<@Ciara> [Date: Evening of Thursday, April 29, 2004.]
<@Ciara> [Haruko's parents have been curious about this Hibiki boy that she's 
been going out with, or at least her mom is.  So Seiya asked Haruko to bring 
him by for dinner.  There's been some schedule-juggling to make it work, but 
finally the night has arrived!]
<@Ciara> [Haruko has actually gone over a bit earlier to spend some time with 
her parents before Ken arrives.]
<@Ciara> [The table is set with the nice dishes.  Seiya is darting in and out 
of the kitchen, checking on the food.]
<@Ciara> [Yuudai is in the living room, with his pipe and maybe also the 
newspaper.]
<@Ciara> [What does a Haruko do?   What is she wearing?]
<@Ciara> [Session Start!]
* @Haruko is helping with table arrangements and mostly trying to stay out 
from underfoot of her mother.
<@Ardweden> [Haruko's father is dressed in nice, dark gray pants, a pressed, 
button-down long sleeve shirt, and suspenders (one presumes to hold up the 
pants). His feet are in slippers. And he is, in fact, smoking his pipe and 
reading the paper, reading glasses on, from the living room, which is where 
the front door enters into.]
* @Haruko is wearing a long turquiose dress, shoulders covered, and an evenly 
cut neckline with white lace. She'd been going back and forth about whether 
to wear a kimono, even packing a fairly simple one, before deciding it was a 
bit much. She wears bangles and earings that match the outfit, and took some 
care with hair and makeup earlier this evening, the with her long tresses 
loosely braided to evoke small overlapping waves lapping at the shore.
<@Ciara> [Seiya has a very simple but tasteful white blouse, a dark blue 
skirt, and a cream-colored apron over them.  (The apron has a few sauce 
stains on it; there's a reason why she's wearing it.)  Her hair is pulled 
back into a bun, and she has small diamond and white gold stud earrings, plus 
her wedding ring, a simple white gold band.]
* @Haruko's bangles and earrings are fairly simple pieces. Colored stones in 
simple settings. She's done the beeding work herself on the bangles, which 
was mostly an afternoon of picking out beads and then ordering them.
<@Haruko> This all smells so good Mom. You've outdone yourself.
<@Ciara> [Seiya has been preparing a grilled, lightly sauced beef dish with 
high-quality beef, along with sides of grilled vegetables, soup, and rice.  
"Thank you, dear," she replies.]
* @Haruko finishes her place setting and surveys the table, stepping back 
slightly into a corner to be sure not to limit Seiya's room to maneuver. 
"Anything important in the news, father?"
<@Ardweden> [Yuudai grunts and removes his pipe. "A professor was arrested 
for looking up a schoolgirl's skirt. Shameful... Yamagata gave a speech 
calling for action, but they're words. We'll see if they do something."]
* @Haruko frowns, sharply.
<@Haruko> I suppose an arrest is something. More than they may have done a 
few years back.
<@Ardweden> [Haruko's father hrms in agreement and folds the paper, looking 
at another section of the page with his pipe now in his mouth.]
* @Haruko grumpily turns her attention back to admiring the food.
<@Ciara> [Seiya continues her work in the kitchen, though she seems to be 
mostly finished and is making sure things stay warm and don't dry out.]
<@Ciara> [There is a knock at the door!  A loud one!]
* @Haruko heads to the door and after glancing out the peep hole, opens it 
with a smile.
<@Ardweden> [Ken is on the other side! He's dressed pretty smartly in a dark 
blue suit, with a white shirt and tie. (Haruko's seen this one before; it may 
be the only suit Ken owns.) His shoes are newly polished, and his hair's 
combed neatly except for a few strands that stubbornly sticks up. When Haruko 
peeked through the peephole, he was shifting around uncomfortably, but now 
that the door's open he 
<@Ardweden> stands up straight, "Kinsha! You, look, uh." Pause. "You look 
nice." He has half a dozen yellow and orange tulips in his other hand, which 
he thrusts out to her.]
* @Haruko accepts the flowers, admiring them with a smile. "You shouldn't 
have, but thank you. And welcome to our humble home." She steps back to allow 
him to enter.
<@Ardweden> ["You're welcome," Ken says, wiping that hand on his jacket as he 
steps in. Yuudai's since stood, pipe in hand, and Ken stops, looking at 
Haruko's father, who gazes back steadily.]
* @Haruko then introduces her parents as they shift their attention. "Father, 
I'm pleased to introduce Hibiki Ken, who in addition to being a star on the 
field, has been a bit of an inspiration in getting back into dancing shape." 
She turns to Hibiki.
<@Ciara> [Seiya has finished transferring the food to serving dishes, and 
hangs her apron on a hook in the kitchen, entering the living room for 
introductions.]
<@Ardweden> [Yuudai hrms and bows. "Welcome to our household," he intones 
formally. Ken blinks, then bows back, and says something about apologizing 
for intruding. Because that's what you do. Yuudai seems to think this is 
sufficient, and he sits back down to open his paper again - but he doesn't 
put his reading glasses back on.]
<@Ardweden> [Ken kind of... stands there, looking around.]
* @Haruko shows the flowers to Seiya, "I'll go find a vase for these, but 
first..." She gestures to her mother, "My mother Kinsha Seiya, our chef for 
tonight, no credit to me. And you've now met Kinsha Yuudai, though you may 
have seen him once in the distance at the shrine. But it's hard to meet 
people during festivals."
<@Ciara> [Seiya bows politely.  "It's such a pleasure to meet you," she says 
warmly.]
* @Haruko steps away for a moment to find a vase and fill it with enough 
water to suit the flowers.
* @Haruko is certainly eavesdropping while doing so.
<@Ardweden> [Ken bows to Seiya! "Nice to meet you," he manages. He hasn't 
quite cracked a smile yet. But he does realize that he should remove his 
shoes! So he goes about doing that, replacing them with slippers.]
<@Ciara> [Seiya smiles. "If you'll excuse me for a moment, I'm going to put 
the finishing touches on dinner."  She heads back to the kitchen to do so!]
* @Haruko finds a nice spot on the window sill to place the vase and returns. 
"How are your new classes?"
* @Haruko watches Hibiki without staring as she waits for a response, trying 
to get a read as to how he's taking it all in.
<@Ardweden> ["Good!" Ken says a little too quickly. And then he revises to a 
much more normal, "Okay." He finishes putting on the second slipper and 
stands. "My math teacher's kinda lame, but it doesn't look that bad."]
* @Haruko nods. "Yeah, a good math teacher is still tough but really pushes 
you along. A bad one just makes the textbook more boring."
<@Ardweden> ["I *hate* textbooks." Ken's sounding more normal by the moment. 
"I just wanna do stuff with my hands, you know?" Haruko can feel her father's 
eyes on both of them.]
* @Haruko nods, "There's a lot of different ways to learn. Sometimes see 
where things apply in practice work best, it's no less work but for some 
people a better fit." She then gently takes one of Hibiki's hands and leads 
him to the dining room, "And it's quiet in their, which means we should not 
neglect our meal."
<@Ciara> [Seiya has just finished laying everything out.  There's a portion 
of beef and vegetables at each plate, a small bowl of rice, and a bowl of 
soup, plus glasses of water and cups of tea.]
<@Ciara> [There are no cups for sake, possibly to Haruko's dismay.]
* @Haruko is dating an underaged man, so she can hardly complain.
<@Ardweden> [Ken is led, easily at first but eventually he's really walking 
under his own power thank you very much. "Wow," Ken says upon seeing the 
spread. "This, uh, this looks really good. Mrs. Kinsha."]
<@Ardweden> ["Yes," says Haruko's father from behind them, "You've really 
outdone yourself this time, Seiya." Ken jumps slightly at that; Haruko can 
feel it in the hand she's holding.]
* @Haruko indicates the guest chair squeezing his hand lightly before letting 
go.
<@Ciara> ["Thank you both," Seiya says, motioning for them all to sit.]
* @Haruko takes a seat with a smile, "I'll have to take care in telling Maki, 
lest she be jealous that I've been to such a feast without inviting her."
<@Ciara> [Back in her room at the group house, Maki sneezes.]
<@Ardweden> [Ken sits down where instructed and lets out a huge breath. 
"Uh... tell her. Other mechanic girl can deal." Yuudai sits at his usual 
place.]
* @Haruko laughs. "Other engineer lady please, we're rising socially and 
professionally, I'll have you know."
<@Ardweden> [Ken rolls his eyes. "Fine, Kinsha. Other engineer lady."]
<@Ardweden> [Yuudai exchanges a look with his wife.]
* @Haruko will let those looks go for now and see how this plays out. She 
looks to Yuudai before touching her food or drink.
<@Ciara> [Seiya returns his look with an almost imperceptible shrug before 
adding "It's good to give us engineer ladies respect."  Her smile has 
returned.]
<@Ardweden> ["Mm," Yuudai hums in what Haruko knows is agreement. He picks up 
his chopsticks. "Itadakimasu."]
* @Haruko does as well, cheerfully echoing her father.
<@Ardweden> [Ken stumbles along vocally.]
* @Haruko starts by sampling a bit of the vegetables, making a please mmm... 
"So how has work been, Mom?"
<@Ciara> [Seiya waves her chopsticks slightly as she talks.  "Oh, quite busy.  
There's been a few orders lately for some very specific parts that we've had 
to assemble by hand.  Also an independent filming company that needs some 
lighting and electronics work done."]
* @Haruko glances over to Ken. "Hibiki was speaking earlier about enjoy some 
of that sort of assembly work. He's one of the more relilable members of the 
auto club for that sort of thing, even mechanic guys often poop out after 
several minutes with their arms above their heads."
<@Ardweden> [Ken laughs, suddenly and around a slice of beef. He finishes 
chewing and swallows. "They're just wimps. It's pretty easy stuff."]
<@Ciara> [Seiya nods.  "I tend to work more on precision tasks than 
strength."]
<@Ardweden> ["That's cool, Mrs. Kinsha," Ken says. He picks up some 
vegetables with the beef. "How does it work?"]
<@Ardweden> [Yuudai watches quietly.]
* @Haruko actually listens a bit too, working to draw out Hibiki some when 
the conversation falters but let him take the lead until Yuudai wants to take 
a more direct role.
<@Ciara> [Seiya talks a bit about some of her tools and techniques.  It's 
reasonably interesting if you're into mechanics and electronics.]
<@Ardweden> [Ken keeps up reasonably well, only stumbling a few times when he 
doesn't know a term or another. He doesn't want to admit he doesn't, though, 
so unless Haruko helps that's going to be trouble.]
* @Haruko hmms, and then jumps in to offer a word here and there, with a 
natural redirect when neeeded. "Yes, she's a wonder finding fault wiring with 
her multimeter." She pauses a moment, hmming, "Hibiki, I would actually be 
quite grateful if you could come over and help me set up my test basin in the 
craft room. Getting the wiring setup without spilling anything is probably a 
two person job."
<@Ardweden> ["Huh?" Ken focuses on Haruko. "Sure."]
<@Ciara> [Seiya offers a bit of setup advice but seems content to take a 
smaller part in the conversation for now.]
* @Haruko notices the focus and gratefully makes note of the advice, "I do 
hope it's not vainity to want my own setup, it'll probably take a fair amount 
of work to maintain."
* @Haruko frowns, "Mechanical engineering isn't just getting my hands dirty, 
or wet I suppose, but I feel like you're a good example in football and 
dance. A lot of getting better at a thing is just to make sure I'm doing it, 
when I'm not reading about it or thinking about it.
* @Haruko finishes off her soup, waiting for a reaction.
<@Ardweden> [Ken blinks, and he blushes slightly. "I, uh." He shifts, a 
little awkwardly. "Yeah." And he stuffs some beef in his mouth.]
* @Haruko takes a bit of beef, savoring it appreciatively. "I do sometimes 
wonder what exactly you see in me. I'm not one of the best engineering 
students at Tokyo Tech, despite my ambitions. If I'm going to excel, even in 
my niche, I'll probably be too often buried in my work and too greedy for 
assistance when the physical setups get challenging."
<@Ciara> [Seiya does look troubled, just for a moment, at Haruko's first 
sentence.]
<@Ardweden> [Ken freezes at the first sentence, and when Haruko continues 
down her line of questioning, he practically chokes on his beef, coughing 
violently while reaching for his tea.]
* @Haruko blushes, "Sorry, I got a little meglomaniacal there."
<@Ardweden> [Ken gets his coughing under control and finally asks, "Why are 
you asking what I see in you? Now, in front of *them*?" He points at the 
parents. Yuudai narrows his eyes, slightly. "What are you getting at, 
Kinsha?"]
* @Haruko freezes for a moment.
<@Ardweden> ["Isn't it obvious?" Ken continues. "Didn't you see *enough*? I'm 
*here*, right? I'm meeting your parents and it's the FIRST TIME I've ever 
DONE anything like this and now what? You're pressing for more because I'll 
say anything you want?" Ken throws down his chopsticks and stands, knocking 
over his chair in the process; he doesn't seem to care.]
<@Ardweden> ["Young man!" Yuudai barks, but Ken doesn't seem to care about 
that, either, as he's already turning and going for the door.]
<@Ciara> [Seiya just seems to be frozen in shock.]
* @Haruko closes her eyes, "Hibiki, please stay. I'm bad at this, I'm so glad 
you came, and I'm pressing because I'm trying to figure out the best thing we 
can be together and what I can give you in return. That's what I'm asking in 
a foolish roundabout way."
<@Ardweden> [Ken stops in his tracks and turns to look at Haruko - only 
Haruko, the parents forgotten (at least for right now). His hands clench and 
unclench, then clench again. "Then why are you asking me like that in front 
of them? What kinda game are you playing?"]
<@Haruko> Because when two ambitious people, each with their own dreams and 
pursuits on seperate tracks, date, we have to make the best of all the time 
we have. Father, mother, my apologies, I've been trying to make up for lost 
time and I've put all three of you in an awkward position as a result.
<@Ardweden> [Ken snorts. "Whatever, Kinsha. The time thing felt awfully one 
way anyway." He looks away, out the window and into the quiet, deserted 
street. "I'm just gonna go."]
<@Ciara> [Wait, when did the lights go out?]
<@Ciara> [And where did Yuudai and Seiya go?]
<@Ciara> [Might have been right as Haruko was finishing her last sentence...]
* @Haruko glances back and forth rapidly taking in the change, bizarrely 
relieved that her parents have vanished. She takes a breath. "May I walk with 
you?"
<@Ardweden> [Ken shrugs. He yanks on his other shoe and goes for the door.]
* @Haruko hurriedly puts on her shoes crushing the heels. "I didn't know what 
would happen tonight, but I am proud to bring you before my parents. Proud of 
you. I wanted them to see that."
<@Ardweden> [Ken frowns as he opens the door and leaves. He doesn't slam it, 
at least?]
* @Haruko slips outside after him. She flicks the door knob lock closed out 
of habit. "I was wrong, impatient, foolish to talk about the terms of our 
relationship in front of others, let alone my parents. You shamed me, but 
your words were just."
<@Ardweden> ["God," Ken says, only making it to the end of the walkway before 
throwing his hands up and turning to look at Haruko, maybe in spite of 
himself. "*Normal Japanese*, Kinsha. I think I liked you better when you 
thought I was some sort of lame bully."]
* @Haruko laughs a little manically. "Figures. The great thing about you is I 
don't need to put on an act. Messed that up too."
<@Ardweden> ["If you don't gotta put on an act, then why did you?"]
<@Haruko> Because I'm kind of a neglectful, high maintenance jerk sometimes. 
Because I'm afraid that means I'm going to lose you...
<@Ardweden> [Ken makes a small growling noise and shakes his head, rapidly. 
"You still make no sense," he mutters, before starting off down the road.]
* @Haruko stomps her foot and then hurries after. "Also I talk to much. Your 
turn."
<@Ardweden> ["What's there to talk about?" Ken asks as they pass a dead 
street light. "Looks like I'm already breaking up with you."]
* @Haruko puts her hand on Hibiki's shoulder, testing if he'll shake it off.
<@Ardweden> [Oh, he shakes it off. But he does stop and look at her.]
* @Haruko glares at him for a moment, biting her lip.
<@Haruko> Talk. I'm worth it. If you don't want me when we're done, then 
break up.
<@Ardweden> [Ken narrows his eyes slightly, then sighs and looks away. 
"Fine."]
<@Ardweden> ["What do you want to talk about?"]
* @Haruko lets out a breath. "I feel like I'm in your debt. Do you feel that 
too?"
<@Ardweden> [Ken looks at Haruko again and frowns. "What do you mean, Kinsha? 
I don't *owe* you anything."]
* @Haruko shakes her head. "I mean twice I let you down when you were trying 
to get ahold of me or we had a date. But then when I try to do something 
that's like a big couple thing, I feel like I'm imposing on you too."
<@Haruko> So I feel like I'm in your debt, and I wonder if that's just in my 
head.
<@Ardweden> [Ken scowls at that. "Kinsha, I..." He shakes his head. "Look. I 
know I'm not smart. I know you're not dating me for my brain." He folds his 
arms, looking down at her. "But I'm not stupid, either. I *know* you spend 
more time with other guys. Or talking to other guys. Sorata. Watanabe. You go 
to them for your problems, not me. And it's not like I'm not there for you. 
I'm trying to be there for you! I just... have no idea what you want, how to 
get you to want to do that, or... we find time, but it's like a chore. A 
*schedule*. I think maybe we found more time when we were just flirting."]
* @Haruko listens and nods. "Well, that's mostly that my lame high school 
friends are caught up in an arcane mystical tarot conspiracy that you have 
somehow managed to keep your distance from. And I'm afraid that if I pull you 
in, I'll get you hurt. It wouldn't be the first time."
* @Haruko, as she says this, draws the puddles towards herself on the ground. 
Nothing showy yet, just setup.
<@Ardweden> [Ken doesn't seem to notice, at least yet. "Yeah, you're still no 
good at speaking plain Japanese, Kinsha. I don't know why you gotta keep 
doing that."]
* @Haruko draws the water up, creating a glimmering scarf, floating about an 
inch away from her skin starting at each bangle, running up her arms and over 
her shoulders. "I. Am. Magic. But. Dangerous."
<@Ardweden> [Ken practically jumps back. "Holy shit!"]
* @Haruko nods, staring at him. "Yup, I'm basically a water spirit." She 
laughs, "Also, earlier tonight, you made my parents disappear and the lights 
go out."
<@Ardweden> [Ken's eyes are Wide. As. Hell. "A WATER SPIRIT?!"]
* @Haruko grins, somewhat ferally, "Yeah, but here's the thing. You're magic 
too. I'll skip the tarot babble but, again, you got angry and suddenly 
everyone not like us vanished! That didn't strike you as a little weird? 
Betcha that wasn't the first time either."
<@Ardweden> ["What- no. Nooooo no no, no fucking way. No FUCKING WAY! GET 
AWAY FROM ME!" Ken stumbles backwards, actually stumbling into the street 
lamp and slamming his elbow into it. There's an almost musical clang - not 
like bone and flesh on metal, more like a rock slamming against it, and he 
bounces off, bolting.]
* @Haruko looks at Hibiki running off and takes a step or two after him 
before realizing that he's way faster than she is. Fortunately, Haruko likes 
text books and does a quick math puzzle in her head.  Afterwards she turns to 
run back to the house, start her motorcycle that works in fields, and pursue 
him.
* @Haruko kicks off her shoes after running a few steps, awkwardly. She's not 
exactly sure how the field mechanics work and hopes that they'll be there 
later.
* @Haruko does put on her helmet, hitches up her skirt, and goes for it. The 
streets are dark and there's cars to navigate around in the middle of the 
street. But this isn't her first time on alternate Tokyo streets.
<@Ardweden> [It takes a little searching, but Haruko eventually does find 
Ken, jogging quickly in the direction of a subway stop not too far away, his 
tie undone and flapping about has he runs. The lights are still out.]
* @Haruko eyes the road and sets a parallel course, she raises her helmet 
visor, shifts her bike into neutral to lessen the noise, losing a little 
momentum as she over takes him, she calls out. "Running away from facts is 
lame, Hibiki!"
<@Ardweden> [Ken hears the motorcycle, and he seems to realize that he can't 
quite get away like this, so he stops and turns. "Damnit, WHAT DO YOU WANT."]
<@Ardweden> [He squints at the motorcycle.]
* @Haruko pulls up even, still keeping parallel, her breath fast and eyes 
wild. "I want to you to accept what we both are and then to drag you down to 
a subway maintenance closet and have a good time without having to worry 
about hiding my powers for once."
<@Ardweden> ["Shit, no, I don't wanna go into some sort of underwater 
portal!" Ken backs away from Haruko. Again. And looks for escape routes 
motorcycles can't follow.]
* @Haruko pulls back slightly, that hurt, her eyes do well up. "You've known 
me for years now Hibiki. Do you really think I'm a monster?"
<@Ardweden> ["You said you're a WATER WITCH. I've known you for years, 
Kinsha, this is fucked up!"]
<@Haruko> High school was nightmare. People disappeared. Crazy statues 
appeared in the streets. My friends were kidnapped, I was too. That's the 
fucked up part. The powers meant I had a chance to try to help people.
<@Ardweden> [Ken clenches his jaw, then works it. "So, what, you're not 
human? Some kind of guardian spirit?"]
<@Haruko> You've met my parents Hibiki. I was born the usual way.
<@Ardweden> [Ken shakes his head.]
<@Haruko> I don't know what we really are, where we fit in. But you're one 
too.
<@Haruko> I just know that we're called Arcana and we have a tarot card that 
kind of sort of describes us.
<@Ardweden> [Ken frowns. "That... what?"]
<@Haruko> You know that card drawing thing we made you do back then?
<@Ardweden> ["Not really. It was probably..." Ken trails off.]
* @Haruko nods and continues. "It was a while ago. There's five suits. I'm 
the Queen of Cups. Water, empathy, maternal." She holds up a hand, "Not 
perfectly accurate. You're the Four of Pentacles." She pops open her trunk 
and digs out her deck. "I can show you if you like. If we go back and forth, 
we always draw the same card."
<@Ardweden> [Ken frowns, but he seems a bit calmer now. A bit. "What, like 
some kinda... like a magic trick?"]
* @Haruko nods. "Yeah. Like in fortune telling, the card you draw is supposed 
to tell you about who you are. Except for us, when we've shuffled the deck 
and another one of us is holding it, we draw our own card."
* @Haruko shuffles her deck and offers it, hand outstretched to the limit, no 
sudden moves.
<@Ardweden> ["Huh." Ken eyes the deck, and his hand gets halfway to it before 
he pulls it back. "This is crazy, Kinsha. This whole thing."]
* @Haruko snorts. "This is why I didn't want to force it on you. But, like, 
think of science class. Haven't you ever seen something demonstrated that you 
didn't think should work at all?"
<@Haruko> I don't claim to be able to explain the science behind any of this, 
but I believe in reproducible evidence. I mean things that you can test for 
yourself and see is real.
<@Ardweden> [Ken frowns, and shakes his head. His hand clenches and 
unclenches. And, then, yes, "Fine." He reaches over and picks up a card and 
flips it over.]
<@Haruko> Four of pentacles? Like a star coin thing?
<@Ardweden> [He looks at it. "Can't really see," he mutters, and the lights 
around them wink back on, with cars roaring into existence. "Ow, shit!" Ken 
blinks rapidly. It's a lot of light at once, on a Tokyo street not late at 
night.]
* @Haruko reaches out to pulls Hibiki out of traffic.
<@Ardweden> [He stumbles out, dazed.]
<@Haruko> Climb on board, helmet is in the trunk. We can go back, face my 
parents, eat some beef, and find out if they can still ground me.
<@Ardweden> ["Y... no, I mean... no. I..." Ken shakes his head, and he shakes 
his hand out of Haruko's. "I gotta- I gotta think about this."]
* @Haruko nods, sadly. "I respect that. Can I drop you off somewhere?"
<@Ardweden> ["No, that's... it's okay." Ken frowns, but now Haruko gets the 
impression that he's frowning at himself. "I'll take the train. And, uh. See 
you around, I guess."]
* @Haruko nods again. "If you decide you want to break up after all this, 
that's okay. But please promise me you'll text when you get home tonight."
<@Ardweden> ["Yeah." Pause. "Sure." And Ken walks, not runs, off, towards the 
train station.]
* @Haruko watches for a minute before returning to face the music at her 
parents.
<@Ciara> [Session End!]