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| Explanations Forthcoming; [Etsuko, Masumi, Etsuko's Intro(?)} | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Feb 11 2014, 11:30 PM (251 Views) | |
| Nonsequitur | Feb 14 2014, 04:26 AM Post #11 |
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Yellow Bubblegum
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Yes, she saw it clearly. One runaway who saw enough to get one idea had did his best to protect Etsuko but…ahhh… "His intentions were good, but it does seem that his oversimplification undermined him in the end. I do not know if you overreacted so much as neither one of you had a full understanding of what happened." This begged a question that was totally tangential and also very important. Several, in fact. "When and where did you see Victor last? Do you happen to know his full name? As complete a description of what he looked like the last time you saw him might also prove helpful." How ironic. It was in Etsuko's best interest to make sure her parents don't even know she still exists. Whereas Maki was prepared to do whatever she could to reunite her former companion with his family. |
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| The One True Nobody | Feb 15 2014, 12:43 AM Post #12 |
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"...does this clockwork hand follow you... or guide you?"
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Etsuko looked up, frowning at Maki as if suspicious of her motives. Neither she nor Victor had wanted to be returned to their respective homes, and neither had ever told the other why, or asked the other why they didn't want to be returned. It had been an unspoken understanding between them: the subject was off-limits. "...I don't know," she said at last, because the answer the same either way. "He never told me any name but 'Victor.' I ain't seen 'im in a couple months. That was back in Yasoinaba." Masumi didn't know what to say. Perhaps her feelings about this Victor boy had been the reason Etsuko had resisted talking about how she had survived on the streets all this time. She hadn't know what to think or what to feel about Victor's advances, and had closed it off instead of feeling anything. Talking about it would have meant confronting it directly. "Etsuko-chan," the fortune-teller said, moving her hand to rub at the girl's back. "If we can find Victor, maybe... you can see him again, if you want. So, if you know anything..." The girl found herself staring at the table again. "...I'm hungry and the food's gonna get cold," she said suddenly and with inexplicable coldness, as if declaring the conversation completely over and done with. "Let's just eat." |
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| Nonsequitur | Feb 15 2014, 03:29 PM Post #13 |
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"I see." She nodded. "As it really has nothing to do with the main point, if you have no further questions? We can eat." Of course, she couldn't just ignore what she learned. But that had to have been something she had to worry about at another time. "Masumi-san? Would you like to add anything to this?" Unlikely considering that if she did, there'd have been little need for Maki to have been there in the first place. |
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| The One True Nobody | Feb 15 2014, 04:10 PM Post #14 |
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"...does this clockwork hand follow you... or guide you?"
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Masumi glanced at Maki, and silently shook her head. There was a guilty look on the woman's face, as if she thought that by asking after that Victor boy, they had crossed some personal boundary and she was afraid Etsuko was going to hold that against them--against her. For Etsuko's part, the girl simply reach for the Wild Duck bag, opening it and looking inside. "We'll need plates for the fries," she said quietly. Then, as if remembered an important step she had missed, she added an unenthusiastic, "Please." "Oh. Right," Masumi said, jumping to her feet and shuffling back to the kitchen to pull a few small paper plates out of a lower cabinet. It wasn't long before she returned to the table with one plate for each of them. As Masumi set about setting the three meals out for the three of them, Etsuko looked up, considering the policewoman across from her. She understood that the only reason Maki Yamada was helping her this way was because she understood why Etsuko couldn't return to her family. There was a chance that, if Victor explained his own situation, she might provide the same kind of compromise for him as for her, but it was unlikely. If Officer Yamada pursued this, though-- "We never stayed long in the same place," she said in a quiet, deliberate voice, her face kept carefully neutral. "It was his rule. Especially in small towns where strangers're easier t' spot. Yasoinaba wasn't a big town. He wouldn'ta stayed long..." She pulled her plate up, and unwrapped her burger. "...I dunno where he went after that," she said, her voice faltering a bit. As much as her intention was to emphasize that Maki would only be wasting time by pursuing this, she couldn't keep the worry from her voice. Masumi must have heard it, because she leaned over the table to make sure the young girl could see the reassuring smile she was giving her. "I'm sure he's fine and healthy, wherever he is. So don't worry about it, okay? |
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| Nonsequitur | Feb 18 2014, 04:38 PM Post #15 |
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"I suppose you might be right but…do ever want to see him again? There is also the possibility that he has family that wishes to see him in America or the United Kingdom or what have you?" Her resistance to the idea of talking about the subject suggested that there was a reason he didn't wish to be found. "Still, we can worry about this another time." She prepared to divide up the food as necessary. There was another subject to address. "Etsuko? Are you suffering from cabin fever?" She remembered that the girl had little experience with any literature or other means of learning that word, so she explained further. "Not an actual disease. Do you feel cooped up and a strong urge to get out of the house? If Masumi does not mind, I would not mind taking you out so long as it was not too…problematic." If Nishiyo was there, no doubt her family in Osaka at least made sure there were some contacts there. Unfortunately Etsuko's strong resemblance would have gained their attention at no time at all, and defeated the point of even keeping her with Masumi if the fortune-teller and her surrogate daughter were suddenly in danger. |
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| The One True Nobody | Feb 18 2014, 04:58 PM Post #16 |
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"...does this clockwork hand follow you... or guide you?"
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"...Maybe," was all Etsuko had left to say on the subject of Victor. Masumi watched the girl out of the corner of her eye as she ate. The question about cabin fever drew a curious look, eyes scrunched up and frowning. When Maki explained what she meant, though, the girl's face momentarily brightened with longing. But then she seemed to gain control of her first impulse, and looked at Maki thoughtfully. "...If it ain't too much trouble, although it's not like I can't go out by myself." She looked down. "I mean... my sister knows where I am. I don't think anyone else who works for my family would be able t' tell I'm her sister if I go out as Daiki. Do I really need an escort? I see kids my age out on their own all the time." Etsuko looked up again, frowning at Maki. "I'm not gonna run off if ya don't keep an eye on me twenty-four-seven, y'know." Masumi put up her hands and shook her head. "No, no, that's not it--" "And it's a big city out there. What're the odds of someone from my family seein' me?" "--Etsuko-chan, your family isn't the only--" "How'm I supposed t' make friends if I'm always bein' walked around by people? Everyone'll think I'm some sheltered girl or somethin'. And I don't want people wastin' their time on me, anyway! You're got jobs and you have better things t'do, officer! So can't I just go out on my own? Look--" Etsuko brought her hand to her chest and held up the ring that Nishiyo had given her, which dangled off the chain she wore. "--if I keep this on me, then even if somethin' happens, y'can find me... right?" Masumi wanted to say yes and she wanted to say no, but she couldn't bring herself to do either. She just sort of sat where she was with a hand on Etsuko's arm, faltering. Perhaps whatever Maki had to say would nudge her in one direction or the other. |
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| Nonsequitur | Mar 1 2014, 09:22 PM Post #17 |
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"It cannot tell your relative position, as I understand it." Unfortunately, Naoya was not available to ask for such matters, but she did relay what she did know. "The person connected to the ring doesn't know where you are exactly, only what's around you." Masumi's fear might have been that the moment she lost sight of Etsuko the butterfly would abscond with her. Maki's fear was that even knowing that, she or anyone who was warned might have been too late anyways. But it was bound to happen, so long as she was in Nagashima. Besides, he didn't have a good retort for what she said about her having something 'better' to do. Maki didn't see it that way, it was probably one of the few things that didn't add stress and grief to her daily life. She was mainly concerned about the situation keeping her cloistered up. "Masumi-san, she does have a point. Eventually you do need to afford her some independence to move as she will. So long as she's properly prepared, I see no problem with this." |
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| The One True Nobody | Mar 1 2014, 09:55 PM Post #18 |
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"...does this clockwork hand follow you... or guide you?"
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Etsuko's face fell at the explanation of how Nishiyo's ring truly worked, and looked down at the trinket on its chain, holding it up a bit below her face so she could see it properly. She'd been so certain this was what would convince them to let her go out, too... When Maki spoke in favor of letting her leave the house, though, Etsuko looked up, blindsided. A hopeful smile worked its way onto her face, and she looked quickly to Masumi, who was watching the girl carefully by this point. Seeing that hope on the girl's face, it was like twisting her heart's arm behind its back so that it couldn't resist. The fortune-teller remembered her own youth, the arguments with her parents about what she could and couldn't do... Her own rebellions, which in the end had made everything worse. Masumi had sometimes wondered if those were proof that her parents had been right, but... she also wondered if they could also be seen as proof that her parents' methods had been doomed to backfire from the beginning. In the end, the woman reluctantly nodded. "Alright," she sighed, turning back to her meal. "You've spent more than enough time out on the streets as it is, just... let me get you a phone first. And then you can go wherever you like, okay? But I'm setting a curfew and you have to promise you'll be careful, got it?" Etsuko's smile was like sun, to the point where it was almost blinding even out of the corner of Masumi's eyes. And then there were arms around the fortune-teller, prompting a look of flat surprise. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou--!" "Ah--Etsuko-chan, I didn't know this meant this much to you...!" |
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