2026-06-25: Call on Me
- Log: Call on Me
- Cast: Kazusa Motojima, Kanae Fuyuki
- Where: Electric Town - Main
- OOC Date: June 25, 2026
- IC Date: Friday, November 30, 2012
- Summary: Kazusa invites Kanae to her studio to offer her help as thanks for Kanae's part in rescuing her from her own Atelier... and then the two get to talking and learning more about each other.
(|=========================== Electric Town - Main ===========================|)
-========================================================= Tokyo/Akihabara ====-
A sacred place for otaku, not just within Japan but worldwide. Here, it's so
mainstream to be a geek that it circles back to being cool again. That is,
unless you harass the staff of the businesses here whose job requires them to be
a part of this culture, or the cosplayers who work so hard at their costumes
that it's practically a second job for them.
Arcades and gaming shops alternate with manga stores full of merch that's so
pricy as to make any broke fan envious. Collectors line the streets for the
chance to trade for the rarest gachapon finds. Maid cafes and popups with menus
designed to profit off the latest hits in the weekly manga collabs and/or old
favorites from two decades ago cater equally to tourists and locals alike.
Anywhere on earth may be a heaven or hell depending on who you are, but that may
be truer than most places for Akihabara.
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Kazusa has had... a while, now, to recover from her ordeals. She's even started going into Mementos here and there--the lure of money that isn't traceable by her father is rather potent, after all. And she knows she can't ignore the supernatural forever.
As much as she very much kind of wants to.
Thngs are still... rough, especially at home. And Kazusa has been doing her best to just stay out of people's way, though that isn't to say she's lost her sharp tongue. But she's still giving extra wide berth to Wakana, and...
Well, she tracked Kanae down at her locker and extended an invitation to hang out, or talk supernatural stuff, or whatever.
And now she's stepping into her studio. It's in an old renovated industrial warehouse, squat and concrete, located just off of Akihabara where the noise is a bit muted. Kazusa's studio is a loft apartment on the top floor, with a skylight and open ducting above, a tiny bathroom, kitchenette, and table on the left, and to the immediate right is the loft: above, filled with cardboard boxes, below, with a C-shaped desk and several overstuffed bookshelves filled with books, DVDs, CDs, and video games.
The floor is finished concrete, though there's a little section near the door that isn't, marking it as the entray way.
"Well... here we are," Kazusa says, still in her school uniform. She takes off her shoes and switches to a pair of house slippers. There are a bright yellow pair that are clearly someone else's, but also several pairs of plain beig ones.
Kazusa goes to set her things down on the table. "I keep some drinks and snacks stocked, so, help yourself. If you want tea, I can get the electric kettle out for you." She also would've pointed out a few vending machiens on the way over, or a konbini on the corner on the way over.
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
Kanae doesn't mind hearing out Kazusa--quite the opposite, she alters her plans a little to make time for her. She was worried, after all, after... everything that happened. Not that she knows what it's like to have issues with your parents, but even so.
The entryway, and...
Kanae's in uniform, too. She switches her shoes for some beige slippers if she's welcome to them--and then says, "I'm cool." As regards snacks, that is.
"...Cozy," she remarks of the studio, now that she actually sees Kazusa in it.
"So, what's up?"
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Kazusa is welcome to them. She had to guy buy some since, apparently, she's getting guests now.
Even without that bit of parental tension, just knowing Kazusa was trapped is concerning enough.
"Alright," she says of snacks. And then she pauses and nods, looking around. "... yeah. It's...I like the atmosphere." Beat. "You know, kind of that... industrial chic thing?"
She is really bad at smalltalk today.
The round wooden table has two wooden chairs with it, but there's some metal folding chairs leaning against a wall nearby, too. Kazusa goes to the fridge and gets a bottle of iced tea, then sits down at one of the chairs.
"You mentioned... doing supernatural stuff, after I was first freed. I'm..." She glances from Kanae down to her bottle. "... 'ready' is a stronger word, but... I think I ned to stop ignoring it. So if you need help with something, I'm ready to listen."
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
Atmosphere... "It is pretty cool," Kanae agrees, looking around again at the electric lighting and the concrete all over. "And you're definitely not wasting the space." Having a whole space like this to yourself...
It's nice. Not that Kanae doesn't have her apartment to herself--but it's different.
Kanae moves to sit at a chair, too. And then--
"Yeah," Kanae says. "There's always stuff happening. Moreso now. Demons in rumors... Shadows in the Dark Hour. Have you run into the Dark Hour yet?" she wonders. Not everybody stays up until midnight.
"It's not that I need help, exactly... so much as that it'd be nice to have more people I can count on when this stuff rears up."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Kanae might notice what isn't here. No TV, no couhc, no bed... isn't isn't the place she goes to to live or stay or sleep. That might also make it a stark difference from her apartment.
"Thanks," Kazusa says to the compliment.
"Demons. Right. Those mainly happen in... Sumaru, right?" Kazusa frowns a little. "I stayed up to midnight once or twice while I was trying to study for mid-terms. I don't really care for it--but I don't think I saw any shadows. Then again, I was indoors... and Nakao-san made especially sure to tell me about hat one after I was freed. I have made a few trips into Mementos, though."
Kazusa frowns and mutters into her drink, "... that place is weird."
"Well, then... feel free to call on me."
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
Kanae does notice that. This isn't a place to 'stay'...
"Happen lots of places," Kanae ays, "But Sumaru's the most likely you'll find them just hanging around, yeah." A beat, "Heh. I don't think anybody should really like the Dark Hour. It's creepy, right? All... bloody and everything."
"I just try not to be awake at midnight. Seeing people turn into coffins... it's too creepy."
Pause. "Mementos is... interesting. I've done some training there."
Pause. "It is pretty weird. And... maybe I will, then."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
"Right, right," Kazusa muses of the demons. "... why there, though? And not anywhere else?" She frowns a little. She shudders, thinking about the dark hour. "The blood is... especially macabre."
She likes horror movies, but there you know the blood is fake.
"I've tried to avoid it. Especially once I could finish studying for midterms. I'm planning to avoid the Dark Hour when I study for finals." She pauses for a moment ."... congrats on getting top marks for midterms, by the way."
But maybe Kanae will. "... Good." She's a bit tene, a bit stuff, and silent for a moment. She taps a finger against her can. "Well, since I dragged you all the way down here you can... stay and use the table to study, if you want. Or... I can hook up my console if there's any games you play?"
She's fishing for either a topic or something to do.
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
"I don't know," Kanae admits freely. "It's really weird." But the blood... "Agreed," Kanae says. "It's dark, and creepy, and weird."
"Yeah," Kanae agrees. "Good plan." A beat, "That's part of how I did it. You'd thinking having an extra hour to study would help... but trying it just makes you more tired. I've experimented some."
She stops, and smiles. "Thank you," Kanae says.
Then, well, "Hmm. i do games sometimes, but... Why don't you tell me about yourself, instead?"
"Not the stuff we saw in the Atelier--just, stuff about you."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Dark, cree, and weird. "Right. And our cell phonews don't even work--or at least, mine doesn't. So you can't even listen to anything while it's happening."
"I didn't set out to use that extra hour, I just... ran into it because I had so much to catch up on." Kazusa sighs. "It just made me feel worse..." It would, after having been locked in an Atelier for a month.
Kazusa blinks as Kanae asks about herself. "... Oh, um. Sure." She frowns a little. "... what did you see in my Atelier?"
"But, um..." Kazusa brushes some hair out of her face. "Alright. I'm on the rhythmic gymnastics team, but I guess everyone at school knows that. I... want to be an artist. But, um. A character artist." She glances away for a moment. "... specifically I want to work in video games. And it's not just-- because my family owns the Motojima Corporation. I mean-- it sort of is? But..."
She glances over to the corner of the loft apartment that holds her desk and all of her references, with some art posted up. "... there's some people I look up to. They're who I'm trying to follow."
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
"Mine either," Kanae says. "You gotta get really good at being patient..."
But she ran into it. "Yeah--that's how it was for me, too. I ran into it, tried to make the best of it, and... Well, that's just worse."
She then waits--trying to be encouraging. But the question, "Stuff I didn't have any business seeing," Kanae settles on for now.
Instead, "Yeah, gymnastics is cool. But I did know that. The art... I could see that. When we went through, it was all about making this character--as a 'tribute' to the Princess."
"...But that's cool," she says. "I think it's great to know what you want. ...and why."
"So, good luck. If you wanna show me any of your stuff sometime, I'm into it."
Pause. "I mean, I don't game that much, but still."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
"Yeah, I'd rather avoid it. Just... thinking about it kind of makes my skin crawl."
Kazusa regards Kanae's answer and she nods slowly. "... right. Um. Thanks, for that."
"Right, the... Princess." Kazusa ducks er gaze a little, and her cheeks might be tinged a bit red. "I didn't pick-- I mean--I don't have any control over my subconscious or my Atelier or whatever it was that made that place a palace and me its Princess."
"But, that's..." She sighs and shakes her head a little. "... that is kind of the whole... character design thing." Long pause. "... sorry that Homunculus tried to turn them against everyone."
But then she looks up as Kanae declares it cool. "... thanks. And, well... we'll see if I get there." Kazusa presses her palm against her forehead for a moment. "... My father would have me doing something else."
But she pauses as Kanae offers to look. "Um... sure. Uh... I know you guys had to take some of my games as the... Threads, to get ito my Atelier. Did you... try it...? If not, I'll... I've got everything here, I can find something to show you."
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
"When I deal with it, it's mostly to go out and patrol--apparently the Shadows can hurt people who get stuck without their coffins. So that's something to keep an eye on."
But... she doesn't elaborate. Instead--
"It's fine," Kanae says. "Who doesn't want to be a princess now and then? It's normal."
"...It's fine. It was kind of a bummer to fight my cool character, but on the other hand, I felt pretty cool myself for being able to beat her."
Her father... "Yeah. I don't really know much about parental pressure like that. But it looks rough."
"We did. And I did try a little--I figured it might give me some insight? But I wasn't really... like, able to enjoy stuff that much, since I was looking for clues."
"Looked good, though."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
That gives Kazusa pause for a moment, and she frowns. "... you really go out patrolling...?" She's not saying that with disgust or derision--more like she's trying to figure out a logistical issue. "... but I'll keep that in mind."
"I mean, you saw my other form, so..." Apparently that fancy outfit is meant to be a Princess. Wolf ears and tail and all.
"Mmm. Right, a bummer. I'm mostly glad everyone came out of it more or less okay."
she tried it, but didn't enjoy it much. "... right. I guss that makes sense." She caps her bottle and leaves it on the table--it's on a coaster--and walks over to her computer desk and picks up a sketchbook to carry back over. "Here. If you want to see some of my art... or... ir if you want to try some of those games but some of the-- well, I'll just show you th newer stuff."
The sketchbook is crammed full of various iterations of different character designs, clothing studies, pose work, anatomy sketches, and so on. There's even a very detailed shot of Hazuki in her Transmutation form that seems to ahve had... a lot more work put into it than the others, posed in a hero shot.
Kazusa sits down and resumes drinking her iced tea, but she's keeping an eye on Kanae while pretending she's unbothered and doesn't care at all what the other girl thinks.
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
"Yes," Kanae answers, without self-consciousness. ...Or at least, without embarrassment; she's pretty certain of this. But, "Cool."
"I did," Kanae says. And, "The art was great," she points out. "But it's different when you just relax and do something and when you're doing it for a reason, you know?"
Pause. Kanae accepts the sketchbook, looking it over. Hmmm...
"Cool," Kanae says, going through. "You really go extensive on figuring out the details. I bet that makes you better at it, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
"Mmm. If I ever feel like going out in the Dark Hour, I'll... keep that in mind." She kind of really doesn't. But she also doesn't want to close the door 'trying to rescue people from Shadows.'
"I suppose that's true," Kazusa says, of the difference. "
Kazusa tries to shrug, and mostly succeeds at making it casual. "I just try my best. I don't get as much time to draw as I'd like, so... I try to make the time I do have count."
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
Casual! Kanae tilts her head at that. "It's cool to be modest," she says, "But you really are good. I've got enough of an eye to see that much. I'm more into photography, when it comes to visual art, but that still gives me enough eye for compsition to see the way your designs draw eyes."
Beat, "But if you find compliments awkward, that's fine. I guess..."
Hmmm.
"Lemme look through a little more. I saw some I liked..."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
"No, no-- compliments are--" Kazusa might be a little too fast to curse correct, and she pulls it back after a moment. "They're fine, I'm just..." She looks away for a moment. "Not used to just... sitting here with someone sharing my art."
She nods. "Take as long s you want. I'm also working on some 3D models, if you want to see those..."
There's a long pause and then she says, "So, you're into photography. Does that mean you do photography?"
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
Kanae notices! "Ah, yes," Kanae replies to that. "Then, I hope you get used to it. You'll have to share your art a lot if you're going to be a character designer, right?"
"Sure," Kanae says. "I'll look at those next."
Then she looks up from the sketchbook and nods to Kazusa. "That's right," she says. "With an actual camera--phone pictures are nice and all, but you can do more with a dedicated tool."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
"Well, yes, but... until I'm ready to look for a job--if I ever got to look for a job," she adds with a mutter under her breath. "--that's when I'll start worrying about it. Until then..."
She falls silent for a moment. Everybody saw that Homunculus' version of her father.
"The sensors on phones are developing rapidly but you're definitely much better off with a dedicated camera still. Digital or analogue? Do you have a preferred subject?"
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
Hmmm. Is that how it is? Kanae doesn't push; she's not the type. Instead...
She did see Kazusa's 'father'.
"Digital. I don't really have access to space for a darkroom anyway. And I like landscapes, mostly--places, nature or city, just... you know."
"I think you can tell a lot about people just by what they leave behind--by what's there after they're there."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Kazusa might think about posting under a pseduonym online, but... she still worries about her father finding out.
Kazusa nods as she digests taht. "... That makes sense. It's probably not the same if you take it to someone else to be developed, is it?" Kazusa takes a long sip of her tea. "... I wouldn't want someone else to modify my art."
Landscapes... and places where people have been. She looks at Kanae for a long moment as she considers that. "Hmm. I never thought of it that way before..."
She sets her drink down. "... I guess my focus is on people, then," she reflects. "... trying to capture the essence of a whole person in a sketch."
"What made you focus on that perspective?"
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
"Right. You lose a lot." To modify her art... "It's like that," Kanae agrees. "Besides, I've gotten pretty good at the digital variety."
But she never thought of it? "Most people haven't," she says.
"Hmm... That's a tall order. People are also movement and energy and sound and feel. ...But I think you do pretty well at it, from what I'm looking at here, all the same. I can imagine a lot of these designs moving."
She pauses, and hesitates before, "...My mother liked it."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
"As long as you know how to use your tool, it shouldn't matter if it's digital or analogue." She gestures vaguely towards her desk. "I work in both." Kanae is looking at her sketchbook, of course, but there's that beefy computer and the digital tablet on her desk. "I'm trying to learn what the industry is doing, but the sketchbook is still more portable."
"If you ever... feel like showing me some of your photos, I might be interested," Kazusa says, stairing pointedly into her bottle of iced tea.
"It is," A tall order, that is, "but that's the job of the designer." She gives a small nod. "Thank you. And--" She contemplates and looks towards the loft, setting her drink down again. "Let me see if I can find it..."
She's climbing up the ladder that leads to the loft, and she starts sifting through the cardboard boxes there.
But then she pauses, as Kanae invokes her mother. She hesitates, too, and just nods without looking at Kanae. "... I see."
She has complicated feelings about mothers, too, as it happens.
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
"So you do," Kanae agrees. But hmm... "I guess it would be. Less breakable, too."
But if she ever feels like it? "I think that'd be nice," Kanae answers. "Sometime."
But not this instant; right now she's trying to learn about Kazusa! And one thing she learns is that she's got big ambitions for her designs. And also...
"Hm?" Kanae asks, looking over at Kazusa--she spots the way she responds, so Kanae feels able to add, "It's one of the few connections I have to her. So... it's important."
"Anyway, what are you looking for?"
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Kazusa nods. "That, too..." Also more easily confiscated, but she doesn't say that part.
Sometime. "Sometime, then. I don't... really do a lot of landscapes," she confesses. "If I had more time..." But she doesn't.
Kazusa does have big ambitions. Hers isn't rally a family that does 'small' ambitions--for instance, her Homunculus' commitment to trying for the Olympics.
She pauses her searching to look at Kanae's addition. Kazusa is frowning, but it's a sort of concentration frown. She's trying to figure out whether she should say something, and if so, what. "... I see. Did..." 'Did something happen?' is the question she doesn't finish before she turns back to the box.
"This." Kazusa pulls something from one of the cardboard boxes and climbs down. She sets a small flipbook by the sketchbook. "You mentioned motion and it reminded me," she explains. It's a simple animation of a rhythm gymnast performing a couple of moves--the lines are a little loser, like she did this a couple of years ago. "... I do have to think about how things will move, later," she explains.
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
Kazusa definitely does seem big on that front. Kanae at least acts much more low-key. She noticse the concentration, though, and just says, "She died when I was young. I'm living on my own at the moment."
She moves on pretty quickly, instead looking to the flipbook...
"Hmm. Yeah. People's muscles when they're in motion are different from when they're stationary..."
"Cool."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
"Oh." Kazusa deflects her gaze for a moment. "... I'm sorry." Kazusa can't really relate, there. And 'I'm sorry' somehow feels... woefully inadequate regardless.
Kazusa will let Kanae move on quickly.
"Yeah, and... you have to think about, like... if a character has a big clothing accessory, will it look good from different angles, stuff like that."
There's a small smile as Kanae declares it cool. "Thanks."
"Do... you want to make photography your career, or is it just a hobby...?" There's no judgement, she's just not sure which way Kanae is leaning.
But she remembers Kanae had wanted to learn more about her, and so far they've only really talked about the art. "Beside the art, um. I like video games." She picks up her bottle again, tapping it. "Fighting games, I have a bunch if you play..." She gestures to the bookshelves.
"Um... I like movies. You like those, right?" They met at the movie theater that one time... "I'm.. not really into romance movies, though."
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
"Thanks." Kanae leaves it at that.
Instead then, "Hmmm, yeah."
She smiles back; it's nice to see a more natural expression out of Kazusa. As to the question, "...I'm not sure yet," she admits. "I might. Or I might go into like, film--movies and stuff. That's where my passion is, too."
Video games! "That's cool," Kanae says. "I do a little. Arcades and stuff, you know."
But...
"I do. And don't worry--romance is nice, but it's not the only kind I like, either. I like a variety--you need to see a variety if you really want to consider yourself at all educated on the art of it."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
"Films... people in motion," she comments, bringing back the element they were just talking about. "That could be interesting, too."
Kazusa nods,"I see. I... I'd go to arcades more, but... I'm not relly keen on being een there. Though..." Kazusa looks down at her bottle and frowns. "... I don't kno whow much reputation I realy have left to protect, at this point."
Kazusa actually looks a little relieved when Kanae says she likes more than just romance. "Okay, good." She nods. "Of course. Waka-chan is into those but I can just never..." She shakes her head. "Whatever. So... what other kinds do you like?"
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
Arcades... "I can get that," Kanae says. "But it's not weird to go to an arcade. I mean, maybe for you, given your family, but like--in general, it's pretty normal. I think your reputation's not as bad as you think it is."
But, "Mmm, it's hard to say. There's not really a lot of genres I don't like. Dramas especially--you can do so much with the medium to really investigate the way people are..."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
"No, I know it's normal, I just..." Kazusa lets out a frustrated grunt, gesturing with her free hand. "My father doesn't like them, so I can't be seen liking them."
... But the Motojima Corporation pretty famously makes video games.
Kazusa arches an eyebrow at Kanae. "The other kids literally called me the Demon Queen, and my Homunculus turned me into an actual demon. Not to mention--whatever that thing did while it was steering my body."
"I can see that," Kazusa says with a slow nod. "... so, okay, what kinds of movies don't you like, then."
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
"I don't get it," Kanae admits. "Why he'd be like that. But I guess it's pretty clear he is like that, so you just have to deal," she admits.
It's weird, though.
Still, "Mm-hm. But they don't hate you. You gotta be clear-eyed about that. ...It's different, when they really do hate you. They don't call you anything at all."
Pause. "...But it's OK, I guess. I wouldn't be happy about somebody else piloting my body, either."
"Hmm. I guess I'm not as into comedies? They just don't usually grab me as much."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
"I don't know either," Kazusa admits with a frustrated sigh. "But I guess he has something against my grandparents, so... yeah. I just have to deal with it."
"Look, I wasn't really a nice person. So if my reputation is... whatever, it's fine."
"Yeah..." Kazusa shudders some. "... if you see anyone else like that, please let me know. We can't... we can't let that go on."
"Comedies... yeah, that's fair. I'm not always in a comedy mood these days either, I guess." She swishes the last of her drink around in the bottom of her bottle, and is very carefully looking at her bottle instead of Kanae. "... how do you feel about horror? I just--heard some of the girls on the team talking about some new horror movie, that's all."
She's definitely 'asking for a friend' here.
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
"That sucks."
Wasn't really a nice person... Kanae doesn't press it any further than that; she has... a different perspective, on ostracization. Anyway though, if she sees someone else, "Definitely. I can't overestimate how creepy that thing was. I'm not interested in trying to Hunt one of those alone, either."
Horror? "Horror can be great! You can really use a lot of interesting techniques in horror--to properly build the vibe, you need a lot of subtlety. ...I mean, or I guess you can just do a hundred jumpscares, but who's into that?"
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
"Yeah. It does." Kazusa looks sullen for a moment. "If it weren't for baa-chan and jii-chan paying for this studio..."
"Don't I know it... I'd hope that mine is the last one we see but somehow..."
A hundred jump scares. "Ugh," says Kazusa with a groan. "That'd be so tedious." After a moment she quickly adds, "... or so I've heard."
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
Kanae nods. "Good you've got this, then."
"Probably not," Kanae agrees about 'the last'. But, at least Kazusa agrees about how tedious it would be...
Kanae doesn't get what she says next, but she closes the sketchbook after that. "How about those models?" she asks. She can take a look!
...She's not going anywhere for a bit.
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Kazusa goes still for a moment. "If it weren't for this studio..." She shakes her head. Maybe she'd be better off not thinking about that too long.
"Sure," Kazusa says with a nod. She gets up and hangs her blazer on the back of her chair, then moves to the computer. She sits down and pulls on the smudge guard, and starts to show off a few of the models she's been working on.
A few of them are even rigged for animations, and Kazusa will relax more and more as she shows off various little details.
She might even be having a nice time.