2026-09-28: Being Hard on Yourself
- Log: Being Hard On Yourself
- Cast: Kazusa Motojima, Kanae Fuyuki
- Where: Electric Town - Main
- OOC Date: September 28, 2026
- IC Date: Wednesday, January 16, 2013
- Summary: Kanae and Kazusa's go to Kazusa's studio to chat for a while after school. There is coffee and chocolate to be had.
(|=========================== Electric Town - Main ===========================|)
-========================================================= Tokyo/Akihabara ====-
A sacred place for otaku, not just within Japan but worldwide. Here, it's so
mainstream to be a geek that it circles back to being cool again. That is,
unless you harass the staff of the businesses here whose job requires them to be
a part of this culture, or the cosplayers who work so hard at their costumes
that it's practically a second job for them.
Arcades and gaming shops alternate with manga stores full of merch that's so
pricy as to make any broke fan envious. Collectors line the streets for the
chance to trade for the rarest gachapon finds. Maid cafes and popups with menus
designed to profit off the latest hits in the weekly manga collabs and/or old
favorites from two decades ago cater equally to tourists and locals alike.
Anywhere on earth may be a heaven or hell depending on who you are, but that may
be truer than most places for Akihabara.
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Things at school have been... well, tense would be an understatement. Shujin is always has a certain baseline amount of tension to being in its halls... but the presence of a Homunculus in her classroom only ratched it up.
Then came the incident in the rhythmic gymnastics club room. Then the hallway, and then...
Shinich's bedroom.
And a few days ago she finally had a chance to get into Shinichi's Atelier. Hopefully they left it better than they found it, by freeing some Sanguins, but Kazusa would be lying if she said she wasn't deeply concerned.
... At least she still has her studio. If she had to go directly home after classes...
She's still in her school uniform as she unlocks the door of the studio apartment and steps inside. She's been anxious the whole way over, checking over her shoulder, and trying to discretely keep an eye out for anybody following her.
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
Kanae, for one, is definitely concerned. She was pretty sure the Homunculus knew someone had been in the Atelier, even if so far it doesn't seem as if he identified them in particular...
So far.
There's no 'better' until that thing is gone.
Kanae's also in uniform though, and she doesn't go in first; she steps inside after, after a glance around them.
"It's fine," Kanae assures Kazusa. "Nobody followed us. Definitely not 'him.'"
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Kazusa lets out a tense sigh and nods as she changes into house slippers. "Alright," she says to Kanae. "He can't possibly slip by the both of us, right?" There's a shiver as she moves to set her school bag down on the table by the kitchenette. "I'm just... glad we can watch each other's back."
At least, some of the time.
"... you want something to drink? I've got canned coffee. There's an electric kettle if you want tea."
She never offers to make the tea herself, though.
Kazusa looks inside the minifridge for a moment and then looks to Kanae. "... you doing okay?"
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
Kanae doesn't answer that one. He totally could. But he hasn't, she's sure. "It's cool," she says. "We can. ...I've got your back, all right?"
"Canned coffee is good," Kanae answers, rolling her shoulders a little and finding somewhere to set down her bag.
"Me?" she asks. "I'm fine. You should see the cool new weapon I've got--but it's in that weird space with the rest of my outfit..."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Kazusa really wishes Kanae would answer that question. But she's also not going to press the issue right now. She nods. "... and I've got yours, Kanae-chan."
The round wooden table by the kitchenette has space enough for both their bags. "Alright." Kazusa grabs two cans and hands one to Kanae. They're the fancy kind that are self-heating. "... gonna have to go buy more soon," she mutters to herself as she starts heating hers.
Kazusa looks at Kanae skeptically. "You sure? You're dating that monster, after all." Kazusa isn't exactly harping Kanae about it, but it's clearly everpresent on her mind.
"New weapon...?" She sits down at the table. "... yeah, what's up with that outfit anyway. I mean, mine, too."
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
Self-heating! That's nice. "Thanks," she says for the back-having and the coffee both. She sets hers to go, and takes a seat at the table too. "I'm fine," Kanae says. "With school starting back up I've been really 'busy', after all." A shake of her head. "Anyway, if anything happened badly, I'd tell you."
But a new weapon. "Yeah! It's like, a saw." Pause. "Dunno. Hunter's clothes are better for fighting in than a uniform. I'm sort of surprised more people don't have special outfits. The Phantom Thieves do, Hunters do..."
"And you do."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
School means Kanae is 'busy.' "... I guess that's tgrue. And I guess this means you can more easily keep an eye on that first-year in your tennis club." The one that's on Shinichi's Homunculus' list.
She nods, at the reassurance. "Alright."
"Hmm. You think the Phantom Thieves' outfits are like ours?" Well, she knows Belle's outfit is like that, but she's not about to betray Kasumi's confidence. "... you ever meet any of them?"
"Well, mine definitely isn't... better for fighting in, that's for sure."
She shakes her head. "But a saw, huh? We managed to make a deal with someone named Trish to get some Skill Cards. Oh, and I got this weird notebook I'm not sure what it's for yet."
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
"Yeah. Hayashi-kun." Kanae waits for it--but since Kazusa seems to her to (finally) let it go for now, she's willing to move on.
"I mean, do i assume they have costumers? No." She grins. "Probably, is what I mean. I've met some of them, but I don't know their 'real' identities. ...Probably better that way. Though I am curious."
Hers... isn't. "Guess you can't win them all."
"Mm-hm. --Oh, you dealt with Trish? And you still have both kidneys? I'm impressed."
"...A notebook?"
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
"Wonder what he did to get on the Homunculus' bad side..." Not that it takes much. But this time, Kazusa will leave that topic alone.
"Right, right. Probably seems like a safe bet." She considers. "I've run into some of them, but I haven't really had a chance to talk to any of them..."
What's the tactical value of the wolf ears and tails, Kanae? Kazusa would really like there to be an answer.
"I'd better have both kidneys. I don't have enough problems as it is. We found a room of food item that we traded. But it's food from an Atelier, so... make of that what you will."
"Yeah, it's called an Enma Notebook? I was thinking of asking Peacock Silk if they knew anythinga bout it."
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
"No idea."
"I've got opinions. Just like anybody else at Shujin."
Cuteness is highly tactical, Kazusa.
"Ohhh, so you had bulk to trade with her. That makes sense. Whatever, maybe demons will like it." She waves a hand. Then--she frowns.
"Enma?" she wonders. "Like... King Enma, ruler of the underworld?"
Kanae knows her Buddhism better than a lot of people.
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
"What do you think of them? The Phantom Thieves, I mean. I didn't think they were really real before, but..." Kazusa gestures with her free hand. "Fighting alongside one makes it hard to ignore."
... Not to mention Kasumi's comments.
It's embarrassing is what it is! Her inner self can't really be that chuuni, can it? Can it??
"Yeah, it happened like that. The skill cards look legit, at least."
Kazusa frowns. "Iiii... think so...? Hold on." She climbs up the short ladder to the loft, and comes back holding it to show to Kanae to look at.
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
"I'm grateful for them taking out Kamoshida," Kanae says. "...I could've been the one he went after, easy, if I hadn't gotten a boyfriend when I did." She shakes her head. "...But otherwise? I don't really know. They only seem to go after terrible people, so i guess they've got that going for them."
It totally can.
"Hmm. They probably are..."
But Kausa brings it over, and Kanae reaches out to accept it and will look it over. "Hmmm..."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
"... yeah." Kazusa still doesn't know how to feel about how that went down. Mostly because she wasn't exactly the best person back then. "I guess that's true... as far as we know, at least."
Kazusa will deny it to the day she dies.
"Yeah. I haven't had a chance to go to the Velvet Room yet, so I guess I'll find out."
Kazusa lets Kanae examine the notebook and sits back down.
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
"Oh? Do you know something I don't?"
Still, "Yeah, this is the kind of thing the Velvet Room would like," Kanae says. She flips through and then offers it back towards Kazusa. "Peacock Silk might, too. As long as their peacock doesn't eat it." The Enma Notebook...
"Which he probably won't, but you never know."
"I got some materials for a new Persona out of that place, myself. I think it'll be useful in the battles ahead."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Kazusa shakes her head. "I just mean, anything public you can find out about them, that's all." That and she's naturally kind of a suspicious person in some ways. It's fine.
She takes the notebook back and sets it aside. "Yeah, I don't know what is up with that peacock. I know Fontaine-san doesn't trust him but... I mean, she's... kind of impossible about some things. But I did see him eating gatchapon toys once."
There's a frown at her own mention of Isabeau.
"I wouldn't put it past him."
Kazusa studies Kanae for a moment. "... so, about that. You can just, summon multiple Personas?"
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
"Hmm. OK." Kanae has come to recognize this about Kazusa; she's naturally suspicious, though she wouldn't go so far as to say paranoid except as regards the Homunculus... Maybe.
"Isabeau doesn't trust any supernatural beings. It's shortsighted, if you ask me--not everything out there is out to hurt us. Some things just want to live their lives... and some want to help."
Toys. "...Heheh."
She then hears the question, and Kanae inclines her head. "Mm-hm. Igor calls it the 'Wild Card'. I'm supposed to have some kind of destiny..."
"But 'destiny' is going to have to wait. One thing at a time."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
No she's /definitely paranoid about the Homunculus right now. And she was definitely paranoid in the Homunculus' room, too. Finding out she's on a serial killer's hit list hasn't exactly /helped/.
At least in the case of Shinichi's Homunculus, it's aimned at survival.
"Thank you." Kanae gets it! "God trying to talk sense with her sometimes is just impossible sometimes." She takes a sip of her coffee, then looks down at her can. "... she was still right about some things, though. About the Atelier, I mean."
Kazusa rolls her eyes. "They were filling the capsules with glitter. I had to dispose of two of those things."
"Destiny, huh...?" Kazusa frowns for a moment. "... sounds like a way of having someone tell you what your life is going to be like." To be fair, she's a bit biased, given her father.
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
"That's just it," Kanae says. "She's right about a lot of things, because she and the Wild Hunt have experience. She made me think, too... Like how the Atelier isn't all the Homunculus. The creepy hospital? That's probably a real part of his feelings. ...I don't think the Melancs torturing the Sanguins is normal, though."
Pause. "Glitter. ...That's kinda fun."
Kanae shakes her head. "I don't see it like that," she says. "I see it as more... preparing me for something I'm going to have to deal with, one way or another."
"I can feel it, right? ...There's something coming."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
"Yeah, but why does she have to be so-=- so-- bull-headed! It's clearly her fault we ended up arguing the other day," she declares, though she clearly doesn't look happy about... whatever situation still.
She's rationalizing so hard.
But as for the Atelier... Kazusa nods. "The... the Homunculus has more control than he should. Roger-san said the Flegmats in the middle school shouldn't be behaving the way they are... do you remember hearing about the Mikage-cho incident? I don't have all the details but... it's possible he's mixing what happened with that with what happened with his sister."
"... and it may have been something supernatural, too."
But the Melancs. Kazusa looks a bit distressed and shakes her head. "I-- it's-- well, the Melancs are supposed to regulate the Sanguins, and the Homunculus takes them over, but..." Shje shivers. "... yeah. It's bad. We managed to free a number of them. I hope that helps... provide some resistance, for at least a little bit."
"It's a nuisance is what it is."
"Hmm... still sounds like a lot to put on someone's shoulders..." Kazusa frowns. "... but you won't have to face it alone."
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
"Probably because she's up against the wall, everybody hates her, and--" Kanae pauses. "...No, that's enough." She doesn't want to say that much about Isabeau that Kazusa doesn't already know; it feels... disloyal, somehow. Regardless, "Remember, though. There's a reason she doesn't have a lot of friends."
Still, "Yeah, that's my understanding. And I remember... but it was a 'gas leak' or something. Obviously there's more to it than that, considering."
"Or else he just had a really weird set of dreams. But I doubt it."
"...It's OK," Kanae says. "To be upset. To be disturbed. It was really messed-up stuff."
She pauses. "I hope so. I was able to free some, too... But they can't really heal until it's over."
A nuisance!!
"Mm." Kanae decides not to share more about that for now--but Kazusa says what matters here. "Thanks," she says. "...It's good to have a friend like that."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
"It's not exactly like she does herself any favors," Kazusa says with a huff. But she relents a moment later. "... I don't exactly hate her, though. She's just... so frustrating to deal with. I don't know why I let her get me so worked up."
"... yeah, well. It's not exactly like I have a lot of friends either, you know. I just thought..."
She's not sure how to finish that thought.
"Apparently it might've been supernatural? Someone suggested summoning demons might have been involved? I guess that's a thing that can happen?" It's not a particularly reassuring thought.
Kazusa huffs. "I just... wnt this to be over. I just... want to live my life, you know? But maybe..."
Maybe this is her pennance, for the things she's done. It's hard not to feel that way sometimes.
"... yeah. But if we can buy him even just a little bit more time..."
Kazusa nods. "... I'm... trying."
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
"Oh, I know," Kanae says of Isabeau being frustrated. "I've been dealing with her a lot longer. ...what was it you thought?"
Might've been supernatural. "Sure, why not?" Kanae says. "Demons are out there, you can probably call them up."
But she wants it to be over...
"I don't think that's going to happen," Kanae says. "Not anytime soon. If by 'this' you mean 'all of this'. ...The Shinichi thing... I saw that cocoon. One way or another, it will be over soon."
"OK. ...Well, i think my coffee's ready," she says.
Kanae lifts it up. "Thanks."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
"Is there anything that helps in dealing with her?" She caught how Kanae cut herself off earlier, but, she doesn't want to press on that directly. As for what she thought she sighs. "It's..." She glances off to the side. Is she blushing a little? Definitely not. "... I don't know. It's kind of stupid."
"That's weird, right? Like, if someone can do that? I mean I know we can summon Personas or whatever, but..."
"Oh, no. I know that 'all of this' isn't..." Kazusa shakes her head. "Isn't going anywhere. And I know I can't go back to how I used to be, and I don't want to, I just... this Homunculus. Being in the same classroom. I don't know how much more of this I can take."
Kanae saw the Cocoon. "You did better than we did."
Kazusa lifts her can up. "Welcome."
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
"Not really," Kanae says. "Just when you get sympathetic, she makes you mad again. Then you're mad, and she reminds you that she's in a tough spot. There's pretty much no winning. She drives me crazy."
"...Hm?" she asks. She notices that blush, all right. "What's stupid?"
But, "Not that weird. Dangerous, though, totally."
"Ah, yeah... Well, soon."
"It was me and Isabeau. We've worked together before. ...We make a good team, even if she won't admit it."
Then she smiles. "Thanks." Glug glug. Coffee time.
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Sympathetic, mad, and the sympathetic again. "... yeah, that sounds about right... I guess if you haven't cracked the code yet there's no shame in me not being able to."
"... I don't know." Kazusa gets up to look at her cupboards and definitely not so she doesn't have to face another person right now. "... maybe we could be friends, or something. I don't know. It's stupid. Do you want something to eat?"
Least sublte topic change ever.
"I made plans to go with Roger-san and someone I know called Belle. But we ended up getting two other people tagging along, too."
She's still looking at snacks. As a distraction.
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
"See? All better."
But Kazusa doesn't know, and... "That's a nice thought," Kanae says. "But i think that's a ways off..."
She thinks about it. She shakes hre head. "Sure," Kanae says of something eat. Then, "Hmmmm, I see. A good group's important. You have to be able to rely on them. I'm glad some other people going didn't throw you off--more is better."
"Well, to a point, anyway."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
A ways off... Kazusa sighs, and this time she sounds disappointed. And a little frustrated at herself. "... yeah. Probably." Especially after how their last talk went.
She comes back with some matcha chocolate bites, setting a tray on the table.
"I would've been happier if I'd known they were coming along... but I guess we did okay, in the end. Even if we didn't make it to the Cocoon."
"Well, I'm glad you ended up going with Fontaine-san. And that you were able to work together well."
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
Kanae spots the disappointment. "It takes a while to make a friend in the best of times--and she's actively trying to push people away. Don't be too hard on yourself... or her."
Snacks! "Thanks for the food," Kanae says, and has one, reaching over to get it as she listens. "Sure, anybody would."
"Cool. ...And, yeah. Well..."
"Like I said. We've done it before. Probably will again."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
It takes time. "I guess... but maybe I'm just not very good at it. I'm lucky you even put up with me at all." She reaches for one of the bites for herself. She looks down at her coffee. "... too late for that," she mutters.
"Welcome. It's... kind of nice having some company in this place again."
"Well. As long sa you two can keep working together, that's good."