1350/Go To School

Go To School
Date of Scene:	25 March 2024
Location:	Obsidian Tower - Human Resources
Synopsis:	Taro Yamada doesn't want to go to school. Fuyuko Yuuhi didn't ask his opinion on the subject. The world of Obsidian is changing, as are the dynamics of HR.
Cast of Characters:	Taro Yamada, Fuyuko Yuuhi

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Taro Yamada has posed:
It turns out that when you have stable housing and an office job, you have a lot of free time on your hands. And money. Food, new clothing, he - He had more than enough to be comfortable, with money left over.

So when he went shopping, he bought glutenous rice, agar, red bean paste, sugar, and food coloring.

He had a phone now, but he wasn't sure what to do with it. The internet was on the phone, apparently, but if he tracked down ALL the forums the Back Street Slasher was discussed on, he'd be chasing his tail for weeks. He needed to do something productive. Something to distract him from the battle coming up.

He'd worked at a wagashi store for a few years. Restaurants were the easiest places to get hired without an ID, and more likely to give him a job at night. He'd spent months learning how to make mochi, to carve candy, to create.

And, unlike other hobbies, he could eat the results. He could get this new restlessness out of his system!

....and a few days later, he was coming to Obsidian for his job with a Hello Kitty lunchbox clutched in one hand.

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
Fuyuko's private office, like those of the other higher ups, is a fairly large room, with a broad window as the focal point, letting in plenty of natural light and giving decent view of the city. They're only on the sixth floor, so they don't tower over everything in sight, but it's enough to make the people and trees look like miniatures.

The potted plants - the majority fake, but several real and struggling for it - are the main ones happy about the sunlight. Fuyuko herself is the kind of woman who looks like she's never seen the light of the sun, even when she ventures out into it.

She's currently sitting behind her desk, preparing a memo.

Taro Yamada has posed:
It's a nice room. He can see all the streets down below. Jumping from here as the Slasher would be a little too risky, he might get blown into a building or miss his mark entirely, but it's good for knowing the lay of the land. The plants are pretty, too, even if they look about as healthy as Fuyuko does.

Well. He may not be the strongest in Japan yet, but making sure his boss does not keel over from a diet of caffine and spite is a step on the way to that goal.

Also, brute force is out. She is too strong. So bribery will have to do.

"Good morning, Fuyuko-san. Did you have breakfast?"

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
"I had a coffee," Fuyuko says distractedly, not sparing a glance for Taro. This memo needs her attention, given that it's instructions on appropriate and inappropriate times for practical application of the dreaded 'avoiding assassination in the workplace' and 'enacting assassination in the workplace' trainings.

"Why?"

Taro Yamada has posed:
He sets the lunch box in front of her.

"Eat. You're more effecient if you've eaten something."

Hello Kitty smiles up at her.

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
Fuyuko stares down at Hello Kitty. Hello Kitty stares back with cold, unfeeling eyes, promising love and friendship. A shudder wants to crawl down her spine, and Fuyuko wills it away.

"Is this a joke? Did you make this?"

Perhaps it was store bought and transferred to the lunch box? But why this lunch box?

Taro Yamada has posed:
"I made this. Not the box, what's inside it. Do you have a problem with a man liking Hello Kitty?"

Technically, his favorite is Bad-Badzmaru, but he has yet to find a lunchbox with HIM that's within his budget, so Hello Kitty it was.

"If you don't want it, I'll eat it."

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
"I meant the lunch. Hello Kitty is a respectable demon, I suppose." She glances at Taro. "Though I did think you were more into that... bat one. The one that's a Hello Kitty in a bat costume."

She's seen pictures, occasionally, and advertisements. She opens the contents - alright, what exactly did he provide her?

"This isn't getting you out of school."

Taro Yamada has posed:
"Kuromi. She's my third favorite." Respectable rabbit. Represented the more cunning side of the beast. "I"m trying to stay in budget since I have to buy. Books."

Books! For school! Him! A man of almost eighty years! He fended for himself just fine all these decades, he doesn't need school! With (shudder) teenagers! And (groan) socializing! Going as a ten year old was bad enough. Going as this grotesque fascimile of a teenager? Worse!

"What you have there is a delicious, cheap, calorie-dense meal whose only major investment was time!"

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
"You'll have more money for Kuromi when you're in school," she notes, gesturing her chopsticks over the box.

"And the school will pay for books when you claim financial need. Which you have. And clearly you have plenty of time, too. A perfect combination for someone in need of education."

Unfortunately, the bribery isn't working! She's taking the bribe and refuses to grant him his wish!

Taro Yamada has posed:
Taro grits his teeth. She's withstood his attack...!

He'd lined up the wagashi as best as he could for an elegant composition. In the top left corner, ohagi, red bean paste wrapped around white rice. In the top right corner, yokan, or pastries made from agar jelly - two flavored with red bean paste, and two flavored with kidney bean paste and green tea. In the bottom left and right corners were namagashi, flowers shaped with mochi and then colored and flavored - grey and pink flowers with dollops of jam in their centers. No doubt that was why he'd carried the box up rather than putting it in his bag.

In the middle was the piece de resistance, the coup de grace - a diamond shaped sweet mimicking a hishi mochi. Unlike the traditional Girl's Day dessert, this one was striped black (flavored with Earl Grey tea), white (flavored with coconut) and purple (flavored with honey.) Surely a delight such as that would hit her in the ego?

"Surely you have better uses for my time than for me to learn history I lived through and play with children?"

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
The sweets look delicious, both satisfying and rich in presentation and flavor. Fuyuko promptly pops a piece of ohagi into her mouth, chewing slowly, savoring the piece. The texture is good, and the sweetness of red bean paste mixes well with the rice.

"There's more the school than history. Half the science you would have learned is outdated, your literacy is likely outdated, and most importantly, you need a place to stay that isn't a capsule hotel or my office. School will provide that."

She absolutely does not want to see him all day every day. She doesn't want to see anyone that often.

"The wagashi is good. Picked it up from a part time job?"

Taro Yamada has posed:
"Yeah. I've worked... maybe fifteen years on and off at wagashi stores? It's harder to do it now since everything needs a digital ID," ugh! Why! "I'm rusty, but most of the jobs I could get easily were food prep. It'll come back."

It had better.

"...Fine. I'll do it if you can connect me to whoever's in charge of the dorms so we can talk cats." A pause. "And you have to eat breakfast if I bring it to you. You're going to look deader than me if you only eat coffee. You're trying to avoid turning into a granny at thirty, aren't you? "

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
"A digital ID is easier to come by when you have our resources," Fuyuko notes, "And our resources are better used when our employees are educated. And do you have a cat, or do you just want one? The dorms aren't going to let you be a crazy cat guy."

How many cats, exactly, and why cats... she shakes her head, then raises a brow.

"You want me to agree to eat breakfast? You know I can take care of myself, right?" The granny crack gets a twitch.

Taro Yamada has posed:
"There's a stray I've been taking care of. If I'm moving out of the hotel, I need to take her with me or take her to a shelter.

HE is aware that he's not likely to get the cat. But he can't just leave her in the cold, can he? There's all kinds of weirdos in Tokyo, like that scary red-head lady!

He looks around to make sure no one's nearby, then leans in, lowering his voice. "I know you can, but we are under siege by that redhead. We have to be prepared! In top shape!"

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
"If you catch it, I'll make sure you can keep it. Plenty of kids at that school have yappier things than a stray cat." Half of them had advisors, fairies, mascots - you name it. What was one cat to all that? And if a cat is the price?

Besides. Fuyuko is facing a new low. Her teenage employee is feeding her so she can stand up to Beryl. Is life even worth living?

"We're not actually under siege, you get that, right?"

Taro Yamada has posed:
"I'll catch her." A thoughtful pause. "Do you expect me to spy on them, or should I attempt to be.... a 'kid'?" He says the last word as if he's holding it with tongs and expecting it to wriggle to life.

Listen! He can lay low, he can keep eyes open, he just needs to know what his job is!

"Not yet. That's why we prepare. And when she strikes again, we'll be ready!"

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
"I expect yoou to be a kid. If you want to spy on them, or start looking for people to eat, that's your business. Just come crawling to me if you need a rescue, or more training. You're going to school because you're a kid, and I don't see any reason not to ship you off. I don't care if you've lived a long time - you're clearly still a dumb kid at heart."

She could be so much nicer to him, but she's not. She's frank.

"You're... actually worried about this, huh? You're not going to be in danger, so long as you don't pick a fight. You're not cleared to work for her."

Taro Yamada has posed:
"I want training. I'm not losing like that again."

He's not getting his ass kicked again! Or at least, he's putting up a better fight. Defeated by someone younger than him....!

(Well, maybe it wasn't so bad if it was a yokai - sorry, a MAHOU, like Fuyuko, but he still had his dignity!)

"I'm not going to pick a fight, but she's got a bone to pick with you. If you get thrown off a building and break every bone in your body, who's going to train me, huh?"

He is in no way willing to understand the queasy feeling he gets imagining if her loss to Beryl had been fatal rather than humiliating. It must be the lack of a worthy teacher, that's all. It's not like he's letting himself get attached.

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
"We'll start after you register for classes then," she says after a moment, eyeing Taro. "You get one set of lessons a week after each week of classes."

Which means Taro will need to actually attend his classes to earn what he really wants - training to fight. Carrot and stick. She's fine with bruising his pride if it means getting him out of her hair and doing her job.

"Look, she's not going to do that again - and also, I teleported out of that." Huff! She's fine! "I'm not going to pretend we aren't dealing with a delicate situation here. One of the directors has decided to expand her power, and the rest of the company is configuring out how to cope. But you, are frankly beneath her notice, and I have not intention of drawing attention again soon. You think she has a bone to pick with me? You're wrong. She'd have to see me as a person for that."

Taro Yamada has posed:
"Fine. Can additional lessons be negoatiated for with good grades?" He'll show her. He'll be the BEST at classes. He will get her to expand to TWO lessons a week with his power.

"I'm not thrilled about being an ant in a building with some maniac with lighter fluid, a match, and too much time on her hands. When people start kicking dogs, they don't stop."

He'll stop being cautious when bad things stop happening to him.

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
"You know what? If you can manage it, sure. I'll let you try and earn more."

That's being responsible, right? Besides, there's no point to school if he goes and then flunks out because he doesn't do anything. Better to give him an incentive to learn.

"But the maniac doesn't have lighter fluid and a match - she's got a purpose to what she does. I picked a fight with her, and I lost. In her eyes, I'm nothing, and that's fine with me, because int his place, you get more done when there are fewer eyes on you."

Taro Yamada has posed:
"I'll show you!!"

Strongest! In! Japan!! He's coming for the title! No matter what!

And he wilts a little, because he's not getting through to her. It was safer to be unseen, of course, but being a nothing? People stepped on ants. They didn't think about them at all as they crushed them by the thousands. It was one thing to be exterminated purposefully; it was another to be collateral damage.

But he's not getting through to her. So instead he points at the black, white and purple cake and says, "Try this one. It took ages to get the colors right but it'll be no good if you don't like the flavors." Black tea, coconut and honey. It's probably too mild for her, in his best guess, but the colors suggested mature flavors.

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
"Yeah, I'm sure you will."

And no, he's not getting through to her, because ultimately - she's not worried about herself. She knows she's not a nothing, that she's more than an ant; she think he's worried about himself and expressing it through trying to butter up the boss he can reach. She sees the logic in Beryl's actions, heinous as they are, and she gets it.

She doesn't like it, but she gets it.

"You really thought you could feed me out of sending you to school, huh?"

And she takes a piece of the multicolored cake, savoring small bites to get the flavors -

"It's good," she's honestly surprised.

Taro Yamada has posed:
"I wasn't going to serve you bad cake," he says, which does not hide that fistpump of victory he did a second before. "I'm not a complete idiot, you know."

And one day, he'll get her to say it to his face. That he's smarter and stronger than she thought.

One day.