2023-03-09 - A Chat Under The Stars
| Title: A Chat Under the Stars | |
|---|---|
| Summary: Yumi and Kyouka head out into the wilderness to do some real camping away from civilization. While there they talk on many different things. | |
| Who: | |
| Where: Nishitama Park District (Tama Outer City) | |
| OOC - IC Date: 3/9/2023 - Tuesday, February 23, 2016 | |
.****************************** Tama Outer City *******************************.
*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+* Nishitama Park District +*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*
The largest, but least densely populated area of Tokyo, Nishitama is on the
westernmost border of the great metropolis, where city has become town,
which becomes forest, which finally becomes towering mountain. Consisting
mostly of woods and mountains, Nishitama is home to lush greenery, ample
wildlife, and fresh flowing water that has yet to be tainted by the city
below. Fishing and hiking are popular here, and in good weather,
city-dwellers who long to stretch their legs can camp out in the forest
without ever leaving Tokyo's borders.
The spiritually inclined can find a wealth of opportunity in Nishitama's
mountains. The nearby Mount Mitake has been regarded as sacred since time
beyond memory, and a Shinto shrine at its peak safeguards its considerable
power. Mount Mito was forbidden ground throughout the Sengoku era, a policy
which preserved some ancient beech trees on its hills. Finally, the
2000-meter Mount Kumotori is the tallest in the area, with a clear view of
distant Mount Fuji and much of the region from its summit.
All of this natural beauty is a mere hour and a half from Shinjuku Station
even at the extreme end of the district.
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouka was maybe just a tiny bit surprised--but extremely pleased--when Yumi reached out to her to ask about camping. Kyouka had duly warned Yumi that this would be real camping, and made abundantly clear about the lack of amenities--not to scare Yumi off, but just to make sure she was really prepared for what was to come. And when Yumi said she still wanted to go... Kyouka kicked into full planning mode, providing Yumi with a short list of gear to get--although really it was only clothing, which was the only thing Kyouka didn't really have to lend out. Everything else, Kyouka was able to provide.
There was much discussion of meals, picking of trails, getting Yumi's input on her weight limits, and a thousand other little details to consider, but finally on the appointed day she met with Yumi and they hiked to the spot Kyouka had picked that she judged wouldn't be too difficult to get to. The campsite had been set up, and there'd even been some time to look around before nightfall.
They were in a clearing. The sounds of city life had faded long, long ago, and overhead the night sky was sparkling and bright. The sound of a river babbled quietly off in the distance, and nocturnal birds and insects were starting to wake up and create the soundscape of a forest at night. It was utterly peaceful, and despite not having the same link to nature Yumi did, Kyouka seemed to treat it with a reverence just the same.
The tent was set off to the side, and Kyouka currently had a small camp stove set up to heat up dinner: it was leftover chicken curry from the night before, which meant less food prep and less cookware to bring. She'd elected to forego an actual campfire, mindful of Yumi's health around potential smoke, but there were several battery-powered lanterns handy to provide light for them to work by. (And Kyouka had stressed, several times, the importance of wearing warm enough clothing for the nighttime.)
"So..." starts Kyouka with a small grin as she worked on heating up dinner. "... how you finding the experience, so far?"
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
Yumi was excited about the idea! She wanted to try it, really roughing it a bit... well, insofar as she actually is planning on it. She let Kyouka do the bulk of the planning, since she really doesn't know much about this kind of thing, and so she came out in sturdy clothes for a hike!
Yumi's weight limits are fairly low, but she can carry a few things. That she does! And on the way over, shock of shocks: Yumi was wearing pants.
Also compression socks, just to be safe, but still!
Yumi has had a chance to catch her breath; there was a lot of stopping for breaks on the way over--and now, the night is beautiful...
Yumi smiles up at the sky.
"You really don't get to see it like this from further in the city," she says. "...I know even this is still pretty light polluted. But it's still a huge change."
Dinner was pretty great. She enjoyed it. As for the smoke, she had to use her inhaler at least once, but was otherwise fine.
"It's amazing!" Yumi says.
Tama had insisted on coming along... but she mostly left the girls to their own devices, watching from the shadows, a silent chaperone.
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouka was more than happy to take all the breaks Yumi needed--she'd even accounted for that in her loose itinerary, and might have even rivaled Tama in terms of protectiveness on the hike, at least in terms of insisting Yumi drink lots of water and eat plenty of snacks to keep fueled (both of which was advice she also took for herself.)
Kyouka is just happy that Yumi dressed appropriately for the occasion--she makes no comment about pants versus dresses. (She also tried to make as much info available so Yumi could plan accordingly for her health needs--she wouldn't have thought of compression socks, for instance.)
She's smiling as she looks up to the night sky, and there's a contented sigh as she contemplates it and Yumi's words. "Yeah. I tried to find a spot that would be accessible but cut off as much light pollution as I could... but seeing the night sky like this is one of the things I enjoy most. To just think, no matter where you are, there's a piece of the wider universe that can connect you to generations of people that have come before..."
She lets that thought trail off with a little blush. "Sorry, I get kinda... philosophical when I'm out here in nature like this, but... I'm really glad you're here to share the view with me, Yumi-chan."
Kyouka had offered to try and find something suitable for a cat's diet, but that bringing a whole fish wasn't really viable... but it seems Tama opted to fend for herself, and that was okay, too. She also left Wolfy at home, so mostly it was just the two of them enjoying the night sky together.
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
Since Kyouka had it so well-handled, Tama didn't often feel the need to intervene, save that on those breaks she'd sometimes come close to inspect her charge. As for the socks--well, they're not uncommon for her, but fainting out in the dirt and rocks would be pretty bad. She couldn't fully ensure she wouldn't, but she did her best; didn't stand up too fast, walked carefully, the works.
"...That's really cool," Yumi says of the wider universe, what she had to say. "People who came before... People who come after, too. We're part of something bigger..."
She smiles at Kyouka. "It's not bad," she says.
It's nice.
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouka is extra vigilant--she left her route with her mom, just in case, and made sure cell phones and devices were all fully charged. There's also a first aid kit, and of course, in a pinch... there's Strike Wolf.
Kyouka grins a little wider as Yumi confirms that she likes her musings. "Thanks." And nods in turn. "That's true. Nowadays you can do a lot with a gps device, but... it's cool to know that, if you wanted to, you could look up at the night sky and find your way home." She looks up into the sky. "That light that came from so long ago, can still bring you closer to home..."
After a moment, she adds, "And, ah... I'm really glad you decided to come out here with me. Like, even after I told you how much we'd be roughing it. I really admire your enthusiasm for trying something new like this." There might be a little bit more of a blush on her cheeks as she says that, but that could just be a trick of the lantern light.
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
Yumi is, admittedly, pretty tired--she'll probably fall asleep early. But not yet. Not yet, not until she gets to her absurdly nice sleeping bag that she bought for this exact purpose.
She nods back. "Yes!," she agrees. "Though..." A laugh. "I'm not sure I could. But I guess I don't entirely have to. I can just fly towards the part that's more brightly lit."
"...It's a nice thought, though."
She looks back to Kyouka, and smiles again. "Yeah?" she asks. "...Well, I wanted to try it. i want to try... all kinds of things," she says. "There's so much I still haven't done. But not this, anymore. Now this is something I've tried."
"...And I like it."
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouka is, by contrast, still pretty energized--at least mentally. Physically, she didn't overexert herself, but she did take on quite a bit of the load for her friend's sake.
Kyouka laughs as Yumi brings up flying. "Well, sure, and I could just transform and climb to the highest point with Strike Wolf, but, you know... If we didn't have magic, then... you know, in theory. If we had to. We could navigate using nothing but the stars."
There's just a little bit of melancholy that creeps into her voice as she mentions not having magic, but she doesn't comment further on that, for the moment.
Kyouka nods along, grinning as Yumi explains there's lots of things she wants to try. She's said before how she loves trying new things, so doesn't reiterate that again, but her grin widens as Yumi says she likes it.
"I'm glad! It's nice having a friend to be able to share this with. Anytime you wanna do this again, let me know. Or... you know, if there's anything else new you wanna try, I'll do it with you. I'm still new to Japan, so there's a lot of stuff I haven't done yet."
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
Yumi is appreciative--but she knows she has to rely on people. That she got to come at all is nice... but she'd feel terrible if she thought Kyouka had over exerted for her.
Yumi laughs. "Yeah. I just... love flying," she admits. She pauses, and looks to Kyouka's melancholy. "...Sorry," she says.
Then, they talk about trying things, for now. "It is," YUmi agrees about sharing. "Haha... We'll see how I feel about doing it again in the morning. I'm not sure how well I'm going to take sleeping on the ground like this."
Then, "Yeah, though? ...That'd be nice. There's a lot of things I want to do. Some of them I just... can't, but some of them, like this, maybe I can after all."
"Is there anything you want to try in Japan?"
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouke was more than happy to take some of the extra burden for Yumi and would do it again in a heartbeat. She hasn't made a single grouse or complaint about having to accomodate for Yumi's physical health--she seems eager to do so, in fact, really just wanting to be able to share the experience.
"Yeah, flying isn't something Strike Wolf and I have nailed yet, but... well, maybe I'm just too stuck in my ways thinking about running and parkour, or something." She waves off the apology, "Oh, don't be. I'm not going to begrudge you your magic or anything. 'Sides, I just have... some complicated feelings about that whole situation."
She'd explained, briefly, on the hike up, but then realized taxing Yumi with an in-depth conversation when she was hiking might not be the best idea. And so she'd let that topic sit.
Kyouka grins, "That's what the sleeping pad's for, though. Sleeping bag is for keeping you warm, the pad's for keeping you comfortable. Hopefully it should help." They camp a lot so they have fairly nice camping gear, all in all.
"I bet we can figure out a way to do a lot of things, even if you need an assist..." She sounds pretty confident about that.
"Oh, let's see.." She turns thoughtful as Yumi asks her what she wants to try. "I mean, I hear karaoke bars can be fun? I..." There's definitely a blush as she admits, "... don't know how good my singing voice is in Japanese. Kiiinda don't sing in Japanese a lot, so... But, um... Visiting a hot spring would be cool... I've been meaning to visit a shrine... And, um..." she glances aside a little bit. "... I also kinda wanna see a tea ceremony being performed, at least once."
She looks to Yumi. "What about you? What's on your bucket list?"
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
And Yumi appreciates that she hasn't--she's been looking at Kyouka sometimes when she doesn't think she's looking, to see if it bugs her, and so far... She hasn't seen anything to make her feel bad.
"That would make sense," Yumi says. "I didn't learn to fly until I got my broom," she says. "And I can only fly with it." She pauses, and then looks over at Kyouka thoughtfully. "Yeah," she says. "I would have complicated feelings about it, too. I mean, I grew up with magic; it was always in my life. But if I were in your position, it'd be kind of hard. We can talk about it, if you want."
Then she laughs. "Right. Pad, and bag. Both are important!"
"Hmmm. I'll keep that in mind. There's some things nobody can assist, but... Some things somebody can."
She considers those things. "Oh, all that would be great! Karaoke's not about being good at singing. It's about fun!" Then, "Oh, hot springs are great. Especially for me. The aches just melt away..." Shrines! "I like shrines. I sometimes visit them on witch business," she explains. "Bringing things on holidays, for instance."
"...Tea ceremony can be very beautiful, too. But me?"
"Well, I don't want to get depressing, so... I'll do an easy one."
"I want a girlfriend, or a boyfriend. Either's good with me; I just want to date before I get older and get married, if I..." She shakes her head. "Anyway. I'm totally getting older! I'm doing a lot better lately. But that's a big one. A lot of the things I want to do, I already get to do."
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouka has said before that she's a big believer in hospitality. Apparently she has a rather expansive view on what that means, since it apparently includes 'Going the extra mile (or the extra kilogram, in this case!) so she can share something she enjoys with a friend.
"Yeah, I guess for you, all this stuff with how magic works, keeping it a secret, all that, probably feels pretty natural to you. I'm still... adjusting to having my world view... suddenly expanded, let's say. I mean..." she ponders that for a moment. "... I guess my worldview has always been kind of flexible? Living in a bunch of different places, taking in so many different ideas... I try to roll with whatever I come across. But nothing really prepared me for magic, you know?"
She smiles as Yumi seems to like all of her choices. "Well, as long as I don't have to sound good... and I guess the words are on screen, even if I won't know many of the songs, it could still be fun." She nods, "Yeah! If they're relaxing and help you feel better, that's all the better. Oh yeah? What kind of witch business do you have? Aside from seeing you in action and like... what you see in pop culture, I don't know a lot about, you know, real witches."
"Hey, if you're offering to talk about my complicated feelings around magic and Strike Wolf, the least I can do is hear you out..."
But she listens as Yumi-chan expresses that she wants either a girlfriend or a boyfriend. There is, perhaps, a moment of surprised silence as she says she wants either, but then her expression quickly turns thoughtful as she looks up to the night sky again. "... I've never had a boyfriend, either. Or a girlfriend. Or really gone on a date."
She doesn't press on that trailed off comment about getting married. She can fill in some of those blanks, at least.
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
She has!! Yumi hasn't thought to extend it that far.
"Mm-hm," Yumi answers. "...Yeah. It must be hard to adjust. It's normal for me, but people who aren't familiar with it... it's all this mystery, and anger, and just confusion. I think your flexible worldview helps, though. You're rolling pretty well with it, even if you don't think so."
She smiles back. "Yeah!" Then--witch business... "Well," she says, "We have some mystic holidays and stuff we have to attend to, and we give the shrines the offerings on those days, or take things from the shrine to hand out to certain magical beings--some fairies, and such."
"The stereotypes.. some of them are true. We really do wear the hats. But most of us don't have warty noses, honest."
She laughs a little. "I don't mind about talking about that."
"I've done a little dating, but nothing that... really worked out. And I'm sort of scared to try again, like it might... Well, it might go bad, or it might... harm my friendships, or something."
Yumi doesn't fill in all the blanks--but some. "Do you think you want to?" she wonders, of dating and Kyouka. "...It's fine if you don't, of course. Not everybody has to."
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouka blinks a little when Yumi says she's handling it really well. "I... you really--I mean, okay, you just said that, right. But I'll admit, there's some parts I don't really like, like how it makes normal people forget about it. Kinda... feels like lying, even if it's one of those 'for their own good' type things... and I'll admit, I haven't told my mom about... any of this."
"I just... don't know how to feel if I have to give up Strike Wolf, and then... I don't have magic, but I still know it exists. That feels like... a really weird position to be in, you know?"
"Oh, cool," Kyouka says when Yumi describes witch holidays. "I kind of like learning about that kind of stuff, you know? Like... every place I've been, they have different observances, and they all ahve different meanings to them, and it's all kind of interesting. Think I could see some of those witch holiday things sometime, or is that like, a witches-only thing? It's okay if that's the case."
Kyouka laughs a little about the warty noses. "Or green skin," she points out, with a grin.
"I remember you mentioning how some of those dates went at the arcade... I meant to ask if you ended up doing anything for Valentine's Day..." She nods, "Yeah, I guess if it turns a friendship awkward, that's no good..."
"I--" Kyouka starts to answer that question and then stops, looking confused. "... I don't know. I..." There's a frown as she tries to piece her feelings together. "... kinda told myself that it wasn't... I mean, that it was just awkward, being in a place where I didn't know the language, or the customs, or..." She looks down at the ground. "But... I do still think about it sometimes, so... I guess that's something I wanna try sometime, too."
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"I do!" Yumi says. "You can function about it, day to day, you aren't raging at the heavens or anything... That's 'pretty well' in my view!" Then she nods. "That makes sense," she says. "For us, it's also... It might be dangerous if some people knew about us. For us, or for some of the beings out there who just want to be left alone."
Her mom... "It would be hard to talk about," she sympathizes.
"That's true!" Yumi says. "I haven't traveled around as much as you, but I've vacationed some places. It's always interesting to see." She considers. "I might have one or two I could invite you to. Or show you what we do for it."
She laughs. "No green skin!"
"...I didn't," Yumi sighs, "Though I thought about it. Just the usual courtesy chocolates."
But she waits for Kyouka to figure out her feelings; she's pretty patient about it, since it is a hard question. "...Easier to 'not be able' than to do something scary, huh?" Yumi wonders. "Well, that's OK. Good luck to both of us then! RIght?"
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
"That's true," agrees Kyouka. "I think when I first found out about it it was just... quiet freaking out for a bit until another magical girl heard about me and reached out." She quickly clarifies, "I saved this girl in my class from the mage that had Strike Wolf, and when I went to check on her the next day, I didn't realize she'd forget about magic, I said too much, and that meant there was a rumor circulating for a little bit about 'the weird new girl who believes in magic'. But it got me in contact with some of my first magical girl friends, so... at least there was that."
"... and of course, now I'm stuck as her training partner, and she still doesn't like me, but... it is what it is."
"I guess I hadn't considered the safety angle before, though... if everyone knew we could do magic, they might chase us down to get us to do stuff for them... or... use magic to fight wars and stuff, which would be... pretty bad."
She grins, "I'd love to see them sometime, if it wouldn't be, you know, sacrilegious or anything like that."
Kyouka appreciates the patience. It's hard to unpack these feelings she's had stuck in one place for a long time. "I mean, usually I'm all for doing scary stuff, but... 'dating' isn't exactly a sport or an outdoors activity like that..." She nods, "Yeah. I think this is one thing where I'll take all the luck I can get."
She's quiet for a little while, thinking. "I mean, I guess I... sort of got dating adjacent once? Kind of? Like... There was this girl. Marisela." She says that with an almost perfect Spanish intonation, and a touch of a wistful sigh. "She came up to me once, after I'd scored the winning goal in a football match. She told me she thought I was really cute, and I told her I thought she was cute, too, and then..."
Kyouka is kind of gazing off into the forest, a bit lost in thought as she recounts. "... then she said she thought I was the coolest boy on the field, and then..." And here the barest wisp of a wistful smile turns downward. "I had to tell her I was a girl, and she got... really embarassed, and she apologized, said she wouldn't tell anyone, and..." Her look is very far away now, and her voice is quiet and a bit fragile. "I just laughed it off and told her not to worry, but... I remember feeling really sad for some reason."
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"...Aw, yeah," Yumi says. "Rumors are the worst." A pause. "I'm glad you could make friends, though."
She still doesn't like her. Yumi winces in sympathy. "Ouch."
Safety! "It would," Yumi says. "...And people would always have to live in fear over what 'could' happen."
She smiles. "They're not mostly like, religious or anything. Just magic! So that'd be fine."
"Yeah, it's a different kind of scary, isn't it?" Yumi encourages. "You're not worried about hurting your body so much as your... heart."
But then... Hmmm. Marisela, she says, and Yumi listens. She listens about the football match, and...
Winces again. "Ouch," Yumi says. "That's rough." She would hate to be mistaken for a boy--but she intuits that that's not what bothers Kyouka about it. That fragile voice...
"...I think that makes a lot of sense," she says. "To be sad about it. It's stuck with you, huh?"
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
"Yeah, they are. I mean, I'm kind of used to it? Being the Japanese-American girl who like, never fits in wherever she goes, well... people talk." She shrugs a little. "At least this time there's been some nicer rumors about me, too. Like, I get that cool transfer student mystique, right? So that's nice."
"Yeah, she's... a really good dancer, though. Honestly I kind of have to work hard just to keep up with her, you know?" She smiles a little. "I kind of enjoy the challenge, though." Figures she would, even with a partner that doesn't seem to like her.
"Cool. I look forward to seeing some sometime, then."
Kyouka just sighs and nods as Yumi speaks of hurting one's heart. "Yeah... They're just... so confusing to deal with, sometimes."
"Yeah, it did, and... I dunno why." She looks up to the sky again for a moment, and then keeps talking without looking down again, trying to sort through her starts. "She was a dancer, and a really amazing one, really graceful, and all that. Whenever I'm practicing with Hasegawa-san I keep finding myself wondering what it'd be like if I could dance with Marisela instead." The frown and her tone indicate that she's confused by that thought.
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"That makes sense," Yumi says. "I've always stood out, too. For different reasons, but still. So... I get it." Nicer rumors... Yumi smiles. "Yeah, that's nice."
"You would," Yumi reflects. "You're big on challenges and stuff. Even with someone who doesn't like you you can push yourself like that. It's really cool."
She'll definitely show off some witch stuff.
"They are!" Yumi agrees. "Like, it's hard to know, too... do I like someone? Or do I just like being around them? Are they cute, or am I attracted, or... You know."
But then... Kyouka sorts through her feelings some more. Yumi looks at her quietly, for a few moments.
"..." She isn't sure what to say. She has a guess, as to what that might mean, but...
"Yeah," she settles on. "...Yeah." It feels a little lame, but...
Well, she can at least be here while Kyouka sorts out her feelings, right?
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouka raises her water bottle to Yumi in a half-joking tost. "Here's to two girls who always stick out, then, huh?"
She laughs a little. "Yeah, and, well... I haven't done any real dancing since I was younger, so... I'm playing catchup, too, but... it's kinda nice revisiting something I haven't done for a while."
"Yeah, yeah, all of that. And... add on, 'What are the customs like here, how does someone make the first move, how does someone reciprocate', and all of that nonsense, and... Yeah. It's messy." She sighs. "Guess that's part of why I stopped trying to figure it out."
She's silent for a few moments more, lost in thought as she turns all those feelings over in her head, but slowly shakes herself out of it and looks to Yumi again. But she doesn't seem to be getting anywhere with it. She might need some help.
Eventually she looks down to Yumi again. "... sorry about that. Thanks for listening, Yumi-chan, but... we were talking about the stuff you wanna do. Not really sure if there's anything I can do to help you on the dating front, but if you ever think of anything I can do to help, let me know."
"Is there anything else you've been wanting to try that you haven't gotten to yet?"
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"Haha totally," Yumi says, lifting her own after a moment too. It's a little clumsy but she has the idea right!
"Hmmm. Yeah. Dancing's pretty great," she says. "I'm glad you're getting to do that."
"Ohhhh, yeah," Yumi says. "Well, it's a modern day! Anybody can make the first move! No more staying in the past!"
But fair, on stopping. She's not getting anywhere, though...
"It sounds like," she says, "...You might've really liked Marisela. Or you feel like you could've. Have you felt like that about any other girls, you think?" She's very, very gentle about it. But she's trying.
Then she smiles. "But either way, don't worry about it. You don't have to answer now. Just think about it, OK?" A pause. "But stuff I want to do..."
"...Some of them are things you might think of as kind of silly," she admits. "Since... Before I started doing better, I wasn't sure I'd... make it to all of them," she says, gesturing lamely. "Like graduating. Learning to drive. Stuff like that. Though I'm not as worried about driving since I started taking the bus and the train more... When my driver went around though it always seemed cool and mysterious up there."
Yes, Yumi used to have a driver.
"But... Magically, i'd like to visit a fairy world. And in stuff that isn't magical..." She thinks of which one to say. "...I wanna go to an Olympics," she decides.
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
"Yeah, me, too. It's... well, it's something my mom used to make me do, but now I kinda get to do it on my own terms, you know? So I'm enjoying it a lot more."
Kyouka shakes her head, "I mean, sure, but... ahh... some of the places I've been had some... very narrow ideas about gender roles and all that." She frowns a little. "It's why I always felt like I had to prove myself. Usually with stuff like sports. Football, for instance."
She blinks and looks at Yumi. "Well, yeah I liked her," she says, as if it were obvious. But it'a slso clear she hasn't quite caught on to what Yumi's implying, not quite yet. "She was a great dancer, and graceful, and pretty..." She blinks as she says that last part, frowning as she contemplates something just out of reach. And that follow-up question... "I... think so? It's not... exactly the same for each one, but... Marisela was kind of the first..."
She blinks a moment as if something is catching up to her. "... Did I just say pretty?"
"Hey, I don't think those are silly at all. I mean, graduating? I've never been in a real school before now, remember? We've never really owned a car so driving's never really been on the table for me. It's not silly to want to make sure you don't miss out on stuff like that. I... well, kind of had to beg to get my parents to let me enroll in a regular school, so... yeah, I get it." She sounds both serious, gentle, and firm as she insists, "You shouldn't ever feel silly for wanting to not miss out on even stuff like that."
But then she grins, "Ohh, yeah, that'd be awesome. Ever since finding out there are other worlds, I've kind of wanted to see them. If you ever find a way to go, or plan to visit, let me know. I'll wanna come with." She grins and nods. "Hey, that sounds cool, too. A combination of two of my favorite things, sports and international travel."
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"Sure," Yumi says, of Kyouka doing it on her own terms. But then... she considers. Pretty narrow ideas... "I see." Yumi makes a sort of frown, sympathetic. "That always sucks. I mean, I lean pretty hard on 'girl' but... I dunno, maybe I'd try for more masculine ideas if I could. You never know, right? Probably not, I like how I am, but... it'd be cool to ahve the option."
But Yumi is listening carefully, now. Kyou sure doesn't get it... until she says 'Did I just say pretty?'
"Yeah," Yumi says. "You did." She smiles, encouragingly.
But... "Hmmm, yeah. You haven't. Well," she says, "I appreciate it. ...I do sometimes, but.. It's important. My health used to be a lot worse. I didn't know if I'd make it that far."
Seeing other worlds...! "Yess," Yumi answers. "I'll tell you when I figure it out. We can't exactly make it to Midchilda, with the dimensional interference, but--other places!"
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouka shrugs a little, "Yeah, it did, but... I mean, I was always the outsider anyway, so conforming just meant I'd have to relearn everything when we eventually moved, and it just seemed... easier to do my own thing my own way, you know?" Yumi leans pretty hard on 'girl', though... "Yeah, I guess I just... missed out learning on all of the girly stuff sice I was always outside doing parkour, or playing sports, or camping... It..." She glances away a bit, "... seems like a lot to try and pick up now, though..."
Kyouka is silent for a really, really long time after Yumi confirms that she did, in fact, say 'Pretty.' She's staring up at the stars, seemingly lost in thought.
Finally, she looks down to Yumi again, still contemplative. "Okay, so... Okay." She hesitates, a bit unsure of how to start. "I... might've... had a crush on Marisela?" she eventually ventures. "That... might explain a few things."
Kyouka nods solemnly as Yumi describes how her health used to be much worse. "And now we're out here roughing it together," she says with a small smile, as a form of encouragement. "But if you ever wanna talk about... any of that stuff, like your health, I'm willing to listen."
She didn't begrudge Yumi her gallows humor at the hospital, so she probably means that.
But other worlds... "Yeah, I think... Fate might have mentioned something about that at some point? But hey, even if it's not Midchilda, other worlds would still be cool to visit."
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"That does make sense. It seems a little lonely," Yumi admits. She considers, though. "Hmmm. If you wanted to pick it up, I could show you some things. It only seems overwhelming because you don't know where to start. Like, I didn't know as much about makeup when I was younger at all."
Yumi rests in silence when Kyouka figures things out. She's willing to wait. So eventually...
"Sounds like you did," Yumi agrees. "And that's cool. It would explain some stuff, from what you said. Why she made such an impression on you..." She smiles. "Just think about it at your own pace. Maybe you did. You can decide what it means."
"Now we're out here roughing it!" Yumi agrees. "...I'll keep that in mind, though. Sometimes I do need to talk about it. I still have bad days, sometimes. I just... am doing better, overall."
Yumi remembers that.
"Right! And some of the fairy worlds are probably super cute."
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
Kyouka shrugs, "I mean... In some ways, kinda... but... I dunno. I guess I also got kinda good at just... being me, but also taking people on their own terms, too? But, you know, if nothing else there was always Wolfy and my mom and dad. And my dad's military buddies."
"That... makes sense," she says of why it seems so overwhelming. "I... might take you up on that sometime. You know, just to see. No promises on if I stick with it or anything."
"Yeah, I... have a lot of thinking to do, I think." Kyouka looks like she's still a bit lost in comtemplation. "... Because if that was a crush, then... she wasn't the only one. I think she was the first, though."
Kyouka nods firmly. "Everything gets a little easier when you have people to lean on, and I like to think I'm pretty sturdy, so... lean away, if you ever need it," she says with a small grin.
"I bet! I've got a friend who has a fairy partner, and he's pretty cute... Even rode around on Wolfy once, which I have to admit was pretty dang adorable."
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"Being you is important," Yumi answers. "And I like the way you can do that. It's a skill not everybody has, taking people as they are. ...But that's nice. Your parents' friends..." Yumi trails off, thinking of that. She never talked much with her mother's friends. ...She has friends, right? Of course she does. That's just not their relationship.
"No problem," Yumi says. "If you decide you don't like it, at least you decided, right?"
A lot of thinking to do... "Might be," Yumi says. "Well, I'm up to talk about it if you are. Just let me know sometime, okay?"
Everything. "...Haha. You do seem pretty sturdy. I'll remember." Then a a beat, "Oh wow, he rode Wolfy??? I wish you'd gotten a picture!" A laugh. "I could never get Tama to do something like that."
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
"Thanks. Yeah, I mean... I guess moving around so much, you can either take an interest in all the places and people you find, or get mopey, and... well, okay, I can definitely get moody about some stuff--" She can't really pretend the whole rant session after they picked a dress didn't happen "--but being interested seemed more fun, you know?"
"That's true," she says thoughtfully. "Not... really fair for me to not be willing to at least try it before deciding I don't like it... right?" She seems like she's trying to convince herself with that line.
A beat. "Yeah, thanks, Yumi-chan. After I sort some of this out I think I'll definitely wanna talk about this some more, sometime..." She's still looking a bit off into the distance, but... she does look to Yumi for a moment, but then quickly looks away again.
"I guess if I'm trying to figure out if I like girls or whatever, it... wouldn't hurt to look at all the makeup and girly stuff, too, just... you know, just to see. I, um... feel like it'd be pretty safe to try that out with you."
Kyouka snaps her fingers. "Dang! I wish I'd thought of that! I was a bit distracted talking to my friend so I didn't think of it."
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"Who can't get moody?" Yumi asks, and smiles at her. "We all do. It's fine!" Interested is good, though. But hmmmm. She thinks about it...
"Well," Yumi says, "It can go either way. You don't always have to try something to know you won't like it. I can look at something and know I don't like it, right?"
But she smiles back. "OK." She looks at her, but--ah.
"...Hmmm. Well, what if you don't like it on you, but you like it on them?" Yumi wonders. "So how about I show you how I do it, and if you want to try, I'll show you how." She nods. "That'd be fine either way. Just do what you're comfortable with, OK?"
Then she laughs a little. "It's fine. Maybe next time. You gotta do things in the moment, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
You don't have to try something to know you won't like it. "I mean, that's fair, but..." She rubs at the back of her neck a little, quietly admitting, "I have wondered if there's something I'm missing out on, you know? It's... been a few years since my mom tried to force me into all that stuff, so... well, like I said before, doing things on my own terms, you know?"
Kyouka nods. "Right, that sounds good, I think. I guess since I showed you camping, you can show me makeup?" she says with a small chuckle.
She stands up and stretches her legs a little. "So, wanna have some smores? It's tradition to do this over a campfire, and next time we can definitely make one--but they'll work just was well on the camp stove." The camp stove has a bottle of some kind attached to provide fuel, and seems to burn pretty cleanly, to boot. But it still makes a pretty decent flame.
Kyouka goes over to her pack and starts rummaging around in it for the smores fixings.
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
"Then I'll be happy to show you," she answers Kyouka. "And you'll find out what you missed! There was no special meeting while you were out or anything. I learned mostly from other girls in the dorms. Some from Mother. But she didn't really waste her time on 'frivolous' things..."
Doing things on her own terms. It's definitely an approach.
"Ooh," Yumi says. "Chocolate and marshmallow sound great. ...Camp stove sounds good to me!"
She peers over to see what Kyouka's doing. Maybe some food is about ideal right now anyway...
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
"Thanks, I appreciate it." Then Kyouka laughs a little. "Oh, good. Then I don't ahve to ask for the minutes from the last meeting or anything, I guess." She nods, "I guess that makes sense the other girls could show you. I've had a lot of friendships but not really... those kinds, I guess?" She doesn't seem broken up about that thought, it just never happened that way. "'Frivolous', huh? I guess that's... a way to look at it."
"Hm. So, you're at the dorms, but... where are you from, exactly? Tokyo, or... somewhere else?"
Kyouka pulls out... a box of graham crackers, a bag of marshmallows, and a couple of chocolate bars. "Don't forget the graham crackers. Gonna be awfully hard to hold it, otherwise."
The camp stove actually folds up to be compact for travel. Kyouka gets the flame going again, breaks a graham cracker in half, pputs a piece of chocolate on one, and then spears a marshmallow tih a fork. She offers the fork to Yumi. "Wanna toast it?"
<Pose Tracker> Yumi Ohzora [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.
Yumi laughs, too. "Having roommates in the dorms helped." She nods along. She doesn't comment any more on frivolity; instead...
"I'm from Tokyo," she says. "Our estate's here. But Mother thought it was better if I lived in the dorms, got to know and socialize with people outside, from about middle school on. I was going to Infinity before that, but not living there."
Graham crackers...
"True, it would be. But yeah! Let's do it!" She takes the stick, and puts it over the flame, eyes sparkling.
<Pose Tracker> Kyouka Okazaki [Juuban Public School (10)] has posed.
"I did think about attending Infinity when I was looking at schools..." says Kyouka quietly. It sounds half conversational, half musing. "... Anyway, that's cool. Sounds like she wanted to make sure you weren't too sheltered or anything."
Though she does still remember the bit about the price tag from the last shopping trip... but at least she seems good with people, if not finances. That counts for a lot!
Kyouka grins at Yumi's enthusiasm for making s'mores, finding it hard to look away from those sparkling eyes as she starts prepping her own s'more next.
"So what you should do, is to make sure you turn it nice and slowly, to heat it evenly on all sides..."
And she continues like that, turning to lighter topics as they make smores and converse under the starlit sky.
