2026-10-20: Style
- Log: Style
- Cast: Ririka Kawase, Ichika Kawase
- Where: Central Street - Main
- OOC Date: October 20, 2026
- IC Date: Sunday, January 27, 2013
- Summary: Ririka and Ichika both happen to be in Tokyo, so they meet up for dinner. They both have good news, and they talk fashion, college, dating, and more.
(|========================== Central Street - Main ===========================|)
-====================================================== Tokyo/Shibuya Ward ====-
Chances are, if you're a fan of a youth trend in Tokyo, it started here. Less
than a five minute walk from Shibuya Station, Central Street is lined with
businesses that cater to youth culture. Boutiques and media stores are just as
common as cafes and fast food. Arcades display the cabinets and claw games with
the latest merch, while back alley shops serve more merchandise for more niche
interests, such as military otaku looking for realistic-looking model guns at
Untouchable.
Drug stores, convenience stores, book stores, discount stores, video rental
stores? You name it, they got it. Sports gyms, karaoke bars, movie theatres,
diners? Yup. The local Big Bang Burger stands out most of all with its flashy
space-themed pneumonic entrance.
While it has a reputation as a safe neighborhood for both tourists and locals in
order to preserve its image as 'for the youth,' darker elements have started to
creep in from back alley folks that try to offer school kids opportunities for a
quick buck or job opportunities for tourists who find their passport stolen in
short order. Or so the rumor goes.
Still, rumors are just rumors, aren't they? There's no reason to hold back, so
come on in, enjoy yourselves.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
It's a brisk Sunday afternoon in Tokyo. Ririka's been making more trips to Tokyo recently, though today it wasn't specifically to meet Ikumi. (Though that does happen fairly frequently.) no, today she's here for an altogether different purpose... two purposes, in fact.
The second one of those is to meet her sister, who is here to see her boyfriend. And the first, well... Ichika will see it, when she steps in.
Ririka's seated at a table, her winter jacket hung up, dressed in cargo pants, a black band tee, and a dark purple flannel. She's drumming her fingers on the table, humming to herself as she scrolls through her phone... but she also keeps reaching up to fuss with her hair.
For the longest time she wore it in a long, straight style, but now... it's a lot shorter. It's done up in a sort of bob, but the left side is tucked behind her ear, and the right side is framing her face, tousled up with some product.
It's a marked change, but Ririka is trying not to grin like an idiot as she keeps fidgeting with it and waiting.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Late afternoon almost into evening, specifically--Ichika's already been in Tokyo for a bit, meeting up with Ryuji and someone else for a purpose. Now, she's swinging by Shibuya to meet up with her sister!
Ichika is in a rather more feminine outfit, layered tanktop over a longer-sleeve shirt and a short skirt to go with it. Her heeled boots clack against the floor lightly as she walks in and--
Ichika's eyes light up a bit when she spots her sister.
"Ririka-chan," she says when she gets close, sliding into the other side of the booth. "Great hair. Decided to go for it?"
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka looks up when she hears the clack of Ichika's boots, and can't help but break into a grin. "Nee-chan!" She just nods for a moment to answer the question, then follows it up with an excited, "Yep! And--thanks! I'm..." She runs her fingers through her hair. "Really excited for it. Feels kind of weird, though--my head feels way lighter--and like, there's a breeze on my neck now? But-- I'm excited for the new hair!"
She can dress more femininely, but... sometimes (often) chooses not to.
She turns her head this way and that, to show off both sides. "But, I'm really happy with how this came out."
"So, how're you? How's Sakamoto-san doing?"
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"It's super different when it's short, right?" Ichika confirms, because she used to have super long hair herself and cut it a while back. ...It's getting longer again.
"It looks great, though. A+ work."
She smiles. Ichika, for her part, is usually either dressed feminine or to bust heads... or both. Both is an option.
"Nice, nice."
"I'm good! He's good, too--we were working on a project of his." She doesn't elaborate. "In fact... I'm super good. Let's order, and i'll tell you what's up."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
It's super different. "Right?" Ririka says with a laugh. "Like, I keep turning my head to feel how the hair moves now, but... I guess I'll just have to get used to it."
A+!! "Thanks! Oh, and, so I can wear it kinda normal, right?" She demonstrates untucking the left side so it looks like a normalish bob. "Oorr, if I really wanna... you know."
She gathers up both sides of the bob to the top of her head like she was making a ponytail--and on the right side (the side that was framing her face before), is an undercut that would normally stay hidden.
Ririka turns her head so Ichika can see it clearly. "But I can just do this--" She puts her hair back the way she had it before. "--for school."
It's kind of cool that Ichika can do both.
But Ryuji is good. "Good!" But-- "Oh? Super good, huh? I can't wait to hear about this, then."
Ririka, for her part, orders the Nostalgic Steak and the Frui-Tea.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Right."
Ichika watches for a few more moments and then--
"Somebody's embracing her wild side a little, I see. It works for you, both ways."
Ichika totally sees it. And it's a bold move. Ichika then leans back, after ordering coffee and also a nostalgic steak.
"So..." Once they have their food and drinks--
"I got in! I'm going to PIC!" Pleione International College, that is, in Sumaru City.
Ichika is pretty hype about this.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
"Well, you know, I haven't really changed my hair in for--forever, so I figured, if I was gonna make a change, I might as well... experiment." But it works both ways. "Thanks!"
It is a bold move--though she also gave herself some cover, too, but... baby steps.
Ririka gasps in delight. "Oh my god, Neechan! That's huge!" She gets up and comes around to give Ichika an excited hug. "Congrats!"
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Good thinking. Experimenting's fun. Besides, it grows back."
Then, well--baby steps is right, but Ichika accepts the hug! "Thanks!" Ichika answers, and her smile is wide enough to look almost incongruous with her dark makeup. She picks up her cup of coffee and lifts it up. "So that's my plan. I'll still be in Sumaru for a good while, it looks like..."
"I'll go back home for a little while, but I'm gonna focus on getting an apartment in Sumaru. I've had enough of dorms anyway."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
"Yeah! I was thinking of dying it somehow, but... ehhh... Gekkokan probably wouldn't like that, so."
She giggles a little at the mention of it growing back. "That's true!"
She sits back down after the hug, and the smile may be incongruous, but Ririka is happy to see her sister so happy. She lifts her own cup of tea. "So, I'll still have reasons to keep visiting Sumaru, then." That and her girlfriend, of course.
"Cool. I'm looking forward to seeing your new apartment, when it happens. Do Mom and Dad know about you being accepted yet?"
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Probably not," Ichika agrees.
"Totally," she answers on Sumaru too, drinking some coffee and setting it back down. Her body language remains open, her hand moving a lot as she speaks--the one not holding the coffee.
"I'm going to talk to Tsubasa and see if we can arrange something," she says. "And yeah, totally--I already told them both. It's going to be good, I think!"
"Maybe I'll even learn some languages. Even I can do it if I'm around people speaking them all the time."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Someday, Ririka will dye her hair. But anything permanent might have to wait for her own graduation.
Ririka is leaning forward, engaged in what Ichika is saying. (And also still futzing with her hair in between bites of food.)
"Oh yeah, Seki-san is graduating, too... Where're they aiming for? PIC, too?" that might be convenient, so they can both attend together. But the parents know. "Cool!"
"Oh yeah? You got a language in mind yet?"
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ironically, ichika might be the one to dye her hair back to its natural color, for her new school. It's not really a requirement, but it is a different environment.
"We're going together, yeah," Ichika confirms too. Tsubasa could have made an even better school, probably--but not with their mom abducted just that day...
"Haha, nope. But foreign guys are cute, right? It might be fun." She winks.
"...Kidding. Looking's free, but i'm happy with who I've got."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
That would be a change--though of course, Ririka's known Ichika without bleached hair before, but... it's been a while, hasn't it?
"Cool. Do you know what they want to study?" Ririka considers a moment, and her enthusiasm dims for a moment. "... and how are they holding up?"
She hasn't had a chance to see Tsubasa since that day.
Ririka laughs. "Ehhh, I'm more into the foreign girls," she says with a grin. It's nice to be able to say that now.
She nods. "Right, right, that makes sense." Ririka does seem pretty happy with her current partners. "Though... I've been doing some thinking on that..."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
It has!
"We've talked about it, but I don't know like, the exact major they're settling on or anything. Smart people stuff, though." At least Ichika no longer divides herself quite as strongly from 'smart people' as she used to, but she still doesn't think of herself as one of them.
"They're... Well, it's pretty rough. But I'm doing my best to support them."
"Haha, yeah, you would be. But I can look at them, too."
She smiles. "Have you?" Ichika asks then. "Want to tell me about it?"
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka, by contrast, still thinks of Toshiaki as 'the smart one', even if she's confident in her specific area of expertise. "Hey, you got in, too" is her quiet attempt at encouragement.
But Tsubasa... Ririka nods slowly. "Yeah, I bet... Um, lemme know, if there's anything I can do to help, okay?" She still feels bad for being unable to prevent Tsubasa's mother from being taken, even if there'd been another mess impeding things.
"Cool." Ririka shrugs a little. "Oh, just... I figured out a while ago I was attracted to girls, right? But, like... Ogawa-senpai, you know, was kind of hot that one time? Kashihara-san's kind of pretty too... for a guy, I mean. So, I dunno. Maybe my definition of 'girl' is more flexible than I thought it was, if that makes sense? Not that I'm calling them--but you know what I mean?"
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"I sure did. I don't have to be like you or him," Toshiaki. "...If I work hard, I can get it done." She smiles at that one. "...Not that you don't work hard, too," she says. "You always have."
But if she can help... Ichika nods. "I'll let you know," she says. "But knowing you're doing OK helps me not have to worry, too."
There have been other messes, but...
"Right," Ichika says. "...Hmm. Yeah. I used to think gender was this hard thing, a total barrier. But it's not that simple."
"I get you. You're not calling them girls, but you're finding your attraction blurs a little. And like..."
"OK. You might not know for sure until you get 'together' together with somebody. Like, Sei-kun's... really good," she settles on. "And he's definitely a guy. He's just a really pretty guy."
"But I know what you mean, anyway? Like..."
"I've been a little curious about how flexible my 'boundaries' are, too."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
"You sure can," Ririka reaffirms. She laughs lightly and blushes. "Yeah, well..." She works a little too hard, sometimes. But she's working on it.
But for the moment, she is doing okay. She nods. "One less thing to worry about then... that works, I guess."
"Yeah... it's really not, huh?" She looks down at herself. "I mean, I still feel comfortable as a girl, but i like mixing thing up, too..." And then there's people like Tsubasa and Yuusei.
"Yeah, exactly--" Ichika gets it. "Like, I'm definitely not Kashihara-kun's type, and I don't think Ogawa-senpai is, when he's not 'dressed up'? But..." Ririka considers. "Maybe if he was inclined to be dressed up all the time, that might be different? Or... I dunno. Maybe it's a vibes thing."
But Ichika is also curious. "Oh yeah? I remember we were talking about, like, labels and stuff, but you're also considering that, too?"
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika smiles back, sipping her coffee. "Yes."
But gender, "Oh, me too--I'm totally comfortable as I am. I like it, even. ...But I think I appreciate knowing that i could do differently if I wanted to."
But Ichika does get it! "Definitely not," she agrees, without commenting in public on what Jun's type actually is. "Hmm. Nah, he wouldn't want to do all one or the other, I think." Yuusei, that is. "But that makes sense. 'Vibes'. People have those. Like... How Tsubasa's pretty 'guy' despite really being 'neither'. I don't want them to be one or the other, but it was easier for me to start with because they're not a girl."
"...But yeah, I kind of am. I wouldn't have thought of it before, but now that I have..."
"Well, doesn't matter in practical terms right now, but I guess I'm looking more."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
"It works for you," Ririka says with a smile. "Though... now that I've changed up the hair... I am thinking about switching up my wardrobe a little bit... But I'm not sure how, yet."
"Mmm... yeah. That might not be a dealbreaker? But I'm honestly not sure..." She nods. "Yeah, that makes sense.Like... I think if I met someone who was 'neither' but their vibe was more 'girl' that might work for me?" Ririka shrugs a little. "But I haven't met anyone like that yet, so."
"Cool. Well, if you ever figure out anything more on that, I'll be curious to find out. Oh yeah--did you ever settle on a label?"
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Thanks." Switching up her wardrobe, hm? "I'm always down for a shopping trip," Ichika says. "What're you thinking? Vague ideas are OK."
Then, "You never really know until you try it, I think--and this time I don't mean 'it'. I just mean... getting to know somebody. Seeing how you feel around them."
"There's definitely people like that," she says. "I just... well, you know me, I used to not get along with girls that well."
But if she figures it out... Ichika nods. "Totally, I'll talk about it with you. And you know? I didn't. Not yet, anyway. Maybe I'll figure it out at school. Gonna be meeting a lot of different people..."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka smiles. "Cool. I'll take you up on that." She shrugs a little. "I dunno... maybe something that leans more feminine but that doesn't get rid of my style?" She shrugs a little. "Whatever that might be."
"Nah, I gotcha. Yeah..." She considers. "Right now I'm happy with Ikumi-chan, and I don't think I have the time to date someone else? But... maybe if it comes up in the future."
"I know," Ririka says playfully. "I was one of them." But that was probably for other reasons, and... they're getting along better now anyway.
"Cool, same here--and yeah! That's true. You could meet people who have different views on all of this stuff."
What else... "Oh, yeah, I've come out to a few people recently. My band, some of my friends in the dorm... Suzuki-kun."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Hmmm... I'm good at feminine," she says. "So I can help there, since you can tell me what your style is while we're out looking at stuff."
But, "Cool. ...Yeah, i hope that's going well for both of you. She seems pretty happy at the dorms, anyway." Since that's where Ichika primarily knows her from.
And, "Sure could. It'd be interesting to find out."
But? "Oooh. How's that working out for you? I mean, you don't sound upset or anything, so..."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
"Sure. I guess..." Ririka considers, then gestures at herself. "Maybe I just need to wear skirts with this or something," she says with a shrug. "I can't really wear my stage look off the stage, though..."
"I think so! We're both just... kind of figuring things out together, you know? She has like, more recent dating experience, but I've been thinking about things longer, so it kind of balances out? But... yeah." Ririka smiles, and there's a hint of a flush. "... it's going really well."
"It's going pretty well! But I started with the people I was closest to, so... I was still nervous, but I was pretty sure it'd work out... it's a load off, not having to hide that part of myself. And Fuuka-chan even wants to meet Ikumi-chan, so I'm looking forward to that."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Experiment a little. Worst case, you look silly for a day. If you're confident enough, you can pull it off even if you do."
Stage looks...
"That's good," Ichika says. "'Together' is good. ...I'm a little worried I've figured out everything for Ryuji-kun and he doesn't have much room to find it himself..." She lets that slip, and then, "But good. I'm glad it's going well."
But then, "Hmm... yeah. it's good, being able to be yourself." Fuuka-chan! "Cool. Your friends showing interest in your partner... that's a good thing."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
"Maybe I'll do that..." Ririka considers. "Wonder if the flannel shirt works with a skirt," she muses to herself. IT's nice to have the extra warmth, in the winter. "It's hard to get too crazy with the dress code at school, though..."
Ririka did say she was worried about pushing Ikumi faster than she was ready for, but... Ikumi also knows how to speak up for herself, so that's fine. "Oh, dang, you think so? Did... he do a lot of dating before meeting you? Have you talked to him about it?"
Ririka smiles. "YEah... I might try to bring her by band practice sometime, too..."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"It can," Ichika says. "But you gotta branch out a bit, too--flannel's not always the answer." She's tasing a little, but only a little. "True though. At at a school like that there's not a lot of room to be different in how you look."
"No," she says, "I'm his first. ...So, you know, it might be something to that. I'm going to talk to him about it, though, yeah."
Ichika nods. "Cool. Hope it goes well!"
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
"Hey, I only wear them this much in the winter. In case you haven't noticed, it's a little chilly out," she teases back. "... Okay sometimes I wear them while skateboarding, too, but they fit that look. And I like the layering." She thinks on that. "... maybe I should figure out a different layer... Any thoughts?"
"Ahhh, gotcha... I guess everyone has to start somewhere. But you must really like him, if you were willing to wait.", so... hopefully talking it out will work."
"Thanks." Ririka considers for a moment. "We should do something to celebrate you getting into college. Let me treat you to... I dunno. A spa or karaoke or something?"
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"A little," Ichika allows, though that didn't stop her having a thigh window between her stockings and her skirt today. It usually doesn't. "Layering is good. But there's tanktops, sweaters--sweaters are great if you want your boobs to look fantastic and get the right ones--shirts over other shirts... Lots of options. Even before you get into the mesh."
But everyone does have to start. "I was," Ichika says, "So... yeah. Hopefully!"
Then, Ichika amiles. "Sure. I love spas and stuff, so no complaints from me."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
That's true. Ririka will ahve to ask Ichika how she does it. Then again, she does okay in the cold, too... "Well... sweaters aren't exactly rock and roll, but... it would be nice to look nice for Ikumi-chan..." She almost manages to say that without blushing.
"Good luck!"
Ririka smiles. "Cool. Then, we'll work out a date. Anything you want to do."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Put a skull on it," Ichika suggests. "Wear some spikes. Or go minimalist, black sweater black skirt. Rock and roll's an attitude more than a dress code, right?"
She grins. "And it's great when you can get your partnr to look at you, totally."
"Sounds great. For now..."
"Let's eat."