Trial 11: Mandatory Karaoke Episode / Backdated to the 17th

[pint_sized_carnivore]

Who: Open for EVERYONE
What: Tokyo Plot Day 2. Karaoke fun time!
When: July 17th. Evening
Where: Ikebukuro District
Rating: Awesome





Just southeast of the Ikebukuro Station is this tall building with inviting, bright neon lights. It's very hard to miss. Even for residents not familiar with Tokyo, they would probably have learned about it from the brochures in the hotel lobby and in their rooms. All it would take to get here is a quick train ride. It even says so in the hotel brochures.

One of them being Chie, who may be Japanese, but is not from Tokyo. So far nothing bad has happened, so why not spend some time in the night at a giant karaoke bar?

Comments

[allthelinks]

[It's a manly drink for a manly boy.]

Make that two.

[He seemed like a grouch, but the man did his job. Souji couldn't complain. While he waited for the drinks to get up and served, he craned his head back to look at Chie, but for all his much-vaunted ability to understand people, he couldn't completely read her. She was happy to be hanging out, sure, but maybe there was something else?

Out came the drinks, and Souji thanked the man and dropped some cash off before turning to offer his singing buddy hers.]

Smells good.

[pint_sized_carnivore]

Oooh, it does! I wonder what they put in here to make it smell great. The ones we get from Junes aren't this fancy! [Chie sniffed on the fruit punch]

[allthelinks]

You could go up and ask.

[Or not. The big guy behind the bar looks a little bit like he'd be happier if the kids were gone. Okay, no more teasing Chie.]

Or maybe Junes is cheap... we'll have to ask Yosuke, whenever he shows up.

[pint_sized_carnivore]

lol no. That guy looks like he's gonna kick both they're asses, so Chie just scoffed at Souji's teasing.

"Yeah, I wish the gang shows up so we could be the Investigation Team again. Off to another adventure!" Chie smiled, even though she feels uneasy thinking about that. Sure, they'd be together, but this place is as dangerous as the TV, possibly even more. Would she really want her friends to go through with that?

[allthelinks]

Getting a scoff was better than a pout, as far as Souji was concerned. He was going to chalk up this teasing as a success and call it a day there.

"If we keep coming and going, we're bound to see everyone at some point, right?" The idea of having to deal with people disappearing wasn't fun, he wasn't even here when Yukiko came and went and it still bothered him, but not seeing his friends bothered Souji ore. "We'll have to hope everyone shows up, then go crack this case."

[pint_sized_carnivore]

Chie nods as she walks back to their karaoke room, eyes brimming with determination. She's optimistic enough to believe the team would be back together someday.

"I'm crossing my fingers for that"

[allthelinks]

"Keep'em crossed. We'll all get back together someday."

But right now? It wasn't time to worry about that, it was time to have some fun! More crazy songs, probably something cheesy, that was what Souji was going to pick out for his next go.

[pint_sized_carnivore]

Chie nods with an optimistic grin on her face. Her own optimism was starting to waver until now. It's really great to have Leader-kun back!

"Oh yeah. I know you do really well in English exams. How about we try an English song?"

Normally she isn't the type to suggest such things, and only does it around Yukiko, but since they're here to let loose why the hell not?

[allthelinks]

An English song, huh? Souji wasn't too terrible at that class... so he nodded. This sounded like a fine plan to him.

"Alright. Want to pick something English at random, or do you have something in mind?"

He was already flipping through the menus, looking for anything that jumped out at him, but there were all of a handful of song titles he could even recognize the words that made up their names.

[pint_sized_carnivore]

"Hmm..." Chie pursed her lips while browsing. "Let's just pick something at random. It'll be more fun that way!"

[allthelinks]

"I'm on it." Random it was, and Souji pushed the button a couple times until it landed on something English...

"Baby Got Back?" What did that even mean?

[pint_sized_carnivore]

"Sounds like fun! Why not?"

Her English isn't very good, so she doesn't even know what the title really meant.

[allthelinks]

"Huh. Okay, let's go."

The theme was kind of catchy, Souji would admit, but when the words appeared on screen, Chie had the rare treat of seeing him completely falter.

1/2

[pint_sized_carnivore]

Chie was too pumped to realize the lyrics until finishing the opening first line...

"I like big butts and I can not li--

2/2

[pint_sized_carnivore]

--ei-ay-ay! Whaaaat?!"

[allthelinks]

Hearing Chie actually say that was a little funny, but Souji was mortified for her, and that took precedence. Maybe he smiled, a little, but he pushed it away quick.

"Ah... maybe another song..."

[pint_sized_carnivore]

"Sure"

But then, there was a knock on the door, a staff member telling them that the Below 18 booths are closing.

"Oh, right! Wow, time sure does fly! Oh well, let's go back to the hotel Souji-kun"

[allthelinks]

The news was as unexpected as the knock on the door, but Souji couldn't say he was entirely upset that it was time to head on home. That song, and hearing Chie sing it, was pretty much just as perfect an ending for the day as it could get.

"Looks like it's about that time. Let's head on back, and... promise I won't tell anyone about what just happened."

[pint_sized_carnivore]

"Haha, thanks that would be nice" Chie laughed a little awkwardly, but it's mostly sincere.

"But yeah, let's head out! Getting on the train again is so exciting!"

[allthelinks]

As far as Souji was concerned, that awkward laugh was the end of it, at least until sometime from now when he wanted to tease her about what she did. Ammo was ammo!

"I always did like trains," he spoke mildly as he led the way, heading toward their ride home.

[pint_sized_carnivore]

It's so much better than the one we have in Inaba. But it's so cramped.

[allthelinks]

Cramped isn't so bad. You get a chance to meet a bunch of interesting people.

[pint_sized_carnivore]

Yeah. But it's almost rush-hour. I don't know if it's the same like in our time, but dad told me about how bad it could get in here during that...

[Chie and Souji arrived inside the station. It's a little outdated from the Shinjuku station they both might be familiar with. There's no ticket vending machines for one]

[allthelinks]

It's a little crowded, but it's not so bad. I've lived in the big cities a couple times. Never Tokyo, but...

[This was definitely one low-tech station, but it did the job. It wasn't like the people were real, either, aside from a handful from the castle like the two of them. Getting tickets was easy enough, but then there was the crowd. Unfortunately, Souji underestimated just how bad it would be.]

[pint_sized_carnivore]

[A huge crowd is incoming, like a wave of humans or a bunch of Zerglings headed their way. But before they could move out of the way, the crowd smothered the two. The space became so cramped in an instant]

This is what you call "not so bad"?!