2025-11-24: I Got So Much Gender To Look Up
- Log: I Got So Much Gender To Look Up
- Cast: Ryuzaki Kurama, Hazuki Nakao
- Where: Gigolo Arcade, Akihabara
- OOC Date: November 24, 2025
- IC Date: August 15, 2012
- Summary: Ryuzaki gets caught in the rain and retreats into Gigolo Arcade, where he meets fellow classmate Hazuki Nakao.
<Pose Tracker> Ryuzaki Kurama has posed.
Today's forecast: Cloudy with a chance to rain.
The reality: Destruction rains from the heavens!!!
It sure looks like it's pouring out there, looking in from the Gigolo Arcade. People are scampering their best to try to get under cover -- the more polite-minded ones are just trying to barely shuffle into the perhaps meter-long awnings of the buildings because they don't actually have business inside, but some kids are hurrying inside with the intent of going to the popular arcade nonetheless.
One of the new entrants is... a young man from Shujin, dressed in a now thoroughly-soaked black denim cropped jacket and white undershirt that's definitely not survived the weather, along with a black baker's casquette that's also thoroughly limpeted down onto their head. They have jet-black hair, and cold, golden eyes peeking through their bangs currently matted down onto their face.
"... ..."
They bristle a little to try to get some of the rain off, and then quietly tucks their hat off -- which causes the rest of their hair, carefully folded and tucked under their hat, to spill on out. It's quite long...
<Pose Tracker> Hazuki Nakao has posed.
"Rain, rain, go away...~"
Hazuki Nakao practically lives in this arcade when she visits Akihabara. Today is no different, as she stands at the counter, buying a warm drink, singing to herself audibly enough that a keen hunter could pick it up.
Hazuki's already been here for a while, so she avoided the rain, dressed in her usual newsie hat (similar to Ryuzaki's casquette) and black jacket.
She's eying the entrance as the door slides open, and one of her schoolmates comes in. Ryuzaki Kurama, who's become the talk of the school for being cute (and then weird). People sure do gossip at Shujin...
Hazuki takes her strange heated coffee beverage, and then considers. Instead of cracking it open, she steps over to Ryuzaki, noticing how soaked he is. "Kurama-san, right? You okay? You look pretty drenched..."
Her English accent stands out, an enemy of all French everywhere nonetheless being kind. She's eying his hair... it's pretty, but also soaked.
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<Pose Tracker> Ryuzaki Kurama has posed.
Ryuzaki Kurama is a pretty darn quiet kid at school, as if he's trying really hard to not stand out... but that aloofness and his good looks do make him the topic of some gossip and admiration from afar, yes. It's Hazuki's song that first stands out to Ryuzaki, but it's not even long before--
Oh. ... they've taken their hat off already.
So his hair is... long? And he was always hiding it behind that hat? The way in which he packs that much volume underneath it pretty impressive. "Ah. Nakao-san..." he softly says, then pauses and self-consciously tucks his hand against his denim jacket a bit closer.
"It was... bad luck."
That's one way to describe being caught in the rain, one supposes.
<Pose Tracker> Hazuki Nakao has posed.
Hazuki watches Ryuzaki carefully, as he takes that self-conscious tuck. He doesn't have many friends, does he? Hazuki considers for a long moment. Bad luck...
"Well, it's warmer in here. ...I really like your hair," she admits, even through her usual gloomy countenance. "How do you care for it?"
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<Pose Tracker> Ryuzaki Kurama has posed.
Ryuzaki does pause, holding onto his hair and starting to run his hands through it to gently squeeze the excess moisture out. "Ah..." he quietly pauses, before he realises he's just caught and can't just stuff his hair back in and pretend it doesn't exist. "Some hair products are too harsh, so I found a nice one that's gentler... then you have to brush it often, and also importantly trim it before your ends split..."
Another pause. "Do you like... the arcade, Nakao-san? Which games do you like?" Quick, quick, change the topic...
<Pose Tracker> Hazuki Nakao has posed.
Hazuki considers what Ryuzaki has to say. "Yeah... it sucks, huh... who knew hair care would be so stressful?"
Ryuzaki asks about the arcade and games. She can kinda tell he's changing topic, so she's just going to circle back in a second with a question she had.
"Oh! This is my favorite place... I play Night Parade all the time, but I play some of the other games too."
And then, spontaneously, she decides to hold her drink out. He could use it more than she could. "Here, you must be cold. This should warm you up." It's still sealed, too. "...do you not like your hair?" she asks softly.
<Pose Tracker> Ryuzaki Kurama has posed.
Ryuzaki blinks a few times, before quietly accepting the drink -- with this kind of weather, he's not going to be able to go to the konbini nearby and get a towel quite yet without getting even more soaked, so perhaps this is the next best thing after all. "Oh... you're very kind, Nakao-san," he quietly intones, sipping from it gently.
Does he not like his hair?
There's a difficult to perceive stiffening, then his eyes widen a little more as he gazes at Hazuki. "... it's a bit bothersome for a boy to have long hair," is the answer he concludes. "Some schools would require you to cut it..."
<Pose Tracker> Hazuki Nakao has posed.
"It's no problem at all, really..." Hazuki tells Ryuzaki kindly, if still a little gloomy. But the rumors about Hazuki Nakao are that she's that gloomy and eccentric transfer student, so it makes sense.
About the hair, she doesn't notice the stiffening, but she does notice the eyes widening.
"Does that matter?" she says firmly, tossing it in her head. "Shouldn't the boy decide what they look like? Our appearance is one of the few things we have full control over..."
She moves to reposition, trying to make it so that the entire arcade isn't hearing what they're saying, which is easy enough.
"If you didn't like it, you'd cut it, right? Though I do like your hat, too... it's very cute."
<Pose Tracker> Ryuzaki Kurama has posed.
Ryuzaki has heard the rumours about Hazuki... and also observed some of the bullying she's experienced. He's done nothing about it, though -- he's just not really that stand-up kinda guy. Even back when Kamoshida was ruling the roost, the most he did was just quietly avoid and stay out of the way. That's the most he wants to expend effort at school.
"... you'd think so," is Ryuzaki's not particularly defiant answer. He peers at her for a few more seconds, thinking of how he's failed to switch the topic to arcade games by not being insistent enough.
"It's a very precious hat to me," Ryuzaki does quietly say, as he clutches onto the currently-wet casquette. It has a large, fat chicken pin stuck onto the side, both of which look quite old but well-loved. "Do you like casquettes too?"
<Pose Tracker> Hazuki Nakao has posed.
Hazuki realizes she's probably bothering Ryuzaki at the 'you'd think so', sheepishly rubbing the back of her head. "...sorry, gender presentation and affirming it is just very important to me. I didn't mean to push." oh no she ruined it
So, when he moves on to the hat, she lets him. "...I like the pin, too. Chicken, chicken~." She singsongs to herself again, before nodding firmly. "Yeah! This one I'm wearing was a gift from my father. I got it back when I was living in London. It's cute, isn't it?"
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<Pose Tracker> Ryuzaki Kurama has posed.
Ryuzaki does start to look a little more thoughtful as Hazuki mentions how important gender presentation and affirming is important to her. "What do you... mean?" he asks, inquisitive. It isn't an accusatory tone or anything -- not that Ryuzaki is particularly capable of that, with how stolid his tone is. Now he's drawn it back towards gender! The weather must've really dampened his mood. Maybe literally.
Hazuki has a little cute song about chickens, though. "Chicken...~" he tries the song himself, but it's clear that pitch and rhythm is perhaps not his strongest suit. "It is cute... you're from London, Nakao-san?"
A pause, and then he says, "I moved in during the winter before the start of the school year from Nice."
<Pose Tracker> Hazuki Nakao has posed.
Hazuki is mildy surprised when Ryuzaki asks more information. She makes sure she's a little quieter, before considering... he's a schoolmate. How much can she safely say?
But he seems curious, and he also seems nice...
"Well... there's all sorts of ways to relate to your gender, right? Guys who wear their hair long or dress femininely, girls who wear their hair short or dress masculinely. X-gender. Transgender people of all stripes. Gender is really a very personal thing... like your appearance, it's the one thing you have full say over how you relate to it."
She taps her choker, straightening it absently.
"People shouldn't be scared to be themselves... it's really hard here, though."
And then, Ryuzaki sings along, and she smiles a bit. "I was raised there! My father works for a big company's European branch, so I grew up there from a young age..."
Nice, though... that's nice (pun intended). "Oh, France? I used to spend summers in Paris! Visited Nice once or twice, but don't remember much... beautiful country."
<Pose Tracker> Ryuzaki Kurama has posed.
It's surprising Ryuzaki as well, that he's pursuing this line of questioning. She starts to explain -- about relating to one's gender, and the ways one can affirm or transgress; guys that wear their hair long or dress femininely, girls who wear it short or masculine. X-gender. Transgender.
"Well..." Ryuzaki quietly says, at about the same time Hazuki's adjusting her collar. He notices this, but doesn't understand the significance. "I see... you know a lot about this, Nakao-san..." Ryuzaki looks like he's on the cusp of something, but doesn't quite pursue it further. He does seem to be contemplating all of this like he has sooooooooooo much Moogle searching to do later.
If the chick doesn't break free of the shell of its egg, then Ryuzaki Kurama won't be able to enjoy oyakodon tonight.
Hazuki's sentiment does resonate with Ryuzaki quietly, though. "... I think so."
There's a quiet nod from the boy as she says that her father works at a big company -- and that she's spent time in Nice and France before. "It seems like a popular tourist destination, but I lived out in the suburbs away from the attractions..."
<Pose Tracker> Hazuki Nakao has posed.
"Ahaha, yeah... I guess it's a personal interest," Hazuki tries to deflect a little, but she's doing a poor job of hiding it.
She does smile as he likes her affirmation, and then listens to him about Nice and France...
"I really liked the food... though I liked that everywhere we visited. Japan's nice too, I guess, but..."
A pang of homesickness, suddenly, before she shakes her head. "Looks like we're both strangers in a strange land, then, huh...?"
<Pose Tracker> Ryuzaki Kurama has posed.
"No... I appreciate you telling me," Ryuzaki says quietly. It's kind of hard to hear Ryuzaki sometimes, especially in the bustle of an arcade, given how quietly he speaks, but his voice isn't deep either.
Hazuki tells him of how nice her trip to France was -- the food was great, and the landscapes beautiful. ... was it? It's been so long, in that way that you just kind of forget about the luster of your homeground until someone comes visiting and tells you all about how nice it is. Nice is nice, one supposes. Bring your nieces to Nice. We're hitting this so hard the log will just be called Nice.
"Are you having some trouble adjusting to Japan...?" Ryuzaki asks. A pause. "I can also... speak English if you prefer."
<Pose Tracker> Hazuki Nakao has posed.
Hazuki nods. The wonders of gender: imparted. She's totally going to meet her quota.
"A little bit..." she admits, before shaking her head. "I've gotta get used to the language, right?" A lopsided smile. "My grandmother doesn't speak much English, so getting too comfortable in it might be a problem."
She coniders something. "Shujin can be a scary school. I hope you don't let the gossip get to you. It's everywhere."
<Pose Tracker> Ryuzaki Kurama has posed.
"Oh... okay, then," Ryuzaki quietly puts his hands behind his back and kind of scuffs his foot as he leans forward. It's a kinda cute, shy gesture, though those eyes of his still peeks out quite vividly behind his curtain of hair. "I had family to get me used to speaking Japanese before, but... yours is pretty good too." Did Hazuki just get nihongo jouzu'd? Not nice.
But Hazuki expresses that Shujin can be a scary school. "Yes... there's been a few close encounters," they admit. "That Kazusa Motojima..."
<Pose Tracker> Hazuki Nakao has posed.
Hazuki has no idea what nihongo jouzu means besides what it literally means, so as Ryuzaki compliments her Japanese, she beams. "Thank you! English is pretty much my first language... my parents tried to teach me some Japanse, but it definitely wasn't enough." In other words, they didn't immerse her in it much.
But about Kazusa Motojima, Hazuki exhales. "I know her. She's a bully... she seems really unhappy." Hazuki even said that to her face, once.
"Best thing to do is probably find some friends who understand. I've met a couple recently..." Both of whom have their own gossip cycles.
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<Pose Tracker> Ryuzaki Kurama has posed.
"I see... yes, Japanese is quite difficult, and even when you think you understand some phrases, you're missing context..." Ryuzaki observes. "But... you're doing good. I even learnt some new phrases today..." Like gender.
It's telling, perhaps, that Hazuki's phrasing is that 'she's really unhappy'. Not something in the realm that they'd expect other people to talk about bullies, like 'she's a real pain' or something of the sort. "... mm," Ryuzaki quietly nods, still with his hands behind his back. Looks like he's had his share too, has he? "Unhappy, huh..."
As to how to conquer it, Hazuki recommends friendship! He doesn't have many friends, but... he's been building them up slowly. "Do you... want to trade numbers, then?"
<Pose Tracker> Hazuki Nakao has posed.
"I'm glad!" Hazuki beams a little bit again. Gender was *definitely* one of the first words she learned coming to Japan.
"I mean, why else would she be that way?" she mostly muses aloud. "I don't think people act the way they do for no reason at all..."
But about trading numbers, her eyes light up, and she nods. Friendship get...
"Here, lemme just..." She'll get her phone out to trade numbers! "Are you feeling better being out of the rain, Kurama-san?"
<Pose Tracker> Ryuzaki Kurama has posed.
Ryuzaki doesn't answer immediately. His appraising gaze almost draws piercing for a moment, as he quietly murmurs, "Perhaps you have a strong heart..."
But will that be enough?
Friendship, though! They trade numbers. Ryuzaki's phone is an old clunker, but it also has a fat chicken keychain on it. It's very round. Once that's done...
Does he feel better about being out of the rain?
Ryuzaki has one of those cute little sneezes in reaction. "... a bit," he admits. "I should... find a towel. But thank you again, Nakao-san."
<Pose Tracker> Hazuki Nakao has posed.
Ryuzaki's piercing gaze makes Hazuki freeze, though soon they're trading numbers. "Text me any time!" she says.
And then, once Ryuzaki says he needs to find a towel, she smiles and nods. "Take care! Rain sounds like it let up a little bit... stay warm, okay?"
And then, she'll return to gaming! She's not going out there, at least. But she did make a friend!