2026-09-14: Something to Think About
- Log: Something to Think About
- Cast: Hana Fukami, Ririka Kawase
- Where: Red Light District - Main
- OOC Date: September 14, 2026
- IC Date: Wednesday, January 09, 2013
- Summary: Ririka heads into Hana's Kingdom to do some recon and help out the Rebels... but her real goal is to check in on Hana. She does, and the two get to talking. Ririka tries to remind Hana of some of the things she's forgotten that mean a lot to her.
(|======================== Red Light District - Main =========================|)
-===================================================== Tokyo/Shinjuku Ward ====-
It's said if you go out the wrong side of Shinjuku Station, you lose a whole
day. Go out the correct side though, and you still might find yourself on the
wrong side of town. Even walking into Shinjuku's Red Light District subjects you
to endless barkers and touts, looking for opportunities to pull tourists and
young women alike into places where they might get scammed and exploited by the
predators of this place.
Neon signs glare offering disorienting guidance to businesses stacked upon one
another. All the vices of the city are available in smoky bars where one might
forget their dreams at the bottom of a glass, or take offers of companionship in
shady host or hostesses clubs.
Be careful. As smart as you are, wiser people than you have lost everything
here.
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
The little cafe that serves as the forward base for the Rebel Union is bustling; there are all sorts of little Cognitions here, running around, serving coffee, passing messages, preparing for battle... and of course, some of them are smoking, but cheaper things than the nice cigars inside. It's an important businessy activity.
Hana isn't. ...She's neither smoking nor an important business activity. Instead, she sits out back, facing away from the Producer's Complex, where they can stay mostly hidden but get a little fresh air, too. She's in a chair at an outdoor table, and the weather is holding: cloudy, but not yet rainy.
The Kingdom trucks along; soon, they may have all they need...
But what can Hana do but wait? At least she's found another dress instead of that awful suit; pink, though a little old-fashioned.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka, of course, has her duties to SEES to fulfill. But that doesn't keep her from investigating other things, and news of Hana Fukami going missing has definitely caught her attention. It wasn't too much work to find the door into the Kingdom, and from there it wasn't too much work to find the Cafe. Especially not for a Navigator.
What information she can gather, both from her own scans and from the Cogitions in the cafe, she'll take back to sEES to help organize an expedition. But past that...
There's something of more personal relevance to her. Ririka steps out the back of the cafe. She's dressed in a winter coat, over a blue flannel, a black band tee, jeans, and sneakers. Not exactly the most feminine attire, really.
"Fukami-san, I was so concerned when I'd heard you went missing." Ririka is relieved for a moment, and then frowns. "Are... how are you doing?"
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
Hana turns her head towrds Ririka as she approaches; it's not as cold here as it is out there, but it's not exactly warm, either. She looks over Ririka without recognition. "...I'm sorry," the older woman says, "Do I know you? I'm afraid there's a lot of my memory that's missing..."
"But thank you for your concern," she says. "I'm..." She considers.
"I've been better," she settles on, and lifts her coffee in greeting. "But I suppose if you've seen this place, you can imagine why. How are you? I'd offer to get you something but... it's all free anyway, to those who are helping."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
It might not be as cold, no, but Ririka will have to step back out into Tokyo at some point.
Ririka knows they only met the once, but, it still causes her some worry not to be remembered. She sucks in a sharp breath from her teeth. "We've... met. But... only once."
She's been better. Ririka nods slowly. "I... can imagine." When the last Kingdom popped up, and Maria went missing, they weren't table to talk to her like this. So the memory loss hits a little harder, for that reason.
"I'm... mostly okay. Aside from being worried about you." She nods and holds up her own cup of coffee. "Yeah, I was helping to... do some reconnaissance. For the rebels. So I've gotten an idea of what the place is like..."
Ririka takes a step closer. "May I join you?"
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
"Oh. I see. Then I'm sorry I don't remember you. What's your name?"
She pauses. Ririka can imagine... And Hana gives a wan smile. "There's apparently all sorts of important things i don't remember." She then says, "Ah..."
"So even young people can do something about all this..." She sighs a little. "Just be careful out there. The Producer's men won't care that you're a high schooler if they catch you."
Then, "Sure, feel free. The company would be nice."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
"It's... you don't have to apologize. It's not your fault." Ririka tries to offer a smile. "I'm Ririka Kawase. When we met, I was with... a friend of mine, named Ikumi Okuyama. In Tokyo."
All kinds of things. "... and that started whe you ended up here...?" Ririka hazards a guess.
A nod. "I will be." This won't be the first time she's faced something like this, but... no need to get into that. But she won't mention that.
Ririka takes a seat, then, setting her cup down. "Thanks. Um... I know I said we only met the once, but... you made a really good impression on me."
"Is there anything you do remember?"
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
She smiles back, at that. "Then it's nice to see you again, Kawase-kun." Ikumi... Also not familiar.
"Mm-hm," Hana confirms. But then, "Good. That's all I can ask. I'm not sure I can believe even you all will manage something, but..."
"Still, be careful."
But then, "Did I? Why's that?" she wonders. "I think I'm fairly ordinary, as that goes. ...Well, except for the obvious."
She shakes her head. "Lots of things. I just don't remember any of you, or... What exactly I was doing, before I ended up here. And some things people have mentioned to me--that I don't remember."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
"It's nice to see you again," Ririka says with a small smile. It's a little strained, given the circumstances, but she's trying.
Hana has trouble believing Ririka can help, and Ririka supposes that's fair. "I've run into things like this before," she says. "But I appreciate your concern."
"Except for the obvious...?" Ririka knows, of course, the one thing that might not count as 'ordinary', but with the memory loss she's not sure what Hana will consider obvious.
Lots of things, just not... Ririka nods quietly. "I see. And I guess that includes why the Producer's Men might be looking for you, either?"
She heard Hana ask why their meeting was memorable, and she'll circle back to that in a moment.
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
"Hmm. You're not the first person who's mentioned other things like this. It's hard to believe, but I have no reason to doubt you."
But the obvious. "Oh... Well, 'trans' isn't exactly ordinary," Hana says. "...Of course, being gay wasn't, either. But it was all right. It didn't get me quite as much trouble... most of the time."
Still, "No, I do remember that. I made him mad. He... fired me, for something a while back--it was a bad experience. But I decided to try my career again, and..."
"He doesn't appreciate it. If I couldn't go to him and ask for help, then he'd rather I don't succeed at all. I'm making him look bad."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
"Sometimes I have a hard time believing it, too," Ririka admits. "So I guess that's understandable."
'Trans'. Ririka doesn't exactly relax, but she does look a little less tense. "... But there's nothing wrong with being trans, either. Or gay."
There's a frown. "... well that sucks. And..." Ririka saighs. "... sadly I can believe someone would be like that." Maybe not before, but given some of her experiences... "You have a popular talk show. My mother watches it. I watched a little too, on Winter Break."
"But as for our meeting, well... I was walking to a skate park with Ikumi-chan, and an older woman started chewing me out for being a delinquent, just for carrying a skateboard. But you stepped in and managed to talk her down before anybody else got involved. Especially the police."
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
"Is that how it is?" Hana wonders. "I see."
Nothing wrong with... Hana smiles. "I'm glad you think so. Or, don't think so, as it happens. I feel the same... but a lot of people don't. Or feel that it's only all right if you act a certain way."
But it does suck! "...So you've seen that kind of thing too, even at your age..." She's troubled by that. "Mm. That's nice. I hope you enjoyed it."
But...
"I see... A skate park. I can see why you'd have trouble. But really, you say I stepped in?"
That surprises her, it would seem. "...Wow. That doesn't seem like the kind of thing I could do at all..."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
A longer, slower sigh. "... yeah, I know other people don't look on it favorably. I... think about that a lot, believe me. It's... kind of tiring, isn't it? Having to worry about what everybody else will think?"
"Yeaaah, I... don't want to get into the details, but..." There's not really a good way to succinctly explain the whole thing with Eiji or his Shadow counterpart. "... some people can be raelly gross. Especially towards women."
"I did!" she confirms.
"Yeah, it's... not exactly something I go out of my way to advertise, you know?" For pretty self-evident reasons. But Ririka manages a smile. "You did! It was kind of amazing to see, honestly."
"Well, you definitely did. And, uh..." Ririka looks around for a moment, then closes her eyes to just listen. Then she opens them and looks to Hana. "... my girlfriend and I were pretty grateful for your help."
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
A lot... So Ririka, too, then. Hana can't be certain, so she doesn't voice it, but that's when she starts to imagine it might be the case. "It is," Hana says. "It's really tiring. ...For the most part, I don't mind what people say. But some of those people aren't just people."
But, some people can be gross. "True," Hana says. "There's a lot of dangers out there for young women--men, too, but they tend to find women are easier targets."
But she doesn't advertise. Hana smiles back. "I understand."
She did, though. She did that. "...So, I saw another person like me out there, and wanted to help..."
"It's hard to imagine. I feel like I've always just been trying to keep my head down. That... Makes me think, a little. And it worked out fine? Nothing bad happened?"
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Hana will get her confirmation in a bit, but her hunches are right on. "I try, but... I can't stop thinking about it, sometimes."
"... yeah. I started taking some self-defenses classes a while ago, because of... well, something that happened to someone close to me. But even with that, I still worry..."
"I don't know if you realized I was like you, honestly," Ririka admits. "You could've? I just... I'm not always the best at reading people," Ririka admits, a bit sheepishly. "But... she was making a pretty big fuss, insulting both of us, it... it could've become a big mess. So whether you realized or not, I'm grateful."
"I kind of get wanting to keep your head down? There's stuff about myself I don't really share, but... it sucks to have to call Ikumi-chan my 'friend', or to pretend I'm not into skateboarding or punk music. I'd rather just... be myself. And I'd rather see other people be themselves, too."
"Yep! Nothing bad happened. You stepped up, the woman recognized you, you said you'd 'take responsibility' for us, and... she left. You gave us some advice about just... apologizing and playing along next time, too."
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
"That makes sense. I've known people who had the same problem."
Self-defense classes? That really is something. Hana hesitates, and looks away.
But then, "Hmm. Maybe, maybe not, then." Still... "Mm. Then, you're... welcome? It feels strange to be thanked for something I don't remember."
Skateboarding, punk music... "Right. I understand. Pretending to people... It's not a great way to live. But what's our alternative? Of course, I can't really hide, anymore. ...But that has its own kinds of pressure."
But nothing bad happened, and...
"I see... Well, that is pretty good advice--the best way to defuse something like that is to refuse to escalate--don't match her anger."
"Still..."
"Thanks. For telling me."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
"Yeah? Glad it's not just me, then..."
Ririka doesn't like to dwell on it, either.
"Well, it definitely happened, so... I was glad you did."
"Being out is kind of a scary thought... I know it's not an easy thing to do, but... if nobody ever speaks up, then... things won't change, right?" She's silent for a moment. "... that's why it gives me hope when, I find out about someone like you, or when someone like Junko Kurosu uses her voice to speak out."
Ririka nods. "I'll try to remember it. She just... caught me so off guard, I didn't know how to react." Ririka makes a face. "She called me a guy."
Ririka manages a smile. "You're welcome."
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
"Mm-mm," Hana says. "I had... a boyfriend, for a little while, in high school. But he didn't really want to be official--broke it off before we could be, since he was afraid of what people might think... afraid of how he was feeling, maybe."
"Not just him, but... Well, he's one."
And it did happen. "That's true," Hana says. "If nobody speaks out, nothing changes. ...But are you willing to be the one to suffer, so it does? I guess that's the question. ...Still, I..."
"It's hard to believe I'm giving someone hope..."
She has to sit with tht for a little while. But for now, she just shakes her head. "That'll do it," she says. "People get very sure about what's appropriate for boys and girls--and very willing to assume."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka has a sympathetic wince for Hana, as she relates that. "... I'm sorry. "I'm sorry. That must've been really difficult. Figuring out dating when you're gay is hard enough... it sucks to have all that extra pressure on it."
Is she willing to suffer? "... I've given it some thought," Ririka admits. "I'm a musician--I have a band. I already... I mean, I'm a girl leading a rock band, so..." Well, she's already heard remarks for that, despite her talent. "... you know."
"... but wouldn't it be cool, if I could inspire someone else..."
"But you are. At least to me."
Ririka sighs. "Yeah, and with me being so tall... and, you know, not always exactly the most feminine..." She shakes her head. "But, uh... Sorry. Um... is there... something I can do for you, while I'm here?"
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
"Thank you," Hana says. "...It worked out all right for me, eventually. But not so much for him." She shakes her head. "Thanks."
And Ririka's given some thought to it. She has a band... "I see... Well, it would make fame more difficult for you," she says. "Some people would hold it against you. But you might have a devoted enough smaller audience to survive it."
Inspiring someone else...
"It depends on your goal. If what you want is fame and fortune, I wouldn't judge, but... it would be better not to rock the boat."
She smiles. "...Thanks."
Hana considers. "That can be difficult. I was short for a man--and now I'm tall for a woman. But..."
"No," Hana says. "You already have. You've given me something to think about. I appreciate it."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka nods quietly. "Well, I'm glad it worked out for you, at least. Can... I ask what happened to the other guy? You don't have to say, if you don't want."
Ririka wasn't going to bring up the issue of the advice, since... this hardly seems like the time. But her other musings just kind of slipped out there. "I mean, fame and fortune would be great, but... I've kind of always just... been about the music, you know? I just... want to play music and share it."
"But... that's something to think on. Thanks."
Hana's relation to her height changed... "Huh. I guess I never thought of how that could happen."
"Okay." Ririka manages a small smile. "If I could help, then... I'm glad. Just... hang in there, okay?"
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
"...he died," Hana explains. She has a pained expression, as she does. "I didn't... I didn't help him."
but, she's just about the music. Hana smiles. "Then maybe you can. ...Maybe you can."
Something to think about. And well--her height? "It's a lot of things, you never really know until you do it."
She smiles, though it's still a little muted. "I will," she says. "Thanks."