2026-10-05: Rusty
- Log: Rusty
- Cast: Remi Ryuuja, Hana Fukami
- Where: Kichijoji - Jazz Jin
- OOC Date: October 05, 2026
- IC Date: Sunday, January 20, 2013
- Summary: Remi reaches out to Hana to catch up, and the two decide to go to the Jazz Jin in Tokyo! They get drinks and talk about Hana's struggles, Remi being closeted, family matters, and getting back in the dating pool.
(|=========================== Kichijoji - Jazz Jin ===========================|)
-========================================================= Tokyo/Kichijoji ====-
It's easy enough to miss that descent off the street below, just off one of the
main shopping streets and around the bend, but some are drawn in by the distant
notes of one of its improvisational jam sessions. Head down, and one will see
wall-to-wall vinyl, with eclectic decor that speaks to the theme of the eternal
concrete struggle between universal forces and the individuals caught in the
middle.
Listening stations at counters offer people the chance to pick their own tunes,
while an ever-shifting menu of cocktails, virgin and otherwise, specially
crafted by the club's owner, Muhen, offer people refreshment along with a night
where they can let the masks they put on for society slip for a time.
Come, and get lost in the euphonious chaos of the complex and organic natural
melodies put on by the live performers... and know that the euphoria that
follows may be the closest you will get to recapturing the nostalgia of a
certain moment.
BGM: No More What If's - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOTDmQ_gGwI
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Remi, of course, knows some of what Hana has been through--except she doesn't, because she prefers to keep her awareness of the supernatural to herself. No, it is 'Tsurugi' who will go out and take action... for both good and ill.
But it's 'Remi' that Hana knows (and the last time they talked, Remi found out they go back quite a bit further than Remi initially realized), so Remi reached out this time to see how Hana was doing, and at Hana's recommendation...
She finds herself walking into the Jazz Jin, stopping just inside the entrance to take a look around. "My word, it certainly has a certain... je ne sais quois." She is a bit overbundled, as always, and once out of the winter chill she starts to loosen her scarf and open up her long coat.
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
Hana would be surprised to hear Remi speak on it. Insted, when Remi reached out... She invited her to Jazz Jin, a lovely establishment with good music and good cocktails. Hana has a normal coat, rather than also being overbundled... and it is pink like the dress she's wearing beneath it.
"It's a lovely place that I've heard about," Hana says. "So I figured, why not go first with a friend?"
She doesn't frequent the place, herself, but maybe she will after his.
When they find seats, Hana will remove her coat. "So, how are you?" she asks. "It's nice to see you."
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Remi, of course, has that oh-so-terribly-vague medical condition, that requires her to bundle up. It's fine. (Or it is once she gets inside, at least.) She prefers darker neutral colors with splashes of color (today, it's green.)
Remi smiles as Hana explains. "Well, I'm delighted that you thought of me to share it with. I suppose we shall both be in for a treat."
She slips her scarf and hat into a coat pocket nad then slips the coat off. "I am doing well enough, I suppose. Tending to my work and my plants." She looks sympathetically at Hana. "But how are you, dear? I heard there was some trouble at your studio--I do hope you weren't caught up in all that unpleasantness?"
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
Green is good.
"Yes," Hana grees. Inside, the music is playing; it's relaxing by some standards, and stimulating by others. Hana likes it.
And then inside, she takes off her coat as well. "Plants! What sort of plants do you have?" she wonders. But...
"Ah," she says. "I'm afraid I was. But I'm all right, now. It was... well, I don't remmeber most of it," she says, which is not true, but is a necessary fiction.
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Remi rather likes the atmosphere, too... and even if she has a hard time fully relaxing, sometimes, she still can act relaxed, which is sometime as good.
"Oh, three darling little succulents. I've grown rather fond of them, as it happens." Remi smiles. "They do help keep the place from feeling quite so empty..."
Remi is, of course, spinning her own fiction--she knows full well how deeply Hana was involved. But Hana forgetting is a plausible outcome, so Remi won't question it. "You poor dear. I'm glad you're doing better, at least."
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
Succulents. "That sounds lovely," Hana says. "It's good to have something living around you, isn't it?" She smiles. She, of course, has people around her! ...But she's in a very different place than Remi is, at the moment.
"Thank you," she says. "That sort of experience... It makes you think about what you value."
"And so I have. That's part of why I'm glad to be able to go out and see a friend."
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
"Why thank you, dear." She nods. "It certainly is..." Remi, doesn't have people around her. Not in the way she'd like, at least--but her situation is complicated. "Though... I was looking after a friend's daughter for a spell, and she is certainly... spirited, so that was an interesting change of pace."
"Why I certainly imagine it would, dear." Remi, too, has had that same reckoning. But she smiles. "I am certainly glad of that as well. Did your experience give you any other grand revelations? If you do not mind my asking, of course."
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
It is very complicated. "...Hmmm. That wouldn't be Tyrrha-chan, would it?" Hana asks of the daughter. "It's just that I know we have a friend in common, and... Yuarin can't look after her at the moment."
Hana knows about how Yua's in the hospital, of course. It's worried her a great deal.
But then, "Yes. Well..." She considers. "Mostly, taht I'm tired of holding back," she says. "Of lying low, to protect some idea of what I should be doing."
"But that's complicated too, of course."
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Remi sits up a little. "The very same, dear. Why, I suppose we do, then." Yua's name had come up last time, but they hadn't confirmed it was the same one yet. "Yes, unfortunately her situation is..."
Remi sighs, shaking her head. "I suppose if you already know, I shan't belabor the point. Needless to say, I am doing what I can to support her. I do hope Tyrrha-chan enjoyed spending time with her 'aunt.'"
"Mmm... yes... I suppose hat must feel freeing." Remi nods. "But as you say..." Remi considers for a long while. "... I took great pains to keep my relationships private. It was rather a lot of effort... though nothing, I imagine, compared to the effort of dealing with public scandal."
She's silent for a moment as she thinks on it. All that effort, for the sake of her family...
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
Now it's confirmed! "It's difficult," Hana says seriously. "Her health is at great risk... I wish there were something more I could do about that." She sighs. But, there isn't for now. "Good. I hope you can help. And I'm sure she did! You seem to me to be good company, anyway."
Freeing... "Mm. Yes. I of course can't be entirely secretive anymore even if I wanted to be..."
"But I think I don't want to be. And Teruo's known as someone who's with me."
"Public scandal is of course difficult... But maybe it's worth it, to live as you choose."
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
"Hers and her child's..." Being born so premature is worrying--though she's been assured that Japan has excelent prenatal care. And Miho will, of course, spare no expense. "We all do, dear, we all do." Remi chuckles. "I certainly hope so.. though I do find it a bit... of an adaptation, shall we say, to be thrust into the role of 'aunt' at my age."
Remi sometimes has to remind herself that she is, in fact, 23. Being in the lab distorted her perception of the passage of time in some ways.
"I suppose not, no... though by the same measure, there are some things I am also unable to hide, I suppose." Her 'Pedigree', as she put it. "... though I suppose it would make my auditions easier..." she muses to herself.
"Mmm... well then dear, I wish you luck. Perhaps someday I might be able to live as you do."
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
"Yes..." It is worrying. But worrying is all they can do, right? ...For now.
"Haha. It seems strange, doesn't it? But I'm an aunt a few times over and I'm not that much older than you." She leans in, "The secret is mostly having older brothers."
but she doesn't know about the lab, of course.
"True. ...Mm. Well, living authentically rarely makes things easier, but it does have its benefits."
"I hope so," she says. "But in the end, you should live as you choose." She considers. "...I have some people very important to me who aren't 'out' yet, too. But that may change soon."
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
"Oh are you now?" Remi chuckles quietly. "Ahhh, yes, I suppose that would do it, would it not?" She frowns a little, a complicated set of feelings crossing her face--concern, a distant haunting. "I... grew up an only child" is what she finally says. "... so I do not have any experience in being a sister."
There's something heavy she's not saying, and her mask has slipped a little in the face of something so complicatd and novel.
"I would hope so," Remi says of the benefits. "... what might they be, if you don't mind my asking?"
"Mmm... easier said than done, I'm afraid... though I will wish all the luck I can to those important ones, as well."
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
"Yes," Hana answers, and then--notices that difference. "I see..." She had a large family, herself. But Remi? "I'm new to it too, if it helps." She tries to cheeru Remi a bit--"...But it's all right. There's no guide to family roles, really, but the ones we see."
Still, "Mm... Well. It's relieving and relaxing, not to have to keep track of lies. And there's a certain feeling of freedom to it."
"It is, yes. ...But thank you. Maybe you can meet them sometime."
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Drinks come, and Remi accepts it with a grateful smile. "Thank you, dear." She got something alcoholic, not virgin, herself.
"Mmm... I suppose it does."Mmm. Then, here's to us figuring out that role." Remi lifts her glass. No guide... Remi sighs, then takes a long draw from her drink. "... I could rather do with one. I recently found out that... I have a younger brother. And I am afraid I must admit... I am rather lost, in regards to how to feel about this."
"Mmm... yes, I suppose so. The number of arrangements I had to make... Well, I will admit, the ... clandestine nature of our relationship was rather part of the thrill, but... I suppose chartered flights cannot be part of every relationship."
Wait what was that? Remi why did you say that like it was normal?
But they really couldn't have two more opposing viewpoints on how to handle this, could they?
"That would be splendid, dear. I should rather like that."
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
Drinks!! Hana accepts a cocktail that could well get her subconscious thinking of Persona skills. What? Don't worry about it.
She also got alcohol, as it happens. "Yes." Hana lifts her glass as well. "Hmm..."
Lost. "I see... Then that's a recent development," she concludes. "It must be an adjustment, after having no siblings at all--especially as an adult."
She's sympathetic, at least. "Chartered flights, hm? That would've made certain things a little more convenient," Hana admits with a soft laugh.
But, "Good. Then, we'll make it happen."
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Remi takes a deep breath. "New Year's Eve." So yes, recent. "Quite an adjustment... though we had.... Mmm. Fallen out of touch for a while, but never would I have imagined..." She shakes her head. "It is like walking into a home that is both familiar and not, all at once."
"... and he has no clue." She means the younger sibling.
Remi chuckles. "Yes, well, my family is rather well off... though I have not... availed myself of that wealth recently."
"I shall look forward to it. I am certain any company you would care to keep will be good company in and of themselves."
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
Very recent; Hana looks mildly alarmed at that, picks back up her drink and leaves her hand down on the table. "I see..." Fallen out of touch; there are many reasons that could be. "That makes sense. ...And it would be awkward. So they didn't even tell him about you..."
That's not a healthy-sounding dynamic. Good thing they have drinks!
"I suppose not, since you haven't been in touch with them. There's something to be said for making your own way, isn't there?"
A pause. "I certainly think so," she says with a smile.
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Remi was very alarmed too--though perhaps for slightly different reasons. She takes a long sip from her drink. "... Whether they did or not, I cannot say... but he seemed to accept me readily enough." Remi looks a bit distant for a moment. "... his French is quite good, as it happens."
Oh no, this isn't a newborn baby brother, then, if he's old enough to talk...
There are a lot of things about this situation that aren't healthy. Remi is also glad for her drink.
"There is, at that... I have still had the support of a dear friend, but... learning how to cook, in particular, has been a delightful achievement." Remi smiles faintly, at that, though she still looks perturbed.
"Anything you would care to share about them? Or shall I wait to meet them?"
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
The picture seems fairly plain to Hana; for whatever reason, Remi was out of contact with her family, and by the time it was re-established there was a Brother who was not previously in play. "I see..."
But, well. "Cooking is fun," Hana agrees. "I used to jsut get by on konbini food and the like..." She laughs softly.
And--
Hana sets her drink down with a smile when Remi asks that question. She considers the answer. "I'll tell you about Teruo," she decides. "He's the one I've been seeing the longest. He likes baseball; he's a big, chivalrous kind of man. And he really knows how to make a woman feel special."
"He's a meteorologist, too; he works at the station with me. He has an understated sense of humor... And he's very handsome."
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
That is, indeed, the picture.
"Isn't it though? A little bit of effort and ingredients, and you are rewarded with something hopefully delicious--it may have taken me some time to get to 'delciious', though, but Yua-chan is a patient instructor." She swirls her drink. "... and mastering French cuisine has brought me a certain sense of comfort."
She sets her own drink down, leaning in to listen. "Tall, handsome, and chivalrous. And with a sense of humor, no less. My, Fuykami-chan, you are quite lucky. And if he knows how to make a woman feel special..."
There is a faint glint of playful mischief. "... does he have a brother, by any chance?"
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
"Yes! ...And even if it's only serviceable, it's still something you made with your own hands." Yua... "Yes, I can imagine she would be," she says. "And a cute tutor, too." She smiles back. "I'm glad." French cuisine...
"Haha, I am! But I'm afraid no available brothers are forthcoming."
"But I do happen to know some other eligible men. And women, for that matter. I should tell you about the girls, too..."
She sips her drink.
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Remi laughs softly as Hana describes Yua as 'cute'. "Mmm, that she is. Confident, too." Though, Remi missed her shot. It's fine.
"i have been trying my hand at French desserts, as of late..."
No available brothers. "Ahhh, more's the pity," replies Remi, but she's smiling. But she pauses when Hana mentions other men and women. "... hmmm."
A light frown. "... it has been some time..." She sighs. "... I am afraid I am rather... rusty. But I shall take it under advisement."
She is actually kind of lonely sometimes, but... romantic entanglement has its own complications.
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
Confident... in some ways. Hana thinks back to what Yua told her about the Order... and decides not to dwell on it for now.
"oh really?" Hana asks of dessert. "Maybe we should've visited you instead!" Mmm, dessert.
She smiles back. "...Though, I should say, most of those I know would be more interested in something short-term than a longer relationship. ...It's just sort of how it goes."
But that might be better, if it's been some time. Or worse! "All right."
Loneliness is something real. Hana decides, rather than sharing about her embarrassment of riches for the moment...
"But I can tell you more later. How about we listen for a bit?"
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Remi would not be happy to know that Hana knows about the Order... but there's nothing she can do about that at the moment.
Remi laughs, smiling. "Perhaps I should host a tasting, then? I would be happy to host you and a guest... though more than one and it may be better for me to come to you."
(Remi that would make you the guest though.)
Short term... Remi considers that. "... perhaps... that could be acceptable," she muses, nodding slowly. "... I shall think on it."
Remi smiles and nods, lifting her glass. "Yes, let's."