[And so the night continued. Over time Haruko got a little less showy and stepped up her game as Katie got the hang of things. She's been happy to chat and aside from giving the occasional guilty glance to the homework on the table has managed to stay largely focused on the get together.] [Start] 06* Katie noticed Haruko's glancing - how couldn't she? But she doesn't bring up the homework. That's Haruko's decision; she's more or less a grown up now. Besides, she's graduated past easy mode and is actually not-actually-dancing. Seriously, Katie's DDRing looks nothing like dancing. It looks like playing a game with your feet. 06* Katie does seem to be having fun, though, as far as that goes! 06* Maki pokes her head into the club room. "Oh, good, you *are* here." 06* Haruko is thrown off for a second by the sudden noise from behind and stumbles for a moment before pausing the game. "Oh... hi Maki. This is." She coughs for a moment and walks over to get some water, panting slightly. 06* Katie stops button-stepping when the game pauses. "Hm?" she asks, breathing heavily and turning to see the girl she totally heard coming. "Hi." 06* Maki steps in and waves. "Hey. Sorry to interrupt." 06* Haruko coughs again and holds up a single finger with a chagrinned look as she gets a drink and tries to catch her breath. Katie's score had been creeping up on that one and Haruko was showing fewer flourishes and more work. "Sorry, Maki this is my friend Katie. Katie this is my roommate Maki. You may have met back in high school, don't know if you had any classes together." 06* Katie pulls her hair up, feeling the cool air, and then drops it. She doesn't cheat like Haruko, but she does bow a bit. Japan really *has* been rubbing off on her. "Yeah, maybe. I don't really remember... sorry." 06* Haruko's hair is a mess again, but no cheating when the roommate is around. She's cut that close too many times. 06* Maki bows back. "I don't remember, either, so no worries." She then turns to Haruko. "Did you know your cell phone is out of batteries again?" 06* Haruko frowns for a moment and checks her pocket. She gets a brief panicked looked and then rushes over to her jacket, searching it. 06* Katie blinks. "Did you lose your phone?" she asks while Haruko searches. 06* Haruko checks the exterior with increasing worry. "I can't afford this now." But then finds it with a relieved sigh after checking an interior pocket. "No. Ah, yeah, but it is drained." She looks to her roommate. "Did something happen?" 06* Katie goes to grab her own glass of water while the girls talk. 06* Maki heads over to one of the unoccupied tables and perches on it, swinging her legs underneath. "Well, on my way over here I was besieged by not only Kenta, but also Takumi, wondering what was up since they couldn't reach you. So I told them I'd let you know they were looking for you." 06* Katie takes her time with a sip of water, hiding her reaction. 06* Haruko sighs, holding her phone hand to her forehead and shaking her head. "Of course. Nothing over the weekend. Blow off lunch. But when I'm doing something else and have a project tomorrow, then they call." 06* Katie doesn't spit out water, but the glass is totally out of her mouth. 01 You have a project tomorrow? 06* Maki says nothing. She does, however, look at Haruko, eyebrow raised. 06* Haruko shrugs. "In the afternoon. I'll be fine. Caffeinated, but fine." Should I be leaving the light on for you in the room? 06* Haruko nods. "Thank you. Uh... so how did they look?" Haruko walks over to a rubber bin full of cords and transformers and starts assembly parts from a couple different scavenged universal phone until she gets her phone plugged in. 06* Katie glances at Haruko, then assesses Maki again, drinking more water. 06* Maki shrugs a little. "The same as they always do? I mean, they both seemed a little worried with the no phone thing, but they weren't super- upset." She pauses. "You're gonna have to talk to them at some point, though." 06* Haruko grumbles. "I know that. If Takumi has been at the planning meeting I would have talked to him then. I also probably wouldn't have had to choose between having my clubmates acting like a bunch of Otaku over Akemi or having them all half-ass their planning support." She coughs, too much grumbling, and goes to get more water, shooting an apologetic look to Katie. 06* Katie looks back at Haruko, then asks Maki, "They don't know that she's trying to talk to both of them, do they?" 06* Maki looks over at Katie and shakes her head. "Nope." 06* Haruko eyes the two of them as she drinks. "Working on it." 06* Katie rolls her eyes as she leans a bit against the nearest wall. DDR is a workout! "I asked because I thought it'd be better if they don't. If they did, you have a new, even more fun situation." 06* Haruko looks at Katie, a bit confused. "Well, they're going to know, that's the point, right? I mean I want to be the one to tell them and I don't need to name names." She boots her phone, glaring at it as it slowly starts up. 01 That's what I meant. They don't know yet. 06* Haruko nods. "Right, sorry, didn't mean to snap." Well, wait too long and they will know. Just not in the way you'd like. 06* Haruko looks over to Maki, "Fine, I know!" She gets a little louder as she says that and winces, looking apologetically to Katie. "I had called them both. And was planning to get lunch today with Takumi but he ditched via text. Should I just have it out over the phone?" 06* Katie winces at basically the same time as Haruko, but she smooths it over quickly. 06* Haruko angrily picks up and munches on the third slice of Hawaiian pizza as she awaits an answer. 06* Maki holds up a conciliatory hand. "Sorry. I would do it in person, honestly." 06* Haruko does remember herself enough to gesture in the direction of the last Hawaiian slice while looking to her roommate. She nods. The temperature of the pizza being the least of her worries. 06* Maki slides off the table and grabs the last pizza slice. "Thanks!" 06* Katie sips water and watches Maki grab the pizza. "Hey," she says, as though a thought just occurred to her, "can you run interference for Haruko so she can finish her project without having to talk to them before then? I'm sure she'll answer them-" She glances at Haruko. "-but then she really *shouldn't* have her phone on while she finishes it." 06* Haruko mournfully watches it go for a moment and then shakes it off, she glances over to Katie with a bit of surprise, mid-bite. She assesses the logic of that for a moment and then looks to Maki. 06* Maki finishes chewing. "I *could*..." she says, "but I could use some help with my statics class after this project is over." She looks over at Haruko. "You had the same prof last year, right?" 06* Katie smiles a little. That was simple. She reaches over and pushes the rest of her pizza Maki's way, too, as she's not really hungry at this point. 06* Haruko nods. "My notes from that period were a bit of a mess, but if you can wait for the evening we can break out the books and talk it through." She purses her lips for a moment. "Yeah, it would be easier if I weren't cramming and dealing with emotional fallout at the same time." She looks to Katie. "You're smart about that sort of thing." 06* Maki accepts the pizza. "Thank you." She smiles back at Katie, then looks at Haruko. "Done deal, then. I'll create a diversion and let you get your project done." 06* Haruko gives a quick bow of thanks. 06* Katie smiles back at the thanks. 06* Katie then says to Haruko, flippantly, "I thought I was smart in general." 06* Haruko walks over to check her phone. "Sorry, brilliant at it. That better?" She makes a bit of a face. "Though if you want to prove your genius, you could give me a walkthrough to getting through the photo- shoot without Takeuchi-san and I doing that thing we do." 06* Maki laughs and waves the remnants of her pizza slice in Haruko's direction. "I should get on that, then." She then turns to Katie. "Nice to meet you. Hope to see you around again." 01 What, being yourselves? Wear a different hat. 06* Katie then nods to Maki. "Nice meeting you, too. We should hang out sometime." She doesn't glance Haruko's way when she says that, but she's so waiting for her response. 06* Haruko waves. "Thanks Maki." She looks to Katie. "Hat? Right. Besides, uh, with Akemi-san around, it’s a good time to try new fashions." 06* Maki waves back. "Good luck." And she heads off. 01 It was a metaphor. And a joke. 01 You can't stop being who you are. 06* Katie finishes her water and goes to get more. Water is great. 06* Haruko waits for the door to close. "Oh, I thought it was some sort of Katie-code." 06* Katie laughs. "I wish." She listens as Maki gets farther and farther away. "I like your roommate." 06* Haruko grins. "You would." She then smiles. "Mom was right that I should give her a shot." She idly grabs chopsticks and noms at some of the lines of cheese left between where the slices once were. "So are we just doomed to do this forever?" 01 Not any more than we were all fated to die back when, I don't think. 06* Katie wanders over to the table and sits down with her water. She seems content to let Haruko pick at the cheese. 06* Haruko nods in agreement and lets the silence linger for a moment while looking over to her companion. 06* Katie spins her glass on the table a little, thinking. "I mean," she says, finally, "I don't think it's impossible at all." 06* Haruko thinks for a moment. "I don't mind him portraying this as doing me a big favor. That's true, his logic is sound. He took a few shots at my school, he'll take more, but I can finesse that." She looks down. "I'm just worried he'll hold some of my people in the same contempt he holds me. Maybe it won't be worth the time it takes to cut them down, but he seems to find a way. Half of me 06* Haruko wants to be ready to fight. Half of me wants to just keep them away." 06* Katie keeps spinning the glass while Haruko talks. When she's done, Katie gives it another quarter spin and stops. "I don't think you should do either." 06* Haruko nods. "I'm listening." 01 If you go in ready to fight, it'll show. It'll show in how you walk and what you say and *how* you say it. It'll show in your eyes. You're there and your defenses are up. That'll just put Kaede's defenses up. If you go in trying to protect other people, that'll also show. You might want to warn them that Kaede... talks the way he does, but he doesn't try to put people down right away. Especially not if they're there to work. 06* Katie pauses, then adds, casually, "If they're there to ogle Akemi, he might kill them. I don't know. Depends on the day and if she's watching." 06* Katie falls silent for a while, then picks up the glass and has a sip. She puts it back on the table and watches the water settle again. 01 Do you know... 06* Katie trails off, still looking at the water. 06* Haruko nods slowly and speaks simultaneously. "It's not that I blame him for that. It's just the way..." She then pauses. "Know what?" 06* Katie just looks at her water. She's gone from constantly moving, with the water and the talking, to perfectly still. 06* Haruko scoots closer and reaches out a hand, laying it next to Katie's. "Katie?" 06* Katie blinks at Haruko's hand. "I... it's fine." She pulls her hand away. "My point is if you want him to treat you a certain way, you're going to have to treat him that way first." 01 If you don't want to be hostile, you need to start by not being ready for him to be hostile. At least, not *looking* like you're ready, but you're not a very good liar. Since Kaede's not going to try to actually hurt you and it's even less likely since Akemi's career is involved, you should be pretty safe. 06* Haruko nods at each phrase, listening intently. "Go in shields down, got it." 06* Katie nods. "Yeah. Kaede should do the same thing, but he can be stupid about some things, so maybe not." 06* Haruko gives a brief sad smile. "Thank you, that should help. I'm a big girl, I can take a shot or two. I..." She glances about for an excuse and finds one in her homework. "I should probably do a little work and then get to bed. Much to do tomorrow. If you're ready, I can take you back." There's a hint of disappointment in her voice, but she also believes what she's saying. 06* Katie blinks at Haruko. "Yeah?" She stands. "I can take the subway if you're going to be busy." 06* Haruko smiles. "Yeah. I mean I'll be busy, but I like giving rides to my friends." 06* Katie smiles back, almost shy. "If you're sure. Thanks." She goes about getting her shoes and coat. 06* Haruko grabs her own coat and walks to the door, before remembering her charging phone and dashing back for it. She comments quietly, "I spent too long riding alone." 06* Katie holds the door open while she waits for the other girl. "Okay, but we're not exclusive, Haruko." Yeah, that happened. [End!]