2026-04-20: Approach Shot
- Log: Approach Shot
- Cast: Katsuko Yoshinaga, Kanae Fuyuki
- Where: Shujin High School
- OOC Date: 2026-04-20
- IC Date: Sat Oct 27
- Summary: Katsuko, intent on figuring out what makes a potential ally tick - and how that can be used to manipulate her for future endeavours - approaches Kanae shortly after the tennis club's practice ends for the day.
<Pose Tracker> Katsuko Yoshinaga has posed.
With midterms finally over, and the need to study now not as urgent as it had been a week or two prior, few would have thought anything of Katsuko lingering around a little after school. Those few that had even the slightest crumb of suspicion would most likely have been mollified by the explanation that she was in the literature club, and sought to take the long way around to the school's entrance so she could stretch her legs a little. That, or they would have realised the futility of trying to wring information from someone whose expression was colder than the biting October winds.
Reasons and explanations aside, the fact remained that Katsuko's route took her right by where the vast majority of Shujin's tennis team would likely make their exit after practice. To any casual observer, it was just a benign coincidence that she had walked through the halls at a pace that facilitated this. To any that knew her well enough, it was most certainly not a coincidence, and most likely far from benign. The truth of it all - a truth only she knew - was that she sought to meet Kanae, and work her way into the girl's good graces.
But for that to happen, the two had to meet in the first place.
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
Kanae is back to Tennis, with midterms over; there's a lot to do for the club. But that's between patrols, practice, and various other things--and of ocurse, spending time with her friends and boyfriend and handling classes.
...It's manageable. And so Kanae today is about to exit after practice, in Shujin uniform with an athletic bag over her shoulder.
She walks right past Katsuko without noticing her--well, at first.
<Pose Tracker> Katsuko Yoshinaga has posed.
There was the target. Katsuko's mind raced - there were precious few seconds to spare before calling out to Kanae became awkward and made the conversation stilted. She needed it to seem spontaneous and natural, as if it were nothing more than two peers passing the time once the pressures of school had abated for the day. The options flitted before her eyes, flashing there for the barest fraction of a second, before being dismissed just as fast. Part of her cursed the intricacies of social interaction as she did so, lamenting how most subjects at least had the courtesy of having a consistently correct answer.
Eventually, she settled on something, and Katsuko turned on her heel. Quickly enough to catch Kanae before she got too far, but not so quickly that it seemed hurried and desperate. It was fine line, but Katsuko walked it regardless.
"Oh, Fuyuki-san." She said, acting as though she'd not expected to run into her there. As much as her perpetually flat tone would allow for, at least. "I saw the results of Shujin's last game. Congratulations are in order - you performed admirably."
Katsuko Yoshinaga(#558PenA)
Katsuko's head is shrouded by a pitch-black hood woven from thick fabric, bathing her face in obscuring darkness. The only 'feature' that can be seen upon her visage is the bare-toothed grin of a silver skull, the mask covering the lower half of her face that the shadows of her hood could not reach. A great black coat tapers down across her body, the sleeves and shoulders ending in vicious edges and points, while the tail end itself billows out like the wings of some swooping bird of prey. Fittingly, the fingers of her gloves ended in dagger-sharp points resembling talons. Charcoal grey fabric clings to her legs, though that is covered to the knee by boots of darkened leather, their ends swooping and tapering into points in the same manner as her gloves and coat. Silver accents every article she wears, though it is most prominent on the torso, with long, sweeping, lines evoking the image of spread wings... or a hollow ribcage.
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
Kanae's mind is more on what she's going to do later--so she doesn't think much of it when a girl calls out to her as she's walking. The options go on, and--
"!" Kanae pauses, looks at Katsuko, in a little surprise at first. Then, "Oh, thanks!" She has to put on the exclamation point because it's polite. Katsuko's not much taller than her; it's not difficult to look to her face.
"Are you interested in tennis?" she asks, stepping out of the way of the crowd to indulge whatever it was Katsuko wanted to ask.
<Pose Tracker> Katsuko Yoshinaga has posed.
Katsuko's mind raced again, plotting the potential paths of the conversation based on the wealth of answers she could give. There was scarcely time to sort through even a fraction of them - she had barely a heartbeat to answer before the silence turned to something awkward, and by extension, suspicious. She had to act natural, but still push forward with her agenda, and see what made that girl before her tick. Katsuko's eyes flicked in a quick and natural-looking blink, and she gave an answer that she deemed acceptable.
"In watching it, more than playing." She said, offering a slight nod as more confirmation of her interest in the sport. Whether she actually was interested, or had simply pretended, was unclear. But, at the very least, she could present herself as being interested in it, and perhaps secure a subject that her and Kanae could talk about and bond over. "Though I didn't manage to watch your one, regrettably. I've heard good things about it." She allowed a moment for the compliment to sink in. It was a small and polite thing, and hopefully enough to help lighten the mood. "You must have practised hard to achieve a result like that. I hear your opponents were especially fierce this time."
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
Kanae has a few thoughts of her own; she's surprised that the usually-terse girl is not only talking to her, but talking to her with some enthusiasm it sounds like--which, well, liking tennis is a logical reason that might be.
"Ah!" Kanae says. "You should drop by sometime, then. Isabeau might give you trouble, but most of the club is friendly."
Small!
"I did," Kanae says. "And of course, it's not just enough to practice on your own--you need to work with your team. Going it alone only takes you so far."
<Pose Tracker> Katsuko Yoshinaga has posed.
Katsuko frowned a little at the mention of Isabeau. She was almost always frowning, so it was near impossible to tell that the slight downward twitch of her lips was an actual expression of displeasure, but the fact remained that she had. Navigating one of the tennis team's other 'personalities' was going to be difficult - she did not wish to put one down to raise up the other, but she'd seen how they'd been at each other's throats when returning from the break. Endearing herself to one without offending the other seemed a difficult task. Playing both of them, and getting them to work together with her? So close to impossible, she reckoned, that it wasn't worth considering.
"Agreed." Katsuko said, giving one of those terse answers she'd garnered a reputation for, before remembering that conversations generally consisted of more than one-word answers. "Things like this are a team effort. There's only so much one can achieve on their own." She spoke with some degree of certainty - like she knew exactly where Kanae was coming from. Like it wasn't the first time she'd been a part of some expansive team, working towards a common goal. But the literature club did not have such lofty ambitions, so the source was perhaps not clear.
"Perhaps I'll try and attend your next game, then. Or I can stop by practice when time permits - and if Fontaine-san behaves." A joke? From Katsuko? Perish the thought. "When *is* your next game, anyway?"
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
Katsuko frowns! But then, most people frown when it comes to Isabeau. And on this Saturday, that's not too unusual. (It's the 27th!)
"Hmmm," Kanae says. "I don't expect the lit club gets a lot of team efforts," she says. "Or do you? Do you like, do poetry competitions or something?"
She's trying to do her part on the conversation to be friendly, since she's still not sure why Katsuko reached out.
"...Heh. Don't worry about that." That one didn't land as well, about Isabeau. "But the next is next weekend. Show up if you want! I'll show you how we operate."
<Pose Tracker> Katsuko Yoshinaga has posed.
"Not as such." Katsuko said, in regards to the literature club. "But plenty of us enter external competitions, and all of us help evaluate each other's work for them. One hand washes the other." The remark was given flatly and casually, in such a matter-of-fact tone that she might as well have been speaking about the weather. It was only natural, of course. Teamwork was essential in many facets of life. Surely she did not mean anything else by it, pertaining to aspects of one's life best kept under wraps.
"Next weekend?" Katsuko said, and pretended to wrack her mind, like she was consulting some mental schedule. Her gaze turned aside, her fingers came to her chin, and she fell silent for a moment or two to sell the illusion, before nodding gently and returning that unwavering gaze of hers forward. "I can make that. I should like to see you all in action for once, instead of just watching the scores." She shifted her lips a little. Not into a frown, but something resembling it. "I've been trying to watch more of the local teams' games, you see, but they haven't got one for a while."
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
"Oh, I see." so that's an insight into the cutthroat world of literature... "Makes sense.
Katsuko seems to be checking her mental schedule, but Kanae hears of it. "OK," she says. Next weekend. "Sounds good. We'll put on a good show."
Sports clubs in Shujin are all scrambling to show themselves now, anyway; now that volleyball's out...
"I see, yeah. Well, here's your chance!" She adjusts her grip on her shoulder strap.
<Pose Tracker> Katsuko Yoshinaga has posed.
Katsuko briefly wondered what it was like behind the scenes with Kamoshida's actions now out in the open. She was stoic enough not to show it, but her stomach turned at just the thought of the man. She had many thoughts on the Phantom Thieves and their operations, but putting him away? That much she could support, at the very least.
"Then I look forward to it. If your next opponents live up to their reputation, it'll be an exciting match. But you're as good as I hear, then I'm sure you'll all pull through."
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
Kanae isn't sure exactly what's going on... But maybe Katsuko just wants to be socialble for once. It's a good start, anyway.
"Thanks," Kanae says. "See you then, then. I'm gonna keep moving."
She waves. "Later!"
Now that she has an audience for their next match...
Well, no. Isabeau's still going to Isabeau.
<Pose Tracker> Katsuko Yoshinaga has posed.
Katsuko gave a short, sharp, wave - a gesture as terse as her speech tended to be, but such was to be expected of her. The second Kanae was out of sight, Katsuko's frown deepened, and she turned. Socialising was such a distasteful thing, but at the very least, she had an in to try and work her way into the mind of a powerful ally. If talking to people had to be tolerated in order to achieve her goals, Katsuko supposed that it was just a price she'd have to pay.
With a blink, she wiped the scowl off her face, and set off home.