1449/Mall Cat

Mall Cat
Date of Scene:	25 April 2024
Location:	Four Clover Mall
Synopsis:	Ikuto needs help due to his relationship troubles. Unfortunately the person he trusts most is also... not great at them. But Tadase is going to try!
Cast of Characters:	Tadase Hotori, Ikuto Tsukiyomi

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Tadase Hotori has posed:
It's a warm Wednesday evening, outside, but inside it's rather nice at the Four Clover Mall - ensured, in part, by the fact that so much of the mall is new after so many 'freak accidents' that have required the company insuring the mall to dig deep into its pockets.

    Tadase Hotori is here because he's looking to pick up something for his grandmother's birthday, which has seen him moving from shop to shop periodically, looking for something when he's not sure what it is. "Why are so many people in your life so hard to shop for?" Kiseki asks, frustrated. "I'm not sure that's not a you thing, actually. Isn't it the thought that counts?" He continues. "You've certainly thought long enough about this."

    Tadase mostly ignores him and continues forward. "Look! An arcade. Can't we take just a little break, please?" Kiseki asks. "Play something?" Tadase stops and looks for a moment, and then eyes something.

    "Oh, there's a stuffed lion in there... grandma always loved lions." he says, looking at the UFO catcher from the side.

    "Yeah, okay. I'll help!" Kiseki says. A few moments later and Tadase is reaching into the prize chute to pull out the lion. "No mere machine is a match for the might of two kings!" Kiseki says. Which is a perfect time for someone else to come up.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Just a short distance away, unnoticed at first Ikuto would be hard at work with Yoru on a different UFO catcher. Yoru was inside the machine with a little hard hat on directing Ikuto as he tried to get a particular figure, this time of a small girl holding onto a very big dog in a running pose. "Awright, a lil' to the left pal! Nyow forward, easy, easy..."

And...failure. "Dang," the catboy remarked as he motioned for Yoru to come back out. "Another day without any luck. Maybe we should go back to the dorms, see if we can scrounge up some more loose change near the vending machines." Yoru nodded and then pointed a paw at Tadase and his Chara. "Hey look, it's Tadase! You wanted to talk with him right nya?"

Ikuto looked over and smiled, quietly walking up as the younger boy collected his prize from the machine. "Yo. Always gotta upstage me huh? Well, I've been looking to get ahold of you recently anyway. It's been a bit, and uh. I have a few problems, and you're...the only person I trust to help me, Tadase-san."

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    Tadase pulls the stuffed animal out of the prize tray and looks at Ikuto. He doesn't know about the other boy's long running battle with the UFO catchers, or he'd assume that is what Ikuto's asking for help with. But without that context, he looks at him and shrugs. "Well, I found what I'm looking for so I can hear you out, anyways. Can't promise anything." He's still a little wary of the catboy - it's a hard habit to break. Then he pauses, and stops.

    "Sorry, Tsukiyomi-san. That was colder than I should have been, so... let me try again. What's up, how can I help?" he says. And then pauses, delayed reaction. "Wait, upstage you?" he asks, tilting his head a bit.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Yoru grins. "Ikuto has spent..." He looks like he's trying to count on his paws, and it's not going well. "Uh...a lot. More than 12 full games every day for at least a month is a lot right? Even with me helping him figure out where to aim the claw he can't do it." Ikuto's forlorn expression indicates it may be -more- than that. "I think we've completely resolved the district's loose change problem in the process."

"But that's not why I've been looking for you. I'm still looking into leads about my father's violin. I'm certain Easter has it, and taking that back is my first step towards dealing with that homewrecker who calls himself my step-father. I had to get a dorm at the academy under a fake name to make sure Easter can't watch me too closely. If you need to get ahold of me at school, I stay in the boys' dorms under the name 'Taichi Suzuki'. I may need to take more drastic measures to reclaim the violin at this point. An enemy I believe we both have in common by this point told me that Utau is in more danger than I know since leaving, and I'm inclined to believe her. She's a jerk, but...Utau is her friend and she worries about her. That's only one problem though."

Yoru pokes his head up again. "Ikuto is in lo-WHEEEE!" and then the tiny cat is flying across the room thanks to a flick from Ikuto. "I'm...an idiot more like. You know Chiyo-chan, the um. Girl I asked to prom? I screwed up. Bad. Really, really bad."

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    Tadase looks at Ikuto, then back to the crane game, then his prize, then Ikuto. "I mean, it's partly luck, and you *are* two black cats." He says, and smirks. "But if you want I can hel-" and then Ikuto says that's not why.

    "Tsukiyomi-san, I know the violin is important to you - but focus on you and your sister, first. The violin's not going anywhere. It's one of those expensive fancy ones, right? Easter's not gonna just chuck it. I know you feel like you need it, but... you never wanna risk yourself or Utau-san's health over a musical instrument, right?" He offers.

    Then Kiseki floats up as Ikuto explains his less Easter-centric problem. "Wait... you want Tadase to help you in a relationship issue?" he says, raising a tiny little eyebrow and looking at Ikuto. "Oh no, you're serious oh no that's hillarious!" Kiseki begins before just starting to laugh himself sick. "Oh man Tadase didn't even realize he liked this girl and just floundered around and he-" and Kiseki is cut off by Tadase flicking him away identically to how Ikuto flicked Yoru.

    Tadase sighs. "He does have a point though." Charas often do, even when they make it in the worst way possible. "I'm not exactly Lothario myself. I'll help if I can?"

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
"Lotha-who? That must be something I didn't pay attention to in class..." Ikuto looks more than a bit embarrassed as he starts to relay exactly how badly he messed up. "I uh. Played a violin for Chiyo-chan, and then when she went to help with the refreshments, someone I'd stopped Utau from attacking at the museum a while back, Yuki-chan, showed up without a date and asked for a dance. I sort of...didn't realize what she was asking and accidentally made her think that I didn't have a date, and we danced. That wouldn't be so bad since Chiyo-chan was busy at the time and I was just sort of standing around, but...then I got kinda caught up in the moment and went outside to look at the moon with Yuki-chan."

Yoru chimes in, "Then when they came back down from the roof Chiyo-chan was there, a bit upset and Ikuto made himself look even dumber with his explanation! Yuki-chan tried to help him make it up to her with a dance, but he kinda dug a big hole there."

Ikuto continues, "I started following Chi-chan around because there was still that business with Phantom showing up with a bag of candy from her family shop a few days before prom. Her ninja friend, Hanzo I think he said his name was, caught me and told me I was being creepy. Then Chi-chan herself caught me and we talked things out. A couple of days after that Usagi-chan kicked the hell out of my shins for upsetting her in the first place, but strangely enough that turned out pretty well and I think she mostly just feels sorry for me now."

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    Tadase and Kiseki both listen to Ikuto's problem-dump. And then after it's all over, Kiseki and Tadase exchange a look.

    It takes a moment of thinking, both Tadase and Kiseki queit and visibly pondering.

    "Ikuto-san..." they say at the same time. "...you are one dumb catboy."

    "Even Tadase knows that when you go to a dance with a girl you're supposed to spend your time WITH THAT GIRL." Kiseki begins, shaking his head.

    "Okay, yes. But. It sounds like he already knows he messed up. Several places." Tadase says, and then looking at Ikuto. "At least I hope he knows. But like. You know sneaking around after a girl because you thought somebody else was following her makes you look like the creeper in the first place?" He asks.

    "Anyways... so it sounds like you made an amazing mess of things." Kiseki says. "But how do you think we can possibly help you?"

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
"I don't know, maybe you can help me figure out what to do now.." Ikuto for one of the few times in his life so far genuinely looks troubled.

Yoru nods. "Ikuto's not going to say it because he's too embarrassed, but that's why I'm here.

The way Chiyo-chan treated him even after he made a big mess of -everything- is. Hmm, how do I put it nya...when he sees her now he seems really happy, and I can tell his heart starts beating faster. A lot faster! It goes from 'doki.....doki.....doki.....' to 'doki-doki-doki-doki' and that's not normal for him!"

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    Tadase looks at Ikuto and feels a pang of sympathy. And then Yoru continues to talk, and Tadase smiles. "I mean the fact that she isn't the one doing the well-deserved kicking of you in your shins when she sees you probably means she at least still tolerates you." He says, trying to provide a little help without allowing Ikuto to hope too much. "It's a lot of ground to clear but... there's maybe a chance. Probably don't screw up anymore." he suggests.

    Kiseki looks to Tadase. "Sounds like he's feeling the things about Chiyo-san you thought you felt about Mizuno-san." he suggests. "But stronger." And then he turns to explain to Ikuto. "Tadase took this girl he liked to Prom too, and they had a good time but I could tell - and I think she and he could too - that there was still something missing. Funny that he did everything right and you did everything wrong, but it sounds like the level of connection was opposite too." Kiseki says. "But have you tried... telling the girl how you feel? Because if you don't she might never know" he suggests.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto tilts his head. "Huh. Just tell her? ...Guess I could. I suppose that'd be the least harmful thing I'll have done so far, really."

Yoru giggles. "Isn't that why we came here in the first place, Ikuto? To get Chiyo-chan a gift from the book store like Usagi-san suggested, and to pick up the thing you ordered for Hinoiri-chan to make things up to her too?"

Ikuto nods. "Right...I think Hinoiri-chan said Easter gave her that mug she has, but it looked really cheap. 100-yen store sorta thing. I'm gonna one-up those misers, with their own money!" The catboy grins. "And then well. I'll find some cool manga for Chi-chan. Maybe something that she can relate to..something with ninjas. I'm sure there's some interesting ninja manga in the girls' section that she'd like."

Ikuto looks to Tadase, still grinning. "Tadase-san. I'm still getting used to relying on others sometimes. Thanks for being so patient with me despite everything. You're a dependable guy, you know that?"

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    "Worst case she tells you no and then you can start getting over it and all?" Tadase offers. "A book sounds like a nice gift. I don't know what kind of girl Chiyo-san is really, but I know Mizuno-san would have really appreciated a book for a gift." He suggests.

    Kiseki's eyes light up. "Ninja manga? It'd be really hard to go wrong with ninja manga. I'd appreciate some Ninja manga." Kiseki says, looking at Tadase, who laughs.

    "But that brings up a good point. Just because Kiseki - or you - would like ninja manga doesnm't mean this girl will, make sure you're getting a gift she'd want, not something you'd want." He says.

    "I know. It's why I'm trying to be reliable for you. Because even though you're kind of a giant mess, so is everybody in their own ways, right?" Tadase says. "So... I want you to have people you can rely on. So you don't go back to Easter."

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto nods. "I can assure you, I'm never going back to Easter unless it's to kick the Director where the sun doesn't shine. What's most important to me is getting Utau out of there. Or making it safe for her to be there. I need to figure out what, or who, is creating danger for her there and solve that problem. Even if that means giving up any chance of peace for myself."

"You know, one of Obsidian's people came to me last week for a discussion. I've gotta ask...when I was working with them did I always come across as a smarmy asshole? Because this guy sure did, and it seems to be a common trait for people who work there."

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    "In some ways, you still came across as a swarmy asshole until recently." Tadase admits. "But you're getting better as you realize you can't do everything yourself and you need other people." He says, after a moment. "I think that's what drags them all down. They all think they're gonna do everything on their own and solve all of their problems. And so they look down on everyone else as useless." Tadase surmises.

    "But with Utau, there's no telling. It might even just be her own self. Sometimes she's kind of a troublemaker all on her own. She didn't get a devil chara for no reason." Tadase says. "But she's got potential to change - that's why she's got two charas. I think one of the best things you can do for her is be successful outside of Easter. Show her there's a way, a world where she can be free of them and be happy and all of that. Be a good example. She's always looked up to you - and unlike me she never really stopped, either."

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto laughs a bit. "You looking up to me was a bad idea in the first place. You have enough things you're good at to be successful on your own merit without needing the things I'm good at hanging over you. You know...we should hang out more often. I have a lot to learn still about all this 'sparkle' stuff, and you seem to have a good grasp on at least some of it. Besides, I couldn't get ahold of you for karaoke the other night and you would've made me look even better than I already did if you were singing too."

The barely-held laugh in his voice turns into full laughter soon after. "Sorry, I absolutely had to see the look on your face when I said that. Really though, I got a group together for karaoke a few nights ago and it was...fun. First time I ever did anything like that, and I see why it's a thing people do with their friends."

Ikuto thinks for a moment, scratching his head. "I just wish I knew why Utau is so upset with me. She seems to think I've abandoned her and put myself in danger for nothing, but I'm going to -save- her. I'm going to bring the Director's schemes down around him and send him packing so she can be the idol she's always wanted to be without having to hurt anyone in the process." The catboy was so focused on his sister's safety that he didn't consider that he was missing something important. That perhaps she had good reasons to be concerned for her brother, and that her friend kept trying to warn him because of that despite being his enemy.

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    Tadase's face did show his surprise, for sure. "I'm just more amazed you were able to get out with people and didn't end the night running from the police." He says.

    "But yeah, spending time together witth people is important. It builds those bonds." he continues. "If you keep doing it you might have better people to get relationship advice from than the guy who has his Chara help him turn all of the girls down." Tadase notes.

    "A word of advice, Ikuto-san. Because it's something I had to learn with you. You can't save people - no matter how close you are to them - until they want to be saved. Otherwise you're pulling them and they'll pull back in the opposite way, and you'll just drive them farther apart. That's why I'm saying you can't tell Utau-san how to be or how she can change. You have to show her, and let her make the decision on her own." Tadase advises. "Until she wants you to save her, you're not the dashing hero jumping out of a flaming building with the damsel, you're the creepy dude staring in her window that she hasn't opened for you."

    Tadase's phone rings, and he pulls it out and answers it, and then Kiseki whines. "Really?" the little fairy asks.

    "Sorry Ikuto-san. Gotta go, Student Council stuff ratherr than fun magical punching stuff. You can text me, you know. If you didn't lose my number."