2023-04-11: A Shopping Trip I Recognize
- Cast: Ako Furuma, Akane Shinjo
- Where: Tsutsujidai Mall
- Date: U.C. 0097 04 11
- Summary: After months apart, Ako and Akane finally catch up, one-on-one, and talk about their lives. It's a positive reunion.
<Pose Tracker> Ako Furuma has posed.
Ako Furuma had catching up to do.
Being missing for several months from your girlfriend, who barely slept, and your best friend, who distorted reality in the first place sorta kinda, was a drag. While she reunited with Ramo Marusan...
She hadn't really talked to Akane besides some VERTEX conversations, such as the initial 'i'm back and i'm so sorry for being gone' text and many, many cat pics to make up for lost time.
But now, they had finally made a date of going out. The mall was less crowded for certain times of the day, and Ako had memorized which were best for visiting.
They'd already hit the clothes store, with Ako grabbing stuff that seemed quite random for herself, but was probably intricately matching outfits in her head. She had her special interests - art and 'concept design', whether that was for a character or for an actual person.
With a bag under her arm, Ako turned to her friend. "So...what do you want to do next? Food court? Model kits?" She's trying to find a way to bridge back into Akane's life.
After all, when you disappear that long...you might as well be becoming a ghost, she feared.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Akane realizes she owes Ako... a lot of explanations, though she's unsure how many explanations Marusan has already given her. The barrage of cat pics is well-taken, though, and Akane does trade those, now that she's living somewhere with an actual cat.
Akane seems to be having an easier time with clothes than she used to, at least; she's killed a couple of her demons on that front after going shopping with Alouette. For her own part, she's been seeking out relatively... 'normal' clothes?
She also seems to be about an inch and a half taller than when last Ako saw her, and her hair has been reverted to a brown-black that seems to sit a little more naturally on her head than the lilac, somehow.
"Hmmm... the food court sounds good! Jeez, it's been two years since I've let you see me actually eat anything, huh..." That gets Akane a little bit wistful, and she smiles about it.
"... Hass is back, by the way, if that didn't already get around to you." That, too, is worth smiling about, as Akane heads toward the food court.
<Pose Tracker> Ako Furuma has posed.
Ako was already about to go 'wait I shouldn't suggest the food court' when Akane accepted. Huh. Well, that's nice. And Akane's smiling, so Ako follows behind her, wondering how much is different and how much is the same.
Not that it matters.
"Hass... with the mask, right? That's good. I heard she'd been missing even after I returned... so presumably not the same situation as I was in." She doesn't pry, though.
When they reach the food court, her eyes hit the MacDaniels, but... instead, she goes to Jollibee, grabbing spaghetti plus single chicken piece combo.
It's good to try and branch out, after all. And Ako has plenty of cash, since Ramo usually pays for them, so she turns to Akane. "My treat, if you want. Anywhere here."
No pressure.
After they inevitably get their food, she goes to find the most quiet table, sipping at a large cola, and turns to Akane. "So, how's the Couple of Couples doing? Prom didn't overwhelm you two, hopefully?" Silently unstated, Ako was overwhelmed and snuck off with Ramo the minute they had a chance.
"...I missed you. All of you. I mean, Ramo *knows*, I saw her before my parents even, but, there's more than just her here, y'know?"
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"Yeah. Rikka's friend." She taps her chin, thinking about 'anywhere' -- but in the end, she decides Jollibee is fine. She's about to protest that she can pay for herself, but in the end... gifts are as much about other people's desire to be kind to you as about whether you need them, right? It's fine.
She gets the Jolly Spaghetti, a pink lemonade, and fries.
Getting settled in, Akane says, "We're doing really great. I..." She pauses. There's some complexity there, and she's unsure if she should bring it up on her first outing with Ako after so long. ... Ako's her friend, she tells herself -- she'll handle it okay.
"I kinda feel like the problem's that things are too incredible," she admits, before taking a drink of her lemonade. With the straw still in her mouth, she concedes, "Sometimef I still feeuh like I don't deserf it," before finishing her long sip with a small sigh. "I did a lot of horrible stuff... she's always been incredible. I get that it's more complicated than that, but still..."
<Pose Tracker> Ako Furuma has posed.
"Hey." Ako says after a sip of her cola, right after the 'I did a lot of horrible stuff'.
"Do you think *I* choose friends casually? Like, yeah, there was some weird...stuff going on, but even so, do you think I'd have stuck by you if you weren't worth more than the bad?" Ako takes a bite of chicken off the bone, chewing slowly and politely. "Rikka knows how good you are, obviously. She can see past that bad."
Ako hmms, though. "But, too incredible...well, I know exactly how that is, Ramo's the Patron Saint of Selfless Girlfriends, and I feel bad *constantly*... don't let her know that, though, I don't want her to feel weird."
"Anyways, your feelings aren't dumb but like, give yourself some slack, okay?"
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"... Ehe, that's a good point," Akane concedes, as Ako upbraids her a little bit for being so pathetic about it. "Knows how good I am past the bad? That's --" Akane blinks a few times, trying to figure out how that makes her feel.
It's a lot to take in. In the end, she can't quite find something to say about it.
"Huh, you think? Sometimes I get the vibe she's just activated on some completely different thing from the rest of us?" Akane admits, about Marusan. "I get what you're saying, though... and I do kinda get the vibe she spoils you." She giggles at that.
At least she doesn't seem too moody this time? After taking a bite of her spaghetti, she says, "Now that things are kinda cooling down here," literally as well as metaphorically, "do you have any plans?"
<Pose Tracker> Ako Furuma has posed.
Ako allows Akane to move past, not pressuring her, before blushing at the idea of Marusan spoiliing her. "She doesn't have to! But she likes to, so...who am I to refuse? If she asked me for money, I'd definitely help. But it seems we're in symbiosis, so..."
And then Akane asks the big question. "Well, we have another year of school...vacation's probably going to be lots of dates and...maybe getting out of my comfort zone. Leaving Tsutsujidai was pretty traumatic, but I met some interesting people on the ship that rescued me. Who knows? Maybe I'll actually decide to go to college next year instead of becoming a starving artist."
Ako flips the question around effortlessly with a sip of soda. "What about you?"
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"I'm still on the operator track with 3G, myself?" Akane answers, with a small shrug. "Like, I'm still attending school and stuff! In Europe now. My French is probably going to get really good this year. But I'm balancing that with --" Akane pauses, pulling out two full-size textbooks.
"These. Uh, don't look in them, I think some of this is classified," Akane says, though she's not actually sure it is. "I'm about halfway through both books right now? It's pretty draining, but..." Laughing at herself, she concedes, "I'm not bored anymore, at least."
The comment about the ship, though... "Huh. Tell me a little about the ship?" Akane asks, curious. "It's hard to imagine you that motivated, but it's kinda cool..."
<Pose Tracker> Ako Furuma has posed.
"I probably don't understand half the words in it." Ako says in a self-deprecating tone, finally trying her spaghetti. "It was a ZAFT ship, during the war. Socrates, I think. They were very kind to me, but the captain was...a little weird. Her name was...Captain Oono, and she was like a cartoon character, almost? Super nice, different experiences for sure, thought I was straight, thought I was bullied into my hair being like this...I didn't have the heart to tell her the truth on any of it. Didn't want to make things awkward. At the tail-end of the war I was transferred to a civilian ship, and once it finished, I was in transit for a bit before I could return home."
Ako then beams. "I *am* cool. But yeah, I realized...I can't be a cool robot pilot, I can't be an action hero or protect people that way...I've been thinking of joining the school newspaper. Who knows, maybe I can actually show my art to other people and make comics at first and maybe get some experience for future jobs." A pause.
"Or I can freak the hell out when I walk into their club room and then run away. It's happened before..." She's embarassed, but it's true.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"Hey, don't sell yourself that short. I admit some of this is kinda above me but I guess I don't mind being thrown in the deep end like that after all." That's a far cry from the Akane who made a world that'd be easy to live in, admittedly -- but maybe that's better!
ZAFT? Akane's eyes widen a little. "... I guess they would've been the closest ones with ships out, so that makes sense. I can't imagine that was super easy, though..." She looks like she's thinking about it really hard. "Also -- yeah, that sounds like you."
In the end, it's the newspaper stuff that catches Akane's interest the most. "Ooooo, I think that's a good route for you... have you tried posting stuff on To-witter? Like -- Rikka got me watching this show, Truthseeker Serena, and I've been churning out fanart like crazy... it's actually a pretty nice way to get your stuff out there."
The last comment -- Akane doesn't let slide. "Hey, if I can take a train to Paris on my own, you can go to a club room. It's hard, but like... that's the point, ahaha..."
<Pose Tracker> Ako Furuma has posed.
Ako nods, and then deadpans. "You've only just now discovered Truthseeker Serena? It was a fundamental show for our age range..." It's clearly playful teasing, but still. "To-witter...I try to avoid social media, but maybe I'll make an art account."
Ako then lens over the table. "Send me your fanart page, Akane!" It sounds almost commanding, but not intentionally. Ako wants to see her friend's art!
"Okay, fair. I'll try to join once the new year starts. What's Paris like, anyways? I bet it's way noisier, right? I'd probably explode."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"Ehehe... I was more into tokusatsu stuff a few years ago," Akane admits. "I didn't really have a lot of friends to point me to where the good stuff was." She rubs at the back of her head, admitting, "But now I get it. It's not like there's an expiration date on this stuff..."
Akane pulls out her phone, and immediately sends her page without hesitation. The art's something she is genuinely proud of, so she doesn't want to hide it -- it's a product of her at her best lately.
Paris... that gets Akane thinking. "It's definitely noisier, but there's kind of a chill atmosphere in a different way to here? Like... It's a relaxed kind of busy. ... I don't know what I'm saying... it wasn't bad, though..."
<Pose Tracker> Ako Furuma has posed.
Ako laughs. "Don't worry, I'm playing. Let's see here..." She opens up the art, scrolling through her phone. "Ohhhh, this is cute. Have you shown any of it to Ramo?" She bookmarks the page to follow once she makes her own account.
"I've been working on this..." She flips her phone over to show Akane a drawing of the original Tarabaman. "It's just about done, so I thought I could get some feedback from you. I know my *technique* is on-point, but I haven't seen enough of the show to know if it captures the character, y'know? He's pretty popular and I've always wanted to try my hand at a non-human, so he was the first to pop to mind. ...He is a guy, right? I don't know if the alien crab people have gender."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"Yeah -- Marusan has been pretty supportive. I'm kind of scared of what she'll do if she decides something is really killer, though... I can't deal with another flyer campaign," Akane concedes, laughing to herself. "You have a really dangerous girlfriend."
Ako shares something of her own, too. "Oh this is good. It kind of reminds me of the Tai manga, but in a way where I know that's not really your inspiration, it's just... you have a similar vibe on the character?" Akane starts, scooting in to look. "Yeah, the original is a guy. This is... hmmmm. Actually I kinda want to go back to Tai again because your head shape is really modern -- it totally loses the classic charm, but at the same time, for a movie remake this design would be gold?"
She looks at it from a couple different angles. "... Yeah, into it overall. It might do numbers if you touch up the head a little."
<Pose Tracker> Ako Furuma has posed.
"That's what makes her so hot, though." Ako says without pause, before moving back to the art.
"Tai, Tai..." After they're done looking and pointing things out, she does a quick image search. "Oh! Yeah, I get what you mean. Touch up the head...I can do that, yeah. Thanks, Akane. You're the best."
And a pause. "...and thanks for still visiting town. I know things were rough here for you, but...I'm glad you're still here with us."
And then, she digs into the rest of her food.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"... oh, this is why we're friends," Akane answers Ako, bursting out laughing.
She doesn't linger on the topic of Marusan's hotness, though. "It's... a lot. I try to keep it to when I have something to do with 3G stuff," Akane answers. "Or for dates! If I hang around too much it kinda... raises some weird ghosts." She laughs at herself, before agreeing, "I'm pretty glad to be here."
... it really does feel like she was more in her own way than anything else, she reflects, as she winds a finger in a few locks of brown-black hair. If anything, this kind of thing is more fun without the oppressive weight of perfection bearing down on it.
<Pose Tracker> Ako Furuma has posed.
"I get you. Hey, if France is as 'chill' as you say it is, maybe I can visit there sometime. Doesn't always have to be Tsutsujidai." It's just a suggestion, a scary one but one Ako's willing to make nonetheless.
"Let's finish up our food. I kinda want to hit the model shop before rush hour. If I get a Tarabaman sticker or keychain or something of some sort, I might be able to use it as reference."
That night, Ako signed up for To-weeter. Akane got an immediate friend request and likes on every picture.