ITP: Chariots of Fire

[fracta_anima]

Who: Minami, Open
Where: Virgo Ward
Summary: Minami has come to Hinoto-Ri and meets people both old and new.
Warnings: Minami and friends making fools of themselves.


[So there's a young lady in the Virgo Ward who looks a bit lonely, a bit nervous, and obviously trying very hard to look brave. People who know Minako might notice this girl's striking resemblance to her. Though, if one looked closely enough, they might notice she still seems to have some baby fat on her, her face is a bit rounder, and her hair a different shade of red. She's also taken to wearing her hair pins to form XIII rather than XXII. If anyone asks she claims it's due to losing a couple hairpins and not bothering to buy more.

Being in this place is no sweat. She's been to new places practically all her life and Igor had told her she had a new Journey to partake in. Maybe this was it? The big journey she's supposed to partake in now that her brother had taken her place as the Seal? Maybe, just maybe, this is how she can pay him back?

....but did it really have to be by herself?

With that thought in mind, the girl turns a corner onto a street specializing in food vendors. Her stomach growls (loudly) and she tries not to look too embarrassed by it. That's right, she hasn't eaten for a few hours. Not since her brother had....

It's at this time a very familiar face near a fruit stand spots her. Conveniently at the same time the girl spots said face.]

Minami?!

Miki?!

[>Cue Music

The pair run at each other, both a pair of giggly high school girls incredibly happy to see each other in such a strange new place. Both even jump once they're close enough to reach other, intent on tackling each other in a bear hug.

Too bad they wind up headbutting with a loud "THUNK" and a pair of girly shrieks instead. Both wind up on the ground clutching their craniums.]

[OOC: So, yeah, both Miki and Minami will be replying to threads after making idiots out of themselves. Expect threadjacking and don't be afraid to threadjack yourselves!]

Comments

[fracta_anima]

[Ikutsuki should've DIAFed big time. >B|] Huh. Neat. Oh! Is it true you're going to start senior year instead of your second like me? 'Cause the whole twin thing I heard about is kind of weird to me.

[greatseal]

[well it's weird to her too you know but she avoids saying that.] That's right... Minato's my twin. I was in 2-F with Yukari-chan, Junpei-kun and Aigis.

[fracta_anima]

[Huh.] You know, I'm not surprised Aigis would be in 2F with you guys. In my world she's in 1C with Miki and me. She was so mad she couldn't sit next to me, though.

[greatseal]

I don't think Misuru-senpai would've left her on her own somewhere. [...It would have been dangerous.] But... she actually did get to sit next to me.

[fracta_anima]

She must have been ecstatic. It took the longest time for me to figure out why she wanted to so badly. I still wasn't used to a lot of people wanting me around at the time.

[greatseal]

[That last statement is a little sad to hear so directly. It echoes thoughts she's long since pushed away, and wouldn't be able to share herself. But Aigis had come in the summer, and Minako had already found some good friends on the way to becoming better. By then the empty feeling was already mostly healed...]

I think that's okay, since she didn't know it herself, either.

[fracta_anima]

[It's easy for Minami to say to Minako, which is weird, since it's only been a handful of people she's ever mentioned those kind of feelings to. Part of her wonders if this is the famed "Arisato Magic" a few kids at school claimed she and Minato had had over the last few months and how easy it could be for people to talk to them.]

Pretty much. So! [She claps her hands in front of her much the same way as in Minako's icon.] What do you personally like to do for fun? [It might be awkward, but she does want to get to know Minako better.]

[greatseal]

[It's definitely been easier for her to open up to Minato than anyone else. But she also has childhood memories there... With Minami, it's a little different, because of the added awkward timelines. She doesn't want to scare her off before they've even started and to be honest, she feels like she should be trying extra hard to be a role model. To be someone Minami wants to depend on.

So getting to know her better isn't something she'll object to.]

Well, lots of things! I played volleyball in school, but I also like music and karaoke, arcades, window shopping.... going out to eat... [that gets near the end of the list so it's not so obvious.] And I like crafts and cooking, mostly baking and desserts though. Reading, too, though I like getting out and walking more than staying inside a lot. And of course, being with friends!

[fracta_anima]

Being with friends with awesome. [No matter how much she got moved around with the only explanation being "they don't want you" as a kid, she tried to make friends. Even kept in touch with a couple from middle school. Then she made a ton at Gekkoukan and it's only recently she truly feels like she's settled in one place and will be staying for a long time.]

And I'm not very good at cooking, but Mitsuko offered to teach me sometime and I'm thinking about maybe taking up the guitar. [She'd wanted to before, but since she'd essentially had to live out of a suitcase most of her life, learning any kind of instrument had been impractical.

Yeah, these differences with Minako are definitely putting her at ease. Some part of Minami had worried they'd be carbon copies of one another or, worse, that she'd feel inferior next to her, but like this? Well, maybe they can be friends down the road.]

[greatseal]

[Minako is glad about it too, not because of insecurity, really, but just because... it's easier like this. Minami is her own person, a younger relative. There's no need for her to be the same.]

Oh, I'm glad you met Grandpa Bunkichi and Grandma Mitsuko too. [The bookstore couple were far too kind, and they were some of the people she felt the worst about leaving behind. Minami at least, would be able to keep her promises...] And the guitar sounds fun. I used to play the piano, but I'm a little out of practice now.

[fracta_anima]

[And she planned on making good on each and every single one of her promises.]

Really? That's so cool, how'd you get into it? [The piano. Minami is guessing Minako's living situation might've been very different from hers, meaning Ikutsuki might not have been as "involved" in it as for her. Which would be great, in her opinion, if at least one of them had been left alone before Gekkoukan to just live their lives.

That being said, she finally finds the Eve Quick on the shelf and puts it in her own basket.] Hey, when we're done here do you want to get lunch or something?

[greatseal]

[Unfortunately in the end 'left alone' wasn't so different in practice, even if it was in circumstances. But Minako, not yet knowing this, pauses. The past is still difficult for her to discuss. It goes against her whole philosophy of optimism, looking forward, and presenting a cheerful face to others. But, Minami is family. Like Minato, she's someone who understands, and deserves an answer.

She continues lightly, but with a slight tinge of nostalgia.] Well, Grandfather wanted me to take music lessons, and they continued for a while even after he couldn't look after me anymore. [Until she'd been passed far enough that the instructions of a deceased patriarch hadn't meant anything anymore.]

But lunch sounds good to me... Is Miki-chan still around here, or did she have to leave?

[fracta_anima]

I.... actually lost track of her since we both went looking for places to get some headache meds. [And Minami had asked for some time alone to process everything.] I can send her a message to see if she wants to come.

And.... did you really get to stay with Grandfather? [Minami hadn't really looked into the past too much. It was too painful for her to think of most of the time to think of the cycle of awkwardness, hope, and bitter disappointment.

Truthfully, Minami didn't know if she had any other relatives, but it would be something to look into now that she can move on. She'd already been planning on contacting a few of her old foster families to find out if they truly hadn't wanted her for the sake of closure, but that was on the backburner thanks to being here. Why not look into her other relatives as well?] What was he like?

[greatseal]

Yes, but... Only for about a year, until he got too sick. Then I had to go to other relatives. [But the look Minami has... what is that?] ...You didn't stay with him?

[fracta_anima]

[She shook her head, trying to mask the complex well of emotions building in her. A grandfather? Who, if he was too sick to keep Minako, was likely gone? Other relatives? Just how much had she missed by not asking to look into these things?

Best not to think too hard about it, even if that thought alone makes it impossible not to, just try to learn about it.]

I was in the hospital for a long time after the accident, then I had to stay in a special care home because of all the physical therapy I had to do. Then I went through a lot of foster homes since Kirijo Corp. was sponsoring me and my social worker insisted it'd be better for my recovery instead of an orphanage. No one ever told me if any relatives came looking for me or not.

[greatseal]

[Her heart sinks a little. Even if Minami had been spared the shuffling between relatives, she'd ended up shuffled through stranger's houses, which is probably even worse. At least Minako had family obligation to back her up, even if most of them had been too busy with their own lives to really care for a child...]

I... wasn't hurt badly, so maybe that was part of it. Grandfather aside, our relatives... well, they're good people, but most of them didn't have the time to raise another child. [She's trying so hard not to sound bitter, here. Minami never knew these people, so it wasn't right to disparage them.] So I had to move around a lot too. But they probably thought you were doing better with a big corporation looking after you.

[fracta_anima]

Mmm.... maybe. Kirijo basically insisted on covering all the medical expenses and pretty much anything else I needed. They might have been afraid Kirijo would stop if someone claimed me?

[She leaves out that Yukari was sponsored, too, for her father's involvement in the project. Maybe it isn't the same in Minako's world. Part of her had also thought that maybe, just maybe, her relatives had been more focused on finding Minato at the time. Everyone had assumed he'd gotten thrown from the bridge and it'd been over a year before the police stopped trawling the sea around Tatsumi Port Island looking for his body.

Still, Minami wasn't sure which was worse: going through the homes of strangers who were willing and able to care for children and being told she wasn't wanted or going through the homes of relatives out of obligation and passed along.

She does her best to keep her own sadness out of her voice. The most painful thing in the world had been finding those files of Ikutsuki's and finding out he'd arranged how often she'd been moved around. Some of the couples had truly not wanted her, yes. Couples who had thought they could foster a child but changed their mind for various reasons. But not all of them. There had been one couple in particular, one she decides to speak of with a very fond tone in her voice to help keep the sadness and loneliness of the past at bay:]

The people I stayed with were usually nice to me. There was even this one couple that was going to adopt me when I was eleven, but the husband was transferred out of the country for business and they wouldn't have been able to take me with them. I was thinking about trying to get back in touch with them now that things are settling back in Iwatodai.

[greatseal]

I hope you do! I'm sure they'd be happy to know how you're doing now.

[That's the lesson she'd learned from Iwatodai, too... that more people than you'd expect like and care about you. Although she still doesn't think much of depending on adults.]