#(Shinobu gets revenge and makes life worse for Sonia at the same time)

[more-than-a-princess]

"What the-," Byakuya sputtered as the other two women looked on. "Unhand me this instant, Yaguchi! You have no authority to treat me like this, I am part of the Future Foundation!" The words fell on deaf ears, mostly as Mikan had busied herself to supply pain killers through Sonia's IV: considering her friend's level of distress, she needed something that would work far more quickly than a pill. And after her weekly meeting with Byakuya Togami, she deserved it. Only a few of the Remnants of Despair were assigned to meet with Byakuya Togami: the former members of Class 77-B that Kyoko and Aoi couldn't handle, or that Makoto didn't have time for as he mentored Hajime Hinata and awaited Nagito Komaeda's awakening.

But Sonia soon wouldn't be the only one in distress: Byakuya had, rather unsuccessfully, attempted to free himself from Yaguchi's grip, grasping for what he thought would be her weak spots based on combat research and the limited experience he had years ago. But he'd said it himself: she was a drug addict, so hopeless that she was exiled to Jabberwock Island and now, as his head hit the sheet vinyl flooring, he wished she'd been imprisoned instead. Someone too dangerous to society to be allowed to let loose. It was likely why Munakata had made the decision to send her to stay with the former Remnants of Despair: if they felt compelled to kill, they could destroy each other and solve several problems at once. It was also why, though that foolish and irritable woman couldn't see it, that he was intent on sending Sonia Nevermind home to Novoselic as soon as possible: she was less likely to be murdered by her own people, with their riots and burnings and raucous protests, than her former classmates, whom they were all desperately trying to keep from snapping back into mindsets of despair.

Rather like the way Yaguchi did now, though his head swirled with stars before his vision turned fuzzy: when she'd hit him in the head, his glasses had been knocked askew, scattering across the floor. It wasn't the first time: the tutors his mother had hired to ensure he'd never be a failure. The competition he'd been trained for. The day he emerged victorious. He channeled his focus on those: Yaguchi wanted to see him in pain. He wouldn't give the barbarian the satisfaction.

Until her next punch was delivered swiftly to his nose, the contact making a familiar 'crack!' "You...you uncouth plebeian! YOU BROKE MY NOSE!" He shouted, loud enough for the entire hospital to hear. Blood gushed from the wound, just as it had during the Togami Battle Royale: an older brother who had lifted weights as often as he lifted a pen to write a check had punched his youngest sibling squarely in the nose, breaking it before Byakuya had managed to outsmart him in Togami Family Trivia, his brother having bet the entirety of his bank account in order to take Byakuya down (for good measure, he'd broken his brother's arm as payback). At the time, he'd been attended to by the top plastic surgeon in Japan. Now, it would prove a tedious expense to drag the best physician they could find to Jabberwock Island in order to treat him properly. It wasn't as if he could leave: not with Sonia Nevermind in her pathetic, lovesick state, and Yaguchi out for his blood.

He wheezed at the sharp kick to his stomach and her whispers, choking back blood and the desire to cry out in pain as he narrowed his icy stare at her. Maybe less foreboding without his glasses, but he could still make out the red blur of her hair. "Posturing myself...in front of Kyoko Kirigiri, I do not bow to anyone," He hissed. He had won that right, fair and square, when he'd become the head of the Togami Family. "Succumbing to your violent urges, Yaguchi...that is what makes you a loser, not a real fighter. I will keep on fighting for the sake of the Future Foundation, and for Hope, and I will win. Don't forget that, Yaguchi..." He breathed deeply, suppressing a groan. The bitch likely bruised his ribs. "I always win."

For the meantime though, he'd have to contend with Kirigiri, who apparently had enough on her hands with Hajime and Kazuichi, and their need of additional tools to more efficiently revive their friends. In Sonia's room, Mikan had ensured the chaos had died down: the IV medication had done its work and she now encouraged Sonia to eat bits of rice porridge and peeled slices of, appropriately enough, oranges. Sonia hadn't had the energy to fight her, but both girls cast their eyes towards Shinobu upon her return. Mikan's out of concern, Sonia's with a more solemn expression.

Mikan awkwardly chuckled at the prospect of Togami treating them better in the future, but Sonia frowned, her solemn look turning to one of displeasure. "I highly doubt that, and I am the only one here who must report directly to him whilst on Jabberwock Island," She said flatly. When she once would've treated the situation delicately, refraining from saying anything at all if she couldn't say anything kind, Sonia instead explained the reality of the situation. Byakuya Togami couldn't take his frustration out on Mikan, or Yaguchi. But he could take it out on her, more than he already did with her pushback of his rehabilitation and future plans for her. In short, Yaguchi had, in the past five minutes, likely made her existence more complicated and frustrating on Jabberwock Island than it ever had before.

Something Mikan too realized but didn't want to point out. What she could do, however, was try to soften the blow. "I-I'll go see what I can do for Togami-san," She finally squeaked, giving the other women a nod. "Maybe I can set his nose. I will check on you later, Sonia-san."

Once she'd left, Sonia set the tray of half-eaten porridge aside on the bedside table. For all of Teruteru's skills, even he didn't have the ingredients on the island to make it taste palatable. She leaned back against the fluffed and propped pillows (another thanks to Mikan) and, in the face of Shinobu's weak smile, she looked away instead, towards the window and its view of the sea. The medication, temporarily at least, kept a migraine away due to the bright sunlight. "It occurs to me," She began gently, "That there are two broken hearts in this hospital room. I am sorry for your loss. You must have loved her very much, and she was fortunate to have you by her side."

It was about as much compassion as she could muster, the lingering thought of facing Byakuya Togami once he'd healed a bit, and she'd healed a bit, still fresh in her mind. Physically they'd be on the mend: emotionally, for as much as he was capable of having emotions beyond snobbery and ambition, was another story. If anything, he'd be more driven to see the Future Foundation succeed, for his projects to succeed. And she, Sonia knew well enough, was the most important project there was: she was the only one left with worthwhile connections to the past, the only one of the Remnants poised to be of any use to the Togami Corporation and the Future Foundation, where assets were concerned.

If she could only survive to be of use to him, to them, to anyone. She pulled her uninjured leg up and against her chest beneath the white bedsheets, wrapping her arms around it and setting her chin upon her bent knee. It was incredible: the world had endured a near-armageddon from Ultimate Despair, and both before and after the events that had altered the course of history, the only use she was to anyone was as a royal, putting the royal family and the country first before all else. Terrorism and genocide would plague Novoselic, but the monarchy would still stand. Whether she liked it or not: she never had a choice in it anyway.

She found him unimpressive. The posturing, the superiority, even the stepping closer as if his meager height advantage meant anything tangible. Shinobu's assessment of him had not changed. Byakuya Togami was little more than a walking bank, to be used as needed. Did he not understand that much? Oh, indeed, his money had financed her weapons, because without people like her, he would be another casualty - a corpse in a fine suit. It had been for people like Tengan, and Munakata, and even Naegi that things had worked out with any kind of positivity. Togami and his family's company were just tools. Was he really so self-important as to not see that?

They were content to let him speak as he liked. If it got his attention away from Sonia, that was good enough, and though he had a sharpness to his tongue, he was flailing about with it, failing to touch anything important. Until Seiko. Her teeth ground against one another, face scrunched up into a scowl. What a wretched thing to say, to speak so callously towards someone who seldom had a bad word to say about anyone, and who had given her life for their shared cause. Was that an acceptably low position to which to stoop?

Shinobu's mouth was dry as they swallowed. What saliva was left in her mouth had a spiky, acrid taste, like battery acid mixed with the metallic tang of blood. Despite standing still, their heart was beating fast and loud, thumping audible between their ears. The doctors had told her, after Seiko's death, that the chemical agent used to boost her adrenaline far past its usual levels had bonded with her adrenal glands and contributed greatly to the new normal that was her existence. Without her supplements, Shinobu's body couldn't sustain that hormonal flush for long, and without life-threatening combat, there was no reason on the island to be concerned. Yet that familiar taste in her mouth was the clearest of indications.

"You're right, Miss Tsumiki." There was a coldness in Shinobu's tone - the easiest affect she could leap to when her body was flooding with combat-ready hormones - though she hoped it wouldn't be taken badly. "This is a hospital - a place for healing, first and foremost. Togami and I won't disturb you further. Please accept our collective regret for the intrusion." Everything was burning. Her fist roughly balled the fabric of his shirt and tie together, yanking him out the door after her with near-superhuman strength, the door pushed closed behind them.

A few steps into the lobby, far enough away that any sounds wouldn't clearly reach inside of Sonia's room, she slammed him to the floor and pinned him. The sensible thing would be to back off, try to relax, allow this to wash over her, but if Shinobu had only a short while before fatigue set in, she wanted to take advantage of it. Before saying anything at all, she lifted his neck with another yank at his clothing, before delivering a punch straight to his forehead, such that the back of his head would bounce off the hard floor. I want it to hurt, Togami. I want you to bleed. Experience one tiny piece of the pain, and the fear, and the torment that everyone else has felt, for once in your wretched life. Pain, and fear, are such reliable equalizers.

"You're right, Togami. I'm volatile. I'm weak. I'm dangerously unstable." Another punch, lined up in such a way that she could hear the crack of his nose. "Most people would be, after being asked to kill as many people as I did for the cause. And yet you, with all the strategic insight and planning that you cling to, never thought that antagonizing that sort of person might lead to a negative outcome for you. Or did you just imagine yourself above that sort of thing?" This was the person she'd once been. Not some suave, controlled performance with cutting words and a sneering tone, but this. A beast. Uncontrollable. Loathsome. To be pitied, perhaps, but put down all the same. The JSDF could hope that that Godzilla would fight the other kaiju, that its rage and its hate could be directed, but one forgot its origins at their own peril. In the end, Tokyo always laid in ruin unless the monster was killed.

Both hands found Togami's throat, not choking him - yet, anyway - but rather using it as leverage to lift and slam his head, again, again, again. If you're not frightened of me, Togami, you should be. Your life is so fragile in my hands. "I suppose that fits with your perception of things, wouldn't it? After all, you seem to think yourself responsible for the strides that have been made, the gains we've won, the fragile peace built, mm? As though you, a spoiled child with a bad temperament, who would have died in that school had it not been for Naegi and Kirigiri and even Fukawa, had anything to do with it."

Now, her hands tightened. It would be so easy to wring the life out of him. Her mouth was radioactive, all saliva pooling on her tongue painfully bitter, and her vision had sharpened, correcting for the eye problems her glasses already corrected in the sort of narrow, hyper-vision of a predator. Did you think that I couldn't do this? This is what I did to myself to save ungrateful people like you, and you have the audacity to look down on me for it? Look down on Seiko? Aching muscles. A throbbing headache. Nausea.

"Say whatever you like about me, Togami, but understand the risk you are putting yourself at should you ever so much as whisper Seiko Kimura's name with anything other than evangelical reverence for her and the life she led." No, she didn't want to choke him. Anzu wanted that, certainly, but a corpse in the lobby could be upsetting to Miss Tsumiki, and there was no reason to put her through more hardship today, not when she'd already reached her breaking point. Her fingers eased, though she gave Togami's head another slam against the floor, for her own satisfaction.

"And another thing, Togami. I have precious little to live for. You know that, don't you? I'm sure you have some wonderfully snide comment about it, and your life is worth more than my own. You should be more careful with it." She moved liked an animal over him, knee digging into his abdomen, some wretched thing pouring over its freshest kill, until her lips were at his ear for Togami to hear her whispers. "So understand this, Togami. Speak to me in that tone again, or speak poorly of Seiko, and I'll kill you. Neither money nor consequences will keep me from that." Standing up, she worked her shoe under his back, before delivering a kick to his ribs to roll him over to his stomach. "Kirigiri is coming soon. Give her a proper bow of apology when she arrives, won't you? Surely that's the least you can do, after the trouble you've caused."

The desire was there, vicious and hungry, to stomp on his neck, to slam herself upon his spine until it shattered, to reach for a scalpel or knife and find the places that would hurt the most. She could smell the scent of burning bodies, hear the agony in moaning voices as some of her fellow agents laid in pieces, their forms twisted and torn from shrapnel and machine gun fire. It was the lucky ones who died quickly, while those less fortunate found themselves playthings for the whims of despair. If Togami considered himself above that sort of suffering, it was the archer's red-tinted desire to drag him down into it until it enveloped him as it did them. She could regret what she'd done later.

Instead, Shinobu walked to the sink as though nothing at all had happened, scrubbing with soap until their hands were clean and splashing water onto their face until it cooled. There wasn't anything to be done about her suit - there were a few splats of blood on her jacket, her shirt, her tie. It couldn't be helped, she thought as she quietly re-entered Sonia's room, closing the door to spare the women the sight. "Again, Miss Tsumiki, and Miss Nevermind as well, I regret that Togami-san and I caused you trouble." She returned to her chair in Sonia's room, slumping into it with an exhausted sigh, her muscles burning. Without the cocktail of drugs to balance her out, the cost of such excessive adrenaline outweighed its benefits. To let herself get so heated again wouldn't be good for her own recovery, and while she imagined Munakata would be sympathetic to her actions, if not her motivation, it would be unwise to put herself in another situation like this in the future.

"I won't let it happen again." Then again, she'd made a threat, and threats weren't worth the air it took to speak them if not adequately followed up on. What did it say about her that the idea of killing Togami was unpleasant, but no more unpleasant than any other unpleasant thing? In some sort of twisted way, it was a kind reminder, to feel that her body wasn't entirely useless - that she could still do the one thing anyone had asked of her in recent years. "Well, I'm glad being an irredeemable monster sits well with you, Shinobu-chan. All that angsty hand-wringing about not wanting to hurt anyone was just for your own mental masturbation, huh? You're horrible for enjoying this." "Although, I do hope Togami-san is more pleasant with the both of you in the future. Unlikely, perhaps, but... hope, and all that." Weary, her head feeling heavy upon her shoulders, Shinobu looked to Sonia, forcing the faintest, weakest of smiles - not much, but better than she'd managed in weeks - in an attempt to reassure her of... something, she supposed. "In the immediacy, though, if either of you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask."