2026-07-16: Hope
- Log: Hope
- Cast: Miho Ijuuin as Tomoki Hasegawa, Yua Ijuuin
- Where: Tomoki's Apartment, Yumezaki, Sumaru City
- OOC Date: July 16, 2026
- IC Date: December 11, 2012
- Summary: Tomoki invites Yua over to discuss something very important: Miho. They do have a good talk, but Yua has some conditions on her acceptance of Tomoki--and has a Persona attack that he helps her through. TW: self-harm.
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
Tomoki Hasegawa's apartment is high up in a nice building--on in fact the 38th floor. There is an elevator, of course.
With an indoor lobby and a number of amenities, this complex is perfect for a person who wants a little luxury but is otherwise living alone. indeed, the floor-length windows offer a wonderful view of Yumezaki's splendor. Though it's not as splendorous during the day--during the day, it's just a normal cityscape.
And it is day, as Tomoki Hasegawa doesn't have shooting or anything today so he can accommodate Yua Ijuuin's schedule. Which he had to, because today? He needs to talk to her. He arranged it yesterday, so as not to surprise her today, and now...
Well, his apartment is upstairs. Right now he's in the lobby of their complex, waiting for her. It has mirrors and pretty tiles and dark squarish columns and a wide desk and plants.
This is a nice place... though of course, not quite so nice as the Pyramid complex. It is in Yumezaki, though.
Tomoki for his part is in a brown suit today, with a green tie and a white shirt. His 6'4" frame stands out heavily--he's too built to be lanky precisely, but he would be if he were a little skinnier. His black hair is shaggy, and his green eyes are warm.
He's waiting!
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
It's important to arrange things with Yua! She is a woman of two sides -- she can either be lovely and agreeable and cute as a button, or the grumpiest cat alive -- and much of that is predicated on whether she's gotten surprised by something. Yua has proven through their metamourship that her core values strongly include safety, which is really one of those blessing-and-a-curse arrangements but by and large has been very helpful.
(Her other core values, as it happens, are family, intimacy, compassion, comfort, and tradition... and the things she values least are courage, adventure, solitude, fame, knowledge, and humility.)
Yua's schedule, though, is much kinder in the morning. After she bustles Miho off to work and Tyrrha off to school, both with their own very cute bentos mind you, she's got an easy morning before she needs to report to school for her afternoon class. She's already dressed in her day clothes, of course -- a black leotard with a sheer black skirt falling down to her knees -- though after the assault she and Miho told Tomoki about, she she's taken to wearing long-sleeved leotards and black tights. It is, of course, a maternity leotard, which is a real thing which exists when you're Ijuuin rich.
Sadly, she has to wear sensible hiking boots with ankle support instead of her pointe shoes. This pair is also new, because her FEETS ARE REBELLING, and it's the WORST, and --
And it's probably a good idea for Tomoki to come find her, the brain fog hasn't stopped being a thing or anything. Yua is five feet nothing, so she's looking up, up, UP trying to find him. Because he's very tall, this doesn't take terribly long.
"Oh! Tomo-kun!!" Yua chirps, bustling over, and -- she's carrying a basket with her! She presents it, cheerfully, with both hands. (What is it, a business card?) "I brought you cookies!"
They are, of course, handmade cookies. They're chocolate chip, and they're delicious.
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
Tomoki knows Yua fairly well by this point; he knows a number of her quirks and values. He definitely knows not to spring things on her. And so, this morning...
Miho is at work, for now. Tomoki is here in the lobby. He spots her--notes her new shoes--and smiles when she chirps a greeting. "Ah?" he starts, and then smiles, reaching out to politely take the basket with both hands. "I'm supposed to say you shouldn't have," he says.
"...But I'm glad you did. Thank you, Yua-san." Politeness gives way to humor!
"I could go for a good snack today..."
He half-turns, prompting Yua to come with him to the elevator. "Thanks for coming, too. How are you doing today? Everybody doing fine?"
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"Hee hee!" Yua giggles, brightly. "You're welcome!!"
(Just don't ask how Yua gives out actual business cards. She once won enormous enmity doing that and she still doesn't know.)
Yua follows along, insisting: "A good snack is important for a healthy life!" Is that -- is that how it works, Yua? She's just as bubbly, as she goes on: "Tykko's really surprised to see everyone looking so grim around finals! Do you know what she said this morning? She said 'I don't see how it's that hard, how tough can it be to beat up some paper'! Hee hee hee...!" Yua's relating it like a joke, but of course, Miho answered the question much more seriously.
Because Tyrrha was definitely going to eat her finals paper.
"Oh, but how about you?" She asks, still bright. "You've got Premiere Night on soon, right? Don't worry! Mimi's got a nice kimono all picked out already!" It might be more modern to wear dresses to this sort of thing, but the traditional festive outfit is still plenty popular in Japan. "Kimi-san and I are all set up, too!" Because, of course, Kimitake is bringing his wife to support his cousin's partner's movie premiere.
Naturally.
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
A good snack... That is definitely how it works. "Mm-hm," he agrees. But he leads them into the elevator when it comes, and listens about Tyrrha. He laughs at the anecdote. "That sounds like her," Tomoki says warmly. "I bet I know who explained that finals weren't physical combat, too..."
But him? "I do," Tomoki answers. "Ahh, perfect. She stands out a lot in those--not only is she gorgeous, but she seems a lot more comfortable than when they tried to get her into a dress..." His manager says her standing out is good for him, too--but Tomoki is not so mercenary as to mention that.
"Good," Tomoki says at the setup then. "That's important."
Up they go in the elevator...
"I'm glad you were willing to come over, though. I know I could've spoken to you at your place, but... It's important to me to show you what mine looks like."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"Yup, yup, yup," Yua nods, cheerfully. "I couldn't do it alone! Mimi's much sterner! And she knows more about being active like that..." That's one word for glorious combat, sure.
Though, how is that Yua came out of the trafficking ring so delicate and Tyrrha came out chewing on things like a shark to figure out what's going on with them?
Maybe it's better not to ask things like that.
"She's sooo gorgeous!" Yua agrees, flowers fluttering around her portrait to convey the force of her smile. "When we were younger, Mimi used to wear skirts and stuff more, and I didn't wear them as much, but... when we heard about butch girls and femme girls, we tried it out, and Mimi realised she could really express her strength with that kind of style! It took me a little while longer to figure mine out, though..." She examines her hands, eye dismissing that fabric covering stretching over her right one, and intimates: "The secret is fake nails!"
Now she's in her second trimester, she feels safe wearing them again; she cut back on a lot during her first trimester, because she was worried, but these days she's assured that her makeup is perfectly safe...
... provided she avoids products with retinol, hydroquinone, 2% salicylic acid, glycolic acid with over... mouuu, it's just a long list!
And Yua knows a thing or two about looking good for a purpose, but let's not list that out, either.
Up, up, up... "Woooow, this is a real high rise!" Yua remarks, as the floors light up. "Pyramid Plaza's ten floors, and that feels SO high, but this must be... four Plazas all stacked on top of each other!" She's really impressed by that...? ... well, she does come from the country...
Yua shakes her head, looking from the elevator back to Tomoki with a smile. "Nn, nn! I want to see! Someone's home is an important place! You can tell a lot about someone if you know where they sleep!"
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
Glorious combat!! That's true.
Tomoki has no idea how and why they're so different in those circumstances, but it's not really his place to pry; they asked him not to. So, he justs accepts it!
Yua's flowers prompt some invisible stars over Tomoki's portrait. He likes talking about Miho. And now, he gets secret lore! "Hmm... I guess it would make sense in high school to do more girly stuff, since you'd have the uniform already and all." Pause. Butch girls and femme girls...
"Nice," he says. "She's definitely strong. And I'm with her on this one--makeup's a pain! I'm just glad I don't have to do my own for the camera!" But the secret? Tomoki leans in conspiratorially. "Oh ho. ...Yes, I can see where that's important."
But a very very high rise indeed. "That's about right," he says. "But the individual apartments aren't quite as nice as the ones in the Plaza. They're pretty good, though." A smile. "I like being high up," he admits. "Lets me have a nice view of the city."
Then, she wants to see!! So...
"Then right this way," Tomoki answers. "That's the same thing I think," he says.
But soon, he takes the basket in his off-hand and gets the keys to open his door, and--
A neat apartment! Full-length windows, a generally dark and intimate color scheme, and a separate kitchen, dining, and living areas. There's a loft up to his sleeping area. There's a table for dining, a couch and a chair for lounging, the kitchen is actually stocked...
Overall it's a sophisciated, adult living space.
"Feel free to sit wherever you're comfortable," he says, and moves to put the cookies down on the table.
"...So you were telling me about butch and femme. Can you tell me a little more about that? Miho seems to do plenty traditional femme, but I'm pretty sure it's not about that."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"Some of my students are really bothered by the uniforms," Yua sighs, "but it is how it is... since I've only been teaching for half a year, I don't really have a lot of power to suggest big changes like that. Pretty much the whole country says girls have to wear skirts, even if they're tomboys..."
Yua does not, of course, presume the tomboys about school are butch girls. Most tomboys aren't baby butches... though, some of them are.
She giggles, though. "That's my secret," she assures him, "I know there's always a camera!" Is that really as funny as she frames it...? Being constantly observed as a woman must be tough...
"Nenai is much better at it than I am, though," and she's of course talking about Fuine Funai, the makeup artist Yua met when she came to visit Tomoki on set with Miho a while back. It turned out that she already knew her -- from tea ceremony circle, one of the many daytime groups and associations Yua drops in on here and there to associate with her fellow housewives.
(Fuine, tragically, had to abandon her own hopes of being a housewife in a hurry. Everyone agrees that as unfortunate as it was to give up her first pregnancy, divorce would have been much more complicated. She still has three more years to increase her feminine power to net a better man.)
Yua giggles, those fake nails veiling her lips. "Hee hee... don't go judging every place in the Plaza by Mimi's standards, okay? Since we're right at the tippy-top, our place is basically the whole floor... it used to be the whole floor, but Mimi had it renovated to make a separate apartment for Eiko-san." Eiko's lodgings, which carved a few rooms from Miho's penthouse, are more modest than Miho's sprawl but still a very comfortable 1LDK. "On the floor before us, it's split up into two 5LDKs... and the floor below that is four 4LDKs! Since it's like a pyramid, the lower you go, the bigger the floor space, right? Ahaha, and that's just the premium penthouse suites... there's four residential floors below them, you know, the kind of... straight uppy-downy part?" Tragically, Pyramid Plaza isn't entirely a pyramid: the first three floors are pyramidal, and so are the last three, but there's a regular tower in there too with only minimal pyramiding because Japan just doesn't have the floor space for the full Futaba fantasy.
(We pause here to note that Yua has no idea Futaba exists, and thus that alliteration is entirely for the bit. Sorry, NWO: her youth espionage only extends to those babies who actually attend school.)
"Those have way more normal mansions in them!" Yua goes on, helpfully. (She's not being a rich twat, as it happens: a 'mansion' is a reinforced quality-construction apartment with better soundproofing and earthquake proofing. The whole tower, then, must be built to that standard... a standard which this building doubtless shares.) "Though, it's Father's building, so I think you'd have a lot of trouble getting a really economical room... most of them are LDK or SLDK, I think?" Lounge-dining-kitchen, she means; it's a shorthand for describing properties in Japan. Her 5LDK deluxe penthouse suites, for instance? Five bedrooms, a communal living space which is big enough to comfortably fit a loungeroom, dining area and kitchen -- plus the presumed bathroom spaces. (The 'S', meanwhile, stands for 'service room' -- rooms which might not have windows or good ventilation which can be used as storage, or as a home office in a pinch.) "Though I think there are a couple 1DKs... and of course, then there's the commercial block! That's the first three floors! You know, where I've got Studio Chura?" Yua's dance studio, that is -- which, by this point, Tomoki has also been invited to.
It's not at all strange, as it happens, to have buildings which are both commercial and residential; commercial elevators only go up to the first three floors, and residents need to enter their keycards to access the residential elevators, or else get buzzed in by one of the on-site attendants. ... the penthouse suites have their own exclusive elevators, of course.
"This is soooo high... look, look, I can even see Mt. Katatsumuri way out there!" Yua points out a window, hopping on her feet, helpfully, as if Tomoki's never seen it. Of course she points over the city and out past it...
And so -- the place Tomoki sleeps!
Yua needs to find something to steady herself, in the genkan, when she's slipping her shoes off, which may in fact be his own arm; she can get dizzy, leaning down too quickly. If he's got guest booties, she'll pop some on, but her socks are always clean and fresh regardless. Not having fresh laundry is for people who don't have a live-in maid.
Of course, the first thing she investigates is his kitchen. "Oh, you have your own soy sauce!" She notices, this being one of the most basic elements one needs to use a kitchen. She's happy to see it! Open up the fridge, and... "Phew," she breathes an audible sigh of relief, "your milk's still in date, too. So, so, want me to bring it out? We can have cookies and milk!"
Leaving out of date milk in the fridge is a capital housewife offence, but let's pretend Yua was looking for the milk and cookies bit.
And so, glasses, milk -- and Yua sits herself down! "Mm, mm," Yua nods, as she opens her handbag up, and pulls out some pills. "-- don't worry, these are just normal for before eating!" She adds, aside, as she swallows them with some of that milk. (Anti-emetics, that is, but -- well, he's a man, he doesn't need to know the details.) "It's about Mimi's values! Mimi's family and traditions are super important to her, so she wants to do formal stuff properly, I think. And it's different if it's for festivals and celebrations and stuff, since... you know, everyone's expected to do it? But when we were younger, she'd always get really frustrated by all the stuff people made her do just because she was a girl... there were a lot of people who felt like a girl shouldn't do a manly sport like fencing, too. It was always kind of boy's club, you know...? Women didn't even compete in the Olympics until the nineteen twenties... Mimi told me how the first one was Hélène Mayer, this German woman who got in with her foil in nineteen twenty-eight. She actually won gold, you know? And for a long time, women were only expected to use foil... Mimi loves the saber, but did you know that Olympic saber fencing for women only started in two thousand and four? Like... Mimi turned fifteen the year they even decided her art could compete," and she's downcast,, as she relates it. "And that was just individuals... they didn't start competitions for team women's sabre until the next ones in two thousand and eight. That's why it's so impessive, what Mimi did..." Because, of course, Miho won that first engagement.
"And... Mimi's tall, you know?" Yua adds, tilting her head. "To me, she's a total Amazonian Goddess, but a lot of people think she's... mmm..." Yua would rather not be so blunt as to point out that local beauty standards call her beautiful, and Miho -- something else. "So they thought she should put even more effort into being pretty... and that was even more effort she didn't get to spend getting better."
Yua reaches back, to primp at her bun. "But being butch meant -- it was okay for Mimi to break into the boy's club! And more than that... when I made myself even prettier, and I still jumped into Mimi's arms and not any of the boys, we were saying that Mimi was hot because she was stern and tall and strong and focused. Because I wanted Mimi, not any of them... she was desirable just the way she was. That's why I still think her hair is stunning now it's down to her ears!" She adds, cheerfully. "Because it's about making sure everyone knows Mimi's the best, just for being herself!"
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
The uniforms? "Huh," Tomoki says. "I hadn't thought of it, but now that you mention it, that's strange. Girls can wear pants in any other situation..." Of course, he's never had to think of it, but with Miho as a girlfriend he's at least more sympathetic to the idea. Still--
Always a camera. "...That's true," he says after a moment, because he's enough of a public figure that there always is--but it makes him think that Yua means something different by that. He's still not entirely up on womens' experiences.
Nenai, though! Tomoki knows her. He knows she had a bad relationship, and that it was lucky she wasn't stuck with it... and that she has reasons for being as good with concealer. If he's a little protective of her, he tries not to show it in a way that'll undermine her. Besides... she is very good at her job.
But Yua cautions about the penthouse... "Hmmm," Tomoki says. "That's fair, I just assumed." Yua explains further, and Tomoki nods along, listening away. A real Pyramid would be cool though.
"This is a 1LDK," Tomoki gestures around, as she can see. "And I do remember!" The studio. He doesn't do much dance--he's not that kind of actor. But a little! He's not hopeless, and has good rhythm.
But!! this place. Tomoki is more than happy to lend his strong arm, and he does have house slippers... though he may have specifically gone out for another pair for Yua.
But the fridge!! "Of course," Tomoki says of soy sauce and the milk. "Please do--but let me pour it. I can serve for you." It's his house, and she's very pregnant. Does he let Miho do the serving when she's over? Well, sure. But Miho's not pregnant.
He doesn't ask about the pills. Instead, he listens. Values...
"I see. That makes sense--she becomes very feminine in traditional attire, but seems to have no interest in doing it much outside of that." He listens further. Even fencing...
"Huh," he says. "I didn't know that about sabre fencing. Well," he says, "I'm not surprised she pushed through something like that. She's strong."
He pauses. "...But that's something I wnat to do for her," he says. "To give her time where she can be strong but doesn't have to use that strength. I know you can do that, too--but the more the better, right?"
And Mimi is very tall. "Yeah, she's great," he says, as if that's a synonym. "I know some people don't go in for that, but... I like a lady I don't have to pick up to kiss," he says. "And that's not most, because I'm tall, too. She's like a statue," he says. "Only... not rigid. You know."
But that trouble... Hmmm. "I see," he says. "So she was pushed into it..."
Then he nods. "So, you're butch and femme because you want to contrast each other. ...And to show that you're good as you are, instead of being pressured. That's really interesting," he says.
"I like her hair--I mean, I like long hair, too, but if she doesn't short's fine with me." He pauses. "Still..."
"Well, I don't mind both wearing pants," he says, amiably. "She is the best. For who she is. I like that she could kick my ass in a swordfight," he says. "I like how strong and tough she is--and yeah, part of why I like that is that I get to see that special side of her when she relaxes... But it's not like I only like that side. I like the side she shows, too."
"...I love it, in fact," Tomoki says. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"Mm, but not at school... I think there's a lot of expectations that get learned early because of that." Yua would have scope on this, after all; she is a teacher.
(Well, she's not. But she plays one on not-TV. What does Yua mean by cameras...?)
Yua, at least, can be guessed to have a friendly relationship with Fuine -- she has a nickname! -- though of course that might not mean they're best friends, given how Yua gives so many people nicknames. Thusly, she does not gossip about Fuine's previous boyfriend.
Neither does she tell him where she learned some of those concealer tricks.
"It's comfy!" Yua declares, of his 1LDK space. "And your loft is so cute...!" She definitely means this literally and isn't being a rich twat, still, but equally, Yua is completely oblivious to how it kind of sounds.
She just likes lofts. They're cosy.
... she did teach him a bit about waltzing, as it happens, just because it happens to be Miho's favourite partner dance. They help each other! For instance: with comfy house slippers. "Thankyu~" Yua chirps, lyrically, slipping them on, and she is cute enough to collapse it into one word, thanks for asking. "They're comfy!" This is high Yua praise.
"Okay!" Yua is more than happy to let him serve her, too; and of course she figures that naturally he would, it's his home, and since he's the only one here he's also the one keeping it.
As for Miho's standards, well, a lot of that nonke lore goes straight over her head. Miho's a butch lady, and she's not exactly butch for butch, so of course her woman's going to be the one taking care of it...
"Oh," she says, brightly, and Tomoki's easygoingness may endure a test as Yua realises: "So you're femme, too!" She's so excited, though, that maybe it's better to just let her keep talking... "See, see, butch women are visible so they can protect us in the street, but femme women protect them in the home! You know, helping them to feel their feelings and stuff!" Tomoki will recall, recently, the way Yua -- despite having just endured a horrific rape -- called him over to attend to Miho's emotional state and ensure that she had emotional support while Yua was in need of so much care. "Having to fight all the time is really hard, and that's even more true when she's had so much to fight through... so it's important to have a place where you can relax, too, right? Soooo... I hereby declare you an honourary femme! Hee hee, but I wouldn't say that to people who aren't Mimi," Yua adds, giggling, "since I guess men have their own 'femme' that's something else altogether... but I don't have to worry about that!"
Yua's smile grows even brighter, as she says: "One of those really gorgeous Greek statues! Like from the old Olympics! But I bet Mimi could still pick you up," she adds. "You should try it! It's so much fun! I love up!" B--being picked up?
No. Up.
Yua pauses, and adds: "Oh, I'm explaining, so maybe I better say... that's part of it too! Hee hee!" She giggles, veiling her lips with her nails. "Mimi stands out because she's super masculine for a lady... but it's important that I stand out, too! So I'm the cutest and the prettiest! See, see? And Mimi's happy, so I'm happy, too!"
(One may wonder whether there are other ways to be femme than being excessively cute, but the regal beauty of the femme fatale just doesn't suit Yua's neurotype. Huh? She's a femme fatale even if she doesn't fit the profile? Mooouu!!)
"Mimi's always been under a lot of pressure," Yua says, growing a touch more serious. "It made her into a super-gorgeous diamond, but that doesn't mean it wasn't hard."
She claps her hands together, nodding. "Mm, mm! The more Mimi cut her hair, the more makeup I put on! So now we look super different, and it means we fit together! But if you want long hair, that's my job!" She reaches back, taking the comb from her bun and laying it on the table -- it's a gorgeous traditional butterfly -- before she undoes a few more clasps, and unwinds a braid --
-- and then keeps unwinding it --
-- okay, that's pretty long --
-- HOW DID SHE FIT THAT MUCH HAIR IN THAT BUN --
-- and Yua gets up to show off how the tight, thick braid she stores her hair in when she's outside dangles right down to her hip. (One must presume it's even longer; hair loses length in a braid as it's all woven together...) "Ta-daaaa! I've been growing it since high school! Impressive, huh?"
Yua almost always wears her hair in a bun, while she's in public or entertaining guests; this may very well be the first time Tomoki's seen it down, even braided. "I can't undo it out here, though," she adds, sitting herself back down, letting it hang over her shoulder for the moment. (She's going to need to find a mirror or two to fix it. Well, that's fine; mirrors for mirror tasks don't upset her...) "Mimi's the only one who gets to see it when it's down! Or, well, and Tykko, now... oh, and Eiko-san does, too... ahhh, but you know what I mean! It's special for home people!"
Yua, it seems, has decided on her own unique set of modesty standards.
She smiles, though, as she sits herself back down. "Mm, mm, but I can tell," she adds, and takes a gamble at dipping a cookie into milk, now the drugs have had a few minutes to work. "You have a warm tone...!"
Dip, dip. "Mmhm?" She prompts him, and she is warm, too, as she does a nibble nibble.
(Aside, "They're good with milk...")
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
Early expectations... That may be. Tomoki thinks about it, but not that hard. But--he does not gossip either. Instead--
"Thanks," Tomoki says. "Right? A loft is very cozy," he says, and only becuse Yua is adorable does he not take offense to 'cute'. Still though... The slippers are comfy! "You're welcome," she says.
But oh? Tomoki pauses at this test. "Uh?" he starts, lifting an eyebrow as Yua calls him femme. He is prepared to argue the point, but she's just kind of going on and on so he doesn't interrupt her at first. Then, it starts to make a little more sense, because he does recall that. So, she...
"Ah," Tomoki says, "Thanks..." If this were an anime, there would be a visible sweatdrop at his brow. But it's not, of course. Obviously!
"Right. ...Well, it's natural for men and women to both have aspects," he settles on, and perhaps that's what we'll go with. "But uh, maybe... We keep that one to ourselves."
Still, a statue! Tomoki laughs. "She probably could," he admits. "But I don't think it would be quite the same."
But that's part of it...? Ah. "I see. So you go more into femininity in order to stand out opposite her... Right, that makes sense." He said something similar earlier, but now he really gets it. "So you're both happy. That's good. I am, too."
There are totally other ways! ...Tomoki tends to prefer them... But Yua makes a great friend!
"Fair enough." As to pressure. But--
Yua's job! Tomoki looks impressed, because he is. "That's very long hair," he says. "You must work hard to take care of it."
Very impressive.
But she won't undo it--and well, "That's fine," Tomoki assures her. "It's special." He can live with that.
Still... she can tell. And his warm tone?
"I'll definitely try them," Tomoki says to Yua of the cookies, but he has something to say first.
"...Her strength, her beauty, everything in-between--you say you can hear it, well, it's true. I love Miho-san. And... Well, there's a lot of reasons... But I'd like to marry her."
A pause. "I know it's difficult--because you can't, and you want to. And maybe in a just world, I wouldn't have the opportunity in the first place. ...But in this world I do, and I want to do it. I want to take care of her, differently to how you do, but care all the same. ...I'm not so presumptuous as to think she needs me to protect her from the world... but I'll fight with her, when she needs." Metaphorically, he means. He doesn't know how much fighting she really does.
"...I'm not looking to replace you; my cooking's not nearly as cute, for one. But I'd like to formalize our side of our relationship. ...There are things I can offer her. And I want to."
"But I won't, without your say-so. I know you come first for her. ...I can live with that; to be perfectly honest, part of why I was even looking was that there are certain pressures for me to marry, just like for her..."
"...But I hope that you'll agree. I have... Well, I don't have one of your binders," he admits. "But I do have selling points. Stability, security..."
"But honestly, it's mostly just that I love her. If I'm not the only one for her... I want to be the only man for her."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
Yua is a force unto herself. For instance -- the brightness of her smile, as Tomoki trails off his thanks. Does she not notice the sweat drop? Is she too convinced to care? Does she think he's just being modest? Does she really not know how men work at all?!
... honestly, yeah, Tomoki has seen many instances where Yua completely fails to get where he's coming from as a straight man in Japan.
"Mimi would be happy, though," Yua adds, when he suggests they keep it to themselves. "So you can tell her!"
Yua is sure that this will be a very validating conversation for Miho's butch gender. Don't even worry about it.
"That's true," Yua adds, thoughtfully, when he says it wouldn't be quite the same. "Since I'm barineko," a woman who's always on the bottom, "but Mimi's riba, she doesn't like doing it your way when it's with us... or our way when it's with you, right?" She hums, thoughtfully, and declares: "... okay! You'd better start training hard to pick Mimi up!"
Her smile gets a few extra sparkles, when Tomoki declares that he's happy, too. "Yay!"
She really is cute... maybe the stark contrast really is part of the appeal. One couldn't imagine Miho acting as Yua does in a million years... or even Miho's slice of society.
(Miho's not the only one under pressure these days.)
"Mmhm, mmhm," Yua nods, brightly, as to her hair. "Mimi helps me wash it! And since there's so much, we have two hairdryers, so we can both dry it... it's important to pat it dry first, though! If you dry your hair when it's totally wet, you'll need so much heat you'll hurt your hair! Oh, and you need correct technique for that... it's important to squeeze the water out instead of rubbing the hair, it's easier for hair to get damaged when it's wet! And a properly absorbant towel's important... microfibre is the best!" Oh no, Yua's infodumping about beauty care, now, too...
And so, fueled by cookie, Yua turns her attention to Tomoki's convictions.
... it's her right hand covering her left, as she worries at the ring binding her. She's known they won't stop at her for some time, now.
Still... he'll fight with her. Yua wonders if it's really okay to get him involved, when he doesn't know what he's promising. When he doesn't know that a 'just world' really exists, and the True World didn't see fit to join them at all...
There is still jealousy, in her heart, knowing that he is one of the anchors which keeps her here.
... but Yua's always been cheering for Miho.
Her expression's grown serious, but perhaps she's just taking him seriously. "... I'll accept it," she decides, after that pause to consider. "In this world, I can't give her that legitimacy... I'm afraid I'll always be her concubine. But she... loves you, just the same... and I am glad you understand we're serious. ... I'd feel better if it was just you, too. Don't worry about the binder," Yua shakes her head, "I can help you with all that. But we'll want to organise our living arrangements..." A sadness clouds her eye, as she says: "I... still need to figure out how we'll explain me living with Mimi after Hiroki's born. But I won't accept any other way. I'd never survive that." And surely she is speaking of the deadliness of heartbreak.
(She isn't. If she lived with that man... there's a lot she escapes because it would damage him to be caught driving drunk, and that's hardly a matter to concern him when he gets home.)
"And... I'll need you to adopt Hiroki quickly," she adds, quietly, and with the same grim shroud across her features. "Mimi needs to be married to do that, right? She's... she's working really hard to find a way to fix me, but... sometimes, I have a bad feeling." She's told him before that her condition is terminal -- and there's no clear timeline to her death. "We thought we had a way, but it turned out to be no good," because Tatsuya Sudou proved the True World could not be called through force, "and... it's possible... the way out might cost too much."
She can't mean money, with the garnets she's wearing so casually in her ears.
She doesn't.
And the 'will' which is leaving Miho... Tomoki's part of the force draining it.
Even so...
Even so, Yua promised that Miho's family would be her family.
Enshrined in their bushido code, still underwriting the ethos of the Ijuuins to this day, is an old philosophy... and Yua read something, once, in one of the books on Miho's bookshelves. In the 'Hakagure'.
Bushido is realised in the presence of death. In the case of having to choose between life and death, you should choose death. There is no other reasoning. Move on with determination.
"You must swear to me that you will take him as soon as I may offer him," Yua says, and the grim expression in her eye, for a moment, better fits the dangerous femme fatale which media likes to portray with an eyepatch like hers. "Swear it!"
One way or another, she'll need to accept her death.
What she won't accept is that man raising her son.
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
She really is. Tomoki likes that about her. Dealing with Yua is never boring. And even if she doesn't like him 'that way', she still makes an excellent friend.
"If she'd be happy... then sure, I'll tell her about it." It'll be kind of a funny story. But he's willing, if it'll do that. Hopefully she doesn't agree at least not completely...
But Yua explains further. "Right," he says. "Miho-san likes me to take the lead, when it's us. ...Which isn't to say she never gets to say what she wants or anything, obviously." That's as far as the detail he'll go into without being asked, though. "...!" He'd better train hard... Tomoki grins. "Well, that's the best motivation I've ever had to get in better shape!"
He's in good shape, just maybe not 'bench Miho' shape. ...He could totally fireman's carry her already, but that's not quite enough...
Could he princess carry her??? He'll have to train.
Sparkles!!! No, this cuteness is rare in these circles. It's nice.
"Definitely a two-person job," he agrees, then he listens to haircare tips. "...I'll keep that in mind," he says. Miho may not be growing hers out, but for some roles he might want to, at least to a point...
But his convictions--
No, he doesn't really know what he's promising. But maybe he still would. ...No one knows.
But Yua has grown serious and that suits Tomoki fine, because this matter is very important to him. She says she'll accept it--but does not immediately turn to cute and happy again, so he stays serious, listening to what she says. ...'Concubine'. It's a word that makes sense for their situation... but not one he imagines Yua to embrace.
"I do," he says, understand. As to worrying... She nods. "I know. I'm willing to work that out with you. ...I guess it's not as easy as all living in one big house, huh?" He shakes his head. He's sure Kimitake wouldn't go for it. "...I see. Then, I'll support that all the way."
But adopt him quickly?
"..."
Tomoki attempts to meet Yua's eyes, in that moment. That bad feeling--that timeline. And what she needs... "She does," Tomoki agrees.
So he hears her out--and there is a moment of heartbeat before he answers, so that he is clear that she is done speaking.
"I swear," Tomoki answers. "And if you do leave us too soon... I swear that I will also teach your child to remember you, with Miho. I'm sure she'd want the same."
"...As soon as you're able, I'll do it." He doesn't know why, not really. But he knows she's serious. It could mean making an enemy of Kimitake...
But if that's what it takes, that's what it takes.
"...But you'll understand if I hope you're with us for a long time to come. With her for a long time to come."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
Yua's the life of the party! Which is good, because she has to throw a lot of them...
Luckily, Miho has much more insight into the workings of men than Yua does.
And of course, he will need to train -- but luckily, if he's going to become a home person, they happen to have a whole gym.
... and it is true that being Miho's sokushitsu isn't what either of them truly wanted, but... if it's all they can have, better that than nothing at all.
"Kimi-san enjoys his own space," is how she allays that. "You know Mimi, and you've met some of her family, by now... they're all very strong, so there's a reason they care so much about old hierarchies. Like how... we want to be recognised as sokushitsu and seishitsu... when it was a way for wives of men to organise, it was so they'd know who was in charge. Well, he's from the branch family, but he's also a man... I think there'd be some trouble settling on the head of the household."
Yua pauses, for a moment, before she adds: "That's Mimi," directly but not unkindly. "I know she's neko for you," he's straight, Yua, you're still using the wrong dichotomy, "but she's always been in charge of everything, and since we're that kind of family, she's the one who knows how to navigate it."
Damn. Assigned femme by the lesbian then told his wife's in charge. Miho will have to explain how impressive it is Tomoki is cool with all this later, huh.
Still -- he swears, and Yua lets out a breath she was holding. "Good. Thank you," and it's two words, this time. "I hope you'll treat him as if he were your own son, too... if she'd met you earlier, maybe life would have been a lot less complicated for us."
Somehow... even though Yua's far more elegant and graceful speaking this way... it's kind of sad.
OST: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so8V5dAli-Q Halsey - Control
... she knows she'll go to Hell, because she hasn't warned them about what kind of enemy Kimitake is, but she already knew she was...
"I..."
"I hope "
" i "
"aa,"
The way Yua arches might seem obscene, in another context, her back curving and muscles locking to rigidity. It is an illusion of moments, as it becomes clear she is SEIZING, milk scattering and glass shattering as her arms jerk wildly, chair clattering and pregnant woman battering against the floor. It is by the barest mercy that she fell backwards, onto her back and not her belly; her cry is high, keening, wordless as she curls to fetal position, her black handbag thrown far from her grip.
It must be a seizure, though in some ways it more resembles an attempt to shield herself...
... but nothing's there.
Nothing leaks from the tight bond of her eyepatch, creeping, oily black.
A seizure like this --
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
Tomoki may not go for everything Yua thinks of him, but he is largely cool with things. As to the household, well...
"She's certainly not taking my name," he answers wryly. "...I'll never treat Miho-san like a lesser, that's for sure. What she likes in the right situations aside, she wouldn't stand for it."
But he likes his own space... Hmm. "I see, though," he says of the way they organize. "I'll keep it in mind."
Besides; Tomoki isn't really interested in Ruling. He wants a solid base from which he can pursue his career; that's what's most important to him, his art and the work that goes with it. ...The fame and fortune aren't bad, either. But it is striving that makes him live, and that is why he and Miho can be together.
But Yua thanks him, and, "I will," Tomoki assures Yua. "I won't treat him any less."
Hmm, though. Life...? "..." He's not sure what that means. It's sad, indeed. But suddenly--
Yua arches. Tomoki blinks in surprise at first--but in bare moments he realizes what's going on. "Yua-san!" he calls, but realizes quickly that calling will do nothing. Say this for him: he is cool in a crisis. He looks at her first--but he does not need to position her not to choke on her own fluids. So that leaves him to grab the purse--
That black oily sheen disturbs him on a level he cannot identify. It troubles him in a way that is primal, that is unacceptable and incomprehensible to the human mind.
Still, he gets her purse, and searches through for--
The medication that Miho told him about.
"Yua-san!" he calls again, but this time, he approaches her, uncaps the pen--
And slams it against her, just as he was told to do, when he was told to do it hard.
It may bruise. It will surely save her. He holds it down until she shows signs of recovery.
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
WHORE OF MEPHISTOPHELES
SERVE YOUR SENTENCE
SHE IS DAMNED
I REFUSE
Tomoki calls. Yua gives no answer.
With her arms and legs guarding her belly, though...
He may see that her gaze is fixed, focused, locked to a point.
She's looking at
nothing.
And there is a FLARE of nothing, as that pen clicks against her and the needle breaks skin, delivers what he cannot know is Persona Suppressant, and all at once the horrible weight of Yua's condition ceases to be a palpable aura around her as her muscles relax, and she gasps, blinking, looking to him.
It's subtle, but...
There are four marks, beneath her eyepatch, and another off to the side.
Don't think about fingers. Whatever you do, don't think about
"To... mo... kun," Yua's voice breaks through, weakly, as she remembers that he is still in his body and his skin is keeping him from collapsing into her, in this world, in this place, this shade of reality where one person ends and another begins and colours don't blend together and she and Gretchen aren't poisoning each other --
"Ha ha..." But there's nothing cute and bubbly to that laugh, as her cheek turns against the floor, and she remembers the last time she laid on one, and wonders if she'll throw up before she remembers she took pills for that. "You see... I'm... quite unwell... Mimi will be worried if I need a higher dose now... oh..."
She trails to nothing, grimacing. "... help me up?" She asks, instead, reaching to him, and it is fortunate he is strong.
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
Looking at nothing. This is a strange seizure, but he lacks the medical knowledge to know just how strange. But that 'nothing' flares up, and Tomoki blinks. That feeling of wrongness begins to fade. Yua looks to him blinking, and--
He doesn't see beneath her eyepatch. But he feels something like a hand, and stares a moment longer--
But that hand has no purchase in him today. Perhaps another day.
Disturbed all the same, Tomoki watches until she moves. "Yua-san?" he asks, and she says she's unwell...
"Of course," Tomoki says then, and kneels down to do just that, help Yua up.
"Whatever you need, all right?"
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
Yua grasps tightly to him; she is shaky enough that it's clear she can't stand for long, but she knows she'll have an even worse time if she comes back to herself down there, with no pretext of the dance to protect her.
Like the rejection of herself, it is an apt metaphor.
She knows she needs to let go and accept it
but
she can't.
She just can't.
"I don't want to die," she whispers, into him, in flagrant defiance of her thoughts and her actions. "I'm scared. If I die, I'll never be able to touch her again... and what if it hurts? Why... why would those bastards do that to me?!"
It's fine if that hand can't grasp him, today, because there's someone else who can't let go.
Maybe it's normal to cry, after an awful turn like that.
But since Tomoki wants to be a home person, too, maybe he's just getting an early start on comforting the broken woman who makes Miho's penthouse such a comfortable home...