—- After hearing some sort of commotion (perhaps an overstatement, but everything is ‘commotion’ to Rin) from a nearby classroom, Rin takes it upon herself to investigate the source of the noise. Standing just outside the doorway, she takes a small peek in, and hums quietly to herself.
Ah, yes. That girl with the bowtie and ridiculous puppets. She distinctly remembered her awkward shuffling from their last encounter.
While it was a bit disheartening to see that she hadn’t taken any of Rin’s advice to heart (if you could even call it ‘advice’), the Engineer decided not to enter the room just yet. Instead, she stood back and watched… for a good minute or two, at least. Until she got bored.
“ While it is exceedingly childish, I must admit… it is rather fascinating, in a way, how you manage to achieve those voices with minimal mouth movement. ”
Rin comments, now fully stepping into the room and glancing at the Ventriloquist. She takes a seat as far as possible from her, keeping an eye locked onto the other girl.
“ Although, I couldn’t possibly fathom the appeal of children’s entertainment. ”
It was childish to pretend. She knew better, she did, then to give in to the old habit but she found herself falling into step as she always did when she needed new ideas and insight. Hadn’t she heard one of her classmates tell her that it was something that programmers do? With a duck or something like that?
The duck didn’t usually talk back, though.
Chibi-kichi was the wisest of them all and exactly who she needed today. For herself, for her career, for everything... she needed to hear something from someone she believed in and coulds truly confide in. Anything.
She’s whispering quietly at first, the back and forth between them growing louder as her anxiety melted away; the empty classroom and shut door making her feel safe. Stupid, stupid, stupid. She had been so stupid.
Her blood ran cold when she heard that familiar voice. She doesn’t want to turn back and look, how could she ever forget someone so scary both in appearance and—wait was she complimenting her? Before she can even comprehend it, the bit of praise was taken away and replaced with a timeless complaint. It makes her flinch.
It wasn’t just for children, she wants to say, but she cannot.
Masumi swallows down the anxiety that was bubbling in her throat as she focused on her doll, red in the face underneath the scrutiny of the woman’s gaze she knew was set on her. It made her want to run, to hide, to be anywhere else but here, and yet...
“Would it surprise you then, to tell you that the art of ventriloquism’s origins are much darker than just mere entertainment for children?”
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