[Rui Matsui]

Rui had never been so relieved to see her mutation features return to her. Not only that, but her quirk was back to normal too. Anything she might have learned, any humbling she received during the Dream World attack would soon vanish as she gave her ego time to rebuild itself. Sitting up she looked around her. There were still some people that were passed out, maybe because they had entered the dream and she hadn't? It was a prime opportunity for her to go around and check their pockets and bags for potential wallets to steal.

Meanwhile, in an unmarked car parked further down the street.

''That's her? She's so... Small.'' Said the younger guy dressed in black, observing Rui's pickpocketing from afar through binoculars.

''Project Eir. You wouldn't think it, but she's one of them.'' Confirmed an older guy dressed in similar black attire.

''Okay, okay...'' The young guy put the binoculars down and brandished a handgun. ''So, we're bringing her in?''

''We're not bringing anyone in.'' The older guy glanced down at the weapon. ''And put your gun away, that isn't going to help us. We're just gonna have a chat with her. I'll talk, you just follow my lead.''

They were about to exit the car when someone approached Rui before them, though they couldn't get a look at them from their current position.

Bakiri Retsu

[Bakiri Retsu]

It hadn't been long since the Dream World had ended and spat her back into a waking nightmare. Retsu limped through the streets, her phone in one hand to direct her towards Rui and her pistol clenched in a white-knuckled grip in the other. Only half the magazine still remained. The rest she'd already been forced to use. Blood flowed off her like ink off a page, revealing nought but a stained, empty mess beneath. Her hood was raised, covering her head and body alike as if it were her shield against the waking world. 

It was a flimsy lifeline. Blood stained polyester did little to defend from the harsh reality she'd found herself in. Had she had the energy for it she might have chuckled sardonically. Truly, it was amazing that she'd never noticed something was off. Everyone else seemed to. Only upon returning to a cold, empty existence did Retsu get a sneaking suspicion.

Something was terribly wrong. 

There was a hollow feeling deep inside she'd carried with her for so long she hadn't even realized it was there, filled by outlandish reaches, constant distractions and burning wroth. Little but fumes remained at the moment. Just enough to put one foot in front of the other, sputtering sparks trying and failing to reignite the fiery rage she now realized she relied on to carry on. Had existence always felt so cold without her constant hate and single-minded pursuits to sustain her?

She didn't remember. No, perhaps she simply refused to remember for fear of what she would find. Wasn't that something? Bakuretsu, terrorist extraordinaire and higher up in an organization that had turned Tokyo upside down, afraid. It was laughable. 

Retsu couldn't muster up so much as a chuckle.

She didn't even bother greeting Rui when she finally spotted her. Just one foot in front of the other, uncaring of what it would look like to any outsider. A hooded, bloodsoaked figure approaching the little devil with gun in hand. Who knew what anyone would think? Who knew what they'd do? Retsu didn't. Know, nor care. Not today. Not now. Perhaps not ever again. A derisive snort left her at that thought. When had she sunk so low?

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Tags: Rui Matsui

[Rui Matsui]

''Sir.'' The younger man looked at his superior with concern when Retsu appeared in her terrifying guise. ''I know, don't worry about it. Eir is a villain, scenes like these aren't uncommon when it comes to dealing with, or monitoring her activity.'' While the older man remained calm, his colleague wasn't convinced. ''Um, but sir, they're armed.'' He pointed at Retsu and slowly raised his gun again. ''I told you to put that away. Did you read the file on Project Eir?'' The young man nodded. ''I did sir, her and Project Bilrost and Project Janus too! Her quirk is healing, right?''

''Not just any healing. She's practically as close to immortal as you can get. There are few ways to kill her, but a normal gun won't cut it.'' The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he was growing with Retsu's presence. Was this hooded figure caked in blood some kind of lone wolf? Someone Rui had pissed off, or did they have more sinister motives? If so, were they someone who could shut off quirks, or was perhaps wanting to extract Rui's? They couldn't be safe just sitting and waiting for something to go wrong.

In the meantime Rui was going through another wallet, taking out all the cash and tossing everything else aside. IDs, credit cards, it wasn't the cold hard cash she was looking for. ''You're pretty rich, aren't you?'' She asked the man she was sitting on who was still asleep. ''No response.'' She shrugged, finally looking up to spot Retsu, but she didn't recognize her given the attire. ''Who's there? If you wanna fight I'm not in the mood.'' She paused, before raising her voice some more. ''I'm allowed to have bad days too, you know!''

Just as Retsu reached Rui, the two men dressed in black approached from the side. ''Hey there, Rui.'' The older man started. His hair was graying, but she knew all too well who he was. She had been away from their facility for years, but this man had known Rui since she was a child. ''Hi Junoichi.'' She replied with an air of disinterest. She wasn't afraid, but she also wasn't her usual brand of excited. ''Who's your friend there?'' They weren't armed, but then again they never were. ''Friend?'' She looked at Junoichi and then back at Retsu. ''Your bestie.'' He pointed at the hooded figure.

Bakiri Retsu

[Bakiri Retsu]

Retsu heard Rui's words but hardly registered them, the vibrations in the air seeming to travel with uncharacteristic slowness to penetrate the fog in her head at a snail's pace. She mustered up the smallest of smirks when their meaning registered.

"Makes two a' us, Ruister."

Her voice was gruff and raspy, like a sore throat spiced with cigarette smoke and coffee grounds. It lacked the characteristic spark it always had. The almost narcissistic surety that the world was hers and that she need but reach out to take it. Instead it was almost hollow. Emptied. As if the words it once proclaimed had lost their significance and were simply thrown out to confirm the speaker hadn't lost all capability to influence the world. 

Retsu whipped around when another voice reached her ears, her eyes -both of them- opened wide and her gun coming up instinctively to ward off the new threat. Only their familiarity with Rui kept her from firing instantly. 

"Roite back at ya," she almost wheezed. "Scratch that, jus' fook off fer now 'fore ah shoot ya."

Her aim wavered, the barrel of her pistol refusing to stay aligned as she swayed on her feet. She was so out of it that she hadn't even noticed that the sudden turn had caused her hood to fall off even as the increased brightness caused her left eye to twitch in pain.

---

Tag: Rui Matsui

[Rui Matsui]

She immediately perked up the moment she heard Retsu's voice. ''Bomb Bestie!! Is that you? Why the Halloween costume?'' No wonder she didn't recognize her, she didn't know Retsu liked to celebrate Halloween in the summer. ''That's just my bestie!'' She gestured at Retsu to the guys in black.

''Hey, hey easy now..'' Junoichi stuck his hands up and instructed his subordinate to do the same. ''We're just here to check on Rui. We care about her just like you, you're her bestie, right? We care too.'' He smiled at Retsu, trying to disarm her with words, but Rui interjected. ''Nuh-uh, no you don't. You care about putting me in a room. Don't listen to them bestie, they're from Koi.''

When Retsu's hood fell off both of the guys from Koi paused, their attention taken off Rui completely as they stared at Retsu in disbelief. ''..Sir, isn't that the empty vessel of Project Bilrost?'' He asked with uncertainty, but even his superior saw it. ''The eye...'' He agreed, narrowing his eyes at Retsu. ''Miss, what did you say your name was again?'' She hadn't told him her name, but he was hoping to pull a fast one on her. Should he use his quirk to neutralize her? She was already injured, presumably from this whole dream fiasco. If only she wasn't pointing a gun at them. She was guaranteed to be quirkless so it would be an easy fight. So long as Rui didn't get involved of course, a fight with Project Eir would be an unmitigated disaster. ''Sir, doesn't The Ruler kill those who have been harvested?'' Junoichi took a deep breath, then while keeping his eyes on Retsu he replied.

''Araki, was it?''

''..Yes.''

''Shut up and let me do the talking.'' While keeping his hands up he directed the conversation back to Retsu. ''Miss Bomb Bestie, what's your power? And don't try to lie to us, that won't be possible.''

Bakiri Retsu

[Bakiri Retsu]

The words rang like thunder in Retsu's head. Empty vessel? Project Bilrost? Koi? What did any of that even mean? The beginning of a sickening realization brought up bile at the mere thought of what it could be, forcing her to keep her mouth shut as she swayed on her feet. What truly hammered the intense feeling of wrongness she'd been feeling ever since she left the Dream in was one specific comment, an acknowledgement that had layers behind it.

Her eye.

As she felt the light sting Retsu didn't even question which one they meant. No. Even without the pain Retsu would have understood instantly. It was her left. The one that hadn't hurt the entire time she was in the Dream, even as flames spouted from her cornea and put light's origin point right in front of it. 

"My name?" Retsu echoed idiotically, almost seeming to hear herself from a distance. As if it weren't her speaking. Like she was just listening in on something happening to someone else. Her teeth grit. That wasn't like her. She hadn't come this far to whimper like a child at the first sign of something that would overturn her life. Steadying her gun arm through sheer force of will she glared at the man with the full force of someone that had turned Tokyo upside down, sown terror and left bodies by the dozens if not hundreds in her wake. The full force of Bakiri Retsu.

"Bakuretsu," she spat through gritted teeth. "But ah get the feelin' you already knew that. Y'r gonna demand answers from me? Me?!" 

Her voice raised at the last word for emphasis, nearing a shout as spittle flew through the air. She spat the word with such venom it caused her to jerk forward, overturning her fragile balance and nearly causing her to collapse. As if by instinct her free hand began to reach towards Rui's shoulder for support before she recoiled like she'd been burned. It was clear the horned devil was associated with Koi as well. She couldn't put her trust in Mummy. Her fist clenched so hard her nails dug into her palm, drawing blood as she forced herself to stay upright through sheer force of will. 

"Ah dun' think ya understand the situation y'r in. Ah'll be askin' the fookin' questions. Y'r gonna answer or y'r gonna lose your heads one bah one." 

Her voice almost trailed off multiple times during her demands, the blood loss making it hard to speak and making her thoughts come sluggishly in stark contrast to how her heart was racing.

"Who the fook is The Ruler and what the hells is Koi?"

------

Tag: Rui Matsui

[Rui Matsui]

That explained everything. “Bakuretsu.” Junoichi mused, almost as if he was playing with the name and the revelation. “Who would have thought?” He gave her a quick glance up and down, was this bleeding mess really the villain that had Tokyo on lockdown? The villain who was driving the Heroes Association insane? All that hype and she was just some girl with weapons. Maybe that was why she had avoided capture so far. It would be all too easy to bring her to the heroes in this state, but he didn’t want that. Koi didn’t want that. “Who would have thought one of the empty vessels could accomplish something so grand.”

His smile flickered for a moment as he took a step back when she took one towards him. “Bestie..” Rui reached out, but paused when Retsu reeled. She looked like she was in a lot of pain, like the kind of lost-your-hand pain that Retsu and others felt. She was incapable of feeling that pain, but she knew Retsu was hurting from how she was talking and moving.

“Listen, uh… Bakuretsu?” Junoichi started up carefully. “You’ve clearly been through a lot, hell, you’re bleeding all over the sidewalk. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know, but this isn’t a good place to talk. We’re sitting ducks out here in the open. I don’t think you, or your bestie here wants to fight any heroes right now. They’re on their way to clean up this whole mess, if they see you two they’re gonna want to bring you in, but that doesn’t have to happen. We can take you somewhere safe.”

“Yeah and be experimented on.” Rui said coldly.

“There’s no need for that. We just want to talk, we’re friends, besties. Right, Rui? We can go to the arcade, just like old times.”

“No, I don’t think so.” Rui shook her head gently. “Bestie, want me to heal you?”

“Your power is intact?” Junoichi asked Rui, who gave a dismissive shrug. “Do I look any different to you?”

Bakiri Retsu

[Bakiri Retsu]

"What the fook," Retsu slurred while trying to keep her feet under her. "What the fook does that mean?"

Her anger was getting roused. Who the hells were they and what had they done? She couldn't think clearly. Not through the anger and even less through the blood loss. Empty vessel. Those two words rang through her head causing so much pain it felt like her skull was caught in a vice. Her teeth grit so hard she heard something crack, like the ice of detachment hiding the ocean of fire boiling beneath. Her vision narrowed until there was nought but herself and the three people around her. 

"Experimented?" She repeated after Rui. There was so much she wanted to ask. So much that made both more and less sense now. She'd long known Rui's quirk was impressive even compared to most other high-end ones but never wondered why. This Koi or Ruler they went on about, was it or them responsible?

"Heal?!" Retsu almost spat as her vision narrowed ever further, the edges coloring black. Heal her? What was she intending to heal? What the hells was wrong with her? Her anger flared. Who the fook did Mummy think she was to just bring her back to whichever state these Koi people wanted her in?! A loud bang resounded through the surroundings but Retsu didn't hear it. Pure instinct had caused her to pull the trigger even as her senses left her. Whether it hit the man she'd been aiming her pistol at or not wasn't something she had the capacity to register.

The last thing she saw before she fell forward onto Rui and her vision faded entirely was the woman's horned visage. It was the same view she'd seen several times before when she'd been at her lowest. When she'd lost her home and narrowly escaped capture it'd been that devilish face that was the first thing she saw as she faded in and out of consciousness. At the factory when her hand had been severed and her own fate had quite literally slipped out of her fingers those horned features had gotten closer and closer just as they did now. Back during a misjudged fight that left her bleeding out on the street those very same eyes had met hers as the villain asked a question that still echoed through Retsu's head every time she was in a state like this.

"Do you fear death?"

Today she feared something else far more.

---

Tag: Rui Matsui

[Rui Matsui]

''I understand that you're confused. If you come with us I'll explain everything to you.'' All Junoichi needed was to bring her along to their base. He wasn't actually planning on upholding his end of the deal, but perhaps if they could examine the vessel of Bilrost a little closer they could identify why it succeeded where so many others had failed or dissipated into mediocrity. The only problem was calming Retsu down. Her anger was as explosive as her arsenal and at this rate it really did seem like she was going to fire at them.

Rui just looked at Retsu silently, showing a kind of concern she didn't for anyone else, and it wasn't going unnoticed by Koi. When Retsu repeated the word heal she nodded. ''You're bleeding, you'll die like that. It's nothing I can't fix.'' She was about to unwrap her hand when the gun went off in Junoichi's direction. The junior who had accompanied him dove in front of the bullet and took it through the head, his body lifeless by the time it hit the ground. However, there was a notable absence of blood coming out of his head. Not that any party present except for Junoichi had the awareness to notice that. ''Bestie!'' She caught her and put her down slowly since she couldn't hold Retsu up. Without hesitating she wrapped her bandages around her unconscious friend and began healing her.

''You wouldn't mind if we took her with us, would you Rui?'' Junoichi looked at Retsu. ''I would, actually. I'm having dinner with her later.'' At least Rui had decided that for herself. ''Are you going to fight me for her?'' She asked defiantly, having already completed the healing process. ''No. No I'm not. We came here to confirm that your quirk was still with you after the dream incident. It seems that everything has gone back to normal.'' He squatted down and looked at his dead subordinate. ''I'm not healing him.'' Rui shrugged as she started helping Retsu back up. ''Oh, there's no need.'' Junoichi reassured her as the junior Koi member slowly got back up again. ''Are you okay, sir?'' He asked with a discolored crack in his forehead where the bullet had hit him. ''Yes.'' Junoichi glanced at his forehead. ''Your paint is coming off, let's head back.'' Just as they turned to head back to their car Junoichi waved back at the girls. ''Take care Rui! We'll be seeing each other again soon.'' She didn't say anything in return. Why would she? This was nothing new to her. To Retsu maybe... Did she owe her an explanation?

She had managed to drag Retsu back to her apartment where she had dumped her on the couch and thrown a blanket over her. By the time Retsu came to she would find Rui looking at a bunch of paperwork. An unfamiliar sight.

Bakiri Retsu

[Bakiri Retsu]

An unfamiliar ceiling. No. She'd been here once before, hadn't she? With an uncharacteristic amount of lethargy Retsu slowly turned her head to face the room. It was quiet. Far quieter than it had been last time. As if something had been lost and the very air were in mourning. But what? 

"Yo, Ruister."

It took a moment for her to realize what Rui was looking at. Papers? Odd. She'd never seen the horned devil read before. 'Just what is on those papers?' Her mind whispered to her. Why did she feel so betrayed? It didn't make any sense. Betrayal never came from your enemies. Rui was a rival, nothing more. So why...

With gritted teeth Retsu pushed herself upright. The pain was gone leaving a hollow numbness in its place. She hated it. Always had. Gods, she could use a drink. Unfortunately she didn't think she could enjoy it right now. Too many things were running through her mind. Far too many questions with no answers.

Her left eye throbbed. No. There were answers. She just had to get them. Casting a look at Rui her mouth half-opened before she paused with a churning feeling in her stomach. She would find her answers, no matter how many people she had to get through to do it. Even if she had to set the whole city ablaze.

"Ah owe ya one," Retsu finally spoke up as she forced herself to stand up. Her tone lacked the levity with which she usually spoke to Rui. "Rekken ah need ta get goin' now. Ah'll see ya 'round."

---

Tag: Rui Matsui

[Rui Matsui]

''Bestie! You're awake!'' Rui stood up on her seat, smiling from a moment, but then forgot what she was supposed to be smiling about. Nothing about Dream World had been fun, and despite being alive she didn't feel like celebrating either. She wasn't even sure why she had dragged Retsu out here. To get her away from Koi? To have dinner with her? Everything felt like it missed something, like some key ingredient was missing in every little interaction she had ever since she woke back up reunited with her own powers. For the first time since forever, she felt like exactly what she was. Nothing but skin and bones.

''You fell asleep.'' She lied, but technically what Retsu did was a kind of sleeping. She pushed the papers aside and jumped down from her chair. ''Well, that's what besties do.'' She could tell that Retsu had been through something too. They were both a lot more quiet than usual. Every time Retsu hurt, did it hurt like she had felt it when her quirk was gone? Was that what pain felt like? She wanted to say something, but she wasn't the best at words. ''You know I get it.'' She blurted out, glancing at the floor, unsure before looking back at her bomb bestie. ''That hurting thing. I get it now. When people hurt, they hurt. They feel it, it's real.'' Eating dinner together had seemed like a good idea at the time, but even someone as selfish and tone-deaf as her could tell they both needed some space. ''Oh, okay.'' She couldn't hide her disappointment but she wasn't planning on keeping Retsu either. ''The door's always open.'' She opened the door to the apartment, the lock was kicked in long ago and Rui had never bothered fixing it. ''Bye.''

Bakiri Retsu

[Sol]

[googlefont=Quicksand]

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[attr="class","likedotitle2"]Approved

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A surprising connection between Rui and Retsu! Hopefully Retsu will be able to find her answers on what the Koi business was about.
Mission approved, nicely done you two!

Rui Matsui - 10,750 EXP + 5,000 = 15,750 EXP
Bakiri Retsu - 1,750 EXP + 5,000 = 6,750 EXP

PHARAOH LEAP.

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