Description: Mimiru bears witness to Honoka's beautification efforts in Osaka.
Osaka is much, much further from Fuji-san than Southtown is... but that's not to say it's been entirely unaffected from its eruption. Volcanic ash spewed into the atmosphere has taken the form of overcast skies and dark clouds, casting a perpetual gloom over the once shining city even throughout the day. But one part of town doesn't seem all that much different -- at least insofar as lighting is concerned. Semi-transparent awnings cover most of the streets and passageways criss-crossing the Shinsaibashi district -- the sky isn't even directly visible until one approaches the Dotombori River to the south.
It's night now, though, so this place looks just the same as usual, just with refugees from eastern Japan crowding the streets instead of shoppers crowding the stores. Shinsaibashi is the high-fashion district... and Dotombori is the ideal place to take a date. Or, heck, find a date.
A large mass of people is crowded on one of the many foot bridges crossing the Dotombori River. And they don't seem to be particularly happy -- as there is a demonstration going on. Ethnic tensions seem to be ongoing, as protesters are holding up signs promoting more support for Burakumin, Ryukyuan, and Ainu people -- those groups particularly known to receive less financial aid from the Japanese government during these trying times.
The tension in the air was palpable : this is what happens when tragedy strikes and the ressources are growing thin to meet the basic needs of the refuge. Even a civilized country like Japan was not immune to such problems, especially since international aid was lagging due to all the other natural disasters that were striking around.
Many officers have been mobilized in this particular area to prevent eventual riots, but also make sure some of the refuges don't attempt to steal the food, water and other medical supplies they are giving out to those in needs. Alas, they give so little it's almost insulting to the refuges.
During the night, the gouvernement's officials were less present but some still lurked and patrolled around the city to disuade potential trouble maker. Four of them have just noticed the growing crowd near one of the bridge... This doesn't look good.
They approach the bridge, whispering something in their radio. They stay near the bridge though, gauging the potential threat.
The Dotombori River is usually a pretty affluent area of town, which normally makes the area pretty jam-packed of beggars -anyway-. But the biggest draw of the area is that it's a widely-recognized area of the city -- internationally famous, actually. And mostly because of this really, -really- gaudy neon sign by the Glico Corporation showing some guy running. ( http://tinyurl.com/mjzqmm9 )
And that is why it's one of the distribution points for supplies and resources to the scores of refugees hiding out here. And it's precisely -because- of all the Osaka news coverage that's going on that the protesters chose here. "WE ARE PEOPLE TOO!" read one of the signs, and that briefly sums up the mood of the people. Threat from them? ... Moderate. Threat from other people looking to take advantage? Also moderate.
And while most of the attention is on the people... the mobs, as it were... very little attention is currently being paid to the big sign. Or the young woman dressed in all black, on the north bank of the river... just standing there watching the sign. Staring, really, at a spot on it.
A figure can be seen atop the sign, lowering a package by rope down, down, down towards the bottom of the sign. It's that package she's watching, only looking away every few moments to the gathering crowd.
So long as as the protesters remained peaceful, the officers would tolerate them but they were obviously keeping an eye out for them. The officers had a reason to be edgy. All that was needed was just a spark to start a wild fire, everything was set in place for things to get ugly and they were on guard to spot that person who might start this.
Mimiru happens to be in this crowded spot at such a late hour, having performed various deliveries of very important medical supplies all day long from one hospital to the other and from one temporary medical facility to the other. She's wearing her goggles over her eyes and a large, heavy looking backpack. Unfortunately, she's also wearing her rollerblades to move around faster but she has to take many detours to avoid the large crowds and the jam-packed area... Which seems to be just about everywhere. She remains alert, trying not to bump into anyone, which slows her down.
Nimble couriers like Mimiru are crucial in a city like Osaka even without the streets crowded with refugees and protesters -- for small packages and short distances they gain a crucial edge over the bulky cars and trucks that can move about... fifteen meters before some person inadvertently blocks their path.
The satchel being lowered by crate seems to have stopped descending -- and the person at the top of the sign seems to have disappeared. Further inspection would show that there are three more like it, smaller and more inconspicuous packages though. It'd be hard to take notice of them unless one was watching them be lowered into place, but all attention seems to be focused onto the demonstration at the north end of the bridge.
And that's where the young woman dressed in black suddenly starts hastening to. She hadn't really been paying attention to her immediate surroundings, so she may not have noticed the rollerblade courier skating past. Which would probably explain why an elbow finds its way headed towards Mimiru's midsection. Honest mistake, really.
"Aaa?! I'm so sorry--" comes the stammered apology, as Honoka stumbles back away from Mimiru.
It had been a very long and rough day for Mimiru. She's hard working but she rarely performs delivery this late at night. Her body's aching and she's exhausted from rolling around town in this crowded street.
In all honesty, Mimiru barely noticed the woman with her dark clothes on. Barely a second before Honoka's elbow hits her midsection. The unexpected impact causes the pink haired lass to skid. Instinctively, she reaches out for Honoka's arm to steady herself, her arms flailing. The fact that she carried an heavy package on her back didn't help her with her balance either.
Mimiru manages to steady herself, but Honoka stumbles away and she lets go of her, "Oh, no... Don't be sorry, it's all my fault.." Mimiru says, breathing heavily, a bit on adrenaline from the unexpected shove. Her lips girl into a smile and she straightens herself up and adds, "But... You certainly didn't pick the best clothes to help me spot you, ahah.." She lifts a gloved hand to scrub her goggles' lens for dust.
Black is the new black, don'tcha know. It's not an unusual color, or even a particularly unusual fashion, but it does lend one a certain degree of invisibility against the night -- which is kind of why she picked that particular set of clothing.
"I'm.... s-sorry about that then..." She bows her head lightly, "I'll try to be more considerate of skaters in the future, and wear much gaudier clothing." Her voice is perfectly demure and apologetic... right up until about two seconds after she says it, at which point she sticks the tip of her tongue out in jest.
For a moment, something catches her eye past Mimiru's shoulder. A reporter for one of the local news channels, from the looks of it -- and he points his finger to the Glico sign suddenly. "Oh my g--" His cameraman turns the camera towards the sign -- the satchel hanging from it is pretty damn obvious now, with hundreds of people now gawking at it. It's past dark, and there aren't any construction lattices about -- what could possibly be--
BOOM. The largest of the four packages detonates in a fiery explosion, shattering the glass, neon-lined tubes and warping the metal sub-structure into a twisted, gnarled mess. Commence screaming.
BOO-BOO-BOOM go the remaining three packages, sending a small shockwave rippling through the thin, delicate frameworks supporting the adjacent signs. Shattered framents of glass rain down onto the store awnings dozens of feet below the sign. People run, people scream... a catastrophe!
And yet, Honoka had been staring at the cameraman for the whole time. She takes a quiet step backwards, her contracted pupils dilating to a normal state as she turns back to Mimiru.
A moment earlier or later, and there might not have been a witness. Honoka would have been just another face in the crowd, another terrified observer to the shattering of the Glico sign. But now...
"Sorry to disturb you, it was entirely my fault," she states, no more humor in her demeanor, no sign of the light tease from before. Perhaps even -more- coldly than before, really, she turns to walk away from Mimiru.
The sudden and unexpected explosion causes Mimiru to jump up. She loses her footing momentarily, skidding against to her knees as she loses her balance. The blast still resonates into her ears and Mimiru winces behind her goggles, trying to regain her bearings, her eyes lifting up to Honoka who barely seemed to react to the multiple explosions that followed.
When Honoka turns around to walk away, Mimiru rises back to her feet, her hand reaching out to try and grasp Honoka's ankle. While everyone had been staring at the other side of the river with astonishment, Mimiru had noticed Honoka's weird reaction, unlike all the others. No fright, no confusion... Just calm and serenity. Something was not right.
"Heh! Just wait a second!" Mimiru says, frowning. She had reached out for her without really thinking about it, not knowing what to do next, but she tried to hold on to her wrist to prevent her from walking away.
Honoka -was- calm. Very calm, in fact. As if she didn't see the explosion.
Or, as she indicates as Mimiru grabs her wrist, and she turns back to the pink-haired woman: "I... I'm sorry, did you say something?" she answers in a much louder voice. She looks Mimiru right in the eye -- the face, rather, and taps her ear with the hand that's not been grabbed. "Oh, I'm... sorry. I'm... apologizing a lot, huh? But I'm not used to this... hearing aid. I have to look at people when they talk to hear them." Sure enough -- there's a small, flesh-toned device plugged into her ear.
She taps her earlobe again for emphasis. "Did you say something else to me? I didn't mean to be rude..." Something catches her eye again -- though this time it's the Glico sign creaking, its substructure failing, causing it to separate from the building. Metal groans with the increasing stress, and Honoka looks back to Mimiru, squaring her gaze. "Did... did something happen!? I didn't hear a thing..."
Once Mimiru has managed to get Honoka's attention, she lets go of her wrist. She lifts both of her hands up, lifting the goggles up to reveal her eyes. She narrows her eyes and frowns at Honoka, trying to focus despite the screams of the crowd and all the ruckus that is going on around. She ignores the havoc caused by the explosion for now : staring at Honoka.
Mimiru's expression was puzzled. She assesses Honoka, trying to judge whether or not she's lying to her. Though in the end, her features soften up a bit and she turns her eyes away momentarily as she hears the metallic screech coming from the sign. "Some crazy things happened..." Mimiru shouts back to her, glancing back to her to face Honoka so she can hear her better.
She arches a brow, "You sure everything's okay?" She asks with a bit of concern.
Honoka... is not the best liar. She has deceptions, but the fact that she changes her mind so quickly creates cracks in those deceptions that just abut anyone could pick apart... given enough time. But there's no sense in letting this one go just yet. "... Oh... Yes, I'm... I'm fine. It's just that this hearing aid is directional, so it only really works best on things I'm -looking- at." She smiles shyly, looking down at Mimiru's hands for a moment. "I'm really glad you were looking out for me... I... haven't always been deaf..." She looks up again, smile fading as she explains, "it just got really bad for me a little while ago, and that's why I have these..." She taps her ear again, taking another step back.
The explosions seem to be emboldening the demonstrators, loud shouting and vigorous movement drawing attention away from the creaking sign. Someone in a suit gets shoved -- but the crowd manages to contain itself, right on the verge of erupting into an all-out brawl.
And if that weren't enough, three people in black approach from Midosuji Street, on the west end of the riverbank walkway Mimiru and Honoka are standing upon. They start heading east towards the demonstration, but it'll be a while before they reach the two young women.
"I really appreciate your concern, though!" chirps the much -too- chipper Honoka.
Lying? A distinct possibility.
"Huh-huh," Mimiru simply answers to Honoka, her attention split between the scene of destruction and the commotion it has caused and to Honoka. A part of her tells her not to get involved in all of this and get away while she still can, before something worst actually happens. She had an important package to deliver after all.
Mimiru wasn't truly concerned about Honoka : she thought her behaviour was mostly suspicious, "I'm really sorry for you," Mimiru replies casually. She glances over to the agitation and the crowd barely managing to contain itself, "I think it'd be best not to idle around here for too long, looks like trouble's brewing up..."
She gently rolls by Honoka's side, away from the river side, moving both hands to hold on the snaps of her packbag, glancing to the crowd from a distance, and than to Honoka.
"Thanks..."
A part of Honoka wants desperately to stop being so damn elusive and just =talk= to Mimiru. Just like a normal girl. It's rude, she tells herself, it's just plain rude to lie to someone's face like that.
But the part of her in charge right now just writhes. Mimiru had said 'I'm really sorry for you,' and that just sent her mind off into an unchecked, unmitigated process of doublethink. Did Mimiru mean that at face value? Why could it be face value, when she said it so plainly... OBVIOUSLY she knew what was going on, she was just rubbing your nose in it, Honoka... The conflicting thoughts bring a slight sneer to Honoka's lips, as she no longer pretends to be the nice girl -- the nice girl she could have been. The very nerve of that pink-haired girl... being so -polite- as she walks away.
Honoka has somewhere to be, but she's paralyzed by Mimiru's words. She desperately wants to shout back, wants Mimiru to know that she knows she knows, but there she goes. Honoka may have -said- the last word, but Mimiru -got- the last word, and that drives her mad. Just look at that girl, just rolling right past the crowds of people, people now more or less resigned to the idea of the sign falling down.
The top edge of the sign does, finally, break free from its creaking frame, the horrible sound of shearing metal filling the air, the final warning for Honoka to get out of the way. Her three companions hasten towards the woman, but she'd already started running towards them. And without a further word, the four turn down another side street, disappearing into the labyrinthine covered streets of Shinsaibashi.
One day Honoka will talk freely. But not tonight. There is more havoc to wreak.
Mimiru casually rolls backward. She keeps an eye out on both the sign and Honoka, remaining alert. She lowers her gaze at her and frowns one last time... And then Mimiru is gone into the crowd, dashing off and leaving her.
Mimiru had made up her mind -- her deliveries were more important this time. Did she know about Honoka? Perhaps, but she certainly had her share of doubts about her...
And finally... the sign crashes into the water with a rather loud splash! NO MORE GLICO SIGN YAY
Log created on 19:54:38 09/11/2014 by Honoka, and last modified on 09:58:07 09/12/2014.