959/The Bookstore is Bigger on the Inside

The Bookstore is Bigger on the Inside
Date of Scene:	03 January 2024
Location:	Watanabe's Books
Synopsis:	Michiru takes Rashmi to a secret, labyrinthine book store in order to win her friendship. It is very effective. They get to know each other while navigating a maze of twisty passages all lined with books. By the end of it Rashmi even figures out Michiru is famous.
Cast of Characters:	Michiru Kaiou, Rashmi Terios

---

(PHONE) Michiru Kaiou texts: Happy New Year! I am making a trip to my favorite bookseller in Jimbocho, very out of the way, often has a lot of rather interesting finds. Would you be interested in joining me?

(PHONE) Rashmi Terios texts: Absolutely! Where d'you want me to meet you?

(PHONE) Michiru Kaiou texts:Wherever you are, especially if that's at home. My driver is taking me, so we can easily pick you up.

(PHONE) Rashmi Terios texts: Your dri-- um! Okay, come to the Korma Chameleon then, I'll be right down! Also Happy New Year!

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Korma Chameleon is not very far from Casa Del Outers, and so it does not take long for Michiru to arrive. The black luxury sedan she always rides around in, the one with the tinted security windows and a professional driver, pulls up in front of the restaurant about ten minutes later.

Michiru texts: We're here.

When Rashmi comes out, the driver gets out of his seat, walks around the back of the car and opens the rear passenger door so she can climb in. Michiru is sitting in the back seat on the other side, smiling.

"Are you ready for this? I love this place. It's where I go when I need to find new sheet music. He's never let me down. He can find anything."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Getting permission to go out was easy to secure, when Rashmi mentioned it was one of her friends from Christmas breakfast. But as this was going to be a day of *many* firsts, the text actually doesn't get read; the moment her phone buzzes she all but *leaps* out the door to the restaurant, turning mid-step to wave off some laughing comment from her father before turning back around, cheeks aflame. Her chosen clothes for the day trend toward the plain and comfortable, *quite* the opposite of her Barrier Jacket; matching clay-orange thick sweater, knit cap, and mittens, against a warm charcoal skirt and black leggings.

When the driver exits to open the door for her, she bows deeply in thanks, then slides in... only to stare open-mouthed around the interior of a much nicer, *much* fancier car than she'd ever been in. "Whaaaaaa... I don't think I *am!* Not if it's half as nice as this car!"

Hurriedly she buckles her seatbelt in before the car can leave the curb, then turns a high-wattage smile upon Michiru. "Thank you *so much* for inviting me, Michiru-san! ...Wait, sheet music? What do you play?"

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru Kaiou doesn't do casual, not really. She's wearing a teal, cable-knit, turtleneck sweater dress with black tights and black ballet flats. Her aqua hair tumbles down over her shoulders like cresting waves.

The car pulls away from the curb and starts to drive toward Jimbocho. It's not exactly right next door, and Michiru just smiles at Rashmi. There's a delighted twinkle in her eye when she says, "Oh, I play violin."

One of the best things about Radiant Heart is how many people she meets who don't know who she is and don't fawn over her celebrity.

"Do you play?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
It is, occasionally, *really difficult* to be around beautiful people. The Rashmi of before her admission to Radiant Heart would turtle up, assuming that someone so pretty and clearly well-off would have better things to do than spend time with her. But that Rashmi has gotten beaten down, fairly aggressively, by sheer repeated contact with some of the most varyingly gorgeous boys and girls in Tokyo.

There *is* still the bit of hesitancy -- easy to see in the playing with the end of her knee-length ginger plait, she just has *no* poker face -- but practice has mostly quashed the urge to assume being a yes-girl is what's wanted. Instead, her eyes widen behind her glasses. "The *violin?* Oh no I don't, Michiru-san, but I *love* orchestral music, and the violin solos are just... Iunno, transporting? But mostly I read. I'm... kind of a fantasy nut, myself. Between school, the restaurant, clubs, and..." she trails off, rotating a hand to try and encompass 'Flying around Tokyo at all hours of the day, fighting monsters and gradually collecting combat-trauma' without actually speaking it, "I'm not sure I'd have the *time* to learn an instrument."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru Kaiou is inoculated to the effects of beautiful people because she is so beautiful herself, but also because she lives with such beautiful people. It's easy for her to forget just what kind of effect her beauty has on others. Not that she ever does. She knows what effect she has on people.

"If I were trying to learn it now, I would probably struggle too, but I've been playing since I was three," she says with a light laugh. Because playing violin at 3 is a totally normal thing normal people do, right? "I wasn't nearly so busy back then." Indeed, violin was all she did until she took up painting.

There's an amused smile and she says, "This whole life must be rather exciting for you, then," she says. If fantasy books are her thing, well, being a magical girl is not far off that mark, is it? "It sometimes feels like I'm part of the stories I used to read when I was younger."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"I know, right?!" Rashmi says, eyes practically sparkling. "I mean I could do with a lot less danger and violence, but like..." she trails off, glancing at the back of the driver's head, then clears her throat. "...Yeah, it's pretty awesome. ...And surprisingly good practice for what I want to do, after."

...Rashmi may be kind of a fangirl about the concept of magic in general, but unless her career choices include 'rescue helicopter pilot,' it seems like a strange nonsequitur.

"But did you love to play when you started? Or was it something you grew into, cos I can't imagine you still doing something after that long without adoring it."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru Kaiou considers Rashmi's question for a moment and then shrugs. "I showed an interest and a talent for it, and my father saw to it that I became the best," she says. That certainly doesn't answer whether or not she likes it now. "Playing is like breathing, almost. It is very easy for me to lose myself in the notes."

Then she smiles. "But when I really need to think, I prefer to paint." She's a rather prolific artist, even if most of her art never gets seen by the public. She designs all the art for her concerts. Many of the pieces that adorn the walls of Kaiou Industries' headquarters are hers as well.

It's not long after that the car pulls to a stop next to a narrow alleyway in a rather out of the way corner of Jimbocho. "We're here!" Michiru announces. The driver gets out of the car, walks around, and opens the door next to Rashmi.

After they both shuffle out of the car, Michiru smiles to the driver and says, "I'll text you when we're ready, Takyua-san."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
When Michiru carefully avoids saying whether or not she *likes* to play the violin, for all that she can't not, there's a flicker in Rashmi's expression... Much like the look a person gets when they've successfully found a spot for a puzzle piece. "You paint *too?* ...If you don't mind some day, I'd very much like to see."

How to continue this conversation without sounding simpering or fawni--OKAY WE'VE ARRIVED.

Saved from indecision by the power of scenery change, Rashmi climbs out of the car, bowing again to the driver. "Thank you very much, Takuya-san!" And turns to see... an alley. A narrow, dark alley in the back end of a crowded urban district.

"...This really *is* gonna be the best place for books, isn't it Michiru-san."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
It really is a challenge, going through life as amazing as Michiru is. It's very hard to find people she can just be a girl with. She was so lucky to find Haruka and Setsuna who are both just as amazing, but she's wants to make more connections. It's just, well, her life is so distant from most people's that she has a difficult time relating to them.

Takuya smiles and offers a polite bow in return and then shuts the door, steps back around, and the car drives off. They're committed!

"Oh you have no idea," Michiru says with an excited grin. "I've been coming here for years, and I'm not sure I've seen the whole store. I swear it's bigger on the inside." Then she grabs hold of of Rashmi's hand and just starts heading into the dark, shadowy alley. It's safer this way. They won't get separated.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Yessssssss," Rashmi says under her breath as she gets tugged down the dark alley.

Other people of her age and temperament might be nervous, for a lot of reasons. At the very least, there would be questions. Is this a flirting thing? Is this a murder thing? Both?

For Rashmi, though, three important conditions exist;

    1) She fights monsters at least three times a week, and is confident in her ability to at least hold a murderer off long enough to get away,
    2) This is one of Setsuna's cherished found-family, and thus easily trusted, and
    3) She has been promised The Shed, But A Bookstore.

"Michiru-chan this is the second-best surprise anyone has ever given me already."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru-chan! The suffix change is not missed, but the aquanette is in the lead, and so Rashmi might miss the delighted expression that briefly appears on her face before Michiru locks her mask back down. She's making friends.

The door to the store looks rather unassuming. It's a steel and glass door with a cast iron screen in front of it. Just what you'd expect for as tore that's three-quarters down a dark alley. There's a sign hanging in the door that says, simply, Watanabe's Books. Michi pulls open the cast-iron and pushes open the glass door and the rush of warm air that hits their faces is filled with the smell of books.

Michiru holds the door open for Rashmi to enter, a big smile on her face. Second-best surprise is still a very good ranking in terms of surprises. The best surprise is probably something Chrono did. Her best surprise is certainly the school dance where she found Haruka, so she understands.

"I'm so glad," she says, that twinkle in her eyes again. "As soon as Mr. Watanabe called to tell me my music was in, I knew I had to invite you."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
The smell of books is powerful enough to cause Rashmi to lean back on her heels for a moment, and she has to take a moment to check her expectations. It probably won't *actually* be a library TARDIS, but it *is* going to be an absolute playground.

Looking to Michiru as she confesses she *had* to invite Rashmi, the redhead can't help but chuckle. "Let me guess... Nicomachea, *and* the glasses? I mean I *found* him in a used bookstore, so, I guess it really does track." And then she walks into the store, and just... halts dead, staring up and around.

If ever there existed a Grand Cathedral to the worship of the printed word? By the look on Rashmi's face, this is probably it.

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
There are spacious, organized bookstores, and then there's Watanabe's Books. The room just inside the door has a large glass display case with some Very Rare editions on display. Most of them don't even have prices marked down, but the ones that do, are rather astronomical. There's an old-fashioned mechanical cash register sitting on top of the counter, and then one of those tablet card reader systems right next to it. There's nobody standing behind the counter though.

A bell jingled when they opened the door, so surely somebody knows they're there.

The store continues on past the entry room in what seems to be a maze of book-lined hallways. There are stairs that go up and stairs that go down. There are rooms, and more hallways. Some of the rooms even have windows. Does this bookstore occupy the entire block? Surely not. There were other storefronts. Other doors.

"Those were certainly clues, but actually, I just asked Setsuna what you liked."

Michiru was trying.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"...Okay so I was trying *not* to expect a library TARDIS," Rashmi murmurs, "...but I think this might be a library TARDIS. Michiru-chan I could walk out this door right now, and I would have seen some of the most incredible things I think exists in this city. And that would do it too, I'm about as much of a fantasy fan as she is an American movie buff."

Slowly turning in place, she pauses when she ends up facing the marine Senshi, and grins. "Okay now show me your favorite part? Let's start this tour off right."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru Kaiou grabs hold of Rashmi's hand again--it's a twisty maze of book-lined passages all alike, it's best they not get separated--and leads on with a grin. It's down the hallway, and a turn to the right, up the stairs, and another turn to the right, down some stairs, and a turn to the left, then down some more stairs.

It's poetry. An entire room full of poetry in all sorts of languages. "Mr. Watanabe finds me the best sheet music, but I don't actually shop for it. We correspond via email, and he lets me know when he has things for me to pick up. I find the best poetry here in the store, though, every time I come in."

She lets go of Rashmi's hand and walks across the room to a specific shelf, grabs a book and brings it back to her. It's Take Me With You by Andrea Gibson. "I gave this to Haruka for Christmas," she says with a smile and a dreamy sort of look in her eyes. "Trying to get her to read more." She giggles. Reading is too slow for her racecar driver.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
A giggle escapes Rashmi's throat as she's tugged through the Libram Labyrinth. "It's like he owns the *entire neighborhood!*" she laughs, after the *fifth* turn. Almost out of breath from the excitement, she looks up... and about... and just spins in place, keeping her hands on her plait to keep it from whipping out and smacking anything. "...Okay seriously if I didn't know magic was real, I'd look at this and say magic is real."

As Michiru peels off for a bit to select Haruka's gift, and tell the story behind it, Rashmi's eyes soften. "...You to really, really do love each other, don't you," she says. And it's not a question, because she knows.

She loves someone just about as hard, after all.

"...Maybe one day, take a few hours, and read them back and forth?"

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru Kaiou glances around the room quickly. Nobody's there. It's really a feature of a labyrinthine, back-alley bookstore. It's never busy. Then she looks back to Rashmi and says, "Well, you know we're all reincarnated space princesses, right? Our kingdoms just all swore fealty to the Silver Milennium, and Queen Serenity."

"Uranus and I love each other so much, Rashmi-chan, that our souls called out to one another and drew us together again in this life just as we were before," she says, her voice just as dreamy as the smile on her face. Then she shakes her head and smiles, her mask settling back into place.

"Did you know some researchers believe that the planets Neptune and Uranus swapped places a few billion years ago?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"...I mean, I kinda knew that," Rashmi murmurs, but falls thunderously silent as the tale goes on. Sparkles begin to form in her eyes, as the sheer *romance* of their situation sinks in. "Whaaaaaa... *Wow,* Michiru-chan... Well... that *does* answer my question pretty well...!"

Chuckling, she starts to wander the shelves of the room, looking among the titles. "Chrono almost literally fell out of the sky," she says quietly. "I talked Mami and Papi into letting him have the couch while he recovered. ...Then at that big princess ball, we were dancing... he fell, and I caught him, and he confessed, just like that."

At the astronomy fact, Rashmi chuckles. "Really? So... Does that mean you were the racer, last time?"

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru Kaiou giggles. "Pluto is not *that* old," she says. Only fourteen thousand years or so. Practically the same age as Michiru when looking at a scale of billions of years. "The shift in orbits came around long before the Silver Millennium, if it happened at all. I've always been the seer, and she's always been the sword. The wind and the waves, forever entwined."

Oh she's all dreamy looking again. Talking about Haruka puts that look on her face every time. She lets out a happy sigh and then looks back to Rashmi. "What a romantic moment," she says. "Dressed all fancy, and such an intimate moment. It's perfect for a confession." She grins. "It seems to have worked out well for you."

She takes the poetry book back to where she found it, slipping it into the very spot on the shelf it had been on. Haruka already has her copy, after all. "I never even thought about romance before I saw Haruka. We met at a dance too. The summer school dance."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"*I'll* say it has," Rashmi says with a grin. "I... kinda thought about it too? Mostly in the 'those people look so happy I wonder what it's like' kind of thing, I... Actually was never that good at making friends, before I changed schools. Now I have 'four pages' of contacts I can easily call my friends, it's wild."

"....Okay now you *have* to tell me about the dance you met at," says the redhead, glasses shining. "And if you know where the fantasy suite is, you can tell me on the way?"

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
"Fantasy," Michiru says and taps her fingertip against her lips a couple of times. "I think I remember where it is. Follow me!" She heads out a hallway that exits the poetry room in a different direction than the staircase they arrived from. There's books along the walls, and they go down the hallway, turn left, go up some stairs, and turn right, and there they are. It's an entirely interior room, and it's got shelves on all the walls and some seating arranged in the middle. It's mostly paperbacks, but there's plenty of hardcover editions as well.

Along the way she tells the story. "So it was the Summer Dance and it was at the end of my first week at Radiant Heart. I'd never attended a school before," she says. The life of an heiress violin virtuoso is just not like those of normal girls. "So, it was my first school dance. I was so nervous. I showed up dressed in an expensive gown that would have fit in much better at the princess ball."

There's a moment where she just smiles. "And she was there in this tailored tuxedo with gold inlay. We were both gloriously overdressed compared to everyone else, and I didn't care. We talked. We danced. I don't remember anything else about the night besides her."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Half the fun of being in this shop is the sheer amount of *expeditioning* one has to do to find anything. It's easily the kind of place a child would *dream* of, mazes of twisty passages, all alike and crammed floor-to-ceiling with books, glorious books. So of *course* she sticks close behind Michiru, and appears to be having the time of her life.

"...Okay yeah if that was me and Chrono *I'd* have a hard time thinking of anything else either."

When they hit the Fantasy Room, Rashmi's breath catches. For a literary nerd like her? If this isn't Heaven, it's the next best approximation, and almost without thinking she starts combing the paperbacks, giggling to herself as she notes fill-able holes in her collection, for sale!

"...We actually left the Princess Ball early, before the Princess or the gem came out," she confesses. "...I knew there was an ice cream parlor nearby that had a couples-sundae special. And... Iunno, it felt even *more* meaningful, ditching the fanciest ball I'll ever attend to have ice cream in dance-wear."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
When they reach the Fantasy Room, Michiru just steps inside and delightedly watches as Rashmi takes it all in. She really likes being good at things, and it's very clear she did well here. She's not above using her wealth and connections to make friends. Goodness knows, she needs all the help she can get.

"Rashmi-chan, that's so romantic," she says as she catches up, looking over Rashmi's shoulder to see what books she's glancing at. "I imagine Chrono must have felt relieved to be done with the ball. I know I would have been," she says. "There were too many people at that school dance. If it weren't for Haruka..." She just shakes her head then she smiles. "You two sure do seem rather sweet together."

When she notices Rashmi's looking at a series and there's a skip in what's there. She says, "Watanabe-san can always find stuff he doesn't already have. You can always just ask him, and then he'll let you know when he gets it in."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"I'm definitely gonna remember that," Rashmi says, sliiiiding out three, four, seven books from an older series; Rune Sky Rhapsody: Princess of the Sea of Stars. "I have been trying to fill this series up *all year.* And... yeah I understand that feeling. Being able to dance in a princess' royal ball was magical all its own... but it's a *lot.*" Chuckling, she shakes her head.

"...You have any favorites in this section, by the way?"

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru Kaiou glances to one side and then the other, but this time it's not to make sure nobody is around to overhear her sharing secrets. No, this is because she's just slightly embarrassed about her answer, even though she knows it's silly to be. "I'm afraid I haven't read any books from this section."

Every book she read growing up was carefully chosen. Nearly every moment of her life was planned and scheduled. She had to be excellent, after all, and that meant a demanding life. She had read plenty of literature both Eastern and Western. She was well-read in many areas of non-fiction. But she'd never been able to take time to read something like a fantasy novel. Not once.

But this was what friends were for, and they were friends now, right? "So, if you have a couple recommendations, I always love to leave here with some books."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"...One second," Rashmi says, then dashes off, flitting from shelf to shelf... Then comes back with a pair of books, titled in Japanese but by a foreign author. 'The Hobbitt' and a *much* larger one, 'The Lord of the Rings.' "So definitely start with the Hobbitt, and it's obviously the easier of the two to get through, but... It's got everything that makes a good fantasy book exciting... ...Um. Unless you're afraid of spiders, which case I could get another one... Otherwise, monsters, chases, singing, dragons, treasures..."

The blush makes her tilt her head to one side, a questioning look given to the aquanette. "Well I mean... That's okay? Because if you haven't read any before, then you get to read a story for the first time! And even *if* fantasy isn't your thing, there's *so many genres* to try."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru Kaiou's lips curl into an amused smile as she watches Rashmi flit from shelf to shelf. Even without her henshin, the girl zooms about almost as if on little wings. She's got to hand it to Chrono. She doesn't know him very well, but Rashmi seems just the type for him, and she's cute.

When Rashmi returns with the books Michiru takes them both, and looks them over front and back, then she giggles. "I've played some of the music from the movies they made of these," she says. "Father had a series of several big meetings in New Zealand, and so he managed to arrange for me to solo with the Auckland Symphony Orchestra while he was there." Yeah, she plays violin.

She puts the books together and hugs them to her chest and smiles. "I can't wait to read these! Thank you for the recommendation."

She glances around the room again before asking, "Is there anything else you want to see before we find our way back to the front? I'm sure Watanabe-san will be back at his post by the time we get there."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"You *have?!*" Rashmi gasps, stars in her eyes. "And you-- whaaaaaaa, that's *amazing,* Michiru-chan! That would be a *dream come true* for me!"

Where most girls might say how jealous they were, Rashmi simply seems to delight in awesome things, no matter *who* does them.

"You don't, like... have a recording do you? Because I'd *love* to see that, sometime. But you're very welcome! And if it turns out you *do* like those, I've got some more I'd be happy to let you borrow!"

Oh, the thing about fans, they just so badly want to make more fans.

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
Michiru Kaiou brings her finger up to her lips and furrows her brow as she thinks for a moment, trying to recollect whether or not that concert was recorded. Most are and have been for the last several years, and that was only...three...four years ago? "I don't have a recording of that concert, in particular, though I would be unsurprised if one existed," she says. "I do have plenty of recordings of my playing, though. If you'd like, we could have Takuya-san take us by the house and I could give you some CDs."

Then she turns and starts to head out an entirely different hallway than the one they came in, winding through a maze that involves at least four turns and three staircases before it leads back out the hallway that exits into the first room just inside the door from the alleyway. There's just no way this store actually exists in normal space. It's either that or it's just utterly massive somehow.

Sure enough, there's an old man sitting behind the glass counter with the cash register. He's an elderly Japanese man with very little hair. He lifts his hand and waves. "Kaiou-san! I am so happy to see you here again," he says, a smile on his face. "It has been so long." There's a pause, and his smile falters. "My sincerest condolences about your parents." He pauses a beat, and then says, "I think you'll be pleased with the pieces I found for you this time."

Then he looks to Rashmi and says, "Hello, welcome to my store. Have you found what you came looking for?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"That would be *wonderful!" Rashmi chirps, slowly awakening to the realization that Michiru might be Kind Of A Big Deal. And then, they're off! One of the biggest delights about this shop? The fact that it's purely a maze, and navigating it is like exploring an entire secret world! By the time they finally achieve the counter, the redhead is nearly breathless.

'My condolences about your parents.'

...That was new information. Don't react, don't react, she'll talk about it when she wants to, which won't be here.

Thus her smile may be slightly more brittle than usual, but her answer is sincere. "I could spend *years* in here and not find everything I'm looking for! But this'll do for a start!"

And with that, she sets her stack on the counter, and shifts over to allow Michiru to complete her business.

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
It had been all over the news. Masaru Kaiou, founder and CEO of Kaiou International, and his wife Minato Kaiou had been lost, and presumed dead, when their flight over the Phillipine sea had simply vanished. Investigators never found a wreckage, but the ocean floor is littered with lost things that will never be found. But there are plenty of people named Kaiou, and only some of the news coverage mentioned their violin virtuoso heiress. She doesn't talk about it because she doesn't talk about herself that much, so it would be easy to simply not know.

Michiru steps up to the counter and places the two books down on it like they are precious treasures. And then looks up. "Alright, then, show me what you've got this time, Watanabe-san." She reaches out to take the sheaf of sheet music in his hands and she leafs thru it. She already has all the usual suspects like Paganini or Bach. What he finds for her is the unusual stuff. Unexpected music. Interesting music. It's almost always stuff she's never heard before. She loves to sightread it.

"Oh yes, this will do quite nicely. Thank you, Watanabe-san, as always."

She completes her transaction, paying him for the music and books, and then tucks them all into a bag and pulls out her phone to text Takuya they're ready to go.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
And Rashmi pays for her selection without even commenting. Michiru may be a celebrity, may be wealthy, but Rashmi has grown up under a working household; you don't pick what you can't pay for, and you *also* don't ask for gifts. Once she receives her bag, she dips a bow over the counter, and promises to come back as often as possible.

And when they get back in the car, the only comment Rashmi makes to Michiru is a murmured, "I didn't put two and two together, and... I'm sorry. If you *want* to talk about it, text me? If not, I understand."

"...Also now I *have* to think up something super interesting in return, thank you *so much* Michiru-chan."

And *of course* she gives Michiru her number before the car can roll to a stop *anywhere.*