2026-06-19: Cupcake Time
- Log: Cupcake Time
- Cast: Yua Ijuuin, Kurou Ryouhara
- Where: Aoba - Main
- OOC Date: June 19, 2026
- IC Date: November 26, 2012
- Summary: Kurou fulfills part of his duty as a Ryouhara shinobi to do a check in on Yua of the Ijuuin clan... but might end up the one more checked upon as he enters the domain of Yuamama. There are cupcakes.
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"We're goin' on a mission!" Tyrrha chirps, excitedly, as she hops up and down as she peeks over Yua's arm into the oven. She at least has her loafers on, and not her claw feet, with her sailor's dress over her dusky chassis, her green ponytail bouncing. "A mission! A mission!"
"Ha ha... you're so energetic," Yua smiles, as she pulls the tray of cupcakes from the oven with her big, fluffy mitts. "You really like fighting, don't you, Tykko...?"
"Sure do!" Tyrrha chirps, brightly, as she scampers out of the way to let Yua put the cupcakes on the countertop. "It's great fun, mama!"
"Is that what the youth think...?" Yua sighs, but fondly, as she leaves the tray to air. "Come, come. Let's get the icing together..."
There's a front door to their penthouse, of course -- accessible by a private elevator which goes up the ten floors of Pyramid Plaza. Of course, the vaguely pyramidal shape of that building means that a particularly enterprising ninja might climb up the side... but who would clamber up onto the balcony with all its many plants and the bee hive to support them in the middle of the day?
<Pose Tracker> Kurou Ryouhara has posed.
To attempt such an entry would be absurd.
...
Absurdly, to glance to balcony in this moment sees a silhouette who should not be there by standards of sanity, but who one might argue should be there by matter of following the Ryouhara shirogarasu's orders. Shiryuu was clear: Kurou is to supply active protection to the Ijuuin clan and their relations.
Right now, he is contemplating how bees fit into that scenario, blinking as he watches one crawl over his ring finger, inspecting the one nail of his hand that's painted bright yellow.
(That plants, of course, were already part of this careful consideration and navigated around to harm not a single leaf. It would be poor ninja work to disturb them regardless.)
"... Fluffy..." he murmurs, before it determines a lack of pollen and takes off.
Kurou's eyes lift with it, landing upon the balcony door. He's dressed in his casual clothing and usual hoodie and excessively strap adorned pants, but also has a woven basket with lid strapped to his back. Securing it as such made the climb much simpler.
Unlike his shihaisha might, Kurou at least knocks in this scenario with a couple soft taps of the back of his knuckles.
"Hello, Ijuuin-sensei."
Maybe don't greet like you're already supposed to be here, Kurou...!
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
Japanese honeybees are friendly enough sorts; Kurou is more than gentle enough to avoid scaring that one into stinging him. He'll note a closed-off greenhouse, on the large, expansive balcony, within which are notably poisonous plants... and there are even some large bonsai trees growing here, four-handed and six-handed, with a few medium two-handed ones which seem more decorative.
There's also a pool, on stairs leading up to the highest section of rooftop. An actual goddamn pool.
You people have too much money...!
There's a conch shell, on the wall, beside the sliding glass door leading into the home. Knock, knock...
"That's an aberrant signal, y'all!" Tyrrha cries, as she drops the icing-bag on the countertop and whirls to face the sliding door. Vents open in her shoulders as mechanical processes shift beneath her dress, shredding it in favour of sliding a mechanical hood over her face and shoulders, a skirt far more fit for battle forming from some hidden process. "Locking on--!"
"Tykko, Tykko, Tykko!!" Yua yelps, wrapping both arms around the taller girl's waist, just before she can discharge her loafers and leap out at him with all the glory of her claw feets. "It's okay, it's okay! That's just Ryouhara-kun! Remember what we said about the Ryouharas, sweetie?!"
"Eh?" Tyrrha asks, ominous two-banded red glowing circles beneath that dark hood focusing on her 'mother'. "But he just appeared on the balcony... there's no stairs, mama...?"
"It's really okay!" Yua insists, hurrying forward to put herself between the two murderous youth before Kurou can get any ideas. "They like climbing, Tykko! That's all! Right, Ryouhara-kun? You don't mean any harm!" Right????
<Pose Tracker> Kurou Ryouhara has posed.
Kurou pauses when his idle observation of the plants lands on the poisonous variety. Memories reach through a thick fog, and he thinks he almost knows their names before he remembers to keep his attention on why he's here.
... There is a lot here. So much here. It's not like his little hovel was, or like Umie's apartment is, or even like his childhood home, when he tries to think back to it. He wonders how much effort it took to get all of this so high up.
But he has become an aberrant signal.
A girl he does recognize rapidly morphs into a combat-ready instrument of destruction, and Kurou's eyes gleam in the light, sparkling with his good fortune.
(And maybe a bit of jealousy at claw feets.)
Except -- except Yua does not like the turn of events that is happening. Kurou, dutiful, disciplined Kurou, feels a rare ember of temptation when Yua asks him to clarify he means no harm. If he says no, then...!
Mama, Tyrrha says, and that is enough to remind Kurou of reality. To lie would reflect poorly on Shiryuu, endanger Ijuuin-sensei, and injuries against her daughter in unsanctioned combat would be harming a family he is tasked with protecting.
But there is a brief moment where Kurou's gaze drifts to Yua's middle. He is not experienced in matters of pregnancy or childbirth, but... yes. Right. An older sibling.
"I do not," Kurou confirms. He pulls the basket from his pack. "I am here to verify your health and well being, and offer any assistance you may require."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"Haa... see...?" Yua asks, as she goes over to the glass door, to slide it open, and reach for Kurou's hand to help him inside. "Ryouhara-kun's a friend, so don't worry...!"
"Fine, fine..." Tyrrha sighs, as she steps out of her loafers, instead -- why does she have CLAWS for FEET -- and that mechanical disguise folds back into her body to reveal her metallic chassis. It is, mercifully, entirely G-rated; whoever they took this chassis design from intended their mechanical girls to be able to just walk around without clothes and not raise eyebrows about it.
(Where did that chassis design come from, though? The in-built disguise might be new, but if Kurou's ever met Aigis, he might be feeling a striking bit of de-ja vu...)
"Sweetie, you've got to stop shredding your dresses," Yua sighs, as she guides him in. "I promise the world's not as scary as you think."
"Awwwh, fiiine," Tyrrha pouts, tapping her claws on the ground, as she folds her hands behind her head. Her eyes look more normally red, now -- but Kurou might be able to pick up how mechanical they are, after seeing that glow. "But can I at least still fight him later?"
"Tykko!" Yua protests. "We don't fight our friends!"
"Yeaaaah but he wants to! Right, fella?" Tyrrha cants her head and her elbows all at once, looking past Yua to Kurou.
<Pose Tracker> Kurou Ryouhara has posed.
Kurou blinks once as his hand is taken, but he offers no resistance as he's led along. A friend... Ah, so Ijuuin-sensei is a friend, too. He will need to remember that.
Tyrrha's disappointment is palpable, or is that matter of projection? Claw feets, and all those moving, metal parts. Kurou cannot help from staring at Tyrrha as he tries to piece together what he's seeing and make sense of it in the shape of a person who is speaking and thinking and wanting. He has never met Aigis or any other deployed robot model, at least not up close.
Unfortunately for Yuamama, Kurou answers the question of fighting with the blunt and candid truth:
"Yes."
... Wait, he should elaborate. He lifts the lid from the basket as tries to find empty space on the table to set it on: it's filled with various breads fortified with folic acid, a jar of yuzu marmalade, and a small bag of ginger chews.
Such a gifts might be a little late on the timeline...
Kurou looks from Tyrrha to Yua. "But friends do 'play'. Among young animals, play is practice for important survival skills like hunting and self-defense..."
His eyes do not glow like Tyrrha's, but his pupils do dilate not unlike a puppy's as he makes his case.
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
Yua sighs, looking from Kurou to Tyrrha. "Haa... Mimi, where are yooooou...? You'd know how to deal with something like this...!"
(The camera here cuts out to zoom in through the windows of Katou Corporation's executive offices -- where it finds Miho, face flat of all expression, as she clicks through an earnings spreadsheet with just the slightest hint of contempt in her razor-sharp gaze.)
"Moooouuuuuu," Yua pouts, her shoulders sagging.
"Mimama says that practice is part of perfection," Tyrrha points out, raising a finger. "Don't that cover fightin', too?"
Yua, outnumbered and outvoted, sighs with a smile. "All right, all right... but you need to talk to Mimi about sparring properly first, okay? I don't want you two really hurting each other!"
"Sure, sure!" Tyrrha grins, goodnaturedly. "I'll go ask right now!"
"Wait!" Yua calls, as she turns to bounce towards the door. "Your feets! And put on a dress! And -- and Mimi's at work!"
"Oh, yeah," Tyrrha says, as she turns back and clomps back into her loafers and clicks them back into place. "No worries, mama! I'll put somethin' else on! An' it's almost lunchtime, anyway, so nankuru nai sa!" That last bit wasn't Japanese, one notes, though Yua seems to know just what it means.
"Ah--" Yua starts, but Tyrrha's already bustling down to her room to get a new dress. She sighs, shaking her head, as she turns to Kurou and his basket. "It's fine," she assures him, gently. "We've been teaching her how to act outside... she'll be fine, right...?"
Here, he has... gifts...!
"They're wonderful," Yua smiles, as she examines the ginger and marmalade and bread. "Maybe I shouldn't say this, but my stomach still gives me a lot of trouble... it's a little better now I have medications which work, but I need to be very careful, these days." She shakes her head, looking to her cupcakes. "Still, I don't want Mimi to have to eat bland chicken all the time... would you like to help me decorate these, instead, Ryouhara-kun? There's plenty for you to take back for the others, too!"
<Pose Tracker> Kurou Ryouhara has posed.
The Ijuuin clan is a well woven group. Yua is in despair this very moment that her mate is not sharing this moment with her and her child. There do seem to be a number of cupcakes 'Mimama' is unable to partake of.
Clearly, this is the mou-prompting issue, and absolutely nothing else.
When Yua agrees, Kurou perks up, a little straighter, and he turns to share a look with Tyrrha in acknowledgment that their collective logic was granted them this victory.
He watches the exchange in his impassive, attentive way, only losing his visual focus as he considers what 'nankuru nai sa' might mean. Kurou looks down to his own shoes and wiggles his toes within them...
Then the robotic whirlwind is gone, hunting for a new disguise.
Will it be fine...?
"She demonstrates quick reflexes and willingness to act when necessary," Kurou assures Yua with a nod, not quite grasping these are not the chief concerns.
He straightens a bit again as Yua finds the gifts acceptable. Kurou wasn't sure... he tried to do research on the needs and discomforts involved. It's a time of increased vulnerability, and he meant it, when he praised Tyrrha: if Kurou had been a threat, she acted without hesitation to defend Yua.
"Why should you not say it?"
Isn't it better everyone know, so they can address it?
But cupcakes...!
Kurou bows deeply to Yua. "It will be done." He rises. "But I do not require such payment. You have worked hard to make these for your family."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
Don't worry, Kurou! Miho will be back this evening, and she can have delicious cupcakes then!
Yua never knows how much overtime they'll make her do before she can get back, though... they seem to be holding her back more and more. And asking her to work on Sundays, and calling her when she has days off, and... and...
Mooouuuu, that's too much!!!
"She's very capable," Yua smiles, to Kurou, and she's clearly quite proud. "Sometimes she can act a little strangely, but... it's fine, it's fine!"
"I'll be going now~!" Tyrrha chirps, from the door, dress thrown on as she leaves.
"Take care!" Yua calls, after her.
She takes a breath, as she pulls up her kitchen stool to the countertop; she breathes a little heavily, as she sits. "Ah... it's considered rude on the mainland to speak about the particulars of one's pregnancy," Yua explains, her smile a touch wan. "Though I suppose the rules are a little different for your family...? Shishi was all right hearing it, too..." Shishi. Shishi! The shihaisha Shiryuu. It might almost sound disrespectful, if Yua's tone didn't clearly carry him in esteem.
"They say the second trimester is meant to be easier... but it's still quite hard." She sighs, shaking her head. "Still... Tykko is happy to get into fights so I don't have to... so I'm able to take it a little easier." She blinks, as she looks up, suddenly, her one crimson eye seeking out Kurou with surprise. "Oh! Oh, no! It was such a tizzy, I didn't even introduce you two properly...! Oh, and Tykko's already run off... oh, well, I'll make sure she knows. If you haven't heard, that's Tyrrha, dear... she's under our guardianship from now on. We say it's because she was a cousin whose parents met a poor fate, but it's really an order from the Powers that Be... she's from a similar program to mine." 'Program'...? "... well, I intend to protect her," Yua says, with a light pause.
"But please don't feel you're imposing," she insists, as she whips up a little blue frosting to top a cupcake. "You're friends of the family, Ryouhara-kun! On the islands, we say ichariba choodee," and this, too, is not quite Japanese, though Yua helpfully translates this time, "'from the moment we meet, we become family'. Your clan's helped protect us diligently... so I want you to have cupcakes, too, okay?"
<Pose Tracker> Kurou Ryouhara has posed.
See? It is the reason for mooouuu!
"She seems less strange than most," Kurou admits in a more sincere moment than his flat affect might imply. But Kurou's parameters for 'strange' and 'not strange' are, perhaps, not to be trusted...
As Tyrrha hurries out, Kurou bows to her as well. "I will fill in while you are away."
In cupcakes, and in jumping anyone unidentified on the property.
"Oh," Kurou says, but not with any true realization. He is not understanding why it should be considered a rude topic of discussion.
"I am unaware of any surrounding etiquette, but... 'Shishi'..." The word leaves his mouth almost dazed. Shishi... Kurou wonders how Shiryuu reacts to that name. He wonders how Akabane-san would react to it. Perhaps that is a traitorous thought...? "Ah... That is... I cannot imagine he would forbid such an important topic from discussion."
It's a medical situation, and one requiring proper care for mother and children, after all. But Yua is still struggling... Kurou will remember that for his report.
His gaze darkens and dips to the floor at the mention of a 'program'. The 'Powers that Be'... Yua and Tyrrha both....
"... Then Tyrrha-san is also under our protection."
That is true under the weight of his orders as a Ryouhara shinobi.
The way Kurou's fingers curl, nails burrowing into his palm, signals it is true under the weight of his own heart.
His gaze snaps back up as his fingers flinch away, just shy of turning those new crescent marks upon his skin red. Oh, right, she did call him a friend before. Kurou wanted to remember, but it's hard to remember something you don't understand intuitively.
"I see." Kurou watches the way Yua decorates the cupcakes a moment before methodically mimicking her technique to begin assisting in the decoration. But even Kurou is not immune to the delight that is colored frosting, eyeing it with increasing interest as it takes shape upon the cupcake's surface.
"... Thank you, Ijuuin-san. I will be sure to share with the others."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"You two are a lot alike, aren't you?" Yua wonders, hearing Kurou call Tyrrha less strange. But then -- Shishi! -- and Yua giggles, seeing Kurou dazed by the nickname. "It's because he's the shihaisha, and his name is Shiryuu-san!" She explains, helpfully. "If it's shortened down, that's Shi-Shi... Shishi! Once I realised he really wasn't a child given his circumstances, calling him Ryouhara-kun wasn't really appropriate... but I wanted to greet him more warmly than his title, since we didn't meet under very good circumstances."
She smiles, as she adds: "That's right... he's really very kind about this sort of thing, though I suppose he wouldn't want me saying such a thing about him in public. But we're in the home," she decides, with a cheerful smile, "so it's fine!"
how does she sparkle like that how are there little flowers in her portrait
She's more serious, though, as Kurou affirms that Tyrrha is part of the family too -- or at least that's how she hears it, as he extends their protection to her. "Thank you," she says, reaching a hand towards his -- though she doesn't push the matter. If he relaxes his fist, that's fine enough. "She's very strong... but she's vulnerable, too. Being designated her mother is a little sudden, but... I'll protect her, too!"
Yua seems far too fragile to be a mother bear, particularly when Miho's in frame beside her, but perhaps one oughtn't count out the delicate women. Regardless of how much of a reserved flower she might have been, samurai women have always responded to attacks on the home with their naginata, after all.
"What do you think?" She asks, inviting Kurou's creativity out, as she gestures his attention to the various types of sprinkles. "Silver stars, or gold and silver baubles, or hundreds-and-thousands, or rainbow stars...?"
<Pose Tracker> Kurou Ryouhara has posed.
"Are we?" Kurou's head tilts slightly to one side before his gaze drops to his feet and back to Yua again. He does not, regrettably, have the claw feets...
But Yua speaks wisdom of Shiryuu's nickname, and Kurou nods slowly in comprehension as he is enlightened. Shiryuu and shihaisha and shirogarasu...
"Shishi... shi..."
Kurou presses his mouth together more tightly, as if he could erase having said anything at all. This is Yua's term, and not for Kurou to use. Shiryuu would not allow it, regardless.
"Yes," he agrees simply of her next point. Shiryuu is very kind, would not want it said, and they are in private, so they can say it anyway. Kurou looks at her with a new sense of wonder. "You know him very well."
Kurou isn't oblivious to the demeanor and image Shiryuu tries to uphold as the leader of their clan. For Yua to cut through it... She possesses a powerful insight. It is one that recognizes his own tension, though Kurou does not know what to do as her hand reaches out. It is with blank uncertainty that his own hand is obediently offered... which certainly works to force him to relax his fist.
Dance class has shown Kurou what immense strength is needed to appear delicate.
"You told her... the world is not as scary as she thinks. That is true because you are her mother."
For the world is a cruel place with monstrous people and unrelenting tragedies. Surely Yua must know it... but to be from a 'similar' program with similar suffering means she would know how to shield Tyrrha best.
Part of that is... cupcakes?
Not only does Yua sparkle and flower, she is infectious. Kurou's expression may not change, but the more he experiences cupcake time, the more there is a sense of glitter to his aura. He looks up at the offering of sprinkles, and feels an ember crackle, similar to the masks at Umie's craft table.
This is a choice with no right answers. And thus, it is a choice with no wrong answers.
Kurou gingerly takes hold of the hundreds-and-thousands in one hand and rainbow stars in the other, dual wielding sprinkles for a balanced mix of multicolored cupcake crimes.
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"I think so!" Yua insists, despite his regrettable lack of claws.
Perhaps one day, Kurou...!
Yua giggles, hearing Kurou add another 'shi'. "Hee hee... so there's another 'shi'! It's fun, right? Like... when I want to be really cute, I add the English 'me' to Mimi's name... Memimi! When sounds repeat, it's really the best! Memimimemimimemimimemimimemimi..." That's too many 'mimis', Yua. That's illegal. You're going to get reported to the kawaii police with that much verbal stimming.
There may be some truth, though, to the idea that these terms are Yua's... one needs a strong cuteness power to get away with nicknames like Mimi and Shishi, especially when they're applied to such severe titans as Miho and Shiryuu.
There's something disarming to the way she grasps his hand, gently, in both of hers -- whether due to the risk of meeting her armed or the strength in her own fingertips is a question unanswered. Yua smiles, to him, as she clasps his hand. "That's right. Ah, but the world is scary for you, too, isn't it...? I may not be your mother, but so long as I have my way, our home will be an easy and gentle place... I hope you'll visit us whenever you'd like a revitalising snack!"
Her fingers smooth over his, encouraging the tension from them -- and there's a fabric decoration, stretched over the back of her right hand, from a ring around the middle of her finger to a bracelet at her wrist. On her left, a wedding ring, mokume-gane and worth a year's salary of lesser men.
She knows what it means to suffer. Equally, she knows that Kurou is still one of her students... and he weighs his work with the clan with as much gravity.
... and she knows that his fingers dig into his palm, when he recognises the weight on another.
(Yua would be relieved if she knew that Kurou had seen another kind of insightful empathy in his own home. The similarities between herself and Shiryuu's woman are things she's personally recognised; for Umie's benefit, she recognises them at a lonely distance. She reports to too many people...)
She releases him from her grasp to encourage him to cupcakes, and those hands clap together, when he selects two rainbows. "That looks so good!" She praises his choice, brightly. "I bet someone with a lively spirit will love a cupcake decorated that way...! Hmm, hmm... oh, can you bring one back for Shishi, for me? A man like him..."
She takes white frosting to another cupcake, and peppers it with those more dignified gold and silver baubles. "If I'm going to trick him into having a yummy cupcake, it needs to be a little dignified... don't you think so?" She wonders, as she carefully shakes them out to have the proper spacing. "He has a lot of responsibilities, so he needs a sensible cupcake...!"
What? A man with so many responsibilities can't be eating a housewife's cupcakes? No, that can't be right.
"And Mimi," Yua adds, as she takes up the blue frosting again, "she doesn't mind loosening up when it's with me, but her beauty is elegant... so I'll give her nice sensible baubles on cute blue frosting! Mm, mm! A cuppy cake for Mimi...!"
There's so much wisdom to be learned about cuppy cakes...
Kurou will have to study hard!!
<Pose Tracker> Kurou Ryouhara has posed.
Kurou considers the cuteness with a furrowing of his brow. So this is another aspect of 'cute'... But also of... fun? Repeating Miho's nickname seems even more disrespectful. Truly, Yua's power in this far exceeds his own. What name might a Kurou be able to get away with saying...?
Hold that thought.
She takes his hand and smiles, and /disarmed/ might indeed bethe best word, as even Kurou's attention is pinned to her for the moment. He does not have to answer her, because Yua already knows that she is right.
An easy and gentle place... It really does take immense strength to be able to create such a place in a world such as this...
This means cupcakes are powerful, and Yua is powerful at cupcakes.
So powerful that Yua is even making Kurou willingly nod along, party to her own plot to cupcake his shihaisha.
Kurou listens, and Kurou learns, and as he adds colorful, rainbow sprinkles (while praised!!!!), Kurou begins to whisper to himself.
"Nijijijijijijijiji..."