2021-06-25 - Juuban's Got Talent! You've Been Scouted!
| Juuban's Got Talent! You've Been Scouted! | |
|---|---|
| Summary: Auteur director Shiho Kubota and friends scout and audition | |
| Who: Shiho Kubota, Yumi Ohzora, Kyoko Mori, Natsuko Koshino, Rina Takashimizu, Niramo Umokeshi, Nori Ankou, Endo Naoki, Inori Yamabuki, Fumiko Inoue, Mikoto Minagi, Iona Hikawa | |
| Where: Juuban Public School - Club Rooms | |
| OOC - IC Date: 6/25/2021 - 12/5/2015 | |
<Pose Tracker> Shiho Kubota [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed. <SoundTracker> FWPC OST - A Tedious Day - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFjMQxcnygI
https://cdn-us.anidb.net/images/main/23574.jpg
Shiho Kubota is a Juuban High student. She's short, with a bowl of rubinginous hair and a smile that wins your affection while shaking your trust, much like a kindly pixie. She is known recently for directing the student film 'The Thing from the Spring', whose ambition soared over its budget and the talent of its cast, Shiho herself included. She has a taller friend named Rina, as most short girls do, if only for statistical reasons.
Have a taller friend, that is. They're not all named Rina.
What were you doing today that she noticed? You must have some sort of talent that caught her avaricious eye. Something other than academics, something more... photogenic. It could be a club activity--musical, athletic, rhetorical, linguistic. But it might not be. Perhaps you enunciate, or have a nimble way about you in the halls, or a colorful (or beautiful) appearance, or were simply accompanying someone like that too closely for her to invite them and not you. Perhaps you have no idea at all what it is that made her approach you. After all, she made no mention of it.
"Hey hey hey," she said. "Are you free this afternoon? There's a super cool party after school. We'll have games and snacks and everything."
Somewhere in there, if you hadn't met her before, she said you seemed cool.
The printout she offered was photocopied in black and white, with the slight ghosting effect of an overworked school copier. It was probably in color originally, as the balloon clipart just doesn't work as well in greys as it feels like it is meant to work, but having a printout at all is pretty classy for a high school party. It gives a room number at Juuban High, and promises games and snacks and everything.
And here they are...
Bursting in ten minutes late, Shiho clonks the top of a whiteboard she's hugging to her chest against the top of the door, ducks, then scampers in. Setting the board down and kicking its legs open, she sneaks her way behind the milling invitees to her co-hostesses. With a deep swallow of air and a brief moment with her hands on her knobby knees, she straightens. "Natsuko-chan, Kyouko-chan," she greets with satisfaction. "Pretty good batch, right? m'I missin' anything you need?" Blinking, she straightens up. "Whoa whoa whoa," she calls out in a showmanlike tone, walking across the room. "What are we playing here?"
Using a projector screen, a school projector, and a Wii U, and lacking guidance yet, some attendees decided to play Mario Party. Shiho swipes a rolled up cylinder of plastic-y material off the projector stand as she walks. "Why play Mario Party at a real party, right? It's like playing Mario Kart when there's bumper cars right there. No no no... what we need to get the party going is..."
Unfurling the cylinder, Shiho reveals an iconic three-by-three grid of pink and blue arrows, and drops it on the ground some distance from the screen. "Dancing!"
She gives a thumbs-up to Kyouko and Natsuko, then goes back for more dance pads.
"Food'll be here soon," she promises breezily. "Have some fun, introduce yourselves!"
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
Yumi Ohzora happens to be the taller friend in most of her relationships. It's just statistical likelihood, considering how tall she is. She appreciated the Thing from the Spring, though not as much as a certain Setsuna Higashi who happens to be busy with athletic pursuits today. No, she has... talents, as well.
She's an artist! She's... well, no, she's not very graceful in the least. But she knows how to work projectors. Perhaps one of these many reasons are it. Yumi couldn't really say what it was. But she heard something about a party, and...
"That sounds cool."
Yumi was not ten minutes late! Yumi happens instead to be part of the milling, and is there for the Mario Party! "Oh, um..."
She laughs a little, bringing up a hand to the back of her neck. "It seemed like a nice idea at the..."
The gray-haired girl straightens a little, though frankly she's still slouching as she looks to the others. "I'm allergic to dancing," she jokes, putting up both of her hands as if to forestall going first. "But for anybody who missed it, I'm Yumi Ohzora! I'd be happy to help work it up for everybody else though!"
<Pose Tracker> Kyoko and Natsuko [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/prettycure/images/f/f1/FwPC_Kyoko_fullbody.png
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/prettycure/images/8/8f/FwPC_Natsuko_fullbody.jpg
Kyoko Mori and Natsuko Koshino, aka 'Cure White' and 'Cure Black' to the children on the playground of Uminari Seaside Park, are NOT in their meticulously detailed cosplays; rather they, like Shiho, are in their Juuban High School uniforms. Uniformity can't stamp out their finer details though, like Natsuko's twin barrettes holding back her shoulder-length hair, or Kyoko's longer, darker pigtails. Both of them are all smiles, and both of their smiles put together are about a hundred times more trustworthy than any one of Shiho's.
Exasperated with Shiho's lateness in exactly the way someone might be when it's also completely expected, Kyoko's smile lacks an edge to it, or at least its beginnings are immediately dulled by her classmate's enthusiasm. "Yeah, we're good here!"
Natsuko has set up a makeover station. Three body-length mirrors, like one might expect in a dressing room; but it's hair and makeup products on offer today, not clothes. There's also a camera so that the beautiful can immortalize themselves. Sure, they could use their phones for that, but the Vice-Principal could storm in at any time and confiscate those in a fit of pique; why take the risk?
"If you don't like dancing," she murmurs to Yumi, "How do you feel about a new hairdo?"
She lifts a brush like a knight might lift a sword.
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
This late in the school year, the hours spent at school starts to blend together into a blur. Nothing that stands out from the norm besides what subjects are going over, what tests are coming up and gossip about what some students are expecting for Christmas. Well, there's the book bag that goes flying out of a high school student's hands and aimed right for Niramo.
Reacting and eeping on instinct, Niramo manages to slide out of the way of the flying baggage and against a wall. Letting out a sigh of relief from the near miss, Niramo makes sure that the high schooler and his bag are fine before she turns to leave school for the day. And that's when Shiho shows up with the handout to the afterschool party.
It's certainly the offer of games and getting to meet out with others after school that gets her to come. No no, no offers of free food will sway her!
The party may have started already without the hostess, but watching the lucky few ahead of her play Mario Party is a great spectator sport. "Wait, don't take the left path, you'll land on-...I was trying to warn you."
Sighing and shaking her head in exaggerated sadness, Niramo's attention is grabbed as Shiho makes her opinion known on true party entertainment. Seeing the dance mat unfurl, Niramo grins at the pad of dancing revolution and the promise of more to come. "Oooh, count me in on the dancing! I been wanting to try out the home version for a while now!"
<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed. <SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aAszry2eN4
Earlier this afternoon:
Nori Ankou stands in the early-winter chill outside of the greenhouse that is a jewel of the Ohtori campus. Her eyes rest upon two flowers in contrast. On the outside, aided perhaps by the secondhand warmth but exposed to the chill of the air, is a pale-pink flower on a rather austere branch, resting in an ornate pot of rich soil. On the inside, lusher, a deeper pink that becomes purple, is another flower - no, five of them, running riot on a small, dense bush, gently cooled by a slightly opened window-pane but otherwise protected.
The same, Nori Ankou thinks, as the petals gleam in the cool afternoon light.
But they were grown in such different ways, and it's shaped them so much... Nori lets out a little breath...
"--!?!"
"Oh, certainly, I'll see you there..."
AFTER THAT, Nori got on a train as soon as she could get out of class. She was late, though a little bit before the organizer: she is still unwinding the scarf around her neck in anticipation of doffing a cozy-looking peacoat.
"Aa," Nori says, pausing for a moment as she looks around. There is a faint flutter of the old sense of awkwardness and out-of-place in the pit of her stomach; a phantom limb of fear, which she opts to push against by going for the provided-for proposal. As she unwinds the violet-shading-to-orange scarf, Nori says, "I'm Nori Ankou, I attend Ohtori Academy... ah... I am from Hokkaido originally... I play the bassoon and I am a supporter of our fencing club! My favorite food comes and goes, but I think my favorite cuisine is Jamaican!"
It's a pretty long (if fine, thin) scarf. "Let's see... I live in Shibuya, and I take the train to school every day, even though - uff-" She has to rewind the scarf a half-loop because she managed to get the slack wrong and was at risk of mild strangulation.
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.
Endo, though he rarely spends time after school at school these days, has been enticed by the offer of a party. Following the flier has led him to the regular party, and then to the mario party shortly after. He is not doing very well at either one. There's a lot of time spent looking at the map and counting squares, which nobody is happy with.
Thankfully, there's a new game in town. When Shiho arrives and lays down the dance pad Endo decides now is a good time to hand over the controller. He shuffles over toward the new game, careful to avoid the makeover station on the way.
"I'm Endo Naoki." He introduces, adding after, "And I'll play, I like this game." He's not very good at it, but Endo likes any arcade game that lets him move around. And hit things.
It's also a good way to pass the time until the food arrives.
<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"Senpai! Bigaku is looking tired-! I'm going to take a break."
'buki and Mikoto today are dog walking, as part of an effort of their clubs to make certain pooches keep up a certain activity level during the chillier months of the year.
Right now she has a leashed German Shepherd that belongs to one of the faculty, whose tongue is lolling out after enough laps around the school's track.
Retrieving her bag from the bleachers, she winds her way underneath them.
"Here you go! Drink up - time to hydrate."
A small impromptu water dish is filled with a water bottle. Yes, she comes prepared.
The big dog immediately starts lapping it up. As 'buki squints through the cracks in the metal slabs in front of her, catching sight of Mikoto.
"Hmmm."
A quick look shows that she's pretty well under cover down here, and she doesn't really want to cool down herself yet. A glance one way, and then another.
The girl slowly puts in earbuds...
Hits a button on her phone, and while still holding her phone, starts dancing in place while holding the leash. Humming, and moving in place as she mumbles to herself.
"/o~ You make me happy..."
Stepping to one side, and another, her limbs making these small motions that taken into account Bigaku's presence.
The dog stops lapping up the water, sitting on her haunches. And watching 'buki, still lightly panting out her tongue. A furry audience of one.
'buki winks, and puts up a finger to her lips, still stepping to one side and another.
"Our secret."
She could not have noticed two hands on the side of the bleachers. A bowl of hair, eyes suddenly gleaming with a sinister smile.
-=-=-
'buki is oblivious to the reason she was invited to the party. Finding herself a bit out of sorts when people start playing Mario Party. Her sidetail listing as she leans to the side to watch the projected screen from her wallflower like position near the back - now sans dog.
"Hmm, this is really more Love-chan's kind of party I think..." She says with a comment to Mikoto.
And then Shiho... arrives with... the infamous... grid.
"Huh!? Dancing?"
'buki nervously puts a finger up to her chin as her turn comes around for introductions. "... I'm Inori Yamabuki... Ohtori Academy. I'm... a member of the Animal Care Club, along with Minagi-senpai." There's a pause... as she sees the response to Yumi's dance allergy to... a brush being brandished like a sword. Which causes her to take a nervous step back.
A hand touching her sidetail.
"... Aha..." Swallowing, she looks over to Endo, stepping up nervously to the squares... "I've never played but... maybe trying it wouldn't hurt."
It feels much less dangerous than the alternative.
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Fumiko was surprised that her mom was letting her go to a party so soon after having her friend over to her house unsupervised. However, she actually ENCOURAGED Fumiko! After all, it was a school party, and she has been giving her more trust lately. Besides, it was a perfect chance for her daughter to show off and possibly move up in social circles. She was INVITED to a party, rather than just being an open invitation; SOMEONE clearly saw Fumiko's worth.
Fumikko showed up in a green dress and flats. Her hair was adorned with a little frog hairclip, though otherwise just let down. Her cheeks and lips were just slightly tinted. Her mother wanted her to go to the party much more fancy than that, but there was no way she was going overdressed! Or at least THAT overdressed...
Mario Party? Makeover station? A dancing game? Fumiko knew it! This was no fancy party! This was... a party. Pure and simple. Looks like it was introduction time, first. "To those who do not know me- Hi, I'm Fumiko! I go to this school. For those who do know me - I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, it was broken when I found it~"
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Mikoto, it turns out, is not just good at cross-species interaction when it comes to cats. She also has an awful lot of transmissible skills when it comes to dogs. For instance: dogs want to play forever and ever and ever...
"Then, we're going ahead!" Declares the newest member of Animal Care Club, and her ward -- one Princess Einherjar, a corgi of astounding stamina and desire to run about. Running out to the field, she finds Princess catching up far too easily -- and so, she flops down onto her knees, and grabs a length of knotted rope from her pocket, and GNOMPHS onto it with her teeth.
So does Princess, and so the tug-of-war commences. That's precisely where the talent scouts would find the other half of the dogwalking duo, making a convincing impression of just being one of the dogs. Complete with growling! She has an astounding growl!
Mikoto at least has the grace to not talk with her mouth full when she picks up Princess to talk to a friendly stranger. "... okay!"
AND SO:
Mikoto does not go in for playing Mario Party, because the last time she pretended to be a spiky dinosaur that just did not go well at all. She does, however, brighten up considerably at the dance pads being rolled out -- and the mention of -- "It's a good party, 'Buki," Mikoto reminds her. "There's food!" She's eager now, but she was sticking beside 'Buki a shade hesitantly before that...
"I'm Mikoto! Me, too!" Says Mikoto, Mikotoingly, a bounce of her braids with the bob of her head and a bright, bright smile. That second line, with a look to 'Buki, must mean she's also from Animal Care Club and Ohtori Academy. (She does not, aside from those thin braids, have awfully much hair to do anything with; her scruffy black hair is short enoug that it sticks up in the air, though surely someone's run a comb through it at some point today.)
Mikoto bounces on her heels, as she thinks of how to introduce herself. "My roommate is Mai Tokiha, and her ramen is the best! I like dancing games! And food!" Inherent in that explanation may be the fact that she is incapable of speaking without exclamation marks. She's just happy to be here, even if she isn't entirely sure why she is. All her friends are here!
<Pose Tracker> Iona Hikawa [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Iona Hikawa, like almost everyone else, ran afoul of Shiho Kubota in the halls of Juuban. Iona herself really could only describe the entire thing like a -whirlwind-. Shiho appeared out of nowhere, invited her to a party, gave her a flier with directions to the party, and then vanished almost as quickly as she came down the hall. This left Iona with the flier, and she looked at it for a few moments. Iona kept to herself most of the time, so she was never too keen on parties. She had a lot to do, too. Go to her grandfather's dojo, do some studying afterwards, go get groceries. She didn't have a lot of time to socialize.
At some point, after most of the partygoers have arrived, the keen eye can spot the purple haired girl making her way into the party. She could spare a bit of time...
And it... it had nothing to do with Shiho calling her 'cool', not one bit!
Iona promptly shows just how un-social she is, as she moves out of the way of anyone coming and going, but keeps on the perimeter of the entire party. For now, anyway. She might be found deeper into the party, but she'll stay here for the moment. She doesn't introduce herself... not until the party runs out of willing volunteers, at which point she adds a simple one. "My name is Iona Hikawa, and I also go to this school as well." And that's it. Notably, she's still wearing her Juuban uniform, too.
<Pose Tracker> Shiho Kubota [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
Something is shuffling up the hall. Its lumbersome bulk dragging towards the club room, it moans with hunger.
-=-=-
"That's okay," Shiho tells Yumi supportively. "There are all sorts of things someone can be good at... lots of talents that could be useful in your life." There was a beat between 'useful' and 'in your life', smoothly though it was elided.
Shiho has the fluid, intense attention of a local politician shaking hands with voters in line. She's all there, and then she's gone. "Naoki-senpai, awesome," she greets her fellow Juuban student. "And Niramo-chan! Juuban represent." She's not friends with either or anything, but she's good with faces AND names, and if she begs off on either it's entirely disingenuous. "Whoa, Fumiko too? And lookin' good today too! Glad you could make it..." She drops another pad down, directly in front of Endo. "I bet you're both good dancers! Is there a song you--"
The door handle rattles gently, unnoticed. It begins to tilt down clumsily, haltingly. It is as though it is being opened by something other than a hand.
-=-=-
"Ah, Buki!" Shiho jogs up to Nagisa's friend and clasps one of her hands in both of hers. "You are DEFINITELY playing, c'mere c'mere c'mere. Your friend too!" she beckons Mikoto. "I have a full complement of dance pads... I know people," she quips. "Know people who have a Wii U."
-=-=-
Creeeak...
"AAH!" Shiho suddenly cries, dropping Buki's hand to point at the door. "The Thing from the Spring!"
With her butt holding down the door handle and pushing the door open, Rina Takashimizu stands with a stack of pizza boxes in her arms and a sour expression on her face. "How many times are you gonna make that joke?" demands Rina, who once played the titular monster of the Thing from the Spring.
"At least one more," she promises. As her requisite taller friend enters, she smiles, friendly, at Nori. "Hey, welcome. Pardon me, just have to..." She pushes the boxes forward a little with her hips to get them onto the table her friends set up earlier.
"Rina-chan is super super super good at DDR," Shiho tells Endo, Mikoto, Buki, and Niramo. "Come on, Rina!" Hastening over, she starts propelling Rina from behind, before the latter could even open the pizza. "No food yet, play a round," she orders the aforementioned players. "A champion of DDR has arrived... is there one among you who can claim her crown???" Leaving Rina on a pad, she starts setting up a game with a nunchaku controller.
"I'm not that good..." Rina objects, blushing beneath her freckles.
"Lies lies lies," Shiho dismisses. "She rocks... she even sings at the same time when she's at home."
"You don't need to tell everybody everything you think of all the time," Rina sighs.
"And... here we go!" Shiho proclaims, selecting a song." As the song begins to play, she turns around to the girl in the green dress. "Hey Fumiko-chan, you in or what? Now or never... go go go!"
Riyu Kosaka - Love Shine - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRfOTl8MREo
Sighing, Rina touches her toes briefly, then sets her feet, her eyes getting serious. As the song begins and her feet start moving, it becomes apparent that Shiho was not making up her abilities, though she may have been exaggerating. Is there someone who can take her?
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
Useful.... in her life. "Ah, ha ha..."
"I like painting," she offers for other talents. "And I help run some electronics for the fashion club..." But then she's gone! Gone, and--
Yumi has long, voluminous gray hair, practically a dream to any hairdresser to mess with. She even brightens at the idea a bit. "Did you have something in mind?" the Infinity High Schooler wonders, taking a step her direction at the offer. Natsuko's makeover station is very interesting to her, at least! They are super trustworthy seeming, and--
...And Yumi actually rather likes hair and makeup.
"Because that sounds great!" There's drastic changes she'd balk at, but plenty of room for trying new things without committing too hard first, and especially since it's a friendly crowd...
She waves Mikoto's way with a little laugh as she mentions that she likes food. "You, food? Never."
Her uniform places her from Infinity even if she didn't say as much; she seems content to let her actions speak for her mostly, or rather, to let the creaking speak for her because--"Ah--" She pauses. She laughs, because Rina's sour expression is hilarious. "Hmm, good luck guys!" Yumi offers the dancers cheerfully, turning back Natsuko's way.
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
"Yup!" Mikoto chirps, to Yumi, entirely genuine in response. Yumi, as it turns out, is Mikoto's tall friend. She's really very tall!
Speaking of tall friends...
Mikoto's ear twitches, and her gaze slips to the door. For just a moment the cheer drops from her face as her eyes narrow, that shadow of suspicion over something which doesn't sound... quite... right.
Shiho cries, and Mikoto turns, a hand reaching to the strap slung across her shoulder --
-- to find a girl with pizzas. Mikoto slumps forward, bottom lip jutting out, giving Shiho the most baleful look imaginable, all accompanied by a wordless grumble-grunt which nonetheless perfectly encapsulates the feelings of someone who just got spooked for NO REASON.
(Mikoto is apparently very good at making sounds which aren't, strictly speaking, words.)
Still, Shiho's tall friend clarifies that it was a joke (Mikoto is good at those, she's excellent at catching things!), and so Mikoto straightens up, as if she'd never been startled at all. She takes a few steps towards the pizzas before the orders to play beforehand go out, and here Mikoto whines, but dutifully she goes over to one of the mats.
She pokes it, with the tip of her foot. Mikoto isn't used to seeing the home mats; she likes playing Drug Dog Reinforcement, but those games are installed in the arcade, with railings and displays and arrows which don't scronch when you step on them.
Once, again, she lowers her foot onto the mat. Crinkle. Okay. That's normal. Maybe Mikoto is worried about breaking things, just like Fumiko said she was? (Mikoto might not be joking about it.)
She shrugs off her case to prop it against the wall, and gets onto the mat, looking down at it with owlishly wide eyes. Blink... blink.
"Okay!" Mikoto says, when Shiho tells them to start.
It turns out Mikoto does like dancing games, just as she said; they're some of her favourite ones to visit at Game Center Crown, now she's the sort of person who visits Game Center Crown with her friends. But Mikoto hasn't been doing this (for various definitions of 'this', all entirely valid) for very long at all, compared to some of her friends, and Mikoto's mind operates in absolutes. The game normally looks different, to this, and the change in methodology makes her more hesitant. It's the same, but it's different, too. It's a mat which crinkles!
All that to say that Mikoto is a good player, but she's not great; she'll earn a respectable score, but it turns out there are people her senior in this activity, too.
Such as--!!
<Pose Tracker> Kyoko and Natsuko [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Kyoko's eyes light up when she spots "Red Future!" Predictably she and Natsuko are AoAka fans -- just as predictably, they're not on the same side. As big members of the much much humbler Juuban Fashion Club they greatly admire what their Infinity counterpart is doing without kidding themselves about going pro themselves... at least, not while they're still in school. Their parents would kill them.
Still, getting to make over one of the lead models is coming awfully close to touching heaven.
To her credit Natsuko does not waver from her interest in Yumi. "You're so gorgeous," she gushes, without a hint of sarcasm. "Your hair is so fine, and your arms are so thin--!" In short order that fabulous gray hair is ancient priestess-flat. Natsuko runs her fingers through it like she's playing a harp, then tilts her head to one side. "What do you think about going a little curly? It's just temporary, it'll wash out," she promises eagerly.
Kyoko continues to bear down on Nori. "Come come come come come," she entices, in one point six six Shihos. Perhaps cleverly, she flips things around from the obvious expectation: "How about you do me first?" And then, her eyes gleam, she will get her turn. A vast surface of pots and brushes await...
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Introductions seemed to have gone well. Fumiko attempts to memorize any names and faces she has not seen before. She smiles slightly at Shiho's compliment. "Thank you," she replies with a slight bow. "This is a lovely setup here."
AND THEN THE PIZZA MONSTER ATTACKS! Pizza would be nice about now, but not before dancing. That would be a bad idea, thought Fumiko. And she was definitely about to try the dancing game, even before it was offered to her. "If you insist," she says sweetly, before limbering up. She does cross toe touches, and arm stretches to both sides. "But I warn you: with my Drama and Gymnastics Club skills, I have some pretty good moves." However, seeing some of her competition, she suddenly looks maybe a teensy bit nervous?
<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
'buki smiles furtively at Mikoto's introduction. This isn't the first time she's heard of Mai Tokiha of course, since she's spent more than five minutes around Mikoto. Before she double takes, "Eh? You do?" She seems surprised that Mikoto does... ... before reassessing her. "You do."
Shiho suddenly taking her hand and her getting swept up in someone else's enthusiasm, this is not an unknown quantity to her. No in fact, given that she has been friends with Love since childhood, one could unironically state that this is just her life.
"You do? Really?"
This isn't 'buki making a Wii-U joke. She sounds impressed because Shiho is so confident that she sounds like she's saying something impressive.
"I've... seen people play... and... that's about it..."
'buki says nervously... and this is no surprise. She's not a gamer, but DDR is such a sensation that she can't at least know what it is. The same way she might identify a character on the Mario Party screen as 'Oh that's Mario'.
"... so you shouldn't really expect much."
It sounds wholly sincere on her part, as she figures that it's probably different from dancing.
And then Shiho drops her hand, and 'buki turns around. "Huh!?" 'buki suddenly has her hand in her bag, on a Linkrun, because Shiho had cried out so energetically.
Only to follow her pointing hand to a taller girl holding a stack of pizza boxes.
"Wait."
'buki's hand releases the shape of her Linkrun in her hand.
"Wait... from the film."
A look back at Shiho. "The film you directed."
It took her a second, but she gets it now.
'buki gives Rina a curious onceover as Shiho talks her up, looking at her with the respect that one might a school athlete, and a certain sympathy at being called out for her habit of singing the songs at the same time. She does that too!
... When she's by herself.
So she feels the mortification hard. Mounting the pad, she puts her bag down beside it. "So you just..."
'buki looks down at her feet. "... when the arrows." Back at the screen. Then the arrows, "Wait... there's only four steps?"
The song is starting, and 'buki's hardly had time to get her bearings. So she simply puts her feet in the center.
When the first few notes play, it's not the same as dancing to something you know the song by heart, know the rhythm to, and are working cooperatively rather than competitively. So the first few seconds are her listening, while holding her hands up in the air. Moving her hips here, and there...
... her first few steps are flubbed. Because it's not the beat she's used to for their dance routine. And then suddenly it clicks.
It's not that different from dancing as a group. You have marked positions. You don't step too far off of them.
After the first few arrows come by, and her feet makes contact with them, her arms start swinging up, making these revolutions in mid-air to the beat that actually match her footwork.
At times turning her body ninety degrees with head turned to watch that screen, interspersing every few arm motions of her steps with a clap of hands - before switching back. And that score just keeps climbing with the sudden chain she's building up... she won't actually beat Rina in all likelihood due to the botched start, but...
"... you know... this is a pretty fun song to dance to."
... she acquits herself really well for a first timer, and looks like she's having a good time.
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Introductions are made and a bit of background is given freely by many of the partygoers, and Niramo finally gets to put a name to a few people she's only seen in passing.Not that Niramo will admit to forgetting a few names out loud, that would just be rude.
Not exactly wanting to be left out of the introductions herself, Niramo motions to herself. "I'm Niramo Umokeshi, proud member of the cooking club here at Juuban. I dabbled in drawing, but my main talents are cooking, and I been getting some dance practice for a few months now!"
Endo steps up to the plate...well, mat and gets it ready for the field of grooving might. But before Niramo can do more than wave a hand gently towards the older boy, Shibo is there to make her rounds. "You know it!" There is indeed a bit of pride to represent Juuban...even if they're actually still in Juuban. And Fumiko got an invite as well! "...waaait, what did you break?" It's very likely Fumiko is just joking around...but then again...
Shiho certainly knows how to draw attention and points a dramatic finger at the doorway, but instead of some monster it's...oh, it's the pizza champion! And the apparent DDR champion too. Niramo considers herself pretty decent at the dancing game, even if arcade brawlers and racers are more her style.
Shiho is quick to throw poor Rina to the wolves without any food to fuel herself first, but Niramo has an empty mat in front of her and friends to dance against. "Uh oh, this is a quick one..."
The difference between the arcade and the home version is all in the mat, and it's different enough to throw Niramo off her groove at first. There's a layer of squishy softness where she's expecting hard plastic at first, and jumping in without any warm up or knowing the song at all is going to mess anyone up. But a quarter of the way through, the ravenette adjusts and just focuses on moving her feet to the beat without tripping herself up.
In the end, Niramo trails behind Rina but not by too much. But she doesn't really care about winning or losing. It's a party, and it's just there to have fun. "Yeah! I'm a fan of the slower songs myself, but this one made sure you move."
<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Nori gets her scarf handled, mostly, at the time for RINA TAKASHIMIZU to appear near her. Nori smiles at her, making way happily, as the boxes are placed down and yet declared temporarily sacrosanct. None shall feed until dancing is done. Seems reasonable to her. Nori gets her coat off at this point, just in time to face Kyoko --
For a moment her look is completely astonished. A moment later, the fashionable look of faintly plaintive but impassive beauty rests on her face, and Nori says to them, "Yes."
There is a moment when Nori calls out "Oh, Naoki!" and "Oh, Mikoto!" to two people of whom she is particularly fond, but she allows herself to be drawn into Kyoko's 'gravity' for a few long moments. But there is a challenge -- and Nori reaches forwards, to clasp Kyoko's hands in both of her own, the cool and stylish touch of a red future.
Nori meets Kyoko's eyes.
"I will," she says, with a tone of promise. "But I must dance, first. I won't be long. Please, save a place for me. I will give you everything I can..."
AND THENCE:
Nori takes her chance to confront Rina...!
And Nori moves with perfect style, and elegant grace, and the precision burned into her by sessions of training. The stern hand of Amanogawa-style rhythmic aerobics...
The problem is... that Nori keeps up with the arrows for about the first fifteen seconds and then slowly, gorgeously, *perfectly* falls behind. She does not look at the screen because she just knows she would get flustered and that is definitely not what the 'heat' in the Red Future is about.
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
Don't worry. Yumi will ensure Mikoto doesn't start stabbing anybody. She's very good at that. "Oh, you draw?" Yumi asks Niramo brightly. "Do you like to draw anything in particular? ...Aah, I'm the opposite, I dabbled in cooking but I'm not very good at it..."
She misses some of the fun of the dancing though because suddenly Natsuko is complimenting her and Yumi actually flushes a little in pleased embarrassment. "A-aw, thanks," she starts, and doesn't manage much else as her hair is abrubtly super flat. There is a lot that could be done here, and Natsuko makes her option sound pretty good--pretty low-risk, even. Pretty... pretty.
"Then sure! I'd love to see it," Yumi answers Natsuko, as it turns out that she's pretty easy on this kind of thing actually.
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.
"Well," Hedges Endo, "I don't know if I'm that good." He's still game to try though, even when Rina shows off her skills on the mat. His eyes attempt to follow her feet at she taps out the beat along the mat, as if that might help him uncover the secret of how to do those same moves himself. He does pauses to wave to familiar faces, but soon
It's time to challenge! He steps up on his mat, giving it a few testing (and gentle) stomps. It's about twenty seconds into the song that he actually starts dancing, attempting to track the arrows scrolling down the screen with the movement of his feet.
It doesn't go great, but it could be worse. There's a lot of close calls, half-points, and the occasional flub, but he's giving it most of his attention. When he isn't glancing at the other dancers to try and determine how, in fact, legs are supposed to move like this.
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Niramo wonders what Fumiko broke? "Well, I broke tons of hearts of course," Fumiko jokes, "with my dazzling beauty and grace~" She gives a cheeky grin. "Anyways, nice to see you again."
During the dance game, Fumiko starts strong! She really DID have moves; she wasn't just bragging. However, her occasional glances away from the screen led to a few errors, and her nervousness lead to a couple fumbles. Still, it was far from a terrible showing. She even tried to put a little style into it. And even one of her near-falls was turned into an impromptu dance move - it didn't score in-game, but maybe it would score style points in the party.
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Niramo blinks when Yumi asks about her drawings and it takes her a second to remember that she still has her drawing pad in her bookbag. It takes her a bit of digging out before setting it near Yumi for her to look through when she's done with her makeover. "Oh, mainly anything interesting that catches my eye, but usually trees, birds, lions...general nature stuff!" The sketches themselves are rough and drawn by an inexperienced hand, but most of the pages are filled with bits of nature that one could find throughout Tokyo. And there were indeed two lions in one of the earlier pages!
Niramo rolls her eyes and just laughs as Fumiko jokes back. "I heard the Inoue Fan Club are still having trouble keeping pictures of you to sell in stock. As the president, maybe you should take a break sometime!"
Nori may not have raised the bar in terms of points, but she is owning the dance floor in her own way. It's a far cry from the gentle stomps that DDR usually calls for, but it looks like Nori isn't about to let a little something like keeping with the beat from her showing her groove. "Whao...I still got a lot to learn."
<Pose Tracker> Shiho Kubota [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"Just... don't stomp on the hard part at the top of the pad there," Shiho grimaces as Fumiko agrees to dance. "These aren't mine..."
Rina shrugs off her Juuban blazer as she dances, glances back at Shiho, and tosses it. Shiho catches it gamely, folding it over her arm with a Cheshire smile as she watches everyone BUT Rina dance, with an assessing eye.
The mats do crinkle, like many great cat toys do. Rina finds she enjoys being in synch with Mikoto, Niramo and Fumiko at the start, just having fun with it. Niramo and Mikoto in particular seem to be enjoying themselves, which is a bit contagious. She's ahead of Mikoto and Fumiko by a fair margin, and Niramo by a sliver, but all four of them keep the rhythm, unlike poor Buki and Endo over there. She tries not to pay too much attention to them at first, lest they throw her off too.
"Did you have to have her play?" she whispers back at Shiho, jerking her head at Nori. "She was obviously gonna be incredible." Nori is in fact winning so far, and gorgeously.
"My bad my bad my bad," Shiho agrees. "It's like I put you in a beauty contest against Yukishiro-san."
"You didn't have to agree!" Rina sputters. She does a double-take, however, to realize that someone unexpected is rising in the ranks. "Is this really your first time?" Rina asks Buki, startled to find the meek girl dancing ably already. She knows Buki well from the budding veterinarian's friendship with Nagisa. Rina makes few mistakes, so the head start she has on Buki is impossible to overcome, but Buki's 'Perfects!' are adding up. And Endo, too, is no longer floundering around over there. "Guess I better stay serious..."
Dancing nimbly, her hands even tossing in some zazz at appropriate moments, Rina makes it to the end of the song. Panting only lightly (she is on the lacrosse team after all, and it was one song), she slaps Niramo companionably on the back; they finished nearly equal, with Rina taking it in the end. Turning to Nori, she opens her mouth with a rueful look in her eyes to congratulate the model on her victory, but instead, Shiho grabs one of Rina's wrists and holds it up.
"Still the CHAMP, yep yep yep!" Shiho announces. "But I see some *real* potential out there..." Her eyes look especially greedy when they sweep past Niramo and Buki.
"Eh?" Embarrassed, Rina points at Nori's screen. "Ankou-san's score is..."
Rina blinks.
"Garbage," Shiho says sagely. "Hot garbage."
Shell-shocked, confused, Rina accepts her congratulations. Releasing her, Shiho walks over to Niramo and Buki. "Hey hey hey, where'd you learn to dance?" she queries. "What sorta styles do you know?
<Pose Tracker> Kyoko and Natsuko [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"I understand," Kyoko replies huskily to Nori.
She hangs back, arms folded, to watch Red Future and the dance dance dance ... or is it dance x9? ... revolution contest. She's dutifully impressed by the model's moves but more intrigued by Endo's, perhaps because he's the only guy in the room. Which could be romance, but might just be novelty.
"You'd look good in a suit," she remarks offhandedly to him. Ignore if you would that everyone in a school uniform is kind of in a suit right now. Clearly she means a REAL suit. Tailored. And not rust red.
Natsuko steers Yumi around on the stool so she's facing the dancing instead of the mirror. "There's so much talent in the room," she murmurs, as the slightly crispy smell of hot curling iron fills the air. "But holding still is a talent too... there."
Removing the iron she teases out a curl -- a glorious gray ringlet, really -- for her subject to inspect. Then, barring disapproval, she continues.
"Don't call names!" she chides Shiho, at a low bark to be heard over the party. "Aren't you here to make friends?"
Kyoko snickers, not at Shiho, but at Natsuko's failure to meme.
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Mikoto looks enthused about people drawing, but she doesn't barge in, because: dancing. She's having fun, even if it's different! Crinkle, crinkle. Luckily, Shiho points out which part of the mat should not be stomped on, and Mikoto dutifully avoids stomping on the hard part, regardless of where the warning was directed.
"Yeah! 'Buki!" Mikoto cheers her on, quite cheerful; despite jumping around (and spinning, has anyone told Mikoto that spinning isn't part of this game?), she doesn't sound terribly out of breath throughout the exercise, either. With just as much cheer, she calls: "Go, Endo, go!"
Apparently Mikoto is an equal-opportunity DDR-er, who can be enthusiastic about all levels of dancing activity. (Including Yumi. Mikoto is glad Yumi is cheering them on! It's easy to tell, by the way she looks over to her in the process, all big grin.)
And once the song ends, Mikoto straightens up, all bounce-a-bounce on the balls of her feet again. "That was fun!" She decides, cheerfully, only to look over to the screen when Shiho points out Nori's score.
Mikoto, promptly, bustles over to Nori and holds her hand up. "Uh-uh! I saw Nori! She was having fun, too!" Mikoto may not quite know what the point of this gesture is, but she sure is making it. "Yay, Nori!"
Well, her heart's in the right place.
Letting that perfect wrist go, Mikoto turns to 'Buki and Niramo, with saucer-big gold eyes. "'Buki's really good!" Mikoto says, with admiration. "Niramo, too!" Who knew Niramo was so good at hitting arrows when she couldn't make the arrow of a spear hit the fish very well? Life is full of mysteries.
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
There's no way Fumiko didn't win. She played perfectly! It must have been her dress's fault, it wasn't meant for such an energetic game! Or the game glitched! It...
Oh. That was back, was it? Fumiko shakes her head hard, then smiles at everyone. "You all did amazingly! And you crushed it, Rina, congratulations! I'm... sorry I didn't quite have the focus to keep up. I guess I got nervous. You're all so talented." She still seems nervous though the contest was over - at least for now?
<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"Y-Yes it is." 'buki stammers mid-dance step at the unexpected question from Shiho. Whereas Mikoto's cheering, "Aha... being cheered on by my clubmate is a bit..." She doesn't finish the thought, but it's still self-evident.
'buki is still riding a high from dancing in a game. She has no idea how well she did. She doesn't even look at how her scores compare. She just had a good time - she didn't realize there was something she could do to make dancing for classmates so normal.
Dancing on something that crinkled was a bit weird though. The DDR games she's seen people dancing on at arcades seem so sturdy!
"It was!" She agrees with Mikoto.
Part of her marvels though at the fact that she was dancing alongside a model. Then again, when you go to Ohtori - anything you do inadvertently pits you against at least one model or celebrity in any given contest...
... which is partially why she doesn't enter many contests!
'buki claps politely as Rina is revealed the champion by Shiho, having not really seen it as a competition, but celebrating it anyway.
Shiho though declares that Nori's score is... "Eh? Her score looks pretty high to m-" 'buki looks at Nori's screen, then looks at her screen.
And does a visible double take.
"... are exponents used... in calculating the scores?" She says with a certain wonder at how much higher it is. If there was any doubt that this was actually her first time, she's likely dispelled it.
And then Shiho corners her, and 'buki gets this embarrassed expression as she holds up a hand in mid-air waving it, "Ah - uh... it's..." She really doesn't want to say. Their group had yet to debut... but she knows this is Nagisa's friend after all...
"...can you... keep a secret?" The dreaded words, likely to attract any number of eavesdroppers in the room. So instead, she motions Shiho in, and cups a hand near her ear, and whispers. It's pretty muted, such that noone is likely to hear unless they're up close... but several words are potentially audible.
"... Miyuki-sensei... Trinity... ... coach..."
<Pose Tracker> Shiho Kubota [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
Rina is a more down-to-earth character than her friend, and her expression softens readily for Fumiko. "Hey, don't be like that," she tells her companionably. "It's just DDR. Have fun with it is all, you know?" She smiles a little.
"Sou sou sou," Shiho agrees obediently to Natsuko's direction and Mikoto's proclamation, before returning her eyes to Buki. She doesn't actually answer about her secret-keeping ability, but leans in eagerly.
"TRINITY?!" she yelps, causing Rina to lunge over and cover her mouth with a hand. When Shiho hastily nods her cooperation and is released, she pats herself down and takes out a notepad, jotting something with a marker. "Wow, no kidding... really are all sorts of hidden talents out there..."
Kyoko's compliment to Endo gets her attention, and Shiho smacks her notepad with her marker in agreement. "Yes, good, perfect," she whispers to herself, scrawling. Sidestepping so she is standing behind Endo, she holds the notepad up for Kyoko (and Yumi, perhaps among others) to shoot her a quick comment:
LITERALLY
ONLY BOY:
GRAB!!!
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
Staying still is a talent, too... Yumi does so! "Mm!" she enthuses at the sheer amount of talent in the room, but while she appreciates being able to watch (and is this a sign of trust in the styling???), she does know to hold still as directed. A glorious gray ringlet happens, and Yumi looks in surprise at such a... well, glorious style on her. "Oh, wow!" she says, stars practically in her eyes as she looks.
She's looking forward to seeing that. "A-are you sure this is going to work on me?" she wonders though, and--
And--
She has enough experience at AoAka that she does not laugh at certain hot garbage comments even if they are objectively hilarious. She has to marvel a little anyway; "She seemed so graceful," she says instead, impressed anyway.
But then Yumi sees the comment on the notepad, and makes this face:
- O
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.
Endo finishes with a respectable score; not the dizzying heights of Rina, Niramo, or Ibuki, but not the depths Nori Ankou. The fact that Mikoto was nice enough to cheer helps too, and he seems appropriately satisfied with his effort as he hops off the mat with a puff.
"Niramo-san and Mikoto-san's friend are really good." He decides, adding to the accolades heaped upon the two near-victors.
But while he hasn't garnered the attention that some of the better contestants have, he may about to be break into the world of fashion. Kyoko's remark gives him some pause, the boy scratching his chin and asking: "Ah, really? I'd probably dance worse in a suit, though."
After some musing, he adds: "But maybe if I look good, nobody will notice..."
Deep in thought, he is unaware of the notepad hovering behind his head.
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Mikoto's praise gets the ravenette to blush in embarrasment, but she grins at the energetic girl. "You too! I didn't know you're so good at DDR. I didn't think you the arcade type." Mikoto's always active and outside, so mentally picturing her inside an arcade is a little hard to wrap Niramo's head around.
Niramo's a little surprised by the sudden question, but it's easy enough to answer. "Wait, besides just going to the arcade? Well...I been practicing with the captain of the dance club at Ohtori off and on for months now. And mainly what the captain wants to try out during that session, so...uh, contemporary, jazz and ballroom styles? I might have mess up the name of the first one though." Best to not say the captain's name out loud. That might draw some attention she wouldn't appreciate.
Inori seems to have her own secrets as well, and Niramo does her best not to listen in, that would be rude! But it's certainly something if the shout coming from Shiho is anything to go by.
Fumiko seems to be down on herself a little, and Niramo walks over closer to check up on her. "Fumi-chan, you know you're amazing when it comes to helping out in the drama club. Besides, you beaten me in races plenty of times!"
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Fumiko sighs as Niramo tries to cheer her up. "Thanks, Niramo. I'm not upset about not doing well. Any more, I mean. I'm a little upset that I got upset, and... I'm still feeling kind of silly for coming in here like it was a high-class fancy party. Among other things making me feel awkward."
The pizza beckons. Fumiko danced up an appetite. She makes her way to the food table, to check out what kinds of divine pizzas have graced this humble party. After all, pizza was a gift from the heavens.
<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
'buki startles as Shiho yelps out Trinity, as she panicked tries to gesticulate her hand in a downward motion as to keep her voice down, watching Rina cover her mouth. 'buki looks one way, then the other.
And just hopes that everyone thinks that she just... likes Trinity enough to try to mimic them. That's perhaps more embarrassing but also way easier to believe.
After all who would think a girl like her actually is being coached by the leader of a celebrity dance group if they didn't see them in the park.
"Eh, Kubota-san... you're not... writing that down right" 'buki sweats, as if worried that there might be some permanent record of her gaffe.
Which is why when Shiho shows it, 'buki leans to the side, and looks at the notepad.
"Oh."
Her lip clenches down, and suddenly her face goes a few shades more pink.
"Oh." She repeats, apropos of nothing, seemingly on a broken record of shattered expectations.
<Pose Tracker> Shiho Kubota [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"Whoa," Shiho replies wide-eyed to Niramo. "Are you dating the captain?"
"Shiho," Rina says.
"You can tell Shiho," Shiho assures Niramo in the third person.
"SHIHO."
"Okay okay okay, never mind," she sighs. Whatever she writes on her notebook has a question mark at the end.
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
"It's okay!!" Is how Mikoto reassures 'Buki's nervousness, with the distinct impression that Mikoto is the one embarrassing her kouhai more often than not. That's just what happens when someone so reserved comes into contact with someone who has never once known the concept of shyness.
She at least seems entirely willing to forgive Shiho's TERRIBLY MEAN COMMENTS with that repeated mora.
Mikoto considers, deep in thought, before she declares to Endo: "It's okay! I'll dance in suit, too!" Mikoto apparently cares nothing for the gender roles inherent in suits.
She smiles, brightly, to Niramo, and says: "I can go to arcades now, too! It's fun! There's machines like this! But," she adds, looking down to the pad, "they're more solid. And there's bars to grab." See? Different. Mikoto doesn't connect the captain of the dance club to any of her friends(????), because Mikoto doesn't keep track of who's in what club, even these days.
Unless it's her club. She knows 'Buki!
"These parties are more fun," Mikoto assures Fumiko, with that same bright smile, and one might wonder at this point how someone like Mikoto even fits in at a standard Ohtori function. (Answer: about the same as she fits into this party, because there is only one Mikoto for all social situations. There's another one, but that's not for here.)
She is giving that pizza an incredible set of glances, but she does, at least, first turn her attention on Yumi now she's not dancing. "Yumi, you're so pretty!" Mikoto says, without a single care for how that affection sounds in the wake of Shiho wondering about deitos.
<Pose Tracker> Kyoko and Natsuko [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Natsuko joins Yumi in a state of roundhead reaction. Good thing that notepad behind Endo wasn't for her. However, she's just about finished transforming Yumi's hair into ringlets, using the clever technique of a layer on top without having to do her entire head.
She swivels her subject around to look at the mirror. "What do you think?" The locks of a Western princess tumble around her in waves of gray glory. "Do you want to do me next? Or are you hungry maybe?" She doesn't want to hog her. Well, she does, but she won't.
Kyoko, however, doesn't hesitate. THE BOY -- and the boy who's OPEN TO WEARING GOOD-LOOKING CLOTHES.
She, too, has a notepad, and whips it out immediately, handing it over to Naoki-san. "Don't get pizza on it," she insists. The notepad does not have notes or words, incriminating and otherwise, at all. It does have fashion sketches. Many are male, and there are all manner of suits, from all manner of time periods, plus some more fantastical notions along the lines of the better parts of the David Bowie lifetime catalogue. "Do any of these stand out to you? The trick with suits, you can cut them clever to allow dancing... best of both worlds..."
<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Nori Ankou sweeps back some of her glossy, sleek black hair as she breathes out, sparkling slightly with the exertion of Dog Drug Reinforcement. (Something like that.) She smiles at Shiho, a little apologetically. "To move with grace... sometimes means you're a little slow... but Mikoto is right. I had a great deal of fun."
As Nori drifts back towards Kyoko - a promise fulfilled - Kyoko has a comment. Nori pauses, and looks at Endo with a slight cant of the head, before saying, "You're quite right... quite right indeed.~"
"But," Nori says to Kyoko, placing a hand on the other girl's arm, lightly. "Come. I believe you had a request of me."
And soon enough Kyoko is seated down. "Close your eyes," Nori says, as she gets out -
A bit of primer -
A little correction around the cheek bones, to *mute* Kyoko's natural colors a skoche -
Foundation -
Those looking from the sidelines might think this is going a little heavy, but Nori stops at the 'little heavy' mark and instead reaches for a pot of eyeshadow. Something metallic, which she applies only on the outer side of each eye, leaving the inner side au naturel. After a little consideration, she adds a thumb-press daub of the same metallic middle-indigo on the center of Kyoko's lips, expanding the daub just a smidge on the lower lip.
After this she steps back behind Kyoko, undoing her twin-tails and sweeping the hair together in one hand, smoothing with a brush and drawing it up, reapplying another firm scrunchie now, the part in the middle temporarily effaced.
"There! What do you think?"
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Shiho's question is enough to have Niramo's face shift into a vibrant red and she starts sputtering. "What?! Nononono, me and Ye-jin are just friends, nothing like that!...oops." Aaand she let Ye-jin's name slip out. Niramo hopes this doesn't come to bite her friend in the butt someday.
"Yeah...I'm kinda a fan of the arcade version myself, that bar does wonders for keeping you up." And Mikoto goes to arcades now?
Mikoto's gasp draws attention to Yumi, and Niramo's joins in as she stares at her new hairstyle. "Whao...okay, I have to ask what your secret is, Yumi-san."
Fumiko has the right idea. Everyone is so caught up in dance questions and make up that the pizza is starting to get cold! Letting free food go to waste is a sin, doubly so when it's pizza.
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
Yumi has some experience in noting that people fail to notice a lot if someone just looks good enough! That's what happens, after all, when you work with models all the time. It has given her a little resistance to the effect...
Eventually.
She will cheerfully look over Niramo's sketchbook when she gets the chance--she smiles at her as she gives it over--but for the moment she is busy with styling!! And with--
"Aaah," Yumi remarks as she's shown a very lovely look that is pretty different from her style--it takes up a lot more space, and frankly the body is kind of good for her. And then Mikoto calls her pretty! "W-wow," she says, "I didn't think I could look like that..." She reddens a little, either from her friend's compliment or just seeing it, but beams. "It's great, thanks!" And then a cheerful laugh at Niramo's question, "It's all her, she's just good at this!"
"Oh--" She glances at a clock, "Actually I should eat something, but then I can come back and do you? I think I have a couple of ideas, unless you already had something to try..."
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Yeah, these parties ARE much more fun," Fumiko agrees with Mikoto. "I'd rather have fun here than at a 'party' without pizza or games." She smiles more genuinely, a lot of her nervousness seeming to fade. "Speaking of... we should all go to the arcade some time. I think that'd be pretty cool, after seeing how you play, Mikoto. What other kinds of games do you like?"
Fumiko grabs a slice of pizza... and a blob falls on to her dress. Her world shatters as she stares into the void. "Oh. Oh no. Um. Anyone... anyone know how to... get pizza out of this? Help. I... this... is a problem."
<Pose Tracker> Shiho Kubota [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"Nah," Shiho tells Fumiko. "You look great. It's good to be someone who likes to put on the ritz a little, right?"
"What now?" Rina asks curiously. "Anybody want to do one of the songs in English?"
"Charades!" Shiho says decisively. "A timeless game that embodies the very fundamentals of acting! The human ability to communicate complex ideas through their body alone is amazing, right-right-right?"
"And a fun activity for a party," Rina reminds her.
"Yes. I love charades," Shiho confirms. "Rina, could you maybe--"
"Hai, hai," Rina says pleasantly, having anticipated the request. "Where's my clue?"
Soon after, Rina is standing in front of the projector screen, holding her palms together far above her head to make a column of her body. She keeps shuffling back and forth on her feet, and when she reaches the edge of her range to either side, she lets the foot on that side swing up. After a few repetitions of this, she gets frustrated and makes a little "swoosh" noise subconsciously, out of sheer burning desire to convey her word.
"Shh!" Shiho chides. "Yellow card! No sounds."
Rina blows a raspberry.
"Double yellow card!" Shiho giggles.
"This word is too hard."
"Triple yellow card!"
Sighing, Rina zips it. She swings back and forth, back and forth.
<Pose Tracker> Shiho Kubota [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"A carwash! A plane!"
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Pendulum... grandfather clock, uh... metronome!"
<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Caught up in the Shiho spiral of who is dating whom, 'buki immediately assumes that there's nothing to what she's saying.
Until Niramo says...
"Ehhh!? The Vice-President!?"
She starts, at Niramo's answer. "She sounds... surprisingly approachable."
Which is the platform that she ran on, but up until now she didn't assume ANYONE on the Student Council could be considered approachable.
Perhaps 'buki is starting to paint Shiho in a strangely similar brush to Love here, in how she gets involved in anything and everything.
'buki notably does not grab Pizza yet.
Instead looking at Yumi's transformation, "Incredible..."
'buki is surprised because... of how she looked before the dance, as compared to now. Still she's too timid to submit herself to that level of transformation herself
And then... "Oh that sounds like fun!"
-=-=-
'buki has her hand on her chin, as her head suddenly moves to the side with Rina's motion.
Then back the other way with the motion. The little swatch of hair that makes up her scrunchied sidetail bobbing similarily.
Back, and forth. Foot up.
Back and forth...
She raises a hand, "Oh!"
And Fumiko gets her guess first.
'buki lowers her hand and waits for the next round.
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Having dutifully informed Yumi of her grace, without a single care for embarrassing her, either, Mikoto attends to the most important task of the party:
There is food, and it is not in Mikoto. International travesty.
With a big old GNOMPH, she corrects this terrible crime. To Fumiko, she says: "Yup!" Chomp chomp chomp, "I like the ball-throwing games! But, I'm not too good at them. And the fighting games! Even if they don't make sense." Mikoto doesn't elaborate on why fighting games don't make sense, though. Because -- tragedy strikes!
And Mikoto reaches over and grabs the glob and tosses it onto the table. "There!" She declares, brightly, as if it's all fixed, even though the stain is still right there.
Lo, do the charades begin, and Mikoto settles back on her heels to consider the acts.
"... little things that get rain off of cars!"
Look, Mikoto is doing her best.
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.
"We can be a team." Endo agrees affably to Mikoto's offer to become a fellow suit-wearer. Suits are, presumably, better in pairs.
Before he can join her to get food, though, Kyoko is passing over her very important notepad. He nods when she requests there be no pizza stains on its pages, taking this very seriously. He lets Nori guide Kyoko off, flipping through the designs in the meantime, clearly impressed with the work that's gone into the pages.
"These are cool." He notes, attempting to narrow down his choices. "These are too old-fashioned," He hems, "And these have too many...feathers?" Flip flip flip. Eventually, he comes to a decision.
"I like this one. And this one. And the one with the triangles." He tells Kyoko when he returns the notepad.
This leaves him free to shout: "Pong!"
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Niramo is still a little mad at her slip up but she nods her head. "Yep! Surprised me too when I ended up training with her, but she's pretty nice once you get to know her! Not at all what you expect from someone on the Ohtori's student council." Which...Niramo actually forgot about until Inori brought it up. Shows how much it really comes up!
Charades is the next party game brought up and guesses are shouted out left and right. It's enough that Niramo is left behind in the dust after everyone else, but she needs to hazard a guess herself. "Uh...bellydancing?"
<Pose Tracker> Kyoko and Natsuko [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Kyoko is transformed beneath Nori's hand. She is an excellent palette, somehow perfectly still and perfectly observant at the same time, as though she's absorbing the model's expertise by osmosis.
"...I'm moved..." she whispers, when asked for feedback. Her eyes shine, and in them is reflected not a red future but her own.
But this party isn't about her and so she keeps it brief. "My turn--" it's Endo time "--oh, I'm glad--" it's charades time. She does not glare at Shiho over this double interruption, but when she sees the word on her card, it expels a snort from her cute little nose. "Figures."
"We're going as a pair," Natsuko announces, sidling over after giving Yumi's shoulder a goodbye squeeze. Warmly, she adds, "I'd love to see your ideas after you've gotten some food in you. You're maybe too skinny." An impolitely honest assessment, but not meant to be cruel, just frank.
She and Kyoko do not confer over the card verbally. They just hop to, like the dynamic duo they are.
Kyoko squats, approximating either pooping or a chair. Natsuko stands over her looking stern. Then she folds her arms and glares. Kyoko leaps to her feet, hanging her head; Natsuko points at some random direction, out, away; Kyoko wanders that direction, morosely.
Then they pause and wait expectantly, eyes wide with anticipation, clearly wondering if they're going to have to do it more than once...
<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"A bad dog," is Nori's guess.
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Uhh...duke? No, queen!"
<Pose Tracker> Shiho Kubota [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"Divorce!" cries the dramatically-minded Shiho. "Detention!"
<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"S-Shame?" 'buki suggests to the pair.
Unfortunately... she has an image of many puppies trying their hardest at potty training and failing stuck in her head.
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
"Not doing her job," Mikoto supposes, reaching up to scratch an ear a little awkwardly.
<Pose Tracker> Kyoko and Natsuko [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Kyoko and Natsuko are enthusiastic at Mikoto's response, and wave their arms urgently, calling for more guesses in that vein.
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.
"Getting fired!" Endo calls hopefully, chasing after Mikoto's guess.
<Pose Tracker> Kyoko and Natsuko [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Kyoko and Natsuko each hold up one finger, the universal charades symbol for 'how many words'
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Mikoto really saved Fumiko. The pizza blob was gone. Now all that was left was merely the stain Fumiko was actually worried about. She sighs, accepting her doomed fate, and decides to play. She slowly crouches and pulls her arms in. She even scrunches her head into her shoulders.
<Pose Tracker> Shiho Kubota [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"Fired?" Shiho abbreviates experimentally.
<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"Rejection," Nori guesses.
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Niramo thinks over it for a few seconds before trying again. "Order?"
<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"F-Ferret?"
Wait how did she get that out of the vein of not doing one's job?
<Pose Tracker> Kyoko and Natsuko [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Kyoko and Natsuko shake their heads, and then the former seems to think for a minute. She resumes that dejected pose, then slowly lowers herself to the floor and picks up an invisible object, holding it with her palm up like a stick or something. Then she pushes on it, over and over, with her thumb.
<Pose Tracker> Shiho Kubota [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"Watching TV! Uh, television!"
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
"... alone."
<Pose Tracker> Kyoko and Natsuko [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Kyoko and Natsuko look at each other and roll their eyes. "UNEMPLOYED," they say in unison. NEXT.
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Mikoto really saved Fumiko. The pizza blob was gone. Now all that was left was merely the stain Fumiko was actually worried about. She sighs, accepting her doomed fate, and decides to play. She slowly crouches and pulls her arms in. She even scrunches her head into her shoulders.
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.
Endo frowns. "I was right!"
He tries Fumiko's: "Ball!"
<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"T-Turtle?"
<Pose Tracker> Shiho Kubota [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"Tiny!"
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Now it's Fumiko's turn to act. With her curling in on herself... "Sad?"
<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Nori Ankou frowns to herself. Does being unemployed make you poop?
She will ask a small mammal later.
"Emu," Nori guesses.
<Pose Tracker> Kyoko and Natsuko [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Kyoko and Natsuko look at each other again. Look at Fumiko, looking so pathetic. "Cure Whack," they say simultaneously, because one said White and the other said Black. Then they glare at each other, but not unsmilingly.
<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"Oh that's a good one!" 'buki remarks to Nori.
<Pose Tracker> Shiho Kubota [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"Why would it be emu?" Shiho whispers.
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Fumiko Inoue looks towards Shiho, but does not acknowledge a win; must not be the right word. She stands up, and seems to salute... but then her hand slowly lowers furhter and further, to the point where she has to crouch to continue.
<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"No wings," Nori tells Shiho. "Well, not really wings."
<Pose Tracker> Iona Hikawa [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Iona's still here! She may still be roaming around in the outskirts of the party, not really chatting with anyone.
She may also be spending a lot more time near the pizza. If worst comes to worse, at least she doesn't have to buy food for tonight's dinner, at least. The ultimate in saving money.
That's where Iona's been and where Iona remains when the game of Charades is suddenly called. She watches the charades ongoing, and eventually she approaches and joins the group as a whole.
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Um...dog?"
<Pose Tracker> Shiho Kubota [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"It's not an animal!"
<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"That just makes me think Emu again..."
The salute that is. Emus have been in wars.
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.
"Food, in a bag, and the air gets vacuumed out." Endo suggests.
<Pose Tracker> Kyoko and Natsuko [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"Fallen," says Kyoko. "Shy?" asks Natsuko.
<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"Gravity?" Nori guesses again.
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"The word was shrink," Fumiko sighs. "Guess drama club didn't help me there."
<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
When her turn comes. 'buki checks the word. Then looks confused.
Putting a finger to her chin, she genuinely seems like she's putting some thought into it.
And then it's like a lightbulb gets lit above her head.
She starts by holding up a single finger to indicate one word.
Getting down on her knees in her tracksuit to make herself smaller, she crawls up to an invisible object. Then makes a motion like she's pulling it open.
Putting her hands in, she pulls out something and makes a shoveling motion towards her mouth while waddling off.
Then standing up, she portrays a visibly cheerful person standing tall, who bends open and mimes bending over and opening something on the same level. She tries to make her eyebrow twitch, her expression darkening.
Back down on her knees, her hands greedily shoveling something into her mouth.
Stands back up. Expression stern. Fingers held out in front of her like curled claws, hands wiggling as she advances.
Then back down on her knees, shielding her face while looking away... visibly horrified.
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Mikoto immediately pipes up with: "Stealing snacks!"
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
It doesn't seem right with what's going on in front of her but...maybe? "Caught?"
<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"Oh! That makes perfect sense," Nori says to Fumiko. "You were getting that across well. This game is hard!"
She contemplates what 'buki is presenting.
"Zombie," Nori guesses.
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Fumiko Inoue scrunches her face, trying to get some clue but failing. "...alien?"
<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
'buki once again holds up a single finger at Mikoto's statement.
Then waves her arm at her like 'keep going'.
<Pose Tracker> Shiho Kubota [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"Angry!"
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Mikoto's head cants all to the side, as she guesses with more nuance: "Thief?"
<Pose Tracker> Kyoko and Natsuko [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"Busted!"
<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"Regret," Nori tries again.
<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
'buki shakes her head at her again, and tries to re-mime the final part of the scene.
This time emphasizing the advance even more.
Looking like she's at a loss, panicked as she looks back and forth.
And then... she reaches behind her. And mimes pulling something out. And holding whatever the object is, jutting it downward again and again.
She's looking real horrified doing so.
<Pose Tracker> Shiho Kubota [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"Punishment!"
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.
Endo considers, asking: "Escape?"
<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
'buki gesticulates wildly at Shiho's word, like that's the right vein of thought.
<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"Tomb-robbing," Nori guesses.
<Pose Tracker> Shiho Kubota [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"Are some of these girls okay?" Shiho whispers to Rina.
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Discipline!"
<Pose Tracker> Iona Hikawa [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Iona considers for a moment, looking down in thought, before saying, "Jail."
<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Looking at Niramo and at a loss. 'Buki tries more downward motions. Up and down - but always emphasizing the down more, like she's wielding something invisible in her hand.
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Mikoto doesn't say what it looks like it is, but she looks deeply concerned.
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Grave-robber?"
<Pose Tracker> Shiho Kubota [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"Revenge," Shiho says dramatically.
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Assault?"
<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Buki finally breaks her silence to say, "That's it!" to Shiho.
And buries her face in her hands afterwards, looking mortified as she retreats back and mumbles... "I can't believe I mimed her murdering him."
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Mikoto forgets her card in favour of going over to Inori and putting a hand on her shoulder. Pat, pat. It's okay.
<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Nori gets up afterwards, even as she clasps her hands. "How horrible... I won't tell the prosecutor, though. Your secret is safe with me, Buki..."
Nori then looks at her card and composes her thoughts for a moment, before stepping forwards in a carefree way into the middle of the impromptu stage. It's a definite model power walk except -
She stops, her left foot dragging. Her head turns. She mimes tugging her foot forwards. Her expression is wrinkled by a frown. She wiggles, wiggles, turns -- and then abruptly drops to her knees! At which point her hands come up as if in astonishment, looking around herself with desperation (and occasionally glancing up.)
<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"There's nothing to tell!" She blurts out Nori's way.
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Mikoto continues going pat-pat-pat as she considers Nori's act.
<Pose Tracker> Kyoko and Natsuko [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"Trapped!" calls Kyoko, making extra effort for her favorite fashion line's model.
Fumiko Inoue says, "Twisted ankle?" Fumiko does not seem to be going for the more gruesome options here."
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Prisoner!"
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.
"Quicksand!"
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Twisted ankle?" Fumiko does not seem to be going for the more gruesome options here.
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
"Tripped," Mikoto guesses, mildly.
<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Nori leans to the side, desperately grabbing forwards as she shakes her head to several people, gives a single upraised finger to Fumiko. She sinks down to her side, one thigh lowered and --
"Quicksand!" Nori says to Endo.
"Have you actually been stuck in quicksand before?" she asks Endo, even as she twists round to hop back up to her feet.
<Pose Tracker> Shiho Kubota [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"Kyouko and Natsuko were really good," Rina is discussing sotto voce.
"We can't use THEM though..." Shiho murmurs.
"Ankou here is awesome of course."
"I liked Yamabuki's."
"R-really? I thought it was uh..."
"Cute though, right?"
"Yeah it was pretty cute."
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.
Endo pumps his fist with enthuasism. "I knew it!"
"I saw it in a movie once." He replies to Nori. "Normally I just get stuck in regular sand."
Endo takes his card when delivered, staring blankly at the word written on it.
"Really?" He asks.
When given confirmation, he lets out a sigh.
His performance begins has he removes some imaginary object from his pocket, holding it aloft. His hands then form into fists, violently scrunching whatever he just took out.
After several seconds he raises one hand, his fingers making a sprinkling motion. Both hands gesture toward the floor that he's just sprinkled upon.
He then walks to the other side of the room, squats down, tucks his hands on his hips and extends his elbows out. He squat-walks awkwardly to the place he just left, then leans over to bob his head down at the floor. Then back up. Then down again. He moves his elbows up and down every now and then.
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Chicken! Easily chicken!"
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
"Pigeon," Mikoto guesses. "Wait, do you get out of the way or are you easy to catch?"
<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"Seeds? Feeding?"
<Pose Tracker> Shiho Kubota [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"Duck! The bird, not the verb."
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.
Endo considers, eventually gesturing toward Inori. He makes the ripping motion again, followed by the sprinkling, and then points to the ground.
<Pose Tracker> Kyoko and Natsuko [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Natsuko hasn't had as much time as Kyoko to look at Endo. She watches him sqaut-walk, then leans over to comment something inaudible in Kyoko's ear. Kyoko nods.
<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"Goose," Nori supposes.
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
"Umm... how birds eat..." Mikoto taps a finger to her chin, frowning, as she tries to think of the word. "Pecking?"
<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Surprised she's on the right track, she adds, "Bread?"
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.
Endo makes some very enthusiastic nods at Buki. Once more the sprinkling is done.
<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"Crumbs!"
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Niramo frowns and rubs the back of her neck for a moment. Looks like her easy guess was completely off. "Crumb-oh, dang it!"
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.
"It's crumbs!" Endo beams. He even hops a little. He's very excited. "Good job!"
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Fumiko slowly turns her head towards Niramo. She waits for a moment to have enough of a humorous delay. "Is it crumbs," she 'guesses' after it is already over.
<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"That was very cute how you illustrated it." 'buki says, complimentary to Endo for his depiction of birds pecking at crumbs.
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"I...I think it is, yes."
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
"Yup!" Mikoto declares, to Fumiko, without a shred of irony.
Mikoto's card is abandoned on a table, but she still remembers what it says. And so she dutifully stands up in front of everyone. And promptly sits down, knees to her chest, compressing and becoming quite small in the process. (Mikoto, who was already remarkably small, has an impressive ability to become smaller.)
She is very, very still, and very, very small.
It may, in fact, be impossible to tell, at first, the way her muscles move by ever-so-slight degrees, in a silent momument to epoch. It's DIFFICULT, too; anyone who has tried to rise from a squat upwards will say just how much of a struggle it is to be in the middle of that pose. The traditional cheat is to do it very fast. Mikoto does it agonisingly slowly, and does not, for the record, look terribly bothered by the effort.
But what could it mean..?!
<Pose Tracker> Shiho Kubota [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"How about Fumiko-chan?" Rina whispers.
"Kept it simple... that can be good. Easy to over-act."
"Hm."
"Naoki's a shoe-in."
"We're committed to diversity."
"Ptthbt. I'd grab him anyway though, he's cool."
"Most of the time..." Rina watches him pretending to eat crumbs as a bird, then claps for him and Buki afterwards.
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Glacier? Rock? Erosion?"
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Oh, seed or seedling!
<Pose Tracker> Kyoko and Natsuko [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
Kyoko and Natsuko clap for Endo, smiling. Then they watch Mikoto and their eyes widen. Clearly they have some appreciation of the difficulty on display.
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Mikoto seems to be moving really slowly... "Hatching?"
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Mikoto, s l o w l y, continues rising up. She does wave a hand at Niramo and Fumiko, though, as if to indicate they're on the right track. Wait, both of them?!
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Wait, both of them?! "Uh...a spring?"
<Pose Tracker> Shiho Kubota [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"Forget the acting, check those hamstrings."
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Fumiko ponders a bit, looking back and forth between Niramo and Mikoto. "Wait... a spring... what about Spring? Or... growth!"
<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"Growth?"
<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"Volcano?" Nori guesses, pursing her lips.
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.
"Hmmm." Endo humms. "Expansion?"
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Mikoto points at 'Buki and Fumiko, lifting a single finger. (And continuing to lift herself. She hasn't had to repeat the motion. It's still the same motion.) One word! That means there's one word, right?
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Growing?" Fumiko hopes she means one word, not one MORE word.
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Rising?"
<Pose Tracker> Iona Hikawa [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
"Born?" Iona conisders.
<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"Uhhh... bloom?"
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Mikoto waves a hand to Iona, now, as if to suggest it's her on the right track.
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Hmm ... Sprout?"
<Pose Tracker> Shiho Kubota [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"It's a living-creature thing then..."
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Sapling?"
<Pose Tracker> Shiho Kubota [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"Growing up, maturing!"
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
U u u u u p, and by this time there's a gap between her knees and her legs, at least; by this point, it's easier. Still terribly slow, though. Why would Mikoto make herself move so slowly? There's got to be an easier way to do this.
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Fumiko sighs. "Aging? Maybe? I don't know."
<Pose Tracker> Shiho Kubota [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"Changing! Changing really slow..."
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Um... evolving?"
<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"Tree?" Nori guesses.
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Mikoto waves to Shiho, with excitement, and when Fumiko declares her word, she straightens up all at once, bouncing on the balls of her feet: "Yup! Evolution!" Mikoto... has never played this game before, she basically thinks Fumiko won. "It's really slow, so you can't see it happen, but I made it faster!"
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Niramo rubs at her forehead, starting to run out of ideas. "...whao. Talk about a difficult one, Mikoto. I don't know if I could have guessed that one."
<Pose Tracker> Shiho Kubota [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"You were very good," Rina says with an elder-sister warmth.
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Fumiko grins widely. "Wow, that was a hard word to do, that's amazing Mikoto! I don't know if I would've figured out a way nearly as good as yours to show 'evolution'!"
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
"I was?" Mikoto asks, all wide-eyed and beaming. "Good!" Mikoto hops back over to go sit down like a normal person; maybe it was a little exerting, even for her. "Fumiko's a real good guesser, too!"
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
It seems like its Niramo's turn, and she has some time to think about how to act out her word. She holds up one finger towards the others to show it's one word before moving to stand in front of everyone.
She leans down slightly to pinch something in front of her and hold it at her waist. The other hand moves closer to her face but also pinches at the end then swings it back and forth at her face. Niramo tilts her head as far back as it can go while still keeping her body straight, then proceeds to strut around the group while still keeping one hand held in front of her and the other back and forth.
<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
When it's answered as evolution. 'buki exclaims. "Oh!" Then repeats, softer, "Oh."
Then she spends the next minute or so giving Mikoto this thoughtful look.
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.
"Saxophone!"
<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"Crane," Nori says.
<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"T-The President of the United States?"
'buki guesses next.
| Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri |
| Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec | Dec |
| 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 |
|Today is Dec 04, 2015, Part 3.
||http://battlefantasia.pinksugarheartattack.net/Holidays_and_Events
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Mikoto's head cants one way, then the other. She makes a thoughtful noise. She supposes: "Elephant?" Where has Mikoto seen an elephant?! Look, she goes to Ohtori.
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Niramo glances at Endo and Nori before turning her back on those two. She then folds both of her hands against her check and dramatically shake her head back and forth, as if dismissive of them.
<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"Peacock?" She guesses next.
<Pose Tracker> Shiho Kubota [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"She's wearing a dress I think," Rina responds to Buki.
"The U.S. President doesn't have to be a man, you know."
"Shiho..."
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
"Ummm... noble lady?" Again: Ohtori.
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Niramo points a finger towards Mikoto and turns her head towards her, as if interested.
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
Mikoto's head cants the other way. "Princess?" She says, except the word she uses is 'hime', because that's the word Mikoto uses for princesses.
<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"Wearing a dress?" 'buki repeats in disbelief, like she can't see it. Then tilts her head like she's trying to...
"Model?"
She gives Nori an apologetic look.
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Ooh ooh, you're... annoying!"
<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"It's OK," Nori says to Ibuki. Her guess: "Geisha."
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Niramo seems to think of this for a moment before drawing closer to Mikoto and points her finger again at Mikoto, then dramatically points a finger at Fumiko, as if she's on the right track.
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
"Ohtori!" Mikoto guesses, triumphantly. Ohtori is a descriptive phrase, to Mikoto.
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Hmm..." Fumiko is on the right track? "Royalty? Snob? Snooty?"
<Pose Tracker> Iona Hikawa [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Iona adds to the pile of noble related words. "Duchess?"
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"You got it! Snooty!" Niramo cheers as Fumiko guesses it right on the money.
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Fumiko had turned her fortunes around! That was two successful guesses, after that not-so-great dancing display! Her grin has a face around it, and she vibrated as if about to explode. "Hahaha, wow! This is so much fun!"
<Pose Tracker> Iona Hikawa [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Iona puts her card on the table, before she walks over to the middle. Her look is completely and utterly neutral. She also, for some reason, distinctly does not look at anyone as she makes her way to the center.
Iona raises one finger.
She stands there for a few moments, before she suddenly looks down at something that's right in front of her, smiling warmly. She keeps this look for a few seconds before she then steps forward and squats down, right where she was looking before. Now she's looking back up and at where Taller Iona was standing before. That's where she stays, unmoving otherwise.
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
This one seems simple enough, but then again, so did several of the others. "Parent?"
<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"Giant!" Nori guesses.
<Pose Tracker> Inori Yamabuki [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"Imouto?"
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
"Satisfactory," Mikoto says, which seems like a remarkably long word considering how she's been talking all night.
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"Hmm.... mother? Daughter? Or father or son or child?" Fumiko couldn't tell gender from charades after all.
<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (12)] has posed.
"Baby?"
<Pose Tracker> Iona Hikawa [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Small Iona points at Niramo with one hand and Buki with another. She doesn't give them the win but says nothing.
Then she springs back up the moment Fumiko says 'daughter'. "Correct!"
<Pose Tracker> Niramo Umokeshi [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
Blinks at just how quick that round went. "Whao, you're really good at this."
<Pose Tracker> Fumiko Inoue [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.
"...huh." Fumiko's smile fades to a neutral expression. "I... wasn't expecting to keep guessing right. I guess I'm pretty lucky? Sorry everyone." Though she did seem slightly upset, she seemed much more confused than anything.
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Minagi [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
"It's good! Fumiko's good at this game!" Mikoto encourages her, sunnily.
<Pose Tracker> Shiho Kubota [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed. <SoundTracker> Irene Cara - Fame (Instrumental) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clmJj6efaAQ
"Woo Fumiko-chan! That was more fun than I expected," Rina says cheerily.
"Right right right?"
"Are you gonna do the--"
"On it already." Shiho stretches her legs and presses the source button on the projector a few times. Being able to make a projector do what you want reliably is serious AV Club energy. From a blank blue, it flickers to a powerpoint presentation. Rina slips away from the group.
Charming
Clever
Creative
"You know," Shiho says in a voice that would be conversational at a lower volume, but seems bold and theatrical when spoken loudly. "We have a lot of talent at these three schools of ours. And a nice chunk of that talent here in this very room. I know this seems like a normal party to you..." She winks at Kyoko and Natsuko.
Rina looks skeptical.
"And it definitely is a party; we're gonna eat more pizza and play more video games. But if you want it to be... if you have the guts and the passion and the free time available after school during club hours, it can be a very particular type of party."
Rina, now near the door, flicks the lightswitch off. Like most classrooms, the front of the room can be darkened independently of the rest, and it is that effect that suddenly seems to brighten the screen and lend its dramatic glow to Shiho Kubota and her Size S Juuban High School uniform. At the same time, Shiho clicks the presentation over one page.
SISTER SCHOOLS
STUDENT-RUN
SCHOOL PLAY
"A launch party," Shiho says, her arms folded smugly. "Ready or not... you've just been Scouted!"
