| Rental Kimono Optional; Kyo visits Kinzaki's father to ask for financial help. [Prince - Closed] | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Feb 15 2014, 08:38 AM (520 Views) | |
| The One True Nobody | Feb 15 2014, 08:38 AM Post #1 |
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"...does this clockwork hand follow you... or guide you?"
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Kyo Charinko had messaged ahead to ask Kinzaki if she could meet with Hajime Kirihara, the heiress's father. She had said it was about something she wanted to request help with; whether Kinzaki connected that to Kyo's recent topic on Bedlam or not was another thing entirely. The green-haired teen had made sure it was a day that Hajime was actually available for a potentially lengthy discussion, and she had made sure to smarten up a bit before coming. Kyo had actually floundered quite a bit getting ready for this. Should she dress up? Was her hair color offensive in the halls of the rich? ...Did she need a kimono? Kinzaki always wore one, so... ...No, that was silly. Besides, who would rent a kimono for one little meeting? She decided it would be a little less overbearing to just get some relatively sharp clothes and dress up like she was going in for a job interview. On that note? Make-up. Why did women wear this stuff again? It took so long to apply it even with her mother's help, and it just looked weird on her. She'd wound up taking it off of and asking her mom to apply it lighter. Now it was barely discernible, but there was make-up there. There was make-up, there was the hairband Chika had made for her worn over her upper-forehead, holding her hair back so that the bangs framed her face instead of falling over one of her eyes. There was a sleek and unruffled pair of vaguely professional beige pants and there was a button-up shirt with a pocket in the front, and there was a simple mini-jacket that matched the outfit. There was also a pair of subdued black dress-shoes and stocking-like socks and Kyo couldn't help wondering why footwear style had so much bearing on anything in society. If it covered your feet it was fine, right? Bah. Society put too much stock in looks. In masks. In the fronts people put up. It was stupid and it was annoying and the most annoying thing of all was that the only way to do anything about it was to beat society at its own game. The green-haired girl disembarked from the taxi she'd taken to get here, smoothing her pants as she stepped out and offering a thank-you as she paid off the taxi driver before he left. There was a folder under her arm, a simple green school folder, which contained nothing more or less than some notes she'd thrown together while brainstorming, and a second piece of paper bearing a more organized version of all of those notes she'd brainstormed, which she wouldn't have ever bothered with if she weren't trying to make sure she could properly explain things to someone who would probably see excessive "ums" as a major sign of incompetence. The girl let the taxi drive away and watched it go, taking the pause as a chance to steady herself for what was to come. In all honesty she didn't expect Hajime to bite. He was a businessman, after all, one who was supposed to make business decisions, and what she had in mind was a non-profit endeavor, more or less a charity move as far as Hajime's involvement would go, unless he had some other idea of how he could gain something from this. And businesses gave to charities for the sake of public regard all the time! ...But usually to big-name ones with wide-reaching goals, not to little high school girls with delusions of grandeur trying to kick individual pisshole cities into shape. Considering this, Kyo suddenly understood why Nana thought it made sense to make Yakuza deals. They at least had a reason to care about individual pisshole cities. Kyo banished that thought, reminding herself once again, for the second time that day and the fifteenth time since ascending, to stop obsessing over the other green-haired idiot and focus on herself, the green-haired idiot with stuff to do that wouldn't handle itself while she was fretting over the other one. Yeah, she had stuff to do. In the spirit of doing stuff, Kyo finally turned around and pressed the button at the gate's intercom-doorbell... thing. When she got an answer requesting identification, she said, falling back on her Tokyo accent for the sake of not sounding unrefined, something she rarely ever did these days: "Ahem, excuse me. This is Kyo Charinko. I have a meeting with Hajime-san." |
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| Prince Arjuna | Feb 16 2014, 10:23 AM Post #2 |
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-insert something witty here-
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A few minutes later, the gate was opened, and a female bodyguard showed up. Unlike before, Kyo wouldn't recognize this bodyguard, because she was another one of Kinzaki's private bodyguards, Hana. Unlike the previous one, Kiyo, Hana seemed rather friendly. When she saw Kyo, Hana bowed and smiled at her, welcoming her presence. "Welcome, Charinko-san. We have been expecting you..." the bodyguard said. "Please follow me. Goshujin-sama and Ojou-sama have been waiting for you..." she said as she told Kyo to follow her. She would lead the green-haired girl into the mansion so that Kyo could see Kinzaki and her father. Meanwhile, at Hajime's office, Hajime was seen sitting on his seat, clasping his hands together on his table, seemingly deep in thought. His daughter, Kinzaki was standing beside her, clad in red kimono with white floral patterns. Both seemed to be wearing neutral expressions as they waited for Kyo who was led by Hana to arrive at the office. The white-haired heiress glanced at her father. Despite being her father, she didn't even know what her father was thinking about. She had a feeling that he was wondering about what decision he should make while dealing with Kyo once she showed up. While she wished that she wanted to know more about her own father, she still loved him nonetheless. While Hajime might be a Kirihara, he was still her beloved father. Bad habits or not, that was one thing that both of them couldn't deny. |
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| The One True Nobody | Feb 16 2014, 12:23 PM Post #3 |
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"...does this clockwork hand follow you... or guide you?"
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...Wait, am I supposed to, like... bow and stuff? When I walk in, and stuff? Am I supposed to use some certain greeting or, or would that come off as too pretentious even in these circumstances? Um... um...? ...Um?! This was more or less Kyo's thought pattern as she followed the bodyguard into the house, her only answer being a quick thank-you that was as confident sounding as she could manage (and which would sound more confident to Hana than it did to Kyo's own ears, who was far more used to the idiosyncrasies of her own voice than some random bodyguard she'd never met before). She remained silent until the bodyguard had led her all the way to the office in which Kinzaki and Hajime Kirihara. Kyo stood in the door as the bodyguard introduced her, her expression determinedly neutral. She looked quite different now than the friend of Kinzaki who had arrived before--the obnoxious, casually-dressed teen with unruly hair covering half her face. Kinzaki might even noticed that Kyo's mother had given her hair a slight trim to even out the ends; it looked more like a feminine asymmetrical bob cut than the boyish one that Kyo was known for. The hairband across her forehead wasn't a completely perfect match for the outfit she was wearing it with, though. Her eyes were different than the last time she had been here; at that time, only her left eye had been discolored yellow, and had only been visible in brief glimpses when the hair in front of it moved out of the way as she turned her head or brushed it away in a gesture of nerves. Now they were both yellow. Kyo had been hiding it with green costume contacts for a few days after Suzume's illusion had been summoned by the Arrogant Qlippoth, resulting in the injury to her right eye. When Kyo stepped into the room, she stood with unusual straightness--while in most circumstances she would have been holding her weight on one side or the other, now her posture was like a soldier's. The first thing she did was also kind of unusual for the girl, as well: she dipped into a bow at the waist, for just a second, before straightening up again to talk. "Thank you for having me, Kirihara-san," she said, speaking in Tokyo dialect instead of her usual imperfect Osaka-ben. "And thank you for arranging this, Kinzaki. I'm not sure what the right etiquette and stuff for this kind of meeting would be, so... I hope you'll forgive a bit of informality." She paused. And then she stepped a little further into the room, positioning herself in front of Hajime's desk so that she could face the man directly. "I want to say before anything else," she added, speaking quickly, "...that I'm not here as Kinzaki's friend today, so I don't expect that to factor into your decision. Sir." Despite her even tone, the apparent confidence of her voice, it would be clear to someone who had been in as many meetings and discussions as Hajime that Kyo was merely hiding her apprehension. She folder she held in front of her stomach in both hands; as she added the word sir (it sounded like she might have just barely remembered to remind herself to show appropriate respect), her left hand gave a little twitch. She had to restrain herself from trying to brush the bangs on the left side of her face aside, as she tended to do when she got nervous. |
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| Prince Arjuna | Feb 17 2014, 10:21 AM Post #4 |
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-insert something witty here-
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As soon as Hana led Kyo into Hajime's office room, the bodyguard excused herself and walked out of the room, leaving them to deal with their own business. Hajime nodded after hearing the greeting from the green-haired girl. Somehow, she seemed rather different compared to the last time she paid her visit. Kinzaki smiled slightly after seeing Kyo before she covered her mouth with the sleeve of her kimono after seeing her appearance. She thought that she might need some time to get used to this new appearance. "Ah, Charinko-kun, we do not mind at all..." Hajime said, smiling after a while as he started speaking. He unclasped his hands as he listened to the green-haired girl about the thing that they were about to discuss. "And please don't be so tense, Charinko-kun. At time like this, I suppose we don't have to think too much about formality. Just speak in the way you're used to..." he said in reassurance. Kinzaki looked at her father, blinking a few times. She never thought that she would see this side of her father. He seemed to be rather... oddly easygoing. Perhaps he was starting to brew a few plans to put into motion after hearing Kyo's request. As a Kirihara, there's no way Hajime would put any opportunity to waste. Or perhaps he was just thinking about being generous this time around. No manipulation. No twisted words. No twisted nature of a Kirihara. Just a simple man who decided to willingly help someone who needed help. Still, Kinzaki still had no idea what her father was thinking about regarding Kyo's request. All she could do was to wait and see. "Still, this is a favor from my daughter as well..." Hajime said, clasping back his hands together as he looked at Kyo. "So, I'm going to make this an exception. Now, what do you want me to do for you, Charinko-kun?" he asked. Kinzaki glanced at her father. She hoped that her father wouldn't do anything to do any sort of manipulation that he's used to. She would like to think of him having no ulterior motive for his decision to help Kyo, if he even decided to help her. |
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| The One True Nobody | Feb 17 2014, 10:42 AM Post #5 |
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"...does this clockwork hand follow you... or guide you?"
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The girl shot Kinzaki a very brief deadpan look when it looked like she was stifling a laugh. Yeah, so what if she looked like a head stuck on someone else's body when she was dressed like this? ...So what if she had literally had to run to her mother asking for help looking professional because she didn't know how to be professional? She thought she'd pulled it off pretty okay... kind of... When Hajime spoke, Kyo paused at his words, and seemed to consider Hajime for a few moments. Eventually she did speak, but she kept her Tokyo accent instead of reverting to her normal voice. "For what I have in mind I kind of have to get used to talking like this anyway," she admitted a bit uncomfortably. "And dressing like this, for that matter. But I'm getting ahead of things..." The green-haired girl had nonetheless relaxed a bit, physically speaking. She pulled up a chair in front of Hajime's desk and sat down, smoothing out her pant legs a bit as if not quite comfortable in them. Rather than sitting in a relaxed slouch as she usually would, she was making a visible effort to keep straight-backed and at-attention. The folder, she placed on the desk in front of her. "When I say I'm not here as Kinzaki's friend, I'm saying that as much for myself as anything," she added in a guilty-sounding voice. "I don't want to take advantage of being the heiress's daughter, you understand? Even if it does amount to the same thing in the end." Kyo glanced at Kinzaki. The most uncomfortable thing about that prospect is that she was pretty sure Kinzaki wouldn't mind either way. She was also pretty sure Machi wouldn't mind if she were asking for her company's cooperation, as well. The only reason Kyo hadn't opted for that option was... well, Machi's father was a Grade-A dirtbag, while Hajime was pretty okay in Kyo's book so far. "...I'm not sure how much I should explain, so I'm going to ask you this first, Hajime-san," Kyo began, turning her attention back to Kinzaki's father. "How much do you know about Nagashima's situation...? Not just the Persona-user part, but the state of the city as it stands now." |
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| Prince Arjuna | Feb 17 2014, 11:07 AM Post #6 |
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-insert something witty here-
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Hajime briefly pondered for a right response to Kyo's question. He glanced at his daughter before he looked back at the green-haired girl in front of him. "Well, as far as I could tell, I am quite aware of Nagashima's situation, and having both my daughter as a Persona-user and an access to Bedlam keeps us sufficiently informed of the current situation. I quite understand the risks that all Persona-users have, and even we from Kirihara Corporation have to keep this Persona research classified, with only a few of us knowing the existence of Persona-users." Shifting his hands, it's Hajime's turn to ask Kyo a question. "So, what do you want me to do, Charinko-san? What sort of help do you wish to get from Kirihara?" he thought that she might be asking for financial assistance, which wasn't really a big deal. "Do you wish to get some funding for whatever you're working on right now?" he asked. Meanwhile, Kinzaki looked at her father nervously. Even then, she was unable to see whether her father was trying to manipulate Kyo or not. Hajime's expression was calm and sort of calculating, perhaps thinking of what to do after hearing more from Kyo. There was only one way to find out. |
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| The One True Nobody | Feb 17 2014, 11:22 AM Post #7 |
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"...does this clockwork hand follow you... or guide you?"
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"Not just Persona, not just Persona," Kyo replied in a more insistent voice. "I was asking if you knew about... the crime rates, the factions, the weird... concentration samurai or ninja that just for whatever reason never faded into obscurity, the screwed-up things that always seem to happen, the state of the city as a whole, not just the couple hundred of us with magic powers. And yeah, funding is a thing, but I want to see if you know exactly what I'm getting at, this isn't something that should be... rushed." Kyo frowned, looking down at the table for a few seconds. "...I went into the basic idea on Bedlam just before exam week," she said evenly, looking back up. "Nagashima is a city with a lot of troubles, and obviously, when people suddenly have powers like ours, they tend to feel like they should do something about those troubles. Like they're privileged with the ability to do something while before, they couldn't do a damned thing, right?" The girl leaned forward, just a bit. Even when she was trying her damndest to be stoic and professional, there was no preventing herself from doing a certain amount of talking with her hands and her body--it was just the kind of person she was. When she got energized about something, that energy needed to go somewhere, and it usually went into exaggerated motions and facial expressions. "That's why there's a lot of them who run off and try to be superheroes. That's why you have groups running around trying to prevent bad things from happening, or... trying to force the bad things into some kind of order, in one case. The worst part of all this is that all the division about how to do something about this stuff or even about whether we should be doing anything at all is just causing more and more chaos in the city by the month, and that's given rise to things like the Strange Events Initiative in the police force or the Black Hood vigilante group in the backstreets. And the more troubles happen on the surface, the less and less focus Persona-users give to the real trouble at work under the city." |
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| Prince Arjuna | Feb 17 2014, 11:59 AM Post #8 |
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-insert something witty here-
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"Crime rates? Of course I know. Even without knowing about the Persona-users' shenanigans, the current situation at Nagashima is ridiculously strange..." Hajime replied. He noticed the change of tone in Kyo's voice. Well, it was clear that she was trying to make herself to be the one who knew more about the current situation than him. It's not like he could blame her for this. Perhaps she was just trying too hard. "Vigilantes, the lynching at the backstreets, and some other things like samurai or ninja," he sighed. "I don't have to get access to Bedlam in order to know them. Seriously, kids these days..." he muttered under his breath. Then, Hajime cleared his throat and looked at Kyo. This time his expression looked serious. "Even so, what are you going to do with them?" now was the time for the real question. He had no problem investing for the betterment of the community of Persona-users, but he had to make sure of the effectiveness in Kyo's plan. Investing in something that could bring more harm than good was a bad business, so he had to make sure of it first. "Logically speaking, it will be hard to monitor the whole city. And you cannot even track down every single Persona-user in Nagashima, because there might be some of those who were awakened didn't make themselves known in the community via Bedlam." Then, he unclasped his hands again and gave Kyo another question. "So, please tell me... how effective this plan of yours will be once you put it into motion? Are you even sure that this plan will work? Are you certain that others will give their cooperation?" Kinzaki looked at her father again. She had a feeling that her father was trying to test Kyo's conviction. He wanted to make sure whether this plan of hers was something worth investing for. It had been mentioned before that he would rather avoid investing into a bad business. Edited by Prince Arjuna, Feb 17 2014, 12:00 PM.
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| The One True Nobody | Feb 17 2014, 12:50 PM Post #9 |
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"...does this clockwork hand follow you... or guide you?"
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Kyo found Hajime's muttering irritating, mostly because she had fantastic hearing and could actually make out enough to get the gist of it. "I did say not just the Persona-user part," she said in a strangely dignified, restrained way, like she was resisting the urge to snap at him. The kids these days part had been especially aggravating. If there was a list of things Kyo couldn't stand somewhere, patronizing adults was probably near the top of it. The green-haired girl sighed, and let herself cool off from that remark for a few seconds before speaking again. "There've been a few groups formed lately that were put together with the intention of making things in the city more peaceful," she said. "The Archangels, a group I'm personally involved with, was formed to combat hate criminals with non-lethal force, to make sure things don't get out of hand. Samurakami Road and Building is an organization run by another friend of mine, who thinks that by forcing the crime in the backstreets under a restrictive umbrella, she can keep things at just 'kind of bad' instead of 'totally effing horrible.' They're both well-intentioned ideas, but they have the side effect of stirring up more opposition in response to them. The Archangels just made the hate criminals get smarter and sneakier so they could keep doing their thing. Road and Building has enemies... lots of them, and those tactics don't exactly endear them to the Persona-user community at large, either, so they're a... big red flashing light for people who want to play hero and go after the 'bad guys.'" Kyo leaned back, frowning. "Vigilantism doesn't work. Quasi-Yakuza organized crime fronts don't work. I've been thinking about it lately, and I think the only way for any of this to work is to be 'legitimate' about it. Actually legitimate: with a legitimate public sponsorship so people know where the money's coming from, with a legitimate partnership with the Nagashima Police Department so it's operating within the bounds of the law where it can. It also can't just be... a handful of teenagers with superpowers, either, it needs to be a full-sized association with volunteers from all over the city. Regular people, with regular lives and regular, all-too-human abilities. The city won't change unless the city wants to change, after all, so..." The girl fidgeted a bit in her seat, again as if uncomfortable in her clothes, and over the table, opening her folder and extracting a piece of paper. A list of objectives and ideas seemed to have been outlined in a few groups, one relating to Persona-users specifically, the rest apparently concerned with entirely mundane affairs:
As Kyo slid this sheet of paper (which had been printed out in a clear, easy-to-read typefont; the other paper, still in the folder, had been sloppily handwritten) across the table, she couldn't help feeling a bit of trepidation. For an obnoxious eighteen-year-old on her way her high school outro, after all, this was a pretty lofty endeavor to set for herself. Most particularly because she couldn't possibly do it without a lot of help... "I can't say whether or not it'll be a success," Kyo said evenly. "...It depends on who helps, how many of them, and how much effort they put in. That's just a rough idea of where I'm trying to go, really. The thing is, I'm only here partly because of money... I'm just as much here asking for you, and Kirihara Corporation, to publicly support this movement. It's important to... be taken seriously. Both as a legitimate movement and as something more than..." Kyo gulped, and for a moment, slipped into her usual voice again: "As somethin' more than a buncha stupid, immature kids." And back to Tokyo dialect: "...If you know what I mean. Sir." |
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| Prince Arjuna | Feb 19 2014, 09:04 AM Post #10 |
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-insert something witty here-
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Hajime took the piece of paper from Kyo, reading it. His daughter peered at the paper Hajime was holding. While reading the paper, Hajime seemed to be rather fascinated at the contents of the piece of paper as he glanced occasionally at the green-haired girl while reading it. Kinzaki blinked several times while reading the paper alongside her father, seemingly processing what she was currently reading. After a few minutes, Hajime handed the paper to his daughter so that she could properly read the paper as he looked at Kyo. His expression seemed rather unreadable. He removed his reading glasses, putting it on the table before he spoke to Kyo. "I see that you've put quite an effort for this, Charinko-kun. It's quite impressive," he said, complimenting the green-haired girl for her effort. "So, you're planning to make a legitimate organization in Nagashima that will help you all to deal with all those problems you've mention before, correct? If that's the case, then there's no reason for me to not provide any kind of assistance to you." "But, before that, would you mind if you answer this question?" Hajime said. "Do you honestly believe that it'll be worth it? Do you believe that in some way or another, you can make a difference?" he smiled slightly after asking the question to Kyo. "If you don't want to answer that, it's okay. I'd decide to help you anyways, but it'll be better if you can give me an honest answer..." |
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2:38 AM Jul 11