#continuing in new post bc i couldn't trim down the original--hope you don't mind!

[standbowed]

@hopingforjustice // continued.

"A Stand…?" Hachi mouths the words a few times as Reimi continues speaking, fingers pulling restlessly at the bottom of her sweater. She tries her best to listen, but it's overwhelming to say the least--to have this all explained after weeks of fumbling through it blindly and doubting herself at every turn. The arrow gives people stands--she suspected but hadn't been sure until now. There are other Stand users in town--this Hachi knows, given how fervently she's been trying to avoid them after seeing how much destruction scuffles between them seem to leave in their wake (she doesn't want to see her Stand crushed like a soda can by one of those bigger, scarier ones--poor Driver 8 who seems just as anxiously at a loss with their predicament as she is).

Reimi is new at this--that's surprising to Hachi, and makes her worry--not just for herself, but for Reimi as well; Reimi has been doing her best to guide her through this, but who has been guiding Reimi? Was there anyone she could rely on? And why had Reimi taken up this task, of all people? Why could Reimi see Stands without having one? Hachi had been operating under the assumption that only those who had one could see the others, since her grandpa couldn't--but maybe it's a matter of aptitude? If that's the case... what if there are a ton of really dangerous Stands Hachi can't see because she's simply not high-level enough for it?! Ohh god... Hachi gnaws anxiously at her lip and almost cuts across Reimi to ask one or maybe all of these questions in rapid succession, but stops short as the girl presents her with information that cuts her to the bone with dread--informs her of the danger of the alley itself. Then comes her reassurance, like a soothing balm, then right back into the shock with her final, terrible announcement--Arnold is dead.

Arnold is dead.

If Hachi wasn't already on the ground, her legs would have given out from under her then, wide eyes searching Reimi's face for any sliver of falsehood--but all she finds there is a terrible, entreating grief that Hachi feels like a punch clean through her chest cavity. Her eyes gloss over with moisture then, equal parts overwhelmed for herself and stricken with secondhand misery for Reimi and her companion.

"I…" she croaks, and tries to clear the lump out of her throat before she speaks again. "That's… I'm so sorry. I can't even imagine..." Hachi forces her fingers to uncurl and places them trembling in her lap, eyes flickering over Reimi's gentle features as if she'll find the exact right words to say to her on her face if she studies it hard enough. Brows furrowed, Hachi's face is painfully earnest and open in its concern, but she does her best to straighten up from her spot on the ground, to project some sense of stability even though she's feeling anything but. "I don't know if I fully understand everything you told me, but… Please tell me what to do, and I'll do it. I don't want to cause any more trouble for you than I already have."

#ic. #rp. #hopingforjustice #continuing in new post bc i couldn't trim down the original--hope you don't mind! #sorry as always for the late reply oh my gosh. trying to get better about timelier replies moving forward here.