2026-09-21: Something On Her Mind
- Log: Something On Her Mind
- Cast: Hana Fukami, Shinobu Shimizu, Katsuya Suou
- Where: Red Light District - Main
- OOC Date: September 21, 2026
- IC Date: January 13, 2013
- Summary: Shinobu and Katsuya come to check in on Hana, and they end up having a talk about the things they saw--and what justice might have to say about the Producer.
(|======================== 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 Kingdom, Studio 4, is quiet tonight. It resembles evening, here, and it is abuzz with possibility--the cafe where the Rebels stay tight with anticipation of the coming assault. Hana Fukami, in a nice (if dated) pink dress, has just sat down in the corner booth, with a cup of weak coffee and a sigh.
The Cognitions of the Rebels are all around, but Kato is out at the moment. The cafe itself is off-white with plenty of greenery.
In the real world, it's night-time by now, but time has passed strangely here; it will remain night until the time of the coming assault.
Hana looks tired... But also different, from how she'd looked before, somehow. Less lost.
<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.
When they return to it, evening has fallen over the Kingdom. Shinobu notices the change immediately - she doesn't think she recalls the time of day ever changing before... Has something happened?
Certainly, something must have - because the cafe is abuzz with activity...
She approaches the counter to request a coffee - and then once she retrieves it she approaches the table Hana sits at, sliding into one of the chairs.
"Hey, Fukami-san. Hope this seat ain't taken. We're back." Shinobu says. 'We', because she isn't here alone. "How've you been? ...You look good."
It's less about her physicality, though she does like her dress, and more about that look in her eyes, of one who is less lost than before...
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
It's quiet back here. Katsuya, for one, isn't certain if that's meant to bode ill or not. Sometimes, silence is merely silence. But other times...
It's not difficult for either of them to locate Hana. She's alone in the back room with a cup of coffee and an overall demeanor that suggests that she's had better days.
A coffee wouldn't go over poorly, he's thought to himself and like Shinobu, has gone to go get exactly that for himself. ...That, and a handful of sugar packets, apparently, which he surreptitiously (or at least thinks he is) adding to his cup when he thinks Shinobu isn't looking.
"Indeed, we've met some some success," he reports, coffee in hand.
Katsuya pauses, though.
"Is there something on your mind? I would not mind listening," he says, waiting for the opening to take a seat himself.
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
Hana's also added sugar to her coffee, but she doesn't fear being found out!!
...She notices the two of them approaching. "it isn't," Hana answers of the seat, and then she smiles. "Sure," she says. it's a little wan, but it is indeed a smile. "Thank you..."
"I'm a bit better than I was," she says. "But planning strategy is hard work, too."
"Please, sit," she says to both of them, when Katsuya offers to listen. "I think... yes, there is."
"So some of the others came, yesterday." Not yesterday in the real world, but yesterday here. "And they made me remember some things. Realize some things. And I've decided... to try to help the Rebels."
"It's not entirely altruism," she admits. "I'm angry with the Producer, for what he's doing--to me, and to them. ...I mean, I'm not sure they're..." She gestures to a Cognition who doesn't quite look human. "But still, they've been kind to me."
"But now that I've gotten over that initial burst of anger.. I'm worried. The people I care about are next in line, if I fail. And if my strategies go wrong... Everyone, including you and your friends, is in danger, if they still come to help."
"I'm not sure what to do about that feeling... About being afraid. I want to help, but..."
"Well, I should ask too. What did you find, out there? Did you find a route to him?"
<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.
Katsuya goes for some sugar packets. Shinobu pretends not to look when he adds them to his coffee.
Shinobu smiles when Hana assures them that the seat isn't taken.
"Cool." She offers, and nods. "No problem."
Planning strategy is hard work... So that's what's going on.
"...Yeah, I bet it is." Shinobu acknowledges. She takes a seat as Hana indicates, then looks toward Katsuya briefly as he asks if there's something on her mind. As it happens, yes, there is.
Shinobu looks back toward Hana, listening as she explains how some of the others came to her yesterday. She remembered some things - realized some things, and decided to try to help the Rebels.
"Hey, that's awesome." Shinobu says - and when she says that she's angry... "Hell yeah. Get mad."
That's one way of encouraging someone...
...but it's more complicated than that, it seems, and Shinobu frowns as Hana continues. The people she cares about are next in line if she fails, and if her strategies go wrong everyone is in danger... She's not sure what to do about being afraid, and wants to help...
She asks, then, what they found. If they found a route to the producer. Shinobu reaches into her coat, pulling out a key and setting it on the table.
"Got an elevator key. Supposedly, it should take us right to 'im." Shinobu confirms. But as for what they've learned... "...Well."
She massages the back of her neck. It's awkward to say it, since it's dragging up her history, but...
"...We learned what he has planned next for you. He's gonna try to blackmail you with your ex." Shinobu explains. "Sounds like he wants to use the Demons and Shadows to scare you, too."
She leans back in her chair.
"...Anyway, don't worry about us." She says with a shrug. "We came here knowing it'd be dangerous. That's just the risk of doing anything that matters."
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
Alas for Katsuya, Hana has a few advantages over him on that front.
"Then, I would be glad to listen." He glances at Shinobu, once, and then when Hana does invite them to have a seat, he does precisely that. He sets down the cardboard cup onto the table with care, checking its temperature in passing with the back of his hand. Often, they can be too hot to drink right after brewing, but...
How odd. It seems like it's already the perfect temperature. Is that a result of this being a 'supernatural space'? If it really is controlled by Hana's thoughts, to some extent, then...
But that's not what he remarks upon. Rather--
"I see. So that's the conclusion you've come to? I think..." He pauses. He doesn't look at Shinobu this time, even when she encourages that sort of anger.
At last he says: "I think it's the right decision."
Even if she's now worried about what happens next.
At that, Katsuya shakes his head. "Please, there is no need to worry about us, Fukami-san. We decided to assist you. Therefore, the responsibility for that decision... falls upon us. That being said," he adds, fidgeting a moment with his sunglasses, "I understand your concerns. If I were in the same situation, I would think the same." Feel the same, at that.
"Therefore... I suppose I cannot think it is 'bad' that you're concerned." She can't exactly pitch in herself, as these things stand. And...
But what did they find?
"We have secured a route. We were able to encourge a group of the Rebels to overtake some of the guards and, yes." He glances at Shinobu and nods. "If the others are successful as well, I think we will have no trouble. That being said..."
He glances away from Hana. The language used in that recording... even if it was true, there was no need to...
"The enemy... is planning on resorting to blackmail," he says at last, again reaching up to just touch the bridge of his sunglasses. "I am sorry. This is not easy to..." He looks at Shinobu, nods, then glances away again.
"It is... as she says."
He's out of his depths here, isn't he...
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
Awesome, Shinobu calls it, and Hana smiles faintly. "Thank you," she says. And--get mad. It's better than it was before, for sure--she takes the encouragement in that spirit, and she is mad.
But Katsuya is glad to listen. ...The mystery of the coffee hasn't occured to Hana; she does, though, listen when katsuya says it's the right decision, at length, and she smiles. "That's reassuring," she says.
"A key..."
And--
"Mm. That's... true. Your actions aren't mine. You've made your own choices, the same as I have. But it's like you say; I'm still going to be concerned. ...If I keep that in mind, though, maybe I can make it manageable."
"Blackmail, then... That makes sense, but I sstill don't like it." She sighs. "Well, I'm glad you had success. But, given how I've heard from the others how the Producer's been talking about me, you may have questions."
"...My ex. Having been engaged to a woman... You might guess that previously I lived as a man," Hana explains. "Our parents introduced us. There were complicated factors involved in our relationship... but in the end, given my history with men, her brother decided that I was using her--that I intended to continue seeing men behind her back, and use her for cover. The fact that it wasn't true was irrelevant; he attacked me."
"I..." She sighs, and then sips her coffee.
"You shouldn't blame the police," she says first. "His family begged me not to press charges, and we all agreed to keep it quiet; the police were barely involved. ...While the police aren't always friendly with 'alternative lifestyles'.. I can't help but be reassured that you're here, Suou-san. Since you don't seem the type to come down on me for that."
"Regardless, they're right. It's a good thing to blackmail me with. Both for the story being somewhat... disgraceful, and the fact that I still am afraid of that man. ...But..."
"...Right now, it makes me angry," she says. "You see..."
"That's why Producer Matsumoto--or, the... real one? I'm not sure--fired me. He found out what had happened and decided the potential press was bad for him. ...Now he's mad I found another way into the business."
"...Thank you, for the warning. But that's the shape of it. That's why they'd be able to blackmail me."
<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.
Shinobu nods as Hana thanks her. She looks toward Katsuya as he considers Hana's decision... and as he ultimately decides that she's made the right decision. He does reassure her, too... and admits to understanding her concerns.
Shinobu massages the back of her neck. She supposes she would still be worried - it'll take more than some encouragement to make that go away...
She meets Katsuya's glance again as they tell Hana what the Producer has planned for her. And Hana... doesn't seem surprised.
"...Yeah. I knew." Shinobu confirms with a nod. She knew before she arrived here... but she doesn't know how much she now knows or remembers. She listens as she tells her story, and grimaces.
"...Asshole." She mutters, about the brother - but doesn't interrupt further as she continues. Hana is relieved that Katsuya is here...
Shinobu glances toward him, interested in his take. She looks back, then.
"...Yeah. I can see how it'd be, uh... effective." She admits, massaging the back of her neck. But Hana explains why it makes her so angry - the actions of the real Producer Matsumoto.
"Seriously? What a scumbag. It's not good enough to run you out of one studio?" Shinobu seethes. "No wonder this place is so... like This under his thumb."
She shakes her head.
"...What're you gonna do, now that you know?" She asks.
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
Just because something is the right decision doesn't mean that it will be easy. Often the reverse, Katsuya has found, often to his dismay, is the case. Indeed, his current situation is also a result of what he'd thought had been the right thing to do.
(And even so, he'd still do it again.)
Speaking to that, he nods, then remarks, "What is right isn't necessarily easy," he tells her, shaking his head. "Likewise, I do not want to pretend that whatever happens next will be simple to resolve. Nevertheless... I do think it is necessary and correct." Turning her back on such matters, even if she could... what would happen next? Would something else wind its way in here? Would it represent some sort of 'undoing' of what she has and holds dear?
"I don't think," he tells her instead, because musing over such things won't bring him any easy or useful answers, "that it is wrong to be concerned," he tells Hana, shaking his head. "Regardless, perhaps it is possible to have such concern while understanding it is... not of your own control."
Not of her own control. Or, not of his own control, either, he considers in silence. That's... true, but he's about as ready and able to accept it as she is...
Perhaps it's in his nature to worry, and hers as well.
But they speak of blackmail, and Hana remarks that the others brought up such things as well--
"I... see," Katsuya says slowly, as if turning over such a thought in his head even as she brings up her past life and her 'ex'. The woman she had been engaged to. At that point, she would have been 'he', and... perhaps with that in mind, he can see 'why' the woman's brother would have reacted like that. 'Why', yes, but...
"There's no excuse to resort to violence like that," says Katsuya, glancing at Shinobu as she swears. He's not even thinking in the moment of the time he'd punched a panty-thief over the honor of the women who used the changing room at GOLD. Perhaps he'll think about it later.
Of course, the fact also remains that in this case, it wasn't true.
But she goes on to say that she didn't press charges, and nothing came of that in the eyes of the law. "I see... no, thank you, but... unfortunately, you are correct." Even at his station, there are those among the other officers who disparage such 'lifestyles' and take an older view of how people ought to get on. "The fact is that people are living their lives as they wish, and that the world changes with each generation. Holding onto the past simply because it was the past... there are good things about the past, that's true, but..." He shakes his head. "Pretending that the world isn't moving on is simply denial. We have to accomodate the ways in which people want to live, so long as they are lawful."
One might get the impression that 'lawful' means something different to him than 'is strictly written into the legal code' as such.
But more to that, that story is why the Producer, the real one, had fired her. "So that's the reason why... I am sorry."
So now what, Shinobu more or less asks.
"If it's already known what his attempt will be... perhaps we can do something about it. Even in a place like this, blackmail or extortion, whatever the motivation of reason, is against the law," Katsuya says, his expression grim. "I may not be able to act as an officer in the 'real world', but in a place like this..."
Is it right?
What is 'right', when someone else is already breaking the law?
"Perhaps, it has a chance," he allows, setting such concerns now aside.
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
Hana watches Shinobu, too--she's reassured by her as well, but it's harder to pin down why she knows Shinobu is so reliable, when she doesn't remember meeting her outside this place at the moment. It's easier to pin it down for katsuya.
But it would be... effective. "Mm..." Hana nods. "Yes, I understand what you're saying. I don't know what it means to defeat 'him' here either... But..."
She at least can get what Katsuya is saying. "Right. For things we can't change... it's important to remember that worrying a little is fine, but we shouldn't let it consume us. Something like that?"
She remembers a few things, now.
Katsuya turns it over--but as she gambled, he doesn't give her trouble. "Thanks," she says. "Maybe we were wrong for each other from the beginning... But it's not how I'd have preferred to find it out." With violence.
And, well, "...I thought so. I've known a lot of police officers--even the once who indulge in 'alternative' matters themselves tend to go back to work and decry it to others. But maybe as the world moves on we'll see more like you--more like the ones who want to protect everyone, not just those who 'behave'."
Lawful... Well, most of her life is lawful. The laws just haven't caught up to some of the things she wants... But she does get the impression he doesn't limit himself to the statutes on the books.
"Right," Hana agrees with Shinobu's seething. "I guess he thought I'd make a good student for him until that. he really has helped a lot of careers... But I won't subject myself to that anymore."
What now? "That's a good question..."
Katsuya has some to say about it. She considers. "...The 'real' world is so far gone," she says. "I wonder what it'll take, to help it?"
"Still, I'll certainly give you your shot at him, Officer. As for me..."
"Well, my first step is getting there. I don't know what this place wants out of me, but if I can find out, i can make sure he never gets it."
"And then..."
"...Well, if I get out of here, I think..."
"I think no matter what, I can't give in. Even if it risks everything."
"So that's that."