2025-10-01: A Healthy Distance

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  • Log: A Healthy Distance
  • Cast: Shinjiro Aragaki, Tatsuya Suou
  • Where: Paulownia Mall, Tatsumi Port Island
  • OOC Date: October 01, 2025
  • IC Date: July 19, 2012
  • Summary: Shinjiro invites Tatsuya to karaoke and to finally eat that damn katsudon. The distance from their primary struggles and friend groups turns out very positive for both of them, and they manage to have a good time without any drama. They even make plans to hang out again!
(|============================== Paulownia Mall ==============================|)

-======================================= Iwatodai City/Tatsumi Port Island ====-

A great glass dome surrounds Paulownia Mall, its name displayed in great letters

on its rim. Within this circular structure, made beautiful with water features, 

the mall bustles. A central fountain pours out, eternally, surrounded by benches

for weary shoppers; two more pools stand by the entrance, decorated by          

well-trimmed hedges behind them. The brown patterning on the floor emphasises   

the circular nature of this place, all carved to equal segments; pillars        

surrounding the sides provide structure and guidance, separating each store from

the other.                                                                      

And the shops one can find here are many. Game Parade is a popular arcade,      

particularly amongst nearby Gekkoukan students, and its crane game has foiled   

many a hopeful date. Kenneth Arnold offers music albums, while Mandragora       

Karaoke Bar, up a flight of stairs nearby, offers live music experiences for    

those who prefer active participation. Club Escapade is another great option for

music-lovers, alongside those seeking Fortune-Telling services or looking for   

shady informants -- but it's only open at night, and technically, it's only for 

people who are over 18. Practically speaking, teenagers sometimes sneak in,     

anyway... but curious teens ought to be careful, because a few shops over, one  

can find the Tatsumi East Police Station. Chagall Cafe, at least, is both open  

during the day and open to all ages! Aohige Pharmacy offers pharmaceuticals to  

cure any ailment, while Be Blue V offers an eclectic variety of items and       

treatments to improve one's health and wellbeing. Finally, Mayoido Antiques     

offers unique weapons and armour for those who bring in supernatural            

materials... and the proprietor seems to know more than she really ought to     

about that world.                                                               


<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.

Shinjiro needs to get his mind off the Cardboard Dragon. After his talks with Mio and Shinobu, he's considering how to reapproach Myunghon, but nothing he thinks of typing makes sense to his brain, so he's put the phone away and gotten to cooking. While looking at his ingredients, he realized he had the stuff for katsudon, so he's spent the day making that.

A bit into his cooking, he decided to text Tatsuya.

hey

you hungry? got food. meet me at paulownia's karaoke place. i got the room.

don't make me track you down :)

Shinjiro is unaware that a smiley face is slightly more menacing than it is friendly in this day and age, having no one to text with for two years. Tatsuya may remember a similar event between them on the Other Side where Shinjiro had to be taught emoji etiquette.

He is currently waiting at Paulownia's local karaoke, having paid for the room in advance to prevent shenanigans and make sure that Tatsuya will come. They need to talk in general, and getting him fed is a good thing. He's waiting patiently, leaning against the wall.

<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.

        > you're not gonna give up are you

        Tatsumi Port Island. In a way, Tatsuya wished he'd never have to come back here. There's nothing but pain here... they'd all been fighting so hard, every step of the way, even though it felt like there was nothing left here but betrayal and secrets. But the worst part is that he killed them.

        Every last one of them.

        They didn't even realise their ends, abrupt as it was, when the Grand Cross took them. Them... and everyone else outside of Sumaru City. The Oracle of Maia came true, and the world did end... and Tatsuya Suou is all too unhappy to claim that it was all his fault, because we're playing two brunettes with red clothes who have self-sacrificing habits who are ultimately both doomed today.

        But it's as if nothing has ever happened. Tatsuya passes by the fountain on the way to the karaoke place, and walks up the steps and pushes his way in. It doesn't take long before he goes up the elevator and opens his way into the room Shinjiro's earmarked.

        "... I guess I've eaten in much weirder places," Tatsuya does murmur quietly. He's still in his red motorcycle leathers, and brown slacks. "Are you actually going to sing...?"

<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.

nope

As soon as Tatsuya arrives at the karaoke room, Shinjiro gestures to a tupperware on the table, still warm. Tatsuya can absolutely guess what is in it before he even smells it, and it smells *really* good once he does. Utensils are out, and there's a separate portion for Shinjiro as well.

"It was this or outside, and I figured you would want privacy if we were going to talk," he admits, before looking over to the karaoke equipment.

"Do you want me to?" He teases, decently friendly. Tatsuya had told him some pretty dire stuff that he claimed was his fault...

So why isn't Shinjiro blaming him? There's not a hint of animosity, even after he's likely ruminated on it, based off his patterns.

<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.

        Tatsuya does sit down and immediately his appetite's worked up by the smell of the food. Damn, that does smell really good... but it's also reminding him of other times, on the other side, when he's eaten with Shinjiro -- he's even been in the SEES dorms once. He doesn't ever want to go there again. "It's a bit expensive just to rent a private room... but I suppose it's better than a hotel."

        Oh my. A love hotel?

        "Hmmm. I'll bet you can't sing decent," Tatsuya challenges, perhaps feeling a little more uplifted that his traumas were not all founded. ... it's fine. Even if Shinjiro surfaces back his own trauma with losing him, even before the end, he's distant enough that he's allowed to enjoy something out of it... after having had to say goodbye with Jun. Distant people are better. There's no risks that way.

        He starts on the food, and quietly takes a bite. Even after being in a tupperware box, the katsu isn't too soggy. The panko is crispy, the pork is juicy and moist inside...

<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.

"Hey, if it's gonna get you to take care of yourself..." Shinjiro shrugs. He sees a lot of himself in Tatsuya, so he absolutely imagines his fellow teen would not perform self-care.

But as Tatsuya challenges Shinjiro back, he pauses, looking back to the equipment, grabs the microphone and song list clicker, and starts looking. "Fuck you, man," he jokes, feeling out Tatsuya's mood too before commiting. He's been in a terrible one, but he's already feeling a bit lighter, having someone completely distant from it. Not SEES, not Cardboard Dragon, just... an ally to talk and hang out with. He might try to keep this one light for once.

"How've you been holding up?" he asks as he scrolls, letting Tatsuya control the tone. If he asks a direct question too fast, he might fuck it up again, even if he's keeping that masked as firmly as possible.

<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.

        "Oh? Maybe I should keep that in mind?" Tatsuya does remark, remarkably straight-faced about it, but Shinjiro can tell there's a somewhat catty side to him as well. At least, when he's like this, when he's relatively rejuvenated and not looking like he did on that day in the Alaya Shrine like he'd just committed the worst sin -- just like when Shinjiro caused that mother's death (killed her), was what that face was like.

        Shinjiro takes up the challenge, and he keeps eating. "... I haven't had food like this in..." He can't say 'since he arrived in this timeline'. "A while." The egg mixture's perfect... it's still runny in places, and has been simmered in dashi so it's all sweet-savoury so the sweet onion's incredible to go with it. He can't stop eating.

        How's he been holding up?

        Here, Tatsuya can dwell on the topic of how he wanted to murder Sudou and could've gotten away with it but he was distracted and let him escape again. He doesn't. "... Tsubasa-kun got away. I'm calling that a win for us."

<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.

"Sure," is all Shinjiro says about keeping it in mind, though it's followed by a laugh. He wants Tatsuya to know he can trust him, so he doesn't push back, even if they're being catty to each other.

"How is it?" Shinjiro asks about the food, opening his container slowly to take a bite. "I've been cooking since I was little, this feels like my specialty more or less, so that's why I offered it when you saved my life back then." He rubs the back of his head.

"Thanks again for that."

Though, as Tatsuya mentions Tsubasa, he nods once, considering as he eats. "Yeah, agreed. They're holed up somewhere, I checked on them, but I don't know how long it'll hold. But I've got hope they'll be fine."

<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.

        "It's really good, like always," Tatsuya slips, not remembering this is the first time Shinjiro's cooked for him here. A pause. "I mean... I always imagine you're on point with your cooking." He excuses himself with another bite after that, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "Hmm... you're good with Japanese food most?"

        He already knows the answer, but this way, it'll at least seem like he didn't slip up.

        Shinjiro thanks him for saving his life. He lowers his head. "... I think anyone would've done that. You don't survive long in the supernatural just leaving someone else to die." He's being humble about it, so that he doesn't have to fixate on the feelings of that day -- how much he's reminded of Shinjiro's death in turn.

        Tsubasa's holed up somewhere, and he's checked up on them. "... it's another day to survive. If the cops are after them, then that's another chance to get away... and I know by now my brother's probably already meddling. He did fight Sudou as well."

        For once, he can say his name, since Shinjiro already knows.

<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.

Shinjiro arches an eyebrow, but... he knows Tatsuya is weird in such a way that is probably factually supernatural that, while he cannot *process* this in any ay, he can indeed accept the correction. "Yeah, I worked at Hagakure Ramen for a bit. Chef's a real good guy, taught me a lot. Before then, they taught me at the orphanage. I wonder how Big Sis is doing..." Someone Shinjiro never mentioned on the Other Side, apparently...?

About saving his life... "Sure. But I pay back people what they're owed. You seem to think you're a bad guy... I won't tell you that you aren't, that never works, but I'll say that I don't care."

Tsubasa and Sudou... "I'll make sure they're kept safe, and I know your brother will, too. But we still need to stop him."

But, a pause. Don't crash the mood, Shinjiro. "Actually, nah, we can worry about that later. You do anything else for fun besides lurking in strange places? No judgment, I know how that is."

<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.

        Shinjiro worked at Hagakure Ramen...? That's a bit different than how he remembered it, but it's not bad at all. It feels... right, for Shinjiro. But Shinjiro mentioning Big Sis does wrench his heart a little, when he remembers how it went down with the orphanage fire... is this Big Sis... no, it can't be, can it?

        Tatsuya's silent for a while longer, dampened a bit -- but he's got just his rice left to eat. "... damn, I should've rationed better," he laments, perhaps trying to not desperately latch onto the topic of Big Sis. He pauses... and then finds it impossible. "Is Big Sis..." a pause. "You'd mentioned... someone passed away."

        They still need to stop him. Tatsuya shakes his head. "He's a slippery bastard. I damn near pushed myself to my limits, but as long as he can blink away in the bat of an eye, it'll be almost impossible to catch him..." A pause, as he suddenly realises something. Wait... he blinks away at the bat of an eye?

        Fuck.

        Fuck!

        Why didn't he realise it sooner?!

        Can Sudou timestop too now?! Double Fuck!!

        Shinjiro's trying to reel them out of being sad, though. "... I like biking. You want me to take you sometime? We'll gun it until we've wrung every last bit of speed out of it. And also--"

        He grabs the microphone. "If you aren't going to go... I'll go."

<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.

Shinjiro pauses when Tatsuya laments. "I can always grab some leftovers if you want to swing by my dorm and send you back with more, but they won't be hot," he admits. He cooks in batches for this reason! And also wants to make sure Tatsuya EATS because he's enjoying a food instead of rejecting it violently. What is with Shinjiro and people who refuse to self-care?!

"...hm? No, separate people. That was Miki, she was younger..." He scratches behind his ear, though despite the angst, he doesn't frown. Instead, he's in a good mood, so he's only thinking of good memories, and he's smiling a bit. It's cute.

"Her name's Yuzuki, but I always called her 'big sis' or 'Yukko'. She taught me everything I knew about how to cook. She was a teenager when we were single-digits, you know?"

The smile eventually fades, because Tatsuya's pausing, getting sad. "You okay?"

But then, he explains his like of biking! "...sure," Shinjiro nods. "I'd like that."

KARAOKE THOUGH. "Hey! We were talking!" Shinjiro laughs again, before nodding. "You first. It'll let me figure out how to destroy you."

<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.

        Tatsuya looks actually a little bit embarrassed about that. "Come on... I'm not so bad you have to start acting like a mom about it," he grumbles, because he is still a boy who's wrapped up in what it means to be a man in the end. This entire experience has possibly made him a lot more toxic within about it, as well, even if he's had a lot of his rough edges ironed out by Jun in just a short time.

        (Indeed, it's definitely because of Jun that he hasn't become insufferable about it.)

        "Oh..." Tatsuya frowns a bit, but he's focused on how Shinjiro's smiling about it. ... his smile's really cute. He can cook, he's caring, he's competent... but he also knows why he can't make someone happy. "Yuzuki...?" He frowns. He's never mentioned someone like that on the other side, but... Shinjiro had a different life back then too. The fire never happened. Sudou never approached them.

        "Y-yeah," he answers, a little off-guard. "Good, actually. I think I might've figured out how that bastard blinks away from us."

        Shinjiro agrees to go biking with him. "... I got a new bike, since I got mine totalled when I was trying to fend Sudou off at Kasu High. You can have the maiden ride with me."

        But again, Karaoke!! All right... Tatsuya picks through the list...

        oh shit. it's Ride on Time.

        There's two microphones.

        Is it time...?

        The music's starting.

        Is it time for a duet...?

<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.

Shinjiro rubs the back of his ear again as Tatsuya get embarrassed. "...sorry. I... have a friend with an eating disorder, so I get worried." The friend won't even eat eel! At the very least, he did not use past tense, which shows that maybe part of the problem with Myunghon is all in his mood...

"Yeah... I should check on her soon, see if I can find anything using her full name." A shrug, before... "Awesome. ...text me later, if you think you can share. No problem if you can't yet." He doesn't really want to ruin this anymore with work. It's the first time he's felt this good in a while.

"Maiden ride? You sure I'm the one you want to take?" He does think about it, though. "Thanks, I'll be there," he says with another smile.

BUT IT'S RIDE ON TIME!!!

Shinjiro stares over to him. He's been tricked!!! (He has not.) Two microphones, shared song, duet... he decides not to say anything, nodding resolutely

He's not a bad singer, once they start. Not even a little bit. While he's not *trained* in any way, he knows the fundamentals of music, and therefore does not sound painful at all. Good for a karaoke room!

<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.

        "... I mean, you're right to be worried, I guess," Tatsuya does acknowledge that much. "But you and Tutor-sensei can only get on my case long enough before I'll throw my hands up and keep an onigiri in my pockets." Somehow, it feels nice that Shinjiro's talking about a friend, even though he now has a hankering for unagi for some reason, and that's bad. Unagi is endangered, you know.

        "Hmm... you should treasure your Big Sis," is Tatsuya's advice. He even manages to not look particularly pained about it, he's feeling heartfelt about it. Even now, Maya-nee's probably having fun with others -- that's just the kind of spirit she is. "Also... no, it's simple. You know how you probably thought we teleported when I pulled you away from the Reaper?"

        A pause. "Same exact thing happened, I think... my Persona can stop time for a few precious seconds."

        And his Persona, the Joker Persona, has his face on it... and he's been feeling like he's been missing a part of him -- he thought it was all emotional, but perhaps not entirely so, given how closely tied the cognitive is to emotions.

        But it's Ride on Time! Tatsuya's actually a ridiculously good singer, a deep baritone that can really swoon you -- and when the song ends, he's even literally mimicking a crowd cheering, both the girls and the guys, as well as all the airhorns and buzzers the fans are using like they're doing a live together.

        Shit, how's he so good at mimicking sounds like that?

<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.

"...have you done that before?" Shinjiro questions about onigiri, though it's not judgmental.

"I always will, yeah," he says, though he doesn't pry on the heartfelt pain. But time stop... "...hm. That makes sense... so it's not pure teleportation. We'll have to figure out how we can counteract that. At the least, if it's time and not teleporting, it has a limit we can exploit."

SINGING TIME. Shinjiro is in awe once the song ends, watching the voice mimicry.

"Damn, where'd you learn to sing like that? You're really good," Shinjiro says, honestly impressed. "And the mimickry, top notch, man. Great job."

<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.

        "I've always been good at mimicking noise since little..." Tatsuya reflects, as their song ends. Then he mimics a motorcycle noise, and that's *eerily* good. The others, you can still kind of hear an inflection, but for a moment, he has become a pure two-wheeled machine that takes gasoline and turns it into speed. "I even won a talent show in grade school. Big bro was just about crying his heart out, the loser..."

        He has a kind of grin on his face as he says that, though... ... then he realises that the Katsuya who did that is not the Katsuya on this side, and the grin fades a bit more.

        "... yeah," Tatsuya admits to having smuggled onigiri in his pockets. "I mean, even in the past few weeks, I might be away from a store for a while... I should probably make it energy bars though. Onigiri can get rancid at room temperature. I definitely don't want to get sick out in the field."

        Tatsuya rubs his chin. "I need the tell... and then a time stop can counteract another time stop." He stops short of saying 'there's a manga like that,' because that's truly dangerous territory.

<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.

Shinjiro doesn't realize the significance of the fade grinning, nodding. "Sounds like you're just talented in general, huh, Motorcycle-san?" It's a tease, which is obvious by the use of an honorific that he would never use otherwise.

Though, about the onigiri... "I'd recommend that, yeah. Let me know if I can help in any way, alright? Don't go it alone."

Finally, the time stop... "Gotcha. We'll catch the bastard, don't worry."

But before Tatsuya can ESCAPE he's already selecting another song! Oh no, you've doomed yourself, Tatsuya!!! Maybe Shinjiro's taste is good...? (It is.)

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