sagittariusly | (no subject)

[HELLO]

Go grocery-shopping, help Jirou with the work he had to catch up on, meet...Tomoko-chan? That last one wasn't on the list of things to do for today, but he'd add it. He jogged up. "Tomoko-chan! Fancy meeting you here!"

[ HOWDY O/ ]

Tomoko immediately looked up from perusing her book to glance behind her. Blinking repeatedly she said, "Ryu-Ryusei-san!" It was strange; she hadn't expected him to be in this part of the city. "What are you doing here?"

"Just passing through." Why did she sound surprised? Was it something he'd said? It was true Ryusei didn't usually hang out with the Club on Sundays; he had other people to be friends with. But meeting each other while walking around should have been fair game, right?

...But what were the odds that it would happen? Unless they moved in the same areas— Ah. Well. If Ryusei didn't already have his hands in his pockets, he'd be doing that. He really had been just passing through, but now it was a little awkward. "It's a shortcut I take," he explained self-consciously. "...How about you? Shopping?"

It wasn't anything he'd said, really - it was just that she thought only a few people knew this route (JK and Gentarou might because they once visited the occult shop she frequented), and she hardly expected anyone she knew to be here now.

Tomoko closed her book and hugged it closer to her chest. "...Mm. I just... bought something from my favorite store. Over there." She pointed at the darkest, dingiest part of the street.

...Ryusei couldn't honestly say that that was unexpected. Don't ask her what she bought.... "I...see."

He was probably holding her up. "—Are you headed somewhere now?"

"Well..." She debated on whether or not she should tell him the truth since Tomoko didn't want him to think she was trying to make him spend time with her - it had been a while since they last saw each other, after all - but this was Ryusei and besides, he did ask.

Slowly, she opened her book to a certain page and pointed at a specific part of it. "I was going to look for a place that sells fresh newt toes, but I don't know where to start."

I wouldn't know where to start looking for that, either. Oh— Careful, that almost showed on his face. Well... Ryusei was just heading home, anyway, and he'd already done most of his assignments. If nothing else, he could beg off if it got too late.

"Which stores have you already tried?" Grid search, maybe? Was there a friend Tomoko could call about this? Usaka Ritsuko...was her name? "And...would any of your friends know where to get them?"

She shook her head. "I haven't gone anywhere yet. I've just bought this book a while ago and I only decided to brew this potion when I read it. It's for JK and his nerves."

Tomoko hugged the book again. "The shop owner said it's hard to find this ingredient, but I'm certain someone in the city sells it." Pause. "...there's this store at the other side of the city that I'm planning to see, and that's where I'm going now."

"Did it get bad?" JK hadn't seemed nervous when Ryusei had left, but anything could have changed since. Confronting Gamou couldn't have been easy, he didn't think, but he hadn't been there and had only the others' accounts to go off of. Kengo had come back, in any case, so Ryusei assumed their memories of Gamou might have softened somewhat since then.

"I'll go with you, I have some time. How far is it?" 'Other side of the city' could mean several directions, and if the route took them past Ryusei's place, they could take Ryusei's bike. He was sure he had an extra helmet stowed away somewhere; the question was whether or not it would fit. If it didn't, they would have detoured for no reason, so Ryusei figured they'd only take it if they were going that way.

Tomoko shrugged. "He always seemed as though he was on the verge of telling me something, but he never go through with it. I want to help him. The store was out of Tiger's Bone Essence Calming Tonic - which is why I have to brew an alternative."

At his offer, her eyes widened and she clutched her book to him. "You--you will?" Quickly, she shook her head. "N-No, Ryusei-san, I wouldn't want to burden you."

JK wasn't normally so hesitant; it must be important. Didn't sound like the sort of thing a brew could fix, though....

—What? ...I have arms that can support the weight of more than one, you know. Maybe a situation like this was different from that. But it wasn't like he'd be of much help to her, either, when they got there. (If 'they' got there....) "It's no trouble at all! ...I was thinking we could take my bike, if it wasn't out of your way...?"

Ryusei's bike! She hadn't ever ridden one yet, and she thought she never would - though she wished she could, since bikes were integral parts of being a Kamen Rider. Tomoko could barely contain her excitement. "That would be nice," she said, smiling now. "I've never ridden in one before."

As for it being out of the way... well, it depends. "Where is it?"

Oh no. Don't get too excited... What if the helmet didn't fit? The nearest shop was too far out to be convenient, and he didn't want to keep her waiting at his house; he was the one imposing on her. He'd...make do. If nothing else, he could glare the helmet into submission because that would totally work—

"That way, at my place." He pointed in the general direction.

"Oh." Tomoko nodded. She'd never been at Ryusei's house before - there was no reason to be there, after all - so she waited for him to lead her there. "Thank you, Ryusei-san. You're very nice."

She was glad of this time to be with him since she missed his company. There wasn't enough time in between her classes and Kamen Rider Club activities to visit him at Subaraboshi - though Tomoko of course wished there was. "How are you?"

...JK had told him about this. 'Don't get into a situation where a girl calls you nice!' he had said. There wasn't anything Ryusei could do to stop it, though.... But then, he didn't think he and Tomoko had that problem JK was probably thinking of. Because unless something had changed recently, he and Tomoko had already clarified....

—He should start walking. "I'm fine. Everything's fine," he said sincerely. "Jirou's back in school." Don't mention Shirakawa. Just in case. What else had happened? They all concerned people Tomoko didn't know. So talk about people they had in common. "How's everyone? I hear it's the Space Kamen Rider Club now?"

"Jirou-san?" That was very good news indeed. Tomoko was very much aware of how much his best friend meant to him. "That's wonderful news, Ryusei-san - I'm very glad for you." Especially since it was one less thing for him to worry about.

...she'd be lying if she said she wasn't curious about Shirakawa, but somehow she kept mum about her. At his question, she laughed a bit. "Mm. Gentarou-san was the one who suggested it - he said he wanted to make friends with aliens. He... wants to meet the Presenters."

That sounded like Gentarou, all right. He probably thinks of them as Kengo's parents. Honestly, Ryusei didn't know if that was a good idea, but if everyone in the current Club wasn't against it, Ryusei didn't have any right to say otherwise.

"How are the freshman members? Haru-kun isn't causing any trouble, is he?" Musca hadn't been difficult at all to deal with. And Ran wanting to save him wasn't a sentiment Ryusei didn't understand. It was the way Haru hadn't listened to her as Musca that, even though it was a semester ago, made Ryusei think Haru might not listen to the others, either—which wasn't a problem, seeing as Gentarou collected problem kids, but Ryusei at least wanted to know about it.

"Haru-chan is very nice, Ryusei-san - he and Ran-chan have been very interesting additions to the club." Tomoko frowned. "If there were any disagreements arising in the group, it's usually between Ran-chan amd Gentarou-san. Ran-chan is... very headstrong." And grounded and practical, Tomoko thought. Ran wasn't afraid to say her piece, which Tomoko thought was very strong of her.

"However, the disagreements often don't last long, but when they do happen..." Here she paused, looked down at her book. "Maybe I should brew Ran-chan and Gentarou-san a calming tonic too...?"

Edited 2012-10-05 01:44 (UTC)

Between her and Miu (and Kengo), Gentarou was probably browbeaten. Ryusei was going to resist the urge to laugh.

"—That's good," he managed shortly, after reigning in his mirth. ...Wait. "No, I— I don't think they need any calming. The Club runs on violent clashes, right?" Gentarou had said that when he'd refused Ryusei Club membership; Yuuki and JK had told him some stories of the others but none of them had apparently been quite as violent a clash as Ryusei's had been. If it was Ran, though.... Well, from what Ryusei had heard, both Ran and Haru were given to secret resentments, but Ran had seemed more open now, and Ryusei hadn't met Haru at all and so couldn't say. If it was Tomoko saying he was nice, he'd trust her judgement.

"Maybe...make the tonic for Ohsugi instead? How is he?" Was he getting too old to keep up? When Ryusei was there, Ohsugi didn't drop by often anyway, but with Ran and Haru there.... "Ran-kun and Haru-kun have both attacked him in the past, haven't they? He isn't holding a grudge, is he?"

Tomoko glanced at him, confused. Why was he amused? Disagreements made her feel uncomfortable, at best - besides, she always pitied Gentarou when he was forced into a corner he couldn't back out of quite easily.

"...but Ryusei-san, I think Gentarou-san's sentiments are... understandable, even if they all aren't very doable. Sometimes I just agree with him because no one else did, and he looked so sad because of it." Surprisingly, Kengo also agreed with Gentarou... well, not all the time of course, but more often than he did before.

Then Tomoko shook her head. "Ohsugi-sensei doesn't even come near me. Just because he saw me use my white snake skin once..." She sighed. "I don't think he likes me."

It's like Gentarou says, 'Disagreement is the flavor of youth!' ...That wasn't quite right. But if Gentarou wanted liveliness, he got it. And Ran was never going to be malicious. And anyway, Gentarou was notoriously bad with girls' feelings, but he was earnest enough that they'd reconcile eventually. "Gentarou always works it out, in the end, though. I don't think you need to worry about him."

About Ohsugi, something was coming to mind. Something about...witches? Why would Ryusei think of that? Anyway...Ohsugi's favor wasn't any great loss. "He'll come around." The rest of the Club had, right? And even if he didn't, Tomoko would always be Tomoko; Ohsugi would just have to deal with it.

"What were you using the snake skin for?"

Gentarou never did let disagreements pass without coming into some sort of resolution the same day they've had it, which was very nice of him to do so. Ryusei was right; Tomoko didn't really have to worry about him.

As for Ohsugi and witches, well...that would be Ohsugi's encounter with Ritsuko and the rest of the girls Tomoko had once associated with. Tomoko wondered what would happen next year, should Ohsugi be her own homeroom adviser, though she supposed he'd already have his hands full with JK in the mix, too.

She nodded. "I hope so. I like Ohsugi-sensei - Haru-chan and Ran-chan too. He seemed to care a lot about us." Tomoko smiled. "He still liked to give Gentarou-san a hard time, too. But since Kengo-san is no longer often absent, I think Ohsugi-sensei isn't as hard on him as he was before."

Tomoko fiddled with the cover of her book. "I used the white snake skin to help JK locate his guitar. He wouldn't tell me how he lost it, but he did. We spent all day looking for it, Ryusei-san - it was very tiring."

Edited 2012-10-05 03:50 (UTC)

Pfft. He's an easier man to like than to respect. To be fair, Ryusei's estimation of Ohsugi had gone up when he'd grabbed Leo. —But he remained mostly an idiot, if not outright insufferable. "His heart's in the right place, I guess."

Finding a guitar wasn't some life-threatening thing that Ohsugi would have had to accept on the spot (like, say, Fourze), after all. Speaking of 'on the spot'....

"Here we are, but I'm going to have to bring my extra helmet down. ...Instead of waiting here...would you like to come up?"

Come up? Inside Ryusei's house? There's a bit of hesitation from Tomoko as she looks up the outside of the building. "...wouldn't anyone mind?" she asked, which belatedly she realized meant a load of things - whether it was someone Ryusei was living with, or perhaps - here she shot Ryusei an uncertain look - Shirakawa herself.

"My parents won't mind." Actually, knowing his father, he probably wasn't home right now, and his mother—Ryusei checked his watch—was at her doctor's appointment. "I don't think they're home, actually. But it'll only take a minute to grab it, so if you'd rather not—"

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any specific timeline?

i'm post-series right now, actually!

awesome!

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...book to her, not him sob.

i didn't notice! lawl (the "arms" line was a response to "burden")

oh I know! but I reread my tag and caught that slip :P

:P

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