[mostly open!] collecting friendship fragments: balance edition

[gotyourbach]

Who: Kaede Akamatsu (gotyourbach), Kokichi Oma (slieght), Maki Harukawa (erlebnisse), Shuichi Saihara (diffidentive), and YOU!

Where: assorted locations!

When: Within a few days of newbie arrival

What: a Dangan class trial meeting, and Kaede introducing her old friends to her new friends! Please let her introduce her friends

Content Warning: DRV3 spoilers likely in thread A below, others will be marked as needed!


A. Closed to Kokichi, Maki, and Shuichi

[Hardly anyone can be surprised that of all the places on the Moon she could have asked them to meet, it would be the Academy's music room. It's the place she feels the safest, after all! There's even a handwritten note on the door: CLOSED FOR A PRIVATE SESSION ♡♡♡

Kaede sits at the piano bench, because of couse she does, while she waits for the others to arrive. She pulled some chairs down from the stack for everybody to use when they get here, and she brought some safe-for-consumption snacks from Bender's café, just in case. Like the perpetually warm and soft chocolate-chip cookies! Everyone likes those.

After that, she just has to ward off the urge to play piano. It's like, right there. But she'll have time to play piano later! It's fine!]

B. Friendship Fragments - Shuichi (joint prompt with diffidentive)

[Kaede is walking with Shuichi toward the Artificer's office, chatting animatedly about -- something. Music, magic, regaling him with tales about her adventures in the Bureau, always with the most positive spin on it. But when she spots one of her friends, she grabs Shuichi's hand without warning and tugs him toward the new person.]

Hey, hey! Have you met Saihara-kun yet?

C. Friendship Fragments - Kokichi (joint prompt with slieght)

[It's nice that the Whomping Willow isn't so whomping anymore. Kaede remembers when it was literally attacking people on Maru. But it seems friendly enough now! She and a shorter boy are sitting under it, Kaede with some homework that she... hasn't started. She seems to be pouting at Kokichi for something he said until she spots someone she knows, then she's waving frantically, trying to gesture for them to come closer.]

Hey, over here! I have to introduce you to someone!

D. Friendship Fragments - Maki (joint prompt with erlebnisse

[Or, maybe, you've come to get yourself some dinner. Kaede's set up shop at a table with a rather severe-looking girl, and seems to be instructing her on Bender's rather... esoteric methods of making food. There's a dish of melting green tea ice cream in front of her that she seems to have forgetten in her animated explanation, and a few other assorted goodies that Kaede's just gotten in case Maki wants them.

She brightens when she spots a familiar face, though, waving for their attention. Maki tenses up as Kaede calls out, startled and uncomfortable. Her glare is intense, eyeing whoever approaches like she's sizing them up and judging them already.]

Hey, have you gotten to meet Harukawa-san yet? Do you have any recommendations for stuff she can order?

E. Wildcard! OTA [Wanna meet the kids somewhere else? Did we discuss another prompt on plurk? Feel free to use this log as a catch-all for that kind of thing!]

Comments

rubs my grubby lil hands together (this one is for shuichi)

[bu773rfly]

Mm.

[From Erika, that counts as a full sentence.

She's not a physically intimidating person. Short, thin, mostly buried under a spellcaster's cowl, toting a pair of books (Constructs: A Material Overview and Endless Nights: Liches Through History) away from the office with small, unhurried steps. When Kaede calls, she simply looks up, and then over Shuichi.

Her eyes sweep up and down him quickly but with surgical focus, carelessly scraping away observations. There's something a bit ominous about her curiosity. Or maybe her face is just like that?]

...Oh, I see. [What The Fuck Does That Mean] Hi.

[She's not quite smiling, but she seems comfortable with Kaede's presence, and in fact looks to her after that intense visual probing and clipped greeting, like she expects Kaede to immediately grab the reins and drag the conversation down the road.]

[gotyourbach]

Saihara-kun, this is Mishima Erika-san. Erika-san, this is Saihara Shuichi-kun!

[Kaede doesn't so much bounce as she flounces to Erika's side, taking some of her books to help her carry them. So what if Erika was probably headed back from the Artificer's Office instead of to it like Kaede and Shuichi; Erika's short and cute, and Kaede wants to help.]

Saihara-kun and I spent a lot of time together before I got here... he's a really good friend of mine, so be nice to him!

[Her tone hovers on the edge of exasperation and fondness. Erika can be very blunt, and sometimes difficult, but Kaede thinks she's great all the same.]

[diffidentive]

[As Erika looks him over, Shuichi can't help but suddenly feel very self conscious. He feels like he's being x-rayed and he's not sure he really likes that. But he bows at the waist in response to her somewhat unorthodox greeting.]

N-Nice to meet you, Mishima-san.

[He has a very soft, almost effeminate voice that only further adds to the general aura of passivity and bulliability that he seems to exude. Something of which that surgical glare of hers could probably pick up on with laughable ease. This is not a very confident teenage boy right here.]

[bu773rfly]

[Those are - Kaede, those are her books. She blinks, and seems about to hold onto them or take them back, but her shoulders twitch up in a tiny shrug and her arms drop and those are Kaede's books now apparently.]

Sometimes I'm nice. [@ Kaede. It's a joke. A deadpan one, and Shuichi might start to get the sense that she really is just like that, all her expressions slightly muted, all her words deliberately plucked forth from a default watchful silence. She watches him bow, does nothing for a moment, and bows back more shallowly, almost shyly.]

You too. [Considers him further for a second, assembling opinions.] Looking after Akamatsu is never a one-person job, so let's keep it up.

[gotyourbach]

[She giggles at the joke, holding Erika's books close. She might have complained about carrying them in the past, but since she's started training with a rapier, she can't help but feel like she's gotten at least a little stronger. And if she counts carrying Erika's books as something like weightlifting, then she can finish training sooner and go back to the music room.

Her eyes are starting to drift away, thinking about what kind of piece she wants to play first, when she's brought back abruptly by the sound of her name.]

What, huh? [It takes a second for her to catch up.] ...Hey! I'm the one who's looking after both of you!

[She hoists the stack of books a little higher as if to prove her point. Look at how strong she is! Carrying... a stack... of library books.... wow.....]

C'mon, Saihara-kun, let's walk Erika-san back to -- umm... wherever's she's headed. She's really smart, so I think the two of you will be great friends!

[diffidentive]

[But...library. They were gonna go to his favorite dome! :( Though he'll go along with this sudden change without complaint. Lead the way, Kaede. As is usual when the two of you are together.]

Aha...well I can't really say that I've...ever been the one looking after Akamatsu-san. But...I'll try.

[For the entire three days that they knew each other in the killing game, it was the other way around. Kaede was definitely the one looking after him, because he was even more of a wet blanket then than he is now. A soaking blanket, whereas now he is only slightly damp.]

[bu773rfly]

[She has an escort now apparently. Erika looks between them and shrugs, either at Shuichi or at no one in particular. Off they go, then, Erika loosely leading the way.

She seems comfortable with silence, interested but uninclined to push too far further on her own. Great friends, huh. Erika automatically adjusts Kaede's opinions for enthusiasm, and appreciates the spirit of them.]

Hmm. [Beep boop storing that remark for future reference.] Am I part of your orientation tour now?

[gotyourbach]

[They can always come back to the library! Right now they're Escorts.]

Ummm... [Orientation tour, huh? She looks to Shuichi thoughtfully before nodding and hoisting the books a little higher with an enthusiastic laugh before launching into her best narration voice.]

Yeah! On your right, Saihara-kun, you can see my friend Mishima Erika-san! She's really, really cute and smart, and good with computers, too! Oh, she has this big butterfly familiar... it's really pretty.

[Her tour guiding needs some work, probably.]

[diffidentive]

[Kaede, he is embarrassed for you. How did you manage to say all that with a straight face?]

Um... butterfly familiar?

[bu773rfly]

[Erika closes her eyes for the duration of that, exasperated but fond.] Mmhm. [She reaches up to the hood piled around her shoulders and hikes it up a little. A large blue butterfly pops out of from the fabric and climbs up to the top of her head. Apparently it was just there the whole time.]

[gotyourbach]

[Kaede is not embarrassed even a little bit, but she is surprised by the sudden appearance of the butterfly. She'd clap in delight if she weren't holding books.]

Oh! See? Saihara-kun, you should get something like that! A little animal to keep you company... wouldn't that be nice?

[She sort of wishes she could have a familiar... it seems like it might be fun? Maybe she'll check that book Akechi found about Rune Fencing to see if there's a spell for Summon Animal Friend.]

[diffidentive]

[Um, scuse you. He HAS a little animal friend and his name is Yacchi. Did you forget?]

[Shuichi is giving that butterfly a somewhat wary look, though. Yes, it's pretty, but it's also very big and he's not sure he wants to get any closer than this to be honest. The memories of the Insect Meet and Greet are still too fresh in his memory. It's actually making his skin crawl a little just thinking about it.]

Um...I suppose? You called it a familiar though, right? Does that mean it's the result of a path spell instead of having been obtained by more mundane means? I mean...you didn't go out and catch it with a big net or anything like that, did you?

[bu773rfly]

Yeah, it is. I have to summon it if it's destroyed or separated from me or anything. [Explanation is the button that makes Erika talk. Her words come without hesitation, but plainly and precisely, and she watches the ground in thought.] It takes an hour of concentrating on the source of my powers, and then it manifests. Do you know about the butterfly dream?

[A very abrupt question, presumably for Shuichi.]

flip flopping order rq

[diffidentive]

[Shuichi can understand that. He also becomes more talkative when explaining things. He gives a little nod of understanding how she explains. He can't help but be a little impressed by her concentration abilities, though he isn't too surprised. She seems like the kind of person who would be good at that.]

Um...do you mean the philosophy of Zhuangzi?

[gotyourbach]

Saihara-kun is really smart.

[That's. That's Kaede's contribution. Otherwise she's more than happy to let Erika continue explaining.]

[bu773rfly]

Exactly. [She beams. I don't remember what the V3 social link system is exactly but it ranks up with the jingle and everything.] That's why it's shaped like that.

[diffidentive]

[Shuichi looks a little uncertain at Kaede's comment. The look all too plainly says that he doesn't know about "really" smart...but he doesn't actually say it. Progress? He's just thinking it.]

I see...so are all familiars butterflies then? Or just yours? I'm guessing the latter, but...that parable could easily be applied to the concept of familiars in general...

[gotyourbach]

[Don't you look uncertain, mister! Kaede believes in you!

Especially now that she's gotten lost again.]

Huh? How could it apply to familiars in general?

[She looks between her two friends, mystified.]

[bu773rfly]

[She shakes her head, watching the dynamic between the two work out. This....

This is exactly what she would have expected of Kaede's close friend. It's astonishing in its predictability.]

That's right. It would make a lot of sense, though.

[Shuichi is on the other end of a meaningful, expectant stare. Care to enlighten Kaede as to why, here?]

[diffidentive]

Well...

[He looks a little nervous, probably because of that piercing stare he's getting from Erika. It may not be aggressive, but it is a little overwhelming, at least for a meek personality like Shuichi. So he focuses his gaze on Kaede instead as he explains.]

The Butterfly Dream was a parable by the Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi. One night, he had a dream so realistic that he truly believed he was a butterfly, flying on the wind. Then he woke up, and remembered that he was a man. But it left him with the question of whether he was a man dreaming he was a butterfly or if he was now a butterfly dreaming he was a man. "Between a man and a butterfly, there is necessarily a distinction. The transition is called the transformation of material things."

[Sorry if you already knew this, Kaede. But he's assuming you must not know the story if you can't see how it relates to familiars.]

I don't know a lot about this kind of...fantasy stuff. But familiars were mentioned in one of the novels I've been reading. [You know, when he's not studying. Does this boy do anything other than read in his free time??] And the way I understand it, they're different than just a normal summon. They're kind of like...an extension of the summoner themselves, instead of an independent being that any mage could call upon, hence the term "familiar".

[He gestures to Erika's butterfly, giving the girl herself a look that seems to be asking for confirmation on some of his facts. His only knowledge of familiars comes from a work of fiction, after all. Fiction and a few comments from a friend of his who thinks she's a mage and once mentioned her own "familiar" to him.]

Mishima-san is the only one who can summon this butterfly because it's a part of her. So, in a way, familiars themselves can be seen as a parallel to the ultimate question of Zhuangzi's dream. Is Mishima-san a human summoning a butterfly or a butterfly summoned by a human?

[Make sense?]

[gotyourbach]

I know what the butterfly dream is... it's a theme used in modern piano arrangements.

[She pouts at him, but lets him continue with his explanation as they walk, adjusting her grip on the books every now and then to make them easier to carry. A familiar is an extension of the mage themselves...? It kind of reminds her of how Gundam talked about his hamsters, except she's pretty sure that back home, they were just normal hamsters.

She hums in understanding, though, nodding every so often.]

I think I get it... Well, even if Erika-san were a butterfly dreaming of being a human, I'd still be her friend!

[bu773rfly]

Hmm. Actually...I couldn't have said it better myself.

[She makes it sound like she's admitting defeat, but her tone of voice is very pleased. The familiar lifts off abruptly, doing a merry little twirl in the air and landing on Kaede's head. Like a touch to the shoulder to say a silent thank you.]

That story is...very important to me. [She...kind of...sobers for a moment, as though masking fluster over the words coming out of her mouth.] Things like that, like, I could say..."whether I'm a butterfly or not, I'm here, and I can be your friend"... [mmmmmoving on from that real quick] Can't speak for why anyone else has the kind of familiar they do, but I'm sure there's a certain underlying logic. There usually is.

[diffidentive]

Oh...s-sorry, I didn't realize...

[He looks a little sheepish. Sorry for assuming, Kaede...but it really seemed like you'd never heard of it!]

[But aww...look how cute and happy that butterfly is. Though Shuichi is still glad that it landed on Kaede, rather than him. He knows it's not really a bug and that butterflies are harmless but still.]]

Mm...it seems like the kind of thing that would have meaning and purpose. It's kind of neat, actually...

[gotyourbach]

It's okay, don't worry about it! [she's quick to reassure Shuichi, pumping her fists again. Or, well, hoisting the books and giving him a smile, since her fists are Occupied.

A giggle as the butterfly alights atop her head, and Kaede tilts her head back to try to catch a glimpse of it perched up there. She doesn't know the full depth of the butterfly dream and Erika's background, but if it's important to Erika, that's more than enough.]

I'll play you one of those piano pieces next time you're free. Hey, hey, what do you think our familiars would be? Mine and Saihara-kun's?

[bu773rfly]

[Yeah Saihara you apologize too mu- wait what huh.]

Huh? [Erika looks up, a little caught off-guard by the question. She opens her mouth as if to turn down the whole question, then closes them and looks at the ground, brows furrowed. This is a question she has very little capacity to answer! But she's trying to be creative for Kaede's sake.]

I don't know, [she says first on reflex, still obviously thinking.] Mmmm. [Still obviously overthinking.]

[It takes a little while.]

...Kaede. Maybe a songbird. Saihara...something like a mouse, I guess.