2022-09-15: Housewarming

• Log: 2022-09-15- Housewarming
• Cast: Akane Shinjo (and her friends Ramo Marusa and Ako Furuma), Rikka Takarada, Leina Ashta
• Where: Tsutsujidai - Yumi Foundation Office
• OOC - IC Date: 0096-09-15
• Summary: Leina gets some much-needed help moving in at the Yumi Foundation office. ... there's a little bit of shenanigans involved.

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<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.

>heavy work so dress a little sporty >oh its just gonna be us girls too >so we can relax and treat the after party like a girls night in!

Leina's approach is fivefold, Step one? Sporty is an innocent enough word by itself, but sporty for girls tend to cover a bit less, and are built around their ability to handle being sweaty which can assist in emphasizing... certain attributes.

It's certainly manipulative in that way, but she understands its harder for two girls to acknowledge feelings for one another without feeling ashamed at looking at another girl that way. As a result, she just wants to tilt the odds that they'll be tempted to look anyway.

The second factor is even more simple. She tells Ramo, Ako, and Akane to arrive ten minutes early outside the office building they're going to be renting.

Whereas she drives with the TsutsU-Haul truck ten minutes after from Junk Shop Aya, with Rikka in the passenger seat. She's sneaky about this. She makes certain she's turning a corner that its the driver's side that turns towards them. By the time the passenger is in view...

... it's too late to run.

And part three? Neither was Rikka informed that Akane would be here, nor was Akane informed that Rikka would be here. After all, why would Leina Ashta think that would be a problem at all? Rikka didn't mention Akane's name, and of all Akane has said, she's good friends with Rikka.

) :) :) :3

Ramo and Ako certainly don't know any reason why this would be a problem either? Right? Which provides a buffer between them - to keep things normal, safe, for the conversation never to need to verge on anything that would need to cause retreat.

"Yo Ramo, Ako, Akane!" Leina says as she gets out, she's wearing a sports bra, and a simple white tank top over a pair of tight form fitting workout shorts, and a pair of sneakers.

Fourth step? "Thanks for coming. We'll have this done in no time so we can move right to the movie marathon. Who's looking forward to 'Shin Tarabaman'? Believe it or not, still in theaters and I've got it!"

That may not be all that exciting to all of them necessarily, but all of them know it's Akane's thing. She doesn't need to be subtle in her machinations for keeping her here.

Step five is perhaps the least subtle of all of them, "Oh hey... just realized, you couldn't make the trip earthside for the pageant right? Wanna take a gander while I get us set up? I have a bunch of footage."

And indeed, as she hands her phone over nonchalantly to Akane, there is a ton of footage. Slide shows of pictures and small videos of everyone who participated. It's all very well organized. It just so happens that Rikka is organized, first, so the very first thing Akane sees, is her... in her Admiral Crossplay.

</poem>

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

Ramo... hasn't told Ako everything. Ako has a lot of data of her own, but the kaiju are a little much -- a layer of the problem that's just a little too much, a little too big to inflict on someone who isn't there yet. But she's impressed upon her just how serious this is. Ako is here in stadium jumper and a bright red T-shirt, though she fully expects to go down to just the T-shirt before too long. Marusan's picked her yellow Dance Club T-shirt, meanwhile; it's her favorite outfit to move around in.

Akane... hates ditching layers. No matter how hot it is, she prefers a few layers. There used to be a good reason for it, but at this point it's mostly psychological. (... well, okay, wearing it the exact way she does allows her to highlight a few things.)

Obviously this is a circumstance where she can't really... do... the supervillain thing, either.

So instead, she's wearing a black halter top and matching shorts with about a 2-inch inseam at most. She's elected to go back to skipping the glasses, but has added...

... fishnet tights are you for real

When Leina arrives and instantly announces she has the new Tarabaman movie, Akane... looks delighted, in spite of herself. Yeah, okay, there's still a little capacity for joy there. "I really want to see the new design for Pyrilite," Akane enthuses, her lips curling up. ... yeah, she's kind of got.

It's around this point that she notices who else was in that car. ... Ooohh this is way too much now but she can't exactly retreat... She raises her hand and calls, sounding just a bit more nervous than she means to, "Hi, Rikka!" and for just a moment it's like the last year didn't happen. Or at least like she didn't want it to happen. "I didn't realize you were gonna be here hahaha, I mean, what a huge coincidence --"

She blinks -- eyes wide and innocent, looking like herself for the first time in ages -- at the mention of the pageant, which knocks her out of her nervousness-cadence. She takes the phone gingerly, starting the slide show, and --

Oh. O-oh. Oh...

Doing her best to look innocent, she tries to play it off. "That's not bad," she says. While shyness about her feelings is an Akane hallmark and she continues swiping along...

... she swipes right back when she thinks no one's looking, getting another look.

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Rikka usually isn't the type of person to be into doing heavy lifting, but she can make an exception for a good cause. And then there's the promise of an afterparty... It would be nice to hang out with everyone - that's the perfect balm for a hard day's work.

The plan for tonight has already been explained to her mother, who wishes the both of them good luck when Leina arrives to pick Rikka up. And then they get on the way, Rikka none the wiser...

As suggested, she's dressed light - shorts and a plain white shirt, nothing too heavy. It's a fairly uneventful drive... and when they arrive, Leina's sneaky way of hiding her passenger works. Akane can't see her... but neither can Rikka see Akane until they're already there and she's stepping out of the truck.

There's Marusan, Ako, and...

Rikka pauses, as her eyes track to Akane. She... honestly wasn't expecting to see Akane here, which causes her train of thought to come to a screeching halt. Her feelings are very complex right now, for a number of reasons.

...Look. It's fine. It's just Akane, wearing a very cute outfit. She can do this. Isn't a good thing that she's here, doing something constructive like this? Maybe she can relax a little.

She should just... enjoy this opportunity while she has it.

"...Hey, Akane. Y-yeah, seriously..." Rikka greets back with a smile and a little laugh of her own as she tries to recover her composure, then nods to the other two girls, too. "Hi Marusan, Ako."

And then, there's the topic of the movie marathon. Tarabaman... She knows Akane is a big fan. Maybe this'll be a good chance to learn more about something she's into...

"I've never watched any Tarabaman before... is there, uh, anything I need to know going into it...?" Rikka asks (this isn't entirely true, Utsumi has made the Gridman Alliance watch some as a team-building exercise in the past, but at the time she really didn't care enough to pay attention). The question is addressed to the group as a whole, though she glances, just briefly, toward Akane.

...She tries not to be too obvious about it, though, even if she's very curious as to what Akane thinks of the pageant...

<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.

Leina just starts organizing, seemingly pleased with how Akane and Rikka came dressed. Simple is fine, it's less suspicious and- will still get the job done. She sorts it out by furniture that two people can carry with difficulty first. Then appliances and heavier furniture that'll take the dollies and all of them. Followed by objects two people can carry easily. Then light objects for at the end when they're all tired. If this has the side effect of making them all a bit sweatier and their clothes clingier early on... well. That's just how it is right?

"I'm no expert." Leina says of Shin Tarabaman and Tokusatsu, since she's more a Magical Girl fan thanks to Sayla. "I know enough that I won't be lost at least." She says with this small tilt of her head, and a close eyed smile, "But I bet Akane probably knows more than the rest of us combined."

And she sounds so positive about it. Like there's no shame whatsoever in her interests.

"Any standouts so far for you?" Leina asks idly of Akane from inside the truck. "It was a good show-Oh hey Ramo, help me carry this to the front?" Leina calls from inside the truck, as she holds up a side of a reception desk. Assuming Ramo helps out, it's heavy, but still manageable for the two of them to get it down the ramp and out towards the sidewalk...

... once out of earshot, and after they set it down, she asks her quietly, "Are you still comfortable with telling them? Ako too?" She knows Ramo is very much wanting to help, but she has her own life to live, and there's only so much she can safely give.

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

"Hey," Ako says, a little enthused to see a classmate but not... actually knowing Rikka all that well. Still -- she looks between Akane and Rikka. ... she's assessing something, but it'll take her a second to draw any conclusions.

Marusan follows Leina's lead a bit, starting with a nice, "I'm not really the expert either... but if her sculpting skills are any indication, I think we have someone who is!" Having successfully nudged Akane and being en route to Leina anyway, Marusan retrieves Leina's phone and brings it back to the mastermind herself.

Once they're out of earshot, Marusan affirms, "... yeah, I think we can get away with it. Ako's fine with it."

Rikka displays any interest in Tarabaman whatsoever. It... actually does carve through the awkwardness a bit; Akane likes circumstances in which she can be expert. "Shin is a reimagining of the original -- it's also kind of not? Like -- it's in continuity with everything else, but it's a new universe and technically new guys. ... there's a lot of universes." Akane goes for a desk, asking, "Can you get the other side?" before going back to the infodump. "I'm kinda excited about it but I'm also a little nervous the kaiju aren't gonna feel right... the director's an older guy and the lead writer is an older woman, and most of the stuff I've really liked has been younger directors or writers."

One curious thing: Akane doesn't sweat. Despite exerting herself in Tsutsujidai's heat, there's not a single drop.

... not even when Leina presses her on whether there were any standouts in the pageant stuff she got to look at. "I feel like Rikka deserved to place just as high as Hibiki," she mumbles. "I want to see more when we get to the lighter stuff. I have a hard time with travel, so I couldn't make myself go..." She sighs a little as she's forced to admit, "... I do kinda want to see everything, though."

... it's half-true, at least. What she actually wants to see is a much shorter list.

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Rikka is happy to see Marusan and Ako, too - she doesn't know them that well, but she knows they're Akane's friends and she's glad that they're still there for her. And, as well, she knows they've been a big help in previous incidents, even if neither of them remember them(the possibility that either of them might hasn't even occurred to her yet). It wouldn't hurt to get to know them better, and this is a good opportunity for that.

But for now, they have work to do. Rikka is good at taking directions, at least, so she's fine with letting Leina manage every. As they get started, Rikka looks toward Akane as both Leina and Marusan point out that she's the one who'd know.

"Oh yeah? So... it's new stuff, but with the old stuff still 'there', too... Is that right? That might not be a bad place to jump in, then." Rikka considers. She is interested - and it's nice, too, to hear Akane so enthusiastic about something she likes. With a nod she grabs the other side of the desk, poking her head around to judge where they're going - the positioning is convenient enough that she can still keep her attention on Akane while she's explaining. "Mm. I kinda get that... If they're younger, they probably grew up being fans of the series."

She does smile privately to herself a little, when Akane comments that she thinks she deserved to place as high as Yuta did. If Akane thinks that way, then everything was worth it.

"Thanks... I'm okay with the results. Everyone was really strong, and I was up against some pretty stiff competition." Rikka comments with a shrug. "I got what I wanted out of it, anyway. I'm just glad Hibiki won... He really went all out."

...She does find herself a little jealous about the fact that Akane doesn't sweat at all, as the work goes on...

<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.

"Alright. Whenever it feels natural then. I'll leave it up to you." However, she's definitely not all business, all schemes as puts a hand on her shoulder briefly and smiles at Ramo as she murmurs, "Happy for the two of you." She's told her that in the past, but it's something she feels like needs to be said again. Breaking contact, she takes her phone back, and moves past.

Leina listens to Akane's explanation, her eyes don't glaze over or anything, she takes it seriously, because it is Akane's interest. "So part of like, a Tarabaman Multiverse? Makes sense, a lot of Magical Girl anime I like are like that too - with them crossing universes for team up films. Hopefully the new production team will manage to surpass your expectations even if they're not the ones putting out your favorites." Before she nods at Rikka, "Seems so, I'm excited to give it a try."

Akane doesn't sweat even as they start to move furniture. It's interesting, it's not something Leina necessarily notices at first, it's only when the rest of them have carried enough that her own white tank top is clingy it becomes obvious... well, she already had guessed she wasn't quite human anymore. It doesn't matter, she's still a human girl in her eyes, no matter what she's become.

"Rikka did fantastic. I was cheering her on the whole time."

She does not linger on Yuta, even as Rikka praises Yuta, or tell Akane that she helped Yuta with his preparations, along with Ramo. There's a reason she didn't invite Yuta here today, no matter how enthusiastic Yuta was about helping. Obviously it's not her trying to exclude him, she just has a very specific objective. "Oh sure. You're welcome to look. If you give me your number later I can send it to you too."

It's a lot of back and forth, but progress is quick with all of them working together. Ramo might notice that Leina added a lot of household appliances to the mix. Enough stuff for a rudimentary kitchen, a refrigerator... but also a washer and dryer? It's easy enough to justify for a charity to have these things available. Who knows who might be dropping by, and what help they might need?

... However it's enough to make her wonder too.

"I can't believe someone threw this couch away. Your mother has an eye for these things Rikka."

And indeed, it's a nice couch they're having to twist through the doorway to the inside of the office, as one of the final heavy objects - and perhaps one of the most crucial ones for the watch party tonight. There's no scent that makes it obvious it was from a junkyard, there's no tears in the upholstery or stains. It's basically brand new, so it's a mystery why it was thrown out.

"Reminds me of back on my Colony. My brother would find stuff like this all the time."

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

"Yeah -- there's a lot," Akane says. There's a split second where the thought of explaining how Akane actually got into Tarabaman -- the long, lonely train trips with just her tablet and headphones. Night after night alone with kaiju. Looking for someone to connect with. Being laughed out of the room at two schools. Giving up by the third. It's a weird interest whether you're a boy or a girl, after all.

Way too pathetic. Even if she weren't the monster under Rikka's bed at this point, why even say that? She doesn't want to be pitied. She nods to Rikka, saying, "At this stage even the older folks usually have that kind of experience, but..." A vague gesture with one hand. Explaining this without deep-diving how some of her favorite kaiju have changed over the years is too hard, and presumably that'd be desperately, miserably boring.

So instead: back to the festival. "Hibiki's outfit was really impressive... though I feel like you two could've -- well, I guess with the theme you couldn't." It's a very oblique way of saying she would've liked seeing Rikka in a skirt that short.

Marusan gives Leina a nod, saying, "Thanks," as she and Ako start work on a table. Ako struggles a bit; she doesn't have Marusan's conditioning, and Marusan wants to move just a bit too quickly at first. She can match speed before long, though.

"Oh, Akane," Marusan starts. "It sounds like you don't want to do Earth Waterpolis... we ended up not getting any other bites. It's fine."

Ako enthuses, as she helps Leina with the couch, "I don't mind that it's just the two of us! It's a good first real date spot... I always wanted to go with Ramo."

Akane's gaze tracks from the couch to Marusan, then to Ako... then to Rikka. She's clearly having some Feelings, but all she manages at this stage is a slightly-strained, "Great! We'll -- do something else soon, ahaha. Uh, congratulations?" There's something else she wants to say -- but she skips it for now. She can loop back.

Having only gotten through a little over a third of what was there before handing the phone back, Akane adds for Leina, "... I saw an outfit change in there. There were more rounds, right? ... I wanna see everything."

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

"'Multiverse'... Oh, like... 'multiple universes'? But, yeah... I hope you enjoy it, too." Rikka questions, when Leina mentions how her Magical Girl anime do that too. It's her first time hearing the term, but it's fairly easy to pick it apart into its individual words given the conversation fresh in her mind. She nods as Akane starts to explain something... concluding by trailing off with a vague hand gesture. Rikka's curious about what it was she was going to say... but she won't press her on it.

She can't help but smile a little when Leina says she was cheering her on the whole time.

"It was nice to know there was someone cheering me on..." Rikka admits, before looking toward Akane as she starts to say something, but corrects herself. She considers that for a second, and ventures... "Mm... Well, there's always another time. I don't know if I'd do another actual pageant again, but it was nice dressing up... I wouldn't mind doing that again sometime."

There's more work to be done - taking things back and forth. Rikka's energy is starting to flag a little bit, but not enough that she needs to stop and take a break just yet.

"Right? I really don't know how she does it... Sometimes some of this stuff is donated, but other times mama comes back with some surprising stuff." Rikka replies to Leina. "She's taught me a few of her tricks, but I still have a lot to learn..."

Her brother, huh...

"Somehow, I feel like they'd get along... That's kind of a scary thought..." Rikka replies with a small, good-natured laugh. She doesn't know Leina's brother personally, but that's the feeling she gets from everything she's said about him.

As this conversation goes on, though... Ako and Marusan casually drop a pretty large bomb. It actually takes a second for Rikka to register what that implies. She pauses - nearly dropping her end of the couch in the process but redoubling her grip at the last second - as she looks between the two of them... though not before sneaking a glance over to Akane to judge her reaction to the news, only to find Akane looking her way too.

...Rikka looks away quickly as her face goes a little pink.

"W-wow... That's great! Congratulations! I'm happy for the both of you..." Rikka replies. "I hope everything goes well."

She is genuinely happy for them - it's nice that they were able to make things work. It's a reminder of just another reason for her to keep doing what she does - she wants to protect their happiness, too.

...And, Akane's reaction gives her a little hope too, maybe...
SCENESYS: Ranka Lee has posted scene #168, 'Cinderella Story', at 19:00 ET on 09/15.

<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.

Despite the psychic language barrier, she still gets a vague sense of intentionality from Akane. Just enough. It's like she just keeps tap dancing around it. That's fine, entirely expected. However, she now suspects something of what Akane wants to see... And she starts trying to plot out how to get there.

"You deserved it. I could tell you were putting your whole heart into it." She asides to Rikka, as she certainly liked her cosplay. She grins at Rikka though as she mentions her brother getting along with her mother, "Terrifying - actually."

Leina makes it sound grim, "One time my brother diverted course in the most dangerous part of a Shoal Zone to try and salvage an old Zaku for a quick payday." What happened after? Well, that's a story all unto itself...

As they talk to Akane about Waterpolis, Leina turns to Ako and enthuses herself, "Oh hey! Congratulations!" It would feel dishonest to congratulate Ramo at this point, so instead she does so to Ako, who she knows less well. "Little jealous actually, that'd be a great first date spot for someone to take me, I'm on my school's swim team."

Even if Banagher is taking her to the theater, she's sincere that it's a great first date spot.

"How'd you two get there? I've been there with a few friends of mine from school who had a hard time with it... and I know it's not exactly easy for two girls to make that leap."

As she keeps focusing on Ako's account on the matter. She's not even eyeing Rikka or Akane right now. She doesn't exactly need to be looking at them, so there's nothing pointed. It's just, she wants to get them thinking about it.

Leina looks towards Akane as they finally get the couch through, and carry it over to set down, "Three rounds in all." She says cheerfully, "It was a lot of fun watching it all. Rikka's cosplay actually got me interested in watching the anime she based hers on from the way she described it. The scene at the ball where Serena danced with her rival? There was just so much tension between her and the main character."

That scene certainly affected her in an entirely different way than it did Rikka. However she's trying to be careful, and fortunately right now she has the feelings of other people to focus upon. And so in that innocent explanation, she lets Akane process... that Rikka dressed up specifically as an anime heroine who danced with her rival.

Another girl.

And to anyone who doesn't know her motive here, it doesn't sound pointed at all. Such that it's an easy aside, "And there, seeing as we've only got the lighter stuff to bring in, I'm start up the pizza order. Any preferences? No need to hold back, I don't mind footing the bill for someone to have their own."

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

In that moment where Akane and Rikka's eyes meet, before both of them look away, Akane turns a little pinker. ... it might just be -- the exertion! Right. Right...

There's definitely... Akane finds the idea of watching something new with other people -- something tender and important to her -- to be kind of a mixed bag. On the one hand, there's an intimacy to it... but that's maybe a little overwhelming. It also applies a bit of pressure to her in a bit of a sideways way -- she isn't sure she can actually have unfiltered reactions...

Akane's physical energy is just fine, but her mental energy for lifting is starting to sag. Or maybe it's her mental energy for being around people. Either way... "Ahaha, I actually -- some of this stuff..." Akane trails off. A few articles were actually hers; part of the convenience of having a junk shop next door when she moved here was being able to throw things away easily. Bringing that up feels weird to her somehow, though.

Conveniently, they all get something else to react to for a bit. "It -- actually, it was because I was feeling kind of overwhelmed by the festival," Marusan answers, a half-truth. "I invited Ako to sleep over here and we talked about some stuff, and... well, I admitted I wanted to be more than just her best friend."

Ako gives an enthused grin -- a rarity from her -- and says, "I'd actually been trying to figure out how to say something for months, and then she just kinda walked up and blew the whole thing open! ... without that the rest of the night would've been kinda heavy --"

Marusan gives Ako a gentle nudge with a box she's carrying, and something goes unsaid.

... which means, instead, Akane's got detective cosplay to think about. "Ooh, that actually sounds like a really good show... there's something like that in Tarabaman Hammer too, kind of! Hammer and his rival have this normal kendo match -- not big, no suits, no kaiju -- in front of the girl Hammer doesn't really have romantic chemistry with... it's like a college thing at her school? But whenever they lock up it gets REALLY..."

She gestures vaguely. "Anyway, uh... pizza is usually kinda heavy for me? I'll just have half a slice of whatever Rikka's having. And tomato juice, please!"

... it's not much... but she feels a little on the hungry side, today. It's a rarity for her, but... she can indulge a bit.

Any correlation between these topics, of course, is a coincidence.

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

"Yeah, I was doing my best." Rikka replies with a nod... and then returns Leina's grin with one of her own, especially when she recounts her grim tale.

"Oh god, I could see mama cheering him on for doing that... If she didn't already launch to help him grab it, anyway." Rikka replies with a shake of her head.

She looks briefly toward Akane as she starts to say something and trails off. She can kind of guess what she was going to say... but she doesn't comment on it. Instead, she looks toward Ako and Marusan, as Leina asks them how they got to where they are. She's right... it really isn't easy.

"That must've taken a lot of courage..." Rikka murmurs. ...She's a little jealous, honestly. How much different would things be if she had, at any point, been able to do that herself...?

The conversation cycles around to her cosplay outfit.

"Oh wow, you watched it? I'm glad I was able to spread the word a little... 'Truthseeker Serena' is one of my favorites." Rikka replies to Leina. ...She tries to make it subtle but her gaze kind of lingers on Akane, as if trying to get an idea of what she thinks. ...Thankfully, she seems to like it, and brings up a similar scene from Tarabaman Hammer. Rikka listens with interest - both because Akane seems so enthusiastic about it, and because she genuinely thinks it sounds like a good moment.

"Oh, wow... That sounds pretty interesting. I think I definitely need to watch that one sometime. I love it when they can really just pull something like that off really well." Rikka replies, then nods to Akane. She seems interested, so... maybe she can venture an explanation.

"Yeah, it's... about a detective on the run, trying to uncover the secrets of a mysterious organization and learning more about herself in the process? And her rival from that organization is this cool cyborg lady..." She pauses, then, as Leina asks about the pizza order.

"Oh, hmm... Today kind of feels like a 'veggie pizza' day to me..." Rikka considers, then steals a glance toward Akane when she mentions she'll have half a slice of what she's having. She dwells on that for a moment before deciding to take a gamble... "Oh, with extra sauce."

She doesn't actually know her opinions on pizza sauce, but it is tomato-based...

"As for drinks, I can't do carbonated stuff, but I'm good with anything else." She concludes.

<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.

"They must never meet." Leina concludes grimly to Rikka.

Leina actually catches the implication that some of the stuff was actually Akane's. And she decides to just let that slide, better than pushing her into an awkward conversation about why she threw it away. She instead just decides to let it switch over to Marusan and Ako discussing their relationship, "Oh wow! I get why it'd be so tough for you to take the first step Ako. No shame at all. I'm just glad it all worked out." She doesn't push Marusan, as she understands the omission there together.

Before Leina smiles at Rikka, "Absolutely." What she isn't telling Rikka is that her story on stage is what inspired her to marathon the whole thing during her frequent travel - because Leina Ashta does not take half measures when it comes to researching to help someone find love, "The way you talked about it on stage really got to me."

Akane enthuses it too, and... Leina finishes the line, "Shippy? Yeah, it was really like that in Truthseeker Serena too. I can see why the internet went wild for the pairing." "

Akane after all that hard work just wants a half a pizza slice? Leina decides not to press, but she has a bad feeling there's more to it. "Tomato juice and whatever Rikka's having. Got it! Just let me know if there's something else you'd prefer later. I don't mind paying for delivery tonight as thanks for your help."

It might be a bit of a surreal experience hearing Leina say those kinds of things like she usually does mind, because Sayla Mass is uber rich, isn't she?

"Veggie, extra sauce. I'll get the same with some Neo-Pepperoni. Juice is fine by me."

She jots down Ramo and Ako's choices too, then plugs it into the delivery app. "Alright, shouldn't take but a minute to hook up the entertainment system. I do this kind of thing at home all the time."

-=-=-

And indeed, it doesn't. The office isn't fully arranged but they at least have a couch, and a TV hooked up in front of it. She even has her datapad connected to it so she can just directly beam in the movie.

And the food and drinks have arrived, arranged on a table temporarily behind them.

Mysteriously though, Leina was the one who brought in all the extra chairs at the end... and they all appear to be out of sight. Save a single one that Leina vanished for a while on a bathroom trip and reappeared with carrying it. As she takes a seat in it beside the couch, which is more than large enough for four people, with space to spare, it leaves... Ako and Ramo to sit together...

... and no other options for Rikka and Akane. Unless they want to pointedly ask Leina for more chairs?

"Alright, everyone ready for Shin Tarabaman?"

...except she gives noone time to process this fact and ask.

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

... It might be fun to catch more than the occasional episode of Serena, Akane reflects. It'd give them something to talk about. She feels... a little bad about the idea of bringing it up, though -- wouldn't that just give Rikka more reason to stay? Isn't she supposed to be leaving?

Ugh. No. She can table that. Supervillain thoughts later. Right now she... it's weird if she goes too far afield from normal girl, right? Ako and Marusan are here.

"Oooh, a cyborg." Akane sounds like she's just reacting to the coolness factor of, well, cyborg rival, but the truth is that it does draw her thoughts to the fact that any show with a cyborg rival is probably... the kind of gentle and quietly subversive Akane subconsciously grooves on. (She doesn't quite have those words in that order. It's more of a vague concept cloud.)

"Hmmm, I'll join Leina on the pepperoni," Marusan says; Ako agrees with a firm nod.

Rikka's request for extra sauce, meanwhile, catches Akane off guard; she can tell when she's being accommodated. ... fast food pizza sauce is tomato-forward, sweet, and insanely high on sodium, though...

... it might not be bad to ease herself back into food with a little nibble of that.

-=-=-

No chairs, huh. Akane -- with a paper plate and a half a slice of pizza, and tomato juice -- looks at the couch thoughtfully. She chews at her lower lip a bit, as Leina takes the one chair and Ramo and Ako settle in on the other end.

... she takes the end seat. She knows that's going to prompt a choice, but... part of her is curious how Rikka will play that. "I'm ready!" she says, interrupted from seating-related thoughts. ... just as planned.

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Rikka returns Leina's grim nod with one of her own. Indeed...

Leina says that the way she talked about it really got to her, and Rikka is pleased to hear that... and then, she comments on the internet. Rikka laughs, a bit sheepishly.

"Yeah, they really did, huh..." She agrees ...What she doesn't say is that she, too, went wild for it right along with them.

...She probably doesn't need to say it because everyone's figured it out by now, though.

Akane seems to latch onto the cyborg angle, though, so Rikka nods.

"Yeah, she's really great." Rikka enthuses.

Time passes, but it doesn't take long for the TV to be set up and for the food and drinks to arrive. Though in the current situation... it looks like there's not a lot of free sitting space left...

...

"I'm ready, too." Rikka says, taking the remaining open space next to Akane. She isn't given much time to consider the seating arrangements... but even if she were, it probably wouldn't change much.

<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.

Akane seems really into the idea of watching Serena, she did say it sounds like a really good show. Leina suspects it's because Rikka likes it - but it's probably not just because of that, they share some common ground.

And indeed, she knows real well that shared interest is absolutely a way to bring people closer together, "I've got all of Serena on my pad." She asides to Rikka, "Maybe we take a night to watch it again sometime. Give the others a chance to experience it the first time." As she casually gives Akane an in there...

-=-=-

Leina actually smiles as Rikka sitting down by Akane like it was 'no big thing'. "Alright, here we go." Leina puts on the movie, she's not the biggest Tokusatsu fan, but she's watched enough and she enjoys it well enough. Mostly what she tries to do is... validate Akane's reactions here.

If Akane reacts, she tries to make it so her reaction is socially acceptable, no matter what it is. She tries to actively listen to what she says, and be responsive. Basically...

... she's working to try to make this space safe, to be herself. How good a Tarabaman it is? Well...

... she decides to leave that up to Akane.

Either way, she's putting her focus on Akane without trying to let Akane know that she's doing that. After all, she's just Sayla's Ward who doesn't know much, because Sayla keeps her in the dark, right? She's just here to open a charity branch, and hanging out with other teens while doing it. Why would she be trying to manipulate anything about her situation?

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

"I've seen a few episodes," Ako says, and her lips curl up as she notes, "I think Akane would like it... Nagi-chi might, too, but I don't really have a great idea of what he likes yet." Marusan raises an eyebrow. 'Nagi-chi'? ... not that she's particularly possessive -- she's just still occasionally surprised that Ako feels that comfortable with someone else.

"I've actually never seen any detective stuff... I usually watch trashier TV than that," Marusan concedes. "But I wouldn't mind... unless these two would rather do it one on one?" Marusan isn't usually a mischief-maker... this is her following Leina's lead.

Akane turns a little pink, and begs off with a, "... W-we should really just watch the movie."

-=-=-

Akane's rhythm in the movie is actually... pretty specific. She scoots closer to Rikka during almost every scene with appreciable tension -- then catches herself doing that and starts to scoot awkwardly away again. She is into the kaiju fights, though -- Nalgus gets an eeeeeeeexcellent showing in particular, even outright defeating the main Tarabaman and forcing the intercession of his father and the human defense team to kick off the third act. Akane seems genuinely delighted the whole time, at least at that part.

... she seems to like it just as much when the kaiju get defeated, though.

As the movie progresses -- and ultimately ends -- she has some Remarks. "I wasn't expecting it to be that good... it feels a little unambitious, but the vibes are right, actually. And the kaiju suits are all great -- this is probably the second best Nalgus and maybe the best Chezall to date... the Pyrilite is a little too phoenixy, but I guess you can only get so far avoiding that stuff."

A beat, before she admits: "... I didn't really get the ending though... Tarabaman getting back up just 'cuz he likes humans so much feels kinda fake. Tarabaman Senior even usually has healing powers half the time! Not that this is the same Senior, but, like..."

... yeah, she's definitely picky and she's definitely missing the love factor.

What she didn't miss over the course of the movie is the /pizza/ factor; not only did she finish her slice (albeit direly slowly, enough so that it got cold) and seem to genuinely enjoy it, she begged another half-slice off of Rikka (with a surprised note from Ako of "I haven't seen you have salt cravings since the first week of school last year") and is presently nibbling at the crust.

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

"Oh, really, you do?" Rikka replies, perking up a bit. She's definitely interested - and curious when Ako mentions a 'Nagi-chi', who she has a guess as to who that is - but when Marusan suggests that 'these two' might prefer to do it one on one...

"Ahahah... yeah..." Rikka agrees with Akane, laughing sheepishly. ...She totally would, though.

The movie begins... She only catches onto Akane's rhythm partway through, when Rikka catches herself subconsciously leaning her way as she scoots closer. Her attention is mostly on the movie... though she does glance over to Akane from time to time to gauge her reactions.

...It's nice, to see her so genuinely delighted about something... A smile of her own might slip through.

And, of course, she gladly shares her pizza when Akane asks, intentionally making sure to leave some left aside just in case Akane changes her mind later and wants more. She's full, if anyone asks.

And then, it comes down to discussing the movie itself. ...She doesn't really have any prior experience to base things on, so a lot of what Akane says about it goes over her head. Still, it's something important to Akane, so it's important to her, too. She's... really cute when talking about kaiju suits...

"I'm glad it measured up." Rikka comments, and then considers Akane's next comment.

...Hm. There's... definitely something she could say about that. Truth is, she actually really liked that part... But she doesn't want it to sound like she's criticizing her, so she decides to say instead...

"I liked the attention to the human element. I guess I was kind of expecting the main hero to do all the work, but I'm glad they were able to make a difference, too." Rikka comments.

<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.

"Oh yeah? Sure. Let's schedule something."

She's cautious to mix this up too much, the more people here, the more likely it is that Akane would be around someone who makes her uncomfortable, or the space would be too crowded for her. But a commitment at some point in the future? Sure, she wants more people involved in the Yumi foundation, not less.

There's a glance Ramos' way, she knows she's asking a lot of her, but she thinks 1 on 1 would actually be a detriment in certain ways at this point... in this space neither Rikka nor Akane can engage in a conversation about Akane's current life direction.

And those conversations just make Akane worse and worse. Make her more likely to retreat... back to him...

... before they do that, she needs to know the two are going to talk in a way that's productive to her.

"If they want to watch a bit on their own, sure... no need to lock anyone in but to me sounds like fun if we kept up the group atmosphere when we can. I'm enjoying hanging with all of you."

It may be playing it a bit safe, but if this blows up and Rikka and Akane can't have a safe space anywhere? That, that would put her deeper in the hole.

And she's seen what happens when someone goes deep enough, sometimes it's like she still feels it against her throat - the pressure - the cold metal...

-=-=-

Being a Newtype helps pay attention to Akane and Rikka even while watching the movie. She smiles, when she notices Akane eating more than a half slice...

It's nice, watching her, in a different way than it is for Rikka. "Yeah, maybe it's a sign the writing crew is changing direction a little?"

Leina actually likes the ending too, in the same way she likes it when it happens in Magical Girl. Friendship, love, qualities that cause people to get up, to push past their limits, to triumph in the end.

But in a strange way, she empathizes with Akane. Because, as much as she likes it, she knows the world doesn't... work that way. Her brother fought so hard at the end of the war to save so many people from a pointless power grab between two demagogues... he gave it his all, he felt passionately for everyone involved... and...

... he only ended up saving one girl.

"It is a little fake I think, whenever something like that happens, I agree." Leina smiles, and gives a small shrug, "I enjoy it myself, it's like... wish fulfillment, of how I wish things could be."

She believes in possibility, potential - that maybe one day they can get there. She can hope for it, she can work towards building it.

But she knows it isn't like that yet.

"Yeah, it's often that a lot of heroic media overlooks how people who can't fight can still make a real difference." She smiles appreciatively at Rikka. "It's been changing a lot recently I've noticed, as a trend."

Leina taps her chin, in consideration...

"I've watched a bit, I think my favorite Kaiju this go round was Nalgus." Only having known Anti in a human shape, and never having seen his Kaiju form... she can't help but conceptualize him and what he went through a bit, like that.

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

That much, at least... actually turns into something Akane can agree on. "I really like shows with strong defense teams," she agrees. "It's okay if they're not, but... ahahaha, I guess it's kinda weird, but I'm a Tarabaman fan who doesn't... really like Tarabas." She makes that iconic snip-snip gesture with her hand.

Then she grabs what's left of her crust with it again and eats it.

Marusan notices herself getting glanced at, and backs off a bit. "Hmmm... that doesn't mean we can't do this again. Just that we might need something else to watch as a group while these two play Schedule Degwa." ... she can act dumb about the real obstacles.

Akane winces a little as Leina says she likes it as wish fulfillment, a finger winding in her fishnets in faint frustration -- but it passes. Her personal space isn't transgressed, and Leina even agrees with her that it's a little fake, so...

For once: Akane doesn't retreat. Instead, she finishes off her tomato juice. ... she can't quite put together something else smart to say, though, so she stays quiet.

... she's scooting closer again, a bit...

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Rikka can't really comment on whether or not there's been a change of writing direction... but Akane agrees, and likes it too.

"I don't think that's weird. I think we all have a tendency to pick and choose what we like most about the media we watch - even if that isn't the frontrunner." Rikka assures. For what it's worth, that's where she's standing a little so far, too... but she needs to do more research before she really makes a decision.

"I wouldn't mind doing this as a group again, too." Rikka agrees. ...Maybe a group setting would be better... at least for now.

Wish fulfillment... Rikka considers that for a moment but ultimately doesn't comment, instead nodding as Leina continues.

"It's a good trend. I think it's good to highlight the importance of people like that." Rikka agrees.

Akane's scooting closer again... Rikka notices it this time. But she tries not to make it obvious that she does. She'll let Akane get as close as she feels comfortable doing - she could try to do the same, but doesn't want to surprise Akane out of it. For now, this is good enough for her...

<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.

"Nothing wrong with that." She agrees with Rikka on Akane's tastes, "You like what you like right?"

Leina relaxes, giving Ramo a grateful look. She appreciates what she's doing certainly, she wishes they were at that point... it's just...

... she doesn't think they are. While she's moving faster than she ordinarily would in pushing these two together, mostly what she's trying to do is give them opportunities for it to happen as naturally as possible without Akane being put in a situation where she's run away.

She can sense that frustration, a bit. Not the specifics of it, she doesn't necessarily understand all the details of why Akane is frustrated. Probably because it's akin to saying 'in my ideal world, your side would lose.' However, she isn't here to challenge Akane, so she just acts like nothing happened at all, and she's oblivious.

She's someone who doesn't even know what Akane's side 'is'... supposedly, and only Yuta and Ramo can gainsay that. There's a smile Rikka's way...

"Me too. It was pretty fun. We don't need an excuse to get together either necessarily. Ramo and me will be working here. Casual hangouts after hours? I'm all for that."

She doesn't invoke Sayla, because that would make things awkward - but she knows Sayla wouldn't mind.

When Akane scoots closer to Rikka, suddenly Leina is paying more attention to her phone than anything...

... surely there's nothing else in the room that needs paying attention to. She'd get up entirely and stay out of their line of sight, but she's treating Akane like a skittish doe in these moments, and doing that might cause her to second guess herself.

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

The fact that Akane expressed a thought most of the way to completion and didn't get judged for it isn't lost on her. ... it's kind of sad, though. If things go right... there probably aren't many of these moments left.

... it's unfair to wish for more, but...

Akane settles in about six inches closer to Rikka than she had been. ... are they gonna think it's weird if she doesn't sleep? ... actually, the fact that she doesn't sleep is kind of creepy, too. She takes a long, slow breath in, trying to navigate the moment...

"Hmmm... I probably shouldn't break curfew," Akane reflects. "This was kinda nice, though! If things line up that way, I wouldn't mind doing this again." She starts to slow-walk a goodbye, by inches... but she actually does seem sad to stand up.

Marusan shoots Leina a quick text:

> It might be best to let her go, right? If we make it too much she's gonna ghost us...

<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.

"Oh sure, yeah, wouldn't want you to get in trouble." Leina looks up from her phone long enough to look Akane's way, "It was good seeing you. You're welcome to swing by anytime."

The text comes, and she taps it back...

>yeah let her go, keep it casual
>let's just see what Rikka does here

If Rikka decides to do something...? Well that's another story, compared to her or Ramo. It's their job to keep the space safe for Akane... so it's all up to Rikka if something else were to happen tonight.

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Rikka nods, as Leina expresses that they don't need an excuse to get together, either.

"That's true." She agrees. "...And, let me know if you need help with anything again, too. Since I don't have club, I'm usually pretty free as long as I'm not working that day."

It did feel good to help, even if her body is probably going to be screaming at her tomorrow from all that physical activity...

But, it seems like it's time for Akane to head back home, saying she probably shouldn't break curfew. Rikka figures there's probably a little more to it than that... though, she's conflicted.

Akane... actually seems a little sad to go.

...What should she do in this situation...? She hesitates... and after a moment, she stands up.

"Do you... need someone to walk you home?" Rikka asks. She figures that Akane probably doesn't need it... but whether or not she wants it is another question entirely, so she tries to leave it open-ended enough that she can say 'no'.

Whatever the answer... she's glad this happened. She hopes they'll be able to do this again sometime.

...No, they'll definitely be able to. She just has to trust in that.

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

Akane needs a while to do the mental gymnastics involved in that offer. It's weird to have Rikka walk her home -- but it's also actually kind of weird to turn her down, since they live right next to each other and Rikka's probably worn out too. From that perspective, maybe it's actually worse to insist she's fine on her own, since it keeps Rikka from going home?

Akane ties her brain in a knot and then starts untying it.

"... okay," she agrees, hesitant. "I guess we're going the same way, so -- why not!" Her enthusiasm kicks back up.

... she's pretty shy about talking on the way home, though. A one-on-one conversation about anything more complicated than the movie... that's just too heavy for a night like this.