1633/Mind Your Language

Mind Your Language
Date of Scene:	05 June 2024
Location:	Club Building
Synopsis:	A couple of new arrivals to the English Club join for a watch party.
Cast of Characters:	Ren Morimoto, Katsuko Takezaki, Tsubasa Yuunagi

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Ren Morimoto has posed:
One of the perks of being in the English Club is that the club has its own room, resplendent with various American media. Comic books and novels, movies and tv shows are all packed together on a wall full of bookshelves, and cushions on the floor provide seating for quite a few students, so long as people are okay with being friendly. There is even an imported bean bag that seems to be the first seat taken when the club gathers.

And that is certainly true today, as the club prepares to meet. Someone is already sitting in it, holding a remote as they lounge nearly horizontal. Others are also seated, while a few folks browse the shelves for something to read.

Ren stands at the doorway with a clipboard, writing down attendance as people flow in. He's wearing an oversized hoodie over his school uniform, rather than the usual jacket (which is thrown over the back of one of the few regular chairs in the room). As he looks up from taking notes, he frowns at the window on the far side of the room, where the sky has started to go dark with a storm threatening on the horizon.

Katsuko Takezaki has posed:
    There is no way Katsuko would sign on to be a member, but she's here anyway, approaching the doorway and Ren, but pausing for a moment before approaching the tall boy. "Senpai." She bows hurriedly, "This is the English club, right?" She sounds a little hesitant, for some reason. "Uh, I'm Katsuko Takezaki, seventh grade."

Ren Morimoto has posed:
The doorway also provides a good place for leaning, so Ren makes much use of that so as to not be quite as imposing as he might otherwise be at his full height. Still, he's definitely tall, and he spots the approaching new face early on, though he only smiles distractedly thataway.

It isn't until Katsuko starts to speak that Ren perks up a bit, turning his attention to her. He returns the bow, and then says, "Yes, you're in the right place. I'm Ren Morimoto, nice to meet you." He sets the pen down on the clipboard so he can free up a hand to gesture into the room. "Please, come on in! It's open seating."

Katsuko Takezaki has posed:
    Katsuko steps back and shakes her head right away. "I'm not looking to join." She clarifies immediately, "I was just hoping I might find someone here who's willing to help me not fail English quite as badly." She's sure setting that bar high.

Ren Morimoto has posed:
Ren's picked up the pen again, ostensibly to scribble down Katsuko's name, but he pauses. "Oh, I see!" Then he's turning to look at the assembled club (at least those members who are here already) with a thoughtful expression on his face, the corners of his mouth turned downwards and brows drawn together.

"Hmm..." he says. And then he tilts his head. "Well, most of the people here are juniors, but if you don't mind meeting after club hours, I could probably help you out?"

Katsuko Takezaki has posed:
    "Thanks." Katsuko pauses and glances back to the door, then considers. "Uh... I have another little thing right after club hours" She considers how to phrase it, then puts it as, "A visit to the guidance counselor." She takes a deep breath, "Would you mind waiting until after that or can we arrange another day."

Ren Morimoto has posed:
The question earns a pause from Ren, who tilts his head up slightly. Staring at the ceiling as he thinks, he eventually (after maybe five seconds of internal deliberation) says, "Sure, we can make that work. I'll just eat dinner early and then we can meet after."

Food, after all, is very important. He looks past the door at the pile of imported snacks that are already being raided by some of the club members, and then turns back to Katsuko. "You're still welcome to join us today, we're going to start a movie since it's the beginning of the month. You can even help us pick, the voting hasn't happened yet."

Tsubasa Yuunagi has posed:
When he learned there was an English club at the school, Tsubasa had taken an immediate interest. There is a reason for this, as he arrives at the Club room after learning when it's hours were. He pauses as he notices that the door is occupied at the moment and he lightly clears his throat to try to get someone's attention. "Hello..." he offers politely, his tone quiet, but warm as he offers a bow of his head. "This is the English Club?" he asks.

In his arms, he clutches an American Aviation magazine in his arms. "I was told that English was the international language of pilots. And I would like to learn to understand it better."

Katsuko Takezaki has posed:
    Katsuko is torn. On one hand, English on the other hand ... she doesn't want to upset a potential tutor. Indecision on her face for a bit until she reluctantly nods. "I don't think I should have a vote, I won't understand any of it anyway." She suggests, then Tsubaasa arrives and looks at her classmate. "Yuunagi-kun." She greets, "I'm not here to join." She clarifies probably a little bit too quickly to be polite, "But Morimoto-senpai was kind enough to offer me some tutoring."

Ren Morimoto has posed:
The arrival of another prospect, one that seems more eager to join, makes the smile return to Ren's face. "Yep, this is English club." He waves Tsubasa in, and Katsuko as well when, after deliberating, she decides to sit in as well.

"There are plenty of seats left still," he says as he gestures to some of the cushions on the floor. "Who has the Remote Vote today?" This prompts the young kid in the bean bag to lift her hand in the air. In it, is clutched the television remote.

"My vote is for the Disney movie!"

And then another student groans. "You always pick a Disney movie!" Some background back-and-forth happens over movie choices as Ren smiles gamely, apparently used to it (and, therefore, ignoring it).

Tsubasa Yuunagi has posed:
When someone says his name, it takes the boy a few moments to realize who said it, but as Tsubasa looks to Katsuko, he ohs! "Takezaki-kun, right." He offers a polite bow of his head, but for Ren, he offers, "I am Tsubasa Yuunagi. Grade Seven and in the same class as Takezaki-kun here." A polite little bow given and he straightens back up. "I just transferred here a couple of weeks ago from Sorashido City. My interests are aviation and swimming!"

There's talk of movies and who has the remote, and he asks, "Do you have Top Gun?" Because Top Gun is all about planes and flying is well... kinda his thing.

Katsuko Takezaki has posed:
    Katsuko sits down somewhere and looks like... well, like she's doing her very best to be polite. "My interests are martial arts of all kinds." She volunteers when Tsubasa volunteers his, "Top gun would be fine." She suggests, "Something with action." She shakes her head vigorously at the suggestion for a Disney movie.

Ren Morimoto has posed:
"Looks like you might be outvoted today," Ren says, cheekily, to the girl in the bean bag chair. He steps into the classroom and after one final peek around through the door to see if anyone else is coming, he closes it, then takes his usual seat in the chair next to it.

"Do we have Top Gun?" he asks, and another student goes up to the wall of bookshelves to start looking through, soon enough holding the VHS aloft with pride. When Ren follows up by asking, "Who wants to watch Top Gun?" many of the students' hands shoot up into the air.

As the voting happens, Ren says, "I'm Ren Morimoto, nice to meetcha," to Tsubasa, standing briefly to bow as well. "Please feel free to have a snack and get comfortable!"

Tsubasa Yuunagi has posed:
Once they enter the room, Tsubasa notices that Katsuko looks uncomfortable and sits near her, but not directly next to her, just to give space. "I didn't know you were that interested in English." he offers to her quietly. "I thought you had trouble with it to be honest?" He does well enough, after all, he has been studying it ever since he became interested in flight.

But it seems between him and Katsuko, that Top Gun will be the movie choice today. "It is nice to meet you as well, Morimoto-san!" he offers with a small smile. But at least it's sincere. As he's seated, he plucks a little at his magazine, before setting it to the side for now.

Katsuko Takezaki has posed:
    "I'm not." Katsuko whispers to Tsubasa, "I was looking for a tutor and Morimoti-senpai offered to tutor me and also invited me to come, so just this once I'm here." She's trying to avoid being overheard by the actual members of the club, but she's not very good at quiet. She settles in to watch, at least Top Gun should have a lot of action, don't need to speak English to appreciate the spectacle.

Ren Morimoto has posed:
Whether or not Ren can hear Katsuko, he doesn't seem to show it. Instead he lifts his hand to join in the vote for Top Gun, and soon enough the VHS is being slotted into the VCR by one of the other club members.

"We should turn on the subtitles for our new members," Ren says, thoughtfully, and some shuffling around with the remote happens before the Japanese text appears at the bottom of the screen.

Tsubasa Yuunagi has posed:
"Ah." Tsubasa nods his head as Katsuko explains her reason for being here. "That makes sense. He would probably be a very good tutor. I just figured if I immerse myself in the language a bit more it would help. I didn't know you were into martial arts. That's pretty cool." A quick grin, before Ren is adjusting the movie so that the subtitles show up.

"Thank you!" he says to Ren, a more genuine smile offered. "And thank you for humoring me on the movie choice." His fingers kind of fidget together. "Just always had an interest in flying since an incident when I was young."

Katsuko Takezaki has posed:
    Katsuko nods to Tsubasa, "I've been doing Okinawan Kobudo since I was little." She explains to Tsubasa, "I love it" She settles in to watch the movie, there's another conflicted look on her face when Ren says it's for the 'new members.' But she doesn't reiterate that she's not actually joining the club.

Ren Morimoto has posed:
Once the movie starts playing, Ren doesn't actually watch. In fact, he pulls out a book from his backpack, which is down on the floor next to where he's sitting, and starts to read. There's also a plush cat poking halfway out of his backpack, aimed perfectly so its cute little face is directed towards the television.

The various film production logos flash by on the screen, along with the names of the directors and actors, before a big block of text in English that precedes the TOP GUN intro. And thus the movie begins.

Tsubasa Yuunagi has posed:
"That sounds interesting. I've been considering taking a self-defense course." After all, Tsubasa is probably the smallest boy in the class and only slightly taller than Katsuko is. "But I can't blame him for wanting you in the club. Maybe he just wants to spend more time with you?" he asks her teasingly, but then he's distracted, because there's airplanes.

Airplanes launching from carriers, airplanes in flight. This is what he signed up for! He scoots up to the edge of his seat through the whole Danger Zone sequence, and then the opening dog fight, where the pilots that Maverick and Goose end up replacing are checked out and the inverted flip the bird and polaroid moment.

And of course, the whole 'If it were up to me, you wouldn't even be flying a cargo plane of rubber dog poop out of Hong Kong!' except the Captain so did not say poop.

Katsuko Takezaki has posed:
    "There's a self-defense club, I think." Katsuko shakes her head rapidly at the suggestion that Ren just wants to spend more time with her. She is interested in the movie, and watches along. At one point, when there's not a lot going on though, there's a but of a surprise.

    <ACHTUNG. MAGISCHE ENERGIE> Zwillingrute is being relatively quiet, and it's easy to dismiss that notification as just someone's phone making a noise. Katsuko takes a quick look around, but without more, she just keeps her attention on the movie, especially the cool action scenes.

Ren Morimoto has posed:
Is it censored so that it's appropriate for all ages? Probably. This is a high school club, after all, so there's probably nothing too spicy to be seen, and even though the Captain definitely did not say poop, judging by the mouth shapes, he does get overdubbed to say something much sillier.

Ren looks up from his book at the beeping of the phone, but it doesn't go on for long and thus he doesn't make a big deal about it. Instead he sets his book aside and seems to slowly get drawn into all of the action scenes as well, his eyes glued to the screen.