<@Ardweden> [Saturday, January 31, 2004.] <@Ardweden> [It's a frigid morning in Orono, Maine and a much more mild (but still cold) evening in Tokyo, Japan. This is not especially material, though, because both Satoshi and Haruko are indoors - in their respective dorm rooms, in fact, and getting ready for a scheduled video chat. Their roommates are also both away: Paul's off marathoning some shows with his anime club (he invited Satoshi, as always, and Satoshi, as basically always, declined) and Maki is with her family this weekend.] <@Ardweden> [Start!] * Haruko double checks that the door is locked, adjusts her chemise, does last minute tiding up, and stares at her image in her screen. She hadn't anticipated this sort of stress when she first picked up the webcam. * Satoshi has actually already been to breakfast, although he managed to sneak some extra food out of the dining hall. (The one particular cashier can apparently be convinced to look the other way, particularly for someone who's been scoring lots of points lately. ^_~) He has his tumbler full of coffee at the ready. * Satoshi is wearing a dark-blue button-down shirt and black pants. His hair is pulled back today. He opens up the video chat software and waits for it to connect. * Haruko tries a few different smiles and grins for the screen and mutters "I hope this is just the resolution," before jumping slightly as she sees Satoshi come online. She clicks to connect. "Moshi moshi! Hi Satoshi!" * Satoshi grins at Haruko and waves. "Haruko! Hi!" * Haruko smiles and relaxes. "Thank goodness it works. Maki had just about given up on my computer before we got it working." Her image does lag a bit as she speaks, but the audio quality is decent. I'm glad you guys got it to work. It's so good to see you! * Haruko clasps her hand and smiles. "Same here. Scheduling with time zones is hard. But this is already better than texting." Thanks for being willing to give up a Saturday night for me. I know you're really busy. * Haruko waves a hand dismissively. "You're worth it. Besides, hockey star, it's not like you've got a lot of idle time either." * Satoshi laughs. "Yeah, my weekends are pretty booked, too. I got an assist last night! Liam got the goal." * Haruko nods and gives a quick cheer, those sound like good words in succession. It was my second one in our past three games. I haven't been shooting quite as much lately, but I figure as long as I'm still getting points, it's okay. * Haruko nods, with a bit more assurance. "Yeah, it's a team game after all." We're doing really well. This is such a great team, Haruko. It's amazing. * Haruko nods eagerly. "It is great when you find a bunch of people who care about the same things you do and really let you test your skills. I sometimes wonder about the automotive club, but when it really comes together in a race or the like, nothing beats that feeling." Liam can be kind of overbearing sometimes, but it's just because he really cares. * Haruko giggles. "I've spent some time with a sometime overbearing guy on the ice recently, still worth it." * Satoshi raises an eyebrow. "Oh? This your date with Ken?" * Haruko grins. "My first date, yeah. He says he's less indulgent than my lame friends." She shrugs and shakes her head, "I'm still not spinning, but I can do a pretty tight figure eight consistently." * Satoshi laughs. "Sorry the first attempt didn't turn out so well. I'm glad you're getting right back on the ice. And yeah, it takes practice. Congratulations on the figure eights!" I'll never be as good as you all, but it is still fun. * Satoshi smiles. "Having fun is the most important part." He pauses for a moment. "So, uh, is there a second date?" * Haruko grins. "And a third. Second already happened. We got lunch after a job fair today. It was a nice change after having to be all proper and professional for a couple hours." She makes a face at the memory and then relaxes. "That said, I still expect to he'll find someone more exciting within a month." * Satoshi chuckles. "I've never considered you unexciting, at least in general. When we first met, you were a little *too* exciting." * Haruko sticks out her tongue. "You know what I mean." She then frowns as she's not sure he does or that she does. "... well, I dunno, someone hotter or that isn't constantly trying to do fifteen things at once." Fifteen things? I thought you were down to eleven things last time? Or was it fourteen things? * Haruko sighs. "It fluctuates." She then smiles. "But I do have a list of internship targets for Kyon to help me pursue, so I'm getting things done." Job fairs and internships, huh? Anything interesting so far? * Haruko gives Satoshi the rundown. TEPCO and other Japanese power companies are doing some research, although university labs might be an easier bet. There's also a few European firms that actually showed a bit more interest in her at the fair. "But, I mean, any internships would be with local branches, but I don't know what means for the long term. Also I'm bad enough at English and I had years of training in that. Some of these countries don't even speak it!" Europe, so frustrating. * Satoshi takes a sip of coffee. He's definitely more awake than then last time he had a video chat. Breakfast helps. "You can probably take some extra classes if it looks like you'll be needing more language prep. Even I did before I came over here, and I was pretty fluent to start with." * Haruko nods grimly. "So that sixteen things then. Well, we'll see." She snorts. "I'll pray for help. maybe the Kami will wish to keep me in Japan." * Haruko shrugs. "But I'm getting way ahead of myself. So how are non-hockey things on your end?" Oh, pretty good. I've got a much better handle on my classes this semester. Believe it or not, I'm really liking my English writing class. It helps that I've got three to four native speakers looking over my essays, but... some of them I asked, and some volunteered, and it means that they don't all have to look at every assignment. Apparently my grammar is surprisingly good, but my organization needs some work. Oh nice, I mostly do technical writing work, but it's nothing special. I like to think I can tell a pretty good story, but that doesn't really help in most of my classes. Psychology's pretty interesting so far, trig's not too bad, and economics is enh but manageable. * Haruko loses the grin and suddenly looks quite alert. "Oh? I'd forgotten that you'd been taking psychology." Yeah, just Psych 101. Core requirements. * Haruko nods. "It was an elective here. But I thought it might be," Haruko purses her lips, thinking carefully before remembering she's on camera. "Well, relevant." * Satoshi frowns slightly. "Is it bad that even after just a few weeks of it, I can see how it's relevant?" Well, in one sense yes, in another sense no. The past has already happened, but we might be able to learn how to better help those around us. And take care of ourselves too. * Satoshi sighs. "Yeah." He has another sip of coffee. "...I miss you guys. I miss you guys a lot. I miss home. Last semester I was so busy getting settled into things that in a way, I guess I didn't have time to be homesick, but it's hitting me really hard now. I think winter isn't helping, either. Lots of cold. And snow. I get up in the morning, and it's dark, and I walk to the rink, and it's dark, and in the afternoon when I get out of pracice, it's dark." * Haruko frowns. "That does sound pretty gloomy." She does idly flip through her psych book and smiles slightly, "But probably not seasonal affected disorder based on a single data point. Still, would there be a subject it'd help to talk about? Between dates and book club I haven't had a chance to do much road trip planning yet, but some of the places should be nice and sunny." * Satoshi laughs a little bit. "You're still on about the road trip, huh? Well, talking about sun and warmth and home wouldn't be bad." * Haruko puts her palms together and extends her fingers. "Some of my sixteen things are fun. So, you thinking maybe beach or hot springs? Depending on the place, tht doesn't have to be that expensive. Although there are trade-offs of course." * Satoshi opens up a new text file on his laptop. "What kind of tradeoffs?" Well, further from Tokyo helps on cost. Lake houses can be cheaper than oceans. Some towns don't really have much to do aside from the main attaction. But the nicer places will be crowded if they're affordable. Picking the time of year is pretty key. Golden week gets crazy of course but wait too long and it might just rain the whole time. My classes end the first week in May, so that keeps Golden Week out of the running. I'll be back the second week. * Haruko nods. "We can probably afford to gamble some. Find some likely places and be willing to travel if the weather is bad." * Satoshi takes some notes. "Makes sense, and we have plenty of time, too. Still another three months plus." He frowns slightly. "Anyhow. Hey, did you want to try those telepathy experiments you'd been talking about?" * Haruko nods and smiles before suddenly getting a distant look. "Yeah, but I have some bad news first. Something I learned while visiting Yamada-san about one of his former classmates." Haruko's tone is sad but also very deliberate in attempting to maintain its casualness. * Satoshi blinks. "What?" * Haruko sighs, looking down for a moment before returning her eyes to the screen. "Kageri Fuyuko-san, after all that happened, she died. The details aren't really announced in the public record..." * Satoshi inhales sharply. "She's dead?" he says, quietly. * Haruko nods. "After I heard the news and recovered, I did find an article by Chikako. She was discrete with the specifics, but it seems like Kageri-san never really recovered mentally or spiritually." * Satoshi closes his eyes and puts a hand to his forehead. "...she committed suicide, didn't she." It's not a question. That would be my guess, or near enough in her own passive way. * Satoshi looks back up. "Gods. And if it was Chikako writing about it, then... it was a while ago?" Chikako is writing for a college paper now, based on my search, but yeah October 2002. I... was sick after I heard. I think I cleaned Yamada-san bathroom well enough that he might not have noticed. * Haruko's tone combines a deeper guilt with obvious shame at being a bad guest. * Satoshi lifts his hand for a moment, then sets it back down on the desk. "Oh, gods, Haruko, I'm so sorry. Did... did he know?" About Kageri-san, I mean. He knew about her and some of the rest. Katie filled in more. Although she switched to English at some point so I lost the thread. * Satoshi bites his lip and nods. Then he's quiet for a moment. "Were they friends?" he finally asks. Yeah, apparently he and Izumi tried to help her before things went really bad... she was in a real bad place. Oh... Izumi is actually in my bookclub. She's as cool as I remembered. * Haruko quickly loses that happy thought. "I should probably text Yamada-san about that. He tried to keep her away from this, I can't blame him." * Satoshi gets confused. "What's wrong with a book club? That sounds like it should be fun." * Haruko is a little relieved to stay on this topic. "Well, we're actually reading that Council of Mysteries series. But beside that, he tries not to talk about her around us. I don't want to scare him by suddenly getting all close to his best friend." * Satoshi reaches for his coffee. "Well, from what I've heard of Izumi, if she decides she's going to be your friend, you're going to be her friend. I don't think you have to worry about that. Honestly, I kind of want to meet her myself. If you're just hanging out in a social situation, then I don't see the problem." He eyes his tumbler for a second, then hangs onto it without drinking anything. "But, okay, *those* books..." He sighs again. "Kaede got copies and I haven't read them yet. I keep putting it off. I mean, I've been legitimately busy, but... I've had chances to start the first one and I haven't." * Haruko shrugs. "We're on it. And, well really as magical realism goes, they're no Utena." She lets out a breath. So unpleasant surprises out of the way, shall we experiment? * Satoshi looks like he almost wants to say something more, but he's okay with the change in topic. "Sure. Uh, how do we even start? Well, I've got some flash cards for quizes. So you could just try to figure out what I'm looking at first. Keep it easy. But... was there something else you wanted to say? I think you're right about Izumi, I think he'll respect her choices in this but I should let him know anyway. * Satoshi takes a deep breath. "How bad are the books? Like, seriously." I've only read the first one. Takeuchi-san may have the second, but it's not out yet and I gave the copies to Katie. It definitely has a lot of characterization that seems familiar, including fire phobias. * Haruko scowls at that. "But it's not like most of the characters are one-to-one with actual people and it doesn't use actual names." * Satoshi winces. "That's... that's still a little too close for comfort, though. I mean, it could be a coincidence, but..." His tone of voice makes it pretty obvious that he doesn't think it's a coincidence. * Haruko shakes her head. "He recognized me at the reading. There's too much of me and Katie in the main character. I don't want to say she's us, but he's definitely got some real life inspiration." * Satoshi sets his coffee tumbler down. "Dammit. *How*? How does he know and how is he getting away with it? We know Masaru's not helping him. At least, that's what it sounded like." * Haruko folds her arms. "I'm not sure. I have my hypotheses, but it's all just speculation at this point. But there's no shortage of people he could be talking to. There's one quiet character that could be..." * Haruko snaps her fingers. "Oh, did I tell you about my dream?" * Satoshi shakes his head. "No. Your dream?" * Haruko goes through her papers. So we were our past selves. And we, they, were talking about a betrayal by some quiet one. Isao-sama was caught completely by surprise but Hideo was calm and calculating about it. That part surprised Isao too. * Satoshi's eyes widen and he goes completely pale. "What. Why... why are you..." He swallows hard, attempting to regain some sort of composure, but it's not working at all. "Why the hell is everyone dreaming about Hideo lately? What's going on?" He is totally freaked out now. "First Wataru, now you... is he trying to send some sort of *message* or something?" * Haruko's voice is calm and warm. "Satoshi, I don't know about Wataru-san, but on my end, I think it's because I was trying to puzzle out the book. Isao-sama was close to Hideo, there were very strong feelings there. But look, physical continuity isn't the most important thing, I think I'm closer to Isao than you are to Hideo. * Satoshi laughs. It's kind of hysterical. "Yes, you're closer to Isao. Because I want to be as far the hell away from Hideo as possible. But I can't, beause like you said... physical continuity. We have the same *body*, Haruko. I didn't die and reincarnate." But you've succeeded Satoshi. Not at physical proximity but at being a good and kind person. One who would never do the things he did. * Haruko carefully watches Satoshi as she speaks, trying to gauge what it takes to get him to face his fears regarding Hideo. * Satoshi puts his head in his hands. "Am I, though? It seems like every time, I... no. I promised. I promised that I would try not to run away. I..." He looks at Haruko. "Are you scared of me, Haruko?" * Haruko breathes a bit easier sits up straight. "No, never Satoshi. I sometime get scared of our connection fading, but I don't think that will happen. And you always talk about how you run away, but pulling back from something you aren't comfortable with is sometimes the right thing to do, the courageous thing to do." And she then smiles warmly. "And if you have the slightest doubt, well, try to read me and find out for sure." * Satoshi relaxes a tiny bit. "I won't leave you. I promise. And I... maybe once we're all together again, like physically together, we can work more on this Hideo stuff. I'd feel better if you guys were actually there." * Haruko nods. "This silly dream stuff isn't that important anyways. If I have any more, unless they're immediately relevant I can just write them down and we can talk about it in person when you're up for it." * Satoshi lets out a deep, slow breath. "Okay. Okay, I... if it's really important, like if you think it's dangerous important, let me know. I think I should know that. Otherwise... otherwise, yeah." Then he smiles. "Thanks, Haruko." So... experiments? I think I've calmed down some now. * Haruko nods. "You're welcome." She grabs her fluid dynamics formula flashcards. "So, first try to just tell what I'm looking at, then you can try reading me fully. * Haruko's cards list formula one side and the names on the opposite. She's looking at the name side to make it easier for him. * Satoshi looks at Haruko, reaches out to her with his mind. Come on, she's there, he thinks. There and not there, but she's sending this to you. Concentrate. Reach for the stream as it flows by you. Then, all of a sudden... Mass current density. That's a thing? * Haruko shows the card. "Yup." She then proceeds to test him on a few more cards that he'll also easily pickup. "So, time to try something harder. Ask me a question. One you don't know the answer to and that isn't boring." Well, first can I try sending something to you? * Haruko nods. "Of course." ~I have no idea how this is actually working. But I'm glad it is.~ * Haruko waits a moment and listens to his sending, before adding, "Like you could send what it'd take to get you to watch Utena." ~What? Oh god, seriously?~ * Satoshi bursts out laughing. * Haruko echoes. "I have no idea how this is actually working. But I'm glad it is." She then just looks at him and beckons him forward. Metaphorically presumably. * Satoshi shakes his head. "You and Wataru and trying to get me to watch that series. Well, no. I'm not sure he's tried yet." He gets a mischievous grin. "See if the two of you can work together to convince me." * Haruko smiles. "Simple enough. Okay, now you ask a question or two. Make sure you can still read me for deeper stuff." Okay, so... ~You said you were going to go shopping for Coming of Age Day. How'd that go?~ * Haruko was waiting while Satoshi was deciding, so she does type out a message to send later to Wataru: FYI, two things. 1 ran into Izumi at book club. We want to be friends. Cool? 2 We need to work together to convince S. to watch Utena. * Haruko is thinking along with that so Satoshi gets a snippet of the message. She takes a moment to concentrate on the appearance of her furisode and Maki's. ~Maki's is amazing~ ~I haggled, it was awesome~ ~I'm a little jealous that she's doing space~ ~Mine is elegant, nice and watery~ ~When should I tell Hibiki about my powers?~ ~I pretended that my father was Maki's father, it made the bargaining easy~ * Satoshi concentrates and tries to pick each of Haruko's thoughts out of the rushing stream. "Okay, so, sounds like the shopping went well. The kimono sound really cool. And the bit about your father is funny. I've met him a few times, and I can see that. But..." ~You want to tell Ken about your powers? Does he even know about Arcana?~ ~Yes, I want to tell him badly~ ~I don't know, wasn't he at the big fight, it's all a blur now~ ~But we can play with them, that's the point~ ~No, it feels different when I dance for him, he knows who he is, the others weren't really tested~ ~Oh, right, Satoshi's met father, that'll help when I ask if he can stay over the summer~ ~Don't think about playing with powers with Hibiki, don't think about playing with powers with Hibiki~ * Satoshi blinks a few times and turns deep red. "Uh," he manages. * Haruko takes a deep breathe and assumes that Satoshi has cut off the connection right now. "So, as I said, you don't scare me." She grins. "Although the opposite may still sometimes be true." * Haruko then switches to a demure smile and gives him a moment. * Satoshi manages a nod. But powers aside, the ability to be honest with him, that would make a lot of things easier I hope. Yeah. Having a relationship with another Arcana... you don't have to hide part of yourself. * Haruko tilts her head slightly and nods. * Haruko does take interest in that comment though. "Have you thought about it before?" To be honest? Not really. * Satoshi sighs. "I have to hide part of myself from my friends here." And... it kind of sucks. * Haruko nods. "I know how that is. I think that's part of what went wrong with Kenta and Takumi. But even if I could have been honest with them, I'm not sure they'd have understood." It's hard, yeah. Like it's not so much that I *want* to tell them, but it's hard just doing a lot of low-level truth concealment. But I did sort of reinvent myself a bit before I came over here anyway. * Satoshi grins. "Our shopping spree helped." * Haruko grins. "It was fun." I think we're going to have to do it again this summer. I swear I've grown another inch. Seriously, the team program says I'm 5'10" but I'm pretty sure the last time they checked I was 6'0". * Haruko clasps her hands together again. "Wow, I guess there really is something in the food or water over there. But I'm happy to help. You know my roommate cosplays? Turns out he sews a lot of his own stuff. So he's been helping a bit with, uh, alterations. Paul-san? Really? What's he cosplay as? I'll have to ask him. I'm not so great at recognizing this stuff. The club has dressed up for holiday fundraisers. We did do Ah My Goddess. Maki got to be Skuld, which is fair, she's young. But for some reason everyone insisted I go Urd. * Haruko is just confused by this set of developments. * Satoshi is also confused. "I'll, uh, should I ask him about that?" Maybe. But if he just snickers too, I don't want to hear about. Okay. That seems fair. * Haruko yawns, covering goes her mouth, before going back to demurely smile. "So, it's getting a little late over here, anything else you want to talk about?" Nothing big, I think. I don't want to keep you up too late. * Haruko stands and stretches. "Well, I'm glad we did this, and that the experiment was successful!" The audio gets a little weaker with the movement. Me too. I'm sorry it took so long, but... the two of us, we have pretty busy schedules. So we'll have to plan our next one soon! [End!]