2026-03-22: The Second First Meeting
- Log: The Second First Meeting
- Cast: Katsuko Yoshinaga, Moriko Kumamoto
- Where: Pauwlonia Mall
- OOC Date: 2026-03-22
- IC Date: Sat Oct 13 2012
- Summary: Katsuko attempts to endear herself to Moriko during a chance meeting at an Iwatadoi bookshop, hoping to secure a powerful ally for any future fights. Results are mixed.
<Pose Tracker> Katsuko Yoshinaga has posed.
Katsuko was not a Gekkoukan student. Such a thing was made immediately obvious by the Shujin uniform - something she had not bothered to take off after school had closed for the day, and students were ushered out to see to whatever clubs and studies they had arranged. That, in turn, raised the question of why she was in an Iwatadoi bookstore, when there were so many good ones within a stone's throw of Shujin, let alone the area that she actually lived in. Not that anybody dared to ask her.
She was the very picture of ice. Still as a glacier, and wearing an expression twice as cold, she did not look to be the kind of person that cared to engage in casual conversation. Even a passing staff member seemed a little put out by the woman scanning the shelves in search of one thing or another, her movements so exact and replicated so precisely that she seemed more like an automaton than a person. Even her hair seemed to have been sculpted rather than cut, with those black, back-length locks trimmed to precise and unerring measurements.
The books she browsed did not seem to shed too much light on what it was that had drawn her to that neck of the woods either. They were, for the most part, reference texts. They were as dull as they were thick, and likely the kind of thing reserved for students expected to achieve grades on the higher end of the scale, but none were the kind that could *only* have been found in Iwatadoi. Indeed - why Katsuko had decided to stop there, instead of anywhere else, was a mystery. A large enough one that some stopped to ponder it, though not quite large enough that anyone cared to stop and ask about it.
<Pose Tracker> Moriko Kumamoto has posed.
Moriko herself is a Gekkoukan student unsurprisingly. That doesn't mean she doesn't find her way out into places. Unsurprisingly, she's fairly mobile. Today is after school and she's also still in uniform. Though the hints of engine oil and grease might suggest why she was out this way on foot.
Still, cleaned up enough, the worst of the stuff was mostly just around her nails which is always a pain, especially if you don't want to strip the colors off or damage them further than she might already have (And cleaned up.)
She slips past Katsuko, murmuring politely, "Sorry, excuse me." In a hint of a drawl while looking up and down. For all her problems, she does study hard. She does push herself.
Just in certain ways that really probably only make sense to herself.
IT's fine.
Reaching out, she puts her fingers on a particularly thick book, pulling it out lightly to check the cover. Then it's slid back into place and she pulls out her phone, taking a moment to try and reference the cover with the one hse was looking for. Edition matters sometimes!
<Pose Tracker> Katsuko Yoshinaga has posed.
Katsuko regarded Moriko dispassionately at first, seeing her as little more than a nuisance that she had to move out of the way of. She turned her head only a little, letting her eyes swivel the rest of the way, but time seemed to slow to a crawl when a hint of recognition flickered in her mind. The circumstances were different, and Moriko was certainly in a different state to when she had appeared in Kazusa's Atelier, but there was no mistaking that she recognised the person passing by her. They were a Persona user like her, and one strong enough to do battle with the Homunculus, no less.
Perhaps not the most valuable asset - blunt instruments were hardly uncommon, after all - but a strong Persona user that could be called in as backup was always good to have in one's corner. Quite how she would navigate around keeping her identities separate, she supposed, could come later. For now, Katsuko decided, it was best to try and get in someone new's good graces. To that end, small talk - despite her lack of fondness towards it - had to be engaged. Katsuko blinked, and her thoughts moved to how best to approach the situation. She ran through the possibilities, thought on what surrounded them, recalled any immediate events, and then
An idea.
"Are you studying for midterms as well?" Katsuko asked. Her expression did not shift, and her tone only held the barest hint of curiosity to it, but the fact that the glacier had shifted at all was something worth noticing.
You paged Moriko Kumamoto with 'I might have to consider it if it's easy enough to follow, but we'll have to see - I'm gonna see about running some stuff for Hyousuke and Katsuko's plots and since I haven't really been in charge of anything large-scale, it might take up all of my spoons just to juggle that'
<Pose Tracker> Moriko Kumamoto has posed.
Moriko seems oblivious to the brief scrutiny from Katsuko. She was absorbed in comparing things. When she decides it's not the right book, she starts to look for others. Pausing though, at the movement. She glances over, eyebrow perked and asks, "Am I in your way?" Ready to step away in case the other girl needs something.
She had been engrossed in her phone, maybe she had been rude for no good reason. Usually 'good' reasons aren't hard to drum up for her, but in this case it wouldn't have been justified right? She shakes her headd. Clearing those thoughts.
She had been a bit distracted prior, admittedly so she doesn't recognize Katsuko. Probably for a few reasons really.
"Researching for a different project. Needed reference materials, but the copy I was after wasn't the right one." She sounds annoyed more than anything. "Cut my work short for it too." She glances over, "You? You after a book in particular?" An odd side attempt to help
<Pose Tracker> Katsuko Yoshinaga has posed.
Katsuko was certain that Moriko did not recognise her. That, she supposed, was a relief. While each being aware of the other's awakened state would no doubt have made things easier, Katsuko didn't know how far Moriko could be trusted - if she could be at all. It was best, in her mind, to play things close to the chest and see how things panned out, even if it turned out to be more complicated in the short term.
"Literary analyses." She stated flatly, before plucking a book from the shelf. Her movements were sharp, and seemingly measured - there wasn't an ounce of wasted energy with how she took it and opened it.
"Analysing some texts proves difficult sometimes, so guides like these help me figure out the more difficult points."
Even the way she spoke seemed mechanical. Human, at first glance, but those listening more closely might have thought something was off. Like she was trying to replicate human emotion based on the surrounding context, rather than feeling it herself. "What about you?" She asked. Her face was still, her lips moving no more than was necessary, her eyes cast in Moriko's direction with blinks that somehow seemed evenly spaced. "Are you looking for something special?" She waited a moment, and considered another question. Perhaps, she supposed, feigning interest in Moriko's interests would help speed the process of 'bonding' along. "And what work was it that you had to interrupt for it, if you don't mind my curiosity?"
<Pose Tracker> Moriko Kumamoto has posed.
Moriko did not in fact recognize Katsuko! There's probably some metaphysical barrier causing all sorts of problems and chaos and it's a problem for later. She might be offended if someone told her to her face she couldn't be trusted though.
"Which literature? Local or foreign?" She at least sounds curious about that part. She's also sounding a bit laid back. Her accent is guarded, but there's hints of it.
"Philosophical, or something else?"
"I'm trying to do a bit of research on theoretical improvements to the combustion engine. I don't want to get away from them fully, but if you're trying to write believable things, you need to understand believable things." She points. "So. You start with those books. But then you also need some design philosophies. And the one I'm after, was a specific engine configuration that wasn't common."
There's a pause and she mutters, "I doubt I'll ever have to show the engine so I don't know why I'm bothering, but it's fun."
Thi sat least might explain some of what makes her tick.
<Pose Tracker> Katsuko Yoshinaga has posed.
"A local one. It's rather esoteric - getting through the thing in the first place is considered a challenge, let alone picking it apart. There are historical considerations to take into account, authorial intent versus what they would have been allowed to distribute openly, and that we must set aside our own biases in order to approach works from a more objective angle." In short, it was a dusty old book, the analysis of which had a lot of moving parts that made it a pain in the proverbial to write at length about. Quietly, Katsuko hoped that she was doing well at appearing like she had much interest in the conversation, and that elaborating on her own struggles would make her seem more relatable.
She wanted to win at a casual conversation, essentially.
Then the time came to display interest in whatever it was that Moriko was working on. In her own way, at least. She looked at Moriko while she spoke, that much was true, but that was about the closest she came to displaying her feelings on the matter. No vocalisations of acknowledgement, no nods or looks of confusion at the parts she didn't understand particularly well... she barely even seemed to blink, doing so at a slow and regular pace, as if her eyes were on a timer.
"If it's fun, then isn't that enough of a reason to do it? You seem quite passionate about it." She eventually asked. A short question though it was, she'd been paying attention, and even added a remark to prove it, thus deepening their bond by displaying what was supposed to be interpreted as genuine interest.
<Pose Tracker> Moriko Kumamoto has posed.
"Esoterics are fun." She says distractedly. Reaching out for something else that gets her attention. It looks like a look at other mechanical things. That gets pushed back in and she's looking at one for tanks and armored hardware now. There's a contemplative look on her face like she's getting an idea, but that might be for much later.
"There was a Soviet era book that has an afterword talking about that kind of thing." She notes. Slowly walking one way, then the other as she scans up and down. Fidgeting almost. "It sounds like you can make anything up as long as you can justify it without breaking anything too egregiously." She notes. "How strict's the teacher?"
"It's useful, if you're going to write a story, to know roughly what you're writing about. It prevents the reader from getting yanked out when you.." She trails off thinking of a good example, "When you try to suggest a Meiji era setting and you inexplicably add like. Robot arms without anything else being supernatural or fanciful." She frowns. "No that's dumb. I've seen it though." What's a better example? Argh!
<Pose Tracker> Katsuko Yoshinaga has posed.
Katsuko nodded in a manner she hoped could be interpreted as 'thoughtfully.' It was, however, just a simple nod. Curt and to the point, acknowledging the statement but not really doing anything with it.
"Shujin's teachers have high standards." She stated bluntly, taking care to take the diplomatic approach to speaking about the school's staff. The walls had ears, and she was not inclined to let word get back to them on how she really felt about any of the faculty, regardless of how unlikely such an event was all the way out in Iwatadoi. "While all deconstructions of texts are 'made up' to some degree, I would rather do so as accurately as possible.
She considered prosthetics for a moment. It was not a problem she had any way of solving, and it was not one that she had any intention of expending mental effort on. Even so, she had to at least pretend she cared, if only because it would make her seem more likeable.
"It does sound as though it would be a challenge." She said, giving some generic, agreeing statement that acknowledged the struggle of putting together such a story. "I suppose it would depend on where the boundary of 'too fanciful' lies. There may even be historical precedent for the concept, if you are willing to look beyond Japan, or stretch your definition of grounded. Ish."
<Pose Tracker> Moriko Kumamoto has posed.
Moriko glances sidelong for a moment. Then turns back to the books. Starting to slowly pick through some of the others. Clearly just browsing at this point as she talks. Truth be told, she's a sucker for wandering around aimlessly and seeing what shakes out. It helps sometimes.
"I don't doubt it." She replies. Seeming like she's doing much the same. "Which is why you have to justify it right?" She glances over, "Or are they looking for consistency."
There's a confused look, met with, "Verismillitude's not too hard. You want it to feel real. You get too far out from what is known in your setting and less so the real world barring... you know. Certain things." She shrugs. Yanking a random book to glance it over.
"You'd be surprised really."
<Pose Tracker> Katsuko Yoshinaga has posed.
Katsuko nodded at Moriko's assessment of what the teachers were looking for, but other than that - and a brief, spoken, acknowledgement of the fact to accompany it - she didn't have much to add to the point. Not without saying things that might have potentially landed her in hot water, were they to ever get back to Shujin faculty. The last point she made drew Katsuko's attention, and she blinked suddenly, wondering just how far she could push things for her own amusement.
"Reality is often stranger than fiction." She remarked flatly. It was not a strange or uncommon sentiment - history had a great many tales that, while strange, were ostensibly true. "I'm sure there's a great many things going on right under our noses that few could claim to know about."
For no reason in particular, Katsuko selected a book from the shelf deconstructing various pieces of Japanese folklore.
<Pose Tracker> Moriko Kumamoto has posed.
"Reality's always stranger than you'd think." She grins briefly, "Even without going into the strange." She looks over, "It's why it gets fun when you're looking at stories 'based on true events'. You dig into actual records and they're almost always weirder."
She crosses her arms, looking the books over idly. The one that Katsuko pulls is met with a tilt of her head, "Which area's that one covering? You'd be surprised how many shared stories aren't." She shifts to her other foot and adds, "Though if you're into that, could probably talk for a few hours on it alone." She pulls a new book. Having stepped away a bit. Only glancing at the cover briefly before promptly deciding it's not what she's after.
"Yep." She replies, "You turn over a rock and you find all sorts of weirdness."
<Pose Tracker> Katsuko Yoshinaga has posed.
She looked it over for a moment, flipping it over in her hand and scanning the blurb, before slotting it back into its place on the shelf.
"And time period as well. The same myth can have many different interpretations from century to century as well as area to area. It isn't my usual read, though - I prefer detective fiction." Katsuko rounded off her statement with two actions. The first was her pulling the study guide she needed from the shelf, and placing it with the other one in her other hand. The second action was to flash the first book she'd selected's cover to Moriko. It was a noir-style thriller, if the design was to be believed, no doubt full of grim monologues and rain-soaked backalleys.
"Perhaps you'd care to enlighten me about the subtleties of folktales somewhere more comfortable, though? There is a coffee shop here I've been meaning to visit..."