2022-01-23: Umbrella

• Log: Umbrella
• Cast: Anti, Rikka Takarada
• Where: Tsutsujidai
• Date: 2022-01-23
• Summary: Anti eats the bento Akane gave him. A girl he doesn't know comes and offers him a second course, but there's something in the way of him reaching out to Rikka.

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<Pose Tracker> Anti has posed.

        Summer rain is a particular beast. Patter-pat-a-pat-a-pat, it drums down, damp, driving, drenching exposed sleeves and exposed hair. It is at once a relief from the heat of bus-day sunlight, and...

        Why is the sky crying, anyway?

        It's a good excuse to find a place to shelter, because Anti is carrying a present. He's sat himself down on a covered bench, the bare lattices providing something like privacy -- though with rain like this, there are more trees than people nearby, right now.

        Akane got Anti a bento to eat while he was out today. This time he remembered to rip the plastic off first, because he learnt he can't digest plastic, after the first time. Because he's a kaiju who looks like Akane, he supposes.

        Anti is relieved that she isn't mad, the way she was at Alexis when he didn't learn to drive fast enough. That's a good feeling. But with it comes the tension of knowing Gridman is still out there -- still alive -- still troubling the fixtures of Tsutsujidai.

        It's that tension which lends such intensity to his gaze, as he ABSOLUTELY DEVOURS THAT BENTO.

        Face buried in the tray, he eats more like a starving dog than a boy, all lashing-jaw and eating-grunts. A good amount of the rice has been scattered to the bench in front of him, because he's sat down on the very far edge. He's all hunched over; his long grey scarf has scraps of sauce flecked onto it, from where it's dipped into the food. His clothing is...

        ... well, it's uniform-LIKE, but not any kind of school uniform around here. Muted blue, red flames. It's a striking match for his white hair and pale skin. His eyes are currently hidden by the former, fallen over his face as he devours his lunch. There are tangles visible there -- he hasn't brushed his hair recently.

        He seems occupied with his lunch. The fact that he's eating it closer to breakfast doesn't seem to bother him.


<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Today, Rikka has decided... really sucks. She's exhausted, mentally and physically, from Everything that's happened over the last few days, and to make matters worse, it's raining. Normally she wouldn't mind it, but today...

Yeah. School's not happening today. The only thing she wants to do today is kill some time until Hass and Namiko are off, and then go grab them to do something fun so she can shove everything else out of her mind until it's time to think about it all again. Outside, and what it means...

Yeah, that can wait.

School won't be out for a while yet, though, so right now sees her strolling through the city, umbrella in her hand and earbuds in with some relaxing tunes playing. Her steps take her to the familiar sights of Kamesan Park, where she spots a decidedly unfamiliar sight in one of the lattice-covered benches.

...A boy, face buried in a bento tray and devouring it as if he'd never eaten a day in his life. The sight is enough to freeze her in her tracks, visceral in a way that makes it hard to look away. But, surprise gives way to concern as she considers the why, and as she notes the way he's absolutely drenched. She takes a tentative step forward, unsure how he'll react... and then approaches, undoing an earbud.

"Um... do you need an umbrella?" She asks, breaking the silence.


<Pose Tracker> Anti has posed.

        The way he'll react is: he doesn't.

        This isn't the first person who looks like Akane Anti has seen since he was born, of course. There was that person in the convenience store... and other people, too. But they're not Akane, and they're not Gridman, so they don't really matter. Anti hasn't even thought about what happens to them when he's fighting.

        Which isn't to say he's trying to kill them; the only person he wants to kill is Gridman. He just... isn't worried in the slightest.

        If Akane didn't care enough to give him orders about it, it doesn't matter, does it?

        So if there's another person approaching him now, it doesn't matter.

        HOMPH nomph nomph nomph nomph nomph...

        But there's no one else here; it's raining. It means that when that person who looks like Akane talks, she is -- by sheer virtue of elimination -- talking to him.

        His face stills, near the bento-box; there's a tension to his eyes and a wobble to his lips. He looks, for the moment, intensely troubled.

        what is an umbrella and why does he need one

        Drip, drip, the remnants of rain fall from his soggy hair, as his gaze -- but not his head -- turns up to examine this new not-Akane person. His gaze scans over her form. Hair... no, he has that. Clothes? He has those. He has a face already, too, though he's not sure why hers is doing that. That's a strange facial configuration.

        And that means an umbrella has got to be...

        His eyes track higher, to the thing she's holding. She's holding it, but it doesn't look like a weapon. Some kind of shield..? It's wet, but she isn't. A rain shield? A shield to protect her against the rain? Anti frowns, as he tries to piece it together.


<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Well... Rikka supposes she can't blame him for not reacting. She is a stranger, after all - whoever raised him must have taught him well. But then again, looking at his situation... did he have anyone like that? She doesn't say anything just yet, letting him speak - or not - at his own speed. She notes that troubled look in his eyes, and the way they track up to the umbrella.

...Is he too shy to ask about it?

"Um... here." Rikka says, leaning over - making sure to keep enough space between them so as not to crowd them out, but hooking the umbrella to the back of the bench to give him some coverage. She leans back and assesses him for a moment, considering the devoured bento box. The way he was eating it... she can't help but worry a little about what his life must be like.

After a moment of consideration she reaches behind her, rummaging through her backpack and drawing out her own bento, wrapped in blue and white cloth, and offering it out to him.

"...Are you still hungry?" She asks.


<Pose Tracker> Anti has posed.

        And now the person who looks like Akane (Anti looks like Akane (Anti looks like people who look like Akane? (Questions for later))) is approaching him, which is its own puzzle, because people who aren't Akane typically don't.

        Anti knows about being given things, though, because Akane gives Anti bento. He doesn't reach out, but he doesn't shy away, either. His head lifts though -- a little -- from his empty bento box, as he looks up at the umbrella being fixed over his head. A sheet of fake sushi grass falls from the tray; it's plastic, so he spat it out.

        That thing isn't a weapon, so he doesn't have to worry about it. There's a little rustle of raindrops falling from the edge, but -- once he's underneath it, he's much more protected from the crying sky.

        Faintly, he hears music -- but there are no enemies here, right now.

        "..."

        It's the sort of silence which is pronounced, as he looks back from the umbrella to Rikka, hands still clutching that empty bento box. His lips part, only to close, again.

        He doesn't... understand.

        Now he's more dry; he's more dry because this stranger is looking at him with a strange expression and fixing her shield, this umbrella, by his seat. She... must want him to be dry, for some reason. But she has no reason for that. So, why..?

        His gaze returns to his empty tray, those lines of strain about his eyes as he tries to process the information. Akane gave him this bento. Akane is doting on him, because he's the only kaiju she needs. But this girl doesn't need anything from him.

        Maybe he doesn't understand what she's doing, he thinks --

        -- which is precisely the moment that girl's hand draws closer to his space, offers a package smelling of food, asks a question.

        It's the one question he has context to build from.

        Is he still hungry..?

        His eyes widen; his face turns up, to look at that striped cloth bento. For no reason, this girl -- like Akane, but --

        Anti doesn't quite realise that 'shy' is a word which could describe his hesitation, the uncertainty which leads him to just stare, for a moment. It's not quite fear, but it is, perhaps, its neighbour, glancing out the window to see a whole world outside the haven of him.

        Slowly -- haltingly -- his hand lifts, halfway to the bento-box, and pauses there. His fingers stretch out, TOO perfectly still, as if his arm has forgotten there is effort in being held out like this.

        His gaze, all sunset-fire gold and red, tracks up from the bento to the girl. It's veiled by the umbrella; veiled by his damp bangs, too. He never quite stops being intense, but there's something searching to his eyes, in that moment.

        Anti, after all, is an autointelligence kaiju; he was designed to copy others and grow, so that he can defeat Gridman. His cup is empty, but for what Akane has given him; not so much different to the empty kaiju who came before him. Not so different, except...

        Now, this girl...

                        BR-RIIIIING

        It's Anti's phone.

        Anti's phone rings, and for a moment, his hand stays right where it is. Could he take what this girl has offered him, even so..? But it sounds again -- BR-RIII--BR-RIIING -- and slowly, with the new emotion of disappointment, that hand drops.

        Without a word, he stands; still shorter than this girl, as if he were designed to look younger, perhaps. He looks past her, as he straightens. His head bumps the umbrella, knocks it to one side; a few of the drops on the top rustle off onto his mop of hair, instead.

        He walks away, with solid, sure steps.

        He's not quite far enough away to disguise his voice -- low, gravelly, and rough -- when he lifts the cell phone to his ear.

        "I understand."

        Striding through the rain, one hand in his pocket, he clearly has somewhere to be...

        ... and it's not any place he can take the concern of an umbrella with him.


<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

There's a pronounced silence. Rikka watches the boy - she doesn't want to push or hurry him, she lets him take his time processing everything.

And when she offers him the bento... is that shyness? He seems uncertain.

"It's okay. It's safe." She says, trying to encourage him. His arm lifts, and briefly their eyes meet - gold and red eyes meeting hers, blue tinged with pink... And that look on his face.

But the moment is broken as the sound of a ringing phone cuts through the world's silence. For a moment, she thinks its her own - but no, it's coming from him. She steps aside as he stands up, giving him some space to walk away.

'I understand', he says in that low voice.

"...Oh, he has a phone..." She considers. She supposes that means he must have someone he's connected to...