4201/Girls Go Shopping

Girls Go Shopping
Date of Scene:	09 June 2016
Location:	Fraulein Earth <GFY>
Synopsis:	Yuna and Kutsuuko go to the mall. No monsters, no bad guys, just a couple of girls out shopping.
Cast of Characters:	385, 953

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Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Summer has come to Fraulein Earth a little early, and Yuna is taking the best advantage of it she can - particularly when she's got an afternoon off from both Union work and her idol career. Going shopping all by yourself isn't a whole lot of fun, though ...

But while most of her local friends were busy, Yuna did remember that she had some SERIOUS catching-up to do with an old friend - well, arguably 'old enemy,' but they were friends now without any qualifications, so she would've sent Kutsuuko an invitation to go shopping with her. Fortunately, there's a warpgate fairly close to the Shiraokadai Shopping Mall, and it is there that Yuna can be found, sitting on a bench and looking up each time somebody passes through the gate ....

Kutsuuko Shiratori (953) has posed:
    /Why/ is Kutsuuko here again? Even these days, this is a pretty big stretch. It isn't as if she doesn't browse clothes at all, usually with Alisa, but everything she buys is ordered through Fenrir's terminal system and delivered to the Den. This 'going shopping' thing is a little unfamiliar, as is the still-weird experience of going to bright, pretty, functioning, outdoor cities without military police. It'll wear off with time, but . . .

    Well she does kind of owe it to Yuna. Sort of. She had nearly succeeded in killing her a few years ago, and now being on the same side, she's offering this kind of chance to bond and make up for it. She'd have to be a total asshole to turn her down. For the kind of fashion of the time period, her outfit is a little dark and flashy, but otherwise doesn't stand out as being too anime. The only real sticking factor are her hands, with the right one bearing that heavy, red armoured bracelet, and the other clad in that military-looking black glove.

    Admittedly, it's a little hard to pick Yuna out without the space suit on.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"Hey Kutsuuko!" Yuna calls out, getting to her feet as she spots the God Eater; the blonde waves, partly in further greeting, partly to help Kutsuuko *find* her. (Yuna remains painfully aware that she's on the short side, even for a Japanese girl.) "Hope you didn't have too much trouble finding the right warpgate; how're things back on your Earth?"

She makes sure her purse's strap rests comfortably over a shoulder, and is ready to head over to the mall proper once Kutsuuko's joined her. If Yuna has any particular thoughts on Kutsuuko's casual clothes, she isn't saying anything yet.

Kutsuuko Shiratori (953) has posed:
    And then it's kind of weird for Kutsuuko hearing her name called from a crowd, doubly so for it being Yuna in person, triply so for it being friendly, and then quadruply so seeing her dressed in shopping casual. The look up and down her isn't even remotely hidden, but she smiles at seeing her all the same, clearly a little awkwardly, but not insincerely. "Hey. Not really I guess. They're intuitive enough to navigate when you know how to use them, and you're on the roster anyways."

    She pauses a moment, and then shrugs a little noncommittally. "Better than they used to be. We're finally getting those imports at least. Now Alisa can stop whining about the soap and Lindow can quit bitching about the beer. It's actually getting a little overcrowded, if anything. We've got three newbies who're doing fine too, so that takes a big load off of everyone else. It's the most God Eaters we've had alive simultaneously on base . . . every, really."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
As weird as it might be for Kutsuuko? To look at Yuna, you would never know that there was once a time when she wanted to kill the girl whom she's meeting to go shopping with.

It's not that Yuna has forgotten how she and Kutsuuko originally crossed paths; in fact, it was remembering the God Eater which drew Yuna's attention when contact was re-established between Fenrir Earth and the rest of the Multiverse, after things had been so quiet for so long. But Yuna also remembered just what came out of that battle - namely, a better understanding of who Kutsuuko was, and why she had to fight ... and to a lesser extent, why she was with the Confederacy at the time.

If the two of them ever have a rematch, Yuna hopes for it to be on friendly terms, maybe in a simulated environment rather than with full-power weaponry, and definitely without any intent to kill. She's in no hurry to fight Kutsuuko again, though, and the bright warmth of her smile is genuine as she listens to the God Eater's description of how things are going back home. Enemies they may have been, but they're friends now - finally, and just as Yuna had hoped might someday be the case. "Base is getting full enough that you might have to expand, huh?" she smiles. "Well, if you need building materials, I'm sure Fayt'd be happy to make that delivery for you! And I could probably pitch in, if Elner and Jiina don't mind me using Powered Form for construction labor ..."

Her smile brightens by a notch. "So what kind of clothes did you want to shop for today?" Yuna asks as the mall doors slide open to admit them, a gust of air-conditioned cool air blowing out from the building's interior. "... Come to think of it, don't those bracelets get in the way with some clothes?" She indicates Kutsuuko's right wrist with a brief nod before letting the God Eater precede her into the mall proper.

Kutsuuko Shiratori (953) has posed:
    "That nerd?" Kutsuuko says without thinking as Yuna mentions Fayt, busy peeking into the entrance of the mall before stepping inside, as if she expects to be shot at from the many places someone could hide in there. "Oh, uh, yeah. There's been a lot of talk about it recently. The last thing anyone wants to do is stop the population from bouncing back, but expanding the size of a branch really isn't as simple as you'd think. Right now they're tossing around the idea of establishing satellite cities in places where Aragami don't naturally go, then setting up the usual stations and facilities to loosely connect them with home base while still being self-sufficient. I kind of like it to be honest. Gives people something to do rather than bum around the ghetto. Gainful work and a place to set up their families."

    Eventually, she decides it safe to step across the boundary and get hit in the face with that old-style air conditioning, shivering briefly. "Oh like you wouldn't /believe/." is her reply to that last question. "Everyone's been nagging at R&D to make them smaller for years, but it's a 'priority two task' so it never gets done. You have to learn the 'techniques'." She punctuates the last word in the sentence with air quotes. "Honestly, I'm not really sure. Something nice to just wear around without the Fenrir logo all over it would be nice. I mean there's no hiding the P-51, and I'm pretty proud of my brass, but no need to go everywhere with boots on and a hardcase assembly right?"

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"'Techniques,' huh?" Yuna grins a bit. "Guess part of it is careful shopping, finding sleeves that can stretch around it ... ?" She thinks for a moment about the clothes she owns, whether any of them could fit around a bracelet like that one.

Then she notices the way Kutsuuko is looking around. To her credit, Yuna doesn't giggle, but she does wave a hand as though to dismiss those fears. "Elner's keeping tabs on me like usual, and if anything happens, Jiina, Marina, and Erina can be here a little faster than I can transform. Besides, it's a *shopping mall*; nobody's going to attack us here."

She suppresses the desire to knock on wood as she says that, though.

"Anyway, sounds like a shoe store is the first stop. There's a really nice one on the far end of the first floor, the one upstairs near this entrance has a decent selection but the prices tend to be a little higher ... and then there's the department stores, of course."

Kutsuuko Shiratori (953) has posed:
    Kutsuuko frowns slightly at Yuna picking up on it, maybe not being entirely consciously aware of it herself. "I got it. I'm not really worried, just . . ." She lets it hang for a moment. "It's weird seeing one of these places being used instead of nightmare buildings you don't want to go into if you can help it. Tons of blind corners and short lines of sight with open views from the top, and all the entrances are huge and the rooms all make for nice hidey holes. Call it habit." Yuna can probably imagine why a shelled out shopping mall is the last place someone would want to go hunting and unknown number of big, vicious monsters. Fortunately what looks to be the most fearsome thing likely to be encountered today is the bill.

    "Oh the what? I'm not really worried about the price. The contract I'm working on right now has a guy constantly paying me in gold bricks. Like actual bars of solid gold. I've got cash to burn." Kutsuuko grins, a little intensely at that. "You're going to know all the best places right? You live here! Show me what you've got and don't hold back!" The card she pulls out definitely isn't a modern one, but places near warpgates like this should have credit converters anyways. It looks to be a splurge visit either way!

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
There are some bank machines near the mall's entrance, a combination of 'credit converter' and ATMs for the local bank network. There's also a short line for them - it looks like one of the machines is out of service.

Some things never change no matter where (or when) you go, apparently.

Yuna doesn't break stride, though, even as she grins impishly at the thought of being paid in bars of gold bullion (or something). "At least you can probably lift those without help," she says ... is that a teasing tone in her voice? The grin is definitely a playful one. "All right, if money's no object, let's head upstairs first - start thinking about colors you like, and what'll go well together. We'll probably want to hit the other store anyway, this is more of a 'dress shoes' store than 'walk around in comfort' store. Not that they don't have the latter ..."

One escalator ride later, the shoe store beckons!

Kutsuuko Shiratori (953) has posed:
    The wild and crazy multiversal future and the ATMs are /still/ out of service. Frigging typical. It's a minor bother at least, but Kutsuuko is taken a little off guard by that verbal elbow from Yuna. "I guess? I actually didn't really think about it. Now I'm not sure how anyone but Setsuko is getting them home. I mean I have to carry around a God Arc all day so that's no real surprise but . . ." Dammit this'll bother her all day. How are Kyra and Raylene cashing in solid bars of gold.

    Kutsuuko is just about to give out the obvious answer on colours before she takes a second look at herself, frowns, and decides to change her answer. "Something lighter might be nice. I have plenty of dark stuff for . . . a lot of reasons." And then she is immediately caught up in shoes. "Hey! This is actual leather right? From a real cow? Oh that one's /sheep/ skin! I'm not even sure I could wear these without worrying about damaging them." Kind of focusing on the wrong thing here, given, but spending all that time with a Russian starlet seems to have rubbed off some fashion sense on her, because Kutsuuko is surprisingly quick to pick out (annoyingly, five) different sets of dress shoes that actually look good, though all of them are pretty far from what you'd wear to an interview or a graduation or a funeral.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"Yep, real leather, which is part of why it's so expensive here," Yuna answers with a grin. Doesn't look like Kutsuuko needs much coaching; Yuna remains within easy earshot in case the God Eater needs to ask her something, but she has a couple of things to look for as well ... even if she only comes up with one of them. "Good thing my job pays for most of my work clothes, but I don't feel right about wearing work shoes to a personal thing," she observes when she meets Kutsuuko at the checkout counter.

Then she looks at the five pairs of shoes which the God Eater picked out. "... you do know we're going shopping for things besides shoes, right?" adds the blonde with a wry grin (and possibly a sweatdrop). Not that she can *totally* blame Kutsuuko - particularly with how she was gushing over the selection.

Kutsuuko Shiratori (953) has posed:
    "Oh come on! Do you have any idea how much these would cost back /home/? Cows and sheep are almost extinct! You'd have to pay ten times this to get someone to make leather out of them!" Well, mall shoes or not, somebody is going to be popular back at Fenrir. "Besides, I need to get some for Alisa too, and then some for Sakuya, and then a second set for Alisa so she doesn't think I like Sakuya more." This already sounds complicated. At the very least though, Kutsuuko isn't about to get bogged down by how heavy her bags are. Maybe get stared at a little bit, but not become encumbered, that's for sure.

    "You're not getting anything yourself?" she asks while exiting, jumping slightly at the little door jingle. She winds up looking all around the top level, and then a little forlornly at a place doing ear piercings, before skimming over tacky teen clothes and designer exercise wear to fixate on a store selling . . . pretty ordinary, if nice, outdoors summer wear. "That's pretty normal to wear around here, right? Outside I mean."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna does have one new pair of shoes to her credit, but that WAS just the first stop. And the shop's registers were able to process payment without issue even for Kutsuuko; apparently the mall is Multiverse-aware beyond the ATMs.

When Kutsuuko asks about 'normal' clothing, Yuna follows her gaze, and nods. "Yeah, although you have to keep the weather in mind. Summer days can get pretty hot, but if you wear a sundress or something and get caught in a cloudburst, it can be pretty embarassing. - Hm, you don't really go swimming back home, do you ..." Yuna trails off. "Are there aquatic Aragami too?"

Kutsuuko Shiratori (953) has posed:
    "Oh I know all about hot." Kutsuuko says unpleasantly, but can't help but laugh a little bit at the rest. "Are you speaking from experience~? I think it'd be nice to wear something outside that doesn't need to have a ton of pockets and survive a lot of- well I guess Sakuya doesn't but how she manages it is a mystery to me. I'm not going to pretend the weather back home isn't kind of crappy, even without work to do. It's sunny often enough around the Far East Branch, but it's not exactly green lawns or fresh air. Depending on where you go it either gets it's smoggy and rainy and everything smells like bleach, it's stormy and windy and a lightning hazard, it's inexplicably freezing, or it's boiling hot because there was a mantle breach underground."

    She considers the rest only briefly. "There are, and they're nasty as hell, but not usually around the shallow water. There's nothing to eat in little tide pools and nothing lays eggs in the sand anymore, so they're mostly all big, open water types, or bigger, deep ocean types. I've managed to squeeze in a swim trip a yearly thing though~ Water recycling doesn't like indoor pools, but around the coast of Aegis Island it's actually really not bad, though you need top level clearance to go there anymore. I own a swimsuit anyways though~"

    Despite Yuna's advice, Kutsuuko seems intent on getting the most stereotypical sundress and hat possible, followed by an uncertain sequence of light tops and blouses in various degrees of fabric being cut off, as well as some proper shorts, which to her credit, mostly actually go with one set of shoes or another. The number of bags is starting to pile up to a comical degree though. Who'd have taken her for a shopping fanatic? "Ahh, I don't think I really need anything formal. I still have that junk from Lindow's wedding. I /definitely/ don't need outdoors gear either, as laughable as that is to look at. Hmmmm." She taps her chin as she looks around the lower floor. "There's some nice looking dresses there, but I'm not sure I'd ever get a chance to wear them. And I'm not really a hats girl. They don't look good on me. I'm not really sure about jewellery, but it looks like that or lingerie right now."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"Well, if you run out of stuff that you 'need,'" Yuna notes, "you can save your money, or get some gifts for your friends and teammates while you're here ..." She ponders briefly. "Or you can relax a bit while I do some more of my shopping; there's a few things I still need to look for ... mostly lingerie," she admits with another slight blush. "The food court's got some good options if you're hungry but I might need to reassure them that Yuri isn't with me this trip; I kinda wanted to poke my head in at the arcade and see what their new games are like, too."

She's been fairly selective about her own shopping; she's not coming away from any of the stores empty-handed, but compared to Kutsuuko's collection of bags, you'd almost have to wonder which one of them is the idol. But it's been a fun trip so far, so how much money they've spent is hardly a concern for Yuna - as long as she doesn't bust her own budget.