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WHO: Kidou and Ulvida
WHERE: Nonah Shopping Mall
WHEN: undetermined! it's in preparation for the holidays though
WHAT: Two teenagers have an awkward run-in while preparing for Christmas.
WARNINGS: only Ina11 spoilers?

Of all the people she expected to run into? It wasn't him. Not because she didn't think he would be around Nonah, but because she didn't think she would run into Kidou Yuuto, in the middle of the crowded Nonah mall, with Jingle Bell ringing out around them, garlands and golden lights already decorating the building around them. He was the least festive person she could think of. And she's sure he feels similarly about her.

Which, she supposes he'll have to rewrite his data on her about, because that sure is a roll of wrapping paper sticking out of her shopping bag, and that sure is a Christmas-y logo on the paper bag she has in one of her hands.

She blinks at him.

"Are you shopping as well?"

For... presents?

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Ideally, absolutely no one would run into him here. Kidou had this fairly well reasoned out: it wasn't the closest shopping area to NMS, the opposite direction from the Porter, so the chances of him running into a schoolmate were lessened. It was in the city he knew best, so he could gauge the most efficient route.

From dividing his savings by the amount of people he had to take into account to reason how much he could afford to spend per person to mentally planning his route out just so, he'd had this all worked out.

And then, along comes someone to thwart this perfect scheme of his.

When Ulvida spots him, Kidou's paused in his hunt to stare bemusedly at a display of figurines. Some were animals, others fictional characters, but an entire row was dedicated to ImPorts. A few of them Kidou knew personally, to add to the disconcerting feeling that whole row gave him. Kidou was a precision shopper; he'd go into a store, get exactly what he intended to get, and leave without a backward glance. It was only when he had no idea what he needed that he'd stop and investigate.

Had these always been there? Was this just something that happened?

He freezes at a familiar voice off to his side interrupts his thoughts. What?

That sounded like Ulvida's voice...

"You could say that."

Which is to say, that's exactly what he's doing, and whether or not he wants to admit it outright he happens to be holding an empty shopping basket in one hand that answers the question immediately. He turns to face Ulvida only after replying, looking for some way to downplay this, and ultimately not finding one.

With his goggles obscuring his field of vision, Kidou's whole head moves slightly to indicate where his eyes are going - from Ulvida, to her bag, back to Ulvida again. He doesn't particularly know her well, but he wouldn't have ever guessed she'd be here, doing anything like this. She was too austere a person to bother with such frivolities, he'd have thought. It made the chance meeting all the more surreal.

Apparently, he'd thought wrong.

Edited 2016-11-21 07:42 (UTC)

She's thoroughly normal-looking, today. The first time they met she was in human clothes, too, but she was sporting a borrowed jacket from Gran and wasn't settled at all. Today, if it weren't for the odd coloring of her hair she'd pass as any other girl in this mall; long hair in the back and draped over her shoulder, her clothes looking new and cared for, something she purchased on her own. A human. That's what she is, and what she looks like, with a much softer appearance than a couple months ago.

She, unlike him, doesn't have to move her head at all to take in his appearance. The basket, his location, it's all easy to see, and it's enough to put together especially considering the time of year. With how friendly Raimon had been with each other, it's not even surprising now that she's past the initial shock.

Quietly, she turns her head to look at the shelf he's in front of, eyes widening more at what's displayed on it than anything else.

"... Isn't that the white dog that was with your classmate? They really make things like this?"

Unlike Gran, Ulvida apparently has some taste in clothing. Good for the blending in part, possibly bad for the alien impression. But aside from that, and the whole strangeness of encountering Ulvida in something so ... normal, nothing about her overrides the bizarre display.

"Koromaru," Kidou mutters automatically, squashing the brief impulse to reach out to touch the little dog and instead reaches out specifically for one of the figures he doesn't recognize, turning it over in his hands. "Apparently so. The dog could be a coincidence. Not so for the rest."

Halfway to his surprise, he finds an inscription in tiny print on the underside. After a moment of letting his eyebrows slowly furrow, he holds the figure out to silently ask if Ulvida wants to look at it:

KAIDAN ALENKO
USA OFFICIAL LICENSED PRODUCT
2016 STRANGE EARTHS LTD
IP5372791-1

In some way, Kidou has to hand it to America. Just when he thinks he's got a handle on how weird it's gotten, it somehow finds a way to be even stranger. It'd be probably best to shake his head and walk away, and try not to wonder how much ImPort merchandise is out there.

Or why.

He's really not sure which question will haunt him more.

She figured the dog had a name, but she didn't know what it was. Now she does, and suddenly, the dog seems even more endearing now. It makes her think of the little cats that sometimes came by the Sun Garden's backyard, and she's nostalgic for a moment as she looks over the details of the dog. Coincidence, Kidou says... but she wonders if even the costume on the dog's figure is too. Are those wings?

But she's taken out of her brief musing when he picks up another figure and points it toward her. Her eyes slide over to look at the underside he presents, reading the inscription there quickly.

Kaidan Alenko. Not a name she recognizes, but it must be an imPort, considering the flow of this conversation. She makes note of it. Maybe this will go in their notebook too.

... She tries not to make it obvious as her eyes slide over to the shelf to see if there isn't a certain redhead there, if only because she isn't sure what she'd do if she found out.

It would definitely be weird and it's not like she'll want one.

She shakes her head.

"I don't think those would make good Christmas gifts, Kidou Yuuto."

Kidou shook his head, replacing the figure - Kaidan - back where he belongs. It was always his full name with Ulvida. It was a little strange by this point, putting a sharper point on anything she said.

"Agreed. They're irrelevant."

She's said it exactly, and now there's no pretense otherwise. She really does know exactly what he's here to look for. And as interesting and probably important to know about as they are, she's right. They're a diversion now that he knows about them.

It's childish silliness to think they're still staring at him as he turns away from them. What does he do now, though? She's outed him already, so nonchalant retreat isn't as easy an option as before... but possibly still an option. It all depends on if she's willing to follow him as he walks a few steps away.

There was just no way this whole affair wasn't going to be awkward.

"I only found them interesting. That's all."

"Mmm."

Well, they are interesting, if only a little weird. Ulvida crouches to take a look at some of the other figures, picking up what looks like a Dalmatian in a Santa Clause suit, then turning to look at a very long-haired cat curled around a bowl of fish. They're well-made and adorable, exactly the sort of things she would have been drawn to as a little girl.

A little family of penguins hidden behind the rest catches her eye and she sets down the dog figure to reach for it, turning it over in her hand next as she thinks back to a conversation she had the other day. About...

"Endou says you like penguins," she says, just loudly enough for Kidou to hear from that distance. "When I saw him earlier this week."

Should he glance back at her, she's looking at him, waving the penguins in her hand as if she's animating them along to her own words.

"What does Endou Mamoru like, Kidou?"

As Ulvida speaks, Kidou's leg is already out in mid step.

Hidden from view, his eyes widen, though his eyebrows may give that away. His boot hits the floor, and doesn't move again. There's a brief moment when he feels a little unsure, or maybe uneasy about the whole thing - that she knows something about him when he doesn't know anything further about her - but it's gone quickly, replaced by a harsh mental kick of logic.

He knows far more about her than she does about him.

That is fair.

It's fine. He's being unreasonable, and should stop that at once.

Still not facing her, Kidou folds his arms, letting an enigmatic smile slide across his face. In his never ending quest for melodramatic moments, he misses the little penguins she's dancing in her hands.

"Besides soccer?"

The question hangs for a moment, giving its own kind of answer in the lack of immediate followup. Almost as if he has to think about that. Almost as if there's nothing beyond soccer at all...

It's interesting what that sentence implies. It means Endou trusts Ulvida enough to tell her things about other people. It means Endou talks to Ulvida regularly. He's not surprised to learn that, but it's interesting nonetheless. And it also means that since Endou started this, it's likely fair for Kidou to answer that question right back to the best of his knowledge, revealing Endou's totally secret other interest.

"Candy."

It may seem that Kidou doesn't really know him well, if all he can come up with are 'soccer and sweet things'. But no. That's how Endou is.

Her first thought: what is he, a grade schooler?

Her second thought: no, this is Endou.

The penguins in her hand stops almost as soon as she finished processing this simple, yet very acceptable answer. She doesn't even think Kidou is pulling her leg -- first of all she didn't think Kidou was that sort of person -- and instead she's thinking of all the stocking-filler snacks she knew would be on sale in whatever store she went to. Was there a candy store she could specifically look for, perhaps?

... Setting that aside, she puts the penguins back down and straightens up, crossing the distance between them to stand just out of arm's reach. Their smallest comfortable distance.

"Have you figured out what to get Hiroto?"

That was Kidou's first thought, too. Only he didn't quite keep it to himself at the time.

Now, Kidou looks more thoughtful, even turning around so Ulvida isn't addressing a bottlebrush of dreadlocks instead of a face. "It might be difficult, but I've got a plan."

Hiroto was by far the easiest to shop for. He had a clear, easy and varied interest that wasn't too hard to find things for. Not really in any habit of finding gifts for people to begin with, Kidou appreciated this fact. It wasn't quite the case for many of his other friends.

Secretly, he's glad she asked about the one he's certain about. It doesn't reflect well on him when he's not on top of things.

But if she sticks around, she'll find out the extent of his failings so far, anyway. So far that's what she seems intent on doing.

Resigned to his fate for now, he follows that up with a question meant to cut off potential inquiries about what that plan might be. Just in case it's not possible, it's best to not reveal his hand. "What about you?"

So instead of risking a question he didn't really want to answer, he's engaged in small talk he usually tries to avoid. Hopefully it's not that obvious a deflection.

It's not something she was thinking too deeply about. Kidou Yuuto was wary of her, and she was wary of him, but the two of them were also connected by a pair of people like sunshine, which made it difficult to maintain the tense iciness of their relationship.

She can't deny that she's starting to warm up to his presence, at least, not that she would admit it out loud either. Kidou has been around the entire time she's been in this world, and for someone who grew up in an unstable environment like an orphanage, the consistency is something she's drawn to. More than worrying if someone might disappear, she wants to hold on to the thought that they might stay.

Besides, Kidou was from Raimon. He was Hiroto's teammate and called him a friend. That alone makes him a warmer presence than most. She doesn't look at him too directly, or for too long, eyes on the display of Christmas objects around them.

"There's a lot I want to get him," she says, the confession coming out a lot easier than she would've ever thought, and unexpectedly. "But Hiroto received more things from Father than any of us did... I don't know yet, what I could get that would be from just me."

While he remains not an expert on this topic, it seemed fairly straightforward that if she got him anything, it'd be from her. If she was the only one involved in getting him that thing... well, didn't it follow that'd be from only her?

She's shown she can have her moments, but everything he's seen from Ulvida since coming here points towards her being a rational person. Being that, she's probably thought of that exact thing, too - it was obvious to him, after all. There must be something else to this that he's not seeing. He simply doesn't understand yet.

So, he'll try to get her to explain it to him.

"Being the one to give something doesn't make it from you?"

Having a question of sorts to work on makes it easier to stop thinking for a while about how strange it is to talk to Ulvida about normal things.

She shakes her head.

"Physically, maybe, but..."

Raising a hand, she touches the glittery surface of a wooden holiday door sign. Happy Holidays, says the painted on lettering, the illustrated snowman on it smiling with blushing cheeks. Apparently snowmen can blush. But she drops that hand quickly as well, continuing.

"I feel inferior to you. You, and Endou Mamoru. Even though I've been with him longer, compared to you and your team from Raimon, I haven't been able to do anything for him."

The tactic worked, though he wasn't expecting the answer he got. It's a reply that strikes up alarm bells in the back of his mind, creasing his brow a little in concern. Every time he's heard about someone harboring that kind of feeling, it doesn't end well.

Kidou folds his arms reflexively, his thoughts turning inward. Although Kidou's watching Ulvida, he's not focusing on what she's doing anymore. She'd have to make some sudden action to catch his attention again.

Inferior... He thinks back, analyzing what little he knew of them and what he remembered of Aliea in general. He's known Gran and been his friend for a few months by now. It was an alliance immediately made out of necessity, and later out of genuine friendship. But he'd generally figured that Gran was closer to Ulvida than to him.

It's true that Kidou and Endou were both instrumental in stopping Aliea, and that Endou had quickly raced to Gran's side after he'd gotten in Ulvida's path. That was exactly the kind of thing Endou did; it's what attracted Kidou to that boy's side to begin with.

But Kidou was not so noble. He did everything he did to protect his home. When it came to the internal problems of Aliea, he was a passive observer at best.

He remembered seeing how lost they'd all looked when it was all over. It left him feeling uneasy about the whole situation, but he'd made no move to do anything for them afterwards.

So had he really done more? He can't know.

The first time they talked, it was clear Ulvida's concern was for Gran's wellbeing. Because of that concern she'd asked for help, bringing up a variable that wouldn't have occurred to Kidou until it was too late. It was because of her drive to help Gran that they'd formed this alliance.

As he thought all this over, he could see where she would be coming from. Stopping Aliea had made the lives of at least two of Aliea's members better.

Kidou had been here when Gran had no one else. He'd become a core member of Gran's friend group. Together, they'd picked the same school that wasn't anywhere near where either of them lived. Ulvida got here later, which meant she did not have that same kinds of opportunities that Kidou had.

A decidedly unhelpful thought intersects with his internal narrative: Where was Gouenji when he really needed him? How would Gouenji have done this? How would Endou? Way more bluntly than he would, and far more gently than he could, respectively.

At some point during this flashback sequence, he'd stopped looking directly at her. He's been staring off to her side at the same deer decoration for a while now, long enough that he can still see its outline for a second when he looks away. Whatever the correct approach is, he knows it isn't silence.

What he needs, he thinks, is something he can prove.

Picking his words as carefully as possible, he speaks up. Although he's not great at this kind of thing, he has to try.

"...I understand that's how you feel. I'm sorry that you do." Even if he doesn't feel like he can agree with her assessment. "But I have one thing to say."

Kidou's voice is as quiet and calm as ever, but he continues to carefully study the deer instead of looking back to her. He'll stay as vague as possible, and not just because this is the kind of thing he doesn't like to admit. It was also that there was no telling who was listening. Due to undeserved celebrity status, he'd taken to assuming that in public, someone probably was.

"Although I knew the circumstances, I can't guarantee I would have considered the consequences of that one fact ahead of time without your warning."

About the dead appearing here. Until it was framed the way she put it... he easily could have connected those dots too late.

"Had it not been for you, something might have happened. I'm not the one who always remembers to keep his interests in mind."

Because, well... there was so much else to worry about here that he'd found himself restructuring his priorities repeatedly. Some things didn't stay in the forefront of his mind.

Edited 2017-01-14 08:36 (UTC)

She doesn't have to ask him to be specific, to know what it is he's referring to. They'd only spoken a handful of times, and of it, their most significant interaction was that text message about Hiroto. She immediately understands what he's talking about. She doesn't need to ask at all.

"That's understandable," she responds reasonably. "You have an entire team to think about. For me, it was my team but he was my captain."

And best friend, and brother, and her most important person, but Kidou Yuuto doesn't need those details.

"I just want him to know I that he's seen for who he is, not who he always tried to be."

Kidou nods. It should be easier to offer an alternate conclusion now that she's helping lead to one - even solidifying that conclusion by putting it into words. Hopefully, he gets this right without making things worse.

"That isn't something Endou or I could do as effectively as someone who's known him a long time."

It's a bit of a guess to assume the 'long time' part, but it seems a sure enough one. He'll risk making the assumption.

The assumption is not wrong. Most of the Sun Garden members have been together for about the same amount of time, and that included Yagami Reina and Kiyama Hiroto. But even if Kidou had been wrong about it, there was shared knowledge that Aliea had been in the working for at least five years. That's five years longer than the Raimon members have known Hiroto.

Either way, not a statement that raises an argument from Ulvida, who sets down whatever item she was holding -- she was hardly paying attention to it -- and turns to face him.

A lot about her is blue. Her hair, her eyes, the clothes she wears, and oftentimes, the second of those was usually cool and chilled. Even when she spoke of Hiroto, around those who knew about the details of Aliea she never put down her guard.

But today, that blue is more like the color of the sky on a clear sunny day, as if she'd finally opened up something to the boy in front of her.

"... To think that I'd be comforted by someone from Raimon Junior High," she says, sighing but not sounding very distraught about it.

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