Title: The Jack Frost Workshop
Summary: Yoh has secured a new job—working in a Build-A-Jack Frost plushie shop! Rumors circulate pretty fast, and before anybody knows it, several people whom Yoh knows personally have heard about it.
Who: Yoh Yamagatani, Ariko Kawano, Fumiko Kohaku, Kazuo Yuudai.
Location: Port Island — Iwatodai Strip Mall
Iwatodai Station is one of the busiest monorail stations in the entire prefecture. Taxi services are plentiful, and many people park their bikes off the main path. But the main draw is the nearby strip mall, just a crosswalk away. The number of bicycles parked on the sidewalk is a testament to how big a draw it is for such a small place.
The three-story strip mall is a great place to go if you are hungry, and the restaurants are fiercely competitive. The Wakatsu and Wild Duck Burger make wilder and wilder claims to draw customers in, though a smaller sweets shop and a beef bowl shop pull in their numbers through sheer specialization. A shady takoyaki stand (which serves food with no actual octopus) has prices that can’t be beat. Hagakure, the frontrunner, is one of the most popular ramen stops in the country and a must-visit if you’re from out of town. There are also two bookstores, a manga shop called Book-On and a used books store called Bookworms.
Disconcertingly, this is where many victims of Apathy Syndrome—otherwise known as “The Lost”—seem to gather. It is not uncommon to find one or more lounging around underneath the somewhat rusty spiral staircases, but usually authorities will relocate them to a hospital before long. This has not stopped them from continuing to favor this particular part of town.
A new store has opened on the Iwatodai Strip! This of course happens all the time, but this one was different. It was a... doll shop? No. A JACK FROST SHOP. It is called the Build-A-Jack Workshop! Obviously it’s purpose is to make your own completely customized Jack Frost plushie, with all sorts of accessories! The higher ups obviously monopolized on this and is now the main distributor of the infamous little critter.
And interestingly enough, Yoh has obtained a job at this place, helping make the litle guys out on the floor for little kids! Ironic, considering he got this job in winter, at a place where a little ice demon rules. HATE THE COLD. But not children.
The teen looks a little better today, seemingly relieved the nightmare is over for him. English was done, and all the other subjects he is at least moderately good at. He was dressed in black slacks, a bright blue polo shirt with a name tag, and a tennis cap, with his wild black hair sticking out the top of it in a near humorous fashion. He seemed to be enjoying himself as he seemed to be currently making a Pyro Jack for a little boy, save the coloration was purple. And it had a tuxedo on. Huh.
He quietly wonders if people wuld make fun of him for this. Meh, doesn’t matter. He needs this money. To not only repay Mitsuru for damages done to the dorm on his behalf, but he will need it for a new weapon of some kind. Something that does not fall apart after some use, and is not as deadly as Scoring Claws.
Ariko, the once more deliquent, had heard rumors that there was new store opening in Iwatodai. There seemed to be some confusion over what the store actually -sells- which is reason enough for the bored teenager to go investigate. The white-leather jacket wearing Ariko approaches the storefront and reads its large sign in slight disbelief. They made a whole store out of those? Sure she saw a few of the dolls inside the crane game at the Mall, but a whole store? Wow.
Curiosity piqued, Ariko enters the store and starts to look around with her hands tucked away in the pockets of her jacket. So who would work at a place like this? It is at this moment that she spots Yoh. Well, that actually makes perfect sense in Ariko’s mind. With a wry grin, the fake blue haired steps forward and greets with a “Hey, Yoh-san. Funny running into you here.”
A ‘build your own’ plushie shop? Well, it’s only because Fumiko can’t teleport that she isn’t at the store’s door as soon as it opens. Exams have her frazzled, as do recent events, and she could use a ‘pick-me-up’. A Jack Frost plushie? That sounds like just wat the doctor ordered.
So it’s no wonder that the girl walks in through the door, dressed in her usual loli best and ready to plonk down some serious cash in order to build herself a brand new plush-friend. Indeed, one might wonder if she’s going to have to be asked to leave in order to leave some plushies for the other customers.
Frazzled as exams might have her, they’re at least going quite well for her. Not that Fumiko has ever (as yet) tested poorly; she’s too neurotic not to study her hardest. And she’s not too tired to notice Ariko and Yoh; indeed, she steps towards them, waving a hand, “Hi, Kawano-san, Yamagatani-san. I didn’t expect to see you here.”
...’Jack Frost’? What’s a ‘Jack Frost’?
This is a question that Kazuo has come to Port Island to answer. Naoki had said something to him about a shop in Port Island’s Iwatodai Strip Mall (Naoki being one to keep up on local rumors). He said something about a ‘Jack Frost’, but couldn’t get out that far to look at it. So Kazuo said he’d go check it out.
When he arrives at the shop, he looks around, confused. It looks like a bunch of plushies with pointy noses. Snowmen? Something like that. He also hears familiar voices. And he looks up as he does. “Hey there,” he calls out to the other three, a smile on his face. “What are you guys doing here?”
Yoh seems rather content with this job. No hard work, get to help children, fun atmosphere... seems nice! Not that bad pay either. After handing the boy his customized toy, and his parents the receipt, pointing them to the cash register, Yoh finds himself staring at an ever-changing, yet familiar girl. This time it was a white jacket and blue hair. “Same could be said for you! Haha, how are you, Ariko-san?” the teen says happily. “Welcome.”
And then... a NWO-loli appears! What will Yoh do?! “Omigosh,” Yoh says in a hilariously feminine manner. “We run in to each other so much these days! Welcome to Build-A-Jack! I work here now, haha. Need help with anything?”
And then Kazuo shows up too! Yoh seems happy, but then squints for a moment. “Are you guys following me for some reason? This a prank or something? Oh, not you, Ariko-san. Sorry.” he forgot she was here for a second. “Yeah, this place just opened! Apparently Jack Frosts have become all the rage lately, so here you can make your own to your own tastes.”
Yoh’s comment causes Ariko to nervously take her left hand out of her pocket and place it on the back of her neck. “Oh, I’m...good. And you?” Yeah, about that. Maybe being here was not good for Ariko’s street cred around these parts. Whatever. She did like doing the -opposite- of what people expected of her. And this was one of the least likely places who would normally find Ariko Kawano.
Hey look its Fumiko. It truly is funny how often they run into each other these days. The teenager with ever changing hair color laughs nervously. “Hello, Fumiko-san. I guess this store opening was really the talk the town.” Even Kazuo was there too. She offers a simple wave in greeting before looking back at Yoh. Ariko herself always used to run into Yoh and Riki all the time and now it was Yoh and Fumiko. Hmm. How times have changed.
“It is,” Fumiko agrees with Ariko. She smiles at Yoh, “I’m not following you, no. I just heard about the store opening and...well, I could use a new plushie. Especially one as cute as a Jack Frost.” She turns and blinks, before waving at Kazuo, “Hi, Yuudai-san—I really didn’t expect to see you here.”
Another smile to Yoh, “How much is it to make a plushie, Yamagatani-san? I was looking forward to making one myself...can I do that?” A pause and then Fumiko is struck with a truly evil idea. It’ll be fun to see if this works. “Oh...are the rumors about the plushies coming to life if you use the right components true?”
A pause and Fumiko bites her bottom lip, “Hmm. I ought to make a plushie for Akari-chan, too, to give her when I next see her.” Because Akari is almost certainly /perfectly fine/. She’s probably eating ice cream in Tatsuya’s apartment and pestering his cats. It’s not like Belphegor would let her end up hurt or dead in a ditch somewhere, after all.
Kazuo returns the wave from Ariko with a backwards nod of acknowledgement, and a friendly smile. Then he shakes his head to Yoh’s question. “No, Tezuka told me about this place and wanted me to go check, because he couldn’t get out here this week,” he replies. “Not sure what he wants with one of these things....” He points to one of the displayed Jack Frost plushies. “Maybe there’s a girl that caught his eye, and he wants to give it to her, I don’t know.”
Fumiko’s waves draws one in return from Kazuo, and he smiles. “Hey there.” He pauses, though...plushies coming to life? God, he hopes not. He shakes his head. “Last thing I need is a plushie coming to life,” he states. Naoki will just have to buy a store-bought plushie for his lady-friend, he decides.
How true; Yoh certainly didn’t expect Ariko here! “Doing okay, as far as exams go. Work is fun. Haven’t really gotten into any trouble lately, which is both good and bad I suppose.” The teen readjusts his hat as he remembers how... /fondly/ Ariko and Fumiko find each other. Oh hell. This may get bad at some point. “Oh! Well, tell me what you want, and I can make it for you!” the teen makes a gesture to the main plushie wall. All sorts of variations of Jacks are pinned up on the wall, in all sorts of different colors. Obiously the first step is a body.
“Well of course you can! I have been taught how to build them for you.” Yoh knows how to use the fluffer and everything. “They cost roughly 1550 Yen. A little more for some of the better accessories and options, but not too much more.” A small pause as Fumi asks a strange question. “Huh? Oh, maybe! You never know! This place is filled with magic.” He wiggles his fingers in a humorous fashion. Again. 3x wigglefinger combo per the trio of scenes this week with the group.
“Haha, well just seemed like one hell of a coincidence I suppose!” he says to Kazuo. After all, how do you see the two same people each day for three days? A snicker at Kaz’s final comment.
Ariko rolls her eyes at Kazuo’s story. “For a girl that he likes, huh?” Tch, buying a plush doll to win over a girl. What kind of girl would fall for such an obvious and stereotypical gift? Ariko then blinks at Fumiko’s admiration of the plushies and her interrogation of Yoh over them. Nevermind.
Yoh’s response is nodded at by the teenage deliquent and she actually smiles casually towards Yoh. Well, atleast she can always count on Yoh being Yoh. But wait, did Yoh snicker? He had a cynical bone in his body? This thought causes Ariko to grin a bit more broadly. But when he goes off to help Fumiko with her request, the blue-haired girl is soon left behind with Kazuo and does not follow that up with Yoh yet. So, she flicks her green eyes over towards Kaz instead. “Are you sure that -you- are not the one who really is shopping for a plush doll and not your friend?” She asks simply with a mischievious grin.
Fumiko glances over at Kazuo, “Well, I’m sure it doesn’t happen with /all/ the plushies. Or even most. It wouldn’t be just a rumor, if it did—it’d be fact! But it’s just a rumor. It might not even be true.” A shrug, “Anyways, let’s make the one for Akari-chan first...oh! And one for Wataru-tan.”
She turns to look at Ariko, “What’s wrong with plushies? Onii-sama and Riki-kun got me /lots/ of plushies, last Tanabata.” Yoh has seen at least one of those plushie piles that resulted from that. “And if it’s cute, I’d think anyone would like it. They’re very comforting to hug. Everyone should have a plushie!”
A shrug to Yoh, “There’s pretty big coincidences every day, aren’t there?” She moves off a bit, going to pick out a body for Akari’s Frost plush; knowing Akari’s tastes, a pink one—preferably with glitter—is chosen.
Kazuo rolls his eyes a little at Yoh’s ‘magic’ statement. “Yeah. Right.” He seems amused. But doesn’t seem to be buying into it. On the other hand, though, when Yoh asks what kind of plushie? Kazuo shakes his head. “Nah, I’m not gonna take the chance. Too many weird things happen in my life, the last thing I need is for Tezuka to get harrassed by a plush tyrant.” A smirk, though. Gotta pretend he doesn’t believe it, after all.
Ariko’s comment draws a shake of his head. “Like I say, I don’t know why he’d want one,” Kazuo replies. “He’s not exactly the type to collect stuffed animals, so....” A shrug. “Dunno why he wants one.” And her question draws a blank stare. “I don’t have a girlfriend, and there’s not a girl I’m really interested in that way,” he admits. He doesn’t seem ashamed of this, either.
“Well, that’s true,” Kazuo concedes, to Fumiko’s remark. Then he teases, “Of course, if it happened /at all/, it also would be fact instead of rumor.” A smirk. He doesn’t say more, though, letting her pick out the Jack components in peace.
Girls always fall for something sweet, adorable, or loving. In some way or another, they always do. And Yoh can be cynical in a joking fashion, but it is rather rare to see. “Heeee,” Yoh letso ut at Ariko’s prodding question. Seems a bit personal! But then again, it shouldn’t hurt anyone to know something like that.
Fumi speaks more, and Yoh tilts his head. He barely knows who Akari is, being that girl they saved in the Dark Hour who was under the care of the eyepatch guy. Tatsuya was his name, he thinks. But Wataru is what really gets his attention. “How is... Wataru-san? I haven’t seen him in forever. Last time I saw him he played music for me, which was nice of him.” He turns to Ariko. “I have one in a martial arts gi. Normal blue one. Don’t see what is wrong with them.” Maybe those who can summon them feel a better bond?
Of course there is a pink one with glitter. There are also ones with rhinestones, reflective pink fabric, and pretty much anything else for the princesses out there. Yoh will gladly pick out whatever limp one hanging on the wall Fumi chooses and head over to the fluffer, sticking a small tube jn the plush’s back, and within seconds it pops into it’s normal size! After taking it out, Yoh puts it agaisnt a part of the machine, that tightsews the small incision made by the machine before. “Want anything on it? Accessories, clothes, different style hat...?”
A look to Kazuo now. “Hey, it would be cool, wouldn’t it? It would mostly be something for the kids though to believe. Haha, no worries, my man. Strange stuff does happen!” The muscular teen takes a small magnifier and makes sure the stiching on the spot is correct, which it is.
Sure they do Yoh, sure they do. Just try giving such a thing to Ariko sometime and some field research can be done on that topic. But with Yoh being the way he is, that situation will -never- ever happen between them. Fumiko now gets glances at when she states her defense of plushies. The deliquent in response turns and looks at the Jack Frost in the karate gi. Well he looks -cool- not cute. He is more like...an action plushie, not some normal plushie. The girl suddenly grunts and shakes her head before looking at the present company. Eh, what if they noticed her looking at the plushies. “What?”
And finally, the blue haired and green eyed deliquent turns to Kazuo. She quickly puts up her tough exterior once more and adopts a smirk on her face. “I don’t have a girlfriend either and I am not really interested in one either,” deadpans the girl before smirking at Kaz. “Small world.”
“Aww, that’s too bad—I bet you’d be really good at kissing, Kawano-san,” Fumiko teases lightly. She smiles at Yoh, “Wataru-tan is doing fine—he’s pretty quiet, but I’ve seen him around a couple times. I think I baked cookies with him, once. He has a doll just like the regular Frost ones, though—so I thought it might be nice to get him a second one.”
Plus, it’d good to have a back-up in case the Jack Frost that Wataru carries around like a plush manages to carry out its deathwish. If nothing else, it’ll buy time for the NWO to get a new one for him.
Akari’s plushie gets a pink glittery body, and Fumiko studies the clothes and accessories, “Hmm. Normal hat, but the one with pink rhinestones, I think. And the princess dress, and the magical girl wand.” It’ll probably only give Akari ideas about what to dress Belphegor up in, but at least the doll doesn’t have the sentience required to object or be horrified by its situation.
Unless those rumors are true, of course.
Kazuo slides a glance to Yoh at the ‘heeee’. But he doesn’t say anything about it. It’s a personal thing, yeah. Unfortunately, everybody who was hoping for a juicy bit of gossip about Kazuo K-I-S-S-I-N-G somebody is going to be disappointed. Maybe he just hasn’t grown into an interest in girls yet. Whatever the reason, he doesn’t have anybody to go blushy and buy plushies for. However, he nods to Yoh’s statement about the rumor being for kids. “It’d have to be,” he replies. “Weird stuff happening or not, it’s still silly.”
It’s pretty obvious that Kazuo has really never gotten into anything majorly weird. Like the Midnight Channel.
He doesn’t seem to have noticed Ariko looking at the plushies. Mainly because he is, too. They’re /everywhere/; there’s no way to /not/ look at them! Ariko’s statement brings his gaze to her, and he smirks as well. “...Didn’t know you swung that way,” Kazuo teases in return. Could that explain the tension between Ariko and Fumiko? Possibly, but he isn’t going to bring the subject up to ask about it. Besides, it was none of his business either way.
And he can’t help but snort a sudden laugh at Fumiko’s teasing of Ariko. He claps a hand over his mouth, to muffle the laughter to quiet snickers. He hadn’t expected Fumiko to say something like that. But it was funny, either way. He doesn’t say anything about her choices of accessories or anything of sort. She’d know this person best, he assumes. He just hopes it /doesn’t/ come to life, or it might just hunt poor Fumiko down to kill her for dressing it so!
No. No it will not.
Interesting conversation Ariko and Kazuo are having. Why would Ariko want a girlfriend again? Bragging rights? He is utterly clueless at the moment on that note. He cannot help but snort a little at Fumi’s comment toward the delinquent. Oh, that will probably set her off somehow. But probably not in a fighting way. At least he hopes anyway.
“Oh, that is nice of you,” the teen chimes in towards Fumi. He wonders if he knows that the Jack he carries around is actually real? That thing IS REAL. It also smokes a lot of cigarettes he has found out. Probably to cope with constant snugging. “Well, good to hear that he is fine. I was running into him about twice a week then bamf, he vanishes.” Sure was strange. Then again, it happened to others too.
“Let’s see....” Yoh ponders with, looking at the selection. There are a good number of dresses, but he picks out a light pink one that goes well with the darker pink of the fabric. he also gets down a star wand and the hat emblazoned with rhinestones. Oh, he feels so pretty~! “Would you like these sewn on, or just attachable, n’ able to be taken off and changed?” big question there. Some people prefer attached, but some like to customize them on a whim.
“Totally. Kids get into that kind of thing,” he mentions as he preps the mobile sewing kit for usei n case it is needed. He purses his lips as Kazuo begins to almost tease Ariko. And then he enjoys the teasing between the girls as well. There is a deep seated reason between the tension, and Yoh is glad they are being civil while inside the store.
Ariko can sometimes be likened to a ticking time bomb. She just tick, tick, ticks away and then goes boom at the slightest jostle or if anyone attempts to disarm her. This green-eyed timebomb has been trying to play it cool lately and be -civil- towards Fumiko. She even called her ‘Fumiko-san’ today instead of just Fumiko. And then this happens.
Fumiko teases, Kazuo also teases and laughs, and then Yoh snorts. THANKS YOH. Ariko turns her head to the side, but keeps her mouth shut. Is she...embarassed for once? The red around her ears seems to be betraying the young teenager who seems to be fighting to keep her emotions in check. Or is she merely fuming? It may be hard to tell!
Ariko contemplates turning around and leaving the store. This situation brings back embarassing memories that also may be causing her to get angry. Riki had originally wanted to date both Fumiko -and- her. This was a particular sore point for Ariko, and something that she has apparently not forgotten.
Fumiko can tell that she hit a sore point. She’s the one who /created/ that sore point, after all—she should know where it is. But she didn’t really intend to poke at it—not today, especially not since she’s /trying/ to defuse the tension between her and Ariko. It’s hard to recruit someone as a minion if they hate you. So Fumiko winces as she realizes that Ariko isn’t taking the teasing well.
“Sorry, Kawano-san. I was just teasing—I didn’t mean to bring up...well. I didn’t mean to poke at sore spots, truly. And I’ll buy you a plushie if you want, to make up for it—design of your choice.”
She sounds sincere. But is it actually going to work? Ariko is notoriously touchy—the apology might just make things worse. But all Fumiko can do at this point is /try/. It’s not like she can undo what’s happened.
Then Fumiko glances at Yoh, “I’d prefer it to be attachable; Akari-chan might want to play dress-up with it, and I’d like to leave her that option. It’s better than her accidentally damaging it, if she tries to take parts off that we sewed on, after all.” She does wonder how he’ll make the wand attachable, though—is he going to stick velcro to it?
Kazuo, of course, knows nothing about any escapades Ariko might have had in wanting, finding, and/or keeping girlfriends. So he doesn’t ask her about it. That would be personal, anyway. His gaze wanders, to the plushies again, and he blinks. Something has caught his attention.
Neko ears. Had to be neko ears, didn’t it?
When Ariko doesn’t tease back, Kazuo blinks. He looks to her, tilting his head slightly in question. Then he sees the red ears. And he has the feeling that, perhaps he may have gone too far. Some people are sensitive about such things—he knows of many male students at school who are. And he knows nothing about her past with Fumiko or those who associate with her.
The smirk disappears from Kazuo’s face, and he looks contrite. “Er...sorry about that. I was just kidding with you,” he offers honestly, looking to smooth things over. After all, the last thing he needs is /another/ delinquent wanting to deliver a beatdown. Especially not one who was completely able to! Besides, he isn’t the type of person to let someone else fume silently when it’s partially his fault that person’s upset anyway.....
He’s quiet as Fumiko apologizes to Ariko. And he catches something. Fumiko said she didn’t want to bring something up. As if there was something in the past. Of course, he gets the complete wrong idea...that Ariko and Fumiko were ‘together’ in the past, decided for whatever reason that it wasn’t working, and broke up. Would definitely explain the tension between the two of them.
He knows nothing of the true reasons, and isn’t going to ask, because whatever the reason, it’s their business. Kazuo just knows he ticked off Ariko, and wants to make sure she knows he’s sorry for his comment.
A look over to Ariko as Yoh gathrs the items Fumi requests finds her appearing angry somehow. “Something wrong, Ariko-san?” He pauses for a moment to look for a better sized magic girl wand. A smaller one; one that fist the plushie’s size better. “Aw shucks, they were kidding. Don’t worry about it!” he says kindly. She should loosen up some! A shame something that small gets under her skin.
Hm, maybe Fumiko should lighten up some! Did she forget what she did to Ariko? Probably not. The soreness will be around for a long time. And then she apologizes! Now nice of her! And indeed; velcro is the solution for the hands. Some careful additions to the tips of the hands enable them to close around objects. As for clothes, he just slips on the dress, rather than sewing it on in places if it was meant to be permanent. “There we go! Anything else, now?” he asks politely, trying to remain a good employee while chatting it up with friends.
And yes, of course they would have Neko ears. This is Japan, Kaz! Cats are all the rage. Somehow they got there. At least everyone is apologizing to the girl now. Maybe she will feel better?
Tick, Tick, Tick. Ariko seems to be keeping it mostly under control. But she -was- incredibly touchy as of late. For as much trash talk and angry glares Ariko gives, she has not had an honest to goodness fight or even a spar in months. Perhaps that would be the safest way to defuse this timebomb of a teenager. Or maybe she can defuse herself?
The green-eyed girl shoves her hands into the pockets and lets out a deep breath. The anger is more or less fading, but she still looks rather embarassed at it all. Ariko is not the easiest person to be around it seems when she is like this. Fumiko’s apology draws a nod from the deliquent. “No need. Just was thinking about...the past, that’s all.”
And when Kazuo also apologizes, Ariko looks a little more embarassed, but seems to be holding her ground and not fleeing yet. “Things have just been a little crazy lately.” Surprisingly things have been quiet on the supernatural front, but busy on the being a teenager thing. Yoh’s question gets a rather steely look from Ariko. He certainly does -know- about the past and all that nasty business, but the young girl in the leather jacket ends up just rubbing the back of her neck again. “I’m fine. Just a little worked up over nothing.”
Ariko’s defusing, and her explanation, gets a return nod from Fumiko. At Ariko’s insistance that she’s worked up over nothing, Fumiko murmurs—more intended for Ariko’s ears than anyone else’s, “Not nothing, Kawano-san. But not your fault, either.” Of course, Fumiko isn’t about to admit in public—or possibly ever—that she’s to blame for, um, /anything/, but she is pleased that the apology seems to have worked.
The danger of Ariko being more angry at her apparently past, Fumiko turns her attention to getting a plushie put together for Wataru (which is quite quick since he gets the standard ‘Jack Frost’ plush)—and /then/ one for herself. It’s going to be expensive, but she can cover it. There are benefits to being on the payroll of Team Evil; for one, you get a really good paycheck out of it.
Kazuo nods as Yoh notes they were teasing, and adds, “Yeah. I’m sorry if it upset you.” He also moves a step or two nearer, so that if Ariko chooses to strike out, it’s him she goes after and not Fumiko or Yoh. A pause, though...and he looks at Yoh. “...Hey, you think you could stick a pair of those—” He points to the neko ears “—on one of these guys?” He points to the Jack Frost plushies. “And a suit with a cat’s tail, maybe?” That’s a sudden switch. What happened to not wanting to take a chance on that rumor...?
Either way, he’s going to wait for the plushie to be made as he asked about, or as close as possible, and then pay for it. A Jack Frost neko plushie! How cute! Apparently Kaz likes cats....
Kazuo nods to Ariko’s statement, offering a smile. “That’s understandable.” It’s enough of an explanation for him. People could be easier to make angry when they were already upset by something. No, he’s not going to ask. But he will offer, “If you want to talk about it, just let me know, okay?”
Kazuo’s convinced there’s soemthing more to this than Ariko being upset at allegations of liking other girls. But for the time being, he isn’t going to ask about it. Not here. Too many people listening.
Ariko could really use a smoke right about now and when she withdraws her hands from her jacket, she has a pack of cigarettes in her hands. The pack is fiddled with idly as she stands there next to Fumiko and Kazuo while they are waited on. The smoking should help her defuse even more from this situation. Fumiko’s statement sure helps Ariko out. The perhaps sincerity of it all is actually very helpful to the green-eyed deliquent. Her eyes close for a moment and she begins to smile faintly when she reopens them.
Kazuo taking a step closer causes Ariko to look his way warily. It actually has never came to violence between Fumiko and her. -Near violence-, but never full blown out violence. The subsequent offer of lending his ear to Ariko causes a mild look of surprise on Ariko’s face. “Umm...sure.” The situation more or less calmed down now, the young teen turns her attention back towards the Jack Frost plushie that is dressed in a karate gi. “He is pretty cute.” She finally admits. The pack of cigarettes remain unopened in Ariko’s hands.
“Hmm?” Fumiko pauses in examining the outfit she’s picking out for her Jack Frost—which is a frog-green, but otherwise unadorned so far—to look over at the Frost Ariko is examining. “Ooh, it is cute. Do you want to get it, Kawano-san?”
The outfit Fumiko’s getting for her Frost looks like a robe and frog hat—both also in greens. “Because I was serious about buying you a plushie if you’re okay with that.”
Once it seems like Ariko’s not going to explode into a punching fit all over Fumiko, Kazuo relaxes some. he also takes a step away from Ariko, giving her back that precious personal space that he’d been violating, even unintentionally. When his offer is received semi-positively, he smiles. But he doesn’t press.
He looks to the two girls and sighs. “I kinda need to scram, I told Tezuka I’d tell him about the place. Plus, I need to go home and put this up before I go over there.” He will tuck the Neko Jack Frost in his coat as he speaks. Because it really doesn’t look that great for a tough guy to be carrying around a tiny Jack Frost dressed as a neko. Probably tiny little claws too. Because it’s cute.
Kazuo offers a smile as he buttons the coat around the Jack. Hopefully he’ll get it home before it tries to cut his heart out. But at least it’ll be warm out there! “It was nice to see you three again!” Meaning Ariko, Fumiko, and Yoh all three. This said, he turns to go.
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