2026-08-07: Let Me Give You Some Advice
- Cutscene: Let Me Give You Some Advice
- Cast: Isabeau Fontaine, Yasushi Fujihide
- Where: Around Tokyo
- OOC Date: 2026-08-07
- IC Date: Between the events of Shinichi's assault and finals
- Summary: Isabeau goes on a date with another unpopular boy in school. Thanks, Shinichi! Nature is healing!!
- Content warning: Preliminary themes of coercive control
Yasushi Fujihide first approached Isabeau soon after Shinichi Nagisa made her the talk of the school. 'He tamed the Witch!' They whisper, in the halls. 'She's almost tolerable now! Well, you know what they say about foreign girls... they can be a bit slow, you know?'
The conclusion is clear: she deserved it. It's a good thing. This is a point only further underlined by the fact that as the gossip spread, the teachers must have heard...
... yet no one's asked her if she's okay.
Perhaps the fact that her venerable scholar of a father hasn't intervened makes it seem like... she feels like she deserved it, too.
("A tennis ball hit me during practice," is how she'd described the mark to Laurent, a touch sulkily. "Sorry, papa, it's just kind of embarrassing..." ... and it really is mortifying, though not due to the carelessness she's described.)
... after so many of those comments, she should have scorned anyone who addressed her; should have known they were only out to make fun of her. But... Yasushi was heavy, just like her. She'd heard their scorn for him. The polite manner is to say he has a bad personality; the impolite one is to call him Sushi Boy. (Yasu-SHI!, he always corrected them.)
In her commonality with him, she disregarded the idea that the girls had a point, saying he was a bad date.
And it's why she answered him, when he approached.
... it wasn't long before they had their first date. Yasushi took her suggestion to go and see a movie at Vivienne's theatre... and while she didn't make a big thing of it, it surely entered her consciousness that Isabeau was seeing a boy.
That first date was even nice. Isabeau spoke his miserable language, and Yasushi expressed interest in a subtitled French movie. They soon had another, Isabeau meeting him after her voice coaching to get afternoon tea together. He was impressed at her healthy eating habits; she thought nothing of it beyond relief that she wasn't coming off as fat. If he noticed, it must only be his own sensitivity, right?
And then one day she tells Laurent she'll be going out for dinner, one last hurrah before finals, and yes he's a nice boy, Viv saw him...
... and that's nice, too, except...
"The udon looks nice," Isabeau says, after disguising her struggles with the menu with deep contemplation.
"Are you sure?" Yasushi asks, looking up. "Have you had that before? It's pretty filling..."
"Of course I have had udon," Isabeau scowls.
"Hey, don't get snappy with me," Yasushi says. "I was just wondering, you know? You're watching your weight, right? I'd feel bad if you got taken by surprise, that's all."
... it's not that Isabeau is watching her weight, but does it look that way to someone looking in from the outside? She pauses, looking down to the menu. He was trying to help, was it...? "I will hear your recommendation," she offers, magnanimously.
"Why don't you try the seaweed salad?" He suggests. "It's a Japanese dish a lot of people don't think about."
So he's suggesting it for health and novelty? "... well, all right," she concedes.
He orders noodles, though, and when the server remarks on their meals, he proudly announces: "She's on a diet! I really admire her self-control!"
"Without mastering of myself, I can not master the court," Isabeau sniffs, haughtily, and in that moment makes her salad a point of pride.
"I'm glad you gave us a chance," Yasushi smiles. "You're so talented, Isabeau-chan... o-oh, sorry!" He gasps, alarmed. "Can -- can I call you that?!"
"You wish to go to first names? Very well. Your titles I have no opinion, but I still will not bother." She scowls, chomping at a bread stick angrily. "Whatever I say," she adds, with clear resentment, "it is wrong."
"I think it's clear you just need a little advice," Yasushi says, and the red flag is obscured by: "... you're not stupid, whatever they say. You're just not from around here, right?"
"... I never wanted to be here," Isabeau grouses.
"Well... I'm glad you are," he says, reaching a hand across the table to her. "Give me a shot. I can help you --"
"I do not need help!" Isabeau snaps, her hand yanking away after a moment beneath his --
-- and he reaches out to snatch it again. "Hey. Hey!" He says, more sharply, as she yanks. "Don't be like that. Don't bolt," he adds, seeing the flight in her eyes. "Just tell me what's wrong."
His grip is surprisingly firm, and so is his concern. Isabeau's weight sinks, as she gives up the idea of leaving in a huff. "I... do not need help, as rule. I rely on myself. Yes? I am strong. I remain strong."
"And alone," Yasushi extrapolates, gently.
Isabeau shakes her head. "I have allies. Friends of my father..."
"I cosy up to my father's friends, too," Yasushi says. "But that's different, right? It's your future. What about right now? At school?"
"... mmn," Isabeau scowls, glancing away, before she frowns and looks back to him. "I do not need them."
"Okay... it's weird for you, all this communal stuff. I get it. How about wanting it? Like... do you want me?" And the question sounds so vulnerable. "We've gone on a couple dates, I thought it went pretty well..."
"This -- this was a mistake," Isabeau declares, giving her hand another yank. He holds firm, his other hand slipping under hers to grasp her palm instead of just her wrist.
"I think you're scared," he says. "Scared of what happens when you don't fit in. Scared that you might be able to. What are you giving up if you get along? You're the 'Witch', after all... I know you fed those rumours. I think it's your armour."
"What about this?" Isabeau scowls, as his fingers lace between hers.
"I think some part of you must have wanted to let me in," Yasushi says, quite serious. "A girl like you doesn't go on three dates for no reason."
"... you are... nice," Isabeau admits, glancing away. "I was not sure if you were making fun at me, but... you seem sincere. Just... grabbing me this way..."
"Sometimes a guy needs to do something a little rash to get his point across," Yasushi says, apologetically. "You're not from around here, so I'll say it directly... I like you, Isabeau-chan. You're interesting... I feel bad thinking I couldn't get along with you before. But you're not a bad girl," he insists, squeezing her hand. "You're just a little wild. And I really do think you're acting out because you're scared," he says, still clasping her hand firmly.
She's certainly getting there, as she recalls what demarcates now and before, those ringing, humiliating strikes. It's disorienting, that reminder of her defeat, the way he almost seems to be excusing it -- and the way he says he likes her in the same breath.
Is he scaring her? Or is he noticing her fear?
"Maybe a little," she mutters, looking away. "Let me go?"
"You'd never respect a man who didn't fight for you, right?" He asks, squeezing her hand. "So I won't. Not until you give me a chance. If you don't need help, call it -- advice! I just want to give you some advice."
He's doing this... because she's so forceful...? Isabeau takes a breath, centres herself. "... fine. Speak."
"If we're going to start going out, you'd call me Yasushi-kun," he suggests, helpfully. "Before then, when we were more casual, it would have been Fujihide-kun. And when we hadn't said a word, you'd say Fujihide-san."
"Bah," Isabeau scowls. "This is far too complicated... but this will make you happy?" He nods, and so she repeats: "Yasushi-kun. Euh... does this mean we are... seeing each other?"
"You want to, right?" Yasushi asks. "Or... did I get the wrong idea?"
"No," Isabeau says, softly. "You are... nice to me. Even if you are stubborn... but I suppose you are right. I would not respect cowardice."
Slowly, she curls her fingers around his, too.
... and when it comes time for the next family dinner, Isabeau tells her father she's going on a diet.