2025-08-20: Checking In
- Log: Checking In
- Cast: Fuuka Yamagishi, Shinjiro Aragaki
- Where: Paulownia Mall, Tatsumi Port Island
- OOC Date: August 20, 2025
- IC Date: June 28, 2012
- Summary: Shinjiro and Fuuka have a chance encounter at the mall. Shinjiro checks in on her after her disappearance and gives a few words of advice if she's to rejoin SEES.
<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.
Fuuka Yamagishi has finally settled back into her normal life. ...Well, perhaps not so normal, now that she's thrown her lot in with SEES... but moving to the dorm is, if anything, an improvement on her living situation, so all in all, it's a positive.
For now, she's decided to drop by the mall after school. Paulownia Mall is a popular hangout spot, and even Fuuka who's a bit of an introvert isn't immune to its draws. She emerges from Kenneth Arnold, moving to settle in onto the bench near the fountain before moving her bag onto her lap and opening it to double-check the contents.
She'd picked up a few new albums. ...All ones who's releases she'd missed while she was stuck in Tartarus. Better late than never, she supposes.
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro Aragaki sometimes goes to Paulownia Mall. He's hit up the arcade before, but he's actually here for something else. He has a bag from Aohige Pharmacy, very small. He's looking for somewhere to check the receipt when he sees...
Fuuka Yamagishi, the girl he came back to the fray for.
"Yamagishi, right?" he decides to call out, approaching the bench. He looks Shady, wearing that red coat and beanie during the day, but... he's helped her twice, both without being asked, so...
He glances at her albums briefly, trying to pick out genre. "I'm... Shinjiro Aragaki. Are you holding up?"
It's awkward, but he doesn't *know* her. Even so, she changed the trajectory of his life with the sheer action of 'being stuck in Tartarus', so he at least should check on her.
Tyler Gould has arrived from The Velvet Room.
Tyler Gould has left for Port Island Station - Main.
<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.
Shinjiro calls out to her and Fuuka, distracted, jumps a little. It's nothing personal, he's tall and his silhouette is a little intimidating - but when she recognizes who it actually is, she relaxes a little.
"Aragaki-san... Hello." Fuuka greets, offering him a nod and a small smile. She remembers him, alright. He was there, both times she was in danger. She appreciates that.
Her albums, as it happens, suggest a varied taste in music, there's some classical and easy listening, as well as electronic and rock(though on the less intense side), too.
"It's good to see you again... I don't remember if I ever got a chance to thank you properly." She offers. As for how she's holding up... there's a moment of hesitation.
"I'm doing okay now, thank you." She settles on. "Recovery took a while, so I fell behind a little on school, but... I'm back on my feet again."
There's a little more to it than that and the fact that she's hiding it is easy to see, but she doesn't know where to begin to broach the topic of feeling ten days behind everyone, or want to burden someone who's already done so much.
"...And, um... how are you?" She asks.
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
As Fuuka jumps, Shinjiro frowns. "Tch..." It's not actually at her, it's more reflexive.
"I recognize some of those bands," he says idly, thumbing at the rock albums. "A little mainstream, but pretty good stuff there."
Though, as she basically thanks him... "It's fine. Don't worry about it." Her hesitation though gets a grimace, but at least she's back on her feet.
Him, though??? How does he answer that. He's got cough medicine in a grocery bag so that he can futilely try to fight his cough symptoms. He's dying. Everyone keeps wanting him to come back to SEES and won't take no for an answer.
"...I'm fine," he decides on. "Good that you're back in school. Kirijo would have your hide if you weren't," he says with a grudge in his mouth. Not towards Kirijo, just her methods!!!
A pause. "There was a girl who you were protecting when you Awakened, too. Is she okay?"
<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.
Oh no. That 'tch'... Did she offend him? Fuuka worries about it just a little - but he breezes on past that, so for now she can file that worry into the background. Instead, he indicates the albums and Fuuka nods, with a small smile. She doesn't mind 'mainstream', because that at least means her tastes are considered pretty standard.
"Yes, I'm fond of them..." She agrees with a nod. "Are you a music fan, Aragaki-san?"
She thanks him and he says it's fine, and she nods. And he says that he's fine, but she caught him hesitating, too. She looks at him for a moment...
...But if he isn't going to call her out, she'll extend him the same courtesy.
"Yes, I wouldn't want to disappoint her..." Fuuka replies with a small, nervous laugh. She doesn't doubt that she would. She always seems serious. "...I missed it, though, so I'm honestly glad to be back."
Shinjiro asks about a girl, then. Fuuka nods.
"Yes, Natsuki-chan's alright, now." She replies. She was calling her 'Moriyama-san' that night. "She doesn't remember anything that happened, but... We've been able to be a little more honest with each other."
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
"I am," Shinjiro responds about the music. "I often go to punk and rock concerts. There's some good, cheap stuff there if you go indie." She looks at him, as if she caught him out, but he nods when she doesn't say anything.
"The secret with Kirijo is that beyond the ice queen facing, she cares. So if you give it your best, you probably won't." Free advice...! "But you probably can't even ditch now, huh? Sucks."
Natsuki-chan, though... "Tch, you're on a first name -chan basis with your bully? Either she's really putting in the work or you're just too kind for your own good. I won't judge, though. All that matters is what you want."
And then, he considers. Should he ask?
"...are you going to fight? With SEES."
<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.
"That must be exciting. The atmosphere can be a little... intense for me sometimes, but maybe I should look into the indie scene, too..." Fuuka considers. It would be nice to branch out her tastes a little.
Shinjiro, then, gives her free advice. Kirijo...
"I see... I've heard some of her speeches. She's... a really dedicated person." Fuuka comments. She hesitates just a bit before venturing with a comment. "You seem to know her well."
He actually gets a small, good-natured laugh out of her, next. She shakes her head.
"No, I can't." She agrees.
He comments on her manner of reference, and says he won't judge. She nods, looking away briefly.
"Yes. I haven't... forgotten everything she's put me through, but... I believe everyone deserves a second chance. I can tell that she's trying, at least, so... I want her to have that chance." She replies.
And then, he asks the question - and at that, she nods.
"Yes, I am." She confirms with a nod. There's no hesitation there - she sounds more certain about that than anything she's said so far.
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro nods about the atmosphere. He doesn't really get it, as he *enjoys* the atmosphere, but he can respect the difference.
But about Kirijo... "...the three of us used to run together, way back when. Me, Aki, and Kirijo." It's not a secret. People have seen him with Akihiko, after all.
She belieevs in second chances..."Then give her that chance. Most people wouldn't be as kind as you." He shrugs. It's again not his place to judge.
The SEES thing... makes sense. But did she have a choice, or was she pressganged for being a Navigator? "Are you making that choice yourself? That's all that matters." He seems to believe that *deeply*, and is fairly serious about the question.
<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.
They used to run together... It's a little hard to imagine them where she is now, setting out awkwardly into something no one knew much about... But everyone has to start somewhere.
"I see..." She murmurs in reply. She studies him for a moment. The obvious question runs through her head - why did that change? ...She doesn't have the courage to ask, though.
She nods, then. She understands that. It's a rare thing, and maybe a little naive... but she wants to, anyway.
And, he asks her an important question. She nods.
"Yes, I am. I thought about it for a while." She confirms again. "Someone told me... that I didn't have to feel obligated to. That just because I was rescued didn't mean I'd have to fight... that it'd be more normal not to."
She considers her words for a moment.
"So... while I do want to help everyone as well, I decided to do it for myself, too." She concludes.
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro once again notices her studying him. In the end... he doesn't say anything, once more. It's none of her business, even if she's the reason he's back in the fold.
"They're right. Never feel obligated to fight... it only makes you a liability," he says. "You need to have your own reasons to fight and own them."
But she decided to do it for herself... "Those are good reasons."
He turns on his heel. He's not leaving just yet, but... "Stay safe. A lot of people fought to save you... I'm not gonna say you need to pay them back, but if you're going to fight, make sure you don't get reckless like Aki, got it?"
<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.
A liability... that's the last thing she wants to be. She needs to have her own reasons to fight, and own them...
Fuuka nods.
"Thank you. I'll be sure to remember that." She replies.
He turns on his heel and tells her to stay safe, and she offers him a small smile.
"I will. You too. And... thank you. For checking in on me, Aragaki-san." She replies. If she's going to fight, make sure she doesn't get reckless... "I won't. I want to be a guide everyone can trust, so... that's something I have to avoid."
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro nods once, clutching his cough medicine tightly. "It's nothing," he says about checking in on her. Was that what he was doing? Nonsense. He was... okay, he definitely was.
"Then guide them well. They need someone like you." More than they need someone like him.
Shinjiro steps away after giving her a second, moving to actually go take his medicine because he feels it coming on, and doesn't want to expose his condition to yet another person who'll care.