2026-10-02: Into Into
- Log: Into Into
- Cast: Ririka Kawase, Suzume Fukura
- Where: Paulownia Mall
- OOC Date: October 02, 2026
- IC Date: Friday, January 18, 2013
- Summary: Ririka's had something heavy on her mind as of late, and she invites Suzume out somewhere where they can talk. Then... Ririka comes out to Suzume about being gay. Suzume definitely has no complicated feelings about this.
(|============================== Paulownia Mall ==============================|)
-======================================= Iwatodai City/Tatsumi Port Island ====-
A great glass dome surrounds Paulownia Mall, its name displayed in great letters
on its rim. Within this circular structure, made beautiful with water features,
the mall bustles. A central fountain pours out, eternally, surrounded by benches
for weary shoppers; two more pools stand by the entrance, decorated by
well-trimmed hedges behind them. The brown patterning on the floor emphasises
the circular nature of this place, all carved to equal segments; pillars
surrounding the sides provide structure and guidance, separating each store from
the other.
And the shops one can find here are many. Game Parade is a popular arcade,
particularly amongst nearby Gekkoukan students, and its crane game has foiled
many a hopeful date. Kenneth Arnold offers music albums, while Mandragora
Karaoke Bar, up a flight of stairs nearby, offers live music experiences for
those who prefer active participation. Club Escapade is another great option for
music-lovers, alongside those seeking Fortune-Telling services or looking for
shady informants -- but it's only open at night, and technically, it's only for
people who are over 18. Practically speaking, teenagers sometimes sneak in,
anyway... but curious teens ought to be careful, because a few shops over, one
can find the Tatsumi East Police Station. Chagall Cafe, at least, is both open
during the day and open to all ages! Aohige Pharmacy offers pharmaceuticals to
cure any ailment, while Be Blue V offers an eclectic variety of items and
treatments to improve one's health and wellbeing. Finally, Mayoido Antiques
offers unique weapons and armour for those who bring in supernatural
materials... and the proprietor seems to know more than she really ought to
about that world.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka's been doing a lot of thinking lately. (Well, she's been doing a lot of thinking for a while, but... one thing in particular's stolen her focus for the last few days.)
After band practice today she shot Suzume a text.
> You wanna hang out tonight? Maybe grab dinner somewhere?
And now... they're at the mall! Ririka headed back to the dorm to change after class and take care of a few things. But she's here now in cargo pants, one of her many black band tees, a flannel shirt worn open over it, and a jacket worn open over all of that.
More walking and shopping (winow or otherwise) can come later. Right now Ririka's found a place that's out of the way for them to sit. She's got a beef bowl and a soda, though she's been a bit distant as she's been eating.
Something's on her mind, though she's trying to keep the conversation light and casual, for the moment. Her foot is tapping along to the nearest song spilling into the mall from a store.
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume does not always check her phone immediately, so it's actually about fifteen minutes before Ririka gets a message back:
> sure
> Just give me a little bit to finish up
Suzume had been doing homework. Such is life when you attend high school. It doesn't actually take very long for her to be ready, though; Suzume wasn't *that* deep in her work and it's not due tomorrow so she's not under a painful time crunch. She can do it later.
Though Ririka may be surprised by her outfit, as Suzume is apparently trying a new style. She's not wearing a T-shirt but a sleeveless top that would show off her arms (toned, especially now that she's been using tonfa for months) if it wasn't for the jacket she has on overtop, because it *is* still January. It's mint green, a light colour, and goes well with her purple hair. She still has slacks, but they're not jeans, either. It looks like she actually tried, and she is clearly still getting used to the idea of trying to look good.
Nothing stopped her from picking up her usual yakiniku bowl though. She's still Suzume.
"So what's up," she asks, though she too is leaving it pretty casual. "You going shopping for anything in particular?" It's a mall. That's what you do, at least some of the time.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka's not bothered by not getting an immediate reply. She still had to take care of things and get back to the dorm, so nothing is a big rush, in this case.
When they had finally met up, Ririka had taken a moment to look over Suzume's outfit, eyes lighting up. "Wow, Suzume-chan-- Lookin' good. I like the new threads." She's smiling warmly.
Later, where they're sitting, it takes her a moment to respond. "Mmm?" She looks over. "Oh-- no. I mean, we can always go look, but I, uh..."
She'd be tapping her fingers but her hands are full. Instead she looks down at her beef bowl and counts off a few meters of that song silently to herself.
Deep breath. "I... actually wanted to talk. Well, to tell you something. It's--not bad, or at least I don't think so, but it is important to me."
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
"Uh," Suzume had said, back then, because this is not a compliment she is used to getting. This is only the second time she's worn some of this stuff... "...Thanks. I decided to try a couple new things, this year. You're supposed to make a resolution, right?"
She doesn't go into *why* she made that decision, but moves the topic right along on purpose.
And as for now...
"I kinda spent a lot of my budget that isn't for food," Suzume admits. "Unless we want to make a quick stop to Tartarus or Mementos." Shadows are a reasonable source of spending money... especially since one of the things she bought was from the police station here, which means it's a Shadow-related expense anyway. "At least Umiushi keeps the prices down. But I can look at things."
Or not. Suzume takes another bite from her beef bowl, looking at nothing in particular for a few moments. She's already kind of bracing, despite Ririka saying 'it's not bad', because in her experience people say that when they are trying to convince themselves as much as when it actually isn't.
It takes her about ten seconds to do that. "Okay," she says, once she swallows. "Hit me."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
They'd talked about fashion, and Ririka had offered help. Whether or not she had given any input on this, seeing Suzume in it is nice to see. "Welcome!" She pauses and considers. "... Oh yeah, that's true..." It slipped her mind a little. She often makes resolutions but has a hard time sticking to them.
She let the topic be moved on.
"Well, we'd have to wait until midnight for one of those, and I think I wanna take things easy right now anyway... we don't have to go shopping, though."
But they can probably keep discussing that after Ririka's said what she had in mind--and they may spend quite a bit of time on it, depending.
It really isn't bad, this time. There are many wider implications that could be bad, but the grander sociopolitical landscape isn't something that's on Ririka's mind right now.
... Or at the very least, it's not anything she can fix.
She lets Suzume take her time to brace herself though, taking a couple of bites of her own bowl.
'Hit me.'
"Alright." Another deep breath. "So... I'm into girls. I'm a bian." She looks over at Suzume. "I figured it out a while ago, and... I haven't told that many people. But it's a part of myself I want to stop hiding, at least a little bit."
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Sticking with the resolutions is *always* the hard part. Suzume is typically not very good at it either. But it's still January. She has a lot of time to fail the resolution!
Suzume had readied herself for the worst. But she doesn't get the worst. Instead, she gets something arguably harder to deal with: something confusing!
And in fact, Suzume just looks startled for a few moments, then a little baffled. "Uh," she says, like this is something she has never thought about before (because, as it turns out, this is something she has never thought about before). "Like, you mean, *into* into, like..."
She does indeed mean that.
"...huh." Suzume has no idea what to say in this situation. It's never come up before! She knows some people with gender presentations outside the usual, and she knew it was a thing - she is aware of the existence of yuri in the same way she is aware of a lot of things she never really thinks about. But nobody has ever just told her that.
There's a momentary deer-in-headlights look at her inability to come up with a good response before Suzume's expression becomes less startled. "And you decided to tell me? I'm not gonna tell anyone else, so you don't have to worry about gossip, but - "
Suzume looks away for a moment. She's seen Ririka changing, and vice versa. She's been in the *bath* with Ririka before. And *that's* a weird thing to think about now, especially given Suzume's hang-ups about her own body, and now Ririka has *seen* her - well, she saw her before but she didn't think about it this way - Suzume's train of thought chases itself in circles for a moment until she recovers.
" - uh, good for you? I think?" Great, Suzume thinks to herself, reddening slightly. Just put your foot right in it, huh.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
If it's not a resolution about music...
... and even then...
Well, Ririka tries, anyway. But in the here and now, confusion.
"Yep. Into into," Ririka confirms. "Boys aren't really... my thing."
Okay, unless they're really pretty but Ririka is still figuring that out and won't burden Suzume with additional complications.
She's aware this might come as a surprise--or even a shock--but she's hoping that Suzume will be able to keep an open mind. "Well, we're pretty close friends, so I thought... I'd take that chance?" But Suzume won't tell. "Thanks. Iiii appreciate that."
Ririka, by contrast, isn't thinking of the onsen in the moment. She can share a bath without it turning into a whole thing! (And besides, she figures the odds are against her that she's going to run into many other people who feel the same way, so... she's kind of resigned herself to not getting herself worked up over things like that.)
"Um... you okay...?" she asks after a few moments of silence.
But she smiles at the compliment. "Thanks. You can say that. Um... did you have any questions about it, or...? Sorry if I kind of just sprang this on you but I don't... really know of a better way to do it?"
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
It normally -
Okay. It sometimes *is* a thing with Suzume. But in this particular case it's got a whole extra layer of confusion involved that has nothing to do with her usual thoughts on the topic.
"I'm fine," Suzume says, immediately; while she says it *so* immediately that it seems like she's running on automatic, she actually does mean that this time. "Why wouldn't I be? I just didn't know. Which I guess is kinda the point," she allows. If she already knew Ririka wouldn't have had to tell her.
Questions? Does she have questions about it? "I don't even know what questions there'd be," Suzume says instead. Actually no, she can think of a whole bunch, but some of them she doesn't want to ask and others - wait, she can ask this one. "Well. Besides. When did you figure it out, I guess? ...What kind of girl do you like?" Why did she ask *that* one? "I mean, you must've decided for some reason."
Suzume waves off the 'I don't know a better way to do it'. "Neither would I," she says, and *that* one at least is completely honest and accurate. "And I mean, yeah, we're friends. I didn't have a ton before I came to SEES, and now I've got you, and Hitomi, and Iori, and - well, a bunch. You can talk to me about whatever," she says, raising one fist to thump it against her chest. "I just got surprised, that's all."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Suzume says she's fine, and Ririka notes how quick that came out but nods. "Okay. No reason you shouldn't be. You just went quiet, so... I wasn't sure if I'd lost you, or something."
A small smile. "Yep. That's the point."
No questions-- or there is one, after all. The smile grows a little wider. "I can answer that one." And she'll circle back to it in a second. "Mmm... less 'decided', more 'discovered', really."
There's a small laugh as Suzume says she wouldn't know either. "I mean, that's fair." But she nods. "I guess I had my band, but... that's kind of different, considering what we do in SEES."
There's a grin at the chest thump. "Thanks. And, so you were wondering when I figured it out. So, it was about..." She does the mental math. "... two and a half years ago. Though it kind of goes a little bit further back than that?"
"So, there was this girl I met at a music store, she was really into punk music, and she was about a year older than me. And we'd just... hang out, talk about music, or go to shows. And she'd come watch my band rehearse, or watch while I did skateboarding. We hung out... kind of a lot."
Then Ririka sighs. "Then, one summer break, she told me... her family was moving." There's a tiny sniff. "... I was... kind of heartbroken. It affected me really deeply, and for a while I didn't know why."
She sighs. "... I think she was my first major crush."
She's mostly okay. She's had a lot of time to think about it.
Ririka slowly shakes her head. "Anyway, after that some... other stuff came up, and I just... kind of kept it to myself." 'Other stuff' like her brother dying, and and getting trapped in her grief.
As for types, Ririka takes a moment to think. "I mean, mostly I think I like girls who are like, passionate about what they like? Hobbies, sports, whatever?" Ririka shrugs.
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
"Wait, that long? When you said 'a while ago' I figured you meant, like..."
Suzume racks her brain to think of exactly when it might have been. "I don't know, a couple months ago?" is her eventual guess. "Not that you'd known the whole time I knew you!" Does that make it more or less awkward? ...on balance, probably not much different. It makes sense that she kept it to herself, though, especially given... everything.
Since she's almost done her beef bowl anyway, Suzume finishes it before it has a chance to get cold(er) while Ririka is talking. She's listening, though; don't take a full mouth as having full ears too.
"I guess that makes sense." Suzume did not have a boyfriend until fairly recently - she has typically rebelled against what girls are 'supposed' to do, after all. She was just one of the guys in her crew until... well, she wasn't (and now she's drifted away from all of them). So she doesn't have much to compare it to, but it sounds normal. Though, does she have that sort of feeling for Reiya? She wouldn't be happy if he had to move away. She likes him, after all.
But she doesn't think she'd *mope* about it... though Suzume 'moping' tends to actually mean being prickly over every little thing and getting into a lot of arguments, anyway. Maybe it's like this for everyone, Suzume thinks to herself, and nothing's weird about me.
Best not to think about that too hard!
"And I get that. It's gotta be someone who's into *something*, right? Who wants to be friends with a brick wall?" That part, at least, is completely sensible to Suzume!
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka shrugs. "So I guess it was a long while." She looks to Suzume, and nods. "Yep! And I'm still the Ririka you knew before I told you this, you know? And... I still want to keep being your friend, just like I was before."
Ririka will not begrude Suzume her eating--she's working on her own on and off, after all. But Suzume thinks it makes sense! "Cool." She can't diagnose Suzume's relationship for her (and she won't try--it's not in her nature to assume anything like that about someone.)
But Ririka does get that desire to not be traditional--she skateboards, she fronts a band. Maybe that's why she likes Suzume so much, since they have that in common.
Ririka covers her mouth to let out a laugh and then nods after swallowing her bite. "Yeah, exactly! Like, I wanna be having fun and doing interesting things, you know? EVen if it's not the same interests as mine that just means there's more to learn and find out about."
After a beat she says. "... doesn't hurt if she's in really good shape, though."
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
"Right? Someone who's not boring, that's what it really comes down to," Suzume says, gesturing with her hands in a sweeping gesture. "So I get that part." She likes to try new things, too, so even the part about different, new things also makes sense.
Suzume feels like she's on steady ground here. All of her friends, pretty much, are into something, frequently with intensity. With Hitomi there's the games and bets, which after all aren't that different from dares. Reiya's dedication counts, but it's more than just work with him, too, and he has an appreciation for a lot of things you wouldn't expect out of him. Junpei, of course, is someone she can talk to about sports, Minato has a lot of hidden depths...
And there's Ririka, who is into skateboarding and music and a few other things. She's not excluded from that tally!
In good shape... "Well you want them to be able to keep up," Suzume says, before giving that slightly crooked grin. "Or almost," because she hates to lose. "Look, I don't see why this changes anything. Between us, I mean. It was just... I dunno. Something I don't think about much." By which she means at all.
Actually it feels kind of good to be someone's friend enough to be trusted with something that personal. It's enough that her smile stays in place afterwards.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka laughs softly. "Wellll, you could put it that way, I guess, but..." She's trying to be positive! "But, yeah! I'm glad you get it. I'm not, like... that different from other people I just... like a different set of people, that's all."
And Suzume's tried skateboarding with Ririka before! Plus she's athletic, and she likes repairing retro consoles. That's a cool skill that Ririka never would've thought about.
And she appreciates her other friends (and Hitomi, who actually already knows, although that one wasn't totally planed.)
To be able to keep up... Ririka considers that for a moment. "Mmmm, that too, yeah." What other reason would there be? Ririka's not gonna say. She smiles back at Suzume. "It doesn't! I'm still me, you're still you. The only thing that changes is that now when my girlfriend texts me a funny image I don't have to lie to you about why I'm laughing at my phone!"
She beams. And then a moment later adds, "Oh also I have a girlfriend."
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Skateboarding is fun. Suzume has tried it once or twice without Ririka, but since she does not own a skateboard it's hard for her to do that. She kind of wants one, but there's that money thing again; she could afford it, but she'd have to actually budget for it, and so far Suzume has used her spending money on other things.
Ririka doesn't say why she prefers athletic girls, and the reason doesn't occur to Suzume. Maybe she just likes the look. Beats her! She's not going to quiz her.
"You have a girlfriend?" Suzume is surprised by that, though on a second thought she's not entirely sure why she should be. She isn't sure what she thinks about it - and she has no idea who it might be, since she's never seen Ririka *act* like she had a girlfriend.
"Someone in your band?" she guesses, wildly.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka is always happy to get someone to loan a skateboard for lessons, but... that's a bit different from having your own, isn't it? And she can't exactly give Suzume one of her old ones since, the reason she usually needs to replace them is... well, they're not suitable to use anymore.
That is, in fact, the reason, Suzume.
"Yep! I've been seeing her for about... two, two and a half months?" Ririka searches her memory. "... I'd have to check the date."
If Ririka acted like she didn't have a girlfriend, well... that's a reason for that.
It's not a bad guess, all things considered. "Nope, though, I did come out to them yesterday. She lives in Sumaru. My sister introduced us, actually."
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Well, that answers that.
"Well, good for you," Suzume says, and seems to mean it. "I guess that means your sister knows, too. I was wondering if you told your family. I don't tell my family anything," she explains, and her face threatens to scowl until she fights it back. "I know you're closer with them than I ever was, though."
"Sumaru's a long way, though." Suzume frowns for a moment, but this time it's in thought rather than irritation. "Eh, I guess it's working out for you, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
"Thanks!" Ririka was a lot more anxious at the stat of this conversation, but seeing Suzume being so receptive and talking this throgh withher has really put her at ease.
"Yeah, I told them a while ago... There's a few other people that know, but... now I'm telling you." She's closer with her family... "Well, yeah, but... I've been keeping a lot from them, too..."
Suzume, though... "Sorry to hear that." Ririka won't pry, but... "Um, if you ever want to talk to someone about it, I can listen, okay?"
Ririka sighs. "It is," she agrees. "I already travel to Sumaru to see my sister though, so..." Ririka shrugs. "... and we've started meeting in Tokyo to hang out. You know, kind of meeting in the middle?"
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
"Like I said. I'm not going to gossip, so nobody's gonna hear about it from me." Suzume can keep a secret. Mostly. Sometimes her mouth gets away from her, but when is that going to come up about this?
Suzume has... slightly complicated feelings about the whole thing for reasons she hasn't really thought about and isn't now, either. There were some moments of confusion, certainly, and the moment where her mind kind of went in circles, but the fact that Ririka is a friend is beating that out for the moment.
(No guarantees about what she'll dwell on in the depths of night when she can't sleep, though!)
"I don't," Suzume says, flatly, about her family - and that's all she's going to say about it. Ririka might know some of it already, anyway. Suzume had a sister at Gekkoukan, who would have been in third year if she hadn't died last year, and she's been pushed by her parents to do... something. Suzume doesn't talk about that part.
"Well, if Tokyo works, it works." Suzume is still kind of unsure about the logistics, but *she's* not the one trying to hold down a long-distance relationship. (She's not even sure how she would...)
"So," Suzume says. "You said it. Unless there's something else I missed." There's a LOT Suzume missed but that's probably not what she meant. "And we're still friends. So." She holds out her fist for a fistbump.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
"I appreciate it," Ririka says as Suzume confirms she won't tell. "I'm... trying to get to a place where I don't have to hide this part of myself, but... I wanna take it slow."
It's fair that Suzume has complicated feelings: it took Ririka a long time to figure herself out, and unfortunately it wasn't until she faced the heartbreak of that separation that she was able to figure it out.
But Suzume does not want to talk about her family. "Okay," is all Ririka says to that. She's left the door open, that's all she can do.
"It helps cut down travel time for both of us, and..." Ririka shrugs. "Way less likely to run into someone we know that way." Not that Iwatodai and Sumaru are exactly small, but...
Is there something Suzume missed? "Dunno. But... if you wanna ask me more later, feel free, okay?" She looks over at Suzume and gives her a warm smile.
"We are!" she affirms. And then she reaches her own fist out.
Fistbump!