2025-06-27: Cause And Effect: What do they say about Osaka Girls?
- Log: Cause And Effect: What do they say about Osaka Girls?
- 'Cast: Minako Arisato, Yukari Takeba, Natsuki Moriyama
- Where: Gekkoukan High School, Tatsumi Port Island
- OOC Date: June 27, 2025
- IC Date: June 01, 2012
- Summary: Two second years witness some girls boasting about Bullying someone. Only one intervenes. What do you mean you have no real skin care routine!?
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
It's mid-afternoon, threatening upon late-afternoon given the changing colors of the sky as the summer Sun descends further West. That doesn't help with the heat though, Yukari's been sweating from Archery Practice, Clean Up - and a second Round of Clean Up caused by the First Years leaving before realizing they forgot to properly wipe down the Bows.
She finally changed out of her club uniform and got the last of that sticky feeling off her hands, as she treads down the breezeway connecting the Athletic Building to the Classroom Building. "Phew, what a workout. Next time I'm going to catch those first years before they go and teach them how to clean up properly."
She's taken a few steps down to the sidewalk when, right by the young Persimmon tree-
"Aha-ahahahahaha!" Two girls, laughing uproariously. It was enough at least to turn her head at first to glance, as if somewhat annoyed by how loud they were being but-
"So then I pretended to take a picture with my cell phone. And she totally freaked out and started crying! It was like we caught her red-handed or something. You should've seen the look on her face. It was priceless."
-what the Orange-Haired Gyaru Girl (Moriyama? She thinks?) actually said is what caused her to stop, watching them from a slight distance. As the girl with her with darker brown hair laughed back, "Wow! That's pathetic!" "I know, right? I've never laughed so hard in my life!"
Yukari's annoyance at the noise complaint, changed to clucking her tongue in greater disapproval, "Tch, bullies..." She remembers, how the kids at school when she was younger bullied her, for being the 'Disaster Daughter' of a dead man, who couldn't take responsibility.
She remembers...
But she doesn't do anything, but stand there, taking a breath to compose herself... then intending to walk right on.
What good would it do to speak up? To say anything? It would only make things worse for everybody.
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
Minako Arisato is, for her part, getting out of Volleyball Club. She has, likewise, worked up a sweat; a few beads of it still run down her cheeks, and her red hair is darker with it. She met up with Yukari there, after getting out of her club. And, like her, she is walking along that breezeway.
She smiles. Easily, as always; her crimson eyes shift sideways to regard her and to consider what she says. "You have to show them the ropes! It's the duty of a senpai~"
She says it cheerily. But she pauses, as voices catch her ears. Minako's smile flickers, like static through a television set. It flickers and the n it turns off, like the channel was changed.
Her expression hardens at the orange-haired girl and the brown-haired girl. She glances sideways at Yukari.
Then she looks back at the girls.
There are her own memories to contend with. Mocking laughter in a school in Sapporo, when she said she hated the cold. Yelling at someone who picked on her brother. She takes a breath to compose herself.
Then she steps away from Yukari, towards the persimmon tree, and towards the two girls. It's like there is a dotted line where she used to be, next to Yukari.
Her voice carries, in a cheerful and merry tone. "Oh my gosh, I must have seen that show, too!" she says. The smile is back on her face. "It's so funny when fictional people have misfortune, right?"
She laughs. "Because, I mean, what kind of dumbass would laugh at a real person? That's so..." The smile fades. "...Not cool."
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
"Huh?" Yukari seems somewhat mortified that Minako overheard her, not expecting her to just - catch up to her like that! Despite you know, the fact that she should, because she knows Minako is in the Volleyball club, but she quickly recovers with a smile her way, "Well, they could make my duty a little easier you know. It's not like I don't have enough tasks as is, showing them the ropes."
Some of them have never done Archery before, making them total beginners. Which came with it's own challenges, including some mishaps with them buying the wrong gear.
"I thought you'd have gone back already Arisato-chan, given how I had to stay late. Well... if we're going the same way."
It's an invitation at least, a soft invitation. She could at least relax some with one of the newest members of SEES being a girl in her same year.
As the two pause though, she's about to walk on when Minako walks away and- "Huh? What're you...?" She never finishes the question, as Minako cheerily starts laughing, and Yukari momentarily taken aback that Minako was getting involved at all.
But then she follows her lead, and begins to chuckle, "Yeah I mean, think about it-? It's great and all when it's fake, but think about the kind of person you'd have to be to live like that?"
The words actually slide out real casually there. Yukari doesn't even seem scandalized by 'dumbass'.
"But the world is full of all kinds, you know? If you're not doing something useful with your time like finding someone to fix a fifty-yen dye job, then I guess being that brand of pathetic is all you have left."
Now, Natsuki and Maki had noticed things when Minako said something, but Natsuki definitely notices Yukari's follow-up, as she steps up towards them, hands at her side, "Got anything else to say about my style? Because don't think being with that transfer student will keep me from smacking the words right out of your ugly mouth Takeba-"
It was easy to miss the moment Maki started staring - with how Natsuki stormed right off, not so easy to miss how she started saying: "Natsuki... Did you hear a voice? It's... calling me?"
Natsuki looked over her shoulder as if jarred out of a wind up, "Uh? Do you mean them?" She looked around suddenly, as if wondering if Maki had seen a teacher. "I didn't hear anything." Maki stared blankly into the distance, past the rustling leaves of the Persimmon tree, eyes just growing blank, and Natsuki, disturbed, stepped towards her.
"Uh, Maki-chan? What's going on? You there? Are you listening to me?" She puts a hand on Maki's shoulder, and Maki was silent for a good ten seconds, before uttering, "... Huh? Is that you Natsuki...?"
Natsuki gave her a look of genuine concern, "Let's swing by the nurse's office. Nngh, he better not make you try anything weird." Before she then looks towards the pair, "Guess you lucked out. Don't think I won't forget this though."
As Natsuki led her friend away, Yukari watched them for a moment. Maybe Maki's behavior was weird, but she just assumed she had a medical condition or something. "... At least they left. Ugh, I can't stand girls like that. Let's just go."
Veering off from taking the path inside the school to the front as that'd pass Natsuki and Maki, she veered off to a more circuitous one across the campus, "I didn't think you were the type, Arisato-chan." Yukari said after a moment, breaking the silence again, "I thought even when you made waves, you were still the kind of girl who goes with the flow." She comments - with a description that seems almost contradictory...
... but only seems that way.
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
Minako flashes Yukari an apologetic smile. Even if, really, she isn't very sorry. "It would be handy," she says. "Not that I'm really anyone's senpai yet." It comes with being a transfer student -- and with it being so early in the school year -- and being more of an unknown quantity, still.
"Nope! Not yet," she says. "You know how Iwasaki-san is. She pushes hard." But, then there is a smile at the invitation.
Such as it is.
"Sure," she agrees. But, the interruption comes. Her eyes do widen a little, when Yukari backs her up -- and turns up the intensity of the meanness.
But the back-up is welcome.
She stands her ground, eyes on Natsuki -- then on Maki -- and her eyes narrow at the threat. She adjusts her bag a little; she glances at Yukari. A part of her wonders if she is about to have another Gekkoukan First: her first fight!
But it isn't that. She blinks, and then looks at Maki. Then, she looks at Natsuki. Her frown deepens. What in the world...?
"Yeah. Let's go." She glances back at them. "That was weird," she says, with a sigh. Then she falls in, next to Yukari. She walks for a couple of steps in silence, even after Yukari's observation. "Well..." She trails off for a second.
Her frown vanishes. Her warm smile returns, and the full force of it is directed on Yukari Takeba.
"I just didn't like hearing them talk about someone like that," Minako says. "And then I stepped in. I'm not entirely sure why I did... but it worked out, huh, Takeba-chan?"
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
"Won't be long before the first years look up to you, given how I hear you're holding your own at practice." She offers that compliment at least, and it is genuine. She'd heard that much about Minako's performance even if she hasn't attended herself.
It is weird though, what happens. Yukari tries not to feel unsettled. She'd seen a girl get Hypoglycemia once, with that stare that was just a little off, until she was able to get her some juice.
She has a feeling Nurse Edogawa will give them something that isn't that tasty, but that's no longer her problem!
"Yeah..."
Yukari looks like she's only casually paying attention to Minako, but she's still not quite sure what to make of her. Her initial impressions had been positive but...
... she read the file...
... she surveiled her brother as he slept...
... she'd said to her too, that she could relate to her, and if she could...
...if she really could...
Then it meant that Minako wasn't normal either. Just like her. She'd lost her parents... and been scarred by it.
That warm smile illuminating on her, Yukari's seems almost dim in comparison. "Yeah sure, I guess." She agrees, mildly, "Just, you know..."
As they came around the side of the Classroom building to the front, "...when stuff like that happens, I always wish I was the type of person to intervene like that. But then I think..."
Her bag is mostly still, in comparison to the rhythmic swish of pink from her cardigan tied around her waist. "... what's the point? They weren't even hurting someone right now. And, whoever it is they're bullying, they're not going to stop, they'll probably be even more cruel to her next time because of us."
Does she sound like she's already preemptively blaming herself for that? "I wish it really was that most people didn't approve of it, but... most really kinda do huh? Or at least they'll accept it, because they think the person will take a hint and strive to fit in better."
Yukari doesn't say 'I did.' Because that gets into a certain kind of personal. She always hated it, but she did work to fit in better.
Now... noone would ever think that she feels like she doesn't.
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
Minako laughs a little at Yukari's compliment. Laughs, but doesn't remark. She isn't sure what she thinks of first years looking up to her. Something about it, for one terrible moment, bothers her. Fortunately, she doesn't have to ruminate too hard on that.
As they start walking again, she glances sideways at Yukari. She thinks that Yukari is distracted -- assumes she must be thinking about the way that girl went off, glassy-eyed. (It's still in the back of Minako's mind.)
She comes around the side of the building with her, waiting for the other girl to finish her thought. "...Yeah," she agrees. "People do accept it. I don't like it."
She looks up at the slightly overcast sky for a moment. The sun glints off the windows of Gekkoukan High's upper floor. "But it's not our fault if they decide to be more cruel. That's on them," Minako says. "And..."
She frowns. It bothers her to think about, for a moment. "...I don't know. When I see something go wrong, I just have to--to step in and try to fix it."
Minako looks ahead, at the expanse of Gekkoukan's sidewalk in front of her. She keeps walking, but her thoughts go elsewhere.
She doesn't catch the way that her smile fades. "I guess it makes me feel better than doing nothing."
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
It's a soft nod, well implying that she doesn't like it either, even if her words had made that patently obvious already.
She does listen to Minako speak about how it's not their fault, but Yukari doesn't quite buy that, she doesn't speak up right away, waiting for Minako to finish. That means a stretch of silence, as they walk down the front of the school.
There aren't many students gathered here at this time of afternoon. Just a couple of scattered groups chattering, about to go home themselves.
It's only after Minako does finish talking that, she finally has a pensive look, and gives a thoughtful reply, "I guess... even if it's not though, we have to think about the effect our actions have on others. It's like, natural law."
What does she mean by that? She clarifies before long. "You know like, the laws of motion in class. Cause and effect. Action and reaction. Maybe we're not at fault for how they decide to react, but our actions still caused it anyway."
Yukari can't believe that her father is at any way at fault, the memory of that man who loved her so but even if he's not, him being the head of the project... he still died anyway for being a part of it, for being caught up in that disaster, and she and her Mom still took the blame anyhow.
They're still suffering for him working for the Kirijo Group, or at least Yukari is. She doesn't give that charity to her mother on most days.
...
"But I guess I can relate to that." She says, as her hand cards through the side of her hair, and she looks at Minako.
"After all, that's what we're doing in SEES too, right?" She says with a subdued smile her way.
"Even if we don't know how it all came to be, standing by and doing nothing wouldn't sit well with me. And besides..."
As she heads out and towards Port Island Station, alongside her says, "... Erasing the Dark Hour will make things better for everyone."
It's not like those girls - it's not like that at all. Them fighting to erase it, it can't 'cause' things to get worse for everyone else.
She has to believe that.
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
The effect their actions have on others? That prompts a blink from Minako. A blink and a sideways glance at Yukari, as she explains more. Natural law; like the laws of physics and motion, the way a pool table's balls will go flying as one collides into the other. She blinks once, and then she looks down for a moment.
It's not out of any sadness (not really, she tells herself). Minako nods after a moment. "...Yeah," she says. "I see what you mean. We set it in motion, even if our intentions were good. But--" She looks sideways at her.
"Not doing something..." She thinks of her brother. "...It's a choice, too. It has a cause and effect, right?"
She does pause, though. Is that what SEES is doing? She considers -- but she nods quickly.
"Yeah," she says. "Ending the Dark Hour -- and Apathy Syndrome -- that'll help a lot of people. And... you know."
She hesitates. Then, she looks back at Yukari. That warm smile is back on her face.
"I don't want people to suffer, Takeba-chan." She keeps smiling. And she leaves unsaid -- and she hopes for and hopes against Yukari's understanding -- the addition: 'Like I have.'
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
Yukari considers for a time, the idea of not doing something.
She remembers that boy in elementary schooler, who came up to her, as the others were taunting her. She'd been lashing out, fighting back with her words.
'Your daddy killed my Daddy.'
He had said, and she suddenly had the fight stolen out of her. No defense of her father, no words of recrimination.
She still believed in her father, even then, but to that... she chose to say nothing.
"Yeah." She agrees, "It is. Just... maybe sometimes it's the right choice." It's a very mild disagreement, "It's not like I'm saying I'm better or anything." She cautions, "After all, you heard what I said. I actually like the Ganguro style. I think it's amazing someone feels bold enough to make that kind of statement about themselves."
But the moment she had to back Minako up, the words of cruelty against that style flowed out so easily.
She nods in agreement, but then that warm smile...
... she can't quite believe it, this time...
... and in that moment...
... she wonders if Minako's way of life is just as lonely as her brother's.
"I hear you."
The thought is there, and gone in half a second, the difference between the taciturn, deadpan boy whose eyes seem dead most of the time, and his bright smiling sister who seems so full of life...
... is far less of a gulf than she imagined.
"Just, you know..." And in that second, Yukari shifts in her walk slightly, her bag nudging Minako even more gently than an elbow, as she smiles back at her, "... as capable as you are, you don't have to do everything. Give me a chance to get stronger too, and I'll back you up more."
It's maybe not prying too deep, but she understands... sometimes, prodding, you reopen old wounds. Cause and effect. She doesn't want to cause Minako to suffer either.
And well, despite her misgivings, she did step in too - once Minako did. And Minako might catch her inspecting her smile - her face a little too closely for a moment enough that Minako might wonder if she's understood a little TOO much, before-
"You know, on the ride back, you should tell me all about what skin care routine you use. I'm really curious how you manage it playing a sport like Volleyball!"
It's a trap, Minako. She suspects that you maybe don't know all that much about it...
... and wants to recruit a fellow acolyte into the church of beauty.
Maybe she in fact, wants the boys of the school to suffer a bit because Minako has the potential to be one of the most beautiful girls in school, in her expert opinion.
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
Minako blinks, when Yukari admits to liking the Ganguro style. She didn't realize -- she had sort of clocked Yukari as a high fashion, high style type who liked the popular trends that weren't too flashy. But, then, after a second, Minako nods her head with understanding. "Yeah, I see what you mean. It is pretty cool."
She smiles. And it's warm as ever -- but there's something genuine. "Well... even if you had to lie to do it--actually, because you did. I appreciate the back-up."
There is a moment of quiet, though. And maybe her warm smile isn't enough to cover everything up. Maybe it isn't enough to hide what she usually hides.
And Minako knows that. She knows when she didn't quite pass the test.
But she blinks at the expression of understanding. And she wonders about that, glancing sideways at Yukari. And there's a smile -- a small laugh! -- when her bag nudges her side. "Is that so?" she asks. "If you can keep up with me--"
She clenches a fist, then she does a fist pump. "I'll be glad to have you backing me up!"
She does blink again, though. The smile almost falters, as Yukari leans in. She is--she is really close. Her eyes blink, and there's a hesitance...
...before her expression softens a little. Did Yukari see through her smile? Or did--
Oh.
Oh.
Minako's red eyes blink and she glances up at the school gates, as they walk out of them. "Oh, I dunno, I mean--" She scratches her cheek with a finger.
"Lotion like twice a week, maybe?"
She doesn't know what she just walked into.
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
"Hey don't worry about it." She says, accepting her appreciation but also brushing it off subtly, "We girls have to stick together, especially in a dorm where the guys outnumber us."
...
...
...
The irony of these words rings throughout every dimension of the Collective Unconsciousness until it reaches Nyx itself and passes through the fourth wall of reality, and Yukari is oblivious to the fact that this trend will last.
... A single day, at best.
And only because she's not counting Mitsuru is it not already true.
Yukari blinks at the fist, then balls her hand up into one and makes contact, "Ehehe!" She breaks out into a little laugh on the contact, "Having family like your brother has made you a little bit of a tomboy huh? It's pretty endearing actually." She says, with a grin, perhaps also referencing the 'dumbass' comment earlier.
It's not meant to be an insult, in fact, it's kind of a compliment in a sense. Being a tomboy helps make Minako so much more capable at fighting than she is, and at a more physical sport like Volleyball. There's nothing wrong with girls being - a little bit like one of the guys, just a little.
After all, her whole life, she's equated girls - women with being weak. And she doesn't want to be weak. She needs to be strong. She needs to be independent.
She needs to be not like her Mom.
"Don't worry, I'll do my best to keep up with you."
...
...
...
BGM Interrupt: Pink Sniper - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2counq-044
Then Minako says those words and it's like there's a shattering sound of glass in the background, strong enough to be like an Evoker breaking reality.
"What? No way! Your complexion is so smooth-!"
Minako feels her hand, which had previously been bumped, suddenly get gripped, as Yukari makes a 290-ish degree turn in the space of half a second if Minako doesn't resist change direction Northwest. "And we're keeping it that way. Change of plans. We're going across the bridge to Paulownia before we head back to get you everything you need."
As she grips Minako's hand, she glance at her hands, "What nail polish do you even use?"
This is apparently another manifestation of her backing you up - as a girl Minako, get used to it.
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
"No kidding!" Minako says, with a laugh. "I'd be happy if we even got one more girl."
The wheels of destiny are in motion.
She does look at Yukari with surprise -- but good surprise at the laugh. Then, she nods, and she turns around to walk in front of Yukari. While, in fact, she walks backwards. This is so she can pose -- hands on her hips, striking a pose.
"I had to be multifaceted, like a diamond. Or maybe a Swiss Army Knife. Because--" She grins, ten she winks. "--keeping Minato out of trouble is a full-time job~"
She doesn't take it as an insult. Then, she smiles a little more brightly, and nods. "I'm gonna hold you to that, Take--"
Minako's hand gets gripped and she yelps, her feet stumbling for a second. It all happens faster than she can keep up with. She does a hop and a skip, and then she is falling in behind Yukari. Bearing? Northwest.
"Eh? EH?" she stammers, and she suddenly has a hint of an Osakan accent: "What the heck do I need? Did I say somethin'!?"
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
Soon - a universal reality will come crashing down upon them both.
For now though, their innocence remains intact.
"I can imagine! I still remember the night he showed up at the dorm during a Dark Hour, he acted like he didn't even notice the coffins on the way to the dorm just because he had his headphones in."
She can laugh about it now, after the fact, she actually finds it... weirdly endearing, if not for the fact that he seems so detached from caring about so many things he ought to, if he's going to be involved in this.
...
...
...
Blink.
"Swiss Army Knife..."
It's a weird thought to her, and she has to imagine what one looks like, after all they're illegal in Japan to just carry around.
But it's not long before she's pulling Minako along. The Osakan accent, actually convinces Yukari she is a lot like her. After all- the accident happened here, that night.
And Minako like her - moved around the country after, that's proof of that.
Except, she didn't pick up the Kyoto Dialect herself, maybe because...
... she hated it there.
"Your dialect is adorable by the way. I get why you hide it. If anyone at school heard it they'd expect you to break out into a Manzai routine with your brother or something."
Well, at least they know who'd be the Tsukkomi and who'd be the Boke right away.
"Don't worry! It's not all that much. Just the basics."
What a relief, that it's just the basics...
"Some tsubaki cleansing oil to purify, rice bran exfoliant to polish, then some beauty water - Oh, I mean 'essence' to plump, and finally a hydrating facial cream to nourish your skin. You may want to write this down? It'll come really naturally after just a few months."
A beat.
"While we're at it, what's your favorite brand of foundation, eye shadow, eye liner, mascara, and lip gloss? I definitely have my own favorites, but I bet I can help you touch up your own routine."
Gender is the name of your destroyer, Minako Arisato.
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
Minako laughs a little, and one would have to know her well to catch the nervousness in that laughter. "Right? It's hard to imagine!"
BACK IN APRIL:
Just after the stroke of midnight, on her way to the dorm for the first time, Minako Arisato strolls through streets lit an eerie green. With her headphones in, it's as if she doesn't even see the coffins and pools of blood on the ground.
NOW, IN JUNE:
Hearing that her dialect is adorable -- well, that gets Minako to turn a little pink in the cheeks. She glances to the side, but when she smiles at Yukari, it's a little different. It's quieter, maybe a little happier, yet still warm. "Really? Well..."
She laughs, a little. "...Maybe I'll let ya hear it a little more~" She nods, then. "But, that's it. And... well, I only picked it up when I moved to Osaka when I was little."
Yukari knows when that was. She read her file.
And then: the basics!
Minako looks at Yukari, with a slight stare. "C-Can you write that down? Uh--" She blinks, her eyes widening. Then she blinks again.
"Heroine Make? For all of them?" she asks. Then, more cheerfully: "You can get it at a drug store!"
Yukari's mission becomes clearer.
And -- despite her response -- Minako grows thoughtful. Her head tilts -- and then she leans in. Closer to Yukari, to really look at her face. (Turn about is fair play.) "But... you know, Takeba-chan..."
She smiles. This close, Minako's lip gloss has a little gleam to it. "...yours is a lot better than mine. I really could learn a thing or ten from you."
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
It's so so hard to imagine-!
For Minako at least, because she hides it well. Yukari would be a little disturbed if she knew it was that intense.
"Anytime you feel like showing it." She grins at her, "It'll be our little secret." She says, as she raises a finger towards her lips, the rest of the hand holding a back, like a shield for her upper body, and winks with her right eye.
Of course she does that right now, as soon as she's convinced Minako won't just bolt. She lets go of her hand, finally, walking alongside her.
"Huh? Oh sure- Or you know, I can shoot you a mail."
Which is when Yukari fishes out her pink flip phone from her bag, opens it up and starts typing a mail one handed as they walk.
Minako definitely sees emojis.
"What? The one with the manga characters from like the... seventies on the packaging?" Minako notices her grip on her phone go lax for half a second, before suddenly tightening, "You can't use that! Nope we're fixing this today. I refuse to allow one of our secret weapons at SEES prematurely age her skin that much by using bargain brands at Aohige."
You know if they die tomorrow Yukari, it doesn't matter if she prematurely ages her skin?
That's when she notices Minako leaning in close to her, really close, and she seems momentarily confused by-
"W-Well-" She fumbles a touch, and it's difficult given her makeup to notice the faint shade change of her skin. "-right! This is what I know best, after all."
Then there's a sigh, as she picks up that small air of mischief - that gleam on her lower lip, and pinches her nose for a moment, "Get serious though." There's a light tone of exasperation, before she lowers her hand. "You're as bad as Junpei-kun sometimes."
If that's the case, then why aren't you treating her like Junpei then?
...
...
...
Shut up. That's why.
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
Minako sees the way that Yukari winks -- and the exaggerated motion with one finger to her lips -- and then there's a cheerful nod of her head. Energetic, even. She likes the idea of a secret -- and a secret that's something she thought she might get made fun of. After all, Yukari is right. People might latch onto that accent.
And Osaka is a place with fond memories for her.
She looks sideways at Yukari, as she lets go of her hand -- and Minako's eyebrows raise a little. "That sounds perfect," she says.
Before she opens her mouth -- then closes it -- and then nods. She did ask for Yukari's help, after all. "R-Right, no more Heroine Make..." But then she leans backward.
Not so in Yukari's space. She brightens up, as Yukari pinches her nose. Minako laughs, doing a little twirl, before she falls in step beside her again. "Maa, maa~" she says. "That's harsh, Takeba-chan!"
But she doesn't say it like she thinks it's harsh in the slightest.
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
Osaka was one of those places she never lived. She envies the idea of a people who can be more open though, while still being Japanese.
She envies a lot of things though. Far too many.
There's a little chime on Minako's phone, and a mail and-
That is far too many steps. The scroll bar - it's, too small - it's TOO SMALL!
"Great. That's just the basics right there. I'll be happy to teach you more advanced tips once you get the hang of it."
Minako's little laugh, at first Yukari has that 'get serious' look on her face. But it starts to crack after a moment.
And she giggles a moment too. "Geez... I can't even keep a straight face around you. What's the deal? Maybe it really is true what they say about Osaka girls." Usually it's negative, what people say, but she seems to mean it quite positively.
After all, she hasn't had many people who could make her laugh when they're together.
Since well... ever, really.
"You know what? It's really better if I just show you the first time. Thankfully Ekoda-sensei was in a good mood today so I can take my time showing you the ropes after we get back."
>Yukari seems like she's in a good mood!
>You went shopping with Yukari!
>You went back to the Dorm after!
>Hours pass...
"Huh?" Is Yukari's response when the lights go out in the middle of doing Minako's nails... ... ... because it's the Dark Hour
"Whaatttttt? No way it's that time already? Well - we already know we're not going to Tartarus tonight, and I can't leave the job half done, so guess we wait..."
She glances at the window critically, at the light of the moon pouring through, "... no. I really don't think I can trust that lighting to finish up." She sighs.
>Time passes...
A duel takes place - beneath the sickly glow of the moon. "Got any fives?" As she warns, "... Watch the nails."
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
Minako's eyes widen a little when she gets the mail. It's -- it's so much information. So many steps, so many things to go through. And this is just the basics? But--
Right. She has to start somewhere. The redhead nods, and she does her best to put a serious expression on her face. For just a moment. "I'll look it all over... and start putting it into practice!"
The serious expression doesn't last, though. In fact, when Yukari giggles -- well, that gets another laugh out of Minako. "So what do they say about Osaka girls?"
Nevermind that she is also a Sapporo Girl, a Sumaru Girl, and a Tatsumi Port Island Girl. But that's a little deeper than she wants to go, when she wants to have fun.
And thus, she follows after -- with eagerness. Supplies are bought; a whole new line of makeup and skin care prducts. And, of course, her Heroine Make products are in the bin. Minako looks down at her nails, and they're red--
--then, they have that eerie green light. "Oh, come on," she says. She glances out the window. "Not faaaair."
>Time passes...
"Uh--darn. Yeah, I do," Minako says, as she starts to slide over a card. But then her eyes widen. Right!
Her nails!
Which is how, in trying to not mess them up, she sends the five of clubs and five of spades flying into the air. And, for good measure, the queen of hearts too.
<Public> Penguin Sniper says, "The Reaper as it comes at you plays this soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB_PVPyn6n8"
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
"What do you think they say about Osaka girls?" Yukari counters, a little coy about that. "Honestly." There's a smile and a sigh, "You're gonna prove them all right."
In that, there are a lot of guys she knows who say they'd really love an Osaka girlfriend, because they know how to have fun, because they're more straight up with you. Yukari moved around the country too, but in her eyes it wasn't formative in any positive sense.
The only thing she took with her is how much her mother got along like oil and water.
It's not fair.
The Queen of Hearts lands-
... just as the Dark Hour ends, "Oh hey, looks like we're back." She puts her hand down, and reaches over to inspect her nails. "Good - good. They were mostly dry after twenty minutes." She notes, "Just wanted to encourage good habits when I finished the rest."
Setting up nearby her, leaving the card game unfinished, she goes on.
"It's really kind of a crime that no one taught you how to do this the right way already."
She's not really accusing Minako in the sense of it being her fault. She is at least, only doing her natural nails and keeping them short because she's taking volleyball into consideration.
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
"Hmm. Must be something nice, then!" Minako says, with a laugh. Even if she knows -- really -- it probably isn't something so nice. But that's how it goes, sometimes. And... besides, it's not as if this something besides nice.
She looks up at Yukari -- and then blinks with surprise when the Queen of Hearts card's landing seems to dispel the Dark Hour.
Just a coincidence, but a pleasant one.
She offers her hand, when Yukari reaches over. She breathes out a sigh of relief, that her nails are fine. "Good!" she says. "If I'd messed them up, that would have been a bummer."
She looks up, then, at the observation. She thinks, for a moment, of her mother -- and her life was cut too short. She thinks of an aunt who never quite had time; of two grandmothers who were too elderly to take such a ting on.
Minako thinks about them, but then she smiles instead.
"Mm," she murmurs. "I've got the chance now."
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
"Well... yeah."
She agrees mildly, as she works the brush gently down the nail, with an adept's precision.
"It's not our focus here I guess, but..." She stops her work for long enough to mull that over before...
"... we have our lives to live too."
However one does that. Honestly? She has no idea how, really. She has things she does for herself, things she does to prepare herself for her life ahead, for it's responsibilities.
Her heart has been fixed upon her father so long, that she doesn't know what comes after the Dark Hour is gone, and she knows what happened to him.
But right now? She can teach Minako how to do her nails properly.
Even if she can't figure out what she'll do after, she knows that she is enjoying this now.
It's enough for her, for that to be true.