2026-05-26: You Up for a Visitor?
- Log: You Up for a Visitor?
- Cast: Ririka Kawase, Suzume Fukura
- Where: Iwatodai Dormitory
- OOC Date: May 26, 2026
- IC Date: Thursday, November 15, 2012
- Summary: After fainting, Ririka's been keeping to herself. Suzume goes to check on her, the two get to talking, and then go to watch a movie together.
(|============================ Iwatodai Dormitory ============================|)
-================================================== Iwatodai City/Iwatodai ====-
A large four-story dormitory used by the Specialized Extracurricular Execution
Squad, only five minutes from Iwatodai Station. Upon entering, one passes a desk
with a sign-in book for guests to find a large carpeted common room that's well
appointed for co-ed gatherings.
A TV is usually on with the local news or a movie that's been loaded into the
DVD player for a student to enjoy. A table for shared dinners, or more often
study sessions, takes up the other half of the dorm, as well as a kitchen should
one dare to show off their skills to their fellow students.
There are two winding staircases on either side. The one on the left simply says
'Boys' while the other on the right states 'No Boys Except By Invitation.' The
implicit threat of execution need not be written down for those who violate
these rules. The second and third stories are living spaces divided by gender
with common spaces that have study areas and bookshelves available.
The fourth story is the command center with surveillance capabilities for not
just different parts of the city but each room within the dorms. The Chairman
has assured all who live here that this capability is strictly necessary.
BGM - Dormitory Theme - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj-FrFI0qnM
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka hasn't been having a great week. Probably most people in SEES aren't, to be fair, after the business in Aoba Park, but most of them didn't faint in the kitchen of the dorms.
Ririka's been emotionally exhausted since, as well as physically, and the nights where she would normally be out of the dorm, going to practice of some kind of another... she's been here, instead.
She's mostly been keeping to herself. She's been going to classes, but skipping band practice. Late last night, she slipped out of the dorm for a bit, but only into her sister's Van. They were out for a while, then Ririka came back and went right to her dorm.
And now on Thursday she is... still in her room. And she's been kind of listless. On the advice of her sister she's been trying to find something to keep her busy, but she's also been having a hell of a time trying to keep focused on any one thing. She's bounced between browing the internet on her phone, several different video games, manga, homewrk, and her computer, and nothing's stuck so far.
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume heard about Ririka falling ill (or something). Rumours spread, as Suzume is *particularly* aware of right now, and that one is hardly a secret to anyone who lived in the dorm.
She stayed out of Ririka's way entirely for a day, failed to get ahold of her except at school the next (and they aren't in the same class - Suzume is in 2-E, with Fuuka and Hitomi), and after missing her for another day, this time because Ririka went out with Ichika, has decided that she's not going to ignore her friend any longer; she wanted to check on her.
Which is why Ririka receives some texts.
> I know you're in there
> You up for a visitor?
> Why did those post backwards
They're followed by a LINE sticker of a confused-looking chubby white and orange bird with a big ?? over its head. It's a sparrow. Clearly.
Suzume herself is in the dorm halls, waiting for a response. She can be over in an instant.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Yeah, it's pretty hard to miss the fact that an ambulance had to be called to the dorm... and, perhaps, people were even more on edge than normal considering the state Minako was in at the time.
She wasn't trying to avoid Suzume, except in the sense that she was trying to avoid everyone.
In her dorm room, her phone buzzed, and Ririka blinked and looked over at it, the game on her screen just still sitting at the character select. She gets up and checks it.
She stares at her phone for a moment, then looks over at her door.
> okay
< one second
The sound of Night Parade's character select music suddenly cuts off. Ririka appears at the door, hair tied back in a basic ponytail. She's bundled up in a jacket and sweats, and she looks... ragged. She tries to smile when she sees Suzume, though. "Hey, Fukura-chan. Um, come on in."
Ririka's room, as always, is neat and tidy. There are some textbooks and a notebook stacked, closed, on Ririka's desk, and her bed is made with a purple teddy bear propped up against the pillows.
"Um, have a seat," she says, gesturing to the desk chair. She's standing by the bed, ready to sit down but waiting for Suzume to sit first. "... what's up?"
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume is already at the door by the time Ririka opens it.
She looks exactly like usual, though she's starting to either need a haircut again or do something with her hair, as it's getting shaggy again. Beyond that, nothing unexpected: T-shirt, jeans, she's done class for the day and she is not going to spend any more time in her uniform than she has to.
"Hey," she says, as she steps inside. She's been in Ririka's room once before; she doesn't remember the purple teddy bear but she won't say anything about it - though she is trying not to grin at least a little bit. Sorry, Ririka.
The grin does at least fade when she looks up at the taller girl. "I wanted to make sure you were doing okay," she says. "You were hiding. And I mean, I hide sometimes, I get it." She was hiding on Sunday in fact, when she simply did not want to be found after getting into that fight at school. "But..."
Her face screws up. Suzume doesn't want to just *say* she was worried. But she was worried. "...you cold?"
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
The teddy bear's been around! Sometimes it's on the shelf, instead. But today it is not. It was in her lap a few moments prior, though. But it was a gift.
Ririka won't comment on the hair.
Ririka rubs at the back of her neck a little. "Oh. I'm... fine. Just tired, I guess." There's a blush at the mention she was hiding. "... is it that obvious? I'm not trying... w-well... I guess I kind of am. Sorry."
She might not have noticed Suzume was hiding. She was rather kind of... distracted on Sunday, as it turns out. After she got out of the hospital she went home for a good long while.
Ririka looks down at herself and shakes her head. "Oh, no, I guess not, I just... I dunno. Felt like bundling up, I guess. I mean, maybe a little? I dunno."
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
There are some people, at some times, that Suzume would tease for the teddy bear, but right after someone gets back from the hospital is not one of them. Never mind that she's not *right* back and it's been a couple days, by now; it's close enough.
Suzume hates hospitals, and she never gets sick; it's worse, she figures, for someone who does. She's not going to give Ririka shit about dealing with it in her own way.
"Yeah, we can tell," Suzume says, with a bit of a glance around again. "I mean. I guess you've been overdoing it. You need to take a break now and again instead of tryin' to do everything at once. I mean..."
Suzume is also prone to trying to do everything, but in her case it's not so bad because she doesn't obligate herself with extracurricular clubs; she just tries to get involved in as much as possible on her own terms. She understands, at least a little.
"...take a break, I guess. You've probably heard it from smarter people than me," she admits. "But yeah, it's obvious when you're doing it." Hiding, she means this time.
Suzume finally does sit at the desk, belatedly, mostly so Ririka can sit down again - she actually would prefer to stand and pace a little bit but if she doesn't Ririka will never sit down and she needs it. "How you feeling now, then?" She's a little awkward about it. She doesn't andle this kind of questioning well.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Yeah, Ririka only spent a few days in the hospital but whatever made her faint, she's still going through. But yeah, she's not a fan of being in a hospital, but largely for who it is that's there.
"Yeah, that's... pretty much what the doctor said. I had piano lessons tonight, but..." She still feels embarrassed about it. "I'm sorry if I made you worry..."
And it's not like she's a slouch at the pano, not if any of her practice sessions in her room are to go by. (Her electronic piano is tucked away off to the side of the room.)
She sighs, as Suzume confirms about the hiding. "... I was afraid of that."
Ririka finally sits, then, when Suzume does, pulling her feet up so she can sit cross-legged. "Tired, I guess. Kind of..." Ririka makes a face, as she searches for the words. "I dunno. I'm... trying to relax, honest, but nothing... nothing's working."
She studies Suzume for a moment, blinking a little. Oh, right, what was that thing she wanted to ask her about..? "... are... you okay? I heard you got in a fight, or something...? At school, I mean."
They were all in a fight on Friday, but that's definitely not what she means.
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume has heard Ririka play. She knows she's good at the piano; more importantly, Suzume knows she's *into* the piano. It would be different if it was something she didn't want to do that she was being pushed to. Suzume would know exactly what to say then: skip it and tell them to go to hell, though she might be a little more polite about it. (Might. To Ririka.) This is a little harder.
Which is why she scowls instead of answering immediately. "Well stop trying to do everything at once!" Suzume lets out a puff of air. "I know we have a lot on our plate. We have SEES, we have school, we have hobbies. But it doesn't do you any good if you kill yourself doing it!"
She leans back slightly. "...are you gonna stick with SEES?" she asks, more quietly. "Did they tell you you had to stop? Because if they did THAT'S bullshit... but you need to... I dunno. We can't depend on you if you're exhausted."
Suzume runs her hand through her hair, that old nervous habit. She looks down for a moment when Ririka brings up her own fight. "Yeah," she says. "Stupid rumours. I thought *I* was going to be thrown out over it. But Arisato-san says it's all right, it's not like I actually hurt her. I wanted to though," she adds, that scowl returning. "But I can't just punch someone like that."
"...I mean I CAN but I shouldn't."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka is into the piano. And music in general. It's something that almost never fails to capture her attention... even at times when it probably shouldn't.
Which is what makes it so hard to give up. There's pressure--though, honestly, a little bit less since she had the talk with her father--but... it's never been something she was opposed to.
So she kept pushing, trying to drive herself to new heights.
She blinks a little as Suzume gets a little heated. "I-- I'm..." She looks down at her lap. "... I'm trying, honest," she says, her voice soft and quiet. Though even she has to admit, the urge to work is really strong, still.
But her head snaps up. "Wha-- of course I am! I w-wouldn't-- I couldn't just... leave you guys, or let Yamagishi-san handle everything by herself." But she shrinks back again about being depended on. "I know-- I know. I just... I thought... I had everything handled..."
Evidently, she was mistaken.
She catches 'her', though. "... can I ask what happened?" She might not normally pry, but... she also kind of doesn't want to talk about herself right in the moment.
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
"I figured you wouldn't want to but I didn't know if you, like..." Suzume knows she's explaining things badly, and she's frustrated. "I didn't know if Kirijo-san told you to stay off duty or something," she says. "I mean, you probably should for a WHILE, but..."
Ririka wouldn't be so stressed if she wasn't doing SEES operations, probably. But Suzume can't imagine quitting herself. She's actually relieved Ririka isn't, either, but where does that leave her?
"Sorry," Suzume says, grudgingly. She doesn't apologize well. "Just... I'm glad you're doing a bit better. If there's something I can do, let me know, okay, Kawase-chan?"
But about her fight...
Suzume scowls. "So," she says, after a pause. "You know how I went to Hakone with Aomori-kun - I mean, for that Mementos experiment." Ririka was at the meeting! She'd know! "And when we all went to Aoba Park last Friday, I took the train with him too because I wanted to chat while we were going. Not like you can sit down and read on those things half the time."
"...someone saw me. Fujiko Ikeda, from 2-B. I've known her for years, we went to middle school together, and we don't like each other. She caught me and said I must be dating him, and I kinda just rolled my eyes, because whatever. But..."
Suzume feels the anger rise again, along with embarrassment; her cheeks flush red. "Anyway, she said if we were sneaking off together like that, all the way to Hakone the hot springs town - not that we went to one! - and overnight, because we didn't get back from the Park until we were really late, that I must have been out with him, and it's obviously the only way I could get a guy's attention because I'm such a tomboy - "
Suzume realizes she's getting worked up again - and saying more than she meant to - and deliberately stops, biting back what she was about to say and letting out a long, sustained, slightly shaky breath, face still red. "Yeah. So, I was going to punch her, but I didn't want to hurt her, so I just kinda... pushed her over. I don't usually talk about it," she adds, "but you're gonna hear the rumours anyway, there's some jerks who are spreading them..."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
"Yeah, I... I still need to... recover a little," she admits looking down at her lap. "I'm... really trying to not push it, I promise."
Probably! But then again, knowing Ririka, she would probably just find excuses to keep pushing herself further.
This isn't the first time it's happened, after all. Not that she wants to admit it.
Ririka shakes her head a little. "It's... I'm the one who should be apologizing, for making everyone worry. Um, and I am sorry. I know people rely on me, I just... I feel responsible to a lot of people." Her parents, her band, her instructors, the other people she performs for or with, and of course, SEES.
She looks up to Suzume at the offer of help. "Well... Um..." Her fingers are drumming in her lap now. "You... wanna hang out? I've been trying a bunch of stuff to relax tonight, and... I dunno. I can't settle on anything. Maybe... if I have someone else around it'll help?" She gives Suzume an awkward, but hopeful smile.
"Right, I remembered. You mentioned you were gonna go at Akiket, right?" She didn't mention the Reiya part but Ririka won't read anything into it. "Yeah, right. You're lucky if you can get a seat."
She knows this pain well. She's taken that train up to Sumaru, well, a lot.
Ririka frowns. "Well, that's jumping to conclusions, isn't it?" Of course, that's easy for her to say, she knows they're not dating. Or at least, she didn't think they were.
It's not like anybody would ever try to date someone in secret and keep it from others for some intimately personal reason, right? Right.
But no, she does take Suzume at her word.
But then... "Whoa." Ririka plants her feet back on the ground so she can lean forward. It takes her a moment, but she does eventually finish the implication. "Whoa. That's... way out of line! Did she really say that to you!?"
"Fukura-chan, that... that really sucks. I'm so sorry. I really hope those rumors blow over quickly, that's so cruel..."
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume just *looks* at Ririka for a moment.
"Riiiight," she says, drawing it out in a way that could be mocking - but she's grinning, and doesn't mean it that way. "Like you need to apologize for it! Just, you know... ease up a bit. And yeah, I can hang out. I don't need to do anything tonight."
Technically she should probably do homework, but eh, it's not due until Monday. She'll do it on the weekend. No big deal.
"Yeah, I said I was going at Akiket, and then we went. That's where I got the information about Mementos in small towns at last week's meeting," Suzume says. "But I wasn't gonna go alone in case it was dangerous. He's good at sneaking and hiding, so I figured if we got into trouble we could get out... And you don't wanna go alone."
The buddy system. Not JUST for Tartarus.
"We didn't go to any of the, like..." Suzume reddens again. "I don't even always go to the baths with other *girls* I know, I'm definitely not doing it with a boy! We spent some time at a museum so we didn't look suspicious and then snuck around the train station afterwards." Which Ririka knows; she said it at the Mementos meeting.
Did she really say it? "She sure did, that's why I wanted to hit her!" Suzume balls a fist, then releases it. "But I *really* didn't want to deal with... I mean, if I could've gotten away with it I probably would've." Suzume has a temper and she's not always the best at controlling it. She tried. She tried real hard!
She runs her hand through her hair again. "You're lucky. Nobody teases you like that... she's always had it for me." It's because Suzume is fun to tease, for some people; she tends to react loudly, often explosively, and she's not the sort of person to spread rumours back. She's too direct; it wouldn't occur to her, even if it was ethical. Which it probably isn't.
"And we're not," Suzume adds. "I mean. Just to be clear." A pause, a longer one: "He did ask me out though. I mean... yeah."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
"I kind of feel like I should though... I know I made people worry. And after last time..." She probably didn't mean to let that one slip. Whoops. "I am. I kind of cleared my calendar for this week and next. So..."
She's trying!
But Suzume can hang out. She manages a small smile. "Cool. We could... watch something, play some games, talk..."
Right, I remember... and that's good thinking. I'm still interested in seeing if I can sense something in a different Mementos like that... when I'm feeling better, of course."
"Y-yeah, I don't blame you..." Well, they did a hot spring together in Yakushima, but they did definitely go find a non-co-ed one.
"Sheesh... how can some people be like that...." She shrugs a little about the rumors. "Yeah, well... you know, at school, I'm always trying to be... the model student, the talented pianist..." Why does just saying that make her feel tired? "... there's things I definitely try not to show at school, you know? Like my skateboarding..."
Suzume's not the only tomboy! Even if Ririka expresses hers differently and still likes skirts.
And they're not. "Oh, yeah, right, no, I didn't think..." But he did ask her out. "Oh yeah?" Ririka leans in a little, she can't help it. "... what did you say? I-if you don't mind me asking, that is. You don't have to say."
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
It was different at Yakushima! And Suzume said she rarely went with other girls she knew, not never... It's actually easier for her when it's strangers she'll never see again.
"Yeah," Suzume says, sourly, because she is not the model student. Rather the opposite. If she hadn't pulled up her grades she'd be a good example for people to use of a *bad* student; as is she's just kind of there, but she doesn't get involved in the cultural side of Gekkoukan very much. And it's not like she doesn't have an interest, either - well, she wasn't inspired at the beginning of the year, and now it seems a little late to join...
What did she say?
"Uh," Suzume says, reaching up to scratch at the back of her head. "I said yes. I never really dated before - I know there people guessed that me and Yamamoto were but we never did. So I dunno much. But... I mean, he's cool." They're friends, right? Her and Reiya. Maybe that's all dating is; hanging out with your friends, getting closer...
"I don't think we're, like... keeping it secret. But we're not advertising either." Reiya tends to be a little private and, well, Suzume doesn't want to give any fuel to the rumours. And is also maybe a little private. "So maybe don't go telling everybody or anything."
Suzume makes a judgement call. Playing games might work, but Suzume tends to get a little competitive and, while that's fun and all, it probably isn't quite as relaxing for Ririka as it could be. "Wanna watch a movie?" she asks. "I've got a couple if you don't mind me running back to my room to get them. Action? I could do with something kind of mindless..."
Suzume that is not relaxing. Not physically, anyway - it might amp her up some, but at least it's mentally refreshing to just turn your brain off for a little bit...?
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka's grades took a hit during midterms... though, frankly, the fact that she had to do battle with a serial killer might have had something to do with it...
"Oh, cool." She hasn't dated before. "Oh, yeah, I... I have, but... Not in a couple years." With a boy, at least. "So... I don't know if I have that much advice to give? I mean, I... I was just in mourning, and then I was busy, so I neer really started again, that's all."
She definitely didn't have a realization about her own sexuality or anything.
"But... I can try, at least." She wants to support her friend!
Not advertising. "Oh, that makes sense. I won't make a big deal about it or anything, then."
"Movie could be good..." She considers that. "... yeah, okay. Sure! It'll probably be something new, and that'll be fun, right?" She considers. "Should we go get snacks and drinks before we start?"
She's standing up and stretching. She still looks... well, very tired. But her mood has at least lifted a little, for the moment.