Title: Getting Philosophical
Pairing: Jo/Meg
Series: Bakuretsu Tenshi
Rating: PG
Warnings: Yuri undertones. Kind of... fluffy.
Disclaimer: Not mine, 'cept the writing.

Getting Philosophical
ninety-nine; ikuze!

"Jo, why are we here?"

"…"

"…Jo?"

"…"

"…Jo!"

The one-sided silence was effectively shattered.

Crimson-eyed gaze slowly shifting from flickering television to the barely-illuminated face of the red-haired girl beside her, Jo – white-haired and bordering stoic – offered only a short "Hn?" as her reply.

Meg, clearly displeased with the lack of response, crossed her arms before her chest before eyeing the older girl beside her with a disapproving glance.

"Jo, you weren't even listening to me!"

And again, the indignant words were met with a short response: Jo's trademark "Hn," this time said in confirmation rather than question, as the gunslinger's eyes began to slowly gravitate back towards the television's screen.

"Hey, wait a sec! I want to ask you something!"

Finally, after a deliberated second of consideration, Jo's eyes returned to the agitated red-head, a short nod signaling her defeat. Sitting up from her reclining position on her stomach, she sat cross-legged, leaning forward to hit the pause on the smaller television set before her attention returned to that of her long-time companion.

The very same one that had managed to, time and time again, get herself caught up in trouble. (Jo never really minded, as long as she was there in time to save her.)

"Jo," Meg finally spoke, words slowly mustered up after a second spent in consideration. Jo's eyebrows could only slowly flicker upwards in response as the girl remained silent for a moment longer, fingertip tapping thoughtfully against her lower lip.

Apparently, repeating an earlier question was a daunting task.

"Jo, why are we here?" it finally came, along with a pair of widened blue eyes that blurted out innocent confusion.

Jo, just as confused and just as innocent (but in an entirely different way), could only offered a crinkled brow in response.

Meg didn't think such a response was adequate.

"Hey," she pestered, one eye narrowed as she leaned forward to gently prod the older girl on the side of the arm. "You're not ignoring me again, are you?"

Jo slowly shook her head 'no' in reply.

"Then… why are we here?"

This was food for thought.

The white-haired gunslinger was still confused as to why Meg would be asking such a question. After all, the answer seemed obvious; they were born (in some way or another), they had wandered for awhile, they had met a few different names and faces and eventually they'd found themselves atop a trailer, Sei, Amy and Kyouhei beneath, watching terror television as there was a marathon on that night.

Well, Jo had been on top of the trailer to watch the fright night weekly. Meg had only come up to talk and scream, as she never really liked scary movies to begin with.

Meg was still impatiently waiting, so Jo finally figured on a befuddled reply.

"…I wanted to watch television, and you wanted to talk."

Deliberate and straight to the point; once again, not something that Meg wanted.

The younger girl huffed, arms crossing over her chest once more as she shot a heavy glare at her companion. Her companion, in turn, could only blink back. What had she done wrong? Was there a right and wrong answer for that question? Either way, she wasn't sure she cared, as she thought it was an odd question to begin with. It wasn't like Meg had asked her 'why do you use two guns instead of one'? That would've been easy.

"Because I can kill things more quickly and efficiently if I'm using two."

"That's not what I meant."

Meg, still indignant and still huffy, was still giving her that irritated look. Jo was still only able to offer a barely quirked eyebrow in reply, expression placid and cooled.

Meg realized she had to explain further.

"I mean," she began, one hand pulling free as she slightly waved it for some sort of emphasis, "why are we here? Why are we here, with Sei and Amy and Kyouhei, going around and… always fighting? Why do we do that?"

Jo didn't believe she was capable of becoming any more confused.

"Because," she started, slowly once more, as this time she didn't want to offer the wrong reply out of the few right ones. "We met Sei and Amy, and then Sei wanted a cook. Sei gets contacted for jobs, and we help her against RAPT."

Still not good enough.

"Jo!" Meg threw her hands up in frustration while the white-haired girl looked on, confusion still remaining barely etched over her features as the younger of the two threw herself into a small fit of agitation.

"What I mean is why are we here, what are we doing, what are you doing-…"

"I'm protecting you, Meg."

The redhead was taken aback with the interruption… and what it meant.

Falling silent for several long seconds while offering a lengthy stare to the gunslinger, it took Meg a short while to recover, jaw eventually remembering how to move. Closing her lip-parted look of near gaping disorientation, she shook her head slowly, red locks fluttering as her eyes slipped shut.

…do you know what you just said?

"That's what I've always done," Jo continued speaking, still slightly bewildered with the current state of things. She thought it was all very obvious, her wanting to watch Meg and all, but Meg was acting very strangely, she had to admit. "It's what I'll always do," she then added, softer this time, before looking back to the television set once more.

Meg said nothing as the television flickered back to life, one guttural scream racketing out from the set as the light fluttered, short bursts of static rolling over the gory picture. She was still lost on the admission that had seemed so obvious, so casual… as if it was an unspoken truth held between the two.

She had never known, up until then.

As Jo settled back onto her stomach, chin propped lightly on her folded arms and red-eyed stare etching back onto the zombie-covered screen, Meg eventually lied down next to her, one arm tentatively winding about one of the older girl's own. Moments later and she was clutching it tightly, cheek pressed against the cooled skin as her eyelids slowly fluttered shut.

Even throughout all the horrified shrieking, monstrous roaring and gruesome slicing, she still managed to think the night was perfect.

After all, no matter what went bump in the middle of the night, she knew that Jo would be the one to save her.

Always.