brage: Baku Ogata (Facepalm)
Baku Ogata ([personal profile] brage) wrote in [community profile] harmonize_rpg2014-01-21 03:29 am

(no subject)

Who: Baku Ogata, Persona Users
What: Team-Building Meeting
Where: Kobe, Regality
When: After Class, Thursday, May 11th

Reserving an entire room and providing drinks? How the hell did I get roped into hosting this at such a ridiculous place? Not to mention the money spent on the endeavor, but with all of this persona business, it seemed a bit out of place to worry about finances. I didn't even have that much spending money left. In truth, however, it was a welcome distraction from the stress of having all of the explosive components of the group come together under one roof without the adults to keep them tame; at least they did that much amidst all of the fear-mongering.

Baku had naturally arrived first to sort out the room reservations and whatnot. Along with him came a certain apprehension and paranoia; it was unlike him to skip out on kendo for something like this. What if someone caught wind of their activities? Despite a certain amount of inner protest, he knew that this was something that had to be done. No one of them would be able to succeed against the threats to come.

The teen soon began to regret arriving too early; he fiddles apprehensively and turns down several drinks before the first person arrives.
allisnothing: (turn/shrug)

[personal profile] allisnothing 2014-01-21 10:05 am (UTC)(link)
Haruka was the next person to arrive. She'd only been to Regality twice but apparently that was enough to get a cheerful, "Welcome back, Mistress!"

After a quick exchange, she was led to one of the private rooms away from the loud chatter in the main area and down a hallway to the far room. She thanked the maid and closed the door before turning her head towards Ogata and said,

"Hey."
Edited 2014-01-21 10:05 (UTC)
conformity: (everyday at ten o clock in the evening)

[personal profile] conformity 2014-01-22 11:26 am (UTC)(link)
Sayuri had made sure to leave early from the school since she absolutely didn't want to be late and there was always the possibility that she wouldn't be able to find it despite the explanation she got. But the girl managed to get there and find it easily in time if not a little on the early side, but she lingered for a long time near the entrance debating whether she should really step inside a place like this or not. It was awful, it was horrible, it was improper.. but in the end she knew she had no choice and that she had to meet up with the others and learn how to work with them despite the location so she stepped in.

Needless to say, by the time she had been led into the private room her face was about as red as a tomato. How was she ever going to survive all of this..?! Sayuri tried to respectfully bow when she spotted Haruka and Baku, but from the embarassment she almost tripped over her own feet instead.

"U.. um, g-good day, senpai!"
heirofkobe: (im a motherfather gentleman)

[personal profile] heirofkobe 2014-01-23 03:04 pm (UTC)(link)
The door to Regality opened soon after, and the maid at the door bowed upon Taue's arrival. A half-smile, half-blush crossed the young man's face - he did like coming here, even if it was embarrassing at the best of times.

In his pocket he had the coupons for everyone, and it didn't take long for him to be guided towards the private room in the back where the team was slowly assembling.

"Good afternoon, everyone," Taue grinned, reaching into his pocket and plopping the pile of coupons down, dead center. "Welcome to the jewel of Kobe. This place is wonderful."

Taue, it seemed, had been here a time or two. That much seemed certain by the fact that a young maid/waitress was already coming over to him, carrying a cup of coffee with milk and exactly two spoonfuls of sugar to the table. She bowed, and placed it in front of one of the seats.

Shinichiro nodded his thanks, and turned to the group as he sat down.

"Service is great, too."
suiseimushi: (お断りします)

[personal profile] suiseimushi 2014-01-24 01:22 am (UTC)(link)
Did they really have to meet at a place like this?

As soon as she heard the first cheerful "Okaeri nasaimase, ojou-sama!" Kisa knew this was going to be an uncomfortable experience. It felt like the sort of place otaku would frequent. Was this just to throw the adults off the trail?

That made her uncomfortable for entirely different reasons, but she knew she shouldn't jump to conclusions. And, at any rate, she had obligations to deal with now.

She made her way over to the group briskly and took a seat. She hid her discomfort quite well as she greeted everyone who'd arrived so far, but something in her face twitched almost imperceptibly when she saw the stack of coupons.

Then again, Taue did have something of a reputation...
allisnothing: (patient)

[personal profile] allisnothing 2014-01-24 06:15 am (UTC)(link)
Ogata's reaction almost drew a smile. She would have pointed out it could have been worse (such as, if she'd suggested somewhere near the red light distract - even if that would have been a joke) until Inoue arrived. She nodded to greet her and before she could supply an answer to Ogata's unspoken question, Taue arrived.

Though she couldn't see it, she heard a loud plop and several pieces of paper scattering across the table....Least there was someone who'd been there more than her. She pushed a coupon that had touched her hand back towards the larger pile in the center, and nodded to Saiga as she entered.

"Imaizumi-senpai, Hachi, Suzuki-san, and maybe Abendorofu-san," she replied. "So we can start now and catch people up or take advantage of some of these coupons I guess?"

As if on cue, a maid returned to check on the filling room. At her question, Haruka asked for a piece of chocolate cake and iced green tea. At least she might as well enjoy something out of the coming topic.
conformity: (let me feel the air again)

[personal profile] conformity 2014-01-25 07:31 pm (UTC)(link)
As other people came in and the whole gathering became a little louder, Sayuri just made sure to sit there quietly, listening to the other people more than anything else. In fact, she didn't speak up again until she heard someone directly talk to her - the boy sitting there. She gave him a small and polite nod in return to his introduction. "Hmm.. I'm new, please forgive me for not introducing myself. I'm Inoue Sayuri, it's nice to meet you.."

But she was quickly distracted after that by Taue's display of the coupons. How could one person have all of those for a place like this?! Why would a person have even one of those for a place like this sounded like an even better question in this case. Sayuri bit her lower lip to keep her face from going pale from shock at the sight, awkwardly avoiding meeting the guy's gaze in any way. And when the waitress was taking orders, all she did was shaking her head and politely saying that she didn't need anything and would be fine. There was no way she could eat something in a place like this, it was making her stomach shrink from nerves..

[personal profile] burningbow 2014-01-26 08:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Mirai had walked through the reception with a disinterestedly curious look. He had no desire for these ladies in their frilly uniforms or anything else. These sorts of girls usually came to him with a hope to bring him home with them, like they were getting a brilliant prize for little effort. But as he had done it so many times, acted on what he could do more than he ought to, he was bored enough to feel that he ought to see what his teammates needed.

He was late. What a shameful thing to have done! He might as well keep quiet and wait at the back for them to finish speaking. He thanked one of the maids politely, flirted with a gentle touch and delightful smile and took one of the drinks.

"I'm never late, Kiri-chan. I just arrive gracefully," he said.
acidhexagon: (Default)

[personal profile] acidhexagon 2014-01-26 11:56 pm (UTC)(link)
You could imagine it from the low perspective fitting a western: The perfectly polished shoes hit the floor, dust raising and then avoiding them out of the sheer repulsive force of the obsessive compulsion that made them immune to dirt.

One foot, then the other.

Minoru stood staring at this locale with doubt in his eyes, a slight scowl, and the sort of trepidation reserved for going into a death gauntlet. He breathed deep, walked in, and immediately felt the culture shock when he was approached by a maid... There was some staring and bowing back, but he just wanted to tell her that's not how a Japanese woman should go about and oh the 19 mistakes in form but, he couldn't make a fuss. Not until he was with the others.

He walked into the room and eyed them all. What an assembly.

Those foreign movies that he'd been watching to try to "get" them - now borderline Wisney, but thanks to property merger in the early 21st Century, still valid - had brought words to his mouth when he saw them. He thought of wrinkled old men in black cloaks, in authority, whose point of view nobody bothered to listen to before demonizing, and whose words just fit this place very well.

Insignificant rebellion.


"Hello, friends. Ah, and what a day to--"

He made a sound like someone had just stepped on a sore toe. A sort of pained squeak.

"--avoid some of our responsibilities and get... away from the pressures of our guardians... right?"

He paled a little. His hands were visibly white and twitchy.
fassade: (Default)

[personal profile] fassade 2014-01-31 04:41 am (UTC)(link)
A little bit later, Chloe showed up. Opening the door to the maid cafe as if she either didn't know what kind of establishment it was or simply didn't care, she made her way towards the back room once she was told where the group was. As she walked through the establishment to get to the back, some conversations ceased as people stared at her as she went. Again, these looks seemed to roll right off her as she opened the back door, stepped inside, closed the door, and bowed slightly in apology for being late.

The German took a seat farther away from the group but within earshot, not making eye contact with anyone. While distant and curt, she was still for the most part polite.
acidhexagon: (Calling Major Bullshit)

[personal profile] acidhexagon 2014-02-01 05:37 pm (UTC)(link)
"That's because I also care about responsibilities," Minoru said... at first, a bit awkwardly, still stricken with the sort of uncertainty from having had no idea what social cues to use.

But this was something he understood.

"Someone died. It affects us, and we are responsible for doing something about it. Even if I don't like the idea of going behind the backs of our superiors, a proper Japanese youth never shirks responsibility... And never over something this important."
hoshikage_himeko: (pic#6641439)

[personal profile] hoshikage_himeko 2014-02-02 11:35 am (UTC)(link)
Himeko had never been to a maid café before.
She also would have never thought that she’d walk into one sometime soon, as it wasn’t quite her cup of tea. But then again here she was.
Honestly, she was happy that she found her way here without having any kind of major troubles this time.
She would never openly admit it but deep inside she knew that her sense of direction was extremely poor.
Originally, she had arrived pretty quickly. Maybe even before some of the others. Even so, she was the last one to enter the meeting room. Not on purpose of course.
Somehow it seemed as if the maids, she had asked for the room everyone should be gathering at were mistaking her for a new co-worker and therefore tried their hardest to introduce her to the workflow.
It took the totally confused Himeko a while to free herself from that unwanted “part-time job offer” but in the end she finally managed to make the real reason for her being at a place like this clear to them.

Greeting the others with a bow, she quickly grabbed a seat somewhere as soon as she could.
“I don’t know what those maids here are thinking… trying to make me one of them… As if I would fit into a group of burikko-people with ultra-high pitched voices. The only cute thing about them are their cute clothes.”, she mumbled, shuddering slightly. It was still a bit of a shock for her and it also irritated her in a way.
Even though, she acted cute herself most of the time she couldn’t stand people trying to overdo it. There was a small but crucial difference between a normal cutesy act and acting “burikko” (so to say feign cute behavior to an extreme and make it come off as fake/inauthentic) and Himeko as someone who tried to make it come off as natural as possible was generally bugged by everyone crossing that line.
“Anyway... “, she decided to change the topic rather quickly since there was a reason they all gathered here after all. “Did I miss something important?”
allisnothing: (face shot? what face shot?)

[personal profile] allisnothing 2014-02-04 04:21 am (UTC)(link)
Hearing Hachi, Haruka smiled a little and said, "Huh...dunno, guess they were just drawn to your high cute appeal?"

It came automatically, probably because it was better than the stuff that had to be said next. Her cake and iced green tea arrived then and though they tasted just the way she liked it, she worried her fork into the cake without really seeming to pay attention before saying,

"Since we're all here and Suzuki-san brought it up...what do you all really think about what happened?" Though Haruka looked and sounded like she usually did, there was an underlying tension in her words that didn't leave any question about what the 'what' was. "Didn't really get to talk about it last meeting aside from being rail-roaded again."
fassade: (Default)

[personal profile] fassade 2014-02-04 04:58 am (UTC)(link)
The question posed by Haruka received only a simple grunt from the German. What did they think about what happened? Chloe tried her best not to think about it, to push the image of Miyume, lying so very still in her bed, out of her mind. Her gaze, while not directed at anyone, was intense to the point one might think her able to bore a hole in whatever she was looking at.

If this whole meeting was going to be about discussing their feelings on the matter, she might as well have not shown up. She was done with feelings, done with this stupid game of adults vs students. They had been told they had a responsibility, and normally she was down with being responsible.... but after what had happened, after looking at their situation.... why did it matter? It wasn't like they had a choice to shirk this responsibility anyway; the government had them all by the throats. There were no choices, merely a pathetic illusion of freedom.... and that made her angry.

Chloe stared at the table, a hint of that anger managing to leak through her carefully constructed mask. Even the small amount of anger that shone through made the German look all the more intimidating and terrifying. Thinking about their situation added fuel to her already furious fire, and the German did her best to push the anger back down as her bandaged hand clenched at her side.
conformity: (the mind of someone my equal)

[personal profile] conformity 2014-02-04 07:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Instead of looking at the others, Sayuri instead bowed her head the entire time all of them were talking and new people were arriving. She wasn't exactly used to being in this kind of meeting with so many peers, so she was still trying to figure out how exactly to act without looking like a complete idiot. So instead she was staring at the table so much she might as well have started to drill a hole into it with her gaze at this point.

But there was still one question playing through her mind. The girl didn't speak up about it since she sure didn't want to be rude and interrupt anyone, but with Haruka asking that question, it was a little easier to try and blend it into the conversation there. Although asking something meant having to look up a little bit again.. but Sayuri slowly gathered the courage to do so.

"Um, well.. if it isn't too rude to ask, I was wondering if that is what it's always like.." This was her very first contact with all those supernatural things, after all - it was right after she was even told about any of it that she was already forced to go along with them into that world.
allisnothing: (I don't see black)

[personal profile] allisnothing 2014-02-06 06:35 am (UTC)(link)
Haruka took a long sip of her tea before replying,

"Nah, not really." Definitely. "Usually get thrown into more quiet spots with generic mooks to beat up."

Beat. A bit quieter,

"But might not be the last time we see a place like that?"
acidhexagon: (Lelouch impression)

[personal profile] acidhexagon 2014-02-06 05:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Minoru watched Haruka, listening carefully... and then something awkward happened:

He was too busy thinking, searching for answers and pondering what had happened to run everything through his mental filter of loyalty, propaganda and patriotic jargon. So common sense came out undiluted.

"Honestly, if it happens, I wonder what you're supposed to do about it."

He stopped, pursed his lips, and made a slow, trailing gesture with the hands. "Sure, the authorities will be thinking of something - I trust they will - but it is expected of a proper Japanese youth to solve problems, and do the best in face of adversity. And a life was already lost," his voice quieted a little, "since we were... not prepared."

Looking up, he asked. "What will we do, when we face our reflections? Have we all made plans for the mental discipline it will take? I mean," a slight shrug of the shoulders, "we were prepared for shadows and avoiding making those mistakes. I guess it makes sense we just do the same but adjust the target audience... er, so to speak."
Edited 2014-02-06 17:44 (UTC)
acidhexagon: (Calling Major Bullshit)

[personal profile] acidhexagon 2014-02-07 09:08 pm (UTC)(link)
"I would think they know, yes," Minoru said, giving Baku a calm look. "Definitely more than we do. Unless any one of you has a," he paused to think up the right words. "Paranormal research lab."

"Sure, our superiors are not perfect... but I trust they will strive to be, rather than let down our country. It's to be expected. Kyoto wasn't built in one day."

With a slightly more bitter note, he added: "Does it matter? It doesn't answer the question: What do we plan to do when our turn comes?"

His voice was calmer, more crisp. "I don't imagine they would take excuses. 'I'm sorry, we were too busy questioning our leaders to figure out what to do here. Could you kindly wait there, by the corner, as I work through the motions? Much obliged.'"

A hand gesture for each word. "Structure. Order. Decisiveness. We need those to fight, for our country and for our survival."
allisnothing: (face shot? what face shot?)

[personal profile] allisnothing 2014-02-07 11:59 pm (UTC)(link)
As Ogata said 'Hazama-san gave her life to give us this information', Haruka suddenly put down her glass with barely suppressed force.

She wrapped her fingers around her cane again, feeling the grooves and bumps with aching familiarity as her hand dug in tight.

Miyume hadn't given her life for that. She hadn't done some noble sacrifice for the greater good or was some sort of martyr or sacrificial lamb. She'd been backed into a corner and then right off a ledge.

She still heard the rest of what Ogata and Suzuki said but it took a while before she pulled herself together enough to say,

"I'd settle for us being able to make it to graduation." She loosened her fingers from her cane a little, trying to look and feel more like her usual self than want to run out again or lose it entirely. "Whether the adults know better than us or not or even have noble intentions for the supposed greater good, they got different priorities. Otherwise they wouldn't have needed to keep dragging us into this? Or send the principle himself to make sure Miyume-chan came back to school?"

Miyume never answered whether she'd wanted to come back or not either...just that it didn't matter what she wanted...she should have at least been allowed to make that much of a choice herself. It was her future.

"They seem pretty hung up on keeping us until graduation at least. Even if we wanted to walk away, doubt they'd really let us." It was an illusion of choice. "We don't even know how long this is really going to be. Some of us are going to be out in ten months but the rest of us are apparently looking from anywhere between two to three years unless we somehow defeat whatever menacing, supposedly world threatening evil from beyond awaits. That's a pretty long time to be expected to suck it up and wait and see if we're going to end up like Miyume-chan or not."

'This is my place in society, Haruka-san. I'm not fighting it anymore. It's the price I pay for being defective.'

"We can't exactly plan for what we don't know is the trigger? Society's a pretty broad big enemy to prepare against." Beat. "But we can at least keep an eye out for each other where the adults can't? Wasn't like they noticed what was going on with her. And at least we can all agree we want to survive?"
acidhexagon: (Wistful animu)

[personal profile] acidhexagon 2014-02-08 01:07 am (UTC)(link)
"If we're going to face an image of what society expects of us, we can start by knowing what that is, and think of how to reject it. As it is, we know accepting it will..."

He paused, catching his voice.

"I won't have people dying resting on my conscience for being negligent and not even suggested we do something about it."
Edited 2014-02-08 01:07 (UTC)
allisnothing: (despair horizon)

[personal profile] allisnothing 2014-02-10 01:07 am (UTC)(link)
Haruka sipped her tea a bit longer, despite the fact it was now just ice. After a long beat, she said,

"Couldn't make everything out," and no one else filled in the gaps for her, "but her Reflection was convinced she was broken. Miyume-chan thought-" She swallowed hard. She couldn't lose it again, not right now. She could at least wait for another time,

"-sorry, something off with the green tea today." The lie came out easily and she made it look true when she composed herself, like she was herself. "Anyway...she thought she was defective. Which I guess people who didn't know her," and were stupid, "might have summed her up with? Just a burden who just needs to be 'fixed'.

"So with that in mind, anyone have any ideas about our group? Yourselves or anyone else."
acidhexagon: (Wistful animu)

[personal profile] acidhexagon 2014-02-10 01:51 am (UTC)(link)
Having bought into all the propaganda didn't mean that Minoru didn't have a sort of code of conduct--

He approached Haruka, leaning in.

"I'm sorry," he said, a little stiffly, in the sort of way anyone who knows there's nothing right to say would show. He followed by, "Should I go outside and have them bring you another tea?"
allisnothing: (what's that?)

[personal profile] allisnothing 2014-02-10 02:05 am (UTC)(link)
Haruka's still. For a while, it doesn't seem as though she heard Suzuki, or that maybe she was ignoring him.

Then, she turned and said, deceptively like herself, "Huh..." She nodded. "If you don't mind, Senpai?"
acidhexagon: (Pleasant/accomodating)

[personal profile] acidhexagon 2014-02-10 02:15 am (UTC)(link)
Minoru picked up the cup. It was noiseless - he had a very good pulse, apparently. "Excuse me while I return," he said, leaving.
conformity: (i run along side rush hour traffic)

[personal profile] conformity 2014-02-11 09:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Sayuri was mostly quiet as she listened to the others, having thanked Haruka with a small nod as she explained what it was normally supposed to be like before going back to being entirely passive.

Except by the time Baku spoke up again, there was something interesting in it to her-- training? She had never really done training of any kind other than what she did in kyudo club, but she doubted that really counted in the grand scheme of things. And he did say that they needed to get stronger and train to win.. and Sayuri even knew it herself. She wasn't strong enough to fight. She probably wasn't even as strong as all of the others sitting here at the table.

So she weakly nodded and rose her hand a little.

"Um.. If you don't think I'd be a burden, I'd like to train along with you. I don't have much experience though.."
allisnothing: (face shot? what face shot?)

[personal profile] allisnothing 2014-02-19 06:26 am (UTC)(link)
Suzuki was still out and, hearing no response to her earlier question, Haruka leaned back in her chair and picked at her cake with little appetite. In response to Ogata's, she replied,

"Training's good. Have to skip tomorrow though."

Considering critical thinking had taken her out of the classes she wanted to take and had come to Chitoku for, she wasn't missing club practice too. She also didn't feel like going back into the other world, yet.