2026-03-14: Behind Every Great Woman...
- Log: Behind Every Great Woman...
- Cast: Yua Ijuuin, Miho Ijuuin, and Miho's boyfriend Tomoki Hasegawa
- Where: Aoba - Penthouse
- OOC Date: 2026-03-14
- IC Date: Tue, Oct 09 2012
- Summary: Yua cooks dinner, so that the Ijuuins can host Tomoki for dinner. In doing so, Yua continues attempting to invite him in... though she's being more of 'herself' for a dinner like this, so she ends up needing some social assists from Miho in the process. Tomoki earns a nickname (Tomo-kun!), learns Miho's birthday and favourite food, and reveals a talent of his own: he cooks meat very well! Miho, meanwhile, gets to relax a little more with this meeting... and everyone says nice things about Yua! Yay!
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
Yua had to start preparing the namasu for tonight before she left for work; that pickling process takes place in the home, as opposed to buying pots of pre-pickled plums from the farmer's markets. She left it in Eiko's care, when she left for work; and she returns a little early, once this week's tutoring session is done down at Studio Chura, because she's really been feeling even more exhausted than normal lately.
That's okay, though. Forty-five minutes for a lie-down (plus ten to whine at Eiko about how she's too tired) still leaves her with plenty of time to get dinner going. She's grilling fish, tonight, but she also boils some nice, fluffy rice to go along with the umezuke, and prepares the karashizuke in a nice, attractive rainbow of colours. They're all served up into nice little side-dish bowls alongside that fish; she's even nice enough to arrange the seating such that Tomoki's seated to Miho's left instead of all the way over there.
(Miho, naturally, is at the head of the table. Regardless of what he might be exploring with her in their bedroom, out here, Miho remains the master of the house.)
For the adults in the room who aren't pregnant, Yua brings out plum wine to pair with the umezuke; Yua, meanwhile, has more of her 'powdered milk', those meal replacement shakes which are desperately trying to get more weight on her. (She actually managed to gain a kilo this morning! All hope is not lost!) The flowers in the vase today are Okinawan hibiscus, symbols of hospitality and beauty; they're primarily Summer flowers, but under Yua's care, her hibiscus bush may well remain floral through to November.
Everything's ready...!
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
Miho, meanwhile, also had to go to work. It was an average work day, though she received no taunts about her bento today. That's for the best.
Miho appreciates Yua's arrangements; while she may not be inclined to boss Tomoki around, it is her home, and she is not ceding that place to him today. Or tomorrow, for that matter.
"This all looks and smells delicious, Yua." Miho smiles, leaning over to kiss her wife (well, Kimitake's wife. But she should be her wife!) to show her appreciation. It's about time for everything to start. And right on cue...
Knock knock. "I'll get that," Eiko says with a small bow, and goes to the door.
"Hasegawa-san, welcome. May I have your coat?"
She'll lead him into the room, where presumably by now Yua and Miho still are.
"Thank you for the invitation," Tomoki says by way of greeting; he's dressed nicely, even has a jacket on. "And good evening!"
He smiles. "You're really talented..."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
Yua's been getting much bolder about just calling herself Miho's wife, lately. Surely Kimitake doesn't have a problem with that! She's more than happy with her reward of a kiss, judging by the happy little noise she hums into her lips; her cheeks are still a little flushed, when she straightens her head from where she'd tilted it obligingly for her.
To be fair, she's a little flushed, just, all the time now. They call it the 'pregnancy glow', but what it really means is that her blood is doing weird things that makes it deeply perilous to stand up too quick.
"I wanted to make it nice," she smiles, to her. "Do you like the hibiscus? It's hospitable!" That's not quite the meaning Miho might be familiar with -- on the mainland, the hibiscus represents gentleness -- but Yua sounds confident about it, anyway. "Don't worry," she adds, "I wore gloves, just like you said."
Miho, in her work with poisons, would know better than Yua about the potential adverse effects on pregnancy associated with that lovely bloom. And while it's unlikely any of them would affect her just by touch, rather than through brewing it into tea...
... well, they're both very careful about the baby.
Yua smiles, to him, in turn, when he enters. She's dressed in her usual black leotard, of course; it signifies who she is. Given she wore it yesterday, too, it's not impossible to surmise that this... is her default sprite. "You look really nice!" She chirps, to him, and it's a much friendlier reception than she gave him yesterday. She smiles, when he compliments her spread, veiling her fingers over her lips. "Thank you! I've seated you just over here, okay?" She gestures to the seat to Miho's left -- they have a rectangular table, so he comfortably has his own space, but he's still able to see Miho quite easily.
Also, Yua, incidentally, given that arrangement means they're seated opposite each other. (She's on Miho's right; and she put herself there specifically in case Miho needed to use her good hand to do anything.)
Eiko effortlessly helps them sit down, and pours their drinks; their food has been apportioned -- and, Tomoki may note, with Olympian-sized portions for the two of them, though Yua's servings are more modest -- but there's some extra in the middle of the table, in case anyone calls for seconds.
"I hope the salmon namasu is okay," she says, referring to the paper-thin slices of picked fish, carrots, and daikon radish. "It's been marinating since eight this morning, so..."
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
Miho smiles at Yua. ...She has noticed the flush. And the problems standing quickly. "They're gorgeous," Miho assures Yua, "But--" She wore gloves. Miho is relieved, and this is plain on her face this time. "Good." Whichever meaning... Yua seems happy.
And Tomoki is happy to see food. "Thank you!' he answers about looking nice, and then, "Over here...?" He looks at the seat, "Perfect," he says, pleased with this arrangement. He gets to sit next to Miho (Well, diagonally) so he's good.
He does notice who's at the right hand and who's at the left, but he did say he was fine with that, so he still smiles.
Tomoki does note. "Well,you're not planning to leave me hungry, are you?" he asks, also polite. "And the flowers and the food are beautiful, too." He pauses. "Let's see... Okinawan hibiscus, that means... hospitality, right?" He did his research. "Nice."
Miho nods in approval. "The meanings for some of these flowers differ between us..."
But the salmon namasu, "They look great. Let's find out, shall we?"
As soon as they're ready to start eating--he'll start there. "Mm!"
Miho, too, will start there. "Thank you, Yua. I'm sure they'll be delicious." ...And soon, she will find out!!
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
Yua's smile is warm, and grows a little warmer, when Miho praises her cautiousness. "Mm!" She hums, happily. She's happy to mind Miho's wisdom! She has a good wisdom...
And when it comes to Tomoki, they're both diagonal to Miho, like this; it seems Yua is making efforts to, indeed, let him place, even if he is at her left hand. "Yay!" She smiles, when he declares it to be perfect.
"Oh! Did you look it up?" Yua looks quite happy to realise that, when he comments on the flowers. "Yeah!" She adds, smiling to Miho. "On the mainland, they're gentle, right? But back home, they're about beauty and hospitality! I wanted to welcome you properly! They're great for decorating festivals... oh, and you can make tea from the petals, too! But I can't do that right now," she adds. "Drinking it could be bad for the baby..."
The tastes of the hour are sour and savoury; there's a little bite to the vinegar namasu, given all that vinegar involvement, but it ought to be entirely welcome to a pickle fiend. Everything can be eaten with chopsticks, of course, because she knows Miho still needs to treat her left hand with care -- though Yua encouraged her to take her pain medication before proceedings. Yua, notably, is a lot more slow to nibble on a little fish...
(... Miho can probably tell that she's a little psyched out about ruining dinner with her nausea.)
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
"I did," Tomoki answers of looking it up. "You said you were Okinawan, and I know Miho-san loves flowers, so I looked at both." Miho smiles too, at Yua and at him. But she listens and makes space for Yua to talk. "Right," Miho says. "No hibiscus tea today."
Tomoki on the other hand says, "I think that's a good meaning. Maybe I'm biased, though; I do feel welcomed."
Tomoki is as much of a pickle fiend as you can be without being pregnant or on estrogen, which is still quite a lot. (They don't have a monopoly on it!!) "Mmm," he says. "This is delicious," he says.
Miho notice Yua's difficulty... and rather than drawing attention to it directly she says, "You did very well with these, Yua. But you gave us so much that we won't be done soon."
Tomoki glances--and picks up on it. "Heh, true. I like to take my time with food this good anyway. And a little of that plum wine too..."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"I have a big garden!" Yua chirps, brightly. "I'll show you later!" It's her garden, of course; she's the one with the time and energy left over to tend it, between all their other tasks. Since she joined the household, the poisonous plants Eiko was expected to tend have exploded into an absolutely floral deck, plus all their indoor plants!
She giggles, smiling to Miho. "Mmhm," she nods, to her. "Not today!" Miho, it seems, is the one calling those shots...
"Good!" She smiles, to Tomoki, when he expresses his welcomed feelings. And Yua quite likes pickled things, herself, when she can stomach them... but it's hard for her to call herself a fiend for any kind of food, right now.
Rather than making a sad face over feeling like maybe she's just not a dinner person now or maybe EVER AGAIN?!, though, Yua smiles when Tomoki calls it delicious. "Good!" She chirps, again. "If you like it, I'm happy!"
Miho, though, can tell that she's scared to start eating... and effortlessly suggests that it will take a while without implicating Yua in the process. She's so smooth about it, in fact, that the fact that Miho -- and so, Tomoki -- are diverting attention from Yua goes right over her head, and she exclaims: "Oh, that's a relief... I don't think I can eat fast right now anyway!"
She smiles, though, as Tomoki reaches for the wine. "Seiji-san picked you up, right? So it should be fine! I thought the plum wine would be good with the plums... buuuut, you'll have to tell me, I can't check right now!" She smiles, as she adds: "Mimi and Kimi-san even made sure we had non-alcoholic amazake instead of sake at our wedding... I was a little nervous, since sake's traditional, but they made sure Hiroki would be okay!"
Steeling her nerves, she clips a bit of umezuke -- not the karashizuke, that's made with sake kasu, and there could be a little alcohol left over in its contents too -- and nibble, nibble... "... oh, good," she sighs, when she swallows it down. "The umezuke turned out well, I think...?"
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
"Be glad to see it," Tomoki answers more easily. He's starting to get comfortable, too. Miho, of course, has seen it many times.
But he notices how much Yua likes it when Miho lays down the rules... It's interesting and nice to see. And indeed, "I like it a lot! You asked what I wanted, and you definitely delivered."
Miho inclines her head. "Yua's a very good cook. She makes my lunches for work, these days."
"Oh, yeah? Lucky, handmade work lunch..."
Yua's autism is more powerful than Miho and Tomoki's manners--but it works out just fine. Tomoki glances to Miho, and Miho says, "That's good. We'll all eat together."
Tomoki listens, and--"Yeah! Usually I'd just drive myself, but Miho-san mentioned there was going to be some alcohol, so I decided to take the offer. It's not so bad to let someone else drive now and then." He glances Miho's way, and Miho says, "I remember," of the non-alcoholic amazake. "But I'll try, too." The wine, and the umezuke!
"Glad they did," Tomoki says. "Sometimes traditions like that are pretty inflexible..."
But Miho smiles at Yua. "I think so, too." She has tried it, also. "You deserve to enjoy your food, too."
Tomoki nods along--and sips the wine. "Mm, nice choice..."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
Yua feels very reassured when Miho is in control! It's a rather convenient division of labour; on matters of her safety and security, let alone all those tricky social situations, Yua can just listen to Miho and not get all stressed out about it. In exchange, Miho never has to think too much about dinner or the fine details of the home. Yua makes sure Miho's space is nice and comfortable and welcoming to her, and Miho makes sure that Yua is secure inside it...
And, well, there are a few things in that arrangement which would normally be Yua's job -- wives are generally expected to be the better social actors, and better positioned to manage the household funds -- but Miho's a woman, too, so it's totally fine for her to handle those things better, actually.
"Of course!" She smiles, warmly. "I pride myself on my ability to fulfill culinary requests!" Most of the time, of course, that's Miho saying that she'd like some steak for dinner...
She giggles, when Miho mentions her bento. "Mmhm, mmhm!" She chirps, and clips up some umezuke-flavoured rice to nibble on. Once she's done that, she adds: "My big dream all this time was to make a super-cute lunch for Mimi every day before she left for work, and have a yummy dinner ready for her every night when she came home!" Man, if Yua's dreams were about making Miho a cute lunch... is she seriously just some kind of domestic goddess?!
(They're not actually weird dreams for a lady in Japan! It's just more noticeable because Miho and Yua are both women.)
Miho declares that they'll all eat together, and so Yua clips a bit of fish. "I'll do my best!" She promises her, with a bright smile. Nibble, nibble...
"Mm!" She hums, affirmatively, to Tomoki. "The karashizuke is pickled with sake, so it might still have a little in it, too... Seiji-san is really good, he'll get you home safe!" Even if there are dangers in the way! But Yua knows well enough not to mention that part.
"I was kind of worried," Yua admits, when he goes on to comment on the traditional wedding. "Since Kimi-san is so traditional... but I didn't have to worry at all! He made sure it wouldn't hurt my baby at all!" And did Miho have to talk to him about it? Well, Yua didn't hear anything.
"Aww, Mimi... I'll try," Yua smiles, a touch more nervously. "I do really like pickled stuff now... like, way more than I did before, I think...?" Miho has, in fact, witnessed her eat an entire jar of pickles just straight out of the jar once she determined she was safe to eat them. Given it was the only thing she'd managed to finish thus far that day...
"You like it?" Yua asks, when Tomoki notices the wine. "I'm happy! It's my job to pick a wine that goes with dinner... I think I've still been doing okay, even though I'm just doing it from memory!" Pause. "Though sometimes I have to ask Eiko-san for help..."
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
Their arrangement seems very neat to Tomoki.
"Well then!" She prides herself on it. And Miho smiles, too, as Yua giggles. "Yes," Miho says fondly. "And so she has."
Well, most nights. Miho thinks it counts. It's the trend!
"Wow!" Tomoki answers, and his handsome good looks are even more striking when he smiles. "That's a good dream."
Yua will do her best... Miho works on it. And Tomoki says, "Hmmm, OK. Good to be sure of." A beat, "He is. Really smooth ride over."
"It was just fine," Miho agrees of that part of the wedding. And Yua is nervous, but, "Yes," Miho answers. "Much more than you used to."
"From memory, too? Even better!" Having a maid is pretty nice...
"You definitely outdo me," he says. "I'm pretty good with meat dishes, but I'm no good at pickling..."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"Yup!" Yua beams, quite happily. Well, some nights... some nights she can't quite manage it, but she always feels bad, when she can't.
But when she's cooking dinner for Miho, she's happy!
"Hehe... it is!" Yua smiles, when he recognises her dream. "I know it's not too daring... but I'm not very daring, anyway. I think that's okay! Women like Mimi really stand out achieving lots of amazing things... but I'm happiest supporting Mimi!"
Not everyone can embody the feminist ideal of women's emancipation. Yua's feminism, instead, lies in achieving her domestic goddess dreams... with another woman instead of the man she's supposed to be cooking for.
It's weird how something totally hegemonic can become transgressive with just a little tweak to gender...
"It's good to be safe," Yua agrees, with Tomoki. Miho kept her safe at the wedding, too!
"I really like popcorn now, too, right?" Yua asks Miho, curiously. "And seaweed... oh, but I liked seaweed before, so that's not really weird? And chicken and fish are good, they're not too strong..." She pauses, thoughtfully, and takes another few bites of her fish. "... but I'm actually doing okay today!" She declares, surprised. "I think it's because my nose is a bit stuffed up...?"
That's because of the hormones, not any impending sickness, though Miho may need to be the one to clarify that, because Yua is too embarrassed to say why it is. What if he hates being reminded of the ill effects of pregnancy???
(Yua missed him rolling with it, earlier.)
Yua smiles, when he compliments her memory. "I don't always have a good memory... but I try really hard!" She declares, brightly.
She listens to Tomoki's cooking experience, tilting her head. "Oh, I don't do all my pickling by hand," Yua says, which implies that some of it is. "Though I have been trying my hand at some preservation...! Like the jam I made, remember, Mimi?" She smiles, as she adds: "And I like baking bread and stuff from scratch, too! I don't have to go to work until lunchtime, since my classes are in the afternoon, so I can spend time on other stuff in the morning... like cooking, and gardening! I've been thinking of taking up knitting, too... or crochet!"
She smiles, as she remembers the point she was tangenting. "But you should be proud of being good at meat, Tomo-kun!" Wait she WHAT, "If you handle it wrong, you can make people really sick... it takes a lot more effort than it looks! Oh, oh, sometime, you should try cooking Mimi some veal cordon bleu! It's her special favourite!"
Yua pauses, and giggles, looking to Miho. "Sorry," she says, though she's smiling. "I told on you..."
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
"What's important about a dream isn't how daring it is... it's that it speaks to you. That's what I think." Tomoki offers something personal! And Miho says, "It's your support that helps me achieve those things," Miho says to Yua. "...And that's not just true of me."
"True," Tomoki says. "We ignore a lot of the support in the background... but it's important."
Tomoki should probably have known not to expect domesticity from Miho, though--and if he didn't, it might be a surprise. But still...
"It is."
Popcorn! "Right," Miho answers. "Seaweed is good." She then pauses, and smiles. "Good," she says--and then thinks to add, "She's not sick--just another pregnancy symptom," Miho explains.
"Oh, yeah?" Tomoki asks. "There's a lot of those I wouldn't have thought about..." He's at least willing to hear about it.
"Trying is what counts first," he says firmly. And then he listens. Perservation...
"I remember," Miho says of the jam.
"I've thought of one of those too," Miho says to Yua. "Just because it's something i can do while I'm healing that keeps up my coordination... Well, I guess it's almost time not to worry about that, but it's important to exercise your hands."
Tomo-kun! Tomoki smiles. He gets a nickname. "Does that mean I can call you Yua-san?" he wonders. Then--
Wait. Good at meat...??? ...Well, there are worse things for a man to be good at, actually.
"Oh ho," he says, looking over at Miho. "That so? Then maybe I will sometime. In order to keep up, a modern man has to show off some talents..."
"I'm quite particular," Miho answers, and smiles at Yua. "It's fine. But I want to eat your food today..."
Delicious.
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"Mm... yeah!" Yua agrees, after a brief hum of thought. "That's a good way to say it! Yeah, dreams should be able to speak!" That's not quite what Tomoki said, but... given how Yua got so cross, last time, over Miho's voice being taken away, it's not difficult to imagine that speaking in general is important to her.
But Miho says that she helps her achieve all those things, and Yua beams, sunnily. "Mm, mm! It's good, Mimi! Because then I get to be proud of you, too!"
Oh, yes, Yua takes care of all Miho's domesticity. She might share a little with Tomoki, though, if Miho wants her to...
She blushes, ducking her head, when Miho points out just what that's about -- though she looks up, surprised, when Tomoki doesn't recoil. "You don't mind?" She asks, blinking that one big eye of hers.
Trying is good!! Like how Yua is trying to welcome this man into their home. Though... interestingly, it's when he reveals that he shares an interest with Yua that she shifts his address. "Heehee... we can knit together, Mimi!" Yua declares, cheerfully. And then --
"Sure!" She smiles, to Tomoki. "It would be weird if we were formal, right?"
She giggles, hearing him preen about his talents. "You'll have to try hard to impress Mimi!" She says, and it's encouraging him, but, it might also be warning him, judging by Miho's report of how particular she is. She smiles though, when Miho insists that she wants to eat her food -- and she does look a little relieved, in her warmth.
Yua's trying very hard, but she still found a reason for Miho to stay in with her while they were getting ready... she must still be a little sensitive.
"Mm, mm!" She hums, a foot sneaking over to rub at Miho's calf. "I worked hard tonight... but for later!"
And because Yua's working very hard, she even takes a moment to nom some more fish. She even takes a lot of little bites at once! Tink tink tink go her chopsticks...
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
Dreams should be able to speak. No, it's not quite what he said, but it makes sense. "That's a good way to put it," Tomoki decides. "Yes. I like that."
Miho meanwhile smiles at Yua. "You do," she says. "But I include you in my pride, too."
Tomoki sure doesn't recoil though. "I don't, Tomoki answers. "I have two sisters; I'm not totally clueless about this stuff."
Yua is trying very hard. And so is Miho, actually. "I'd like that," she says of together, while Tomoki answers formality with a grin. "It would," he agrees.
Well, the whole thing's at least a little weird but... don't worry about that.
"I don't like to do anything halfway." He'll take the warning. "She's right though--your food is delicious. Miho-san's real lucky. And today, so am I!"
Sensitivity isn't a problem for Miho. Instead... She smiles back at Yua. "Later will also be good."
Tomoki's not going to step on that one; instead, he busies himself eating some more, still not going too fast, but savoring each bite.
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"Hee hee... you better!" Yua smiles, when Miho includes Yua in her pride. "I work hard, so when Mimi's proud of me, I'm really happy! But you know, you saved me, Mimi! You got lots to be proud of with me!" If it wasn't for Miho, Yua wouldn't be able to cook dinner this way...
Tomoki says he has sisters, though, and Yua smiles. "Oh! Are you older, or younger? I'm the oldest, but Mimi's the youngest... I bet you wouldn't have guessed that!" Yua giggles, tilting her head merrily. "My little sister is a highschooler in Seven Sisters, and my little brother lives with mama back in Kukojima... he'll need to get a boat to a bigger island when it's time for him to go to highschool!" Yua's definitely not just out of highschool, so one might wonder just why there's such an age gap between her and her siblings, but... helping out with little siblings is certainly one way to develop a maternal urge.
"Oh," Yua blinks, "but if we start knitting, Tiger will think the yarn is a cat toy..."
It's okay, Tomoki. Yua is, apparently, just kind of weird at baseline.
"Hee hee... I'm glad! Cook something for me one day too, Tomo-kun!" Yua smiles, sunnily. "Actually, my favourite is fried sham sandwiches... everyone back home loves it!" That's... definitely a departure from cordon bleu.
Yua, oblivious, smiles to Miho. "Mm!" She hums, happily. "I'll believe in Tomo-kun! I bet you'll like his cordon bleu, too!!" ... Yua's completely missed that Miho and Tomoki both assumed she was talking about later tonight, not Miho's upcoming dinners.
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
"I do." Miho's smile at Yua is warm. Her brown eyes look softly on her, and Tomoki gets a chance to watch that interaction before he answers about his own sisters. He gets another grin. "Middle," he says. "So I got it coming and going, in terms of having to know my stuff. Both of them are also out of the house by now, of course." He is an adult, and so are they! But, "Oh, Sevens. Nice, that's where you two went, isn't it?" A beat, "Good luck to him."
Tomoki doesn't guess at it for the moment.
"Tiger thinks everything is a cat toy," Miho points out.
"Sure!" he answers. "Hmmmm, I'll keep that one in mind... Might have to make a few for myself first. Just for study purposes, of course."
But Miho realizes that Yua was saying something different--and quietly does not clear that up. Instead, "I'm sure I will."
He adds, "I'll have to make sure of it."
But while Eiko's off giving them space... "So Ikeda-san must be really helpful to you two. She really knows her stuff."
"That's right," Miho says. "I'd meant to introduce you eventually; she's an old friend, as well as an employee."
"Both, hm? Interesting. But I guess that makes it cozier, too."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
Yua's own gaze, up to Miho, is soft and loving; there's this way she tilts her head, just a little, allowingly, and it's not just because she wants to get a better look at her from her monocular perspective.
She can't spend all night hanging off of Miho's every gaze, of course; they have a guest! It would be rude. Her smile is still warm, when she looks to Tomoki, but not nearly so pliant. "Oh, so you know both sides!" Yua exclaims, approvingly. "That must be really useful!" They're out of the house, though, and Yua's head tilts in curosity, instead. "How old are you, Tomo-kun?"
(She does, of course, hum assent to his question about Sevens. Miho might be able to tell him more!)
Yua giggles, when Miho points out Tiger's claim on the world. "Hee hee... hey, Mimi, remember when I dropped my bracelet on the floor, and he thought it looked so fun he bolted right out and batted it under the dresser? I had to get Eiko-san to help me find it... I couldn't even reach!"
Yua advises him, taking on a tone of Grave Seriousness which is just a little too severe to be entirely so: "You must make sure the slices are no more than half a centimetre thick! If they're too thick, frying the middle makes the edges all burnt... or the middle doesn't hardly get fried at all! Oh, but be careful if you go back home doing that, okay?" She adds, clipping a little more fish in her chopsticks. "Everyone's really serious about how they prepare their sham... like, or neighbours have this stupid idea that the slices need to be two centimetres thick! Once we had an argument for a whole month over them borrowing our wheelbarrow which ended up entirely about how they were making their sham wrong!" Yua angrily!!! nomphs her fish, and then three more times. "They're still wrong," she huffs, indignantly.
Being fair: Yua's also looking forward to later tonight. But she'd be terribly embarrassed if she realised Tomoki thought she was saying that right in front of him...
... luckily, thanks to Miho's adept navigation, Yua doesn't get it at all! "Mm, mm! Good luck, Tomo-kun!" Yua encourages him, instead.
He asks more about Eiko, though, and Yua's smile brightens. "Eiko-san is super reliable!" She declares. "It's thanks to her than I can still work and stuff! If I was doing all the home stuff on my own, there's no way I'd have time... but, you know, Eiko-san minded my namasu while I was at school, so I was able to finish making it when I got back!"
Is it weird that Yua calls her maid by her first name...? Maybe it's because they're friends... then again, isn't Seiji the chauffeur's first name, too...?
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
It would be rude! But it's fine, because that's not happening. Tomoki inclines his head to knowing both. Then, "Twenty-nine," he answers. And Miho will be twenty-three in December...
"I can tell you sometime about Sevens," Miho offers. "It's a good school."
but Tiger did do that thing, and Miho laughs faintly. "I remember," she says. "He's just like that..."
The gravity of sham... Tomoki leans in slightly to listen carefully to these secrets. "I see... There are strong opinions on sham, I see."
"I'll be sure to practice your way."
Miho is good at making sure things are easier on Yua. So when Yua just wishes Tomoki luck, he and Miho both smile.
He does ask about Eiko, though... "Oh, yeah?" Working and all that. "That's great."
It is a little weird... but then, Tomoki has found that Yua is a little weird, so it doesn't really seem like something to bring up. Besides, if they're friends...
"I had to learn to do all that stuff for myself when I got out of university," he relates.
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"Oh, wow!" Yua looks surprised, hearing he's that old. "We're only twenty-two... well, I'll be twenty-three at the end of the month, and then Mimi's following me in December. Her birthday's on the eighth, so don't forget!" She adds, sternly. "But you're almost Kimi-san's age... wow, you must have travelled a lot." Yua remembered the bit about him travelling everywhere, huh?
It is a good school, in fact. And Tiger is a menace. Yua nods, gravely, to both these facts...
... but most grave of all are her sham facts. "Good!" Yua smiles, when he assures her that he'll practice her way of sham. "I won't steer you wrong!"
Yua smiles, oblivious to all Miho's machinations, as Tomoki goes on to praise Eiko. "Mm, mm," she nods, thoughtfully, with another nibble of fish. "I did a lot on my own in high school, since my mom wasn't always well, so I was helping to take care of Yume-chan and Yuken-kun... I always thought it was super intimidating when I'd go to Mimi's house and there were maids and stuff? So don't worry if we seem way too fancy," she assures him. "Maids are just, like... rich people's ways of outsourcing problems so they can focus more on the stuff that matters to them! That's how it always seems like people are more successful when they're rich, you know? It's because someone's handling their laundry, and cleaning, and preparing meals, and taxes... like how salarymen who aren't married can never get ahead in life because they don't have someone to take care of things at home!"
Yua, you aren't supposed to say all that stuff out loud...
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
"I won't forget," Tomoki assures both of them. Almost Kimitake's age... That's true! "I have," he says of traveling. "It's good to do. And it's nice seeing different perspectives..."
Yua smiles, and Tomoki smiles back. "I'll count on that."
But Miho listens about Eiko, too. And to Yua explaining... "I remember that, too," Miho says of Yua's intimidation. Then she actually laughs softly.
"There are people who'd take issue with you saying that," she says. "A lot of the rich want those things to be a secret... But I think it's just true. Part of why I can fence competitively is that I was able to focus on just that."
"Man, that's true," Tomoki considers. "I guess that's what they say about how 'behind every great man', and all."
"Or woman, as the case may be." Miho.
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
It's kind of nice that Miho and Yua are both attached to men of a similar age, right...?
(Yua doesn't think of all the implications, despite her earlier insight; she just thinks it's nice how they match.)
Miho reminds her that some people would object, though, and Yua giggles again. "Eheheh, I'm not supposed to say it, right? It's okay, I won't mention it at Kimi-san's parties... they don't want to hear a lot of true things then, anyway! But you're right," she adds, with a rueful smile. "Sometimes I think about how far I could have gone with my dancing if I was in your position..."
She's a little jealous of that, too.
"But it's okay!" Yua assures her, her smile brightening again. "Because whatever Hiroki wants to do, he'll be able to do it as much as he wants!" She can provide for his talents, whatever they end up being, even if hers were interrupted.
She giggles, as she adds: "Hee hee... and I'm behind Mimi!"
She's happy about that, too.