[Date: Tuesday, January 13, 2004] [Time: Midafternoon, after Katie's classes have wrapped up for the day] [Today is the day after Coming of Age Day, and Katie has agreed to meet up with Kyon's Mom at the fancy Isetan flagship shopping center in Shinjuku. Seven floors and two basements, buzzing with people out spending their money, the place sells everything from ladies' fashion to trendy cutlery sets to gourmet goods from around the world!] [As a matter of fact, there are two special events on this week at Isetan: An Okinawan Food Fair, showcasing many limited-availability foodstuffs for trial and purchasing, in the 1st basement, and a Beatles- inspired "LOVE" exhibit of merchandise and clothing on the 5th floor. The rest of the complex has boutique-style hubs of different kinds of clothes and goods, each with their little service counter, staffed by smiling and efficient young ladies in smart uniforms and little hats!] [for reference: http://isetan.mistore.jp.e.az.hp.transer.com/store/shinjuku/floor/index.h tml?_ga=1.81260496.674697681.1421282289] [It is bright and noisy and full of people and commercialism.] <@Ciara> [Session Start!] * Katie comes walking down the stairs, which are much less crowded than the elevator or escalator, and into the Isetan basement. She's five to ten minutes late, and she slows as she nears the bottom and looks around, relying on her supernaturally good vision to spot Tomoe somewhere in the crowded food hall. * Tomoe is in a black-and-grey skirt that is straight to the knee and then flares, nude pantyhose, and black shoes with a low heel. She also wears a white blouse with a slightly ruffled collar, an airy black cardigan, and gold-and-pearl earrings with a simple gold necklace. Apart from her purse, she is noticeably not carrying anything, including a coat. She is simply standing near a pillar not far from the elevators, apparently waiting patiently! * Katie takes a breath, then lets it out. Okay. She brings her hands to her ear helpers, adjusting them again to take on the noisiness of the crowds, and then heads over to meet with Kyon's mother. * Katie, for the record, is wearing her newer pair of sneakers, her second nicest pair of jeans (no artsy stains!), and her winter coat with the wooden baseball lion charm on its zipper. She's carrying a satchel big enough to hold some textbooks. No jewelry or anything of the sort. * Katie also has a decorative scarf around her neck - flimsy and blueish purple and a little sparkly. (Also the jewelry thing is a lie, I suppose! So nix that. She's got the ring on her right ring finger, where it always is these days.) * Tomoe spots her coming towards her, and her face lights up slightly with recognition! She waits for Katie to come to her, smiling. * Katie smiles back, and she waves. "I'm sorry I'm late," she says, once she's close enough that her voice will carry. So... pretty close. "Calculus went long." * Tomoe nods. "I see. That's all right." She takes a step towards her. "Have you had lunch?" * Katie shakes her head, twisting that ring around her finger. "I ran over right after class." * Tomoe has noticed the ring. Oh, has she ever. "Do you want something, then? What do you like?" I... um. Curry rice? "Oh!" Tomoe has what seems like a legitimate, quiet giggle. "I haven't had curry rice for a long time. It's so fattening, isn't it? Shall we get some?" The corners of her eyes crinkle. * Katie smiles back, not rising to the fattening bit. "Yeah." "Good, then." Tomoe looks across the busy area. "I think they have some here... Oh, over there!" * Katie lets Tomoe lead, tagging along to 'over there' and sidestepping other customers without too much effort. "They're having an Okinawa Food Fair," she informs. Do you want to check it out? Or, um. Have you already? "I was waiting for you!" Tomoe says. "It sounds fun, doesn't it? But we should get you some curry rice first." * Katie nods. "Okay." She takes a breath, trying to settle down. * Tomoe happily trottles over there. "Did you and Kyon have a good night last night?" * Katie smiles, a little bit. "Yeah, it was fun. We went to an izakaya. He didn't drink too much, so his report next day was probably a little boring." It was *packed*, though. We had to wait twenty minutes for a table. * Tomoe tsks! "It's a busy day," she says, mildly. "Still. It sounds like the two of you had a good time." They arrive at the curry place, ready to wait in line! There's only a few people ahead of them. "Did you meet with friends afterwards as well?" * Katie shakes her head. "Kyon didn't have anyone he wanted to meet with. Haruko's Coming of Age Day is next year." * Tomoe nods. "I hope you didn't get back to your shared apartment too late." * Katie blinks at Tomoe, noting the 'shared apartment'. "No, we didn't." "Good. Oh, Tokyo can be so raucous at night! My husband and I had a terrible time just walking a few blocks." Was the play fun, though? "Very," she says! "It was by Agatha Christie - you know, the mystery writer? It was called The Mousetrap." She moves forward in the line, looking at the menu displayed above on carved wooden tiles. "At first, I wasn't sure - I thought it was that one with the two men, who are a homosexual couple together. But that's The Birdcage, isn't it? I thought it was a bit of an odd choice, for my husband." She seems to be suppressing a smirk. * Katie tilts her head. "Yeah, I know of Agatha Christie. I... wouldn't think The Birdcage would be the kind of thing Mr. Sorata would pick either, but I don't know him very well." Or at all, really. * Tomoe gives Katie a twinkling little look, and then it is her turn in line! "Oh, he is a man of the world. I'll have the curry rice with the deep-fried oysters, please," she says to the man in the crisp paper hat. "No, not in a set. Just the curry. And ah, barley tea is good, isn't it?" <@Ciara> [The gentleman takes her order and provides a neatly laid-out tray.] * Katie steps up after Tomoe orders. "Hi. Curry rice with chicken katsu, please. And a melon soda." She fiddles with her ring. "Thank you." * Tomoe will make certain to pay for them both, no buts about it. * Katie isn't going to argue with the super rich mom of her boyfriend who insisted they go out to a super packed department store in the first place. <@Ciara> [The gentleman provides another neatly laid-out tray and politely accepts Tomoe's payment.] "Where would you like to sit?" She asks Katie. * Katie looks around, then points out an empty table near one of the sides of the hall. * Tomoe nods, and heads over that way then! * Katie goes, too! Not talking - she can do that. But too soon, she's sitting down across from Tomoe. <@Ciara> [The table is well out of traffic. Not quite secluded, but people don't need to pass terribly close by.] "This looks delicious!" Tomoe smiles. "I like the food here very much." But you don't have curry rice very often? "No, it's been, mm, maybe a year or more." She snaps her chopsticks apart! "Itadakimasu~!" * Katie snaps her own chopsticks apart and says, "Itadakimasu." She's less clean about the pre-meal declaration than Tomoe is. * Tomoe tries some curry! "Oh, it's tasty, isn't it!" * Katie smiles faintly. And nods. And eats her curry and chicken and rice. "You know, Curry and Rice is so simple to make at home, but I never do. I suppose I should." Why not? Even I can make curry rice. * Katie shifts a little. "It's something I go to a lot when it's my turn to cook." "You know? It never really occurs to me. I bet my husband would like it." Then she twinkles a bit again. "That's great! So that means Kyon takes turns, too, hm?" * Katie nods. "Cooking and washing dishes. So it's fair." She picks up a strip of chicken. "He's better at cooking than I am." * Tomoe seems interested in this. "He always did have an independent streak. What does he like to cook?" Whatever's in the fridge. Um... he's much more interested in making things look nice than I am? * Katie gestures with her chopsticks. "Everything in its place, and its own dish." "Oh!" She giggles! "How traditional of him. I will have to ask him to cook for his mother someday" This seems to amuse her profoundly. * Katie brightens. "You should! He'd take it very seriously." * Tomoe has a conspiratorial little grin. * Katie smiles back, relaxing a bit, and she continues eating. "It's different these days, isn't it. Men and women both contributing to the household. I think it's good," she adds, in case this was unclear. * Katie looks up from her food at that. "Yeah? I think so. I don't think..." She trails off, then looks around. "It still feels so one sided, though." "Oh~?" * Katie pokes at her food. "There's some one-sidedness in the classroom, at least. I don't think many of my teachers actually expect me to go on and do something what what I'm learning." And when I, um, catch glimpses of other relationships... * Katie shrugs. "Oh," Tomoe says, eating an oyster. "Well, certain things are expected in Japan, you're right." She glances up. "But it's fine for a woman to have a career. We just have to fight a little harder, don't we." * Katie says, softly even for her, "Yeah. But it's not fair." * Katie doesn't meet Tomoe's eyes at that, concentrating on her food. * Tomoe has a fussy little gesture, arranging her napkin. "My career is looking after my husband," she says, giving Katie a very particular look. * Katie meets Tomoe's gaze now, her own eyes challenging. "That's anyone's career. Looking after the people they care about. *Anyone* should do that." * Tomoe nods, unfazed. "Very well said." She adjusts her napkin again. "However, I wonder if you would like to hear about my average day? I'm sure you wouldn't like it very much, but it might be amusing." If you want to tell me about it, please. "In the morning, after I dress, I make lunch for my husband while he prepares for work. Then I make breakfast for my husband and myself. I help him plan his day. Then he leaves for work." She folds her hands in her lap. "After arranging any deliveries and cleaning staff for the home, I usually field some calls from brewery staff, and go over the purchasing orders for the day. I write thank-you cards and follow-up emails to.. whoever we need to be thanking or following up on," she has a dismissive - Kyon-like - gesture with her hand, "and then I have a light lunch and might spend a little time on my own projects, before running errands in the afternoon. Often I meet with potential buyers or liquor shop suppliers, or their wives. I field social invitations, give and accept gifts. Then it's time to plan dinner, and organize with the cook, before my husband returns home. In the evening, we often discuss work, after which he retires to his office and I have time for my hobbies, but usually I'm occupied with social calls and community involvement." Tomoe takes a breath. She seems quite calm, even unruffled. * Katie listens, and she doesn't look particularly surprised by any of this. She just nods. "That's a very full day." * Tomoe nods. "Well, my husband's day is also quite full. But running a business takes a lot of time and effort to succeed." And you're saying, what, that staying with Kyon means that I may have the same sorts of days? * Tomoe has a bite of rice! "If you like," she says. It almost sounds like it could be an offer. * Katie doesn't seem to know what to say to that. She has some rice herself. * Tomoe enjoys her food for a bit! Oh yes. Tasty oysters. * Katie eventually, after eating most of her chicken, puts down her chopsticks and sips some soda. I don't know. * Tomoe looks up at her? * Katie looks back. She takes a breath. "I don't know, Tomoe-san," she says, using the other woman's first name but also remembering an honorific. I don't know how long we'll be together. And I don't know if the life you described is the life I'd want. Or the one that Kyon would want for me, if he has a choice in this. I don't think so, right now. * Tomoe blinks once, then once again. Then she exhales. "Thank you for being honest with me, Katie," she says. It's not unkind... * Katie nods. "You wouldn't believe me if I said anything else." * Tomoe smiles a little. "I would like you to see that..." She thinks for a moment. "I will be as honest with you, my dear. I would like you to see how that life can definitely be rewarding. I enjoy my career - and I do see it as a career," she quirks a playful brow. "I'm no fool, I won't tell you that women have never seen themselves subjugated. But it's simplistic to see the role of a wife as one of submission. Nozomu might fuss if I said it so outright, but more than anything, my dear, in reality, I am a business partner." She has a small smile. "And this suits me just fine." Then she has a light sigh, leaning back somewhat in her chair with an air of completion. "I want you to be thinking about whether that suits you." * Katie 's eyes flash at the bit about submission, but she keeps herself under control with some effort. "And if it doesn't?" * Tomoe looks at her. "Then your choices are your own, Katie-san." * Katie frowns a little, and she looks down at her food. Then, in a quick and sudden motion, she shoves it away and to the side. * Tomoe can't hide her startlement, but is good enough not to comment. She has some more tea. And another oyster. * Katie looks at her soda. And then at Tomoe. Her eyes are hard; her gaze sharper than it was before. "What about Kyon? Are his choices his own?" * Tomoe has a long, slow intake of breath. Then nods. "Ultimately, yes." A glance. "Does this surprise you?" That you'd say that? No. * Tomoe nods. "Kyon is, as we established yesterday, an adult," she purses her lips a little playfully. "He's collecting the pieces of the puzzle. How he fits them together will be his decision." * Katie presses her fingers against her soda, and she rubs some of the condensation off, feeling the sharp coolness of the glass. "Yeah. I got that, from the speech your husband gave." I- * Katie stops, reconsiders, and starts over. "I want Kyon to have the life that *he* wants. But I also want mine. Whatever that is." * Tomoe nods..... After a moment, she reaches over, and gives Katie's hand a brief press, before taking it back. "A mother wishes for her child to find a life they love. But we never stop worrying. I'm grateful for the peace some of his choices have brought to him," she tells her... * Katie almost jerks away, but she doesn't. She watches Tomoe. "My suspicion is that we want the same thing for Kyon. There's no reason for us to be at odds." Again, there is an offer there, under her words. * Katie tilts her head, and her hand - the one Tomoe pressed hers against - curls and then lies flat again. "Okay." She relaxes, slightly, and she repeats: "Okay." * Tomoe breathes, also relaxing. She has a nod. * Katie blinks twice, rapidly. She pulls her hand back and holds her soda with that, too. Now it's two hands. She looks down at it, shrinking in on herself a little. * Tomoe reads the signs of Traumatic Child Regression good and quick, and gathers up her rubbish with a decisive little smile. "Well! That was very delicious, a good choice, Katie. Shall we wander upstairs? I saw a skirt that I think would be so charming on you." * Katie blinks, snapping out of wherever she was, and looks at Tomoe with more caution than she'd like. "I... okay?" Maybe she's been reduced to one word. "Great!" She picks up her tray. "Do you like escalators? They have the best escalators here." * Katie blinks again. "Escalators?" And then she laughs, suddenly but honestly. "Yeah. I like escalators." I noticed you by the elevators. Did you think I was going to take one? * Katie stands, picking up her things as well. "They're faster, and people tend to jam into them for some reason. But escalators have a view." * Tomoe smiles and throws her stuff away in a nearby bin! * Katie nods. "I prefer escalators. Or stairs," she adds, as she disposes of her trash. "Good exercise!" Tomoe smiles! "I try to take the stairs too, every day. But sometimes I'm so lazy." * Katie smiles back, and she runs her fingers over the edge of her scarf. "Yeah, I guess it helps me burn off all of that curry rice." * Tomoe has a little laugh! "Good plan!" She daintily pats her own hip. * Katie snorts at that; she can't help herself. And, if Tomoe starts heading for the escalators, she does too. "Do you like people watching?" "Sometimes!" She says, in an airy way that is an OBVIOUS understatement. "Do you?" * Katie grins at Tomoe. "Escalators have a view, right?" "And no one ever thinks you're watching them," she stage- whispers. * Katie nods in agreement. She doesn't her voice because she's already quiet enough. "People never look up. It's one of the great failings of our society." * Tomoe seems intrigued at this? She invites Katie to continue, with a glance! * Katie catches the glance. Well, in for a penny... "They don't. I like heights." She waves up - a vague place overhead. "And I like people watching almost as much as I like bird watching. People are interesting and strange and hard to figure out, and they all have their own lives with their own concerns... But people don't look up, so they almost never notice." * Tomoe smiles..... She looks up, observing the lights and the hanging signs, the dotted ceiling tiles. * Katie smiles at Tomoe looking up, and she darts ahead a bit, clearing a path for the escalators. Because it's hard to look ahead when you're also looking up. * Tomoe follows her! Looking back down, because really, falling on her face would not do. * Katie goes up the escalator! Hopefully Tomoe does, too, because she checks where she's going. And she says, suddenly, "Thanks, by the way." * Tomoe pauses, but since she's just boarded an escalator, she doesn't *really* pause, just keeps going up. "Ah?" * Katie looks back. And down. Escalators make her taller! "Thanks." * Tomoe smiles. "You're welcome," she says, and she means it. <@Ciara> [Session End!]