2026-09-01: Fitting In, Striking Out
- Log: Fitting In, Striking Out
- Cast: Tsubasa Seki, Hana Fukami
- Where: Yumezaki Centre
- OOC Date: 2026-09-01
- IC Date: Thu Jan 03 2013
- Summary: Hana happens to come across Tsubasa and Lance, who are up to no good (despite their efforts to reform). She talks to them about gender, and her own interest in fitting in contrasts with Tsubasa's cynicism over never being able to.
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
There's a dog sitting down outside of Bikini Line! A scarred tosa inu -- the Japanese fighting dog -- who looks distinctly scrawny.
Lance waits, patiently...
"Ugh, I can't stand strays," a salaryman grouses, as he pauses by her. "You! Dumb dog! Shoo!"
"Aroo," Lance whines, tail tucked between her legs, as this strange man pesters her. She's just about ready to turn tail and flee when --
"Ch-ch," a youth with the world's fakest deep tan emerges from Bikini Line, flaming magenta and aqua hair shocked across their head, a pink and grey hoodie slung over bright orange board shorts and bright aqua tights. Their high-topped sneakers are dayglo green. In a word: offensive to the eyes.
It's kind of hard to tell just what gender they're offending from, though; even their voice doesn't give it away immediately, as they call: "Eat a dick, man, Lance ain't hurtin' no one."
The tosa inu scampers over to join them, as the salaryman turns to scowl at this mess of counterculture. "Damn brat --"
"Fuck you, man, you're the one pickin' on a dog!" Tsubasa snaps, with a deeply rude hand gesture.
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
A dog!! ...Hana Fukami wasn't planning on going to Bikini Line. She doesn't, as a rule, do tanning. She was going to pass it right by on her way somewhere else. However...
She happens to hear the commotion. Dressed in pink with a deeper pink coat over and black tights, Hana glances over to see what's going on. A dog and a gender-ambiguous Youth.
Hmm...
Hana is suddenly there, next to the salaryman. "Excuse me," Hana says. "I think there's no need for all that; they were just going to be on their way with their dog, weren't they?" Hana offers.
"It's better if we don't cause a scene, don't you think? It'll only slow everyone down here. And a distinguished man like you doesn't need to be tied up with all this."
"Right?"
She's helping...?
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
There's plenty of shopping to be had, here at Yumezaki Centre. But, indeed, there is a dog, and a ?Youth, and a disgruntled gentleman. And so --
"Ch, yeah, whatever," Tsubasa's cyan lip curls, their shocking makeup the only real indicator that they are scowling, without eyebrows as they are.
"We can't condone this as a society --" the man insists, instead, before he looks at Hana a second time and realises he recognises her. "Oh, Fukami-san! You go to Sumaru? My wife is a fan, but I thought you had a show in central Tokyo, didn't you...?"
Tsubasa keeps their own counsel, wisely, as he's distracted by the apparent fame of this chick. Indeed, as she engages him, she may realise...
... there's a dotted line where Tsubasa once stood, moments before, as they take the moment's distraction to slip through the crowd like they're used to dodging consequences.
Being super cas' about it all does mean she could probably still track them down, though...
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
Whatever. It'll do!
"I do!" Hana answers the salaryman with a smile. "I have family here," she explains, "Though I live in Tokyo. My brother and his wife."
She chats for a moment, before, "I'll let you on your way, though. Thank you for recognizing me!"
And then, soon...
Dot, dot, dot.
Hana walks to where she thinks Tsubasa got off to, plus a cute little dog...
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"Ah, you're a family woman, of course," the salaryman nods, thoughtfully. He makes sure to get an autograph for his wife, and so heads off on whatever he was up to before he decided to pick on a teenager and a dog.
But where is that dog? The next sign of her doesn't come until Hana walks far enough to reach Tony's 'shop' -- you know, the tables he's set out on the sidewalk. The back of Tsubasa is pretty easy to pick out, as loud as their plumage is... and, indeed, there's a dog sitting under the table they're examining things on.
"Cool," they say, as they lift up a string of pearls. "Hey, you seen anythin' like this come through lately what got pink pearls?"
"Whoa," Tony says, slowly. "That's rare. Why pink?"
It's because one of the clients of Kuzunoha had hers stolen, but Tsubasa doesn't say that. Instead: "Saw 'em online, thought they was cool."
"If I don't got it here, I don't got it," Tony assures them. "Do I got it?"
"You don't got it," Tsubasa assures them, after scrutinising their tables a second time.
"Damn," he shrugs. "Tough luck, fella. But hey, she's pink. Maybe she's got it!"
Oh, no, Tony saw Hana first...
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
"Yes," Hana replies, warm on the matter of her family. She's happy to give an autograph, and then... Dog!
Hana doesn't frequent Tony's shop, but the accessories are good. There, though: the dog! And--more to the point--Tsubasa.
Pink pearls...
Hmmm.
"Oh!" Hana looks surprised as she is pointed out, and then, "I'm afraid I don't." She has pink nails and a pink dress and a pink coat and some accessories but not, as it happens, pink pearls.
"But I was looking for your friend here," she says to Tony, and smiles at Tsubasa. And Lance!
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
Tony blinks, as his attention focuses on Hana. "Hey, you look familiar...?"
Tsubasa takes the moment to let their sleeve hand over their hand -- as they slip the pearls into a pocket stitched into the hem. In the next moment, as Hana smiles to them and attention comes to them again, they're examining a different set of pearls, as if it were the one they'd been looking at the whole time...
And, look, it's hard to quantify these split-second opportunistic decisions. Part of it is knowing that Tony is shady as fuck, so it isn't really wrong to screw him over when he's already doing crime; part of it is that pearls are expensive, and even with their delves into Mementos and the little Kuzunoha can scrape together to give them for their part-timing, it's hard to justify not taking the pay bump of an easy steal.
Part of it is just that they're really good at this, and it feels good to be good at something, even if that thing is 'unethical' or whatever. Chasing dopamine means getting away with illegal shit. That's so normal.
So maybe it's better to say they're in the process of reforming...
"Uh?" They frown, briefly, as they zone back in to realise that Hana was looking for them, and they snap reflexively: "I didn't do nothin'!" They totally did somethin'. "Or, uh... you're that chick what talked to that prick, yeah? Like, thanks, you want a medal?" They jerk their thumb -- the thumb of their other hand, with an arm which is strangely-textured under what looks, this close up, to be concealer on top of a tan -- towards the tables. "Tony-san's got loads, man."
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
"Do I?" Hana asks. "You might've seen me then!" She smiles.
But she doesn't go into the whole Thing about where he's seen her, immediately; it does mean that she doesn't see Tsubasa STEALING because she frankly doesn't have that good an eye for crimes. ...All those things might be true, of course. Hana might put it together after. But for now...
They are really good at this, aren't they?
"You didn't," Hana agrees. A beat, "No, thank you. I'm not really the medal type."
"No, I wanted to talk to you. You remind me of some good friends of mine," she says. "And myself, a little."
"...Definitely bolder than me, though. I like the hair."
A beat, and to Tony, "You do have an impressive selection!"
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"Yeah, I totally have!" Tony insists. "Like, uhhh..."
He's thinking in the background, for a while, as Tsubasa scrutinises Hana. "We ain't..." They start to deny the similarities, for a moment, before their blue eyes narrow -- or narrow further, there was already a subtle squint to one side. "Must got weird friends," they say, instead. "Aight. Sure."
They drop the pearls -- apparently the ones they were examining -- down on Tony's table, and shove their hands in their pockets, as they turn to stalk off. "Hey!" Tony calls out, as they turn, eliciting a flinch from them. Did he -- "I got it! You're that daytime TV chick! Yeah!"
Tsubasa puffs out a breath, as they call over their shoulder, "Get an autograph later, man, I'm out."
Hana's invitation is just carried in a jerk of their chin, as they look back to her. In the crowds of Yumezaki Centre, their fingers slip into the false pocket of their sleeve, transferring the pearls to a deeper pocket in their hoodie; it's work they do without altering their stride, as they make their way through the avenue, finally stopping by a park bench. They gesture to it, with a hand, as if to offer her a seat, though they just put a foot up by one of the armrests and lean forward onto a knee.
Lance, of course, approaches to investigate her as soon as they stop. "Aroo?" She wuffs, tail wagging first slowly and then very, very fast.
"It's cool," they say, "she's chill. Lance." They jerk a thumb back toward their chest, which, one way or another, is flat. "Seki," they introduce themself, in turn. "Tsubasa Seki. What, you some kinda famous or some shit?"
Yeah, they've never watched Hana's program in their life.
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
Tsubasa gets it; Hana would ordinarily be self-conscious of someone Noticing, but she all but invited Tsubasa to do so... and there are signs, for one who knows how to look. Some aspects of the hormones take more years than she's had to take full effect, for one.
but Tsubasa moves to leave, and Hana smiles. Then she looks back to Tony. "I'll be back," she assures him, and then makes a V-sign. "That's just right!"
Hana follows, and if she noticed the pearls at all, she sure hasn't said so. Instead, she waits until Tsubasa moves to the park bench... and then she takes a seat, smoothing her skirt and coat out when she does. It's better; she is in heels.
"Hello Lance," Hana says first, smiling at the little dog. "May I?" She won't pet without permission! From both of them.
"I have a show on Tokyo TV," Hana explains. "Flower Talk. It's daytime; a student wouldn't have much chance to see it."
Then, "Fukami," she introduces herself. "Hana Fukami. And I do like your hair. ...I was never as bold with colors, even before I settled down to be a 'proper lady'."
She notices the scarring, now that they're closer, but--who leads with that?
"It's intolerable, the way people treat those who don't 'fit'..."
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
Scarring across their face, yes; and on their arm, where their sleeve slipped up to show it, earlier. On their leg, too, where those tights ride up and expose a little skin, though they're quick to lean forward and pull their obnoxiously purple socks up over it when they notice that -- because much like the scars on their arm, those scars are far more obvious than the ones on their face, without concealer slapped over them.
... it's over their whole body.
They don't wanna talk about it.
Instead: "Sure," Tsubasa gives her permission to pet the dog, and Lance's permission is carried in the way she shoves her face into Hana's hands. Pet her! Love her! She's a good dog!!!!
"Huh," they grunt, in turn, when Hana talks about her television show. "Yeah, ain't my scene. Cool, tho'." That's probably the punk trying not to be impolite for once in their rude-ass life.
"Ain't gonna," Tsubasa shrugs. "I'm 'X'." X-Gender, they mean; neither a proper lady nor a distinguished gentleman. And they just come right out and say it...?! "Don't got no end point where I 'pass'. Gonna piss everyone off whatever I do, so may as well do what I want."
Beat. "Uh. Cool you got it sorted to the point a gettin' TV shit, tho'," they add, with a flap of their hand as their elbow rests on their knee, looking down to Hana as she sits. "You cool with settlin', or..."
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
They definitely don't have to talk about it.
Lance shoves her face into Hana's hand, and Hana laughs happily, petting the dog. "You're so cute!" she tells her. "Yes, you are! You're a good dog!"
But, it's not Tsubasa's scene, and that's fine. "Thank you," Hana says, and leaves the matter of her show at that. Instead...
Still, Tsubasa won't. X...
"I know a few people who are 'X'," Hana says. "I think that doing what you want with your gender is admirable," she says, though she hopes Tsubasa doesn't face 'pissed' all their life. ...Hopes.
"Thank you," Hana says again. "I lucked out, frankly; even then, they expected me to be 'funny'," she says. "But my co-host is really the funny woman. I'm the straight woman... so to speak."
She's wry when she asys that.
"...And mostly I am. I do like being a woman, rather than a man or something else. The trouble mostly comes in what people expect a 'woman' to be and do. That can be... restrictive."
"And between us, I'm not sure what that identity looks like for me, yet, long-term. Even I have things to figure out yet." As an adult.
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
Lance's eyes grow like dinnerplates as her tail threatens to wag off of her body and helicopter off into the air. SHE'S a GOOD DOG?!
"Yeah?" Tsubasa asks, and even their disaffected coolness can't cover the interest they have as they glance aside to Hana, hearing her say she knows more X-Genders. "Met a couple. Most still got least one foot in th' closet, tho'. Uh, 'cept for Kujaku-hakase. Ain't reckon they apologised a day in their life."
They're more cynical about how many people they're bound to piss off, frankly.
"So they know, huh? Sucks. Figured you mighta been stealth or some shit." It took them a hot minute to realise why she'd even find community with them, so what hope do cis people have??? "Yeah, fine so long's it's a joke... shitheads."
When they spit out their bile over that ideal, they at least do so away from the bench.
"Ch," they shrug, looking back to Hana. "Onnarashii is bullshit, anyway." That's proper ladylike speech, except for how it's so rigidly enforced: women ought to speak in a high register, with politeness and deference, and using feminine grammar. Calling it out is a particular indication of where Tsubasa falls on the issues of patriarchy.
"Still, huh?" They wonder, glancing down at her again. Even though she's an adult, she doesn't have everything figured out... "Better get crackin'. You playin' catch up, by now." They look out over the street, for a moment, before they get to: "When'd ya figure?" That she wasn't a man, they mean.
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
She is a good dog. Hana pets, though her attention is now primarily on Tsubasa. She even gets a second hand in there for a moment or two.
"Most," Hana agrees. "...Hmm. That sounds like a very interesting person!" Hana says, because she doesn't know them. "I know a few others who are out day to day, but... that's not the choice most of us has made."
"Mm-hm. Thanks. I could've been... but the choice was made for me. I can live with that, though; pretending I'm not trans wouldn't be living truthfully, either. I have experiences that most women don't." Still, "Mm-hm. That's just right. But, I've been able to get some dramatic roles, too. So it's not hopeless."
"...I admit," Hana says, "The difference in how men and women speak... Well, I always spoke a little more 'femininely', but it does make it easier in some respects, as a marker I can control." A beat, "But on the other hand... I've known a lot of women who it doesn't suit, too. So I'm not going to defend the concept except by that."
She doesn't really see it as a cultural treasure to be defended. Just a fact of life.
"Heh," Hana vocalizes about catchup. "That's true. But I think I'm farther along on that than most people--I've at least put thought into it."
But, "...A few years ago," Hana answers for when she figured. "In university. Before that, I was mostly content just being a gay man. Well, bisexual, but I primarily thought of myself the other way. But over time... It was a lot of little things that added up. In retrospect, it all makes sense. ...But at the time, I was just trying to muddle through life. It explained some of why my relationships with women had been awkward, for one. ...Gender and relationships... they all tie together. But it was my sister-in-law who made me realize it for sure, in the end."
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"Cool," Tsubasa says, and do not, infuriatingly, say that this Kujaku is the one associated with Peacock Silk. It can be a fun surprise for later!
"Ch," their tongue clicks to their teeth, hearing her say that the choice was made for her. "Bastards."
And of soft speech, they say: "Cool if you wanna, fucked if you gotta."
But then -- Hana's not been gottaing as long as they might have expected. "Not 'til then, uh?" They wonder, leaning on their knee. "... huh. Cool ya sister helped," and if there's some extra distance in their blue eyes, as they look behind Hana into the street, don't worry about it. "Figured meself after I broke up with some prick. Long story, it's whatever. Woulda been last year."
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
It's fine! Hana's never been to Peacock Silk.
"Thanks," Hana says of the bastards. And then... Well, it's a brief statement, but it does apply. "True," Hana allows.
Then, she explains... and Tsubasa seems to wonder about that. "I knew I liked men," she says. "The rest... Well, the distinction between a femme man and a trans woman is lost on a lot of people, and it took me a while to realize where I stood, was all."
Breaking up with... "Ahh. I had a bad breakup, myself," she euphemizes, though her hand shakes a little to remember it, one of the subtle signs of remembering that fear. "It was after that that I decided that I'd live as I wanted, instead of just how I was supposed to--more than I already was, I mean."
She doesn't see herself as particularly brave about it.
"I see... Well, there's all sorts of ways to figure it out. I won't pry, but I'm glad you were able to get out of that and learn more about yourself."
"...It's relationships that I have yet to figure out," she say then. "What you want for your 'self' is one thing--what you want in relation to others is different. My partners and I are working that out."
A smile. "Regardless, I wished I'd known more people like us when I was younger... so I thought I'd come after you for a bit."
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"You're people, huh?" Tsubasa asks, tilting their head. "Guess it tracks, sure. Me, I just got mad..."
People have wondered whether Tsubasa is really just angry, but they're not worth shedding much ink over. There are a dozen easier rebellions to do than rejecting one's gender.
Still, she's afraid of a breakup... and seeing that, Tsubasa doesn't pry. "Good on ya," they say, instead.
"Outta that, sure," and the implication that there's more they haven't gotten out of is left hanging.
Instead: "You got two hands fer a reason. Ain't no big. I'm like that, too."
They shrug, again, looking down to meet Hana's gaze for a moment. "It's cool," they say. "We're around. Jus' maybe not all so easy to see like me. Good meetin' ya, anyway, Fukami-san."
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
"Mm-hm," Hana answers. "I am. ...Most of the things I wasn't 'allowed' to do as a boy, I figured just came with liking men. But I didn't know about everything."
There are so many easier rebellions than that.
"Thanks."
But there's more... Well, that tracks; life like this isn't easy, and that's if all you have is gender variance. Tsubasa clearly has more than that, from how they speak, how they carry themself. More than that.
She smiles. "Is that so?" she asks. "Well, that's nice. That part at least... I feel we're solid on."
But they're around. Hana looks up at Tsubasa's face, and then nods. "Likewise," she says. "...Good meeting you. And..."
"Maybe we'll meet again. I live in Tokyo, and I work at the Tokyo TV station. ...if you ever need an adult who understands this kind of thing, and you can't go to one you already know... I'll be there."
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"I didn't figure out I liked girls too 'til after... but, uh, ain't like I had that much time," Tsubasa adds, roughly. "I mean, I coulda, jus' -- got put off it after that prick."
It's fine to date a lot of people in high school, just, you know, Tsubasa distinctly did not.
It's true, though: there's a world of difference between a Weird Girl and Tsubasa.
"Cool," they nod, when Hana says she's solid with her partners being partners. It's as laconic as ever, but Tsubasa isn't blind to the needs of adults who are navigating strange waters, either.
And so: "Sure," Tsubasa says, as they sway into the bench before kicking off of it, straightening up. "I'm in Tokyo sometimes. Got friends there. Kujaku-hakase out there, too, up in Shimokitazawa... y'know, Peacock Silk." So apparently all the trans adults are in Tokyo, which really has some dire implications for the trans Sumaru youth...
It's probably fine.
"See ya 'round, Fukami-san," they say, as they lift their hand from their pocket in a lazy wave.
If a pearl peeks out from the pocket for a brief instant as their fingers catch on it while they're doing that, no it didn't.
NO NARCS, HANA!