sagittariusly | (no subject)

"That'd be great." If it was this much in advance, Ryusei could just reject other plans as they came up.

... But they should probably prepare ancillary food in case Tomoko's food got too bizarre. Ryusei didn't want to be eating centipedes. "What...kind of food are you good at?"

Actually, he didn't want to be eating space stew, either. Maybe Ryusei could get a really big cake to compensate....

"Rice balls," she replied. "Although I'm thinking of preparing bento boxes for everyone, and each bento will be... different from all the others." Just thinking about making it made Tomoko grin in unbridled anticipation. Each box would be prepared based on what Tomoko thought the recipient would like to eat, or maybe how Tomoko thought of them - or even a mixture of both.

...of course, all boxes would have natto in them, because she loved natto.

"How...different...?" He'd discuss this later with the others, he supposed. But it wouldn't do to exclude one member from the conversation, and several disparate conversations wasn't good, either. At the very least, he had to discuss this with Kengo; Kengo would know what to do.

But Tomoko looked so happy. "I'm— I'm looking forward to it." Help.

"It would be a surprise," she said, with a decided skip on her step. Tomoko would have to think thoroughly about each one, because she wanted the recipients to be happy even though they'd be celebrating her birthday. Shouldn't all birthdays be celebrated like that, anyhow? Anyway, she still had enough time to prepare, and thoroughly prepare she would.

"...don't worry, Ryusei-san, you won't find any centipedes in yours. Although I hope you like natto?"

I-is that a threat? That sounded too cheerful to be sincere. He'd known about Tomoko picking up on what people were thinking, but he didn't think he'd given himself away this time. Well, he hadn't been broadcasting himself that last time with Kyknos, either. As far as he remembered, he'd actually been looking away from her that time.... Or maybe she just really did do that to food and it was a natural thing for her to bring up. That was a scary thought.

"I-I can't confess that I do." At least, not the way Tomoko used natto. He really needed to consult Kengo now. "Not to...get in the way, but maybe...make some without it...?"

It was one of the things she didn't get about some people, though. Tomoko frowned and looked away. It was really unfortunate how they seem to dislike natto just because of how it looked like, how it smelled... "Yuuki-san... didn't think she'd like natto until I placed some on her food," Tomoko said lightly. "And, well, I placed some on the space soup she prepared for the club, and no one seemed to complain about it..." Or maybe they did, she just didn't know about it since that was also the day their trip was cut short, when Tomoko ran after Ryusei. Although no one ever brought it up to her after that...

"Have you tried putting some on fried fish?"

"... No." It wasn't like there was a dearth of ingredients to put on rice balls, though. Or...all the other things Tomoko put natto on. It was like putting soy sauce on everything just because it was there. Well, he'd...deal with that when it came to it. After all, it wasn't like natto was inedible.

"—Where should we celebrate? Amanogawa again?" Kengo's had been at school; Ryusei (and Miu, and Daimonji) could travel there. If Miu and Daimonji were allowed inside, then Ryusei probably was.

"You should, Ryusei-san - it's really good. It's also good on anything deep fried." Then again, this was coming from her - the one who put natto in everything, even in soups. That pretty much required an almost unhealthy fondness of the stuff.

Tomoko thought about his question. It was on the tip of her tongue to say the Rabbit Hatch but-- "We could do it in my house," she said tentatively. "It's not as big as Miu-sempai's but it's spacious enough. I don't think Mama would mind if I invite friends over." Actually, her mother would be ecstatic, since for the past year only Gentarou and Yuuki had ever visited her house.

"I don't think we need to worry about space." Gentarou's had been pretty small, for example. "If we can all fit, I'm sure it'd be fine."

Not that he thought Tomoko's place was as small as Gentarou's. Actually, Gentarou's place might be too small for the Club now, if they counted Ran and Haru. Or whether Tomoko's other friends were coming, but Tomoko would know best about that. "... Are you inviting the shopkeeper?"

"I... haven't thought about doing that," Tomoko admitted. It might be too presumptuous of her if she did that, she thought. "I was thinking I would share my birthday with the club, although... maybe I could bring Manami-san a bento box. Kyohei-san, too."

Speaking of Kyohei-san... "We'll turn here." She pointed at a corner lot at the end of the block. "That's his store."

That's right; people didn't normally invite shopkeepers to their birthdays. But Tomoko had spoken of...Manami? favorably, and apparently had known her since she was a child. It wasn't a long shot. "I think they'd appreciate it."

Hopefully the store wasn't outrageous. (Fresh toes.) Well, there was no backing out now. "Shall we?"

She nodded. It was certainly a nice gesture to extend to the shopkeepers, especially Manami. "I hope they do."

It wasn't long before they were standing in front of the store itself. Tomoko clasped her hands together, then looked at Ryusei. "Would you... like to come inside with me?" It's certainly not one's normal-looking store, she knew, and she didn't want him to get uncomfortable when he'd already done so much for her today. She wouldn't take it against him if he refused.

"Sure." Wasn't like standing out here would be any interesting. "Are you looking for anything else?"

Tomoko shook her head. "Just the fresh newt toes," she said. "I have the rest of the necessary ingredients with me back home." And with that, she pushed open the door to the store.

Much like Manami's store, this one was very dark inside, with only a number candles illuminating the corners and tables where the merchandise were sold. Unlike Manami's store, most of the things sold were inside large jars with water inside of them. Eyes, limbs, feet...

Tomoko... would just be looking at each jar with barely-concealed interest.

Ryusei hesitated before following. He could understand why it was dark in here, after a fashion—but the (lack of) lighting didn't make the jars look any less disturbing. Hopefully the building was fire-proof.

Tomoko didn't need anything else, so her errand would hopefully be a quick one. He'd stick close to her for the moment. "Are they here?"

"It's..." She walked a bit further into the store. "Ah! Here, Ryusei-san." Tomoko pointed at a jar half-filled with lizard limbs. Without preamble, she took it from its stand and held the jar close to her. "I'm going to ask Kyohei-san to wrap some for me. Could you wait for me here?"

Ryusei fiddled with nothing in his pockets before he answered. "S-sure."

Things in jars were harmless! HARMLESS. Ryusei wouldn't even think things in jars could be useful for anything, but this atmosphere made everything seem a little dimmer. But of course that was on purpose; it was just a trick. People like Tomoko wouldn't be affected at all.

Wait, did that mean he was an intruder? Haha, of course not. ... He'll just wait right here where Tomoko told him to.

It didn't take Tomoko too long to get back to him (ten minutes, at the most), though now she's carrying a smaller bottle containing the newt toes that she needed. She was looking pleased about her purchase though.

Seeing Ryusei where she left him, Tomoko thought about surprising him - and so she took a route opposite of the one before, intending on tapping him from behind. She could be very quiet in her approach, even when the store's atmosphere was already relatively somber. She grinned, then reached out to touch him.

What should he do? He'd been keeping an eye on Tomoko while she made her purchase (even when her ribbon had been all he'd been able to see), and had seen her take another way back. Since he was prepared to listen for her footsteps, he could guess where she was from the sound. And from the pauses between steps, it sounded like she was tiptoeing.

Maybe he was wrong? Probably it would be condescending to fake surprise, though. "Ah— Tomoko-chan." He turned around. "Are you ready?"

"...you knew I was coming?" It was ironic that she ended up being the one surprised here. "Ryusei-san, you're really good!"

JK always fell prey to her surprise appearances. Even Yuuki and Haru as well, sometimes even Kengo too - though he often masked his surprise with a cough and an irate look her way. She thought she could get away with Ryusei as well...

Then again, Tomoko hadn't tried her skill with Kamen Riders before. Maybe she shouldn't be surprised that his senses were, in fact, very sharp - sharper than most she knew.

Edited 2012-10-18 00:55 (UTC)

She probably would have done it if it were a normal situation—he'd lost track of her footsteps more than once. It was just.... He'd made sure to listen extra carefully when he'd lost sight of her, just in case.

He didn't know how to express that, though. Was it appropriate to say that he'd been watching her? Probably not. "Uh— Yeah," he said hesitatingly. "I guess so. ... Should we go?"

"Mm." There wasn't anything left for her to do here anyway. "Let's go."

Tomoko pushed the door open again and stepped out. A part of her was disappointed that her errand was now finished, but another was glad that it happened anyway. "Thank you very much for coming with me here," she said quietly. "Ryusei-san sure is very nice."

Well, it wasn't like he'd gone out of his way or anything. "No problem. I'll...see you at your birthday?"

She smiled at him and nodded. "I'll look forward to it. You can bring Jirou-san along, if you want."

Heh. "He doesn't know anyone. I think it'd be awkward for him." Introducing the people he cared about most to each other was tempting, but sticking one person into a semi-large group didn't seem a good idea if that person wasn't infiltrating the group. ...Or something like that?

"Besides, I'd...rather spend your birthday paying you attention than babysitting my friend." Ha, Jirou would cry if he'd heard Ryusei refer to him like that. More importantly, uh. Quick, think of something to take that statement back if Tomoko didn't take it well!