followed his sister's line of sight, and looking back he'd be embarrassed at how long it had taken for him to figure out what was going on. "Ghosts," he breathed out, a quick, "well shit," quickly following. He'd only ever heard of them, and even then it was all hearsay and rumors. Ghostly pale children and horrific experiments that came from Jun. What they were for, he'd never really found out, but he'd always assumed it was what anyone in New Tokyo did anything for: power. But for them to be here of all places...
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Post by Karina Wallis-Kline on May 20, 2015 18:37:58 GMT -5
Kiyoko nodded, but she still looked a bit unsure. She kept her voice just a little quieter than normal, between that and their distance from the group of teens they should be safe to talk about it briefly. "Yeah but, they didn't grow up in New Tokyo." Not long enough to get taken into the training stages at least. If she remembered right, Ghosts had to wear shock collars for a while to keep them from turning on Jun or the others involved, but the girls' necks showed no signs of damage. "And I think the younger one's a failed result." Satoru could probably figure that out himself though. You could always tell from the eyes, and the little girl blushing at Gabe didn't seem to have a violent bone in her body.
Which made things even stranger. Kiyoko had never heard of what happened to failed Ghost, but she was certain that New Tokyo's rule of "if you're not useful you're dead" still applied to them.
What the hell was going on here...?
Gabe smiled at Merry and laughed a little. "Don't mention it, just hope this brat's not getting you into trouble." He said jokingly as he flicked Tori's forehead.
The younger Kuma's cheeks blew up in mild annoyance at the flick and pushed him. Not that it did much of anything, stupid giant. "I don't know what you're talking about, I'm freaking perfect." She informed him as her grin returned. She slung an arm around Merry's shoulders and giggled. "We don't get into trouble at all, right Merry?"
Karina was happy to let the three talk among themselves as she just listened. Well, tried to listen, part of her attention was still on the two in her peripheral vision. She couldn't tell what they were doing, but whatever it was gave her a bad feeling.
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Post by Meredith Wallis-Kline on May 20, 2015 22:38:14 GMT -5
Satoru frowned. New Tokyo had a way of creeping itself into Hatsu Itonami, he wasn't so sure this was any different than himself or Blue or even Kiyoko getting their way here... "Maybe your friends got them out," he suggested. Kiyo was right about the younger one, though. She was definitely not a Ghost. Jun never would have stood for something so sweet and innocent to remain.
The younger of the snowy haired siblings smiled a little brighter at the banter. It was nice to see people so close. "Mhm," she agreed to Kotori's proclamation. She wouldn't dream of getting into trouble, it would just end badly to try and do that, and she was very happy sticking to the rules as it was. She liked being safe. She opened her mouth, about to ask Gabe something, when the door burst open.
"E'yo Gabe!" A rough voice hollered from behind them as Blue swaggered on in with a smirk on her face. "Anya wants yer pansy ass t'git to the theater or some shit cuz yer fuckin' phone's off. An' I ain' appreciative a' bein' used fer-" Blue cut off suddenly, staring at the pair of white-haired girls in the lobby of the shooting range. Her face twitched and her entire body shifted towards something far more dangerous than it was an instant prior.
"Th' fuck are those doin here!?" She shrieked, gesturing to the two girls with wild eyes. Her new stance was equal parts 'ready to kill' and 'ready to flee,' as if she couldn't decide which would ensure her survival. "Th' fuck're Ghost's doin' in this fuckin city!?" The gangster's voice was at a pitch of panic that no one in the room had ever heard before, and Blue's eyes darted from the Wallis-Kline's to Gabe to Satoru and back again.
Merry shrunk back towards her sister, easily terrified by the newcomer. She wanted to ask but couldn't form the words, heart lodged too far in the back of her throat in fear to let her speak, only make a horrified sounding squeak. The blue-haired girl looked wild and dangerous, and Merry did not want wild and dangerous. She made a grab for Karina's hand, attempting to get the reliable form of her sister between herself and the newcomer.
Satoru just sighed. Of course it was going to be Blue.
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Post by Karina Wallis-Kline on May 20, 2015 23:23:27 GMT -5
Karina turned to the source of the new voice, moving Merry behind her as she looked at the blue haired girl. What in the world was she talking about? Ghosts? Ghosts weren't real.
But she'd ask about that later, for now the new arrival had scared Merry and Karina wouldn't tolerate that.
Before anyone could stop her, the elder of the two sisters had pushed Blue to a wall and grabbed one of her arms. The white haired teen's face was out of view from her sister, so she felt safe with letting her features set into a glare that usually would not make its way to the surface. "You scared my little sister." She spoke each word carefully to make sure she was getting her point across, voice cold and low enough to where only the girl in front of her could hear. "Apologize to her and I'll spare your arm, and it better be sincere." She tightened her hold and waited for a response.
Kiyo nearly grabbed her hair in frustration, but resisted the urge to do so. Okay yeah the older sister was DEFINITELY a Ghost there was no doubt about it. Now the question was what to do now? SHE certainly wasn't getting in the middle of that.
Gabe, who had pulled both Merry and Tori toward him, turned his head to his stepdad and aunt. Neither of them seemed surprised at what was going on, and look on the blond's face was clearly sending them a "what the fuck is going on?" message.
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Post by Satoru Alabaster on Jun 2, 2015 20:22:52 GMT -5
Blue jerked away from the white haired girl, only managing to jar her shoulder thanks to the grip that the elder of the white-haired girls had on her arm. She didn't do apologies but she also didn't do losing her arms but her voice was just a strangled vibration in her throat.
Merry stayed firmly near Gabe, eyes squeezed shut in case something happened. She hated fighting and she hated blood and she was so scared right now and--
Two cracks of a gun going off shattered the tension and gave the range two perfectly even bullet holes in the wall. "Break it up." Satoru called out calmly. "If you wanna duke it out you do it in the training rooms, not in the fuckin' lobby."
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Post by Karina Wallis-Kline on Jun 4, 2015 22:17:08 GMT -5
Gabe's hold on Tori and Merry tightened for a quick moment on reflex to hearing the gun go off. That should do something, he hoped. What was up with Merry's big sister? He of all people knew how Blue could be, but she hadn't done anything worth the aggression displayed(not YET at least).
Karina showed no outward response to the two shots, eyes staying locked on the blue haired teen in front of her for a few more moments before letting go of her arm. She kept the girl in her view though, just in case. "I didn't come here to fight." She said simply. The only reason she had come was for Merry.
There was a quiet sigh from the eldest New Tokyo woman in the room. At least the girl didn't seem as murderous as she could have been, but if she wasn't aware of what she was... They were going to have to say something, especially now that Blue already brought it up, the girls would probably be curious. Kiyoko turned to the eldest of the sisters. "We know you didn't. My name's Kiyoko, what's yours?"
"Karina." Her response was calm, but she was a little wary now. Her eyes moved back to the girl she had just... spoken to. "Either you think you can see the dead, or you were calling Merry and I ghosts. I'd like an explanation."
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Post by Satoru Alabaster on Jun 5, 2015 22:56:46 GMT -5
"Satoru," the gunslinger introduced himself as he holstered his gun again. He glanced to the darker skinned New Tokyo-nite Blue looked pale, possibly from seeing a Ghost and possibly from the gunshots, and she hadn't moved away from the wall just yet, but she didn't look to be too injured. That was good enough for him. "And it's not you and your sister, it's just you."
Merry blinked, then swallowed the lump in her throat and edged out from behind Gabe to grab her elder sister's hand as she spoke up. "Karina's not a ghost." She said, as firmly as she could manage. "She's my big sister."
"Shit girl," Blue said, eying the pair from her spot, "After that mess you think she ain't both?"
Satoru dragged a hand through his hair and sighed. "Yeah, right, explanations." He looked to Gabe and Tori. "Neither of you spreads what Kiyo and I are about to say around, got it?" He said, not waiting for a response before looking back to Karina and Merry. "Back in New Tokyo there was a woman named Jun, a crime lord who had a hand in almost everything but specialized mostly with drugs. She started messing around with the ideas of specially made soldiers, better than mercenaries or the gang protection rackets that she dealt with, something that could give her an edge." He frowned. "Unfortunately, it looks like she was succeeding, though I can't say I know too many of the details..." He looked up to Kiyoko, a visible a nudge to get her to start talking.
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Post by Karina Wallis-Kline on Jun 5, 2015 23:48:47 GMT -5
Kiyoko took that as her cue. "Like Satoru said, most of Jun's focus had been in the drug business, so she looked there to help make these ideal soldiers. It eventually lead to experiments with pregnant women. They were given drugs, cocaine I think, but other chemicals were added to it without the women knowing." She paused to let the information process before continuing.
As Karina listened, she didn't realize that her hand that was holding Merry's had tightened it's grip. Her jaw was clenched and she hadn't blinked since the mention of New Tokyo. She didn't want to think about that god forsaken city ever again, especially not when she... And then Kiyoko mentioned pregnant women and cocaine, dear god that was what their mother was doing when she-- "What did the chemicals do?" Her voice was soft, but... there was still something strained in it.
The older woman frowned as she looked at the girl and continued. "The extra chemicals didn't do anything to the mother, instead they would go straight to the fetus' brain and... alter it. There are two kinds of results in the experiment: the failed result, meaning that the chemicals were rejected and the child only experiences typical side effects from the cocaine. The other one though, a successful result, is where the chemicals are accepted and they wire certain parts of the brain to basically turn them into the perfect killer. Eventually the successes, or Ghosts, would be taken from their homes and put through training to be turned into human weapons for Jun to use as she saw fit."
There were a few moments that Karina couldn't find any words. She... She knew there was something wrong with her, she always knew, but hearing this just made her feel sick. She wasn't... She wasn't a WEAPON what was this woman saying!? "And you think I'm one of these Ghosts?" She finally managed to ask. "You don't have proof, you don't know anything about me!" These people were WRONG they HAD to be!
"Karina," Kiyoko began, keeping her voice calm so not to set her off. "You reacted when Toru mentioned New Tokyo." And as for proof... "The reason they're called Ghosts is because whether a result is a failure or a success, the kids that are exposed to the chemicals are all born with white hair."
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Post by Satoru Alabaster on Jun 6, 2015 19:07:16 GMT -5
"That," Satoru added, "and you just nearly broke Blue's arm and she's fresh out of an active war zone." And he had a feeling that Karina hadn't had much in the way of formal combat training. Or even informal training, for that matter.
Merry just looked up to her sister, ignoring how tight her hold on Merry's hand was becoming. That... That couldn't... Merry didn't want to believe it, but despite her youth she wasn't dumb. There was too much in common with what made Ghosts and what their own history was like. "But that doesn't mean they're always bad!" Merry protested, hoping she was right. "Being strong doesn't mean you're good or bad." She said, more directly to her elder sister that time. She'd read that much in a book, and she understood that better than most. Having something a little different didn't make a person any less or more than what they made themselves into with it.
She had to believe that was true, she just- she had to.
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Post by Karina Wallis-Kline on Jun 6, 2015 19:47:38 GMT -5
Kiyoko frowned. "That's true in theory, but... Well, the children are kept under close watch until they're old enough to tell if they're Ghosts or not. If they are, they're taken almost immediately and..." She closed her eyes for a moment, deciding to skip over that part both for the sisters and for herself. The thought of him going through that training, the shock collar, all of it, she just couldn't. Her eyes opened and she took a breath. "It's not pleasant."
Now there was another mystery, how did these two get out of New Tokyo? The people Jun would have had watching them wouldn't have let them get away easily. "How did the two of you even leave the city? How old were you?"
Karina, who was still having a hard time processing, responded anyway. "Some group got us out, put us into foster care. Merry was a year old and I was four."
Kiyoko nodded to herself as she thought. Four-years-old would have been old enough to tell, Karina should have been taken by then. "And do you remember if anything happened before that?" She might not remember if she was so young, but it was still good to ask. This time however, the elder of the two sisters was silent. "Karina?"
"I don't remember." Came quickly after that. No, no she was not talking about what happened not in front of Merry. Karina had never told anyone about what she was sure they were wanting to know about. She had fought way too hard for way too long to keep that away. "Like I said, I was only four when it happened."
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