2025-11-20: Renew your Mummery
- Log: Renew your Mummery
- Cast: Myunghon Yeo, Saika Kikuchi
- Where: The Peacock Silk, Shimokitazawa
- OOC Date: November 20, 2025
- IC Date: August 13, 2012
- Summary: Myunghon wakes up in the Peacock Silk after spending the night with Tsumugi and runs into Saika in the morning. Terror ensues!!
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
Myunghon ended up spending the night in the Peacock Silk last night after reuniting with Tsumugi, and... many things happened... which we can't show on primetime Japanese television. Or else tank the CERO rating. Still, after admitting that they were, in fact, suffocating, the exhaustion did overwhelm Myunghon and they ended up deciding that they weren't really in a state to go home all the way to Sumaru on their own, hence... why...
Well.
Today, Saika Kikuchi has an unexpected guest in the residential part of the Peacock Silk abode: a rather dazed-looking Myunghon Yeo stumbling out of Tsumugi's bedroom, a chocolate ruffle-blouse only hastily half-buttoned with their bandages in a state of disarray (somewhat showing grotesque, old burn and slash scars underneath), and also covered in black lipstick all around their face like they just lost at a new years' game of hanetsuki.
They have their white skirt on, at least, but it's also not the most well-put together at this time either. They look deathly thirsty and is half-stumbling around like someone dessicated in the desert in desperate search of water.
<Pose Tracker> Saika Kikuchi has posed.
There is a sound of free flowing water.
Then a sound of a sink.
Then a sound of a door opening.
And then, there is Saika.
Standing in the bathroom doorway, she is able to get a good look at Myunghon. Her eyes widen slowly, in a lovingly animated way - the only motion in her, or in the scene, for a heart-stopping nearly three seconds as she takes in everything about Myunghon.
The blouse.
The disarrayed bandages and the glimpses of the scarring beneath.
The black lipstick.
*ALL* of the black lipstick...
And a rustled skirt.
After this, Saika rests an elbow against the doorframe.
"You look like shit," she says, in a tone of relative cheer. "You need to get in here?" At which point she steps out of the bathroom and gestures inside. Her face has a hard to read expression - was that true or false cheer??
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
Myunghon lets out a terrified yip (yeah, that's the only way to describe that noise) and just about jumps up out of their skin like a mortified little guinea pig because this still feels like they're uncomfortably intruding on someone's home. Plus, it's mortifying to be seen like this, even if it's, ultimately, Saika. "I--I'm sorry! I'm terribly sorry, I just need some water and I'll be on my way--" their head is already swimming. Ohh, please, have the energy to place the Merry mask on... no, it's really not happening.
Something about the cheer, perhaps, is activating a lot of their anxiety, like they're reading judgement behind it.
<Pose Tracker> Saika Kikuchi has posed.
Saika meets Myunghon's eye for a few moments.
Her expression softens.
"No," she says, shaking her head. "C'mon," she continues, raising a hand to beckon Myunghon along -- if they don't move it, Saika graduates to literal wrist-taking.
"Unless you gotta run because you're late for medicine or something, I'm going to make you breakfast," she says. "You can hydrate while I'm doing it, okay? You got any favorites?"
Saika does look back, in the middle of guiding and/or towing Myunghon to the area of the kitchen and dining space. "You do need to wash your face and like --" she gestures at the general torso area, "I can see stuff, I figure you want to hide it."
"I know what it's like," Saika continues, before looking away again.
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
It does take a bit of wrist-taking -- which does solicit some kind of trauma response in Myunghon as they beg apology once again before stopping and letting Saika wrangle them, as she insists that she's going to make them breakfast. "Um... beansprouts?" they lamely say. "Most foods taste... bad to me. Taste disorder. Anything bland isn't too bad, though," they work through in somewhat clipped, staccato-like nerviness.
Myunghon is pretty easy to wrangle, though, as they tuck their arms a little tighter around their chest (their binder is off at this point), and nods quietly, saying, "Do you have any bandages...?"
A pause, as Saika says she knows what it's like.
They remember -- the urgency in which she leapt to their side when they said that they'd received a wound on their belly. That does get Myunghon to pause for a moment longer, before murmuring, "... t-thank you, Saika." They do end up finding the nearest sink to at least wash the lipstick off and dabbing away with paper towels. Water in their throat and on their face has them shocked a little into life again, at the very least.
"I suppose Tsumugi left already..." they mumble. "They were looking unwell yesterday."
<Pose Tracker> Saika Kikuchi has posed.
"... Beansprouts?" Saika says, furrowing her brow as they actually reach the kitchen.
"I'm not gonna give you beansprouts for breakfast," Saika says with a hand on her hip. "Can you like tolerate rice and eggs? Like even if you have to choke it down. I can do beansprouts on top if that's like your best thing but I mean," a vague gesture, "you have to eat, you know?"
Even if you hate it.
There's less scolding in her tone as she gets a 500ml glass out of a cabinet and fills it from a jug in the fridge, which seems to just be crisp cool water. She proffers it, and sets the rest of the jug on the nearby counterspace.
And after that, she reaches down to untuck her giallo-film shirt and -- not push further. Weird thing to do. "I dunno," Saika says. "They get like this sometimes. It'll pass. Sometimes I had to go in there and like... spoon feed them miso and rice and everything..."
Saika smirks a little. "I still think I got taken for a ride on that one."
<Pose Tracker> Saika Kikuchi has posed.
("You mean like wraps or like little ones?" Saika asks, about the bandages.)
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
"Wraps," Myunghon pulls at some of the gauze wraps still sheathing their body like they're a mummy. But Saika insists that she's not going to just give Myunghon beansprouts, and asks if they can choke down their food. There's another nervy look, and they quietly say, "I--I suppose. I know..."
Which is perhaps all the indicator Saika needs to know this person definitely foregoes eating a lot, given their rail-thin build and general unhealthiness.
The meekness doesn't really go away from them at present, even as they realise how disheveled their clothes are and starts fixing them -- feeling awkward without that binder or leggings on. The clothes are very cute, at least. There's a side-glance to Saika as she tucks down on her shirt, but they're not going to go exploring with their eye or anything.
"... that sounds very familiar. I guess that's what you're doing now, even," Myunghon murmurs, wishing they had a mirror right now to check if the mangled part of their face is showing. (Just a little. It really is mostly the lipstick.) "How did you get together with them? The-- crew, I mean, not... er--" Well, she did get taken for a ride.
<Pose Tracker> Saika Kikuchi has posed.
Saika nods once at the confirmation, turns her eyes towards the ceiling, and then says - "I thhhink so, I can get it out for you. Or like, I can lend you a top or something if you need it, you're gonna be back here sometime, right? Or I can come by if I'm in Sumaru being the great detective."
She pushes the water forwards. Tu bebes agua. That's Spanish, baby. The language of love.
"... maybe a little," Saika says with a faint smirk. "I do some good eggs, though, and I bet you need those more than the rice, right? Rice is great but it's pretty bland!" oh no is she going to prepare a feast
a feast... of ashes??
"Mm," Saika says. "Well..."
"I was in a bad place," Saika says, after another of those pauses, "and they were... there for me. It was just... I don't know. I guess I feel a responsibility, right? And they're great, I mean, no complaints. Best thing that ever happened to me!"
Saika then reaches down to the edge of her shirt. "And... well, there's something you ought to know."
"... shit," Saika says, after several more tense seconds, "this is actually hard, haha, I feel so dumb. I was gonna kind of... I mean, when I say "I know how it is," I mean it, and -- okay," her head tilts forwards, and then little miss punk rock pulls up her shirt!!!
Don't get too excited. It's just to about ribcage level, and other than a scandalously black sports bra's under-side, nothing is really showing. If Myunghon looks, though, they can see a rather impressive scar: from the center line of the rib cage, down a few CMs, and then split into two limbs, the longer one extending to the right with a shorter one to the left. They might be reminded, horribly, of the logo of a Mercedes-Benz automobile.
After a second or two, Saika pulls her shirt back down. She doesn't speak right away; she actually turns to start getting some things out of the fridge. Mostly a dozen eggs. (Well, it's actually nine eggs, but it started as twelve.)
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
Myunghon opens their mouth once, before shaking their head to say, "I could just button the coat I came with... that might work easier." Other than the fact that it's going to be BOILING in August still in a coat despite you always running cold and needing extra layers, yes. There's a delicate smile as they both accept water and take a long gulp (it does resurrect them), then says, "Oh, I'd like to see you around more often. I haven't... thanked you for helping us in that warehouse."
Where that guy died. Head exploded in front of them and all. Akira Hayashi still haunting their nightmares.
Myunghon gets the sense that they'd better appeal to Saika's pride of cooking than their own challenges with food, then, and says, "I--I think so. Egg whites aren't too bad." Except Saika looks all geared up to make some real proper yangzhou fried rice, fuiyuuuh.
But Saika tells her story -- vaguely -- but it's a relatable one. Being in a bad place, and... the Peacock Silk being there for them. That genteel smile is still there as they quietly cling onto their water. "... that was really how I ended up meeting Tsumugi too..."
But Saika has something Myunghon should know -- and the rumourmonger tenses up gently, Saika struggling through it. Myunghon does walk forward and gently places a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay... take your time," Myunghon does reassert gently, before--
Shirt!! Up!!
Myunghon's singular eye widens at the sight, feeling a great amount of discomfort at how... how...
Ritual, it looks, is the first word that comes to mind.
"That was why, that time I said I was cut..." Myunghon murmurs, discomfited. "Oh, Saika..."
<Pose Tracker> Saika Kikuchi has posed.
As Myunghon looks visibly less wizened after the glass of water, Saika turns around to refill it. A whole liter?! Will you float away, Myunghon?
About the top versus the coat: "Mmh... I dunno... the trains don't have great AC that far out..." The hand on her shoulder, at least, makes her smile.
As she gets out a pan, Saika continues, with an air of relief - the worst in the rear view mirror. "Don't worry! That was actually from surgery, believe it or not. They had to take out my whole liver! I can't even remember exactly what it was, haha!"
Saika's probably lying about that.
"Saved my life," which Saika sounds surprisingly neutral about as she puts the pan on the nearby stove-top and then gets out a bowl, into whence not one, not two, but THREE eggs are cracked -- followed by a fourth. After this, she reaches up -- a little soy sauce, a little mirin - are you 'mirin' her mirin? it is from the store -- to get the eggs sauced, and then begins to whip them with a fork.
"But yeah, for like a whole year I had to be super paranoid about it starting bleeding," Saika says, her eyes wide. "It was like I had to take care of a little sick kitten except I was the sick kitten! It got like, better after that, but still. I take that kind of thing seriously."
A pause. Whip whip whip whip whip go the egg egg egg egg.
"Anyway... about the warehouse... I basically just did what I always do. I was kind of sweating it, though, since I was used to those characters upstairs," what an old-folksy way of putting it, "backing me up the way they usually do. But it worked out!"
mostly
"So... you don't have to worry about it. But I won't fight you if you wanna treat me for lunch, either."
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
Myunghon is definitely plastering a masked smile at the mirin because they just know it'll be absolutely delicious for normal people and absolutely revolting for them and they're going to just have to choke it down. Dashi for most, dashed for Myunghon. It's definitely rude to object at this point.
They're gonna have to go to the bathroom so hard after this after that much water, though. "I'll be fine. It isn't the first time," they murmur, of the trains. But they also do admit: "I-- thought you were harmed by someone ritualistically trying to carve you open, or..."
Now they sound a little bit foolish about it.
They let go and step back cause it's cooking time and they're garbage at the kitchen, though. (That's not fair, they've had success baking. That's an entirely different thing, though.) "It... was like that for me, yes," Myunghon does observe on wound management. "There was a month-stretch where none of my doctors believed I would make it. The taste and smell went away because of flu from having a compromised immune system. One of several."
There's a more comfortable smile as they say, "I don't mind treating you to lunch. Sumaru or around here?"
In the midst of egg-fryin', Myunghon does pause to say: "Tell me about those movies on your shirts..."
<Pose Tracker> Saika Kikuchi has posed.
Going to the bathroom is everyone's romance!
-daisuke ido, local idiot
A spray of oil in the pan and Saika turns on the stove. More whipping afterwards, and she looks over to Myunghon. "Oh, my god, that SUCKS! I am so sorry to hear. Are you better now? If you're on immunosuppressants I know a couple of like, tricks? I mean they worked for me but I was a kid," Saika says with the shrug of her shoulders.
"And hmmm... Sumaru... but I wanna tell you," Saika says as she walks over to pour the egg blend into the pan and start giving it industrious and frequent jiggling with a silicone rubber spatula, "I don't eat meat, so keep that in mind if you want to make a recommendation."
A moment or two after, and she says, "This? Oh, this is this awesome old movie. This ballet student goes to ballet school in Germany and a whole lot of people get murdered. It turned out the headmistress-- do you like horror movies? I don't wanna spoil it. There IS a peacock though, which is how I got SOMEBODY to sit his feathered ass down and watch instead of demanding attention."
"Sometimes I think I should get a TV in my room if I want to watch movies..."
"If you're up to it, can you get a couple of plates out of the cabinet there?" Saika says, pointing. Oh, a couple of plates - she's probably going to eat some of this herself. As the eggs keep on cooking, Saika reaches up to turn on the fan. Considerateness? Maybe. Maybe she's just doing it for herself (b-baka).
"Anyway, they're Italian movies originally... apparently there are a LOT of Italian movies."
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
"They said it wouldn't ever be as strong, and I do get sick more easily... I also have to watch out for infections," Myunghon ruminates, though they shake their head on the mention of immunosuppressants. "No, I do have several I'm on forever, but nothing in that category..." Though that does makes sense, that Saika would know of them, if a transplant of some kind was involved.
... Frankenstein's Monster, huh.
"Ara, that is well to know," Myunghon does nod on Saika's vegetarianism. She's cooking eggs, so Myunghon can rule out being vegan, at least. "I'm much the same way... there's this unflavoured pea protein that I tolerate quite well. I've been playing with turning it into jelly. But there's an izakaya run by someone who might be an oil baron or the mistress of a Russian Tsar during the cold war that has excellent food."
The movie, though!
"O-oh. Um-- well, I'm pretty skittish..." Myunghon basically answers 'no' to horror movies. "Mm. Does the peacock die?" A pause. "No, is the peacock the murderer?"
Saika asks for plates, though, and Myunghon does get up to go fetch -- there's a pause and a wince as they reach overhead, but they push through the pain, since it's just two plates and they're not about to horribly harm themself even if it falls on them. "I imagine. Out of everyone who has their hands on a camera, at least some of them must go, 'I have a brilliant idea I must capture on film.'"
They put the plates out to serve. "It'd be boring if it was only American or Japanese films, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Saika Kikuchi has posed.
"Mm," Saika tells Myunghon with a slight nod. "Yeah... I was able to taper off, but I was lucky," she says, before she snorts for a moment.
"So... about the jelly... protein jelly actually sounds really good, honestly, lemme try it if you make some? Just like a little bit. But really, it's pea protein? Huh." At this point she takes the pan off the stove and walks over to serve up the eggs, which she splits about evenly. She then reaches over to get stuff out of the inevitable rice cooker:
"Is it Russian food? Cuz if it's Russian or Arabic food, that's pretty much a giveaway, right?"
Then she laughs for a moment. "It WOULD, but now there's so many fuckin' movies to see! I guess most of them are bad, but even if one in ten are worth seeing, you know, that's a lot of movies. Do you know what country makes the MOST movies? Go on, guess."
While this is challengingly set in the air, Saika goes into the fridge and gets a thing of some kind of red sauce out - one of those home filled squeezy bottles. She liberally douses her eggs, and perhaps without much thought, gives Myunghon a little dab of it. (It's intense garlic-heavy chili paste - home made - not so much hot-hot-hot as *flavorful.*)
After this, Saika picks up her plate, grabs a fork out of the HOPEFULLY CLEAN dish-drying rack's silverware compartment, and raises it up. "Thanks for the breakfast~!" she says, with a tone of irony, before getting her Scarf on. This silences her, blessedly, for a few moments.
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
"... let's celebrate to both of us being lucky, then," Myunghon does resolve, of both of their medical traumas. "And-- yes... I wasn't... eating properly, some people at the Cardboard Dragon took notice and started trying to figure things out for me. I have some sporty friends who have protein shakes a lot, and I started studying what that contains, and there's unflavoured versions that don't taste horrible, then we started playing around with freezing them into ice cubes or turning them into jelly. If you come by, I usually have some in the fridge as emergency food."
There's a mild chuckle as they say, "It's izakaya food, but with a personal twist. Ma'am really knows how to cook. Her famous dish is the Banana Ramen, but she can even make food I can enjoy. The details are a secret, though."
Which country makes the most movies? Myunghon considers that. "Umm... India," they observe. "I know Hindi cinema is a massive industry, I had a client once, and mother often spoke of it... I don't think she ever starred in one, though." Their mom is a movie star?
But then-- perhaps it's early to celebrate being lucky, because now they have hot sauce on their eggs.
MYUNGHON YEO'S SPICE TOLERANCE:
Black pepper is a challenge.
"A-ah... thank you for the breakfast," Myunghon mirrors the words, though their face is a little bit blue as -- hiiii -- they do force the food down... ah...
Thanks for everything, Saika Kikuchi... I'm going ahead now, the voices are calling me.
<Pose Tracker> Saika Kikuchi has posed.
"Huh, that's neat," Saika says. "I heard they put a lot of like meat and stuff into protein shakes, though. Is that true? I mean, I guess I don't really need it, I can just eat a brick of tofu!"
Which, Saika thinks, might be --?? No, she doesn't push past it. "Banana ramen..."
Her lips purse for a moment. "That was what I was going to say -- India makes more movies than like anywhere. It's like China, it's huge, but I guess it's also got a lot of people who like to go to the movies."
After finishing her food, Saika waits - and watches - perhaps in case Myunghon is deeply suffering. She also tops off the water, and -- without averting her gaze from their responses -- reaches into the fridge to get herself a juice, which is twisted open and swigged. (There were several others.)
Don't die, myunghon...
the sauce has probiotics
"Lemme know if you need to sit down or anything," Saika says.
A moment later, she asks - perhaps to take Myunghon's attention off the promise of the next life - "Did you think I was going to be mad at you, by the way?"
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
"Perhaps...? I do not know a lot about it, but the type I buy is made from peas," Myunghon considers, as they think about tofu. It's so close to being the perfect food, but it does trigger the sensations. But perhaps if they boiled it enough...? It's gotten them thinking about tofu again. ... it's reminding them of that dinner with mother, though, and that's unpleasant. They can't believe they have tofu trauma.
"It's quite true. Mother said that she nearly had a deal to star in some big comedy movie, once, but... I suppose it never quite came through," Myunghon murmurs idly. Why're they bringing up mom again? She's on their mind, now.
Myunghon is kinda suffering through their food, but they're wearing the 'oh god please be polite at all costs no matter how much suffering it causes you' mask in play, taking long sips of water in the process. They definitely have sit down at this point.
Then--
"... maybe?" Myunghon does squeak out. "I'm-- I don't know how these things are... Tsumugi's my-- first. Not, last night, I mean, but." Now they sound really embarrassed and mortified. "I've been having a bad time, so I'm very mousy right now." Or in general, as mother would point out to them.
<Pose Tracker> Saika Kikuchi has posed.
Tofu trauma, tofu drama... perhaps a tofu mama can ease this, sometime.
Saika then, to her own apparent surprise, blushes; one hand comes up to cover her mouth for several seconds. She lowers her hand then, with a little effort at first. She takes another sip of her juice.
"It's fine, I don't care," Saika says, shrugging her shoulders. "I was being a little wry 'cuz I was still waking up. Here, we have some chairs over here." Four chairs around a table, and a stool with some step-stairs built in. (After-market modification. Guess who sits there. Bet you can't. Hint: They don't use a fork and knife, ever.)
Saika pulls out one chair - perhaps it's the guest chair - for Myunghon to plant their butt in. At this point, she says, "I'm not... jealous. Like, we've actually talked about that, early on, just... I mean we didn't do it directly but I understood, they understood, don't worry about it. I'mma go get you those bandages by the way, if you want me to stay in the kitchen while you get ready, that's fine--"
Despite these professions, she does seem embarrassed, but there really doesn't seem to be anger there. "Be right back, don't run off," Saika says as she disappears around a corner, no doubt to plunder the bathroom.
.......
Saika returns, long enough for it to have been a notable absence! She's holding up a roll of bandaging suitable for making oneself look yankii as hell! Or serving as a binder; they're flexible. "Here you go," Saika says, putting it down off to the side. "I hope the eggs aren't too bad. Do you drink coffee?"
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
It's incredibly cute that there's four chairs, one of which is very evidently Pernelle's chair. ... perhaps they need a pet peacock, is what they need, Myunghon thinks. Though does Pernelle count as one, outside of disguises?
Saika does clarify she was just being wry because she was waking up. "Y-yes, I was also not really... awake either," Myunghon does admit. And she does say that she isn't jealous -- they've all talked about that. "Yanagi had mentioned that as well. It's..." they glance. "Even if you'd all discussed it, I still feel like a... um, well, an outsider..."
Saika does run off to get bandages, taking a while to do it, which does leave Myunghon to stew with their own thoughts and how much they do mean that and how much they have to work through -- it's one thing to say it was an open relationship, but another to work through their reactions and feelings... and that counts for Shinobu too.
"I think you saved me," Myunghon does answer without hesitation. "I probably might have collapsed if I tried to go home without food in me. I hadn't eaten in... too long." They shake their head gently, though. "No... I do have tea though."
They accept the bandages, though, so they get up to walk to the bathroom. "Thank you. I'll just be a bit..."
And off they go! To go renew their mummery.