2025-07-14: Real Talk in the Alley
- Log: Real Talk in the Alley
- Cast: Tsubasa Seki, Ririka Kawase, Good Dog Lance
- Where: Kameya Alley
- OOC Date: 2025-07-14
- IC Date: Saturday June 09 2012
- Summary: Ririka runs into a friend of Ichika's, and Tsubasa ends up disclosing more than they normally would to try and not be a dick to their best friend's little sister. Ririka, in turn, shares her frustrations over communicating with Ichika, and Tsubasa weighs in. Lance helps!
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
Tsubasa's at Kameya Alley, after school. They're still in their school uniform -- the boys uniform, to be exact, which no one at school cares enough to call them on despite the Kasugayama administration not being the most progressive institution in existence. There's a pair of earrings and a pack of painkillers from Satomi Tadashi Pharmacy slipped into their pocket, and don't ask whether they paid for it. Instead: admire their dog!
Lance is a Tosa Inu -- if a scrawny one -- with old scars over her face and a rich orange-brown coat. Her owner is much more loudly orange, with a fake tan so thick it could suffocate a man. It almost covers up the massive scarring on the right side of their face and body.
Almost.
Today's wig is purple and green and white, arranged in a voluminous mullet, and they stand out as they walk Kameya Alley. Lance isn't on any kind of leash, trotting beside Tsubasa as they shove their hands in their pockets. They're a pretty normal sight, around here.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Why is Ririka, a Gekkoukan student, allll the way up here in Sumaru? Well, for one she doesn't look like a Gekko student at the moment, dressed as she is in a black long-sleeved top, canvas cargo pants, and white skate shoes. She's also got a skateboard stuffed into her backpack, with a helmet hanging from a starap. (The rest of her pads are inside.)
She's also really tall, at about 5'10", with long brown-black hair that's currently in a ponytail. So tall, in fact, she might bear a resemblance to a certain sukeban boss. The red eyes don't hurt that familiarity, either.
But to get back to the question at hand, she happens to be visiting that same sukeban she bears a resemblance to, and she's stepping out of Izakaya Shiraishi, laden with a couple of bags of takeout.
She pauses, though, as she sees Lance wandering around. She watches her for a moment with an expression that roughly translates to 'Awww.'
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
Tsubasa is tall for a girl, and short for a boy, and they're not inclined to say which is which. They know Ririka, though; they've seen pictures.
They might have passed by her without much comment, though, except --
Except Ririka orients on Lance, and Ririka has food, so obviously Lance trots up to sniff at her. She wags her tail, her floppy ears perking with curiosity.
"C'mon," Tsubasa rumbles, behind her. "Leave her be." They have a voice dragged through gravel, like they've been smoking a six pack a day since they were six years old. This seems unlikely, given how the Death Boss feels about smoking, but...
Well, it's true that it was smoke inhalation.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Tsubasa has the edge on Ririka, then, since Ririka hasn't even seen pictures.
Food is an amazing animal magnet sometimes, isn't it? "Hey there," Ririka says happily. She shuffles her bags to one hand, and then kneels to hold out a hand for Lance to sniff. "Well you're friendly, huh...? Are you with anybody?"
Ririka lives in a world processed through sounds and tones, and Tsubasa's voice is certainly... distinct. Which means her attention snaps up when she hears it, and she gets distracted for a moment trying to process it.
Which might, unfortunately, look like staring, even though she doesn't mean to.
After a moment she realizes what she's doing and snaps herself out of it. "Oh, sorry. I wasn't..." Beat. Come on, say something nice! "Cool hair," is the first thing she can think of.
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
Sniff, sniff, sniff, and three sniffs in Lance starts licking her hand oh no why are dogs like this. Her tail is wagging up a storm...! Tosa Inu have a reputation for being fighting dogs, though bouts aren't allowed in Tokyo -- they'd have to leave the prefecture for it to be legal -- but Lance is a terrible fit for the ring, as she borks a happy bork.
Tsubasa, on the other hand, scowls as Ririka stares at them. "What? You got a problem?" They issue, blue-painted lips curling. But her save... "Sure," they shrug, turning to the side.
"You're," don't call the Boss the Boss in front of her family, seriously, Tsubasa, you already had to go over this with Mrs. Ichika's Mom, "Ichika-san's kid sister, right? Ririka Kawase?" Tsubasa looks out at the awning of a shopfront, rather than at her. "Tsubasa Seki," they introduce themself, in turn.
They glance down at the dog presently being wagged by her own tail. "That's Lance," they add, gruffly. "It's cool. She's friendly."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
It may be a mystery why dogs are like that, but a licking tongue is a happy distraction from accidental rudeness. "Awww," Ririka gushes quietly, and brings her hand closer to try and pet Lance.
"No, really," Ririka insists about the hair. "Those are some wild colors, I like it."
She just blinks a little as the connection is made. "Oh, yeah, she is." Kid sister, though. "Well, I'm only a year younger than her... But yeah, that's me. It's nice to meet you, Seki-san." She pauses a moment to consider. "Are you a friend of Ichika-chan's, then?"
She looks down to the dog. "Well hi there, Lance. It's very nice to meet you."
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
Lance loves pets! Her tail wags harder. She might very well take off into the air by her propellor tail.
(Well, probably not. Tsubasa's never heard a rumour like that before.)
"Cool," Tsubasa accepts Ririka's positive evaluation of their colours, at least. "Normal hair's boring." Well, their normal hair isn't boring, under there, but that's just because people rarely describe horror the same way they describe doing paperwork.
"Sure," they nod, when she clarifies she's just a year younger. (They're a year younger, too, though, so they're pretty sure it's the right word. ... not that Kiyoshi's showing their photo to anyone.)
And: "Yeah."
Apparently, Ichika's the friend who actually carries the conversation, because Tsubasa's said all of six words and apparently thinks that's all well and good.
Lance borks, happily, when she hears her name. It gives Tsubasa a minute to say nothing, as the camera focuses on their much more photogenic dog.
"Don't remember seein' you out this way before," Tsubasa settles on, after that momentary dog-straction. "You off to see her, or?"
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka's tall, she can catch a flying dog, probably.
Normal hair is boring, and Ririka smiles, "Yeah! Mixing it up is awesome. Ichika-chan bleached her hair, and I think it's really rad." (One might ask why she hasn't done anything more adventurous with hers than 'a ponytail', but ssh.)
But a friend of her sister's. "Then I'm glad to meet one of my sister's friends," she says, a bit hopefully.
This may be an awkward conversation if it ends up so one-sided though.
Ririka will happily be distracted by Lance. She offers more pets and scritches.
A question! "Oh, yeah. We're trying to hang out more, so... I haven't really been over this way much before now." She indicates the takeout. She brought me here on Sunday, so I thought I'd pick something up on my way over."
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"Yeah," Tsubasa confirms. "I suggested it." They... probably bleach their hair, too, if that white base is anything to go by. Assuming that's actually their hair...
"Cool," they affirm, and Ichika could explain that they're being friendly, but as a stranger it might just come off as 'not unfriendly'. They're like that.
They cock their head to the side, scratching at their chin. (There's makeup on their neck, too, painting in their Adam's apple with lines calling attention to it. It almost covers up for the fact there's no actual protrusion there.) "Maybe give her a minute," they suggest, vaguely. "Toss her a text. C'mon, I'll show you some cool shit."
... they'd tell her why they're stalling her, but 'Ichika is hanging out with Mahiro after school and she probably needs to know she has to present herself for her sister instead of a boy' is leagues more awkward than any awkwardness they've already committed.
Tsubasa walks them right past the Velvet Door, and doesn't comment on it at all, so apparently that's not the cool shit they were talking about. Instead: they plant themself down on an intricately-carved bench in the alleyway, and lift a hand from their pockets to point across the way to Tominaga's Chiropractic.
"That joint's run by a guy who can cure just about anything," they say, straight-faced. "If you're the kind of guy to get migraines when your exams are coming up, go check him out. Or, like, aches and pains or whatever, too." Of course, painkillers are easier to get their hands on than an appointment in there, but...
Never mind that.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
"Oh, that was you?" That seems to get Ririka's interest. "Cool! Every so often I think about doing something different with mine, but... I never decide on anything."
Mysteriously, she might have another friend who isn't always the most talkative, it's fine. Just gotta find the common ground, right?
Ririka frowns a little, puzzled. "Well if I wait too long the food will get cold..." Send her a text. "But I just texted about her order--" She does some very quick mental calculus and then just shrugs. "... Yeah, okay." She shuffles things around in her hands so she can get her phone out and send a message.
You think that's awkward, try talking to your sister's boyfriend the morning after he stayed over. At your house.
"So what did you want to show me? I haven't really explored this part of Sumaru much yet..." She doesn't comment on the door either. Must be a perfectly normal thing.
She follows along, bags in one hand, the fingertips of her free hand lightly tapping on her thigh to some unheard rhythm. She sits, setting the food on the bench beside her, but her fingertips keep tapping. Someone who can cure anything. "Really? That's amazing. I just usually listen to music if I need to relax from studying for exams..."
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"Yeah?" Tsubasa asks, glancing sidelong to Ririka when she says she already texted Ichika. "Well, if she said she's ready, should be fine. Guess I'll show ya this on the way."
So they do.
"Cool," they say, when Ririka talks about listening to music. "Used to play. Gave it up. Still like some good metal."
Lance thonks her head against Tsubasa's knee, helpfully, and they scratch absently at her ear. They'd tell Ririka to beat it before her food gets cold, but a silence has fallen over them, instead, in cold dread that for some reason they'd just say that to a stranger.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
"No, it's fine," Ririka says, of the text. "I'll just wait for her to text me back. She might be busy studying, I don't want to interrupt her unexpectedly."
But Ririka lights up when Tsubasa says that they played. "What did you play? Who do you listen to? My drummer's into metal, but I'm always looking for new recommendations."
'Her' drummer?
Telling her to beat it might not be an option--Ririka is interested.
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
Tsubasa scowls, slouching forward, elbows propped on their splayed knees as their hands dangle in the empty space (to pet a dog). They've put the empty space to the left of them, deliberately -- but it might be more obvious now she's closer to them that there's irregularities, on the right side of their face and their right arm. Large swatches, covered in equally-fake concealer, not entirely agreeing with the artifice surrounding them.
"Bass." Guitar, probably, if they played metal. It's the least surprising revelation in the world, looking at them. "Lotta Visual Kei shit." Which explains their wild sense of fashion, anyway. Luckily, that tan means there's no telling how pale they are right now, either.
"You?"
Deflecting it back onto her is way safer.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
If Ririka notices those incongruities, she doesn't say anything about them. She's far too polite for that (aside from her accidental stare earlier.)
"Bass, cool." She actually grins. "V-kei? That's awesome. I've been trying to get into more of that lately." She might, if one is observant, notice a subtle shift in the pattern her fingertips are tapping on her thigh.
"Me? Well, I play piano first, but in middle school I really got into guitar. Electric, but acoustic's good too." She ponders saying more about her band, but...
'Gave it up.' sticks out at her. Ririka considerst hat for a moment, contemplating silently. "Can I ask why you gave it up?"
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
Yeah, Tsubasa notices the muso bit. The beat. They get it.
They're not mirroring it.
"It's cool," they agree, instead, on Visual Kei. "Broad genre. Big into live shit. Used to do up the costumes." They were... the only person in the band who wasn't a boy, so of course they were expected to be the one good at sewing.
They nod. "Piano and guitar. Cool. Don't have the flexibility in my fingers for a keyboard these days," scars are stiffer than normal skin, "but it's a good mix."
But Ririka asks if she can, and Tsubasa says, at once: "Nope."
They let the silence stretch, for long moments, after they break the social contract so blatantly.
...
God damn it, Ichika's gonna be the one to cop it if they send their little sister off sad, isn't she.
Their shoulders lift, and then fall, as they take a deep breath in. (It's not as deep as any breath Ririka could take.) "Uh, sure," they change their mind, not looking at Ririka.
"So one day I go fucking bugnuts insane and set City Hall and also me on fire and get kicked out of school and no one wants to know me any more, let alone the piece of shit I used to call my best friend, so he tells me I'm off the band because he can't be rubbin' elbows with an arsonist. Some other shit happens and my family kick me out too and then I have to pawn my guitar to buy my makeup so I don't frighten small children lookin' like a fucking horror show freak what wasn't doin' it on purpose. And that's it," they shrug, still not looking at Ririka.
"No more point keeping a beat without bass or a band."
God damn it, telling her this story is going to make her sad anyway. Shit!, they exclaim, inside their own head, as their teeth clench.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Broad genre. "That's what makes it so cool, you can approach it from a bunch of different ways, right? It's like you get all these things that have different little mixes and that means there's just so much to discover and..."
Belatedly, she realizes she is wildly mismatching Tsubasa's energy, and tries to dial it down at least 3 notches. "But yeah, broad's good. Oh, and you guys went for the costumes, awesome." She can see that blue lipstick, that multi-colored hair (wig?), but she's not drawing any more inferences than that.
"Thanks," she says of her mix of instruments. "That's too bad," she comments.
She asks, and-- 'Nope.'
Ririka regards Tsubasa for a long moment, trying to figure out where to take the conversation from there. But she gets it. Whatever it was, must've been bad.
After all, who would give up music? Or so Ririka thinks anyway.
She's about to nod and say 'Okay' when Tsubasa, instead, changes their mind. "Oh, okay, but you don't have to..."
And then they do. In much more detail than Ririka honestly expected she'd get as practically a stranger.
She looks down at the ground as she tries to process all of that, the drumming of her fingertips on her thigh joined by some faint humming. (A recent Visual Kei hit, if you can fill in the rest of the harmonies to her melody and rhythm..)
Presently, after she's had a chance to absorb all of that, she looks to Tsubasa. "That fucking sucks. I'm sorry." After a few more moments she adds, "If you like music you should be able to keep doing it."
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
Tsubasa's internal monologue is pretty much entirely made of expletives, at this point. It's not even that they're angry at Ririka; they're just panicking.
Which might explain why Lance whines and puts a paw on their knee. Paw, paw, paw. They startle, a little, looking down at her, before they remember to pet her like they're supposed to.
It at least means Ririka has plenty of silence to take to absorb all that. Finally, she looks over, and might notice the way their shoulders tense under the boy's uniform. What they're expecting to hear --
-- isn't that, apparently. "Oh," Tsubasa says, and tries to play their flinch off as a shrug. "It's cool. Shit happens. Probably forgot it all by now, anyway." Of course, Ririka probably knows very well that instruments don't work like that. It's not the kind of thing you just forget, even if you fall out of practice.
Lance whines, again, and Tsubasa rubs at her ears. "... like, I miss it sometimes, sure," they admit, with a little less deflection, a moment later. "I just got bigger problems, I guess. And if I hadn't done rebellious shit like that, my father might've stood up for me... pah, not like that's salvageable."
Being a rebel... is bad for getting support from your family, huh?
It's nice that Ririka is coming to visit, Tsubasa thinks.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka is grateful for Lance's support (even if she was mostly too absorbed in her own thoughts for a moment to notice it.)
She doesn't comment on the flinch.
Mysteriously, it's like she already knows how to have sympathy for someone whose life got upheaved. Imagine that.
"Yeah, but a bunch of that sounds like it's probably bullshit." Meaning, different from normal shit happening.
(This is two expletives in one conversation. No one tell her parents.)
Probably forgot it all. Ririka could never forget anything related to music. But... maybe that's not the kindest thing to point out right now. "Oh yeah, huh. Too bad," she says neutrally.
But Tsubasa admits to missing it, anyway. "Yeah, I would too." They just nod along to 'bigger problems'. And a wince of sympathy for their father not backing them up. "Damn." She's not really sure what else to say, so she settles for just giving an honest reaction.
She thinks about her own relationship with her parents a lot, too... not that she has it anywhere nearly as bad as Tsubasa.
She's silent for a bit more, a little bit drumming of her fingertips, a bit more thinking. "Well, if you and Ichika-chan are friends, I hope you two can look out for each other."
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
Tsubasa shrugs, again. They hear the nuances in expletives -- it's cool, if Mrs. Ichika's Mom realised they were half of who they really were she'd probably flip, they're not going to tell on her swear words* -- but they're not so sure it's beyond the pale.
* Tsubasa does not realise that Mrs. Ichika's Mom had already figured out what they're about approximately ten minutes after they dragged Ichika home at half past midnight.
They're thinking about their relationship with their father a lot. Given the visit, coming up, on the one day they said they were busy. ... they don't mention it.
"... yeah," they answer, finally, when Ririka mentions Ichika. (Maybe they're so stoic and awkward to have a conversation with becasue when they actually open their mouth, their story sounds like that.) "She's cool. She gets it. Ride or die." Or 'actually tell their story to her little sister when she asks instead of telling her to beat it.' Being seen like that may or may not be equivalent to dying, but it sure isn't how they usually approach a conversation.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
If all Tsubasa wants to do is shrug, Ririka leaves it at that, for the moment.
She doesn't know about anybody else's recent midnight experiences except her own.
Ririka wouldn't have anything to say that could help with it, so maybe it's just as well.
Stoic's fine. Words can be hard, sometimes. "Yeah, she is," she agrees. She smiles a little when Tsubasa says that Ichika gets it, too. "I'm glad. I want to support her too, but..." Well, she doesn't go to Kasu, for one.
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"... you give a shit. That counts for somethin'." Tsubasa scratches Lance's ears idly, as they look out at the other side of the alley. "There's people that care more about appearances than how it is for their family. 'Bad kids reveal bad parents'... you know."
No one really wants to take responsibility for the disaffected youth of Japan. Giving a shit means all those crimes are your fault, in a collectivist culture. With a framing like that... it's not like Tsubasa can blame their family for distancing themselves.
But it's nice that Ririka hasn't.
... being fair, there's a point where the similarities between Ichika and Tsubasa end -- according to Tsubasa.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
That counts, Tsubasa says. "... thanks. It's... well, we're both trying." Ichika's situation is a whole thing. Ririka's still dealing with a lot of grief.
Neither of them knows the other knows the supernatural exists...
Things are a bit messy. But they are trying, at least.
Bad kids reveal bad parents... "Mm." She puts a lot of work into maintaining her own image, just to make sure it reflects well on others like her parents. She might slowly be reconsidering that approach. But only slowly.
Ririka sighs. "She keys saying she's trouble. I keep trying to tell her she isn't." She glances to Tsubasa, "I don't know how close you guys are, but..." Oh geeze how do you ask something like that?
She looks back to her lap. "... Anyway."
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"Yeah." Tsubasa doesn't know much about Ririka's grief, so when they hear that, the first thing they think is that it takes effort to accept help too.
They think about the effort Ichika has to spend trying to get them to take a hand up, and their jaw sets, behind their lips. They make it hard, for her. Pretty bad deal.
... of course, to Tsubasa, looking at Ririka, they don't think of her as maintaining her image at all. But their father would look at a skateboard and a band, and, well...
He's strict. Put it that way.
They shrug, when Ririka trails off. "Close enough to know not to tell her she ain't trouble," they say, plainly but without malice. "Sounds more like somethin' that makes you feel better, honestly."
Lance whines, thonking her head against Tsubasa's knee.
"... uh, not that it's a bad thing you want to feel better, yourself," they add, having helpfully been reminded to be nice by the world's most loving creature. "Probably left a mark on you, too, seein' all that happen. But if you say 'you're not trouble', that's not reality. That's not where she's standing. If you mean she ain't troublin' you, better to say that... it's more honest. And it don't ask her to pretend like her life didn't get uprooted and her dad has to deal with bein' looked at as a guy who raised a dud. Like it or not, that's the view... the winners write history."
Who won back when City Hall caught fire...?
One day, they'll learn the truth.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
It certainly takes effort to accept help in Ririka's case, that's for sure. (It's kind of her entire problem, really.)
Ririka is pretty lucky with her parents, all things considered. But Ririka's approach has always been to maintain everything--piano and academics included.
So Tsubasa gets the gist of what she was going to ask. Just making her feel better. "I..." Ririka starts, glancing to Tsubasa, and then back to her lap.
Fingertips keep drumming.
Mark on her, too. Tsubasa opines... "Well, yeah, but like... Augh." There's a brief hum as she collects her thoughts. "Like, okay. She went through a bunch of bullshit, right? When niisan calls herself Trouble, it feels like... like she's blaming herself for what happened. Like somehow she wanted it to happen, or caused it, or deserves it, and that's just... a fucked up way to think, isn't it? Like who would want that?" She looks to Tsubasa, and really looks at them for a moment, considering all of the little pieces falling into place, how that she knows that whole story.
But she might need to come back to that. "I don't know everything that happened with you and that fire, but... I bet you didn't... want to have to give up music because of it, right?" It feels a little too mean to mention the 'accidental horror show' part.
Ririka looks back to her lap. "So when I tell her she's not trouble, I just mean that... I don't blame her for it. Yeah, this whole situation is stupid, and fucked up, and the asshole who did all of it just gets to get away with it and ruin her life, but..." She looks to Tsubasa. "You wanna tell me I should be blaming my sister for it? I get that things are bad. I just... don't think it's her fault, that's all."
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
It takes her a while. That's cool. Tsubasa's patient.
"Sure," they shrug, when Ririka poses that question to them. "But it still happened. If you told me I was still a musician, it'd make me feel like shit, even if it feels more fair to you to say I am."
They scratch Lance's ears, looking at the dog instead of the girl. "Same deal. Say she's not trouble, and you're reassuring yourself. If that's what you're goin' for, that's cool. But if you're lookin' to reassure her, all the feelings you've wrapped up into sayin' she's not trouble don't mean jack on shit. That's you, not her. And tyin' all that shit up into 'trouble', when she recognises she's causin' it... probably makes it feel like you're makin' judgements which you're tryin' too hard to disprove." Tsubasa rolls their neck on their shoulders, reaching back with a hand to press at the base of it. Carrying too much tension, huh.
"'Sides. If you force her to accept your read on it... she'll piss off real fast. Give her the space to define her shit on her own. ... 'cause he never did."
'Women are only good for one thing', huh.
They don't explain why their gaze is so distant, even though they're only looking as far as the other side of the alley.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
"I wasn't trying to call you a musician though, just..." Her fingertapping briefly takes on a more forceful, insistent rhythm. "Sorry, we just met. I shouldn't try to make comparisons. I just... nevermind."
She does listen, though, as Tsubasa lays out their point of view. She's frowning, but she is listening. Finally, at length, she says, "I don't think that's what I'm trying to do. I just... it doesn't feel right to support her by letting her take the blame. But I guess I don't know how it looks from her point of view, either..."
'Cause he never did.' Ririka lets out a frustrated grunt. "Maybe I'll just ask her how it makes her feel. I just... I don't... I'm trying the best I can."
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"It's a hypothetical," Tsubasa explains, patiently. They're used to helping people through being too literal, for some mysterious reason. "That's what people mean when they start somethin' off with 'if you told me'. A second scenario to help understand the first one. I'm comparing how I'd feel being called a musician to how Ichika-san might feel being called trouble, since I know how I feel, and she ain't here."
Ririka is trying, they can tell that much. She gets to not being sure how it looks like where she's standing, and...
"Yeah, that's it," Tsubasa nods, and even cracks a brief smile of encouragement. (It doesn't last long before they start scowling again.) "You just gotta ask her. If you're makin' an effort in good faith, I reckon she can tell. So you just do what you can."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
"Yeah, I know what a hypothetical is, it's just-- That isn't what I was trying to say, I wasn't trying to call you a musician." She takes a deep breath.
"Besides, she's the one calling herself trouble, not me. And it just... sucks, to hear her say that."
"Well then... I'll ask her. Whenever she's done... studying."
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"I know," Tsubasa assures Ririka, making a mental note that she's as direct as her sister. "Don't worry 'bout it."
... they're not trying to distress her, even if they're giving her some real talk.
"It sucks for you," Tsubasa agrees with that much. "Yeah. But you gotta ask what she's tryin' to express, sayin' it like that. Don't ask me, though," they add, and perhaps this, too, is their effort to be a little more direct. "You got a good plan. Ask her where she's at."
Tsubasa puts a hand to the bench, and hefts themself up. "Reckon you'll hear from her pretty soon," they guess, weighing up the time that's passed against the notice Ichika got. ... it's probably kind to give Ririka a moment to collect herself, before that happens. "So I'll let ya get to it. Nice meetin' ya, Kawase-san."
Lance barks, bounding around Tsubasa, because she has intuited that it is now time for more walkies???
"Later," they toss over their shoulder, as they shove their hands back in their pockets and amble on out of the Alley.
... yes, Lance. More walkies.