2025-08-26: Making Amends
- Log: Making Amends
- Cast: Ririka Kawase, Suzume Fukura
- Where: Iwatodai Dorms
- OOC Date: August 26, 2025
- IC Date: Sunday, July 01, 2012
- Summary: Ririka messed up at the launch party by failing to warn her teammates of the presence of a hostile Persona User. She goes to Suzume to apologize for the lapse. There are also video games.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka has had... an exhausting day. And her encounter with Niko earlier really only drained every ounce of social battery she had. She cannot figure out what Niko wants. She kept chatting with her like they were friendsm, but...
... well obviously they're not, right? Because that would be insane.
At least this time she'd had the presence of mind to send a message to SEES, warning that Niko was near the Tatsumi station, even if she didn't know what for.
But after that she'd headed home for a bit to rest, recharge, work on homework, and visit with her parents. After that, however... well, creepy Persona User woman or not, she still has to go to school tomorrow.
So it's evening by the time she drags herself back into the dorm. She's dressed in a black tank top, cargo bants, and white skate shoes, and carring her skateboard in one hand. Her helmet's hanging off her backpack, though her pads are in her backpack.
Ririka takes a deep breath. As much as she wants to go right to her room, there's something that she needs to do first. So she trudges up the stairs and approachse Suzume's room. And then, after taking a deep breath, she knocks. "Fukura-san? Are you in?"
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume has one of the dorm rooms on the girls' side. Ririka knows which one it is (if she pays attention to Suzume coming or going from it occasionally) so finding it is not a problem.
And when she gets there... is that faint video game music coming from inside?
Suzume is definitely in. The lights are on, and there's just the edge of sound that can be heard right at the door, but that's it. Ririka knocks, there's a beat -
"Hold on a minute!"
It actually does take most of a minute before Suzume opens the door. (The music continues unchanged the entire time.) When she does, Ririka can see inside, and the reason it probably took that long is because her room is kind of a mess; the bed is semi-made, dirty clothes have been very hastily picked up off the bit of floor where she normally tosses them and put in a basket, the desk still has papers and books scattered across it, as well as her phone...
...also the old CRT that the room came with is on, with an old 16-bit console hooked up to it with a bundle of wires, out of date as it is. That's the source of the music, some sort of cheery theme it's playing while a quartet of people march in place, townspeople wandering around them erratically.
Suzume is wearing a pair of shorts and a loose T-shirt. Her hair is messy, but in the way that suggests 'I forgot to brush it' and not 'I forgot to shower'. Her hair always looks a little messy though.
"Oh," she says, "it's you. Is this a quick thing or a long thing?" Translation: do I have to either come out or invite you in, or is this enough?
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka has, predictably, latched onto the wisps of music she can hear, and her free hand starts tapping on her thigh in tune with the rhythm. She waits patiently, not noticing the passage of time (well, okay--she could estimate it by the tempo of the music, but she's not going to hold it agianst Suzume.)
Suzume's room stands in star contrast to Ririka's--Ririka keeps her stuff pretty neat overall... or she's prone to forget stuff. Thankfully, she hasn't fogotten anything in a while.
But her eyes aren't drawn to the mess, instead they're drawn to the TV. "Hey," she asks excitedly. "Is that one of the old-school Drake Adventure games?"
She catches herself a moment later, becoming more somber. Quick or long. "Uh... I wanted to apologize for what happened in the arcade at the launch event, so... it's about that?"
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume is taken aback that Ririka actually recognized it. "Yeah," she says, "it's the remake of 3 they put out." (Just before she was born. It's not recent.) "It's come up so much lately I felt like replaying it. ...It's kinda been a while since I have."
She pauses for a moment, considering, then: "C'mon in. You'll have to use the desk chair." Suzume only has one chair in there, because she almost never has visitors. She shuts the door behind Ririka. "I don't wanna talk about it out where everyone can hear."
Suzume herself sits down on the bed hard enough to bounce once, which also jostles the controller upward. She snags it in a practiced movement when she does that, though she does not immediately start playing again.
"OK," she says, folding up into a cross-legged position. "I'm listening. I got your message. The new one, I mean," she adds, shooting a glance over to her phone, which is actually closer to Ririka if she's on the chair; it's sitting on her desk. (Suzume has an older flip phone. It has one sticker on it so it doesn't look the same as all the others closed: a floofy chubby bird that is way cuter than most of the stuff she likes.)
See, she *does* read her texts.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka does smile a little when her guess is confirmed. "Ohhh, cool. I've gone back to study some of the music for older games, it's really interesting how they put it together with a limited number of channels and--" She flushes and cuts herself off, looking away. "Um, sorry. I just... though I recognized the style, is all..."
Does this girl thing about nothing but music? Sometimes!
She nods and steps inside at the invitation, looking around for a moment to really get the lay of the land (she mostly doesn't want to trip on something.) She sets her skateboard down by the chair and her backpack on top, and then sits.
But Suzume is listening, and Ririka takes a deep breath. "So... I messed up, at the arcade. I got overwhelmed by everything going on and..." She looks down a little. "... I wasn't ready for the supernatural stuff to pop up in a mundane setting like that." Either then or today, honestly.
She looks up to Suzume. "But... we're gonna be on a team together, and if I'm gonna be a Navigator for SEES, then... I need to be more prepared to look out for everyone. And that includes warning people about danger." She shifts into a deep bow. "I'm sorry."
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
The floor is mostly clear since Suzume picked her clothes up off it. (She missed a sock; Ririka can see it kicked partway under the bed, covered from Suzume's point of view by the dangling sheet.) There's a yellow and green rug that came with the room over part of it. That's about it.
Honestly, aside from the previously mentioned items, it's pretty empty. The shelves don't have much on them; a few mangas flopped against one side. There's a calendar up but no posters. Her backpack is up near the head of the bed. She just doesn't have many things. It's safe for Ririka to put down her skateboard and backpack without getting in the way of anything else.
"I don't know much about that," Suzume says, which actually means 'I don't know anything about that'. She knows very little about how electronic music on this system is actually made. She just knows the ones she likes. (She likes this one.)
And then Ririka gives her apology...
Suzume doesn't sit still well. She doesn't remain cross-legged, but pushes herself back along the bed, stretching her legs out a bit. The controller cord still reaches, at least. And then, eventually:
"OK," she says. "There was a lot of shit going on. Plus, if she did start something out in public, in the middle of a crowd? I don't think that'd go so well for her. I was mostly pissed I had to find out so much later. Like, if she'd invited me back for a game the next day, I would've gone, and the rest of you wouldn't've been there. You didn't tell me for a couple days."
"So, we're even." Suzume pauses, then adds, "Anyway, I'm good at taking care of myself," almost defensively.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
At least Ririka won't have to worry about tripping on anything. She's not about to judge the decoration or lack thereof... that's not what she's here for, after all.
But Suzume doesn't know about the music. "Oh, that's fair, I'm just... Eh heh... me, you know." She doesn't rub it in everybody's face that she's a musician, but... it's still pretty easy to know that she is, in fact, one.
Ririka is mostly still, but... her fingertips still drum along with the melody of the game. But even that stops when she goes for the bow.
Ririka tenses up a little as Suzume rightly points out that it took her a couple days. "... you're right, Furura-san." She drops her gaze a little. "... I don't have an excuse for that. I'm sorry." Well, she has explanations, but... that's not really the point, is it?
She lets out a small sigh of relief as Suzume says they're even. "Thank you." But then Suzume says she can take care of herself. "O-of course! I... didn't mean to suggest otherwise?"
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
"Yeah," Suzume says, "I know." She seems more amused by that than anything else. Certainly Ririka's musicality doesn't bother her (unless she practices loud enough she can hear when Suzume is trying to sleep or concentrate on schoolwork, anyway).
Suzume finally starts moving around in the game. She does it one-handed - she's just kind of steering herself somewhere in town - and she does it while looking more at Ririka than at the TV. Which means her characters occasionally bonk against a wall or a townsperson, or she doesn't get the direction quite right and has to maneuver a second time.
"Just making sure you know you don't need to babysit me," Suzume says, while she does it. "Saying 'hey, there's a murderer around' is different. But... yeah. It's OK. I'm not as mad with you as some other people."
Suzume is prickly but apparently she's not (entirely) an asshole. Who knew?
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka tends to be pretty good at keeping the music down when she's practicing... besides, shje's also got club time and lessons for that, too.
Ririka is mostly looking at Suzume, but she does look at the screen every now and again, too. The bonking noise makes her smile just a little bit.
"R-right, but... you can't defend yourself if I don't... warn you about the dangerous things I know about, so..." Hence, why she remembered to text about Niko this afternoon.
She glances aside. Other people... "You mean Takeba-san," she says quietly. It's, well... their 'disagreement' was pretty dang public, wasn't it? There's really no getting around that fact. "I still... need to go apologize to her. But..."
Well, she doesn't think Yukari is going to be as chill as Suzume.
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
*bonk* *bonk*
It is kind of a funny sound. Every time Suzume hears it she realizes she made a mistake, but it's only because she's not really looking as she finds her way toward... the inn, apparently. It's not the kind of mistake that annoys her - she hates screwing up where people can see her, but really, does this count?
The fact that Ririka is right - she really does need her Navigator's eyes, or ears as the case may be - is why Suzume agrees with her. And she did get today's message, so she knows Ririka's trying to do better. She lets out a somewhat noncommital sound, not quite a grunt but a wordless sound of agreement.
'You mean Takeba-san'.
Suzume scowls. "Yeah, I mean her," she says. "She's an asshole. I'd be happier if she just - just *quit*. Instead she thinks she gets to say that none of us should be here! I can't decide if she doesn't want the competition, she thinks she's better than us, or what. She said we don't belong here because we made the right choice to be here, and that's just - ugh! And she called me a bully, and that I hate myself because of the way I dress!"
Suzume's voice steadily raises, and she realizes it by now, letting out an irritated groan. "I mean, come on. I'm not as bad as Moriyama was. And just because I like being comfortable instead of being decorative..."
You say, "@emit
Ririka's not gonna think any less of Suzume. She's distracting the other girl, after all, kinda sorta. IT's low-stakes, anyway.
Plus you get that cute little bonking sound to let you know to change chourse. Bonk!
Suzume agrees and... Ririka won't belabor the point.
"W-well, I wouldn't go that far... but I really don't understand her, sometimes..." Well, she wouldn't *say* Yukari is an asshole. She might think it, though. "Competition for what though? Being exposed to dangerous supernatural stuff and protecting people?" She glances at Suzume. "... what's wrong with the way you dress?" Asked one tomboy to another. Ririka's sitting around in a tanktop and cargo pants, so of course she doesn't have an issue with shorts and t-shirts.
"Yeah," she agrees about Suzume's comparison to Moriyama. "I mean, I like dressing up too, but not all the time, you know? It gets exhausting going all out like that." Well, not the clothing, just... acting like she does, when she's on stage, for instance."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka's not gonna think any less of Suzume. She's distracting the other girl, after all, kinda sorta. IT's low-stakes, anyway.
Plus you get that cute little bonking sound to let you know to change chourse. Bonk!
Suzume agrees and... Ririka won't belabor the point.
"W-well, I wouldn't go that far... but I really don't understand her, sometimes..." Well, she wouldn't *say* Yukari is an asshole. She might think it, though. "Competition for what though? Being exposed to dangerous supernatural stuff and protecting people?" She glances at Suzume. "... what's wrong with the way you dress?" Asked one tomboy to another. Ririka's sitting around in a tanktop and cargo pants, so of course she doesn't have an issue with shorts and t-shirts.
"Yeah," she agrees about Suzume's comparison to Moriyama. "I mean, I like dressing up too, but not all the time, you know? It gets exhausting going all out like that." Well, not the clothing, just... acting like she does, when she's on stage, for instance.
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume says exactly what she thinks and thinks exactly what she says. It makes her, especially by Japanese standards of politeness, blunt to the point of rudeness even when she's not *deliberately* being rude, such as by calling Yukari an asshole.
But even that normally doesn't make her willing to go into everything with people she doesn't know well. Once she gets going, though...
"I don't know! I don't get her at all." Suddenly, the music changes - briefly! A happy little jingle as Suzume uses the inn in-game. (Which conveniently changes a bunch of text from a dull green to white. Nobody likes the green text.) Suzume hunches forward slightly out of habit while she's controlling the characters with both hands for a moment.
"I mean she said I was a bully. Like how Moriyama used to treat Yamagishi-san. ...The last time I talked to Takeba myself it was a while ago." Technically not that long, Fuuka was rescued, but only just. "Like she's not as vicious as she can be to anyone she doesn't like."
As for her clothes... "I dunno." Suzume sounds a little sullen. Her gamer hunch turns into a slouch after a few moments. "I just don't think about that. My sister used to all the time. I hated it."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka, by contrast... isn't afraid to speak her mind sometimes, but very much still tries to live up to the expectations placed on her, as a young music prodigy and a model student. So she more often couches things a little bit more gently.
Not always, but usually.
And there are definitely things that break with that image, too... like her skateboard sitting on the floor next to her.
Suzume focuses on the game as she rests up at an inn... and Ririka can't help but quietly hum along with the inn's jingle. They make those tunes catchy for a reason, right?
"What made her say that...?" Ririka asks with a frown. "I talked to her after the day after the launch event, but..." Well, it's not too hard to guess it ended up like it did at the group meeting.
Her sister... Ririka doesn't really know the story there, but doesn't want to pry, either. But that still sounds unpleasant in some fashion. "Oh, I'm sorry," she says mostly out of reflex. "But... if you're comfortable that's all that matters, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume has never been a model student in her life. Kind of the opposite.
Inn stayed at, Suzume starts to maneuver toward the castle at the back of town - she wants to save her game, but she has to loop around some environment to get there, so Ririka gets some more of those funny bonking sounds as Suzume accidentally hits some trees and an oasis.
"I was trying to apologize, but she can't even take an apology right," Suzume grumps. "Never mind. It's not your business really, I just... I don't like her." And neither does Ririka, so she thought maybe her griping would go better than it would with some other people.
Though, there's always the question of how *accurately* Suzume remembers - or understood - the conversation in the first place.
"And the last thing I want to talk about is my clothes," Suzume adds, grumpily - but aimed at herself, not someone else. "I already need to go shopping again and stuff costs money."
A pause as Suzume maneuvers up the castle stairs, around a pillar and toward the - oh, this one's a queen, or something. "Once I save this," she says, "you want to play a game? You're already in here and I could use a longer break from homework."
Suzume is already not doing her homework. It's open on the desk next to Ririka. She's about two thirds done. But it's something due Tuesday so she's probably fine...?
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
It's... well, it's a lot of work. But Ririka's not going to mention that to very many people.
Save points! Ririka understands this concept well.
"Yeah, me too, kind of, but..." Ririka shrugs a little. Suzume doens't want to talk about it. "Okay." Suzume definitely isn't alone. Ririka's still not entirely sure how things spiraled the way they did.
"That's true," Ririka says noncommittally. Money's never really been an issue for her, but... she knows that's not the same for everyone.
She's a little surprised by the offer, but considers it. She's got her own homework, and rehearsal, and she was working on a composition, but... after the day she's had she wants a break too. "Sure!" she says with a smile. It turns to a grin. "Got any fighting games? They released Night Parade 2 on this system, right? But I'm game to play anything else you've got, too."
She'll just say up a little later to get her work done. It's fine.
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume's family is not especially wealthy, and it's not like Suzume has ever gotten much of an allowance. Is... is part of the reason she pushed to go to Mementos so she can get yen from the demons?
...It's not, right?
(It's not. That's just an added perk.)
"Must be hard for you too. Where do you get pants long enough for you?" Suzume is teasing, but she's not trying to be mean about it, judging by the slight grin. "I'm so glad we can do online ordering, it makes everything easier."
Suzume saves her game and picks 'end', which means the triumphant title screen music comes on. Because Ririka seems to enjoy it, she lets it play out instead of immediately shutting the system off. Everybody knows the Drake Adventure theme! (Well, no. Not EVERYONE. But it is remarkably well-known.)
Night Parade 2? "Nah. Not many fighting games on this one except the *real* basics. I mean, there's a couple, but they're either the really old-style ones or they got cut down real bad to fit... you can't store enough on the cartridges." Suzume says. "Night Parade's not quite that old, either. It started on the next system for home games."
She reverses herself, lying down on the bed, head dangling down. Because... She pulls out a short box from under the bed, where it apparently lives. Inside is a tangle of wires, some electronics, and some game boxes... CD game boxes. Which the system plugged in doesn't use.
"Fortunately, I got one of those too. I replaced the spindle motor last month so it even works again." It's another old system, probably bought second-hand, but Suzume seems pretty pleased by it. Even if she can't get the new systems, at least second-hand and refit stores are there for her.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka's only trip to an established supernatural space so far, Tartarus, didn't... exactly go well. Here's hoping tomorrow's trip will be better.
"Ugggh," groans Ririka at the mention of pants. "Don't even get me started. Pants, skirts, shirts, jackets, shoes..." She lifts an arm, to emphasize the lack of sleeves on her tank top. "At least this doesn't have any sleeves." She's a little embarrassed by her height, but not so embarrassed she won't gripe about it a little. "That helps," she admits. "Finding the right stores, too..."
Ririka isn't humming along with the title theme (because her vocal chords are being used for talking), but she is nodding her head with the beat.
"Really?" She says as Suzume explains the availability (or lack thereof) of Night Parade for this system. "Huh... Well, I didn't start with this system. My brother and I used to share one from two generations later. Well, it was his, but he let me play it with him..."
She's never had to worry about secondhands... but she gets why someone might. "Heyyy, nice!" she says after she sees the box come out from under the bed. "And you replaced the motor yourself? That's amazing, Fukura-san!" She bumps her skateboard with her foot. "I work on my deck a little, but I don't really mess with electronics."
She grins as she looks through the collection. "So... co-op or competitive?"
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume doesn't go into details about what she hates about shopping. Maybe it's the whole thing. But to an extent she sympathizes with having to look around a lot to find something you both will and can wear.
Maybe not with the being tall, though. Suzume is, what, five foot zero? "A tall people shop, huh. I can see it. But I'd have to get on stilts to get in."
She lets out something that's not quite a laugh but working towards one as she slips off her bed, walking around to switch which system is hooked up. "The motor's not too bad to fix if you have a soldering iron. ...I *don't*, but they let me use one of the ones in shop when I showed them what I was going to do with it. I don't usually do anything more complicated than that, or switching the batteries in the Drake Adventure cart. You gotta do that every fifteen years or so, they run down and then it doesn't save anymore."
(Both of those are harder than she's giving herself credit for, especially if she had to take the old ones out.)
She looks at Ririka thoughtfully, then: "Cooperative. The first time." She's not going to challenge someone until they've figured out the controls and are comfortable with her controllers... if Ririka's used to a later version, it might take her a bit to settle in with it.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
"Yeah, and some of the international brands are better with sizing, but... it's still kind of annoying." Finding skate shoes in her size? Forget about it.
She does laugh a little at the stilts joke.
"I wouldn't even know where to start with a soldering iron. I bet Kiroshi-kun could show me, though... he works on my guitar sometimes." That's one of her band members, the drummer. "Oh, so they used batteries in the old carts... I guess it's not like the memory cards that came later, huh?"
She asks the natural follow-up question. "So where'd you learn to use a soldering iron?"
Cooperative! "Sure, I'm good with that." She will take a moment to futz with the controller and get used to it, though. "Kinda similar, but... they added a few more buttons later, huh...?"
"I'm curious to see who's on the roster. Is Koto Furunushi in this one?" That's a stance character, whose gimmick is tied to music.
Because of course.
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
"Yeah they are," Suzume agrees without thinking. Not that she's ever had to buy skate shoes, but... "Plus, you can get some interesting shirts if you get them from the American site."
Well, that explains a couple of her T-shirts, with English on them, or Americana. (Not the one she's wearing, though - that one's plain.)
Where'd she learn to use a soldering iron? "...around. I got pretty good at fixing things." You can get a lot more for your allowance buck (or, well, yen) if you're willing to do some repair yourself. "A soldering iron's not too hard though. It just makes things hot, and then you use the soldier to make a connection. The harder part's not using too much solder and only linking up the right things. ...I use a lot of pictures for that."
You can do a lot more than you think if you're willing to take your time about it. And while Suzume is often impatient, it's different when you're doing it to be self-sufficient. Plus, who would she ask about fixing a game console? Nobody else she knew cared about the old ones; that's why she could vanish into her room with them without complaints.
'Is Koto Furunshi in this one?'
"Yeah, but the controls are a bit different," Suzume warns. "They changed them for the next one - which was probably the one you played. Definitely practice a bit."
But at least it's going to be an interesting evening. Even if Suzume gets a little too into it later on.