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[01:49] <Sachiko> The day seemed to hit Sachiko in waves.-
[01:49] <Sachiko> Choi was out cold. For a while after the group split up Sachiko waited in the common area on the worn out chair, her feet propped up on the table as she stared into the middle distance shovelling the entire sleeve of biscuits into her mouth as she tried to process everything.-
[01:50] <Sachiko> By the time the biscuits ran out she was staring at Caolan and frowning. With an irritated grumble she rose to her feet and headed for the elevator. As the doors closed she finally broke and looked at her phone, which had been intermittently buzzing ever since they'd returned to the Waking World.
[01:56] <Minaplo> [Sacchin, are you ok?]-
[01:56] <Minaplo> [Sacchin please call us. It is urgent.]-
[01:57] <Minaplo> [Sacchin, where are you?]-
[01:57] <Minaplo> [What's going on?]-
[01:57] <Minaplo> [Sweetie please text your mother I am worried love you]-
[01:57] <Minaplo> [YOU SHOULDA TOLD ME YOU WERE ANTIFA but seriously text me stuff's come up]-
[01:57] <Minaplo> [We need to talk about this right away. Sacchin, please contact us.]
[02:06] <Sachiko> Sachiko groaned and covered her face with her hands. She owed them an explanation, but where to even start…? She didn't know how she felt about things let alone how they should feel.-
[02:07] <Sachiko> They weren't even supposed to be here!-
[02:07] <Sachiko> Still… she had to start digging herself out of this now, because it was only going to get worse. She had to—
[02:07] <Sachiko> […]
[02:07] <Sachiko> The bell on Tony's front door rang out as Sachiko walked in with a guitar case strapped to her back. "Stealing your practice space, Tony!"
[02:10] <Minaplo> "No, you can't. That's where I keep all my hot babes." Said Tony in a voice so dry it was home to Australians.
[02:16] <Sachiko> "Just kinda stacked up, or what…?" Sachiko asked unclipping one of the straps from her shoulders as she headed for the counter.
[02:17] <Minaplo> "Hell, I dunno. Tony don't know about the logistics of hot babes."
[02:25] <Sachiko> "Clearly."-
[02:26] <Sachiko> She unslung her case entirely. "Sorry for the short notice. It's been a day."
[02:26] <Minaplo> "I could tell by how the bell went jingle-jangle in that way you do. The way that tells me, oooh, Sachiko's here to party."
[02:31] <Sachiko> "If I turned up the amp as high as I need to tonight back at the dorm there'd be complaints."
[02:31] <Minaplo> "Then you need a funkier dorm."
[02:33] <Sachiko> "One day, maybe. Is it okay if I head back?"
[02:34] <Minaplo> "You know it is."
[02:53] <Sachiko> She gave him an uneven smile and hurried around the counter. "Thanks."-
[02:53] <Sachiko> […]
[02:53] <Sachiko> The piano wasn't what she wanted that night. She needed the physicality. She opened her bag and pulled out the candy red Stratocaster (Or at least the lawsuit guitar version of one) she'd bought on her first day in Katashiba. She flipped the strap over a shoulder, plugged in a cable and turned up the amp.-
[02:54] <Sachiko> She took her foot off the gas after… ten minutes? An hour? She wasn't really sure, but her hair was a limp, sweaty mess and she could barely feel her bad hand. She flopped down onto the chair by the mixing desk, breathing hard. Another exorcism, to use Choi's evaluation.
[03:10] <Minaplo> "Not bad."-
[03:11] <Minaplo> Tony walked in, in that slow, deliberate way of his. He found a chair and sat. "You're playing like a bat outta hell. It's good to see."
[03:13] <Sachiko> "T-thanks," Sachiko muttered. She swiped a sleeve over her face and tried to fix her hair. "I needed that today."
[03:14] <Minaplo> "Sounds like you kinda need it a lot."
[03:16] <Sachiko> "… yeah. Can't really argue with that."
[03:16] <Minaplo> "You feeling better now, then?"
[03:21] <Sachiko> "I think so. Thanks."
[03:21] <Minaplo> "Good, good."-
[03:22] <Minaplo> "Is uh… Look, I'm no good shakes at this kinda talk, but is everything going on okay in your world?"
[03:30] <Sachiko> Sachiko laughed. "Nah, it's all a bit of a mess. The cops tried to arrest a friend of mine today for some bullshit charges."-
[03:30] <Sachiko> "I fought the law and the law mostly won."-
[03:31] <Sachiko> "My whole family saw the law mostly winning, so I'm trying hard to avoid that particular conversation…"
[03:32] <Minaplo> Tony whistled. "Dang, kid. When you say you fought the law, do you mean you screamed at them, or you filed some claims, or were batons involved?"
[03:33] <Sachiko> "Mostly shouting. The batons were out, but the worst I got was a good shove."
[03:35] <Minaplo> "Still. That takes guts to stand up for what you believe in against authorities like that." He gave her an approving nod.-
[03:35] <Minaplo> "Sounds like you're more scared of your family than you are the cops."
[03:36] <Sachiko> "I'm not expected to spend my holidays with the cops."
[03:37] <Minaplo> "Not yet, hellraiser."
[03:40] <Sachiko> She cracked a smile.-
[03:40] <Sachiko> "I don't know. I love my family, but it feels like they don't quite know where I'm coming from on a good day, let alone a bad one."-
[03:40] <Sachiko> "… ugh, it sounds like typical teenage stuff when I try to explain it," she grumbled. "I'll work it out."
[03:44] <Minaplo> "Kiddo, it does sound like typical teenage stuff, but I've always held that adults should know better than to make light of teenage problems. Maybe teens wouldn't have as many problems if the olds weren't painting their problems as frivolous."-
[03:45] <Minaplo> "Your parents raised you from childhood. You're turning into a different person, and right now there's a negotiation as they change from handling the old you and the new. And that kinda tension you see in adult problems, too. It can tear a married couple apart, you know, if one of them becomes a different person."
[03:58] <Sachiko> That got a careful nod. "I guess that's true. If I were just negotiating what the relationship is it'd be a lot easier than feeling like I'm negotiating for my own sense of self."-
[03:58] <Sachiko> "I suppose it's easy to get the two confused if you're not thinking about it."
[04:02] <Minaplo> "In a way the two overlap. Part of that negotiation is with people who think they own you. Might not admit it, but they think that." He shrugged. "They feel entitled to your sense of self. Not their fault, they helped make a lot of who you are."
[04:08] <Sachiko> She laughed a little. "You're right, they'd never admit that."-
[04:08] <Sachiko> "It'll be a bigger mess if I leave them hanging until tomorrow. I should be sorting it out now, but I just can't."
[04:10] <Minaplo> "Well if you can't, then you can't. If you try when you can't you'll just make it worse."
[04:14] <Sachiko> "Yeah. Hopefully they'll see it that way."-
[04:15] <Sachiko> The numbness had left her bad hand now, leaving serious pain in its place. She began the slow, wince-inducing effort of trying to loosen the muscles that had seized up.-
[04:15] <Sachiko> "Did you have something like that? The negotiation, I mean."
[04:15] <Minaplo> "With my folks?"
[04:16] <Sachiko> "With anyone. It sounded like you had some experience."
[04:16] <Minaplo> "Hah. Yeah, I guess so."-
[04:17] <Minaplo> "Everyone has to do some negotiation when they come of age. And they often have to do another big one later in life. Becomin' a parent, that kinda thing."-
[04:17] <Minaplo> "I had to do both of mine around the same time."-
[04:18] <Minaplo> "So, my parents. Didn't want me to become a musician. Daddy wanted me to take over the goddamn oil company. And I said, fuck that noise, I ain't gonna rape mother earth for the man."
[04:23] <Sachiko> "Oof, an oil company? At least you had a good reason to ditch it."
[04:23] <Minaplo> He laughed.-
[04:24] <Minaplo> "Nah, that's all bullshit. My daddy weren't owning no oil company. He wishes he were. He worked at one, though."-
[04:27] <Sachiko> "Trying to cheat my sense of empathy with your lies, shame on you."
[04:37] <Minaplo> He snorted. "Nah, I just think it sounds more romantic that way. See, I ran away from home. My daddy was an asshole."-
[04:37] <Minaplo> "My mother… I guess you could call her conquered."
[04:47] <Sachiko> Sachiko frowned. "Yikes…"
[04:47] <Minaplo> "Mmm." He shook his head. "So I stole some of his cash, took my guitar, came here."-
[04:49] <Minaplo> "That was basically it for negotiatin' with my folks." He said. "Now other people had questions about how a 14 year old Portuguese boy came to Katashiba by himself. I was lucky, I was taken in by a real kind lady who cared for me as best she could. But I still had to prove myself to the rest."-
[04:49] <Minaplo> "But it's easier to prove yourself an adult to strangers than it is your own parents."-
[04:49] <Minaplo> "The second time…"-
[04:50] <Minaplo> "I'll ask you straight out. You got… Something going on, don't you? With your body."
[04:58] <Sachiko> She smiled, at the bluntness of the question if nothing else. It probably deserved a similar answer. "Burns and a whole lot of nerve damage."
[04:59] <Minaplo> He nodded. "Rough."-
[04:59] <Minaplo> He reached up and took off his sunglasses, the first time she'd ever seen him do so. His pupils behind were milky-white. "I couldn't see shit by the time I was 17 years old."
[05:10] <Sachiko> "Ah. That's…" She paused. "Okay, I was about to call it rough but that might read as glib."
[05:14] <Sachiko> "It is, though. Sorry."
[05:19] <Minaplo> "It ain't so bad. Worse things to have in your last visual memories than Katashiba in the eighties."-
[05:20] <Minaplo> He chuckled. "But it was a negotiation. With myself. With my friends. People I loved. And in some ways it didn't work out so well."
[05:26] <Sachiko> "Yeah… I know that game. Did it get any easier with practice?"
[05:27] <Minaplo> "Most things do." He said. "Ain't the same, but I'm good at the new reality."
[05:31] <Sachiko> "Mm."
[05:31] <Sachiko> "How did you go from all that to having enough money to run a place like this?"
[05:32] <Minaplo> "Last owner died, left me in the will."
[05:32] <Sachiko> "Oh. I see."
[05:33] <Minaplo> "'Course he had a different name. So the shop weren't always called Tony's Tune Emporium." He snorted.-
[05:33] <Minaplo> "It wasn't exactly profitable to start with, though. And it weren't profitable in the middle. And it sure ain't profitable here at the end."
[05:41] <Sachiko> "Might be moreso if you weren't paying all those good-for-nothing students."
[05:42] <Minaplo> He laughed. "Those good-for-nothings are the only thing keeping me going."
[05:47] <Sachiko> "Well… when I win Three Hearts that prize money's yours."
[05:48] <Minaplo> "Hah, attagirl." Said Tony, putting his glasses on.-
[05:48] <Minaplo> "I mean, I won't hold you to it. But… I do kinda need it." He said sheepishly.
[05:49] <Sachiko> "I'll hold me to it," she said firmly. "Don't worry about it, I can do it."
[05:49] <Minaplo> "Yeah… Good." He nodded slowly- then a little faster.
[05:51] <Sachiko> "And I'll coax some more money out of my parents for taking top place in my exams," she said brightly. "Buy that Firebird properly."-
[05:51] <Sachiko> "… you know, after they get mad at me about the cop thing. Might wait a week."
[05:52] <Minaplo> He laughed, long and hard.-
[05:52] <Minaplo> "Parents should respect a daughter who'll fight the cops. Bah on 'em."
[05:54] <Sachiko> "Hah. They might surprise me."
[06:01] <Minaplo> At that moment the bell outside rang as the door opened.-
[06:02] <Minaplo> "Ah, I should go do my job. You can stay and practice or you can wrap up, whichever."
[06:05] <Sachiko> "Yeah, I might keep messing around to see if I can finish clearing my head a little."-
[06:05] <Sachiko> "Let me know when you need me to clear out, okay?"
[06:06] <Minaplo> "No worries, no worries."-
[06:10] <Minaplo> It wasn't long before Tony was back out there, leaving Sachiko to her guitar.-
[06:11] <Minaplo> There was enough sound-proofing and distance between the practice room and the rest of the shop that it was often pretty futile to listen in on the customers, and in this instance Sachiko wouldn't bother.-
[06:11] <Minaplo> Until she heard a laugh.-
[06:12] <Minaplo> A high, surprised sound, followed by a steadier chuckle- her father's laugh.
[06:17] <Sachiko> Luckily she still had the strap on her guitar, so there wasn't far to fall when she let go of it.-
[06:17] <Sachiko> That… oh, that was bad. She unslung the guitar and set it down gently behind a rack, then headed to the door to inch it open and assess her options. Would they see her the second they opened the door? Was there a way out through the back?
[06:18] <Minaplo> The only way out the back was on the other side of the front desk, behind where Tony was now. If she was quiet, though, she could open the practice room door, slip behind the haphazard mound of cymbals balanced tantalisingly between a pair of french horns and maybe sneak out the front.
[06:28] <Sachiko> With uncharacteristic nimbleness Sachiko slipped out the door and behind the obvious trap like she was Solid goddamn Snake. Terror had made her too powerful, at least for one shining moment.-
[06:28] <Sachiko> Or maybe the universe had taken pity on the way she was silently mouthing "please please please please" over and over again.
[06:37] <Minaplo> And there, in the middle of the room, talking to Tony, were her mother, her father and her big sister.-
[06:49] <Minaplo> Let's take a moment to describe these folks.-
[06:58] <Minaplo> There was Mari Kurata. Tall, slim, Mari emphasised the belief that being born pretty didn't free one from working for it. The contours of her face matched Sachiko's, albeit softer, coming off as highlighted rather than hard. Her hair was long, glossy and black and fell in a way that looked carefree and casual, yet was the product of a rigorous, refined haircare regime. She wore a simple light blue blouse and white flared short skirt along with a pair of matching white heels that gave her a nice summertime look.-
[07:07] <Minaplo> Next to her was Mrs. Jung-hwa Kurata. She was a little shorter than her daughter, but other than that the resemblance was unmistakeable- to the point that Jung-hwa and Mari looked like the same person at a different point in their life. In fact, anyone who saw Mari or Jung-hwa would easily see Sachiko in that face. It was a face that seemed to want to sit at 'relaxed cheer'. She wore a long white skirt and matching blouse, and for colour a pink summer scarf and a long, cherry-blossom pink silky summer coat.-
[07:17] <Minaplo> Then there was Takashi Kurata. He was tall, and his face had more of that harder aspect one saw in Sachiko. However, it gave him an aquiline, chiselled sort of look. His dark brown hair was thick and surprisingly long, turning into a wavy curve near the end just around his ears. He wore a pair of thin-rimmed glasses, a dark blue t-shirt and a pair of jeans with black shoes.-
[07:20] <Minaplo> "Oh yeah, I do know that one." Said Takashi. "That's the one that goes da-daah-dah-dah-dah-?"-
[07:20] <Minaplo> "No no. It goes 'da-dah-de-dah-daaah'." Said Jung-hwa patiently. "Remember, we heard it…"-
[07:22] <Minaplo> "Ohhh." The lights went on in Takashi's eyes. "That was at… Oh yes, the bar we went to for our anniversary. You were wearing the-"-
[07:23] <Minaplo> "The red scarf and sunflower dress." Said both of them in unison. They chuckled happily, whilst Mari glanced aside at a nearby poster for Burst City.-
[07:24] <Minaplo> Takashi eyed Jung-hwa slyly. "That was a fun night, wasn't it?"-
[07:24] <Minaplo> "Mmhmm."-
[07:26] <Minaplo> "What'd I have to drink- oh, that was the Long Island iced tea…"-
[07:27] <Minaplo> "Two of those and you were off to the races." Said Jung-hwa, laughing. "Couldn't keep your hands to yourself…"-
[07:27] <Minaplo> "Why would I want to?" He grabbed Jung-hwa by the arm and turned to Tony. "Isn't she just the prettiest?!"-
[07:27] <Minaplo> Jung-hwa blushed, and murmured something in Korean that Sachiko knew from experience meant 'Embarrassing big boy'.-
[07:27] <Minaplo> That only caused Takashi to laugh harder.-
[07:28] <Minaplo> "Dad." Snapped Mari. "C'mon."-
[07:28] <Minaplo> "Hm? Oh, yes."-
[07:28] <Minaplo> Takashi straightened up and turned to face Tony, his expression suddenly serious, even stern. "Mr. Tony, it's imperative that she contact us immediately. I'm afraid the situation is of paramount importance."-
[07:28] <Minaplo> "Oh dear." Said Tony.-
[07:29] <Minaplo> "Yes. I'm afraid the local law enforcement seems to have some misconceptions about recent events…"-
[07:29] <Minaplo> "Goodness!"-
[07:31] <Minaplo> As they were distracted, Sachiko saw the next mound she'd have to sneak past… Two saxophones on a piano, one balanced on the keys, the other sitting dangerously on several tambourines, a snare drum and a handful of triangles. Flutes stabbed outwards between the sax like a staunch line of spears.
[07:43] <Sachiko> Well, she couldn't come back here. That was just a fact, and the sooner she came to grips with it the better.-
[07:43] <Sachiko> Sorry Tony, I wish you luck but now you cannot get that prize money. They've taken that from you.
[07:47] <Sachiko> Sachiko stared at the next obstacle with absolute focus and came to the conclusion that she had absolutely no idea how to get past it silently. All she could do was hold on and hope her luck held.
[07:48] <Sachiko> She could be mad at herself for not holding her nerve and waiting in the practice room later. Probably.
[07:49] <Minaplo> She could've snuck back!-
[07:49] <Minaplo> She'd snuck past Mount Cymbalism already, how hard would it have been?-
[07:49] <Minaplo> Maybe these thoughts went through her head as she tripped on a piccolo that had been criminally wedged just above the piano's leg.-
[07:50] <Minaplo> She didn't trip. She simply stumbled.-
[07:51] <Minaplo> In pure reflex she threw her hand out to grab something. She'd managed through pure luck to wedge her hand in between all the tambourines and other assorted nonsense instruments into what she assumed had been an unoccupied part of the piano's top.-
[07:52] <Minaplo> She had instead punched a maraca.-
[07:53] <Minaplo> The sound itself would've been missed if she hadn't recoiled in panic, causing the tambourines to cascade outwards. As they rang with the sound of bells signalling the end, they brought the saxophone down on the snare drum, which went SNARE!!!!!!!, unbalancing the drum, causing the triangles to spill across the ground, hitting the piano keys in a jaunty, tingly tune, causing the second saxophone to slide off like a drunk middle-aged lady trying to do a sexy swing routine.-
[07:54] <Minaplo> This in turn caused the flutes to roll off the side like a log trap.-
[07:54] <Minaplo> Tony winced.-
[07:54] <Minaplo> The Kuratas turned to look at Sachiko.-
[07:54] <Minaplo> Their eyes widened.-
[07:56] <Sachiko> Sachiko didn't allow the mood to turn. She had to seize her one moment of advantage.-
[07:57] <Sachiko> There was the idea that Australia's biosphere had the deadliest array of venoms known to planet Earth. This was broadly true.-
[07:57] <Sachiko> But they didn't have all of them.-
[07:59] <Sachiko> Sachiko stood up tall and fierce, and deployed the tone of venom that was the sole domain of sisters. "MARI, YOU ABSOLUTE SNITCH."
[07:59] <Minaplo> A second later, for no apparent reason at all, the mountain of cymbals came crashing down, followed by the french horns.-
[08:00] <Minaplo> The sheer sound of one of the most undeservedly arrogant of all instruments- the cymbal- falling in unison like the bourgeoisie are doomed to do so in the Revolution, caused all involved to wince and cover their ears.-
[08:01] <Minaplo> Mari was the first to recover. "How dare you!"-
[08:01] <Minaplo> She whipped a massage bag out of her handbag and hurled it with brutal accuracy at Sachiko. "YOU SHOULD'VE TEXTED, YOU STUPID LITTLE NERD!"
[08:03] <Sachiko> Sachiko deflected the bag with her good hand and looked set to hurl a flute at Mari like a javelin before she caught Tony in her periphery and thought better of it.
[08:05] <Minaplo> Mari's eyes narrowed. As quick as a flash she had a cymbal up like a shield and an oboe over it like a spear.-
[08:06] <Minaplo> A second later, Takashi Kurata walked over, tore the oboe from Mari's hand, and walked over to pluck the flute from Sachiko's. He was fast. Sachiko knew that. He'd done track and field as a hobby in university.-
[08:06] <Minaplo> ("So sweaty and panting, the entire time", the voice of her mother rang in her mind.)-
[08:07] <Minaplo> "We are in this fellow's place of business. This is his livelihood and the two of you want to make war?" Snapped Takashi.-
[08:08] <Minaplo> "Have the two of you gone mad? Sachiko, don't call your sister a snitch. She was dying with worry for you. Mari, don't call Sachiko a nerd. We've been over this, you can get top score and not be a nerd. Also, don't throw massage bags at your sister."
[08:15] <Sachiko> Sachiko grumbled something that seemed amorphously grumpy and affirmative.-
[08:15] <Sachiko> "I'll clean this up tomorrow, Tony. Sorry."
[08:17] <Minaplo> "Nah, don't worry about it. The next shift wanted to demolish that tower anyway." He said happily. "Y'all take good care now."-
[08:17] <Minaplo> "We will. Thank you so much, Mr. Tony." Said Jung-hwa warmly. On reflex he held out his hand, and she shook it.-
[08:18] <Minaplo> "Come on, everyone. Let's go outside." Said Jung-hwa, with a tone that suggested they were going to Destinyland.
[08:19] <Minaplo> (They were not going to Destinyland.)
[08:21] <Sachiko> On instinct she glanced back towards the practice space and decided she could collect the guitar tomorrow. No point in having two irritating conversations in one evening.-
[08:21] <Sachiko> When she was alongside Mari she wordlessly handed her messenger bag back.
[08:22] <Minaplo> Mari took it with a slight huff.-
[08:23] <Minaplo> Out the front was one of their cars, a family one. Katsuo, their driver, had apparently not come along. That meant that mother was driving.-
[08:24] <Minaplo> In they did. The seats were white leather, the sort that would show up every stain or mark. The front dashboard looked like a sci-fi cockpit. It reminded her of Big Zam, or Racist Tarrasque.-
[08:24] <Minaplo> Her mother turned half of it off, and the rest she kept on purely out of respect for the machine.-
[08:25] <Minaplo> Mother and father in front. Daughters in back.-
[08:25] <Minaplo> "Why don't we go to a nice restaurant?" Said Jung-hwa. "We can sit somewhere quietly, eat some food, get nice and full, and talk about everything."
[08:28] <Sachiko> Sachiko put her hands between her knees and her head against the window so every breath left a small condensation mark on the glass. "Sure, mum."
[08:29] <Minaplo> "Can you recommend somewhere nice and local?"
[08:46] <Sachiko> Sachiko unclipped her belt, leaned over the central console and both her parents' shoulders to jab an address into the satnav.-
[08:47] <Minaplo> Jung-hwa frowned- she prized herself on a good sense of direction- but she didn't say anything.
[08:48] <Sachiko> … and then she deleted what she'd typed in favour of an entirely different address. "Italian place. I haven't been there, but a friend of mine says it's good."
[08:56] <Minaplo> "Italian?" said Takashi.-
[08:56] <Minaplo> "I suppose I could do with some nice pasta."-
[08:56] <Minaplo> …-
[09:06] <Minaplo> Many westerners are familiar with the attitude attached to certain types of food eaten in the west, specifically western Chinese food. Often bearing a variable at best resemblance to their home cuisines, they are considered by some to be mongrel denigrations of the original cuisine, taken and changed for western tastes (which often means making it saltier and less spicy). The product was often both unfamiliar to those from the homeland as well as those in their adoptive countries.-
[09:07] <Minaplo> Of course the truth is that these cuisines, whilst perhaps not being authentically traditional Chinese, are nonetheless a type of cuisine in their own right with just as much validation to them as any other.-
[09:08] <Minaplo> Katashiba was a true cultural melting pot, the kind that was rare in Japan. Here, many people from all over the world brought their cuisines, family recipes, experiments, and put them on the market. Katashiba's reputation for culinary delight was wrapped up in its repute as a base for the arts.-
[09:10] <Minaplo> Nonetheless, the population was still majority Japanese, and tastes would, in one way or another, bend to the tides.-
[09:10] <Minaplo> Or they would break.-
[09:10] <Minaplo> The truth is that, as much as folks might scorn at Chinese-American food, the same thing happens once western food arrives in their own countries- well, not perhaps in fast food outlets, because there's nothing doing with the lowest common denominator.-
[09:12] <Minaplo> Business in Katashiba could be variable. The Academy's large population offered economic prosperity but it was rarely stable, fluctuating with the taste and the makeup of the population. Furthermore, large portions of the city were tied up in industry and the arts, and both are precarious in a modern, western information-era economy.-
[09:16] <Minaplo> Restaurants are already a vulnerable industry. It was survival of the fittest, and as Leon Megginson said in his interpretation of Charles Darwin: it is not the strongest nor the most intelligent of the species that survives, but the one most adaptable to its situation.-
[09:17] <Minaplo> This had led to the strange and curious beast in Katashiba known as the themed restaurant.-
[09:17] <Minaplo> They had become all the rage in the early 2000s, for some unknown reason. It is sometimes said that they make up the majority of the restaurants in Katashiba but this isn't true.-
[09:18] <Minaplo> They are merely the boldest, the brashest, the most ill-considered, the most likely to lodge in the amygdala as a warning to others.-
[09:19] <Minaplo> And yet in their heyday many restaurants themed themselves.-
[09:19] <Minaplo> The most adaptable.-
[09:20] <Minaplo> Of course, many themed restaurants had since died. The ones that remained were the ones who catered to the basest elements- the meido izakaya, the butler cafe- and the ones that maintained themselves by a mix of good food and raw, sheer experience.-
[09:21] <Minaplo> Jung-hwa parked the car and they climbed out. "Mario's pizza, huh?" She said. The shopfront was unassuming, with checkmark cloths over two broad windows, and some seats outside with the same pattern.-
[09:21] <Minaplo> "It's hot. Let's go inside and eat." Said Mari.-
[09:21] <Minaplo> "Agreed." Said Takashi. He opened the door for Jung-hwa, and she walked past, flashing him a smile.-
[09:21] <Minaplo> Mari was next, then Sachiko, Takashi following her in as though suspicious she might make a break for it.-
[09:22] <Minaplo> Inside, pleasant chamber music was being played.-
[09:22] <Minaplo> Piano music, mostly, although… The melody sounded familia-
[09:22] <Minaplo> "WELCOME!" Shouted a maitre d', wearing a bright red shirt and blue jean suspenders.-
[09:22] <Minaplo> "Gah!"-
[09:22] <Minaplo> "IT'S A-ME! MARIO!"-
[09:22] <Minaplo> "Oh no." Whispered Mari. "It's Super Mario's Pizza."
[09:26] <Sachiko> Sachiko's face seemed to light up like a sunbeam breaking through stormclouds when she saw their host, and then he spoke and she had to cover her face with both hands as laughter took her.
[09:31] <Minaplo> "And it's a-me, Luiiiiiiiiigi!" Cried a waiter from the back, wearing green.-
[09:31] <Minaplo> Takashi turned and stared at Sachiko, his eyes burning with suspicion.-
[09:31] <Minaplo> They narrowed.-
[09:31] <Minaplo> Fine. You want to play, little girl?-
[09:31] <Minaplo> Let's do this.-
[09:32] <Minaplo> "Table for four, please." Said Takashi, turning to the mario d'. "And bring the wine list. We'll be staying for awhile."-
[09:33] <Minaplo> "We hava-alot to talk about." He said seriously.-
[09:33] <Minaplo> Mari stared down at her feet, her expression grim.-
[09:35] <Minaplo> It wasn't long before they were led toward the back of the restaurant's second floor, although this made Mari nervous for some reason. She stayed on her parents' right hand side and made sure their attention was on them by complaining incessantly about 'a dumb themed restaurant, god, i can feel my social credit draining just being here, i'm not a five year old moooooooom'-
[09:35] <Minaplo> Seat!-
[09:35] <Minaplo> "Your-a waiter will be here in-a moment to take-a your order." Said the Mario d' who, it is worth noting, could not look nor sound more Japanese if he tried.-
[09:36] <Minaplo> "Will you-a be starting with sparkling or with tap water?"-
[09:36] <Minaplo> "Just tap for now." Said Takashi.-
[09:37] <Minaplo> The Mario d' left, leaving the four of them to sit at the table.-
[09:37] <Minaplo> In the very middle of it was a little castle shaped like the one from Super Mario. In it was a drink menu, a salt shaker, a pepper shaker, a chili flake shaker and a bowl of soy sauce packets.-
[09:37] <Minaplo> "Your friend has very retro tastes." Said Jung-hwa.
[09:39] <Sachiko> By that point Sachiko was beginning to daub away the tears of laughter.-
[09:40] <Sachiko> "Okay, so," Sachiko began, "If I may speak in my own defence, I don't eat anywhere fancy, so I had to pull on second-hand sources."-
[09:40] <Sachiko> "It turns out my friend is a complete dumbass and I love her dearly for it."
[09:41] <Minaplo> "No need to apologise. I'm-a charmed by the place." Said Takashi, his hands folded on the table. "Reminds me of my university days."-
[09:41] <Minaplo> "Except, of course, that my princess is right here." He said, turning his gaze on Jung-hwa.-
[09:42] <Minaplo> "Embarrassing big boy." Said Jung-hwa in Korean, her cheeks reddening. "Save the cheese for the pizza, why don't you, huh?"-
[09:42] <Minaplo> Mari seethed.
[09:44] <Sachiko> It would be hard for her to shake the idea that if Sachiko had known what this place was that she still might've suggested it
[09:46] <Minaplo> "I hate you. I hate you and I wish the cops had taken you to the big house." Muttered Mari.-
[09:48] <Minaplo> "Mari, come. No need for that. Not even as a joke." Said Takashi. "Now, Sachiko, let's make a little conversation. Hopefully we can clear things up before our food arrives, hm?"-
[09:49] <Minaplo> It was a clean, clear suggestion, ruined brutally by the fact that a moment later the waiter appeared out of nowhere at Sachiko's shoulder. "WAAAAAAAAAH!"-
[09:49] <Minaplo> They found him! The only Italian in the place and he was wearing a purple jumpsuit and suspenders and dressed as Waluigi, the shadow of a reflection of Mario.-
[09:49] <Minaplo> Waluigi threw the menus on the table. "WAAAAAAAH!"
[09:49] <Sachiko> "WAAAAAH!" Sachiko agreed.
[09:50] <Minaplo> He threw his hands out to point at the menus, then Waluigi'd away.-
[09:53] <Minaplo> "The food here had better be fucking amazing."-
[09:54] <Minaplo> "Language." Said Takashi.-
[09:54] <Minaplo> "The food here had better be -reproducing vigorously- amazing." Said Mari, huffily, taking her menu.-
[09:54] <Minaplo> "Good." Said Takashi, nodding.-
[09:56] <Minaplo> Mari looked at it. "Oh look! We have Bowsotto. It's risotto, with hot sichuan chili sauce. And chocolate spikes."-
[09:56] <Minaplo> "Chocolate. In pasta!" She said furiously.-
[09:56] <Minaplo> "You know, in Mexico they cook with a spicy chocolate base called 'molé'." Said Jung-hwa.-
[09:56] <Minaplo> "Shaddap, mom."-
[09:56] <Minaplo> "It's nice." She said happily.-
[09:57] <Minaplo> "I know, I've had it, I know, it's- look, they have a dish here that's asparagus shaped like a giant pipe with an apple mario coming out of it, with 'bottomless sea of pasta' around it. That's the most ominous phrase I've ever heard."
[10:02] <Sachiko> "I've missed family," Sachiko said, summoning up a mirror image of her mother's cheer.
[10:03] <Minaplo> As Sachiko was sitting next to her mother, it made a perfect opportunity for Takashi to whip out his phone with the speed of a wild west gunslinger and photograph the both of them broadcasting cheer.-
[10:04] <Minaplo> "I'm just saying, they have a sticky date with Peach dish." Said Mari. "It's date pudding covered in a peach conserve and caramel. That's not Italian. That's a war crime."
[10:07] <Sachiko> "Sometimes people go to restaurants for the experience, Mari."
[10:16] <Minaplo> "There's a carbonara here that's just shrimp and strawberries."
[10:18] <Sachiko> "Look, I will probably be leaving hungry but don't you feel richer for the experience? Maybe even as rich as the Bowsotto."
[10:23] <Minaplo> "So maybe we wait for the food and then we talk." Said Takashi.
[10:50] <Sachiko> "Hey, don't waste your chance. This is the only time I've felt joy today."
[10:56] <Minaplo> "Is that why you were avoiding me?" Asked Jung-hwa gently. "Because you were… Unhappy, Sacchin?"
[11:32] <Sachiko> "I mean that's not all of it, but it's definitely some." Her expression started growing cloudier again. "The charges are fabricated, and the opportunity for them to even be made at all is mostly my fault…"-
[11:32] <Sachiko> Sachiko shook her head.-
[11:33] <Sachiko> "I just knew that if there was a text there'd be a phone call, and if there was a phone call there would've been a discussion and I didn't know what my answers to those questions would even be."
[11:38] <Minaplo> "We should start from the beginning." Said Takashi. "That boy, the… former Student Council President? The one charged by the police. How exactly do you know him?"
[11:44] <Sachiko> "Caolan Choi," she said testily. They may as well have the name if they were going to talk this out.-
[11:44] <Sachiko> "He hired me when the scandal kicked off to be a makeshift school council member. It wasn't in an official capacity, he just needed an extra set of hands who was willing to take reports of abuse from students who wanted to speak up. I've spent a lot of time working with him."
[11:47] <Minaplo> "I see. And what did you mean when you said that the charges being laid at all were your fault?"
[11:51] <Sachiko> "Dexu's been causing a lot of problems for the council in general and Choi in specific. I told him we needed to wait and see before we did anything serious."
[11:54] <Minaplo> "I don't understand." Said Takashi. "They're the police, Sachiko. I doubt they'd stop their investigation because of something you did. What do you mean by 'serious', anyway?"
[12:03] <Sachiko> "Dad, if the police had real evidence of Caolan Choi committing a crime why did they wait to take him into custody until a time when the only person who stood to gain - including the cops themselves - was a local student council president?"
[12:05] <Minaplo> "I don't know. What I do know is that in such a situation, the pleadings of a lone teenage girl don't amount to much."
[12:06] <Sachiko> "No, but it was still the right thing to do."
[12:07] <Minaplo> "You don't win wars on moral victories alone, Sacchin."
[12:26] <Sachiko> "I know I've been away from home for a few months, but it hasn't been so long that you've forgotten how unlikely it would be for me to think that, right?"
[12:30] <Minaplo> "Then you tell me what possessed you to confront law enforcement like you did." He said. "Why didn't you turn to us for help instead? Explained the situation to us, and we could've sought answers from the police together."
[01:07] <Sachiko> "I think calling what they were doing 'law enforcement' is pretty generous, but whatever," Sachiko muttered. "Not important."-
[01:08] <Sachiko> "When I sort this out and the police try to say they were just following procedure, I want there to be video evidence that they were ignoring and manhandling the person who was trying to get them to do so. Going through the official channels won't give me leverage, but a bit of spectacle sure will."
[01:12] <Minaplo> "If they wanted to avoid spectacle they would've avoided doing this at the parade. You yourself just said that acting as they did wasn't in their best interests, Sachiko." Said Takashi firmly.-
[01:15] <Minaplo> "Whenever police and large crowds meet, something usually happens." Said Jung-hwa. "You only have to look at the protests in Seoul last year for that, you know."-
[01:16] <Minaplo> "Well… It's not a bad impulse, nonetheless." Said Mari. "Stir up controversy, I guess. Sachiko is right, it does kind of create leverage?"-
[01:17] <Minaplo> Takashi turned his flinty gaze on the eldest Kurata sister. "Do you want to tell her the bad news or should I?"-
[01:17] <Minaplo> "…" Mari's expression soured. She turned to Sachiko. "There was a guy in that mess who the cops knocked out of the way. He wasn't some rando, Sachiko, he was a police detective."-
[01:21] <Minaplo> "The officers at the parade manhandled one of their own, one who was presumably known to them." Said Takashi. "They weren't going to care about the intervention of a teenage girl after that, Sachiko. I understand your motive, respect it, but practically speaking, you didn't really make the situation any better. Official inquiries are the best way to deal with this, very pointed ones, together with us."
[01:33] <Sachiko> Sachiko shook her head hard enough that it whipped her hair loose. "No. I can handle this."
[01:37] <Minaplo> "How?"
[01:50] <Sachiko> "I don't know!" she snapped, accidentally bending the menu she'd been toying with in half. "I'll put my head down and work my ass off, as per usual!"-
[01:50] <Sachiko> "'Gee, Sacchin, why would you not want to talk to us before you're able to work out where you stand?'"
[01:52] <Minaplo> Takashi sat back in his chair for a moment, letting the outburst hang in the air just long enough for Sachiko to become cognizant of the vandalised menu.-
[01:53] <Sachiko> Sachiko grumpily set about trying to straighten it back out and kept her eyes down.
[01:55] <Minaplo> "If you did have some plan in mind to approach the authorities, then maybe would I see things your way." He said, his tone falling like an anvil. "But you don't. You put yourself in harms' way, isolated yourself as a target for law enforcement with no direction of where to go next. And all you can say is 'I don't know' and 'I can handle this'. We're here. We can help. But you'd rather stumble about in the dark."-
[01:56] <Minaplo> "I was wrong. This isn't even a moral victory, Sachiko. If helping your friend were truly that important to you, you'd do what's best for him. This is about your pride."-
[01:57] <Minaplo> He shook his head. "I'm… Disappointed in you."
[02:12] <Sachiko> She sucked a breath in through gritted teeth and then held it until her chest started hurting. Aside from the rattling, slow exhale it was uncomfortably quiet.-
[02:12] <Sachiko> "I think I went a whole twelve hours without that being implied, lucky me."-
[02:13] <Sachiko> She looked up. "Mum, you second the verdict?"
[02:40] <Minaplo> Jung-hwa stared at the tabletop. She'd been silent, and she remained silent for a little bit after Sachiko's question.-
[02:41] <Minaplo> When she looked up, it was with anger in her eyes.-
[02:41] <Minaplo> "I'm disappointed, too." She said. "But not in you. I get it wanting to do things your way, under your own auspices, and I truly think you did what you thought was right."-
[02:42] <Minaplo> "I'm disappointed because I was really looking forward to today. I was so overjoyed when I heard you got the top score, that you'd put all that effort in and were being rewarded for it. I really wanted to come back down here and watch that parade, and maybe after we could go somewhere nice to eat and just enjoy a day out about your triumph."-
[02:43] <Minaplo> "But something always seems to happen." She said. "And this all blew up, and you ran into the middle of it all, and then you disappeared and no one knew where you are, and all I could hear are the police talking about a fugitive fleeing justice."-
[02:44] <Minaplo> "And I didn't want it to be you. Do you understand? I knew you wouldn't deserve it, and I knew that maybe they didn't care, and I was scared about what might happen to you."-
[02:45] <Minaplo> "And then you were gone, and we didn't get any word back! You could've been dead or alive and I had no idea. We looked for you in the crowd, and the only proof we had that you were okay was because a nice girl named Ji-hu found us and said that you were okay, but she didn't know where you were."-
[02:47] <Minaplo> "I just wanted today to be about enjoying your hard work and applauding it for coming all this way, and now it's just all about pride and the right thing and the police." She sighed in a way that almost sounded like an angry sob, and sat back in her chair.
[03:11] <Sachiko> "Well it can still be that! We don't have to make it about all this, and I sure don't want us to…"
[03:12] <Minaplo> Takashi had started speaking at the same time. "It doesn't have to be an argument. We can still have a good day…"-
[03:13] <Minaplo> "Ahem." Mari cleared her throat. "Anyone wanna ask what I think?"
[03:20] <Sachiko> Sachiko propped an elbow on the table and placed two fingers against her temple, like it would do much to stop the headache she felt coming on.-
[03:20] <Sachiko> "Hey, go for it. Everyone else is doing it."
[03:22] <Minaplo> "I just wanted to feel included." She shook her head.-
[03:22] <Minaplo> Then finger-gunned at Sachiko and Takashi. "Alright. You two are way too much alike."-
[03:25] <Minaplo> "Dad, you wanted to know what was going on, well Sacchin told you." Said Mari. "Cops bad, school prez good, school weird. She got involved in the student council to help out, weird stuff's going on, and some random upstart with a chip on his shoulder is causing trouble."-
[03:26] <Minaplo> "You can't really be mad about Sacchin getting involved, because you know you would've done the same thing in her shoes."-
[03:26] <Minaplo> "Prove it." Said Takashi stubbornly.-
[03:27] <Minaplo> "I don't have to, I'm not trying to convince a judge, you already know it's true." Said Mari firmly. "You know Sacchin's not the sort to go off half-cocked, you know she's a meticulous planner, just like you are, and just like you sometimes when stuff goes off-the-rails she plays jazz."-
[03:27] <Minaplo> "Hmf." He folded his arms.-
[03:28] <Minaplo> "So maybe instead of playing tough guy, you can just admit that you felt sad because Sacchin acted on instinct and going to you isn't her instinct anymore and it made you feel helpless."-
[03:28] <Minaplo> "I'm not helpless." He snapped.-
[03:29] <Minaplo> "But you felt it." Said Mari. "You and mum were like a pair of little duckies going quack-quack-quack for like, three hours. It was great."-
[03:29] <Minaplo> Mari took a hit of water. "I was cool as shit, though. Real trooper."-
[03:29] <Sachiko> Sachiko cracked a small smile.
[03:31] <Minaplo> Mari caught it, smirked back.-
[03:34] <Minaplo> "You should be proud that your nerdy daughter did the best at nerding and then tried to protect her friend from injustice, you know? And she tried to do it without your help. That's like… You're supposed to give your kid confidence enough to punch a cop if need be. That's good parenting."-
[03:34] <Minaplo> Takashi's expression radiated doubt, but he remained silent.-
[03:36] <Minaplo> Mari turned to Sachiko. "At the same time, though, like… When you dig down, we were just scared is all. Everything went weird. Cops got smashy. The new president roundhouse kicked a girl in the chest."-
[03:36] <Minaplo> "It was a good roundhouse." Said Jung-hwa appreciatively. "Not morally, of course, but executively…"-
[03:41] <Minaplo> "What I really wanted to do was make sure you're alright. And you seem, y'know, fine, so that's good, I think, we enjoy it and leave the harder talks for a bit-by-bit thing for later."-
[03:43] <Minaplo> "If there's something I want you to take away from this, it's that we were all really anxious, for natural reasons, and a lot of this is us being anxious for multiple hours, and if you want things to work out a little better next time then just let us know you're okay when we text asking you if you're bloody okay, you idiot nerd."
[03:51] <Sachiko> "…" She took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay, I hear you."
[03:53] <Minaplo> "Great."-
[03:54] <Minaplo> "Now. I have something I need to confess." Said Mari.-
[03:54] <Minaplo> And abruptly she got up and left the table, walked into a back corridor and vanished from view.-
[03:55] <Minaplo> Takashi and Jung-hwa looked at each other, then at Sachiko. "Wha-?"-
[03:56] <Minaplo> A moment later, Mari returned, bearing a framed photograph of what apparently had been an old work team.-
[03:56] <Minaplo> She put it on the table and looked away.-
[03:56] <Minaplo> There, in the front row, proudly dressed as Princess Peach, was a teenaged Mari Kurata. She looked like she was having the time of her life.
[04:01] <Sachiko> "I knew it!" Sachiko crowed. "The Mari who's too good for this place is a recent creation!"-
[04:02] <Sachiko> "Oh, she's all monogrammed handkerchiefs today but I remember you in high school and you were every bit as bad as I am."
[04:02] <Minaplo> "Oh my God." Said Takashi.-
[04:02] <Minaplo> "Admit it." Said Jung-hwa, her eyes narrowed. "You really like that bowsotto, don't you?"-
[04:03] <Minaplo> "I made the Bowsotto!" Said Mari heatedly. "Damnit, most of the dishes here are entirely batshit combinations of pasta and -fruit- and yet they made it work and I wanted to see how hard it'd go."-
[04:04] <Minaplo> "There's a dish here that's like a pasta bake made of raw horse meat."-
[04:05] <Minaplo> "I have good memories of this place." Said Mari. "And so will Sacchin, damnit!"-
[04:05] <Minaplo> "What, of Super Mario Pizza?"-
[04:09] <Minaplo> "No, Dad, of Katashiba!" Said Mari. "This is a great place. I have fond memories of it. My first part time job. My time as student president. University was great. I lost my virginity here, you know?"-
[04:09] <Minaplo> Takashi frowned.-
[04:09] <Minaplo> "Not like we were any better." Said Jung-hwa chidingly.-
[04:09] <Minaplo> "Yes, yes."-
[04:09] <Sachiko> "… not in Super Mario's Pizza specifically, right?"
[04:10] <Minaplo> At that moment, their waiter returned. "WAAAAAAAH!" He wahed, shooting fingerguns at Mari.-
[04:10] <Minaplo> "Oh, wah yourself." Said Mari angrily.-
[04:10] <Minaplo> "And no, it wasn't here specifically."-
[04:11] <Minaplo> "Look. I'm having a moment here, give us five minutes."-
[04:11] <Minaplo> "WAAAAAAAAH!"-
[04:11] <Minaplo> "So for today, let's just have fun, let us show you around this dumb town, enjoy the fact that my kid sister came back to school guns blazing and talk about all the shit later, okay? Especially my end. I'm not done."
[04:19] <Sachiko> "Alright."-
[04:19] <Sachiko> "… yeah, alright." It sounded a little bit firmer the second time around. Sachiko knew the subtext of that statement, but it was still an improvement. "Sounds like a plan."
[04:20] <Minaplo> "Hooray."-
[04:21] <Minaplo> Mari put the picture back. "Now can we finally give the big nerd our gifts or not?"
[04:21] <Sachiko> "Wait, there's gifts?"-
[04:21] <Sachiko> "How am I just hearing about this?"
[04:35] <Minaplo> "Well you woulda gotten them earlier if you'd texted, dumbass!"
[04:37] <Sachiko> "Texts didn't say anything about gifts, there's your problem."
[04:41] <Minaplo> She reached over and flicked Sachiko between the eyes.
[04:42] <Sachiko> ("ow! okay, okay…")
[04:46] <Minaplo> "WAAAAAAAAAAH."-
[04:46] <Minaplo> "We'll order after gifts! Jeez!"-
[04:47] <Minaplo> "Yes, gifts. But they're still in the car." Said Jung-hwa. "We'll have to eat first. And that gives Sacchin time to ready herself for photographs."-
[04:47] <Minaplo> "Yeah, yeah." Said Mari. She sighed.-
[04:47] <Minaplo> "Hey. Good job with the exam thing." Said Mari.
[04:52] <Sachiko> Sachiko's smile that time was a lot closer to the one they'd seen her wear on stage than anything else had been since.-
[04:52] <Sachiko> "Thanks, sis."
[04:55] <Minaplo> Thou art I; I art thou. Thou hast glimpsed a new path of thine heart, with which to rewrite your story. The second draft of the Justice Arcana has been prepared; its refinement will bring you new power in the world to come.
[04:55] <Minaplo> The Hermit Arcana strengthens…

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