2026-06-22: Radar... What's With the Radar?
- Log: Radar... What's With the Radar?
- Cast: Yua Ijuuin, Shinobu Shimizu, Tyrrha Ijuuin
- Where: Aoba Park, Aoba
- OOC Date: 2026-06-22
- IC Date: Wed, Nov 28 2012
- Summary: Shinobu meets Tyrrha and Yua whilst out on a walk. Tyrrha asks some alarming questions. Shinobu opens up about her rough history a little, and Yua stops sharing as soon the focus moves into her rough present. What she can't hide is how outrageously gay she is for Miho. Shinobu's nice enough to let her cover story stand, anyway, and so she's rewarded with an invitation to go see COMMUNITY THEATRE. Yua's gotta scout out a troupe!
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
Yua... is still on leave! The gossip, routed from Ikkaku and Ayame through to Shinobu, is that she's recently had to adopt a cousin after a terrible tragedy...
... which might explain why she's bustling after a dusky girl with bright green hair and the world's most pissed off expression, all dressed in a sailor's dress, as she scampers off into the park. "Yumamaaa!" Strangely, though, she doesn't sound angry. She sounds quite happy! "You're too slow!!"
(The girl does not, we note, have claws for feet. That's ridiculous. She has normal, sensible loafers.)
They share the same red eyes -- though the girl's are unmistakably brighter. (Also, she still has both of them intact, as opposed to Yua's eyepatch...) Why Yua might be so slow, though, is made plain by the curve of her belly beneath a dancer's leotard with both long sleeves and black tights beneath her skirt, now: she's twenty-two of God's own weeks pregnant.
And the clothes? Well, it's almost winter... she must just be feeling cold, unlike the energetic girl nagging her.
(She's only wearing those mittens and that cap over her teal bun on Miho's sufferance, though.)
<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.
A terrible tragedy... It's a shame, truly. Shinobu certainly can't blame Yua for extending her leave, between that and adding a new member to her family. It must be a lot to deal with at once.
Shinobu has some time to kill before heading back home to Hirasaka, so she decides to take the opportunity to take a walk in the park. Winter is almost upon them, so she's dressed for the occasion with a coat longer and heavier than her usual jacket alongside a nice pair of matching boots.
Her hands casually rest in her pockets as she strolls down the path - and she pauses, as she hears a young voice calling out. A girl in a school uniform, calling out for 'Yumama'... Between the hair and the eyes, perhaps she really shouldn't have surprised when she sees the woman trailing after her.
"Afternoon, Ijuuin-san. Fancy seeing you here." Shinobu greets, drawing a hand from her coat to offer a wave. Looking at Yua now... It's no wonder she might be moving slower. She looks toward the girl, then. Then... this must be the cousin she heard about. Shinobu offers her a nod. "Don't think we've met before."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
These new upheavals, AND NOTHING ELSE, sure are a lot to deal with all at once.
"Hauuuu... oh!" Yua's huffing and puffing is interrupted by surprise Shimizu! "Shinobu-san! Or... no, we're meeting in the park, so... it's Nobumizu!" H... hey, Yua, you can't just take the last character's of Shinobu's names to match how you stole the first characters of Ayame's...
... apparently, just running into Shinobu a few times outside of a work setting gets her slapped with a nickname, though. The worst part is that she's so damn sunny about it. HOW DOES HER PORTRAIT SPARKLE LIKE THAT!
"Nobu... mizu..." The girl tilts, to the side, grumpy face scrunching up as she tries to puzzle it out.
"Tykko," Yua introduces her, gently, "this is Shinobu Shimizu! And this is Tyrrha," she adds, looking back to Shinobu, as she finally catches up to lay a hand on the taller girl's shoulder. (Tyrrha's only 5'4", but that's still four inches she has on Yua.) "She needs someone to take care of her, so she'll be staying with us from now on. She's from the country, so she can be a little odd, but she's a good girl, isn't she?"
"Nice boots," is what Tyrrha says, illustratively. "You walk real heavy in those... stomp, stomp, stomp... hey, how much weight does a human need to have to stomp on someone's neck and snap it, anyway?"
"Ahhh," Yua starts, looking like a dear in headlights.
<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.
Shinobu offers Yua a smile as she returns the greeting - and pauses, as she's suddenly given a nickname.
"'Nobumizu', huh..." She comments thoughtfully. She doesn't seem to mind it - and it's hard to make a fuss about it, when Yua seems so pleased with the idea. It's been a while since the last time anyone gave her a nickname...
"You alright, Ijuuin-san? Do you need to sit down?" Shinobu asks. She noticed the huffing and puffing. If it was just normal tiredness she wouldn't say anything... but she's a bit more mindful of her condition right now.
She looks back(and a little up, she has an inch on her, too) to Tyrrha, then, as Yua introduces her. From the country... that might explain the name, too.
"Tyrrha-chan. Nice to meet you. I make deliveries for Ijuuin-san every now and then." Shinobu introduces herself. A good girl... Well, she doesn't know her well enough to say that, but she seems nice enough... and she complimented her boots!
"Thanks, I -" Shinobu starts - and then Tyrrha asks a question and Shinobu pauses.
That... isn't exactly the sort of thing she expected to come out of her mouth. She has to do a brief mental reset.
"Uh..." Shinobu starts, massaging the back of her neck. ...How best to spin this...?
"...It's, uh... more about leverage than raw weight." Shinobu offers. "People are kinda fragile like that. That's why it's important to be careful with each other."
She looks toward Yua to make sure she hasn't overstepped.
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"Oh, maybe I should..." Yua sighs, with a shade of a pout, as Shinobu points out that she maybe ought to sit down. "Mouuuu, but it's so frustrating! I used to hike trails all the time, and the park is all nice and paved and everything...!"
Perhaps there are one or two benefits to remaining an eternal aunt...
It might explain the name, certainly. Okinawa does construct words weird! It's plausible!
(It's Lydian, actually, naming an ancient city. Contextually, it refers to a defensive tower... though scholars have wondered whether the word tyrant derives from it, too. And did you know that the Greeks called foreign pirates 'Tyrrhenians'? Surely this girl isn't a foreigner, though...)
... but she might be a pirate, the way she perks up to hear Shinobu talk about leverage. "Oh! So by usin' tools, even weak people can come out on top! Hear that, mama? Let's get ya a copy a Wel--"
Well? Well, what?! Yua shakes her shoulder, a little, laughing a little louder. "Ahaha! Sweetie, you've got such a unique take on the world! But people will worry about you if you ask severe questions like that too much, remember? Sometimes things are inside thoughts, right?"
"Ohhhh," Tyrrha snaps her fingers, still sounding entirely cheerful, despite her severe expression. "Gotcha! Nankuru nai sa~!" That's not -- Japanese, speaking of Okinawa's unique verbal character.
"Nankuru nai sa!" Yua chirps, back to her, cheerfully. "How about you run ahead and get mama some water, sweetie? Nobumizu's right... I ought to sit down a moment."
"Alrighty!" Tyrrha grins -- that's just as concerning as her scowl, even though she has the right amount of teeth -- and helps Yua to a nearby bench, before she runs off, arms aeroplaned out to either side of her.
She can be heard to say, "nyooooooooooooooom," as she scampers.
"Haa..." Yua sighs, pulling her purse into her lap, and finding some pills to take on the down-low. "... she really isn't a bad girl," she insists, looking to Shinobu again. "She just went through some terrible things, for a fifteen-year-old youth... I'm afraid she's coping with them through some grim fascinations. I've been trying to help her develop her 'tatamae' for Tokyo, but..."
(Honne and tatamae is the concept of having an inner face and one for the world -- which, apparently, has different standards here in the city.)
<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.
Shinobu offers Yua a sympathetic smile as she pouts.
"I get it... but you've got someone to look after right now, right?" She points out. "You can pick up where you left off later."
She doesn't know how reassuring that'll sound from someone who hasn't and has no plans to have to worry about it herself, but...
...Well, she certainly doesn't mind remaining an eternal aunt.
Tyrrha seems to take her words to heart... but not the part Shinobu was hoping she would.
"Uh -" Shinobu starts - but thankfully, Yua is already on top it. It's not like she was wrong, but... Shinobu massages the back of her neck.
"Yeah... What she said." Shinobu offers a bit weakly. 'Nankuru nai sa'... She doesn't know the phrase, but it seems to be encouraging to both of them. She smiles.
Shinobu follows as Tyrrha helps Yua over to a nearby bench, and reminds behind as she airplanes off to fetch some water. Her's face is certainly... expressive - but it feels rude to comment on.
"...Cute kid." Shinobu notes, looking toward Yua. She shakes her head, as Yua insists she isn't a bad girl. "It's alright, I get it."
She's quiet for a moment, looking off in the direction Tyrrha left.
"...Must be rough, goin' through all that... Growin' up's hard enough without that kind of shake up, and then having to adapt to a whole new social setting on top of it, with all its new unspoken rules..." She murmurs. Yeah... she knows how life city-life can be - the things everyone expects from you, the way they expect you to act. She looks back to Yua, then. "...How're you holdin' up? Don't know what happened, but... Can't be any easier on you, either."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"That's right," Yua smiles, brightening up, when Shinobu reminds her. "Hiroki's my responsibility...!"
(And Miho's, of course, but Yua is Miho's responsibility too...)
"When he's big enough, we'll all go hike together! Mimama, too!" Tyrrha assures Yua, in turn. Apparently, she's not all alarming thought spots...
... though why's Miho mama, too?
So many questions...
"Hee hee... she's the best!" Yua chirps, when Shinobu calls Tyrrha cute, and that at least probably isn't any kind of unobvious question.
If she takes a child under her wing, of course she'd be warm to her, wouldn't she? She's just got that kind of energy to her, and it's not just because of the hormones... like she's some kind of... mom elemental.
("Even the birth of a new era needs a mother," the Time Count had told Yua, once, when she'd asked him what the Empress card even meant. She's not really sure what that means, but it sounds nice, doesn't it?)
"Mm, mm," Yua nods, her knees pressing together as she folds her hands atop her purse. "That's precisely it! There's so many rules, and no one ever bothered to write down what they are! Some people are good at it... but some of us have to work hard, you know?"
Really, it's impressive that Yua managed to graduate mainstream highschool at all, with how few adjustments people make for variations... unfortunately, no one was really equipped to tell her that, at the time. Life's gotten easier, at least, now she's a less dependent adult -- and she can structure her day as rigidly as she needs to. Even her time off has a schedule! She added a whole new section to her binder just to make one...!
When Shinobu realises it was no easier on Yua, though... her smile dims, and for a moment, it's as if all the lights have been switched off inside her.
"Oh," she says, mildly, "I'm fine, really. I'm really just worried for Tykko... but you're very kind to ask."
There's no delivery that can help Yua out of this hole she's in, though.
Unless... maybe...
... no, Miho's quite stern about keeping Shinobu out of any illicit deliveries.
Yua doesn't know how to fire a real gun, anyway.
<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.
Yua brightens up, and Shinobu smiles back with a nod. She looks toward Tyrrha as she offers her own encouragement. That's a pretty insightful comment...
She takes note of 'Mimama', though. Miho is 'mama', too...? What about Kimitake?
"Yup. So you've got something to look forward to." Shinobu adds.
Yua seems pleased at her observation - and it makes sense, she supposes. Who wouldn't be happy when someone compliments their child? She seems like a natural fit for it...
Yua agrees with her, and Shinobu laughs sympathetically.
"Right?" Shinobu replies with a shrug. "I never exactly, uh... fit in. I can walk the walk if I have to... but it's all just kind of a hassle, you know?"
She makes an observation, a sympathetic comment - and it isn't hard to see the shift. The way her smile dims... Shinobu considers her for a moment, and when she insists she's fine...
...Shinobu nods.
"...Alright." She replies. "...You've got my number, right? D'you have nee-san's, too?"
A subtle reminder, without expectation of following up - just in case she needs it.
"...But, yeah... I'm sure Tyrrha-chan'll be fine, with you helping her out. Being around kids her own age will probably help, too." Shinobu assures.
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
Kimitake is...
Well, seeing how loose Tyrrha's lips are, Yua's mostly trying to make sure Kimitake isn't a topic that comes up around her when someone else is in earshot.
... it's certainly hard to imagine a stern man like that accepting being called 'Kipapa', though.
Then again, Miho's pretty severe, too... maybe that's just an Ijuuin trait? If that's the story, then it's certainly one Yua hasn't yet developed. Yet! Growth mindset!
Right now, at least, Yua smiles sympathetically as Shinobu shares how hard it's been to fit in. "I'm the same way," she says, even though she's all decked out in that expensive outfit of hers. "But... I think the world needs Nobumizu more than it needs another perfect lady! You might be rough around the edges, but no one else can fill your shoes! And they are nice boots... even if Tykko was a little dramatic," she giggles, happy to pretend that Shinobu wouldn't stomp on the right man's neck.
She's just a housewife, after all. She's only seen Shinobu in action the one time, right...? Just that one time, when she got wrapped up in the Joker Killer's attempt on Ikkaku's life... and Yua's attempt to shield him from danger surely used up ten years of her appetite for danger. She's surely not the sort of person who'd go looking for trouble...
... but she is the sort of person who finds it hard to hide her emotions entirely, and it's starkly obvious as she goes from sparkly and giggly to mild and reserved.
Even if she's not the sort to look for trouble, that doesn't necessarily mean trouble never finds a woman like that, huh?
"Ah... yes," she smiles, and tries to make it less fragile than she's feeling, as Shinobu reminds her of their numbers. "Ayawata's certainly in my phone book, too." So that's the logic behind the nickname. "Oh... come to think of it, I was going to bring her over some cuttings from my azaleas, wasn't I...?" ... she'd forgotten about all that, with everything... going on...
She shakes her head, a little, as if to shake that malaise off, and pushes a bit more of a smile onto her face. "That's right," she says, with a little more cheer. "She'll be starting soon... we've enrolled her in Seven Sisters, the same place we graduated from!" A beat, and she realises what she's said, as she waves a hand and waves it off: "Um, I mean, Mimi and I -- um, I'm still staying with Mimi, since Kimi-san realised that changing too much for me too soon would be bad for me and the baby, so -- I'm sure his school was very good, too --"
wait does she not even know where he went to school
<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.
Yua agrees. She's the same way... and feels that the world needs Nobumizu more. Rough around the edges, but no one else can fill her shoes... Shinobu laughs softly.
"...You think so? Thanks." She replies, and then grins. "Maybe just a little. But hey, kids are like that."
Certainly, Shinobu would never.
...Admit it to her face, that is.
...But, that's the way it goes. Trouble has a way of finding people whether they want it or not.
"Good, glad to hear it." Shinobu smiles back - and there's a hint of fondness when she hears 'Ayawata'. So that's where she got 'Nobumizu'...
"I'm sure she'd love those." Shinobu encourages, as Yua mentions the azalea cuttings.
Yua tries to shake off the malaise - and explains that they've enrolled Tyrrha in Seven Sisters, the same place they graduated... In this case, meaning Yua and Miho. Shinobu considers Yua thoughtfully as explanations begin to fly.
...She thinks she understands them a little better now.
"Sevens, huh? That's not bad. Good school. I think she'll be in good hands." She comments consideringly. "I'm sure his school was good, too. Very presitigious, considering his position..."
She pretends that's normal, at least outwardly, for Yua's sake.
"...Glad you and Miho-san still get to be close, at least." Shinobu adds. "Raising a kid, though... That's a big step."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"She's got such a big imagination!" Surely that's what's going on with Tyrrha.
Robots aren't real, and can't hurt you!
Not like...
"Oh, I've been preparing them... I'd just forgotten why," Yua admits, of the azaleas, which might really paint a much more detailed picture than she thinks she has. Something shook her enough that she's been going about her daily tasks without thinking about them, huh...?
... maybe she was close to her cousins who died. Maybe it really was a tragedy.
"Oh, you think so? Great!" Yua's smile grows sunnier, hearing Shinobu accept her excuse and praise their decision. "I'm really quite fond of Kasugayama, but I'm afraid a rough-and-tumble student body like that would send her in the wrong direction... but Shujin is much too strict! And Gekkoukan is really only cosy when you're an artist..."
She smiles, her hand curling at her chest, over her heart. (There's a locket, under her leotard; it's not even impossible to guess at, given the little bump just below her clavicle.) "We really wanted... um, Mimi really wanted me to achieve my dream!" No one has ever been more heterosexual than Yua. Huh? Radar? What's with the radar...? "I always just wanted to support... I mean, I wanted to make a happy home, you know? It's not like that's what you have to do if you're a woman... Mimi's got three gold medals, from the Olympics! And a whole wall of other trophies and stuff, too! So -- so maybe I could have been a prima ballerina, or something like that, but -- but I'm happy if I can just make lunch for the people who are important to me."
Kimitake, as it happens, does not get cute bentos with oversized protein portions to support healthy muscle development.
Miho does, though.
The sausages are cute little octopuses, and the rice is shaped into kitty faces... with little salmon stripes, just like Tiger...
<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.
"Sure seems like it." Shinobu agrees - and considers for a moment, as Yua admits to having forgotten why. That's a big thing to just forget and keep doing on auto-pilot...
Something definitely happened. She doesn't know enough yet to be able to guess at what, though, and if it's that bad it'd be cruel to keep picking at it. Still - it says a lot.
Shinobu can't help but smile as Yua's smile grows - and she nods, as she goes down the schools. If anyone would be in a good position to identify all of them like that, it'd be her.
"Yeah, I, uh..." She pauses and hesitates for a moment, massaging the back of her neck. Admitting this is about the same as admitting that she was a 'problem child', but... Yua's already acknowledged that she's rough around the edges, so it's not like she doesn't have an idea. "I went to Shujin and Akiyama - you know, before it burned down... so I get it, for both of those. I wouldn't give those days up, but Sevens seems a lot more... stable, yeah? And that seems like what she needs."
She listens as Yua continues, about her dream. She hears just how proud she is of Miho's accomplishments in the Olympics and can't help but smile - and she can't help but notice who she doesn't mention.
"Yeah... She's really something else." Shinobu comments. But as for Yua herself...
"As long as you're truly happy, that's the important thing, yeah? If that's what you want out of life, where you want to be and with who... nothin' wrong with having a down-to-earth dream." Shinobu says. "And nothing says you can't still try to be the best you can be on the side, if that's what you want too."
She feels just a little fake for saying that - it's not like she knows what it's like to have a dream that she pursues.
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"Ah... I can imagine," Yua smiles, with a bit of a sympathetic wince, as Shinobu puts the schools in that specific order. "School can be a challenging time... I might be a teacher now, but I was actually at the bottom of my class when I graduated, you know?" Well, you know what they say about physical education and health teachers...
(They say that those positions are all filled by the people who weren't smart enough to become real teachers.)
"I have tried to give the children in Kasugayama something more productive to do with all that energy," she adds, with a touch of a wistful sigh. "I even go there twice a week, not just the once... but my silly little elective is just a little chunk of time, and most of the other teachers aren't really... well, I oughtn't gossip." ... most of the other teachers don't care, she means. But hey, at least 'most' isn't 'all!'
... maybe it makes sense why she'd favour the hopeless youth if she was a hopeless youth, too, though.
Even if she's not going to expose Tyrrha to it.
Stability for the little one!!
"Mm, mm!" Yua hums, happily, when Shinobu praises Miho. "She's the strongest! And the most finessest! And the most graceful, and elegant, and smartest, and toughest, and most responsible, and she's so big!" Miho is a titan of a woman and to hear Yua say it, as her palms clap to her cheeks and her eye sparkles, that's one of her best qualities. (Her left hand is a bit skewed off her cheek, though... on account of how she can't actually see on that side.) "She can pick me up like it's effortless...!"
To be fair, Yua's pretty tiny...
"But maybe it wouldn't be so bad to do a few things with a troupe," she muses, smiling again, legs swinging under the bench. "I missed my shot to really go professional, but there's still community theatre... hey, hey, do you ever like going and seeing those shows, Nobumizu? They're not stuffy like the ones in the big theatres!"
<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.
Yua gets it - but she doesn't judge her for it, and even confides that she was at the bottom of her class when she graduated. Shinobu nods sympathetically.
"It sure is. It can be a real struggle." She replies. Yua explains how she's tried to give the Kasugayama students something productive - but also refuses to gossip. Shinobu nods in understanding. She doesn't have to say it - she already has an idea what it's like.
"I'm glad they've got someone looking out for them. The school might have a bad rep, but the Kasugayama kids I've met... Feels like that's what they need more than anything, you know?" She comments with a shrug. "A lot of folks just write 'em off without even trying."
Shinobu praises Miho, and in response, Yua begins to gush about her best traits. ...And it's kind of cute, really, to see how taken she is with her. And when Yua expresses how big she is, able to pick her up like it's effortless...
"Damn." Shinobu remarks, awed. ...She's been minding her language for this whole conversation, but that one kind of just slips out. But can anyone blame her? Some people have all the luck!!
Yua muses about a troupe. Community theatre...
"Every so often, when it's in the budget." Shinobu confirms with a nod. She laughs, then, massaging the back of her neck. "Ah, yeah, those big theatres... aren't really my thing."
...She'd probably get turned away at the door, or at least she automatically assumes that'd happen.
"But something smaller and more home-y? Yeah, that's more my speed." She considers. "I think if you can find one, it wouldn't be a bad idea."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"That's true," Yua sighs, thinking of Kasugayama, "but there's another man in the P.H.E. department, Eiji Muto, who puts quite a lot into coaching... haa, and I suppose that counsellor," she says the word like a curse, "the English fellow, who was he, Julian Marlowe? He at least makes quite the show of trying..."
D--does Yua have something against foreigners?! That seems unlikely, despite the man she's married to, she seems to be pretty close friends with Remi...
... maybe she just has something against therapy. She's always been pretty closed-off, after all.
"Damn!!" Yua echoes Shinobu, legs wagging in the air as her portrait is besieged by hearts, and somehow she manages to make the curse sound adorable by squealing it. Are all those decorations metaphorical, or not? That's a decision only you can make, reader.
Looks like Yua got so distracted thinking of how great Miho is, she forgot that she was pretending she was married to a man...
But Shinobu says that she likes going when it's in her budget, and so, Yua tilts her head, tapping a finger to her painted lip. "Theeen... it's decided!" She declares, cheerfully. "Let's see the local performances together, Nobumizu! Don't worry about tickets, or anything, okay? I'll handle all that! But the stage is more fun with company, and I won't find anyone to dance with if I don't start looking...!"
Yua, you can't just bribe people, that's Miho's negotiation tactic--! Then again, they share a whole lot of things, and she's bribing her with friendship, so it's fine, right? Right.
Good ethics, Yua!
<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.
Shinobu nods as Yua lists off two people. Eiji Muto, who does coaching, and Julian Marlowe the counselor...
She's surprised to hear the venom directed at him. He seemed like a nice enough guy, at least from when she met him... Is there some kind of history there?
"Sounds like they've got some people who have their back, at least... That's good to know." Shinobu nods thoughtfully. It makes her feel better about.
Yua echoes her, legs wagging, and Shinobu laughs. It looks like they've reached a mutual verdict on that subject...
And Yua, it seems, has reached a decision! Shinobu raises an eyebrow, and she declares that they should see the local performances together.
"Are you sure...? That kind of adds up..." Shinobu starts, massaging the back of her neck. But the stage is more fun with company, and it does seem like it'd help her...
"...Well, alright then. Just as long as it wouldn't put you out too much. Sounds like fun." She decides with a smile.
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"Don't worry, don't worry!" Yua assures Shinobu, brightly, having forgotten all about the terrible spectre of therapy. "If it's daytime entertainment, I can ask Mimi, so I don't have to worry about doing it on my salary!" They do say the woman handles the finances... but which woman?! "It would have to be a way too big and stuffy theatre for it to add up to too much...!"
Miho -- and Yua, though her -- really are loaded, huh...
Well, maybe it's still fine to leave Yua uneaten after going after all the rich.
She's too cute to be an evil rich woman!