Yasashii nihon no joochan yo...

[therealrisette]

Who: Rise Kujikawa and OPEN
What: A possibly familiar little girl, barely old enough for grade school, is wandering around the castle unsupervised. What do?
When: Today!
Where: The castle grounds, lobby, Four Seasons beach, Music Room - any of Rise's favorite places!
Rating: PG-ish?

[Well, it's been a few days now. Rise hoped she'd only be this small for her birthday and the castle would give up on its latest little prank. But after a day or two of going back and forth between sticking close to a convenient friend (new or otherwise) or sulking alone somewhere, it's getting really boring not going out when she wants just because she's not as big as she should be. She's even been a fairy before, and that never stopped her!

... Though, at least she could fly then. Having to run around everywhere makes the castle somehow seem even bigger now, against all logic. And no matter where she goes, everything looks different.

Before she knows it, a quick trip outside of her own room has become a full-blown exploration of the entire castle. From the hallways, to the grounds, to some of her favorite rooms to visit. She's not exactly alone, but not everyone notices such a small child running around.

... Of course, someone probably will sooner or later.]

Comments

[therealrisette]

[Rise listens intently to the tune. Once she's got the basic gist of it, she even experimentally hums a few notes in harmony.

Then, she notices the picture of Mariko.]

Oh! Was that your...

[She's not sure how to finish the question. She was pretty reluctant to accept Shiori as her daughter, but now that's the only word that seems to fit...

... Well, she probably wouldn't mention having a daughter now. Not when she barely looks older than she was!]

[luxe_can_kill]

[Mitsuru stopped playing the piano for a second to look at the picture Rise was referring to. It was the one she had on the piano...]

Hm. Yes. She was...

[Mitsuru then resumed playing, thinking about Mariko makes her a little sad.]

[therealrisette]

[Peering closer at the picture, she smiles.]

She's cute!

[Rise can definitely empathize with the hint of sadness she hears, though. It takes a little effort at her current size, but she manages to climb up on the piano bench next to Mitsuru.]

Maybe you'll see her again next year?

[luxe_can_kill]

Isn't she? [Mitsuru beamed with pride] If there is anything I look forward to the most, is to see her again...

[therealrisette]

Aww, that's sweet!

I kinda wanna see Shiori-chan again someday, too...

[She absently kicks her legs back and forth a bit under the bench, smiling fondly. Even if Chie wasn't so big a fan of being the "father", it was kinda fun being a family like that...]

[luxe_can_kill]

Mariko made mentioned of Shiori. I never had much of the time to meet your daughter... But she definitely inherited your appearance.

[She knows Chie is one of the parents, but she sees more of Rise in Shiori than Chie]

[therealrisette]

Yeah, I guess...

[No point in denying it now that she's seen herself in the mirror like this. There's definitely some of Chie in there, but as far as looks alone, the balance is definitely more toward her own side.]

But she takes after Chie-chan a lot, too!

... Who do you think Mariko-chan looks more like?

[Actually, now that she thinks about it, she doesn't even know who Mariko's "father" is.]

[luxe_can_kill]

Satonaka is the other parent...? Well, it seems Mariko has a balance of traits from both Larry and I.

[therealrisette]

You didn't know?

[Rise could have sworn Chie would mention it! Maybe they just hadn't talked recently...

... Wait a minute. "Larry"?]

You mean Pixy?!

[Wow, now that she looks again, she can see a bit of him in Mariko! But she's a lot cuter, at least...]

[luxe_can_kill]

It is him indeed...

[Mitsuru blushed, looking away slightly. Her cold expression seems to have vanished for a second there, like it instantly melted away...]

[therealrisette]

[Rise gives her such a sly smirk that should never ever be on a child's face.]

You'd be cute together! [A beat.] You two with Mariko-chan, I mean. [That's not what she means.]

[luxe_can_kill]

[Mitsuru noticed the smirk. Oh no, she ships it too!]

I-- I suppose that is a compliment. Thank you...

[These people have a way to ruffle her feathers]

A-Anyway, do you know how to play the piano?

[Don't let her off the hook that easy, Rise!]

[therealrisette]

[She won't! But she's done for now, if the satisfied grin is anything to go by. And the mention of the piano distracts her.]

Huh? No, not really...

[Her agency hadn't really expected her to do anything but sing, dance and look cute. But she is looking at the keys with interest... the songs Mitsuru played were really pretty...]

[luxe_can_kill]

I see.

Would you wish to try it?

[therealrisette]

[She is kind of curiously interested, and it shows. But she just blushes a bit at the question.]

I uh... I don't think I'd be any good...

[She's usually pretty confident, yes, but this is one thing she knows she has zero training or natural aptitude for...]

[luxe_can_kill]

You shouldn't be too quick to judge yourself if you haven't tried. Come.

[Mitsuru offers to have Rise sit on her lap. She's actually smiling! And it is gorgeous!]

[therealrisette]

[Crap! What's she supposed to say to that? Mitsuru's voice itself carries enough weight to make her want to comply, but she actually makes a good point too, and that smile, and...!

Blushing even brighter, Rise wordlessly obeys, climbing up into Mitsuru's lap. Which actually boosts her up just enough for her tiny hands to reach the keys.]

... What am I supposed to do now?

[luxe_can_kill]

Give me your hands

[Mitsuru gently sets Rise's hands and fingers at the keys, while her hands lay on top of Rise's. Mitsuru slowly manipulated Rise's hands and played a slow, soothing melody]

Try and memorize the keys.

[therealrisette]

[Rise concentrates very closely on the melody. She's not the greatest singer in the world or anything, but she is trained to know notes by ear, so she tries to associate the sounds with the keys Mitsuru is guiding her through.

Eventually, her hands start to move on their own a little bit more...]

Like this?

[luxe_can_kill]

[And Mitsuru's hand slowly lifted as Rise started playing on her own]

Very good. Keep that up.

[While Rise was playing, Mitsuru leaned her body forward a bit to gracefully flip a page on the notebook in front of them, picking a song Rise could play]

Houston, we have boob contact... /hit

[therealrisette]

[Even simple practices can be difficult with such tiny hands, but Rise manages it well enough, only hitting a few wrong keys and occasionally falling out of time.

She flushed a little more as she felt Mitsuru lean forward behind her, though, making a few more obvious mistakes. It just reminded her how tiny she is right now... and she was a little jealous of Mitsuru's figure even when she had one of her own!

... She just tells herself she'll be back to normal soon. Hopefully, it won't be one of those losses that lasts a whole month...]

This is Houston, you lucky little bitch.

[luxe_can_kill]

[Mitsuru didn't even notice it, and the fact that they're both girls and she's a kid made is easy for her to forget]

This is rather basic set of notes. Do you wish to try it?

[Mitsuru showed Rise the page with pretty easy notes to play]

she wouldn't think much of it either if she had her own right now ;~;

[therealrisette]

[The notes on the page do look simple enough, if she had any clue how to read music.]

Sure! Um... could you show me which keys they are?

[She's sure she could manage it if she knew which notes were written on the page...]

[luxe_can_kill]

Of course.

[Mitsuru puts her hands over Rise's again, and playing the song for her, slowly so Rise could memorize it a bit]

Got it?

[therealrisette]

[Paying attention as Mitsuru guides her again, she picks up what the actual notes are. She even kind of starts to understand a few basic points of the sheet music, though she still can't quite read it.]

Yep!

[Actually pretty confident this time, she gives the first part of the song a try. It's still not quite perfect, but she hits all the right notes this time! And her fingerwork on the keys is getting more accurate as she plays it over and over.]

How's this?