2025-08-07: A New Regimen
- Log: A New Regimen
- Cast: Reiya Aomori, Suzume Fukura
- Where: Rooftop, Iwatodai Dormitory, Iwatodai
- OOC Date: August 07, 2025
- IC Date: June 22, 2012
- Summary: Reiya is training on the rooftop, as he does. Suzume comes up to train too! They get to talking... and practice.
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
The rooftop is a good place to be. There are planters in a quantum state of plants and not-plants because it's not certain yet whether that subplot has started. Don't worry about that. Instead, consider this:
Reiya Aomori is up here! Not so close to the edge as he was last time he was here, he is instead doing pushups on the roof. One-handed. His other hand is behind his back, tightly balled into a fist.
He's intent on his exercise, so it might be a good time to notice him before he notices someone else...
If his silent exercise doesn't cause him to be overlooked in the corner of the roof access.
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume has been trying to get better with her tonfa recently. That's not new, but yesterday she made a deal - and it lit a fire under her. She's been thinking of ways to do it.
What she really needs, she's decided, is practice. And while she gets some practice in Tartarus or Mementos, she's not exactly there every day, or even every other. She needs a workout. There's just one problem.
Yukari has her archery team, and Akihiko his boxing, and Junpei (she thinks) goes out and plays baseball, given the way he swings. Hitomi does dice tricks that Suzume can't figure out how she does them. She's not sure what Moriko or Ririka or Tyler does. But for all the ones she knows practice, you can do all of those where people can see you and nobody will think twice.
But tonfa? Those aren't really legal, and Suzume isn't on any sports team. She can exercise elsewhere, but it's not the same; she needs to drill using her tonfa into muscle memory. Which means she has only one option: do it somewhere in the dorm.
Well, Suzume's room isn't quite open enough even though it's big enough (she tried), she's not going to even try to steal the common room (and there are couches in the way anyway) and there is, as best she could tell, no basement. Which means there's a single option available to her.
Fortunately, with the planters not in use, she figures nobody will be up there.
The door to the roof opens, and... nothing happens for a moment. But on not hearing anyone having a chat, Suzume steps out onto the roof.
Suzume is wearing one of the Gekkoukan sports outfits, though she's unzipped the jacket because it's summer and she's not *crazy*. Grey pants, with a white stripe down the side; grey and red jacket, a matching white stripe down the sleeve; a white top underneath that that's a little less ill-fitting than most of hers. She has her tonfas tucked under one arm.
She clearly does not see Reiya at first, because she steps out, tosses her jacket off on top of one of the empty planters, swaps her tonfa to their proper hands, and starts - okay that's a boxing stance, she's using them to practice her jabs. She isn't facing Reiya at first and misses him.
This might get a little awkward pretty shortly.
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
Reiya, of course, is not in uniform any longer; he's wearing the grey pants of the Gekkoukan sports uniform and a T-shirt. He doesn't want to sweat-damage his uniform, and it's a little awkward dealing with the tie while trying to exercise. He is silent in his training, which means he has the chance to open one eye and cant hsi gazze towards Suzume as she arrives and sets to her training.
As it happens, the planters are empty. Let's collapse that idea.
A boxing stance...
Reiya, rather than stay in a position where he'd inevitably look up at Suzume if he opens his eyes at all, pauses his exercise, holding himself up with the one hand.
He clears his throat. "Excuse me," he says. "You're training, aren't you?" he asks, and moves to stand up.
"Tonfa... a versatile weapon."
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Exercising in your school uniform (especially in June) sounds like a horrible idea! Suzume didn't even like wearing it to Tartarus and it wasn't hot there. She resolved to wear her gym clothes after that... which may explain her choice today. It's practical, dammit.
"GAH!"
Suzume's exclamation is, in a vacuum, funny; she gets squeaky when she gets surprised even though that's not her usual vocal pitch at all. It's rather less funny when her reaction is to pivot and bring her fist - with tonfa - around through a hooking punch... though it can't possibly connect, Reiya is far too far away to actually hit.
She comes to a stop afterwards, keeping her hands up in a combative stance for several seconds until she slowly starts to lower them. "Where did YOU come from?" Suzume comes to a stop, starts to cross her arms under her bust, realizes she is about to jab herself with her tonfa and settles for hands on her hips instead. She can't even loom over him now that he's standing up; it's more the reverse. "You can't have snuck up here to spy on me, I didn't hear the door open!"
She huffs. "Yes, I was training. I don't like carrying something I don't know how to use... wait, you actually something about them?" A versatile weapon... "Did you see them in a martial arts movie? Which one?"
Suzume is not about to admit that she watched several to try to see how they were used in them. Not immediately, anyway.
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
Thankfully for Reiya remaining un-punched, he does not comment on how funny the exclamation sounds. Thankfully for that same purpose, he's still kind of far away.
Entirely stoic, he simply replies, "I was also training. It's important to stay in shape, even without our mission. But our mission makes it more important."
"I'm not spying," this time, "But I did notice your weapons." A pause. "Yes," he answers. "Hmmm... The last movie I saw that featured them was... Driving Storm 3. It's based on an Okinawan martial art."
"..Hm." He considers. "What sort of practice are you looking into?" he wonders. "I could..." He considers. He knows what his pride would demand in this situation. So...
"I could use a training partner," he says. "My sai are used somewaht similarly to tonfa, with similar origins in kobudo. It might be fruitful for us to practice."
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume does not seem like she's going to march over and hit Reiya for his sins. It's not like he snuck in after her. She would have noticed the door open.
But he's so stoic she can't actually read him. That mystery he's got is working against her now. She feels a little silly keeping her hands on her hips, so she eventually stops. Her shoulders slump slightly as she stops standing up so straight, though you couldn't really call her 'slouching' as much as she normally does.
"I haven't seen that one," she admits. "If you've got a copy, can I borrow it? And I know it's Okinawan, and I'm not, but I kind of got these... by chance. I don't know how to use any other weapon, so I figured, why not hold onto them? But if I don't know how to use them, they're just sticks. I know you can use them for punching, so I figured I'd try that for a bit."
Suzume looks up at Reiya, thoughtfully. "You use sais? I didn't know. I'm getting some training, but he's not a tonfa expert either. So..."
Options conflict. One clearly wins. It doesn't hurt that Reiya is the only person who's apparently thought she was up to sparring with them in a long time. "OK," she agrees. "You're safe after surprising me. This time." A grin, however short and sudden. "Just don't do it again."
Suzume it was entirely your fault.
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
Reiya has very good posture. This is notable, because he's only regular tall--not particularly tall for a boy, but certainly taller than Suzume.
"I do and you can," He answers. "There is nothing wrong with using another's martial arts, I think. By coming together and blending styles, new styles come about. Okinawan martial arts are said to have some roots in Chinese martial arts as well..."
Sticks! "Yes. That's as good a reason as any to choose a weapon."
He pauses, and inclines his head. "I know a number of weapons, but they're the one I'm most comfortable with; they're useful for defense and offense, like the tonfa."
He nods firmly when she agrees--and when she says he's safe, "I will endeavor to be less stealthy."
It's fine. "...For now, I was just training my body more generally; I didn't bring my weapons. Hmmm..."
"How did you get them?" he wonders. "It sounds like a story."
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
It's not that hard to be taller than Suzume, who is, though not tiny, at least pretty short. Her posture is not as good, though.
Movie acquired. Well, future-acquired. Maybe Suzume will watch it in the lobby. There could always be more martial arts movies there. She nods, then: "I don't know a whole lot about that kind of martial art either. I learned a bit about boxing. A bit about wrestling. I watch sumo," she adds, and you couldn't find a more mismatch in what she can do than *that*, though at least she didn't say she tried it. "Plus, some of the mixed martial arts competitions out of the States. You ever watch any of those?"
While she says this, she goes back over and picks up her jacket. She's considering putting it back on. Heat is warring with a desire to cover up. Eventually she just decides to leave it off. It's just Reiya. He's fine. She doesn't worry around him.
"You don't have to be so *formal* about it. I just know sometimes people will sneak up to watch people, that's all," Suzume says. (Does she know he is a ninja? Absolutely not.) "Though, usually not at tonfa practice. What were you doing before I got here?"
How did she get them...? "So," Suzume says, perching on the edge of a planter. "You know Mementos...? If you don't, it's a freaky place you can get through near the train station. I did a dare, and got in. SEES found me in there... that's why I'm here. I didn't know about the Dark Hour or anything before that."
"But..." She bonks one of her tonfa, gently, against her knee. "I found these in a box in there. I was with someone else, and Jiro-kun can't fight shit. He's a nice guy but he's also the kind of guy who feels faint if he sees much blood. Even a nosebleed. So... I picked them up. Just in case. And I didn't put them down when we left."
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
Future acquired! Reiya will be good as his word. As for movies, "Hmm. Boxing... And sumo!" He brightens slightly. "I like sumo." It's an Important Tradition, after all. Still, "I have," he says. "I find them interesting as well. To see people blend different styles into a cohesive whole... It's very impressive."
Reiya glances at the jacket because it exists in his frame of reference, but looks back to Suzume a moment later. If there's any way a boy 'looks' while he's checking a girl out in her less covered state, Reiya doesn't have it.
But... formal. "Ah." Pause. "I tend to be formal about many things." He does sneak up to watch people, but not for that reason. he does it because he's a spy! Still, "I was doing pushups," he answers. "I was thinking of trying pullups on the bar there soon..."
But Mementos. "I see. I have heard of it, but have not been." Mementos...
"Oh. That sounds very dangerous as an introduction."
Bonk. "I see. ...Hmm. That's worthy, I think." Worthy. A formal word! "A weapon you find at the beginning of your new mission... Yes, there's something to that."
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Honestly, Suzume is not exactly uncovered. Shorts, a short-sleeved shirt; she could get away with this most places on Port Island. It's just not so baggy as her clothes usually are and doesn't conceal her as much, and in a lot of cases she'd be extremely aware of that. But with Reiya she's actually comfortable enough to relax.
"You like sumo?" Suzume sounds surprised, but in a pleased way this time. "A lot of people think it's outdated, or a waste of time. I think a couple things about it are dumb but I always try to catch it when it's on. When the next big basho comes on I'll put it on in the common room once or twice." That's next month.
You can practically see the musical notes over her head.
Suzume is, however, still not aware he's a ninja, so she doesn't know about his stealth activities. "I hate push-ups," Suzume scowls, though not at Reiya, and it's at least brief. "Pull-ups are okay. Just hard, if you do them right."
A worthy weapon... "That's what I thought!" Suzume brings one of the tonfa out again. "It's... I mean, I don't think it was left *for me*, or something. It doesn't mean anything that I was the one that found it. But now that I have, I guess I'd like to learn how to use it. It..."
Pause. "Don't laugh. It's a good memory. I mean, that day sucked. I thought we were going to die. And afterwards, I went to the hospital, and that wasn't great either. But afterwards..." The scowl comes back. "Takeba-san thinks I don't belong here because I want to be. But where else is there? I hate it at home." And that's all you're getting from her on *that*. She doesn't like Reiya enough to dump the rest of it. "I guess I could quit, but I'd still have to look at Tartarus every night; I'd have to look at that creepy green light every midnight unless I stayed away from windows. I like the dorms. Most of the people are pretty cool. And at least here, I can do something. Like when we worked to rescue Yamagishi-san."
Here, I can be me, she thinks, but does not say.
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
Reiya remains stoic.
"I do," he says of sumo. "I think it's a good show of athleticism, and a tradition that's worth keeping." The next big basho... "That sounds good," Reiya says. "Maybe I'll catch it when you do."
Still, while one day the Ninja Secret will come out, it is not this day. "I don't mind them. I like to mix up my forms of exercise, though."
The weapon! Not 'destiny', but, "It means what meaning you have put into it. I think that's sufficient."
Dont laugh. The hospital, the aftermath... Hm. Reiya listens, and considers it. Takeba. Of course. He doesn't frown at her name because of the aforementioned stoicism, but he does note hating it at home.
"...That's worthwihle," Reiya agrees with a nod. "It's a dangerous mission. Perhaps some of us have not absorbed how much danger is involved, as Takeba-san seems to think. But it is each of our right to face the threat of the Dark Hour as we choose. And someone has to do it, or the task will never be completed."
"...I also like the dorm," he admits. "It's nice to live with people my age who aren't my sisters." Pause. "Not that I object to living with my sisters."
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume agrees, "Yeah. So, I want to learn how to use it. And if you're willing to practice with me, that's good. Maybe I'll figure out more. I looked up some information online, but you never learn much about how to *do* something like that from seeing it written down. You gotta use your muscles."
"I don't like her," Suzume says, bluntly - well, she's always been pretty direct. "I can trust her in a fight, I think... but that's about it. She doesn't want me here. At first I thought it was just because she thought I was useless since they had to rescue me and Jiro-kun, but now..."
Her sullen look is very firmly back in place. "Well, whatever. I deserve to be here as much as anyone here - and I want to be. I know it's dangerous. I almost got killed in Mementos! But..." She huffs. "Eh. But at least I'm not Gould or something. I swear he was trying to freak Yamagishi-san out while we were at the TV station, talking about visiting the 'other side'... nobody wants to hear about ghosts at a time like that."
She drops the topic, clattering her tonfa against her knee a couple times out of sheer nervous energy. The talk about sisters isn't much better for her; Reiya can see a stormy expression growing, though Suzume doesn't completely indulge in it.
"Just so long as you stay out of the girls' side," she says, instead. "I'm pretty sure you'd get killed if you tried."
Little does she know about ninjas... he may *already be* spying on someone in there. (On orders, of course.)
"C'mon," she says, sliding to her feet again. "You want to give it a try?" She means the practice.
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
"Yes," Reiya agrees of muscles. "Internalizing the movements is important. I've been practicing a long time." A pause. "...Though a Persona does seem for a lot of us to impart some skill to build on." That's interesting to him. He couldn't tell, of course; he knew how to use his weapons already! As for Yukari, well--
"She doesn't like me, either," Reiya admits freely. But he doesn't go into the details--about Beniho, and the archery club. "Right. We don't all have to be friends, if we can count on each other."
Gould... Reiya is thoughtful at that. "Rude," he decides of Tyler. But if suzume wants to drop that topic and the next, he's just fine with it. Instead, there is the matter of his life.
"I will follow Kirijo-senpai's directive," Reiya says instead. "I have no reason to visit the girls' side. I can give you the DVD in the lobby."
Mitsuru... probably won't order Reiya to spy on the girls. Probably. He's pretty sure. Not in the dorm, anyway.
But he spreads his feet apart and adopts a ready stance (barehanded) when she suggests practice. "Yes," he says. "I don't have my weapons on me, but I'm adept barehanded, as well."
"Come at me when you're ready."
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
"Heh." Suzume tends to stay away from Mitsuru, but she knows who's in charge around here. (The reason she stays away is not because she objects - she just has nothing to talk about with her.)
As for visiting, you never know what a ninja might be up to.
"I'm already in good shape," Suzume says, which is actually pretty true - she may not be trained in tonfa, instead using a collection of cross-discipline skills and instinct, but she does have athleticism, at least. "So I can probably manage."
She rolls her shoulder and bounces up into what is definitely a modified boxer's stance, arms held more or less vertically, with the length of her tonfa down her arms. It's probably a great blocking stance. "You sure?" she asks, just to confirm that he's all right with bare-handed.
And if he confirms, she goes into it quick. Surprisingly quick; Suzume has speed on her side more than strength, and she jabs with the left hand. She's a little tentative, her blows more than a little restrained, because she doesn't want to hurt him; she is vaguely aware that she should probably have padding on these tonfa before she does something like this, isn't that how they do it in most sports? It's like bare-handed boxing, it can be dangerous -
Honestly she's probably making herself worse by overthinking it. Suzume is not great about overthinking things.
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
"Good," Reiya answers. That she's in shape. He says little else about it, though; he seems to be evaluating now, looking over her stance. A boxer's stance, solid on blocking, tonfa used sideways...
"Yes," Reiya confirms.
Very fast; if Reiya were anyone other than who he is, he might immediately be struck by that speed, especially with a left-handed strike. But she's holding back, and he is a ninja, so he moves with the blow; he could have evaded entirely, but instead he shifts back to lessen the strike's power, letting it impact him without injuring him.
"Fast," he notes. "That's good."
"...You can relax. I know my limits; we'll stop if I feel like I'll get hurt. ...Next time, I can bring some equipment, like pads."
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume feels the impact, and that feels good, if perhaps not as head-on as she was expecting (or hoping). She steps back, not lowering her guard but not pressing the attack for a few moments either.
Though she doesn't really realize it, she's definitely overthinking things. If she was running entirely on instinct, like she was every time she fought a Shadow (or even at the TV Station), she'd do better - that's not even theoretical, she always has. "I just didn't want to hit you too hard," she says. "Pads would help. When I did a little bit of practice... I flipped the mattress up against the wall."
Suzume, do not beat up your mattress.
As she tries again, Suzume can tell one thing pretty quickly: Reiya is better than she is.
Suzume is fit and has an idea of what she's doing. She's been in scuffles before, and fights with her Persona... but she doesn't have a ninja's training, and she doesn't have as much experience. With a Persona that might not matter as much, but right now, in midafternoon instead of the Dark Hour, just her and Reiya on the roof, it matters. If he was actually fighting back, she'd lose.
And she hates that. She wants to be good - she wants to be *better*. She doesn't want to have to depend on someone else to protect her, always and forever...
But today, that manifests as determination. She *wants* to learn. She *wants* to figure it out. And even if Reiya isn't much more than a vaguely supportive target today, before they're really equipped to do this...
Well, sometimes that's enough.