2025-12-10: Getting Through Things
- Log: Getting Through Things
- Cast: Ririka Kawase, Ichika Kawase
- Where: Itwatodai Mall, Iwatodai
- OOC Date: December 10, 2025
- IC Date: Thursday, August 23, 2012 (Afternood)
- Summary: Ririka invites Ichika to go shopping, hang out, and talk for a while. Ririka has a personal concern regarding her relationship with Ichika, and then the two discuss the goings on surrounding Eiji Kamiya and his Palace.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
There's been... a lot going on, but no matter how stressed Ririka feels about everything, she keeps reminding herself that Ichika needs her support all the more. She'd been doing her best to keep in touch, by text if nothing else, but today she invited her sister out to go shopping and hang out.
She's not sure if the distraction will help or not, but she at least wants to be present with her sister as much as possible right now.
She showed up dressed in a purple skirt, black tank top, and her nicer, less chunky boots, her hair tied back in a ponytail. She's waiting outside the station, leaning against a wall, keeping an eye out for Ichika.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika's in a short black dress, with bracelets and boots. Her hair is down. And she happens to arrive--
Now!
"Hey, Ririka-chan," Ichika greets her sister. "How's it going?"
She approaches the rest of the way, as the port bustles. The smell of weird takoyaki lingers in the air. There is a cat!
She wsa out in Tokyo earlier, but this afternoon is nice here, and she just came back.
BBS: New BB message (1/15) posted to 'Public' by Gozaburou Gessou: Wanna be on TV?
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka's got her leather bracelets on herself, though she's not as fully decked-out in leather as at the show. She was just hanging out in her dorm a while ago, but... it's not that far to get here from there.
"Ichika-chan!" Ririka stands up and makes her way through the crowd to throw her arms around Ichika briefly. "Hey."
Caaaat.
She lets go quickly enough."Oh, you know. Busy." Busy is doing a lot of heavy lifting, between her show, her SEES duties, and everything going on with Eiji's Palace. "... but happy to spend time with you. How are you?"
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika accepts a hug! She smiles back. "Hey," she says again. But busy...
"I bet," Ichika says. "Your concert probably means you'll be busier with that, too. You sure do a lot." A beat, "I'm OK."
Despite...
"Yeah, I'm OK. Hung out with a friend earlier. ...So what'd you want to look at?"
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
"Eh heh... I can only hope, but... you know, even if it doesn't lead to anything, it's just fun getting to play for people, you know?" Ririka says with a smile.
Okay. Despite... Ririka nods quietly. Ichika doesn't need to spell it out for her.
"Cool," she says of hanging out. "That's good." She shrugs a little. "I was thinking we could go do some shopping, maybe get something to eat. You know, hang out."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Yeah," Ichika answers. "That's cool."
This is an important day, after all. But Ichika doesn't need to spell that out. Instead she says, "Sure. Shopping sounds good. Her layered tanktops and short skirt shouldn't make trying on new stuff hard. (The other outfit? It was an animation error. Don't worry about it.)
"I'm not for food just yet," she says, "But we can shop."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka's recent encounter in the Palace definitely didn't do anything to help how she feels about this day in particular. But she won't get into that just yet.
"Sure!"
And then... shopping happens! Ririka's not got her eye on anything too particular, but among the things she tries on and ultimately purchases is a purple minidress with a cropped jacket over it.
("You know... I kinda wanna get a nice leather jacekt, maybe I should go talk to Peacock Silk...")
Afterwards, Ririka's picked up some Wakatsu sushi for herself, carrying that in one hand and a bag of clothes in the other. "... we can go sit around back and eat. It's usually pretty quiet over there."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika doesn't end up grabbing much today--a couple of accessories, some sweets for later.
(You should. They're prety great.)
Ichika did not get food, but she does lead the way over. "Sure." Sometimes there's trouble back behind places... But it's fine today. With Ichika here, especially.
"OK," she says, and takes a seat on a bench. She's content to sit quietly with her sister for a few and let her eat.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka's a little peckish. She got distracted earlier and forgot to eat. (That's what happens when you buy a new video game, and especially when you're playing it with a friend.)
She sits and pulls out her food, tray in her lap as she picks at the sushi. She's quiet, thinking... and then she look over to Ichika. "Hey... neesan. We're... I mean--"
She can't stop thinking about that Cognitive Ichika she met, the one she failed to get through. She knows it's stupid, that it wasn't really her, just some messed-up figment of Eiji's imagination.
... but it still stings.
She looks down at her sushi. "... is there anything you need me to do that I'm not doing, or... that you need me to do different?"
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika doesn't know that Ririka went! It might be something, if she did. But since she doesn't, she just knows Ririka's having trouble, ,and that makes sense. Things back then... they were hard on the whole family, too.
The question, though...
"Huh?" Ichika asks, turning to look at her sister. "....I dunno," she admits. "That's a pretty broad question. I'm not sure how to answer it."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka will pention it in a moment, she's just grappling with something.
The question, though, doesn't land, and Ririka's shoulders tense. Her free hand starts tapping on her thigh, to the rhythm of the last song she heard playing in the sushi shop.
"I just mean, like... when I was trying to help by saying you weren't trouble, and that turned out to not be helpful, and I stopped doing it." She looks toIchika again, her expression uncertain. "I'm not... doing anything like that still, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Oh." Ichika notices the tension; but she listens tot he second attempt, thoughtful. "Oh..."
Hmm.
"No, not really," Ichika says. "Not that i can think of, anyway. You're doing your best, and I appreciate it--you aren't making me feel like I can't stay stuff, or anything."
"So no, you're good. There's just... a lot, is all."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka relaxes, just a little, as Ichika says she's good. "... okay. Thanks. I'm glad to hear that." She nods slowly as Ichika says there's a lot. "... yeah. I know. I just... wanted to make sure I was helping, and not... well, anyway."
Messing up. Making any mistakes. Failing to help.
She picks up a piece of sushi and eats it, silent for a moment. "So... I went into the palace."
"... it's a pretty messed up place."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Right," Ichika says. "I get it. ...There's only so much you can do, you know? But you've been letting me talk, you've been listening when I do... That's about what I can ask, right?"
But she went into the Palace...
"You OK?" Ichika asks first. "It's real messed up," she agrees. Maybe she went in with Ogre; it's not hard to imagine Ichika could've seen it, too. "There's just..."
She shakes her head. "A lot. So are you OK?"
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
There's a flicker of a smile from Ririka as Ichika says she's been doing what she needs to do. Only so much... "Yeah." She's a bit relieved that she's at least helping the real Ichika.
Deep breath. "But... good. And I want... to keep being there for you."
Is she okay, though? "I mean... fuck, I don't know." She doesn't swear a lot, but it's not unheard of. (Though she tries not to do it at home.)
"Going in that first time with Ogre was bad enough, and we didn't even make it past the main lobby or whatever. I tried to warn my friends as best as I could, but... there's definitely shit in there I wasn't ready for, despite that."
She shrugs a little. "I'm not injured, nobody got hurt. Just... trying to deal with how messed up some people can be."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"I appreciate it," Ichika says.
But, Ichika notices Ririka's foul language, unusual for a nice girl from a nice school like Ririka as opposed to a rougher delinquent type like Ichika. And hearing what she found... "Like the back rooms," Ichika ventures. "Like his ideas about what he's doing to people."
"I'm glad nobody's hurt. You brought some friends, right? ..."
She doesn't apologize, though she thinks about it--but it's on him, not her.
"They call it 'distorted desires'," Ichika says. "...Seems like an understatement, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka might be a nice girl from a nice school, but she still listens to punk music pretty often. But... "Yeaaaah." She shudders a little. "... we found the back rooms. I just..."
"Yeah, I did," Ririka confirms of friends. "No way was I going it alone. We actually split into a couple different groups."
Ririka's told Ichika before this situation isn't her fault--so she wouldn't have accepted such an apology.
"Yeah. Definitely an understatement." Ririka's quiet for a moment, picking at her sushi. She looks to Ichika. "... so, sounds like you've been? Did you... run into any... copies of real people in there?"
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"They're bad," Ichika asys. "Really bad. The things he's doing to those people..." She trails off.
"Good," she says. "You got that many friends with Personas, huh? That's cool."
"Yeah," she agrees. "And yeah. I heard about more than I actually saw, though. For instance, there's copies of his friends--copies of some of my friends. There's a lot of them in there."
"But they're just copies," she says. "It's messed up and really throws you off... but they're not the real person at all. Theyr'e just 'his idea' of that person, apparently."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
"Really bad. Even if... even if that's only the stuff he's thinking of doing..." Ririka gives a quick shake of her head.
"Yeah, I know a few people." This is something of an understatement. She still hasn't mentioned SEES yet, either.
His friends. "Yeah, I ran into one of his friends. Seemed like he was his... hype man or something? I don't know. But he recognized me as the maid of honor and thaaaat kind of threw me for a loop."
Ririka's quiet for a long moment, pondering if she should mention the other Cognition she met. "... yeah, I know they're not real. They don't sound right. But it's still... jarring. Especially with all of the other people with messed up faces hanging around."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Oh, he's doing it. I'm sure of that. There's papers, proof. He's really sending girls to fates like that. ...Maybe he was doing stuff like that when we were together. Guys, too, but they go for different kinds of jobs."
An understatement! It's fine.
"Hajime," Ichika guesses. "Yeah, I guess you would be. You would've been, anyway. ...You're my sister."
Pause. "It's just important to remember. It's jarring though, yeah. That's a good word. And those faces... I guess it's because he doesn't think they're important enough to remember."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Really doing it. "... yeah, I don't doubt he is, but... it's still hard to think about. I dno't think the guys are gettig it any easier, either."
"... maybe. I don't know what the real Hajime is but if Eiji thinls they're total buds, and that he's just as much of a creep... probably doesn't say anything good about the real guy."
But the maid of honor... Ririka looks to Ichika and nods. She sets her sushi aside and scoots over to give Ichika a side hug.
"Yeah, I'll remember that for next time. But... it definitely caught me off guard this time." The faces. "... yeah, that's kind of what I figured. Or tht he doesn't even consider them people at all, maybe."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"They're not."
"He's a creep," Ichika agrees. "Not as bad as Eiji--he's a regular creep, hurts girls because he can. Not... like Eiji. Who hurts all these other people he's barely met."
She pauses, and then, "...Fair." Off-guard. "That might be it."
"Thanks," Ichika says. "For going in. For trying."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
"So the creep has creep friends," Ririka says with some amount of resignation."Color me surprised."
If she goes back in... Ririka quietly resolves to not let herself get torn up over Cognitive Ichika, if she runs into her again. But... she doesn't feel like bringing that person up with the real Ichika right now.
"Of course." Another hug. "You're my sister. There's no way I was going to just... stand by and do nothing." She looks to Ichika. "... we'll figure this out. We hit a snag, but we still got a name we can look into. A 'Tsukamoto' corporation. And... I'll talk to my friends about heading in again. Maybe now that we know what to expect..."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Yeah."
Ichika hugs Ririka back; it's easier out here where it's more private anyway, where it's not a public display.
But, "RIght. ...Though, hey..."
"I'm glad you have something to work with."
"Work with the people at the Cardboard Dragon if you can," Ichika suggests. "Yeo-san is a private detective. They can do stuff."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Something to work with. Ririka nods. "Yeah. At least we have that."
But she nods at the suggestion. "Yeah, good call. I haven't been up to Sumaru in a minute, but I should make a run to the shop."
"... so, how are you holding up with all this, sis? I mean..." Okay, she doesn't expect it to be great, but. "... just talking about that creep."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Cool," Ichika answers. "They've got a lot of the data I've seen people get--it's not just them, but they're good, you know?"
"As for me..."
"I'm OK," Ichika says, and it even sounds true when she says it. "I can handle it. He's a monster, and he's going to get what's coming to him."
... % r
"...You know?" she says. "He sent Tsubasa some of the pictures I used to send him. ...You don't need to know the details, just--the private kind. ...Fucking asshole, right?"
"But we'll get him. I'm sure of that. Soon."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
"That's good... hopefully what we got helps fill in the picture in some way, then."
Ririka listens to her sister say she's OK, and... even believes it. She manages a small smile. "Good." She would understand if Ichika wasn't okay, but... it's heartening to see that she is. "Yeah. We won't let him win."
Private photos. Ririka can only guess, but... "What the fuck!?" Oops she's cursing again. (She doesn't care.) "That's seriously messed up. You don't deserve that. Neither does Seki-san. For fuck's sake..."
She shakes her head. "Yeah, we will. I'll keep you updated if I find anything else out, okay?"
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Yeah. Real people, real companies... There's a lot that needs to go down."
Ichika smiles, though it's brief. "Thanks. It's because of my friends, in a big way. ...People are getting me through this, and I realized... I have to stand up for myself, too. Or I never will."
"And you're one of the people helping. Remember that."
"Yeah, it was fucked up. You remember the burning smell in the bathroom the other day? That's why. Tsubasa burned 'em."
"But thanks. ...Maybe we should get our stuff home,k though, you know?"
It might be good to get moving, after... all this.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
It's all grim business, but... there's another brief smile, and a sense of relief as Ichika names her as one of the people helping her get through this. "I will."
"So that's what that was... honestly, kind of a fair reaction."
"Yeah..." Ririka quickly scoots back, packing up the rest of her sushi and standing up with both bags. "Yeah, no problem."