[Date: Wed. May 12, 2004. Taking further advantage of the warm and cloud 
weather, Haruko and Katie meet up in the park by Katie's apartment, 
sometime after their classes for the day are done but before the two of 
them need to head to Narita if they want to meet Satoshi.]
[The park isn't too crowded at this hour, though there are a few young 
mothers with toddlers in one corner of the park, enjoying the chance to 
be out of the house.]
[Start!]
Haruko is wearing a sleeveless top with thin shoulder straps, under a 
light over shirt. She looks around from her motorcycle for Katie, 
grabbing her bag from the bike's trunk, but leaving textbooks and papers 
with the bike.
Katie's walking over! She's wearing a t-shirt and jeans, as is typical 
for her, with about as much paint as can be expected. She's got her bag 
on her, and she's already spotted Haruko! Hence the walking.
* Haruko spots the Katie quickly enough and hoists her bag, closes her 
trunk and gives Katie a small wave.
Katie waves back, with a small smile. It takes more walking before Haruko 
can hear her, though. "Hey."
Haruko walks over to meet her, wearing a small smile of her own that 
contrasts to the engineers typically wider grins. "Good to see you."
Katie nods. "Want to find a spot?"
Haruko nods in turn, "Let's." She points over to a tree, not the largest 
in the area, but a bit away from the young mothers and glances over to 
Katie with a questioning look.
Katie goes that way! "Do you want to climb it?" she asks Haruko, sizing 
it up already.
* Haruko ponders this for a half a second, glancing down at her slacks 
before nodding enthusiastically. "Okay! I'll probably slip some though. 
I've got a little leg strength, but." She holds up her arms, showing no 
great amount of muscle. "I get by as a mechanic with way too much 
grease."
Katie glances at Haruko, judging if she's serious.
* Haruko is already heading towards the tree with a determined 
expression.
Katie grins and goes with, then! They're gonna climb a tree!
* Haruko lays her bag down at the foot of the tree and then reaches up to 
grab a low hanging branch. She grabs a lower, sturdy looking, branch with 
both hands and then wraps her legs around the tree with a jump. In a 
process that's basically the opposite of elegance she tries to ratchet 
her way up. Her technique is crap, her arms don't have much lift, but 
she's not holding back.
Katie calls up suggestions! Not too loudly, but she's also not that far 
away. It's possible she's climbed this tree before.
Haruko sometimes looks a little dubious that these suggestions Katie is 
making are actually physically possible, but she doesn't let that stop 
her. Right when she's ready to swing her butt firmly onto a solid branch 
a few meters up, her shoes lose traction and her grip is suddenly tested. 
The scramble to recover is successful but leaves scratches on her inner 
arms and a small rip in her pants around her left thigh, but nothing that 
draws blood or that will add to her burn scars.
Katie calls, "You okay?"
* Haruko is still catching her breathe but makes a V-sign with her 
fingers in response from her new perch.
Katie smiles back and waves, then looks for a good way up. Haruko's 
wasn't bad, but she took the obvious perch from there... still, it's a 
good place to start. Katie judges her options and then goes, climbing 
with fair speed and certainty to land on a branch just a little higher 
than Haruko's. The branch is stable but not quite as large, and Katie has 
to adjust for a while to settle in, putting her bag on her lap and using 
her hands to help some with balance.
Haruko watches, impressed. Annoyed with the absence of traction provided 
by her flats, she also removes her left shoe and sock, bundles the one 
inside the other, and then lets it drop. She does the same with her 
right. "This is fun, thanks for asking."
<Katie> "I didn't think you'd take me up on it," Katie points out. She 
doesn't have the same problem with her shoes, as she's wearing sneakers. 
She sets her feet against a nearby, weaker branch.
Haruko tentatively does the same, taking longer to figure out her 
position. She shrugs at that new piece of information. "I've been telling 
myself that even if I'm not playing with <beaus>, I can still play with 
friends."
Katie looks at Haruko for a second, then asks, "Are you practicing your 
English? French?"
Haruko thinks for a second. "French. Wait..." She frowns. "<Beaux>, yes."
Haruko continues, "The Japanese words don't feel quite right. Not that 
French is necessarily right, but it feels more fitting."
Katie hums. And nods. Haruko's approach to romance is always a little bit 
of a mystery to her.
Haruko gets more settled and decides that she can afford to let one leg 
dangle. "How are you?"
<Katie> "Okay." Right now. "I've been trying to figure some stuff out."
Haruko glances over. "What sort of stuff?"
Katie shrugs a little, looking down at her bag, She fiddles with the 
strap. "I, uh... this Council stuff. Running for it. How I'm even going 
to manage to win, and what I want to do..."
Haruko smiles a little. "I'll do what I can on the winning front, and I'm 
here to listen on the rest."
<Katie> "Yeah. Well, you can't really help if you don't know what to tell 
people." Katie looks over at Haruko. "What are you telling them, anyway?"
<Haruko> "Beyond the slogan? That you will work hard and overcome 
pressure to do what you think is right, that you're honest and smart, and 
that you've got like a ton of blackmail material on all of us." 
Katie laughs. "Not as much as I'd like," she points out.
Haruko snorts, "That sort of statement is the challenge of a pointedly 
honest candidate."
Katie grins, unashamed. "Then don't tell them that part."
Haruko swings her dangling leg and keeps her smile, "Got it, boss."
<Katie> "It's not like I'll use it, anyway." Katie makes sure her feet 
are planted, so she's pretty stable, and stretches her arms.
<Haruko> "Appreciated."
Katie shrugs, slightly. "So I've been thinking," she continues, "about 
what I care about, and what I want, if... this all works out and we don't 
burn it to the ground. What's worth working for, I guess."
Haruko nods and then glances at the ground, "Should I take notes?"  
Haruko is glancing specifically at her bag, which isn't presently in the 
tree.
Katie looks down at the bag, too. "Whoops."
Haruko makes a face for a moment and then begins a descent. "Go on, I'm 
listening." She swings both of her legs over to the main trunk of the 
tree and works her way down. She has a slightly easier time as the 
heights don't bother her, and she's resting most of her weight on her 
legs, not her arms.
Katie pauses. "We can just sit down there," she says, and makes to climb 
down.
Haruko grunts about half way down, wrapping her legs tight and pausing 
for a moment. "Don't you do some of your best thinking in trees? This is 
hard, sometime nature can make things easier."
"It's not *that* much better," Katie points out. She starts climbing down 
herself.
Haruko gets down to about a meter off the ground and then hangs off her 
original branch, letting go with her legs. She then leaps down, landing 
smoothly on the grass below. "Alright, but I still get to use that excuse 
if I want to try to think things through on a motorcycle every now and 
then, okay?"
"Sure." Katie drops down shortly after and brushes off her pants.
Haruko digs into her bag, getting out a bottle of water and a small 
notepad and pen. 
"Okay," Katie says, settling on the grass with her bag next to her. "What 
did I tell you before?"
Haruko rattles off, "No jackassery, no excuses."  Haruko flips to a fresh 
page on her small spiral notebook. 
Katie laughs a little. "Right, okay." She shifts in place. "So I was 
thinking. What... happened. To me, to a lot of us... That's what I want 
to prevent. I mean, that's what we *need* to prevent, if people are going 
to be okay in the future.  And it's not right, that people just... went 
after who they thought was weak and convenient for shitty reasons, even 
card reasons. Or that they- they thought they could do whatever they 
wanted to whoever they wanted because they had power. And that a lot of 
us let them, just because of who they knew, or because it was easier."
<Haruko> Haruko jots down key phrases, first transcribing then playing at 
summaries, "So, protect the weak or maybe the vulnerable. And hold the 
powerful accountable. Or I guess no, uh, impunity?" She's no longer 
smiling and her focus is intent but shifts between Katie and her notepad.
<Katie> "Going forward. Right now, those same people are the people I 
need to get me elected." Katie's tone turned decidedly dark at that.
Haruko thinks for a moment. "You don't need the perpetrators, oh, 'those 
that let them'." She thinks for another moment and nods. "Yeah, you're 
right, it's the only way to keep the peace. Maybe, 'no going back' as a 
message. It's about the future, but also that a lot of what happened 
shouldn't be acceptable." She takes a moment to kneel down near Katie, 
resting her knees on an empty part of her bag and resting her still bare 
feet on the grass.
Katie nods. "I think it's the only way to be better than we were. I 
mean." She lets out a breath. "I was thinking about it... the worst 
people, the ones who really did stuff to me, to a lot of us, and who 
succeeded at... those people are mostly dead. The ones in charge, at 
least. But I'm still scared. Because there's... yeah." She looks down, 
playing with the strap on her bag.
Haruko listens and nods along, frowning. "I'm not afraid exactly. Not the 
same way, y'know, sploosh"
Katie looks at Haruko, curiously. "Sploosh?"
Haruko closes her eyes, "As long as my mind is free, and nobody is making 
collars, I'm hard to hold." She closes her eyes, "The things that 
sometimes give me nightmares, they were things I walked into knowingly."
"Sure." Katie leans forward, looking at Haruko. "But you were in a 
situation that made you want to do that."
Haruko nods. "Yeah, but the fear is different. Y'know? I'm scared that 
things might breakdown, that people may be in danger. But that's not the 
same sort of fear. Does that make sense?"
Katie shrugs, a little. "Sure."
Haruko's eyes open. "I think you're also carrying some of my fears." She 
looks ready to continue but then gets caught, searching for what exactly 
she means.  "You're a leader. Kyon too, but not just as a team. If 
something bad happens, you'll be thinking about next moves. Whatever I 
have to face, I won't be facing it alone. I think if you were elected, 
we'd all be safer."
Katie hums. "You think so, huh."
Haruko nods. "It's not that I think you're always right. But I think if 
we give you authority, you can shape things so we don't get to a place 
where there's only bad choices." Haruko sighs, "Or at least aren't there 
again and again."
<Katie> "I wouldn't be the only one," Katie points out with an eyeroll. 
"There's Norishige and such, remember?"
Haruko considers that, "I have more hopes there than you, well except for 
Yorihisa. But so far their whole thing about the gangs was clumsy at 
best."
<Katie> "They're afraid of anyone who's already organized," Katie says 
after a moment. "So they consolidated power and put themselves in charge 
first."
Haruko jots that down.
Haruko mms for a moment before having an unvoiced thought twists the left 
corner of her mouth into a snarl. She looks down at her notes and waits 
to see if Katie will continue.
Katie is looking over. "What is it?"
Haruko glances up and her anger fades from her face. "I'm letting myself 
get distracted from your campaign. So, uh, have you thought of any first 
steps towards your goal? I'm probably going to get questions about how 
you'll do it."
<Katie> "Depends on how much cooperation I have, right?" Katie puts her 
chin on her hand, thinking.
Haruko nods. "I guess this is also your chance to pitch cooperation. 
Nobody gets more cooperative after they get power. "
<Katie> "That's true, yeah." Katie sighs.
<Haruko> "So maybe lay out what you think is possible if people 
cooperate. What's realistic given the people involved."
Katie nods. "I just... don't really know." She curls in on herself, 
slightly.
Haruko looks up. "That's okay. Just because you're a leader, doesn't mean 
you have all the answers."
Katie sighs. "Yeah." Pause. "Hopefully enough people believe that."
Haruko contemplates that for a moment. "Things are pretty peaceful now 
and we don't need to invent a court system for like several dozen 
people." She looks over her notes, "Maybe what matters now is that lots 
of us agree that we won't go back, no more victimizing people, no matter 
what your card is."
<Katie> "Yeah. But it's one thing to say that, and it's another to 
actually do it." Katie sighs and flops back, looking at the tree above 
them and getting grass in her hair. "So many people," she says softly, 
"even some people who would support me now."
Haruko crawls over to about a half meter besides Katie and then lays down 
on her side, facing her. "We've all made mistakes, some of them terrible. 
Those that support you want it to be better. And if we choose you, that 
doesn't mean it's your burden alone, you can ask us for ideas, for help,"
Katie blows out a breath. The sunlight peeking through the branches and 
leaves really is pretty. "Okay."
Haruko remains silent for a little while, giving Katie some time to 
appreciate the trees.
Haruko lets out a long sigh. "I know I've failed you before. That I've 
fought you even when I didn't have any practical answers of my own. But I 
believe you can work out with the others on Council, with us all, a way 
to keep the peace. To provide justice, not just revenge. It'll be messy 
and flawed, but even so. I promise I'll give my all to support it."
Katie sighs again. She onto her side so she can see Haruko. "Thanks," she 
says, softly. "Maybe others will think so, too. Arcana don't like being 
held accountable," she adds, after a second. "I don't think anybody 
does."
<Haruko> "It's true. I certainly don't. But some of us know all too well 
that it is far worse for almost everyone if no one is accountable."
"And we haven't traditionally cared about everyone," Katie points out.
<Haruko> "Sometimes traditions need to change. And if enough of us that 
suffered come together, we can change this one."
Katie rolls onto her back again. "I guess," she says, half dismissively.
Haruko makes a quiet bemused sound and Katie might see the exasperation 
creep into the engineer’s expression before Katie turns away. Haruko then 
reaches over Katie with her right arm and crooks a finger with which she 
presumes to gently poke Katie's nose. She's fairly swift in this, but not 
so swift that Katie can't avoid it if she makes the effort.
Katie yelps, and she tries to swat Haruko's hand, but too fast!
Haruko pulls back her hand, post-boop and her tone takes on an 
exaggerated solemnity, “You're being defeatist, Katie Andrews. You have 
enough on your hands talking to people and thinking about practicality 
and acceptability. Leave worries about popularity to me."
Katie laughs. "Okay, but only if you stop pretending you're Kaede. That's 
weird." She sits up, brushing grass out of her hair.
Haruko sits up as well, "Deal, it was already giving me a headache." She 
has more grass in her longer hair than Katie at this point but is being 
inattentive.
Katie smiles at Haruko. "So all of that makes sense, right? It's gonna be 
hard... some of the people who were problematic are on the Council, or 
probably will be."
Haruko nods in response to Katie's question. Her anger, suppressed 
earlier, briefly shows again on her face at the end of Katie's statement, 
but it doesn't feature in her words. "Hard, but possible. I haven't heard 
anything about needing consensus."
Katie eyerolls. "Yeah, they've explained nothing about process. Like, do 
you need a simple majority, or two thirds, or unanimous agreement for 
certain things? Is it different depending on what it is? They probably 
don't even know yet. Everyone who's there was in on it from close to the 
start."
Haruko laughs. "Yeah, that's the sort of thing you should be figuring 
out. I've kind of been assuming it works like student council, but that's 
silly."
<Katie> "Ugh, I hope not." Katie sighs. "I'll find the right person to 
ask."
Haruko nods. "I guess that Nekotani-san may not be greatest expert on 
procedure."
<Katie> "Well, she's gotta know something about it or she's just not 
doing her job." Katie shifts, drawing one leg up.
<Haruko> "Yeah." Haruko crosses her legs and begins picking grass out of 
her hair. "Like she should really be able to cover the routine stuff."
Katie nods. And tilts her head. "So," she says, "why are you angry?"
Haruko is caught by surprise and furtively attempts a better poker face 
with mixed success. "Well... I." She recollects her notebook and glances 
down at it for a moment before looking back at Katie. "I've been seeing 
ads on Shuffle for some sort of Yusuke-Shiraishi-chan musical thing. They 
don't mention his candidacy or anything, but it sounds like it's 
happening before the election." Haruko's mention of Akemi is a lot less 
chipper than the way she normally refers to the model.
Katie nods. "Okay." She has guesses but she waits for Haruko to continue.
Haruko grips her pen in her right hand, flexing her fingers. "Matthias-
san is pointedly not asking for my help. And that's for the best, 
probably." Haruko sounds both unconvinced and a little relieved that she 
doesn't have another candidate to provide secondary assistance to. "But I 
think Yusuke's going to win. He... I've negotiated with him..." Haruko's 
voice is quiet but sharp, but she's tripping some over her words.
Katie watches Haruko, concerned. This isn't what she expected; it's 
worse, and she really doesn't know what it is. "Yeah?" she asks, softly. 
"What happened?"
Haruko takes a few deep breaths, centering herself. "Sorry, I've been 
trying to figure out what I want to say to Takeuchi or Shiraishi." She 
closes and then reopens her eyes.
"One. He lied to me, which I guess is better than if his threats were 
real, and maybe that just makes me naive and dumb. But he made big 
demands in bad faith."
Katie nods, letting Haruko continue.
<Haruko> "Two. I was in his power and when his sister's opening greeting 
is to grope me, his only objection is that I might be undermining his 
bargaining position and that she should remember that I was the enemy." 
Haruko's anger seems more directed at Yusuke than his sister at this 
point.
Katie makes a disgusted face. Because it's disgusting.
<Haruko> "And three, I felt defiled by his demand." She takes a breath 
and continues without affect. "Ethically speaking, maybe that's on me. If 
I were Japanese Red Cross, it would be my obligation to heal anyone. 
Future misdeeds of the patient are not the fault of the medic." The steel 
then returns to her voice, "But I am not Japanese Red Cross, and he was 
unwilling to consider any alternative."
<Katie> "Yeah, well." Katie reaches up and pulls a blade of grass out of 
her hair. "It's not like they cared," she says, looking at it. "And 
there's no reason to think they'd have changed their minds now. But... 
Shika's not running. Yusuke is. I wonder why."
Haruko considers that. "I think Shika mostly wants to do what she wants. 
Yusuke believes in talking. I think he probably thinks he'd be a good 
Council member."
Haruko snarls in frustration, "I know he's Shiraishi's friend. But so is 
Matthias-san, I think. I'm not asking for Yusuke to suffer. But he is 
unworthy of the office and never showed any remorse. If he's just going 
to win easily, why would he?" Her emphasis is on unworthy.
Katie nods. "Yeah." She frowns. "You're right. I don't know what to do 
about it yet, but you're right. I'm really, really sorry he hurt you," 
she continues. "I didn't know. I was..." She shakes her head. "That's 
exactly the kind of bullshit that I don't want to ever happen again. It 
will, but it's not okay. Shika's obvious. She touched you. But he let 
her. And she wouldn't have done it if he didn't."
Haruko says a quiet "Thank you," waving off the apology part. "I think 
your part is to run a good campaign and, Kami willing, be a great Council 
member." She chews on her lower lip for a moment. "I think I should talk 
to Takeuchi. Shiraishi-chan too maybe. I don't know, I guess it's up to 
Kaede-san."
Katie sits back. "Okay. You'll want to be careful how you approach this."
Haruko starts a new page on her notebook. "You're telling me. I've been 
getting along better with him, but it's not like we've had any real 
disagreements."
"Not lately I mean."
Katie shakes her head. "I don't think he'll necessarily disagree with 
you, but it depends on what you talk to him about."
Haruko rests her face on her hand, with her elbow anchored on her knee. 
"I guess. I don't know. Shiraishi-chan is an adult. So it's not like he 
chooses what she can and can't do. But maybe if they could delay it after 
the election? But it's already announced, so even that might not be 
enough. Or do something with Matthias-san? But that's not my place to ask 
I really, it's his. I want Yusuke to have to earn votes."
Katie sighs. "Look, it's more about approach. Then you guys can talk 
together about what to do about it. If he agrees. So? How're you going to 
get him to agree with you?"
Haruko makes note of this advice. "Short email request, Saying I was 
disappointed to see about the event. I don't know if I should lay out why 
in like a few sentences or maybe just ask to meet."
Katie shakes her head. "Just saying you're disappointed is going to make 
him think that the only reason you're upset is politics. And it's not."
Haruko sighs, "I'm worried that if I just bear my soul to him, it'll just 
be another example of Haruko being a screw up who thinks she knows how to 
negotiate but was in over her head."
<Katie> "Haruko, they both took advantage of you. I'm not a screw up for 
what happened to me, am I?" Katie pauses, then asks, "Do you want me to 
be there? When you talk to Kaede. Would it help?"
Haruko emphatically shakes her head in answer to Kaede's question. "It 
would be easier, but I don't know if it would help." She sits up and 
resumes removing grass from her hair. "Like, I think Kaede-san things go 
easiest when he feels he can put his stamp on an idea."
<Katie> "... Okay," Katie says, not really sure how her presence prevents 
that from happening.
Haruko holds up a hand holding the pen, waving it slightly, "No, I just 
mean, I appreciate the emotional support. And, opening up makes sense, 
like, Kaede-san often does help out some troubled supplicant. I just know 
very few paths to convince him of things. So, like normally when you're 
there, I just try not to get in the way. Which I guess works here too, 
it's not about me. I am the evidence that Yusuke is a problem."
Katie shakes her head. "But it's also about you. You shouldn't just be 
evidence, like some... thing. You should be able to do something about 
him."
<Haruko> "I've just gotten in my own way with him, a lot. Like I have my 
pride, but convincing him matters more."
<Katie> "Then don't make it about the Council." Katie leans forward, 
looking at Haruko. "It's not about that. It's about Yusuke, and what he 
did, and what he'll continue to do if he can. You know this better than 
anybody," Katie continues. "I didn't know what happened to you - I only 
kind of do now. And I promise nobody else does, either. But if you want 
to convince Kaede, you're probably going to have to tell him."
Haruko nods. she takes a slow breath in and out. "The Council isn't the 
only situation he'd have power in. It's not like no one is taken 
advantage of in the entertainment industry." 
Katie makes a face. "Yeah." And then, more softly, "There was the 
Band..." She shakes her head. "This is what I mean, though," Katie 
continues. "It's not because we're Arcana. It's because we're people. And 
that people keep hiding their power like it gives them an excuse, or a 
right, is stupid."
Haruko nods along.
<Katie> "Anyway." She lets out a breath. "I didn't mean to rant. But... 
the whole Council thing bothers Kaede. You have to convince him that it's 
not about politics. Explain where you're coming from, and go from there. 
He knows... I mean, he doesn't know directly what it's like, but he's 
seen enough. I think you have a shot if you do that."
<Haruko> "Yeah. Though if it's not about the Council, I can't just 
pretend there's some easy solution. Win one election and its done. But 
you're right."
Katie nods. "It's not. And not having a concert might not stop him from 
being elected. He is... pretty and popular, or whatever."
<Haruko> "Right. And like Matthias-san may have a campaign plan, or he 
may just be outmatched but too proud to ask for help." Haruko jots a few 
more notes in her book.
<Katie> "Yeah. I don't really know what he's about."
<Haruko> "I think he could be an ally, and his legal training might have 
some insights. But right now, I think it's okay to respect his wishes and 
leave him be."
<Haruko> "So, I'll write to Kaede and say that I saw the ad and that I 
felt that Yusuke had taken advantage of me, and that I thought it was 
important that he know."
Katie nods. "And probably ask him if he can meet up with you so you can 
actually talk to him about it."
Haruko nods. "Should I include you on the email?"
"If you want to," Katie says.
<Haruko> "Thank you." Haruko ponders this quietly for a time. "I think 
I'll include you on the email and mention that I've talked to you about 
it. But I'll leave to him if he wants to talk to me or both of us."
Katie nods. And smiles. "Sounds good."
Haruko smiles back. "This feels right."
Katie laughs, a little. "I'm glad. Wanna get ice cream?"
Haruko collects her belongings, taking extra care to secure her notepad. 
"Let's!"
[End!]