Voice; Request

[singlefaith]

[Ran's not sure she's comfortable with being seen for this one, as it's a subject that's touching a little deeply for her, so for the moment she just sticks to voice.]

[She pulls in a soft breath.]

I . . . need some help.

I know a lot of you have met Conan-kun. He's been here for a while. There's another girl here from my world now too -- Ai-chan. If you haven't met them yet, I hope you get to soon.

What I need help with . . . They're both seven. They're both smart -- really smart -- for their age, but. They're both seven. And not fighters. The train doesn't seem to discriminate about who it takes, and yet the missions that it sends us on are dangerous.

[A pause, wrestling with her words.]

I need them both to be safe. This past time Sera-chan and I were able to be with them. But what happens if we're not able to do that? How does their safety get guaranteed?

I need a better guarantee. Please help me figure out how to keep two kids safe so I can get them back home? I'm teaching both some simpler self-defense, and that will help, but . . . I already know it's not enough.

Comments

[singlefaith]

[There's warmth in Ran's voice as she responds.] Thank you -- I'm grateful for Sera-chan being here.

I know, though, too, that realistically we may not always be able to be there. I mean, up until now, we've been able to choose the team we want to go with. What if that changes? And then the types of monsters that we've seen so far . . . we don't have powers. We were trained to fight against humans -- and that's only if necessary to protect ourselves or others, not for fighting off armies.

. . . Or monsters.

We . . . may not be enough. [That's hard to say. And something she's been wrestling with hard since probably the first mission.]

[tactlesstantei]

[Masumi knows that there's a lot of what ifs on the train and the missions, and for a moment she doesn't respond, thinking about what to say.]

"That's why the more people we can get on watching them, the better. That way there's always someone who can keep an eye out for them, no matter what happens on the missions."

[She's trying to sound confident, aware that being uncertain won't help. But she can't keep it up, and the confidence slips a bit when she continues.]

"Our lack of powers worries me too. I've...been thinking of finding another way to protect myself and others, just in case I need it."

[singlefaith]

[A soft sigh on the other end.] More people watching will definitely help . . . and I'm grateful for people wanting to. I'm not sure if it's the ultimate solution, though. You know how chaotic it gets during the fighting. Our attention can get pulled somewhere else so easily, and then what?

[Honestly, while yes, Ran wishes Sera had the answers and the confidence to say that everything would be okay, it's also reassuring to hear that Sera's thought -- and worried about it -- too. It makes it human. Normal. And Ran needs that right now more.]

It might be a good idea to find other options. Did you think of anything?

[tactlesstantei]

“I know. There’s no guarantee this’ll work perfectly. This helps, and so does trying to teach them some self defence, but...”

[Masumi was aware of how hard it was to keep track of someone while in a fight from the last mission, and that things could still go badly.

As for finding other options for herself...]

“I’m not sure yet. I’d have to figure that out, but it would make me feel better if I had a second option in case Jeet Kune Do doesn’t work again.”

[The last mission had proven she couldn’t rely on JKD as her sole method of protection.]

[singlefaith]

Same . . . Though I'm not sure if I want it to involve a weapon, so that might reduce some of the options.

[Ran still hates weapons -- always has. She can admire the prowess that others have with them, but can never feel at ease with the destruction they're meant to cause.]

If you find something that looks like a possibility, let me know? I'll keep an eye out too.

[tactlesstantei]

"I get that." [Masumi understood where Ran was coming from on weapons, and so didn't argue.]

"I'll tell you if I find something that might help without involving weapons. Who knows, maybe we can figure something out before the next mission."

[Hopefully she could find something that would help. And hopefully that really could be accomplished in under a month.]