2022-03-03: All These Practiced Poses
- Log: 2022-03-03: All These Practiced Poses
- Cast: Akane Shinjo, Yuta Hibiki, Rikka Takarada, Sho Utsumi
- Where: Tsutsujidai High School
- OOC - IC Date: 0096-03-03
- Summary: Akane decides to try a different approach. Actually, she decides to try a lot of them. They are all, generously, pointless overcomplications.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"Oho... so that's your new strategy." Alexis's tone is... hard to read -- a little bit purposefully.
Akane nods, giving a big smile. "Yep! I'm gonna point them at the Aura of Dawn, and maybe all of our problems can solve themselves at once!"
Alexis is silent for several seconds. Then: "... About the kaiju you were making -- you'll still be using it, yes?" It's not that Akane's strategy is bad, of course, but it does sound... suspiciously light on kaiju. "You were running all over town looking for parts... it'd be a shame if it went to waste."
Akane squints at the monitor a bit. "Would it be so bad if I wasn't?"
A long silence.
"Of *course* I'm gonna use the kaiju! I'd be stupid not to use it! Marusan wanted somewhere to go for a spring break trip... I figure I'll make a nice little getaway in the mountains over the next week or so, and then, when the time is right..." She reaches under her desk, pulling out a kaiju that looks more like a *diorama* than a monster and plopping it onto the cutting mat. "Pretty cool, huh?" A beat passes, and she adds, "... I think I want to use 'that' this time. Anti didn't cut it, so maybe it's worth trying..."
"Oh, Juggler's...? An interesting choice. I can handle --"
Akane puts her feet up on the desk. It's not with a slam this time, but there's a bit of implicit threat in her confident smile. "*I* want to use it," she says, a little more firmly. "You can teach me how, right?"
A second long silence.
"... Of course, Akane-kun!" Alexis answers her, jovially. "It's not a problem at all."
"Ooogh, day two of exams was just a liiiiiiiittle too long for my tastes." Akane lets out a breath, looking to Utsumi, Hibiki, and Rikka. There's a moment where she considers Ako and Marusa, too... but in the end, she offers those two a, "I think you're gonna need to study without me today," before approaching the Gridman Alliance.
"Hey," Akane says, with a slightly conspiratorial smile. "Come meet me on the roof walkway about... half an hour after school, okay? There's something I think we need to talk about. And don't worry about getting dinner!" She's all smiles about it.
The line at the school store is long, and Akane is getting impatient. "Three bags of apple gummies, one special double dog, one special dog -- actually, two special double dogs, one egg sandwich. Two ramune, one yogurt drink with probiotics..." A beat. "... Do you have any tomato juice today?" A blink. "Huh? Really? ... two yogurt drinks?"
Assuming no one comes early, Akane has set everything up perfectly -- two special double dogs, each with the ramune. One egg sandwich, with the yogurt drink box. One bag of apple gummies each.
After all -- they're not going to listen to anything she says if it isn't perfect. She's rehearsed it in her head several times. (She has to, to keep her story straight. This can't be "a cry for help".)
She sips at her yogurt drink, lips curling up a bit as she assesses the spread. Juuuuust perfect.
<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.
Come meet me on the roof walkway about... half an hour after school, okay? There's something I think we need to talk about. And don't worry about getting dinner!
After a small phone call to Riku, to let him know that he was going to be having dinner with the others, Yuta had left to go meet Rikka, Akane and Sho at the roof walkway. His hand hesitates as his fingers brush by the pressure sensitive bar that had to be pressed in to open the fiberglass door and grant him entry. It's been a while since we got to talk, hasn't it? - I didn't even get to see her on Valentine's day .. Yuta thinks to himself, idly wondering what she thought of the wafers; if she'd even gotten to them. For all he knew, some neighborhood critter swiped them from her front porch.
Between that and the grueling exams he hadn't at all been prepared for, it was a stark wake up call that perhaps his superhero-school-life balance was out of whack. He wasn't comfortable using his amnesia as an excuse either, as he had the feeling he'd be no more prepared for the last two days even if he had all his memories intact.
- it just means I have to try even harder to make things work out, Yuta resolves to himself. It was a delicate balancing act, but that was just part of .. growing up, maybe? He wasn't sure. But he did know that he was perhaps, a little too greedy to just pick between saving the town and having the time to hang out with the people he liked.
Yuta presses down on the bar and gently shoves the door open to enter the walkway, realizing that he'd been standing there staring into his own reflection for nearly four minutes. "Oops .. sorry, I zoned out a little .. thanks a lot for treating us, Akane." he says with a small smile, greeting her with a wave. " .. well, I'm sorry for more than that, I guess. I've been a little distant, I think .. so let's talk lots, okay?"
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
...Exams. In all the excitement, Rikka had almost forgotten about exams. Well, scratch that, she had forgotten until Hass reminded her, prompting a desperate study session. There's no way around it - her scores are going to suck. But maybe at least she'll be able to just barely scrape by.
With a sigh, Rikka stands from her seat... when, suddenly, Akane approaches, drawing her attention.
Half an hour after school, on the roof walkway... is this about what Sayla mentioned...? Well, if Akane wants to speak with her (all of them), she isn't going to pass up that chance.
Rikka arrives right on time, thirty minutes after school's out as appointed. She seems calm and collected, despite worrying a little about seeming too eager if she arrived too early. She smiles, and offers a wave of greeting as she approaches,
"Yeah, thanks, Akane..." Rikka agrees with a nod, as Yuta offers thanks, and takes a moment to look over what's assembled. Sodas, and... a yogurt drink. She remembered...? "It's been a really long day today, and I'm famished... Today's exams were a real killer, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Sho Utsumi has posed.
Sho aced the exams. Or at least, in his head. He did not actually prepare, but he's smart, right? He's a glasses guy. He's got this.
(His scores will suck.)
After the meeting is given, Sho appears with the others. He's anxious. Could this be...?
Does Shinjo want to be their friend?!
"Yo, Rikka, Yuta, Shinjo." He can't use her first name. That's disrespectful! She's too unapproachable, usually. They've never spoken.
"Do you mind if I have one of those special dogs?" He asks, politely (which is rare), and turns to Rikka. "Oh, I totally aced it."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
The wafers have joined countless other snacks and gifts in the undifferentiated mess of Akane's room. Try as she might, she can't handle gifts -- even from people who are obligated to 'love' her.
"They were pretty bad," Akane concedes, rubbing at the back of her head. "My head's been kinda jumbled up on history lately, and I think my French is starting to get jumbled up with the English..." Even the ace is having trouble? Things must really be a mess. She remembers to say, "Yeah! They're yours. I'm already full up, but these are each for you guys. I think it's pretty obvious which sets are whose," to Utsumi.
Right. Onto business. "I was *going* to ask you about studying, since it sounds like we're all having a rough time with exams -- and I do want to do that! It'd be kinda nice to stay here 'til they kick us out," Akane starts. Calm, practiced... for the most part. (Even already she's a hair off her own script.) "Other than Utsumi, apparently... but there's something else first."
Sorry, Yuta -- superhero-school-life balance is gonna have to wait.
"You guys remember, uh... I guess it'd be about a month and a half ago? Maybe two? When you mentioned the kaiju?" Just keep your worldline straight and it's fine. You've already been doing this for a year, Akane. "I can see them, too."
After a last nod back to Rikka, Akane... scoots in toward Hibiki, instead. "I kinda hung you guys out to dry with the rest of the class, huh?" she concedes, rubbing at the back of her head, now just a *bit* encroaching on Yuta's personal space.
<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.
" - huh?"
Yuta's head tilts lightly to the side, red hair shifting with the motion besides two gravity defying tufts that remain stubbornly sticking out. His desire to talk about normal things were dashed upon the craggy rocks of reality, it seemed .. but, he couldn't really find it in himself to be upset about that, exactly. It was almost whiplash, the way she'd segued from talking about food and exams right into non-chalantly dropping a pretty big bomb on the lot of them. Or, at least, him. He supposed he couldn't speak for Sho or Rikka.
Akane beginning to invade his personal space doesn't immediately parse on his radar, as the hamster wheel in his head turns with ever increasing, frantic rotations. She could see the kaiju..? But, what's that mean. It's - my head hurts. I'm not realizing something important, I think .. I could only see kaiju after my accident, probably .. and the others could only start seeing them shortly afterwards. If Akane could see them since around that same period of time, then ...
Yuta's brain stalls dizzyingly. "Since that time, huh .. " he murmurs.
Something about that bothered him.
If she said she'd begun to see them recently, some part of him realizes, it probably wouldn't agitate something at the back of his skull. That she had been aware of it all this time, and hadn't said anything to them or as far as he knew, anyone else ..
Oh. I get it now. It hurt my feelings, that's all. Yuta thinks, his shoulders sagging as the tension releases. What a funny thing to get worked up over. I'm that sensitive, huh ...
Yuta, without touching the special dog he'd claimed for himself, touches the tips of his fingers together in an almost sheepish way. "I guess you did," he agrees with her concession, " - but it's alright. I - " he was going to say he forgave her, but there wasn't really anything to forgive. He wasn't entitled to her trust, and besides, he and Rikka had neglected to tell her about Gridman.
" - er, what I mean to say is, I'm not mad about it or anything. ..uhm, though ... "
She's kind of close, isn't she? Wasn't she sitting somewhere else a second ago? .. but there's nowhere for me to really back up.
" .. nevermind."
"But, why bring that up now..?" he asks, gently. Now that his knee-jerk response was subdued with success, it brought forth actual questions.
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Rikka nods sympathetically as Akane mentions the difficulties she's been having. History... she can definitely sympathise with that. French, though... she's a little impressed Akane is learning that, too. English lessons are bad enough sometimes. As for their individual sets,
"Thanks for remembering..." Rikka says, claiming her sandwich and yogurt drink. She could never deal with the carbonated stuff.
Studying... Rikka nods, at that, but there's something Akane wants to say first. And in the end, it's true - she can see the kaiju, as well. Even knowing that already... well, it still hits pretty hard hearing it from Akane herself.
"Have you been dealing with that all on your own, all this time...? I'm sorry..." Rikka asks, a little concerned. That... explains a lot. Things were difficult enough when she at least had Yuta and Utsumi to commiserate with. "How long have you been able to see them?"
It's a question she's almost afraid to hear the answer to. If it's been longer than even they know...
<Pose Tracker> Sho Utsumi has posed.
Sho grabs the special dog as he's given permission, taking the obvious set, and thanks her. He begins to eat as she explains, and nearly chokes when she brings up the kaiju. He drinks, swallows, continues eating, and then after Rikka asks the hard question...
"Does this mean you remember the volleyball club, too?"
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"About then," Akane answers Yuta and Rikka; it's a little noncommittal, but the better part of two months... at this point that's a long time, and there's a lot going on. It's Utsumi, though, who comes in with a genuinely difficult question -- one that's going to force Akane to give an answer she wasn't expecting to have to.
"... Volleyball club?" She blinks once, twice. "Our school doesn't have a volleyball club." She delivers it calmly -- and then loops back... "... oh," is all she ultimately says. There's definitely *some* negative emotion tied up in that last little 'oh.' ... Akane can be kind of hard to read, at spots.
The generous read of those two things, of course, places it fairly *exactly* -- right after Tonkawa (but only after).
Yuta's not eating yet. That gnaws at Akane, a bit -- not enough to press in a group setting, like this, but it's enough to get her to shift her position a little. Her ankle glides, just slightly, against his leg as she repositions -- it'd look innocent to an observer, but actually feeling it... it's just a hair too slow to be simple repositioning.
"Why now...?" Akane asks. "... The last couple times," she explains, "I took a drone out there. I think I figured out a few things about the woman in the robot -- the one that isn't a kaiju... it took some kinda risky flying, and I wrecked the drone, so no pictures, but I got an okay look at her."
<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.
Yuta moves his right leg to prop it under his left, criss-cross, after taking a moment to adjust his own sitting position after the not-so-innocuous physical contact. He didn't dislike it, but -
Well, it'll be fine leaving it at that for now, right? he wonders. He supposed he didn't know how he was supposed to react to that, but making a deal out of it felt incorrect. It was just a little touch, is all. - I feel kind of lame, all the sudden.
Akane's invasions of his personal space was probably the closest he'd ever physically been to a girl his age, at least in a normal social setting. Or maybe it wasn't, he'd have no way of knowing.
But if he had an impression of the Yuta Hibiki who came before him, it'd be that he probably wasn't the sort who'd be proficient in that kind of thing, being friends with Sho Utsumi and all.
Then again - .. I wish I could remember what kind of interactions we'd had before, he thinks, glumly. It wasn't the first time he sorely missed his wayward memories, and he figured it was going to be far from the last.
There's no time for me to sit around moping about my situation, though.
Yuta takes his special dog into his hand, but still does not take a bite. This took precedence; at least, in his mind.
" .. it must have been tough, keeping everything to yourself." he starts with a tentative tone. For him - and perhaps much more so for Sho and Rikka, he thought - it was difficult to know that Akane had forgotten the volleyball team. If this means that those who remember won't remember retroactively, then it really is possible that Tsutsujidai had always been this way, with none of us knowing.
"We're all here for you now, though - so you don't have to carry that burden all on your own shoulders .. thank you for confiding in us, Akane." he affirms.
"As for what you just mentioned, uhm .. let's see .. " he thinks back to the last battle.
What was it that she'd been called? She'd been known to one of the pilots that came to fight her. But he couldn't recall what her name was, according to him.
"So you know what she looks like. That's really helpful! - ... but."
.. that still didn't answer Yuta's question. He had an inkling suspicion, based on that, however.
Rather than saying anything, he patiently waits for her to continue, if she felt the need to - or for Rikka or Sho to interject.
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
'About then'. Rikka nods, and a part of her feels like she can relax, just a little. She glances toward Utsumi as he asks about the volleyball club - the other pressing question on her mind. ...But, it looks like she doesn't remember them.
"...I'm sorry." Rikka apologises. ...It must hurt, to be reminded of people who no longer exist. She nods, then, as Yuta offers his reassurances. "...Yeah. We're here for you now, okay? We can try to make up for lost time."
She takes a sip of her drink as Akane answers Yuta's question - why now.
"You actually saw her...? Do you watch the kaiju often?" Rikka asks.
It does make her wonder, though. How much did Akane see of the fight? Did she see Synchrotank and Gridman, too? Yuta's identity would probably be safe, but if she's been watching kaiju fights through drones...
...Maybe she's worrying over nothing.
"...It's kind of terrifying. I wonder what she was after...?" Rikka murmurs. She still wasn't quite sure about that - she'd been too busy struggling against the talkative kaiju to listen too much to what she'd been saying after they got separated.
<Pose Tracker> Sho Utsumi has posed.
"...I see." Sho frowns at the answer, but then perks up slightly at the mention of drones. "I didn't know you were into that kind of stuff, Shinjo...cool. What did you learn about her? Did you recognize her...?"
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"I wasn't sure I should say anything at all," Akane answers -- which is true, of course. "But the longer this goes on, the weirder it gets... and I think it's better if I bring it up with you guys, isn't it? I've been figuring out stuff just by talking to people who seem like they're from out of town, but this whole thing is just too weird."
Still not biting on any of it, huh... the longer that goes, the more annoyed Akane gets. (There's something about Rikka's choice of words that gnaws at her, too.) ... She puts all that aside for now.
"I've actually seen her around town before!" Akane answers Utsumi, with a firm nod. "We've had coffee together a few times. She kept saying this weird stuff... when I asked one of the out-of-towners about it, he said something bad happened to her and she wasn't herself right now." She weighs how much to give at once. "I don't know how it'd work, but I want to save her. Whatever happened to her is trying to get her to end the world."
She sips at her yogurt drink. It sounds like they trust her. ... good, that'll make it easier to point them in the right direction. "I don't know what you guys can do about it, but try to stay safe, okay? She seems like a good person under all that, but whatever's got its hooks in her sounds *dangerous.*"
<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.
She doesn't know what we can do about it? That's -
A lie. There'd be no purpose to having this conversation if that were true. At least in the manner it'd been carried out, this was worthless information to bystanders, and just as meaningless to investigate if everyone involved were just a bunch of highschool kids.
"If you don't mind me prying...do you happen to remember who you spoke to?"
Maybe it was that pilot - it'd certainly help point them in the right way if they had a little more information to go off of. That Akane mentioned she was seen around town means that it was pretty likely they could also find her living in their very own Tsutsujidai.
Akane thinks we can do something about it, I think. If she suspects we're the Gridman Alliance, that'd make sense .. but what's with this bushbeating?
To put it another way .. if she knows, then she's informing us about this woman under the pretense that we'd choose to involve ourselves without prompting. If she does not know, then she's choosing to tell these things to her classmates rather than contacting the Federation, or NERV, despite implying a pertinent connection through various interlopers. And that -
- doesn't make any sense, does it? Yuta finishes for the voice speaking in the back of his mind. Gridman?
There's no response.
Maybe those had been his own thoughts, in all actuality?
"We'll be as careful as .. erm .. " he stops, " ... sorry, I don't really have a good analogy. We'll keep our noses clean, though."
"I have just one more question, by the way."
"You said that she wants to 'end the world'. But that's not true. Or at least - it's not true for Tsutsujidai. Why is that?"
A brief pause as he chooses how to reword what he's saying, "What I mean is ... if that person wants to end the world, while also seeking to continue the status quo in Tsutsuidai, that means there is a difference in 'places outside of Tsutsujidai' and 'Tsutsujidai' in a way that isn't exactly obvious."
Yuta's fingers nervously fidget on his uneaten meal. "...well, don't worry about it. I'm sure that was a strange thing to ask you."
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Talking to people from out of town... So that explains why she confided in Sayla, beyond just knowing that they're friends. Rikka nods.
"...I'm... glad you decided to trust us with it." She replies with a smile. "It's better if you don't have to shoulder it all by yourself."
But still, she does seem to be asking a lot of them... maybe it's because she feels like they're the only ones she can turn to?
...But, Yuta has some very good questions to ask. And Rikka has to admit, she hadn't actually thought about... any of that.
"If you think she's a good person, I'll trust you on that... Her situation sounds... awful." Rikka replies, with a shake of her head. Why would a good person try to destroy the world...?
...Good question.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
There's a distinct feeling Akane has -- that she's being trapped, or at least, that her great plan is turning out, maybe, not so great. She's kinda underestimating everyone, she begins to realize. ... of course she is. She allowed her opinion of herself to get inflated by a few marginal successes.
"Umm... his name was Guy," Akane answers, first. "I've talked to a few other people from out of town, but that's the cousin of the person piloting that robot that showed up last time." The second question, though -- that's an even more dangerous one, and it's one that could tip everything over if Akane doesn't approach it *very* carefully. But she can't allow herself to look insincere, either.
"Hrrm... man, that *is* kind of a good question... but when I talk to people from out of town, they have a really different idea of what history is. Apparently the PLANTs aren't even independent to those people... that's the biggest one I've noticed, but there's other stuff too." She pauses, then says, "... maybe there's a whole other world, and it only applies to that one... or maybe she's just saving here for last."
That's more than she wanted to give -- by a lot, honestly. Especially since one of those is the real, honest answer. "Anyway -- I guess I just needed someone else from around here to know! And I could tell you guys also knew, so..." She rubs at the back of her head. "Sorry if this is kinda heavy for exams. Once we finish eating, I do wanna study with you guys, too."
<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.
Yuta's quiet blue eyes intently stare upon Akane, like two sea-blue spotlights. Er, wait a second. Isn't this basically just turning into me grilling her for answers?
Finally, with a blink, that piercingly perceptive look softens into a jello-like gentleness. Well, if there are any deeper implications to any of this, I'll figure it out later. Calibur and Vitt would probably be the best ones to consult ... though it's kind of up in the air if Vitt would actually be helpful. - hehe~, 'up in the air' ..
Smiling at his own joke to himself, Yuta raises his special dog and finally takes a bite out of it. It tastes very good.
After chewing and swallowing his first bite, "I see," Yuta says.
Then I'll need to reach out to this Guy for sure. Then we can kind of .. go from there, probably.
"In the end, the only person who knows for sure why she's doing all this, and the answers to those questions, is her .. - er, anyway, we're all ears if you ever do need to talk about anything, of course. I .. kind of get what you mean, about wanting to confide in others."
Yes, he knew all too well how it felt, concealing and bottling how not-alright you are with things until it starts to froth over. In a way, he was still doing it every single day.
"So there's no need to apologize. It's nice to know you figured you could count on us, right?" he inclines his head towards Rikka.
" - once we're all done with our supper, let's cram so much we'll look like we went through a marathon. I know these past two days have been pretty bad for my scores, so I want to get full perfect marks for what's left. I'll be in your care," he does a small, almost playful half-bow to Akane. "I'm sure if we all put our heads together and give it all our guts, we'll get the scores we want!"
What hopeful optimism. Though, he did feel a little dishonest.
Yuta didn't actually care that much about his grades so much as he wanted to spend the rest of the day with them. Something deep in his heart told him that he wouldn't have the luxury of living a quiet highschool life forever.
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Guy? That is... someone Rikka doesn't know yet! She hasn't gotten that far in her studies on the history of the outside world. Speaking of... it looks like Akane's noticed that, too. Rikka frowns at that, but doesn't comment. Instead, she nods when Yuta inclines his heard toward her.
"Yeah. There are more important things than exams. We should... talk more often." Rikka says with a nod... and then a grimace. "...But, ugh, I guess we can't ignore them forever..."
She only wishes she could show enthusiasm like Yuta's. Thinking about exams again drains all the energy out of her, but it's something they have to do...
"...Yeah, that. Let's all do our best..." Rikka says, with a sigh. It'll be nice to study with everyone, at least.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Yuta backs off a little -- though that stare still lingers for Akane. Hibiki's pretty smart... she'll need to watch out. His lack of memory might even make him *more* dangerous -- he's less inclined to fill things in with his own preconceptions. Something to consider later -- and to price in the next time she tries to drip him information and lead him around.
... Rikka, though... Rikka seems happy Akane's opening up at all, and that's its own kind of complicated. ... it's unfair, Akane thinks. If Hibiki's Gridman, he's their guest, which means he's free to do as he will, but Rikka...
... nope. Not thinking about that! Besides -- if she can just get things to work out so that Triple Zero, Gridman, and Ultraman all solve each other, somehow... she can get back to having her private little world. Then she can forget about how unfair it is, and have exactly what she deserves. None of them will ever have to think about it again!
"Ehehe... that does sound pretty good. ... if it's for studying, I get to break curfew~" she says, mouth wrapped around her straw before she takes a sip of her drink.
<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.
"Right - your curfew's usually pretty strict, huh." Yuta says, putting two and two together. Yet you miss more school than you attend. And, I've never seen your parents the few times we swung around your place. Do they work overseas, like mine?
What does that even mean, when the world outside Tsutsujidai isn't the same as the one recognized by those who live here?
"Only bad kids break the rules, though. .. even so, I'm sure it'll be fine if we stay up late this time. It's the springtime of our youth, like some of the older sensei would say."
Yuta smiles, before wiping his mouth with a napkin. Somehow, his special dog has been devoured like a tree put through a mulcher; every bite was specatcular.
Moments like this are the kind of thing that I fight to protect. This moment .. and more moments like this that may happen in the future .. I'll defend it with all I've got. Even if my memories never come back, I will always treasure the new memories I'm making right now.
"So...if none of you mind if I pick our first subject.."
Tapping the side of his head with a little rap of his knuckles, Yuta unsheathes his school mathbook; effectively a 101 for Trigonometery, Geometery, and Algerbrae. History was frankly his weakest spot, but at least for him, there was no amount of cramming that would fill in all of those blanks - something he'd learned bitterly earlier that same day. Atleast with math, he might have a chance.
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Rikka laughs conspiratorially, as Akane points out that she gets to break curfew for studying.
"We'll make the most of it, then." She says... and looks briefly toward Yuta.
"...Where did you learn that? You sound like an old man..." Rikka replies, with a good-natured laugh. Before long, she's finished off her own provided food.
"Thanks for the meal, Akane... I definitely needed that." Rikka says. "Okay, let's get to it..."
Yuta picks the first subject, and Rikka grimaces.
"Starting with the hard stuff, huh... Alright, let's dive in." She says, cracking open her own books.
It feels nice to be doing something normal with everyone for once...