Toko "Just Here for Nips" Fukawa (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
janescayre) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
logs2022-11-27 06:14 pm
janescayre) wrote in logs2022-11-27 06:14 pm
(catch-all)
WHO: Fukawa & "Friends"
WHERE: Mirth, probably Stygia and Serene too.
WHEN: Nov/December
WHAT: Quest logs, perhaps other random goings on that don't need to clog event logs.
WARNINGS: CW: talk of child murder, perverted/erotica talk, threats of murder/suicide, Danganronpa spoilers. Updated as needed!
WHERE: Mirth, probably Stygia and Serene too.
WHEN: Nov/December
WHAT: Quest logs, perhaps other random goings on that don't need to clog event logs.
WARNINGS: CW: talk of child murder, perverted/erotica talk, threats of murder/suicide, Danganronpa spoilers. Updated as needed!
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she sinks down gratefully at one edge of the rocky outcropping, leaning back into a scooped-out section of rock worn away by generations of use. politely, her back is to fukawa now, a clear indication she's not looking and won't.
she rests one arm along the lip of the pool, sighing contentedly as the warmth seeps into her bones. ugh, it feels so nice to just relax! ）
It's the perfect temperature. They really know their stuff here!
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But Fukawa, too terrified to misstep, has dutifully scrubbed herself free of filth and shampooed her overlong hair, which she now pins at the top of her head. The front desk was kind enough to supply her with clips, though there's enough of it that it takes some time to wrangle. By the time she pads over to the onsen she's nearly as peeved at the thought of it falling as she is of losing her towel.
Sakura isn't looking, though. That's good. She checks behind her, to the left then right. Then, very skittish, dips a toe in.]
Ah!
[Hot.
Slowly, she lets herself tread forth. She only shucks the towel when it would be impossible to keep dry, and sinks to her shoulders with a tight squeak. At least her feet touch the bottom here. And it's not so wide. It should be simple enough to escape. The pressure of water and heat on her newly scrubbed skin is...nerve-wracking. She is audibly seething as she approaches the edge, hugging her breasts below the water and gripping the dry rock for peace of mind.]
I feel like I'm b-being boiled into ramen broth. Who knows how many people have been pickling in here already?
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The water is circulated — remember, the hot spring is fed by an artesian spring warmed by geothermal activity. And it's usually too hot, and too high in various mineral contents for any bacteria to survive for long. Perfectly safe, I promise.
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You're such a know-it-all.
[So spoke the bookworm.
Taking Sakura's cue, she too fixes her hair, lifting both hands for one final adjustment. Though she quickly realizes she's left her chest uncovered, and hastily finishes the job one-handed. Constant vigilance and all that.]
You're s-supposed to pick one, you know. Brains or brawn. It just m-makes everyone else look like a lazy shit.
[Or there's the third option: beauty. Which Sakura also has. What chance does anyone else have when the deck is so stacked in one person's favour?]
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Hey, I work hard to be a know-it-all.
（ endless nights pouring over old medical manuscripts was just the start. ）
And frankly, if other people are that worried about holding themselves up in comparison to others, that's their issue, not mine.
（ it's not like she doesn't know where it comes from, that anxiety and uncertainty. she compared everything to ino, from the length of her hair to their respective test scores and certainly to things she'd never actually admit to, like being jealous of ino's bust. but she's worked hard to move past it all. ）
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People r-rank other people against each other all the time! [She must not have gone to any facsimile of high school. Boys always graded the girls, teachers graded the students, and the economy grades the graduates. It's a dog-eat-dog situation from start to finish.
But for once, Fukawa leaves well enough alone. It's not a fun conversation to have for the billionth time. She always hated trite pep talks, and the people here are twice as likely to give them than anyone back home.]
It helps that you have u-useful knowledge, at least. Who the hell needs a literary devotee in a world gone to shit?
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I think it's one of the most useful skills someone could have, especially in a place like this. Stories are hope and humanity and wonder. It's a way to hold back the night. Bring other people closer. Make them feel connected to something bigger than themselves. Humans have been telling them as long as we've had language. There's always value in that. Anyone can learn to fight or set a broken bone, but any sort of storytelling takes a skill that's harder to teach.
（ now that fukawa's... mostly settled, she directs her attention back to the girl, head canted curiously to one side. ）
What's your favourite genre?
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No one's really said as much. She wanted to believe it. Claimed it several times herself. But desperate times had called for people of desperate measures, and no one had the time of day for a bespectacled bookworm. Much less one that came with so many wretched caveats.
At the close she looks to the water. Waits a moment before she speaks.]
I w-was a romance novelist. [A beat.] B-but not that trashy, pornographic kind. Proper literature.
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（ look she's... maybe read a trashy pornographic book or two (thanks again, jiraiya) but she's absolutely a sucker for romance, so she just lights up at this revelation. ）
Are any of your books here? Can I read one?
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Don't look at her tits, you imbecile!]
Y-yeah! They're at the library!
[She bites at her lip.]
B-but I bought copies f-for myself, too. I'll give them to you, if you're really that bored.
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（ excuse you, she's a grade a nerd. sakura reads medical texts for fun. ）
Which one's your favourite?
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[But Sakura is Not Like Other Girls. Fukawa brightens some, smiling in spite of herself.]
Um, b-but, I suppose of everything published, my last book is probably the least painful. So Lingers the Ocean. It's, um, about f-fishermen.
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（ she's gonna read the book, fukawa, and you can't stop her. ）
My first mission was to help a fishing village.
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Really? [Though she is quick to change gears now, being given a fresh inch to take a mile with.] Are you going to g-give me some details this time, or should I invent some for you?
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（ 'boring', she says, as if sasuke didn't almost die, as if naruto and kakashi hadn't been in danger, as if she'd done something more useful than standing on the sidelines gripping a knife in a sweat-drenched palm. she still has nightmares about finding sasuke's body pierced with senbon, lifeless and cold. ）
They don't give dangerous missions to the new genin.
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Genin? ["Peasant?" It doesn't sound like work for peasant class. Their homes seemed to share a number of linguistic and national components, but applied in different ways. Japan by another name.] S-so...if you were hired to escort people, trained in both martial arts and medicine, and some magic crap...
[She gnaws on her lip, squinting at the rock bed.]
Something like a shinobi, maybe?
[Is she even talking to Sakura any longer?]
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（ if she hadn't wanted fukawa to figure it out, she wouldn't have given her so many hints, it's not like she's particularly averse to lying. but she'd decided that maybe the girl was trustworthy after all. in a way, she's also keeping her word to naruto and sasuke by not directly telling her. ）
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[Slight pause.]
You admitted! Ha!
[Wait.]
Unless th-this is a clever diversion...
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（ oh, now she's just going to tease her mercilessly. sakura grins, wrinkling up her nose playfully. ）
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Y-you're just messing with me, aren't you.
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（ ooh, scary. ）
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[Screams internally.]
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（ she laughs, and dips one hand under the water, flicking droplets playfully in fukawa's general direction. ）
No, of course not telepathy. That'd be my best friend back home.
（ okay, so ino's family jutsu aren't quite telepathy, but... you know what? close enough. ）
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[AQUATIC ASSAULT. She flinches back and swats at the droplets with reflexes that can only be described as "unsalvageable".]
Don't do that!
[🤬❗❗❗
Anyway, she sulks a little but internally concedes that it was a stupid suggestion. If Sakura read her mind even once she'd probably have left her in jail.]
I'd h-hate to live in a place where things like that are possible. Aren't there enough problems in the world already?
[She sighs.]
I m-might be the only person here without some secret magical girl persona. None of that crap existed back home.
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（ it's asked gently, as she sinks a little lower in the water. it isn't as if she's ashamed of having chakra — she's worked hard to be where and who she is, but she understands all too well the desperate fear of not being enough. strong enough, smart enough, good enough. it's easy to feel like you've been left behind when the people around you are predestined to power. ）
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