Standing Against the Ills of Our Day

Indie RP blog for Megumi Kitaniji from TWEWY

[papiliocantus]

Nodding softly, they looked around the store; as much as they’d love to shop, there was much business to be done. As soon as they’d confirmed no one else was within earshot, they looked back to the Composer. “Me… I’m Shiroizumi, Takumi. You can call me whatever variant of that if its color tickles your fancy.”

Extending a hand for a pleasant handshake, they smiled in some semblance of a genuine expression. “It’s nice to meet you, as well. But it won’t do to stay here; where would you like to go to discuss things in more detail?”

The likelihood they’d want to shop if they remained here for much longer was rather high – best to get into a more private, professional location.

[conductorofideals-blog]

“Shiroizumi, then.” He shook the offered hand firmly, but did not linger in the handshake.

“Hmm.” He sighed. “Other than the River, I’ve got no idea. Shibuya is... very densely occupied.” Which was fortunate, as it wouldn’t be Shibuya otherwise... but happened to be less than ideal in this case, or whenever else you were looking for a quiet location.

[papiliocantus]

conductorofideals

Click-click-click. The heels of two small boots made clicks on the floor as the Harajuku-dressed one entered the meeting spot, hairspray-stiffened mint hair idly swishing faintly. Lavender contacts look around as though they didn’t already know where they were headed, and then settle on the owner of one pair of red headphones.

Anyone else might have mistaken them for, well, just what was on the tin: an ambiguously gendered alternative-fashionista. However, the person they were here to see would know immediately that what’s visible about them wasn’t the entire spectrum.

They smiled faintly as they adjusted their path directly to the other – there was really no use in beating around the bush. Staring up at the man with the shades and the headphones, they spoke, an airy and light voice with just as little distinction between ‘masculine’ and 'feminine’ as their appearance.

“Aah… Kitaniji, Megumi. Yes?”

[conductorofideals-blog]

Megumi had been waiting inside Shibukyu Main Store. While he’d feel most comfortable in a music store... he’d personally rather not meet somebody in a music store. Eating was likewise out of the question - so a clothing store he didn’t hate sounded like the least bad option, hence his choice.

Really, it was inconvenient to hold a meeting in the stores at all. The RG was no place to have a conversation in any way connected to confidential material related to the Game, and that was that. He’d arrived somewhat early, as he’d rather not be the one at fault, and avoided looking at a clock for his wait time. It was rather pointless, after all; the Producer would arrive when they’d arrive, and he’d rather not think about that until then.

He’d have likely noticed the presence earlier, were they not standing in a shop - although he, by merit of his position, wasn’t completely powerless in the RG, it was still rather muffling. Looking somewhere in the Angel’s direction, he replied, “...Yes.” ...How, exactly, were you supposed to react when meeting someone you may end up having to work with for the rest of your existence? Giving a traditional greeting couldn’t be offensive, could it? “It’s nice to meet you.”

[daisukenojo-bitou-a-blog]

Beat’s smile dropped a little at the question. Beat had…complicated feelings about the Higher Ups. Sure, his Producer was one of them, but she was the exception. In all honesty, he felt like they didn’t like him and responded in the like.

                          It really was childish.

“…Tha’s…” He paused again. “Kinda? I don’t like how they act like they better than everyone an’ know best just cuz they stronger, y’know? It just pisses me off an’ I open my big mouth. Still gotta work on that, haha…”

[conductorofideals-blog]

“That is understandable - I’ve been... uncomfortable with their behavior on occasion, and I’d imagine myself to have more tolerance for authority than most people.” And Beat in particular, of course - but that would be inappropriate to say to an older Composer.

...He was particularly uncomfortable around his own Producer, but... that was for more personal reason. Him being an Angel had very little to do with it.

[raimu-bitou-a]

“All right! Thank you!” She replied, giving him a small, respectful bow. “Waiting isn’t really a big deal to me anymore.” Now that she was dead, she had nothing but time, after all.

“Is he nice?”

[conductorofideals-blog]

“He’s very easy to get along with, and certainly very friendly.“ Niceness wasn’t something Megumi associated with anyone involved with the UG - strength of character, perhaps, but....

[daisukenojo-bitou-a-blog]

"Eh… Angels seem t’ kinda be like that from what I’ve seen so far. It’s like they all come prepackaged wid the whole "avoid all personal questions" thing. Or… the one’s I’ve talked with have." Admittedly, the he hadn’t talked to many so the reference pool was very small.

"I dunno, I might jus’ be weird. I kinda like the idea of modifyin’ it so it reflects me more. Plus, I kinda think the two pillars wid the Angel an Reaper on it look kinda lame. I don’t wanna look at Angels more than I already gotta."

[conductorofideals-blog]

"Heh. That would certainly fit with what I’ve observed." A sigh. “It’s somewhat unexpected, for his case in particular, considering how forthcoming he is about other things, but... I suppose age would come with secrets.

"I’d think I’d be the stranger one - it is natural to want to customize something so important, isn’t it? ...Though I suppose I might consider insulting anything He had dealt with to be strange." A pause. “Have you some problem with Angels?”

[raimu-bitou-a]

A person who wasn’t Megumi or herself who had authority to interfere in the Game? How strange… though she supposed this was probably one of those “Composers-only” things. Not that she was complaining.

It wasn’t her place to know despite the intense curiosity.

"Okay. Thank you for telling this, Sir. Do you know where I might run into him?"

[conductorofideals-blog]

It couldn't cause Rhyme any harm, but... would the Producer be annoyed by his Conductor bothering him for incidental conversation?

"...He runs a cafe on Cat Street, which runs unreliable hours. It is, however, your best bet." If Hanekoma didn't want to be bothered, he'd be unavailable - and if he was fine with it, the man was certainly capable of avoiding unpleasant or classified subjects on his own.

[sakvraba-a]

"Like I’d know. Kind of like I have no idea why you were even in AMX to start."

"I figured you liked your sewer too much to worry about the RG."

[conductorofideals-blog]

"As I've said, I enjoy music, and Shibuya."

"I am not obligated to remain in the sewer - and everyone is lowered to the RG while in stores."

[daisukenojo-bitou-a-blog]

"Pfft."

"I’m pretty sure my Producer would a’ freaked. She’s got a bit of a value on her appearance, so…" Not that it would be to hard for her to fix whatever damage had been done. Beat wasn’t sure if Angels could re-grow hair on will though…

"You made any renovations t’ the Room? My Producer said I wasn’t allowed t’ do it, but I ain’t sure if that’s a multiversal constant."

[conductorofideals-blog]

"...To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what mine thinks about his." ...Hanekoma tended to just laugh when posed questions of the sort - and Megumi hadn't particularly wanted to give the Producer reason to be reminded of an embarrassing incident.

"I don't know whether I'd be allowed - I haven't particularly wanted to, so there's been no reason to check." Even if it was a reminder of... that, that made it an important reminder of the prior Composer. Megumi wouldn't change it, even if he preferred to avoid it.

[sakvraba-a]

"Right. So I guess it was just dumb luck that I ran into you at the music store, huh?"

[conductorofideals-blog]

"...Yes. Why would I have any desire to seek you out?"

[sakvraba-a]

"…Yeah, you’re right. Just seeing you is enough to bring back all the memories I don’t need."

[conductorofideals-blog]

"...I certainly wasn't planning on seeking you out in the future."

[raimu-bitou-a]

Rhyme listened, intrigued by the information. Aging was decreased while dead? She supposed that made since, considering she hadn’t hit her growth spurt yet. And… while she normally didn’t care much about her appearance or what others thought, she’d had to fight off more Reapers than she would have liked because they thought she’d be a push over.

"Oh, I see. Thank you for telling me, Sir. Oh! I was wondering… do you know anything about a man named Sanae Hanekoma?"

"Because, some of my friends were talking about how he put me in a pin after I got erased and I thought that was kind of interesting, since we don’t currently have any Reapers with that name."

[conductorofideals-blog]

"He is known to me - not a Reaper, no, but he does have authority to interfere with the Game." That was probably the best way to phrase it without involving too much classified information. "He is not someone you need to concern yourself with."

But... if Rhyme was curious about the circumstances of her Game, perhaps it would do her good to speak with the Producer. Not only was he a stabilizing presence, but he could likely remember far more about that week than Megumi. "...He poses no danger to you, however. I will tell you no more, but seek him out if you will."

[sakvraba-a]

"Yeah, genius. You ever think that’s the reason why I don’t need a reminder in the first place?"

[conductorofideals-blog]

"I think it's the reason it's pointless to attempt to avoid reminding you."

[sakvraba-a]

"…Yeah, you’ve said."

"And just because I don’t personally approve of it or whatever, doesn’t mean that I don’t get it’s important. I don’t need a reminder of that every time you show up. But I’m not about to admit the Game’s anything worth enjoying, either. Actually, I don’t even wanna talk about it at all."

[conductorofideals-blog]

"Hmm."

"While I may understand that you'd like to avoid the pain from memories,  I find it hard to believe you'd think about anything but the Game around me, even if I were to refrain from mentioning it."

[atarashi-coco-live]

"Um… well, all the versions of the Composer I’ve met. Like, obviously. And… um…" Should she really tell him? She didn’t want to get anyone in trouble… Then again, Kitaniji didn’t ask her to specify which Shibuya the people who knew were from. "A version of Sho and a version of Neku. Not super sure which universe they count as being from, though." She was somewhat certain that she shared a native Shibuya with at least one of them, but she could be wrong. Multiple universes got really confusing and pretty hard to keep track of after awhile.

"Well like, not everyone notices. People can be pretty oblivious to things like that." Even in a big city filled with so many people, worldviews could be narrow. She’d been the same, enjoying only one tiny portion of something much greater before she played the Game and opened her eyes so to speak. "And that’s good. I like Shibuya like this. And Jo- I mean, the Composer’s a pretty okay guy on top of all of that other stuff." Coco’d nearly slipped up and called the Composer by a nickname. She didn’t know what Kitaniji’s impression of him really was, but acting so casual about that aspect was probably not the best idea.

[conductorofideals-blog]

"Obviously." ...His deadpan response likely seemed a bit rude, but it wasn't quite funny enough a statement to deserve a chuckle, and he'd spoken without thinking. A pause, to recover, then Megumi continued; "The Composer and I are already aware that those people possess knowledge of His identity. Regardless, thank you for reporting." That was a suitably formal response for a work-related answer; the individuals in question likely knew in all universes sufficiently similar in terms of that Game, as Minamimoto had known even before, while Sakuraba would have inevitably discovered that fact at the end.

"Unfortunately." While he'd defend it, Megumi wasn't entirely sure how he felt about his plan, in hindsight. Still, the Reapers, at least, should hold the Composer in a bit more respect, as He was the one who kept the city in such good condition. "I don't believe I have quite the same perspective on Him as you do, but... the Composer is wonderful."  Megumi was well aware that the Composer was of at least human origin, if not fully human in nature, but... that only made Him more admirable than were he to have sprung into existence as a god.

[sakvraba-a]

"—What? You expect me to say it was easy?"

"Listen, I get that the Game wasn’t hard for just me. But I’m not about to admit that it was breeze, either. And I’m not gonna not complain about it, either. Whatever the Composer’s ‘true’ intentions were, that still doesn’t change the fact that those were the worse three weeks of my damn life.”

[conductorofideals-blog]

"Hmm."

"I suppose that's reasonable enough. However, the Game, and the Composer, have a very important purpose - whether or not you personally approve of it, or the Composer, perhaps you should remember that.

[daisukenojo-bitou-a-blog]

"It isn’t… but, havin’ a positive outlook helps too. Even if you’re feelin’ bad, knowing that things’ll improve won’t make things worse, and anythin’ that gets you feelin’ better faster is helpful."

Beat let out a low whistle at that. A small, crooked grin formed on his face as well. “What’d the guy do? Freak out?”

[conductorofideals-blog]

"I suppose I'll have to keep that in mind, then." Thankfully, Rhyme could help keep an eye on his well-being.

"Well, I'd already aided him, so he wasn't too put out. ...He seemed mostly amused, in fact." It wasn't even a very powerful fire, anyway. "I don't believe I've ever seen him 'freaked out', for that matter." Hanekoma had likely seen his fair share of new Composers already, so that made sense.

[sakvraba-a]

"Yeah, I know."

"But you say that like I’m the one walking the streets, whining about those three weeks to every damn person I see. I get that the Game wasn’t hard for just me. I don’t think I’d be stupid."

[conductorofideals-blog]

"I find that surprising when all I hear out of you was how hard the Game was."

"But perhaps you don't. Perhaps, in that case, you should take a few minutes and truly think about the Composer's actions."